As we are full into March, I thought I'd give an update into what's going on in our world. For starters, I'm now driving around in a car with duct tape on it (sorry, no picture). Thanks to my dad for "fixing" up my car last night so I can drive it. He chuckled "you know you're a red neck when you have duct tape on your bumper". I'm not one to want a new car, it's not that I don't like new things, I do, but a new vehicle isn't my top priority. We know this 2002 Nissan Altima with 130,000 miles is worth next to nothing, and so the plan is to drive it into the ground. So duct tape it is :) I really should try to find some black duct tape, then I might not look so red-neck. HA!
A bigger issue is with our pool. Throughout the winter, we noticed the green pool cover was caving in (ie: detaching from the deck and sinking onto the pool). Now this is wrong on many levels. Most importantly, the pool should have sufficient water/ice to hold up the cover. Once or twice, I went out to get a closer look at the actual liner (this is the blue part of the pool that holds in the water, often it is cement in public pools) but I wasn't able to really see past the mounds of snow.
Until this week. We slowly walked around the pool, and I pointed out what I thought was just a stretch in the liner (under the circular jet in the picture above). Ryan leaned in for a closer look and mumbled "well, that's the end of that". DARN! (I might have said a few other words....). The liner has a hole in it. Not a little tiny patchable hole, but a big one. We knew we were on borrowed time, those suckers cost a pretty penny and last anywhere from 7-10 years. At a minimum, we were on year 9. Schnikey. After a quick call to our pool store, we are on the way to replacement: estimated time frame-end of May. Estimated dollar amount-A LOT! I like to see the silver lining in things. And so as much as the liner will cost (and the water to fill the entire thing. and the gas to heat all the water), the beauty is that we will have a brand new liner that is sure to look gorgeous, and not have to waste half the summer on waiting for installation. See?, silver lining :)
Onto more exciting updates.....We are muddling through the end of this winter and gearing up for amazing weather. We are ready to play outside, splash in puddles, go for walks, ride our bikes and just enjoy some fresh air as a family of five. The kids enjoyed their first outside walk of the year on Monday with Grandma Jan and she captured this picture:
This morning I asked Ryan, Regan and Sidney (and myself) to give me one word to describe the three kids in our family. And here's what they came up with along with a glimpse into each of their lives as it is now:
Regan-She's 8 going on 18. Seriously. This girl has a sense of sass and is wise beyond her years sometimes. She is a critical thinker and questions authority like it's second nature to her. Boy that can be frustrating! Recently, she earned herself a prize like none other. After saving up for a very long time, she bought herself an iPod Touch. Like a big one. The one with the fancy shmancy camera that takes pictures beyond selfies. So while she is busy Face-Timing with her friends, texting with her parents while we are away at work, and playing games, we are busy trying to figure out how to parent in the world of technology. This stuff is tricky. She has never played with toys. Like ever. So while we can push her in the direction of arts/crafts and books, she whines and complains that she just wants to play on her iPod. With the recommendations to "limit non-learning screen time to less than 2 hours/day", and an infant in our arms, this sometimes gets tricky. Do we count Face-Time as screen time?, essentially it's like talking on the phone. How long can we listen to her beg and whine? Darn it the weather has NOT been nice and frankly, she's B-O-R-E-D, and so are we. And when they sit nicely like this and learn how to operate that thing, it's pretty darn cute:
Our words to describe her: growing up (much too quickly), playmate, helper.
Sidney-She's 5.5 but I still pretend she's my sweet little 3 year old. Shh, don't tell her that :) She wants to be a big girl, and have sleepovers at friends' and playdates and I'm not ready to let her enter that world because our calendar is already busting at the seams. Honestly, we don't believe she'd actually last at a sleepover. She leaves me for a couple of hours and admits to Ryan "I miss mommy". Yea right babe, you want a sleepover?! Not yet sweet little girl. Sidney has an imagination as big as the sky. Lately she's let Regan in on her adventures, and together they hide behind the couch with barbies spread out 10 feet around them. It's heavenly to listen to them play. She loves Lincoln like he's the best thing since peanut butter and jelly. And boy can she get him to laugh. Like belly laughs. Sidney has never sat still. She moves and dances and talks the day away. And he adores watching/listening to her. She only wishes he didn't weigh so darn much, as she would love to carry him like Regan does. I sense those two will get into some trouble together when he gets a wee bit older. Bring it on :)
Our words to describe her: playful, sweet and energetic.
Lincoln-He's 4 months and the sweetest little baby. He snuggles into my arms when he's tired, falling asleep as he listens to my voice. This past weekend we visited some friends and he sat on my lap, blabbering like he was part of the conversation. Eventually he grew tired and just closed his eyes. We have never experienced such an easy baby. He is content and sweet all wrapped up into a big bundle. When he is awake, he is LOUD! Like incredibly loud. If he's slightly upset, he'll seemingly holler at you until you pick him up. Not cry, but holler. And we can't help but laugh, he sure knows how to get his needs met. His personality is evolving and he is soaking up all that we have to offer him. He loves to laugh and is so ticklish that it's funny to the 'tickler'. He giggles and giggles and it's just contagious. Those rolls are beyond adorable, even when they are stinky from spit up :)
Our words to describe him: blabber mouth, cute, laughter and snuggly.
Life around here isn't perfect, afterall, I'm driving around a car with duct tape on it. But it's our life and we are happy and healthy. We couldn't ask for anything more.
No comments:
Post a Comment