First Snowstorm of the Year...or the post where Howie almost goes postal.

About a week after we moved, we decided that a new snowblower was in short order given the size of Howie's new driveway ( or runway, as our builder liked to remind us ). Our old one was on its last leg, and we weren't sure that it would work here even if it was up and running. My brilliant idea was to wait til after the first of the year, as we usually don't get that much snow before Christmas, and we were waiting for some rebates that were coming to us from Home Depot for the purchase of the W/D and Fridge.



Fast forward to last Sunday, and 6 inches of drifting of snow. Our first inclination was to send the boys out with shovels, however we forgot that we left our shovels at the old house. Howie managed to get to the old house and get the shovels, and sent the boys out again while he tried to get the snowblower started. No such luck.



Guess which store in Northwest Ohio has snowblowers on December 16th, after the first real storm of the year? NONE! Not Home Depot, Lowes, Andersons, Tractor Supply. Not even on-line. I question the wisdom of retailers who don't stock merchandise in real time need. (Ex.. when I tried to buy Halloween candy at Target ON Halloween and they were stocking Christmas candy. I had to resort to buying all of the leftover crap in the clearance aisle.)



We finally found a store over by my parents house in Oregon called Maumee Bay Turf that had two snowblowers left. However it was 4:45 pm and they closed at 5:00. No way we were getting to Oregon in 15 minutes, it takes 20 with clear roads. We had them hold it til Tuesday, as Howie worked til 7:30 on Monday.



Murhy's law that Howie didn't get home til 9 pm on Monday, and got stuck in the very unplowed driveway. How embarassing in a new neighborhood where everyone's driveway is plowed within and inch of it's life. I imagined people peeking out of their windows and laughing us as we spun tires and blew smoke trying to get his car out. Luckily a neighbor did finally come out and help, and we ended up using my Pilot to push his car out onto the street.



Tuesday ( Which incidentally was my birthday, but I find comfort in the fact that Saturday we went out for a very nice dinner and I got a very nice gift, but still, it was my birthday). I got E ready for her christmas party, and left early to drive out to Oregon to get the blower. We were running late, and drove through Wendy's for lunch. ( I am convinced that people gain weight over the Holidays not because of cookies and fudge, but because of the drive thru as we are all too freaking busy to eat normal meals ) . Got her to her party/ pageant in which she refused to sing, and got her home. Howie was supposed to be home at 3:30 so I could get to a Dr. appt for a neck strain. However, Howie didn't get home until 5:30, which meant I had to take a 3 kids and the snowblower to the appointment. Got back home around 6:00, and met a very irritated hsband who couldn't get the snowblower started for lack of a key. The key which they forgot to give us. That was back in Oregon at the shop that closed at 6:00. Howie called the shop, and the very nice owner said that he would drop the key off at my parents and Howie could pick it up. So he loaded E in his car and off to Oregon he went. This was a man on a mission. I took M and H to basketball practice at 7pm. At 7:30 Howie called me to say that the guy never showed up with the key and he was leaving to come home. We met at Applebee's at 8:30 for a much too late, very depressing dinner.



Yesterday , the owner called me to profusely apologize about forgetting the key. It seems that his wife was irate with him because he was running late he had promised her they would get a Christmas tree that night. ( They probably stopped at Wendy's for dinner. )

I ran out to Oregon once again to get the almighty key. Key in hand, was sure that a clear driveway was in the imminent future. Got home, and the boys got off the school bus. This was the last day before break, and M left his boots at school. Loaded all 3 back into the car to get over to the school before it closed for 2 weeks. Got the boots. Howie called to say he might be home before 10pm. He got home at 9:45 and crashed.

I might have a clear driveway tonight.

First snow in the new house.

She lasted about 5 minutes outside. She hates getting wet, sticky, muddy, cold, or otherwise inconvienienced. But her friend Emma was outside playing, so she had to go too. This was cute. Notice M's Dolphins hat on her head. ( The Dolphins are mildly more tolerable to the rest of us Browns fans now that they have Ted Ginn Jr. )

What was I thinking?

So Howie is working a 24 hour shift tonight and I had the bright idea to try and get the annual Christmas card photo all by myself. Duh. I thought that now that they were older it would be easier, but I was way wrong. Since we usually take about 9 gazillion mistakes to get one decent shot, I thought I would post a couple of the "mistakes" to share. I'm not sure we got "the one" this time around. Although I think in the one below M looks like something out of an Abercrombie catalog.

The older the boys get, the more I see Grandpa Brown in H, and Grandpa Hayden in M. Guess who E looks just like? Feel free to post your opinion!

Hopefully " The one" will be coming to your mailbox in the next couple weeks.

...Priceless

Some of you know our horrible history with dogs...we at one point thought we were dog lovers, and have found out the very hard way that we are not. Case in point, Lucy, our latest, was living with us on very thin ice given her total disrespect for me and an incident with a Westie named Lily over the summer. However, we were willing to give her a shot at the new house with a big yard to run in and lots of sidewalk for walks.


Day one in the new house and Lucy had diarrhea all over the brand new tile in the laundry room.

I was really, really, re-thinking our decision as I was on my hands and knees with a toothbrush and Clorox scrubbing grout on our first full day here. But dogs need time to adjust, and she was probably nervous in the new house, so we decided to keep to the original plan. Frequent walks around the block, brief periods in the house to get used to it, frequent praise.

Then last Thursday I was walking her past the neighbors and a few of the neighbor kids wanted to pet her. She was on a leash, but jumped up and nipped one of the boys in the chin... no intent to bite, mind you, but Lucy plays rough and is all muscle, so it left a little mark. In our minds we didn't have an option but to find a new home.... with a promise that we will never never get another dog until the kids are grown and we get one that weighs 3-4 pounds, max.

Long story short, Lucy has a new home with a family with teenage children and a big black lab. They love her and I'm sure she is much happier.

However, parental guilt plauged me, even though the kids seemed unphased by the whole ordeal. So we set out to buy goldfish Sunday evening. Went to couple of pet stores ( OK, Andersons, where we were anyway, and then to PetCo.) The sales person at PetCo re-assured us that 3 goldfish in a .5 gallon tank with no filter would do just great. Us being non-fish people, took his word and went home with 3 goldfish and 3 excited kids.

I sent the boys off to school yesterday, eying E's fish closely. Some of you in the nursing world are familiar with the term "guppy breathing" ? Her fish was guppy breathing. Then pretty soon it was floating in the bottom of the tank. I called PetCo, explained to the manager what his salesperson sent us home with, and come to find out 3 goldfish need at least a 10 gallon tank, some de-chlorinator for the tap water, and a filter. Oh, and as they get bigger, they need a bigger tank. ( Or the pond at the end of our street. ). I called pet supplies plus to make sure I wasn't just being sold on a bigger tank, and as I was talking to that lady, H's fish went belly up. (!). So we made the trek to PetCo with E, the .5 Gallon tank, and two dead fish. ( E, the fishys are sleeping and we have to get medicine to make them better ). It took a couple of hours to get the tank set up but we now have 3 goldfish and 3 excited kids again.

I feel like a Mastercard Commercial

Moving Day...

So we're actually a couple of days post-move with no internet service. I was going through computer withdraw, so am currently posting from the library ( in all honesty, I had to check my checkbook balance after this whirlwind of a weekend, but, hey, while I'm here I might as well post. ) All is well, no major catastrophes, everyone is adjusting fairly well. E keeps wanting to go to "her house" meaning the old house, M is scared to sleep alone in his room after bunking with H, and generally if it's light out the boys aren't around. There are about 60 kids in the 35 houses in the development, so it's pretty new to them to have continuous "play dates". Cable hook up on Wednesday. I'll try and post some pictures if I can find my camera.......

Trick or Treat!!

Here is the best picture of E with her name tag covered!
M on the right. He thinks he was Black Spider man, but they were all out at Target, so it's really a Venom costume. Don't tell him, he doesn't know the difference.
Eat your heart out Danielle Radcliffe!



Moving day tomorrow.... I will post when we get DSL hooked up.

Finishing Touches

We are down to just a couple of minor details. One more coat of paint on the front door...
The carpet is laid out in all the rooms and will be installed tomorrow MY DISHWASHER!!!
Stove and Microwave.

The toilets flush, the lights turn on, disposal runs. Tuesday the rest of the appliances go in, and on Wednesday we have our final walk through. All that is pending then is the "occupancy inspection", and hopefully we will pass and move on Saturday. The movers ( I mean, Jeramiah) are all lined up. Wish us a quick week!

How Tall this Fall?

A more appropriate title may be "My life, flashing before my eyes.." Every year since Mwas born we have gone out to Fleitz's Pumpking farm near my parents house. They have a big pumpkin sign, seen below, with with the words "How Tall this Fall?", and a place to measure. Literally, it has become such a tradition that last year we ran all the way out there right before they closed just to snap a picture. Below are the results from the last 4 years. Notice this year is the first I didn't have to herd all three like cattle and bribe them to get a good shot. The pics before E was born are on good old fashion film, so I couldn't download those. 2004

2005

2006

TODAY!

Pumpkins, Chandeliers and Dishwashers

E and M at pumpkin decorating night at E's preschool, which used to be M's preschool, so M's old teachers got to hug him and embarrass the heck out of him.
Dining room.
Foyer.
Lights on the outside that were on this morning, looks like someone actually lives there.



I know you are all waiting anxiously to see my dishwasher, as I have stressed its major importance in the house ; ), but I couldn't get any pics this morning without really annoying the electrician who was in the middle of putting it in. I will try hard this afternoon, and with any luck I can get some of the microwave as well!!

Lighting and More Paint

Ah hah !... things are beginning to happen at warp speed now. After weeks of waiting for paint finally we are seeing major results. Here is lighting in the kitchen and over the fireplace....

Pendant lighting over the sink and dishwasher...

My chandelier in the "powder room" ( Howie thinks I am crazy for this.. no more so than his TV in the master bath. )
Howie's blue room. The color is called "refuge". ... we'll see if it feels that way when all of the kids want to watch TV in there.

Stay tuned.. tomorrow I may have outdoor lighting and my dishwasher!

Go Bucks!

Officially Friday our house has been on the market for 6 months. We've had a few prospective bites, but so far no offers. However this week a couple came through and was interested in a potential "rent to own" situation. We aren't opposed to a lease to purchase, but it was quite obvious after a little research that this particular couple was not qualified, and we politely turned down their offer.

However, Friday evening the same couple stopped in front of the house as Howie was outside playing football with the boys. Their purpose was to explain their situation, I'm sure thinking that if we could put a face to a name we might reconsider their offer. We had no intention of changing our minds, but the woman made an amusing remark that pretty much solidified our decision. She told Howie that they told all of their friends that we must be pretty cool people to have a "bumper sticker like ours" on the back of our car. As die hard Buckeye fans, our Buckeye leaf magnet looked to this non-Ohio State fan like a giant Marijuana leaf!

I don't think we'll be renting to them any time soon.....

More new pics

E's 2 minute tap recital Friday. This is her looking at the other girls in the class like they were crazy because they were actually dancing. She, however, thought it was a great chance to stand there and look pretty.
These were taken about 2 hours apart. Before and after the bannister went up.

New Pictures

PAINT!!!

Paint is going on the walls as we speak.... We have no pictures, however, because they sprayed enamel on the trim the past two days and we are not allowed in the house. I am going to try and get out there this afternoon and get some pics if they take all of the tape off.

Tomorrow or Monday the electricians start. Today the carpenter puts the stairs together, and next week things start coming together.

"M" STORIES:

* I am publishing these stories with a few disclaimers :

1. I live with my husband. You all know him and knew it was going to rub off on at least one of my children.

2. I have no control over what M hears on the school bus.

3. He was properly admonished after I stopped laughing hysterically in the kitchen and/or front seat of the car where he couldn't see me.


Story One:

Sitting in the parking lot at Giant Eagle sorting coupons... I hear in the backseat in a sing-songy voice from M ...." E is a HO (!) ....E is a HO"

I whipped around as quickly as I comprehended what was actually coming out of his mouth.
Me....."M Jack Brown... what did you call your sister!?!"

M... "a HO."

Me..."We don't talk that way...ever!! Who did you hear that from? ( getting ready to wring the necks of the 5th grade boys he rides the bus with ).

M..."From Dad"

Me... From Dad? Dad doesn't say words like that. ( at least not within earshot of the kids. )

M....( in tears ) well, we were playing basketball outside and we were playing "HORSE" and I got an H and I got an O, so Dad was calling me a HO.(!).



At least it wasn't H.....O.....R.



Story #2

M at H's flag football game last Saturday sitting on my Dad's lap....staring at my Dad's 56 year old hands.."Papa? Did you just get out of the bathtub?" ( in reference to the wrinkles HE gets when he's been in the bathtub too long.)


Story # 3....again no judgement on my parenting skills, please.


M and H in the living room where they couldn't see me in the kitchen. One of those infomercials for OxyClean came on TV.

M ...whispers to H "H, what if it was called FoxyClean ?"

M..giggle..."do you know what Foxy means?" ...

M ..." it means sex"...giggle...giggle

H at this point is oblivious to those words, ( remember H is 9 and M is 6 ) comes to tattle on M. M points out that whatever H is telling me is a lie, not knowing I heard the whole thing.


What will I do when he is 10 or 13 or 16 if I am dealing with this now?

Winding Down

Sorry for the delayed posting. Our computer was in the shop for some wacky virus, back now, healthy, and I can finally get this site updated. We are coming into the homestretch after some very tedious weeks of waiting for trimwork and paint. However, paint STILL to come. Tomorrow all the trim gets sprayed with primer, then sanded then two coats of enamel. Then next week all the walls get a final coat. ( If I said it was taking so long it was like watching paint dry is that redundant? ). Below is our newly minted baby grass. Just in time as the weather turned into October today.
Here's the backsplash before all the grouting.
The newel posts. There is trim work yet to go on the bottom, hence the lack of stain towards that end.
Here is the fireplace mostly done. That is cardboard over the glass holding the tile in place, not poorly cut wood or tile as I first thought (!). Since this pic, more trim has gone up and the tile has been grouted.
After paint, the electricians and plumbers come back to install lighting and, well, toilets. Carpet and appliances go in last.

Flag Football

Not great pictures... I will try again at the next game

Paint, Fireplace, Stairway

Here is the front of the house now that it is all painted. We still need to pick a front door color, closer to move in time.
The begining of the fireplace mantel... I will finally be able to hang stockings....
Real stairs. I guess the newel posts were pretty involved because of the angles at the top of the stairway, and that's why it's taking forever. However, the carpenter is pretty particular, so we know it's done correctly. Eventually there will be wrought iron spindles and the wood will be stained to match the darkest part of the floor.

Mmmm.....paint will eventually go on the walls sometime next week. I feel like I say that every post..... Move in date around the 3rd weekend of October... no one hold their breath...


P.S. Cute story...
On the way home from football practice tonight the boys were talking about cars because we saw a Toyota Supra like Howie had at Giant Eagle.

M said to me " Mom, when I'm 16, if I'm not married, can I get my driver's license? "

..... Lets hope the drivers license comes before the marriage license!

Countertops and Paint

Countertops went in today. They look all black in the pictures, but they are really speckled with a couple shades of brown. Here's half the wet bar, above.

Whole kitchen. Obviously no trim on the cabinet backside yet.
Facing out toward the fireplace. The dishwasher will go to the left of the sink where that hole is. ( Or it makes a great pass through for E., if she has anything to say about it ).
Outside painting today too. Mostly just primed, but the rest will go up tomorrow.

Landscaping and Hydroseed

Minor Updates

This week has been all about trim work. Trim on the garage doors, molding on the house, doors in, etc. Above are the french doors that will close the den from the great room, and the cabiniets in the wet bar. The picture below is from the opposite side, looking into the den. There is a peek of the mini fridge there on the left. This wide trim at the baseboard is what is taking up a lot of time.

Here is Howie's runway/ basketball court, freshly poured on Friday.

That's pretty much it. They will paint and put counter tops in this week,also work on the fireplace mantel and stair railing.

Football Injuries

Poor H. Flag football has started. Notice I said Flag football, as in no tackling? Therefore theoretically no injuries?

Wednesday H's nose and mouth hit some other kids forehead pretty hard. ( This just a week after H's front tooth hit his friend Justin's forehead and Justin had to get the cut dermabonded ). His nose was swollen, his lip bloody, and no he didn't have his mouthguard in like he was supposed to. We got home that night, gave him some Motrin, and off to bed he went. At 12:30 he woke me up with an upset stomach and trouble breathing. I, in my infinite nursing wisdom, told him that he had probably swallowed some blood, and that his nose was swollen, making it hard to breath and to go back to bed. At 1:30 he woke us up again. Howie checked him out and called me down. H's back, chest and face were covered in half dollar size hives. Big, swollen, nasty hives. He was also wheezing. We gave him 50mg of Benadryl and an Albuterol treatment, at the same time racking our brains as to what the H*** would cause this. Not the Motrin, no sign of a bug bite, no change in detergent....and then I remembered the huge plate of popcorn shrimp he had for dinner. H has never had shrimp, but M could eat them by the bucketful. Cocktail shrimp, shrimp dip, but he especially LOVES popcorn shrimp. That enticed H to try them the othernight, and lo and behold, it's probably the only plateful he'll ever have. Bummer.

P.S. We had him checked out by the peds on Thursday. No broken nose, no loose teeth, but now we have to avoid Red Lobster and carry an epi-pen everywhere!

Tiny Dancer

E started a 3 and 4 year old ballet and tap class at the YMCA/JCC. I thought maybe she was too young, but boy she doesn't. Our second class was this morning and it's all she can talk about. This is a picture of her doing a "pizza", which is first position, she can also "open the window" which is a 3 year old attempt at a plie' . Tap starts in 3 weeks, but she wears her tap shoes around the house nonstop.

First day of preschool. No love lost as mom walked out the door. She couldn't say goodbye fast enough!! Today she got to play outside and have popsicles with her new friends. What more is there in life?

Kitchen with all the cupboards.
Computer desk. More trim and paint next week. Gas line went in today, sprinkler next week too.