Up!

Perhaps not as colorful as the animated movie, but also. The ceiling is up in the new basement. The only ceiling tiles left are the once I have to cut around the can lights. As you can tell J already has the color splotches on the walls. I have no doubt (really I don't) that she'll gonna match it all look sweeeet! Whats up next? I'll take a break while J paints the walls. Then I'll be back with all the trim work, the remaining ceiling tiles, and a pretty large sized list of loose ends.



On a different note. I've about finished week two of the 8 week "New Year, New You!" program at the fitness center at work. Counting calories is no fun. I don't need bean counters to tell me
my twizzlers and M&Ms add up. Ha! But at least its getting me (slowly) back into an exercise groove. Lastly, I wanna give a shout out to our friends presenting and attending a WWME encounter this weekend. May the Lord bless you all.

Peace

Crisp air for the tired soul

After barfing my guts out last weekend and struggling through the work week, tired and worn down, I was very much looking forward to our mini vacation (mini as in just over 1 day long) to the Grizzly Bear Water Park in Utica, Illinois with T's family. It was great to have some time for the boys to hang out with their cousins and we were excited to hear that plans are in the works for a "shores of Lake Michigan" weekend this summer. E2 came down with a terrible case of mommy-itis during the trip and I think I wrenched my shoulder carrying around his not so light self. Both boys had a great time in the water and personally, for me, I would choose this hotel/waterpark over the Wisconsin Dells indoor waterparks anyday. It was not packed to the brim and the rooms were all a reasonable distance from the indoor water adventure. The ones we have been to in the Dells I think have gotten too big to be enjoyable anymore. For small kids, this one was just perfect. I suppose older kids might need the variety of a larger park after awhile, but for me, I can honestly say, this is the first water park that I would not dread going back to. T says he would go back to the Kalahari at the Dells, but definitely liked it more during the off peak time that we went last time.

I have to admit that all weekend, I was thinking about a Sunday hike into the State park, eagles or not, I didn't care. I brought along all the gear I could think of to make sure rain, sleet or snow, we would be able to hike. What I forgot to consider was the status of "I might have had one too many the night before" papa and "I wore myself out earlier in the day at the waterpark" E1. Still, I lead the way to the Starved Rock Lodge and was undeterred by the 2 hour wait for lunch, opting instead to squish a family of 4 in about the space for 2 adults at the bar for hot dogs and french fries. We suited up and out on the terrace I went.....family in tow, looking more like they needed a nap and less like they needed some fresh air. We started down the hundreds of steps into the ravine, about 10 steps down E1 announces "I don't want to be on this hike anymore!" Trying to put the thought that I might have to carry him up those hundreds of stairs to the back of my mind, I try and encourage him telling him we are going to see the eagles, which is met with "I don't want to see the eagles!". Well, the positive mental attitude triumphed that day and not only did we see an eagle, but E1 decided he didn't want to go home quite yet and picked another path for us to walk. I started calling him my little Mighty Mite as he trucked up the hill with great determination. On the way home, I drove and peered around me at 3 snoring boys :)

Beach Vacation and Raffle

Check out this beach vacation and raffle over at our friends The Terry's blog to win a fantastic stay in Destin Florida and raise money for Haiti and the orphanages ! It's for a great cause and there are only a limited number of tickets available! http://terryhousehold.blogspot.com/2010/01/beach-vacation-raffle-benefitting-haiti.html

Primed up!

As the kiddo's spend part of the watching and re-watching UP!, I got the wet sanding on the basement done and the priming of the walls. So the walls are now officially done except for the wallpaper and/or paint that goes on that. J is working up ideas on that, but its not holding anything up. The next stage is the ceiling. Tomorrow I'm off to Home Depot or Menards and picking up the supplies for the ceiling. I'll only get a few ceiling tile samples, since the budget-style type we were looking at need to be ordered. So I need to get the tracking up on the ceiling that try out the samples, then we'll order the rest. We glanced at some flooring, but the choice of the flooring will need to happen quite soon. There has been some churn on the stairs. Originally I was to replace all the raisers and the steps. Now we're playing with the idea of using a less expensive carpet, and just having Menards of Home depot come to install carpet just on the stairs. We'll see. We have a bit of time on the choice.
Peace

Mud in January? In Chicago?!?

Yes that's right Charlotte my dear. Mud in January. Drywall mud to be specific. The taping and the mudding is now done. At least its substantially done. I still need to wet sand it, and thus might need some small touch ups, but its done. I've already got the primer, so that will go up this weekend. With J busy scrap booking, we don't really have an opportunity to look at/for and select a ceiling. so instead of putting in the ceiling, I'll probably rip up the old floor tile in prep for the new floor (also needs to be picked out, but that will go in later after the ceiling, and probably the painting and wall papering. its starting to look like a functional room. Once its primed I'm sure it will really start to take shape.

Peace

Einbah Strasa

One day we said, we are going to finish the basement and put this (insert item obtained in foreign country) on the wall for a decoration. Well, year by year went by and here we are, 11 years later, finally finishing the basement and trying to locate all those "things" we had purchased over the years for decorations. T and I were sure there was a really cool brass lion head we got in Ireland...maybe. And that sign J, remember the Einbah Strasa sign we got in Germany! Boy honey, that was funny...only our second big trip, we were driving around Germany like a bunch of lost tourists when we saw the sign pointing to Einbah Strasa, lets follow it, we decided, it must lead to the center of town, or maybe our hotel! So we followed one sign after another after another until we had gone in a circle a few times.... where the heck is this "Einbah Strasa!". Turns out Einbah Strasa means One Way Street (how many years of German did you say you had honey?). We called eachother "Einbah Strasa" for years after that when either of us did something ditsy. But we actually bought a sign that said that? How cool! What a great decoration! So T gets a wild hair the other day and decides to start looking for the sign and the lion head....He was right, we bought a sign, but the sign doesn't say Einbah Strasa, it says Biergarten. Oh yah, that will be great in the kids playroom! (insert sarcasm here) And so far, the lions head, or what he thought wrapped in paper was the lions head is some silver thing that looks like it should be hanging on a Scottish kilt (that must have been an impulse buy)! Hopefully the Peruvian Sapo game is around here...... somewhere......

Smackdown with Mama

For some crazy reason after 4 years of wrestling with Papa, the boys thought it was the night for WWF smackdown with mama. I tried, really I did, but I really don't have the wrestling skills for the goofy fun wrestling extravaganza like papa does. I am far better at snuggling up with the boys to read a book. After about 15 min's of ducking my head thinking my teeth were going to get knocked out by the flying body parts, the boys finally gave up after I accidentally ended up with my finger on E1's eyeball (slimy) and my long nails caught E2 on the cheek when I went to catch him during one of his running dives. Sorry guys... i think you might want to stick with Papa for future smackdowns.

Hubby and I have talked a little today about our family planning and future stuff. I have been thinking a lot lately about this current adoption journey and how it is so different than the other 2. I imagine that the first 2 were a lot like being pregnant where there were a lot of emotions, ups and downs and looking forward with great anticipation. It really was a journey. This adoption has been different, I am not sure why, but I think I am growing tired of the journey part and longing to jump to the end. I have thought some about it and think what it is is that I am tired of the waiting and the paperwork and I just want to be mama to baby girl...right now. I think there is a time in every family's journey where you are growing your family and then a time when you stop growing your family and start raising your family. I am so looking forward to the point in which we are raising our family and I no longer have to be watching adoption boards and planning finances for another adoption. I think T and I are in agreement that there will be another little girl down the road after baby girl, but for tonight, I find myself wishing I was tucking 4little ones in.

Going Green

Its a new year, work work is already beginning to siphon off my time. But the basement progress continues. Going Green. While I did use some Owens Corning rigid foam made from recycled materials. That is not the reason for the post title, rather the Green board I used as another piece of the moisture abatement. All the drywall is now complete. Tomorrow, I'll ensure all the screws are tight, start adding tape to the joints, and adding the corner bead (plastic molding under the drywall mud to protect the corners from things like two crazy young boys!). If things go smoothly, I might even begin the mudding tomorrow.

Peace

btw I've joined into a program at the fitness center called "New Year,New You!" so I'll have to come up with a goal, and I'll be on my way with the coaching and seminars that go with it...

A Medieval Wha-Huh????

Ok, I will admit, I consider myself an inspired decorator. I would classify my style as eclectically-saturated with character and a splash of Latin America-Africa. Hmmm I think that Mr. David Bromsted on HGTV's ColorSplash (he is like my idol) would probably take me out back, hang me from a tree and paint me calypso blue if he ever got a gander at our house. Which leads me to Sweet Dear Hubby who sent me the nicest e-mail today thanking me for the wonderful dinner (I know, shocker given my cooking skill!) and also thanked me for taking care of the design details for the new basement. Ahhh yahhh.....I wouldn't speak so soon Dear.

So here is the deal, I have an existing Chicago Kinker Brick fireplace in the basement and a Belgium tapestry of the knights of the round table (woods with a bunch of shields in red, mint green and brown) to unify a design that looks like a medieval castle with a bunch of kid toys on the floor. Something tells me this could go terribly wrong.

So, I am thinking about a cream wallpaper with light brown trees for the fireplace wall as the brick has so many colors it might be overwhelming, and the trees tie into the tapestry, then a diamond pattern wall paper for the other walls on the bottom with like a cream venetian plaster kind of deal-e-o above. I will try to attach a picture of the lower wall paper. Does it kind of reek medieval to you? Or not even close?

The Basement and other Ramblings

Not sure it was all too clear in previous posts, but the big push on the basement reno is not in the least due to the fact that I am ready to haul all of the matchbox car parts, mcdonalds happymeal toys, legos, railroad tracks, stuffed animals, etc that I am constantly tripping over in our family room to the back yard and start a humungo bonfire over which I can toast marshmallows in the toxic plastic burning smoke that ensues (and yet I call myself a tree hugger), it is in fact due to the fact that K's room is presently an office and the closet, well lets just say the closet has accumulated a few things over the past 11 years we have been in the house. The basement remodel will allow us to move the computer and desk as well as the sleeper sofa that is presently in the room so the "conversion to little girl's room" can begin. The toys moving downstairs from the family room is mearly an added benefit. :)

Typing? Painful? naawww

After two weeks of hammering, splicing electrical, wielding a razor blade as scalpel on drywall, the number of cuts, bruises, gashes, in my hands are at an all time high. Even the pads of my fingers ache, making typing a challenge. No big complaints, it will all be worth it once the basement is done, its just the journey getting there that is a bit.. ahh... painful..

Pretty in Pink

Got a few moments of free time. Sssshhh. Don't tell J that I'm on the computer or else I'll hear the "How's the progress on the basement coming". My reply is "pretty in pink", as in Owens Corning insulation. Today was a sort of odd progress day. A day in which little things were done that don't really make it look like a lot of progress was made., but consumed the entire day. I added the vapor barrier on the 1 wall that needed it. I reinstalled the radiant heat units (bottom left of the photo). I built up a soffit around new waste water pipe from the kitchen/2nd floor remodel. and I framed out whats going to be our "interior" window. Lastly, it was clean up and clear much of the stuff out to make room. Now Its full speed ahead on drywall install.

Adding Some Music

Loved the music from the other Adoption Blog I follow so I convinced T to help me add some music to ours. We are currently playing music by Zap Mama. I love love love the group and it was by total luck that my sis and I got to see her in Chicago a few years ago. We were a few feet away from Marie Daulne when she walked in and she is gorgeous and she has this larger than life amazing quality to her.

While Zap Mama is a Belgian group, Maire was born in Isiro, one of the largest cities in the north of the Orientale province of the Democratic Republic of Congo. When Marie was only a week old, her father was attached and killed by Simba rebels that were opposed to mixed race relationships. Marie's mother escaped to the jungle and was arrested by the rebels but later set free because she spoke their language. Maire and her sisters were eventually airlifted out of Kinshasa with their mother and flow to Belgium. Not only great music, but a tie to our current adoption. Enjoy!

The Return of Baby Girl

Our little girl has found her way back to us. Last night we spoke with our adoption coordinator (while at our New Years Party! While everyone else is out at a party she is making adoption calls!). The news was totally unexpected, I originally thought she was calling to tell us about a new referal, turns out she was calling to tell us baby girl's adoption is proceeding and that she is now in the pastors care! What a shock and a wonderful way to start the New Year! We have new pictures. We will wait to share until we are through court. We are a bit saddened that the inability of the birth relatives to care for her has not allowed us to be her parents, it really highlights the statement that adoption is not without someone's loss, and that is truely apparent here, not only has she lost her birth mother and father, but relatives as well. My heart hurts for her.