Ugg!

I had everything sorted out and planned. Party invites written out, maps to our house included and sealed up. I had Aidan and Brynna in the car, and the car wouldn't start. Instead of being just nearly dead, the battery is completely dead. Not even a tiny bit of power in it, despite the fact that Kevin didn't seem to have any problems with it yesterday. I had also told Aidan that if Caleigh had a good day at school, that I'd take them to McDonalds for a special treat(she had an awesome day!!). I guess I should've been smarter and plugged it in, even if it wasn't all that cold, or maybe I should learn how to either jump start or change a battery, then I'd be a bit more self-sufficient.

Done!

Well, 99% done that is. There's just a few little last details to figure out/get done, like where to put an old microwave cart that we don't have room or need for, what to do with an old tv stand that won't take the weight of Kevin's old tv or can't be trusted with our new one, and getting the chalkboard hung and what will be the art supply/game cabinet anchored safely to the wall. Oh, and what to do with the home theatre system that's down there. I'd like to bring it upstairs because I think it's just wasted on the kids down there since they won't likely be watching much in the way of tv down there since it's for playing with their toys/doing arts and crafts stuff.

I have yet to take pictures of the progress to date and will probably do so tomorrow and add them on to this post later.

Pics added!

Basement Progress

Jess and I got most of the basement cleaned up and organized on Saturday, and I attacked the carpet in the area behind the couch(although I did move the coffee table and the couch towards the t.v. so I could get more space cleaned sooner). The carpet didn't take long to dry, as Aidan and I were down there Monday morning for him to play a bit and me to do a bit of preliminary cleaning in the final corner to be done. By the time we were having dinner I had about 3/4 of the junk sorted and either tossed or in recycling from that corner. I didn't get too much more done yesterday, although I did get the couch and coffee table moved so that I could get a start on cleaning the carpet once I finish sorting stuff. I hope to have it done by the end of the weekend.

This morning on the way to the grocery store, I stopped in Home Depot to check and see if they had any of the LED desk lights that I'd seen on their website, although I wasn't too hopeful because the website indicated that they were back ordered, but that turned out that it was only on the site as the store had at least a dozen of them. I picked up one for each desk even though I wasn't sure how much light they'd give(I think it's just the right amount for the kids). I also checked the price of chalkboard paint, and it's 21.49 for 877mL of paint. I didn't double check on how much area that covers, but I'll be measuring the area we want to paint later on today and see how much we need. It might just be cheaper to get plain acrylic paint and some unsanded grout in the colour of our choice. We would probably be able to cover a lot more area that way too.

Editing to add that one can of chalkboard paint will do a single coat of where I'd like to put it.

Editing again to say that we're going to go the easier/cheaper route and take the offered chalkboard from Kevin's parents.

Win/Win

This is going to be a busy and exciting weekend around here. I got an email from Jess this morning offering her planning services to put together a birthday party for Caleigh next month, which led to a discussion of where to have the party. Kevin's mom said that as long as it was okay with me it was fine with her to hold it there, but I thought it might be easier for everyone to have it at our house. Which would mean getting off our butts and getting the basement room cleaned up and organized as the playroom asap. We started discussing it not long after Christmas so that we could get our living room back as a mostly adult space with a few things up here(mainly Brynna's toys) for the kids. This led to Jess offering to come over tomorrow and get started on the clean up!!!!!

I'm also planning on discussing with Jess the project that I have currently in the works. I want to make sure that the colour is compatible, that there's no allergy to worry about, and that she understands that there's no pressure for it to be worn on the day, it's just something I want to do for her.

6 Months Already

It's so hard to believe that Brynna is 6 months old today. It's just gone by so fast that it's scary. It seems like it was just yesterday that she was born, and now she's laughing, sitting up and teething(although as of yet, no teeth have appeared). It's probably only a matter of a short amount of time before she's crawling.

New Way to Keep Warm

I got an idea yesterday to help keep both Brynna and myself warmer while when we use the Ergo while waiting for Caleigh's bus or any other time when it's chilly out. I have some fleece that I bought a while back, planning to make diaper covers for Aidan out of, but never got around to it. I decided to make a poncho of sorts to slip over both our heads so that I can cover her and myself and not have to worry about a blanket slipping off(I can't "frog" Brynna's legs anymore b/c she's getting too big to be comfortable that way and her snowsuit is so long that her feet aren't covered properly. I had originally thought that the best way to do it would be to make an "I" slit in it but then decided that an upside-down "T" might work better instead.

I've got it all cut and will see if it needs any modification today at lunch time. It's made with about a metre of heavier-weight fleece. I think the print is quite appropriate for the time of year. If it works really well, I might go to Fabricland and pick up some different fleece for different times of year when it's not quite so chilly.

Orthodontic Appointment

Caleigh is free(or at least her teeth are)!! She was able to get her appliance removed this afternoon because everything is aligned the way Dr. Allen wants it and it's been resting long enough in the correct position long enough that it's okay to be taken out. Now if only he'd let us have some of those embarrassing pictures he took today........ Nah, I think she'd be too mortified later on.

A Good Start to the Year

Well, so far, 2010 is looking good. Caleigh's first day back to school was, in the words of her teacher, excellent (yay Caleigh!!), I did my first work out of the New Year(and didn't fail miserably at it), and Brynna slept through the night again(she's teething and has a nasty cold so she hasn't been having a great time of it through the holidays). Brynna also had her first "spin" in her excersaucer on New Year's Eve, and she really does like it.

I've started my first big lace project, a Swallowtail Shawl for someone special on their special day, and I hope to get back to my spinning practice, as I've neglected my wheel terribly since a few months before Brynna was born.