Child's Play

I feel like we really got a lot done this weekend.  We now have steps that lead into the house, all the windows are in, the house is completely wrapped and interior walls were built...then torn down and rebuilt.  Hmmm...  Anyway, I also now have all but three of my twentysome plants, grasses, bushes etc. transplanted to the new house so I'd say it was a pretty productive weekend. 

Notice the trash pile is gone!  My dad burned it.  Hurray!

Goodbye ladder!

2x4 labyrinth.

I took a box of sidewalk chalk out to the house to draw in the upstairs to see if what I had in mind would work so the girls and I had fun pretending to use the chalk drawn bathroom and walk through the chalk drawn doors.

Then the kids decided to color all over the floor downstairs and naturally that lead to drawing hop-scotch.  As soon as Gracie finished drawing the last square, rocks began flying everywhere and children began hopping all willy-nilly, like loud, squeelly, laughing popcorn.  It was obvious they had no idea what they were doing and needed an intervention.  I, being an expert on the rules of hop-scotch, calmed them all down and began to explain how to really play the game.  Once their eyes were sufficiently glazed over, I knew I had thoroughly explained the rules.  Then eight year old Gracie said, very seriously, "Hop-scotch is complicated."  Just call me the fun sponge.

I don't know which is worse, that my children didn't know how to play hop-scotch or that they now think it's hard.  This is what happens when you homeschool.  Next weekend I'll be teaching them to jump rope and hula hoop.  That should be fun!

Isaiah spent the weekend being as manly as possible for a four year old boy.  He hammered nails into everything he could and wore a piece of rope looped over his shoulder because that's just what men do.  I think it was for therapeutic reasons.  He is after all, the only boy and he's always surrounded by a bunch of girls.  I think it gets to him after a while.  These things must be done to reaffirm his manhood and regain his dignity because occasionally when his daddy isn't around to protect him, things like this happen...(I don't have five daughters.  Isaiah's the one in the hat.  Poor guy.)

My apologies go out to his father and all his grandpas and uncles.  Oh, and to Isaiah.  Sometimes girls just can't control themselves.  We must girlify everything.

Zippin' Good Time!

We had another beautiful weekend and the house is ever closer to being "dried in." The roof is on, the house is mostly wrapped and the first floor windows are in.

Finishing the roof was a little scary because Jeff used roof jacks which are held in place with one screw and there were only three roof jacks which means he was being held up by only THREE little screws! Even he was nervous!

The house will most likely still be wearing nothing but a towel, a.k.a. house wrap, when we move in and stay that way for a while. It will be enough to keep the house dry while we finish the inside so we'll wait till after we've moved in to finish the exterior. Isn't it lovely? I think it looks good with the Sanford and Son theme we have going.

If your wondering about the clothes line with the big nail dangling from it, it's a zip line and a concrete stake. More about that in a second.

Next came the windows. Now it's really starting to look like a house!

Sunday morning, while Jeff was working by himself and waiting for the rest of us to show up, he made the kids a zip line with his repelling gear. As soon as we got there the kids lined up to take turns riding it. One by one, they'd crash to the ground or get dragged across a yard full of rocks, hanging on for dear life only to be thrown off when the ride came to an abrupt halt at the end of the line. A good time was had by all. Once the kids had all the fun they could stand, Jeff put a 2x4 on it so they could sit as they zipped down the line. That turned out to be a little gentler and provided them with hours of pain free fun.

I did get a video of Isaiah who managed to survive the ride on one of his turns.