Getting Stuff Done

We spent a lot of time working on the house this "off week" (that is Alex's week off work for clarification). The laundry room is almost totally done and it looks great! Alex got the window cased out, put in the baseboards and replaced the water heater. We also got a new range because the old one had taken to shutting itself off randomly. This was especially disturbing when I'd spent more than an hour making a pie and peeked in to find it languishing in a 200 degree oven. I ripped out all the lavender above the retaining wall and replaced it with new plants. We did all these things only with the help of unpaid childcare - thank you Christina and Mom!!

Christina and Cole bonded while attending a Biodiesel in Your Neighborhood Community Forum presented by NW Biodiesel Network. Christina got extra credit for her physics class and I heard Cole was a pretty good guy through most of the event. They then attended the Irish Week Festival at the Seattle Center where Cole did some artwork and they listened to music.



Speaking of Big Sister, Christina got an acceptance letter from Seattle U yesterday. She has also been accepted at Western, my alma mater. She's still waiting on letters from Scripps College, Macalester College, and UW.

Cole's preschool teacher sets up elaborate art projects related to the theme they are studying. This past week they studied birds. On Monday, Cole made a bird's nest and filled it with a "mama and papa chick and baby chicks". The mama and papa are cotton balls dyed yellow inside egg carton shells while the baby chicks are really eggs made of clay.



Cole with baby chick egg



Tomorrow Cole's class is going to Benaroya Hall for a program called Musical Storytelling "Bach's Goldberg Variations". I'm sad that I can't attend, alas, no babies allowed!

Alex is off to his new boat tomorrow, the M/V Hiyu, in ..... Friday Harbor.



He says he's leaving the house at 4:20 A.M. and should be home by 11 P.M., just in case you thought your work schedule was tough. He got Cole to bed tonight with books and snuggles.

We are off to Hawaii next week to celebrate my dad's 60th birthday. I'm very much looking forward to seeing Richard and Sarah, lounging on the beach, eating fried calamari at Jameson's and snorkeling. I'm not looking forward to the flight with rambunctious, loud Cole and squirmy, tired Audrey.