setsy time

Kaiden in very odd accent:

"Hi, my name is Borat...I want some setsy time. hahahahahahahah, muuuhahahahaha!!!!!"

hmmmm.....wonder who he learned that one from.

don't want to get up....

...because its freeeeeezing!
I did not want to leave this cozy cozy spot. We have no central heat, only space heaters. We walked out of our toasty bedrooms this morning into a 27 degree living room! (it was so cold you could see your breath) We put on our winter hats, slippers, and sweaters, and cozied up with some hot chocolate and a big comfy blanket in front of the heater till it started to warm up a bit.

"I shouldn't have wished for it to be winter. This is not the arctic Mom!! It's Florida...toasty warm Florida."

Now Kaiden is in the backyard in full snow gear wishing for rain so that it would snow.

two down. one to go.

In our house injuries ALWAYS come in threes.

#1. running smack into the mailbox with his face while riding with no training wheels

#2. rain boot accidentally flying into his eye. (could have used a couple stitches)

#3. hasn't happened yet but we're patiently awaiting its arrival. Hopefully this one won't require a trip to the hospital.

learning to ride

Yesterday Kaiden decided he was ready to take the training wheels off of his bike. He told us that he would be ready when he got elbow pads, knee pads, and wrist guards from Santa Claus for Christmas. And sure enough - Santa came through!

He had a few rough tumbles (including smacking into the mailbox getting a nice bloody cut on his jaw) but always got up laughing.

With just a day or two more of practice he's going to be riding on his own.....sniff sniff.....he's growing up so fast!!!

men at work

We've been doing some more work to the bathroom and luckily Randy has a good friend, Adam, to help and really knows what he's doing! Randy ripped up the old nasty green linoleum and found very old terracotta tile. The tile was in horrible shape so he removed that found the original wood floor underneath. The wood was covered in a tar material they used to glue the tile on and couldn't be sanded down. So Randy and Adam tore out all of the tar covered wood to find yet another wood floor! And look at the shape of this floor! UGH!!!

And yes, this is a HUGE hole in the floor that goes straight through. That is the earth underneath our house. A lot of the floor was termite eaten and rotten from water damage.

But these two fools have it all figured out. They worked so hard today cutting new wood for the floor! It's going to be gorgeous! Randy's going to sand, stain, and seal the floors tonight. I can't wait!!!

Next project? The abandoned furnace area in our kitchen will become a much needed closet!

new years resolution

I try very hard throughout the day to be as present as possible but i often find myself slipping. I get caught up in the mountain of laundry, the dishes calling to me in the sink, the dirt on the floor that sticks to my feet, and other small unimportant things that I feel have to be done before I can stop and really pay attention to my little guy. I find myself saying "just let me finish this" or "give me just 10 more minutes" more than I would like. While trying to enjoy simple moments with Kaiden often times I find my mind wandering thinking of all the things that aren't being accomplished.

My new years resolution for 2008 is to be more present in the everyday moments!

I will stop and enjoy Kaiden's imagination every time I sit down to play with him. I will truly listen to his very important questions and give him the best answers I can. I will tie his shoe laces to go out the door without griping about how wiggly he is or how dirty his face is. I will help tidy up the toys without whining to him about having to do this over and over again. I will buckle him into his seat without yapping about all the crumbs on the floor of the car. I will let him get out projects without first saying, “Try not to make a big mess, okay?”. I will slow down. I will enjoy the little things. I will do my best to keep my mind fixed on the moment without planning for and worrying about the moments ahead.

I will!!! At least I'm going to try really really hard!

by the fire

What perfect weather for a night by the fire! Crisp, cool, a little windy... Kaiden had a blast running about finding the perfect roasting sticks, making burnt hot dogs, marshmallows, and experimenting with throwing things into the fire.

We let the dogs join us and boy were they excited! We shared our hot dogs with them(we went through 2 packages!) and they were more than happy to pick up our burnt marshmallows that dropped to the ground. Charles was a bit concerned about the fire due to an incident many years ago that has obviously done some emotional damage to him! He wanted to make sure that every marshmallow that caught on fire was out and spent most of the time in our lap making sure we weren't being hurt.

I'm so happy we made this little pit. It was so relaxing sitting by the fire, all curled up in our sweaters, just spending time together doing something so simple.

day 19

day 18

day 16

day 15

day 12

day 11

day 8

day 7

day 5

day 3

day 2

day 1

For the next 30 days we will be just showing images of everyday life…a documentation for ourselves that we will share with you. No words…just living.

before and after

Need I say more?