Tippy Toes and Tantrums

Remodel: Ready to Recap From Start to Finish

I'm finally ready to talk about the remodel. People ask me questions frequently and want to talk about it, but I don't. Part is been-there, done-that, part is that is the wound is still a teensy bit open. We love the house, it's incredible, and it will work well for our family, but there is the part where I still remember the downsides of construction. Every day was a confrontation, from tiny things to huge, potential deal breakers, and it wasn't fun. Not to mention, we lived here among the dust heaps, construction tools and debris with little escape. 

I could not have done this remodel 10 years ago. I don't think at age 30 - ahem - I could have stood so strong for so long. A friend told me last year that her mother always says, "If you don't open your mouth, you open your wallet." I said that to myself many times during the remodel, that if I didn't speak up, I'd end up paying for something I didn't want, didn't work, or was flat out wrong. Here is a simple fact of construction, and really life: you are your own advocate. No one was going to speak up for us. Many times I'd point something out to our builder, only to have the response be, "yeah, I noticed that, too." What I wanted to scream each time was, "THEN WHY DIDN'T YOU DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT?" 

See, the wound hasn't healed. 

Then there are the moments, when I am sitting at the kitchen island on the family room side, working at my laptop, while dinner cooks a few feet in front of me, the kids are just behind me watching a baseball game, and golden light comes through the slats of of the kitchen shutters and I can see the pink roses outside in the sunlight. 

Or there is the morning, when I reach my office early, it's peaceful, and look out at Rocket coloring at the art table, awash in soft light. 

Those moments are perfect and it was all worth it to take our okay house and make it something that will work for us long term through the many stages of our family, with young kids, to teens, to someday an empty nest. 

This week I'll put a Band-Aid over the wound and begin to talk about what went well, what we'd do differently, and of course, show pictures, beginning with our master bathroom, simply because it is the cleanest room in the house. 

The Madhatter's Tea Party for Kids

Each class at my kids' school has an annual tradition - some event they put on for the rest of the school each year - and kids either look forward to going, participating as a student in that classroom, or reminiscing when they are older. Last week was the first grade's Madhatter's Tea Party.

The stage was set and everyone had jobs, from host to waiter to activities coordinator, and they all rotated for each tea party (there were seven total). 

The guests could select from the menu of peppermint tea, lemonade, grilled cheese or PBJ (both cut to tea sandwich size), scones and mini cupcakes. 

Backstage staff, peeking at the crowd

After the meal, there was a performance with jokes, magic tricks, piano pieces, gymnastics, and dancing. It was more than adorable. Afterward, everyone went outside for hatmaking and lawn games. 

No one went mad. Not even the parents, nor the teachers.

Eggs, Beans, and an April Fool's Day Non-Joke Joke

Easter happened with the requisite amount of eggs and sugar, both of which I ate as leftovers today, too. We dyed eggs with Kool-Aid after I saw the vivid colored eggs on Pinterest. The problem was our Target only carried Pineapple and Tangerine flavored (colored?) packs, and because I didn't want to hunt down a blue or a green flavor (color?), I ended my Kool-Aid rainbow there. Unfortunately my kids still blended the two colors together, dipping the egg in yellow and then orange or vice versa, ending up with the same orangey-yellow color on all eggs. 

Rocket asked me a great existential question of the holiday, which left me baffled: if we don't hide these eggs, why do we color them? 

We may have hunted for hard-boiled eggs when I was really young, but once people realized they didn't want to egg something left outside for an unhealthy amount of time and possibly mouthed by a squirrel, plastic eggs became king. We make the eggs because the kids like coloring them and it's the one time a year when I eat an egg salad sandwich for lunch. 

Many of you may be wondering if either of my kids ate so much chocolate that they puked. Thankfully, that tradition never took off after year one. However, the kid who over-chocolated himself until he threw up two years ago, took a new approach this year. This morning, he walked out of bed with either a giant bruise on his back or the sign of a horrific bathroom accident. His bed was it's own April Fool's Day joke with something mashed on the sheet that looked pretty gross. It ends up that someone may have eaten himself to sleep last night, and wound up sleeping on a nest of chocolate. The chocolate melted, of course, and looked rather...poopy. I opted against photos.

After a mild lecture, he retreated to the kitchen where he raided an open box of Milk Duds, and was soon busted again with one hand on the box and the other trying to liberate his teeth from the sticky Milk Dud. After both incidents this morning, he asked how we knew what he'd done. Hopefully he is this obvious about his teenage transgressions. 

Later, I found this in a cabinet pull out. This time there are two suspects, and one is not a child. 

Remodel: Living Off of Stonyfield Yogurt Smoothies

Looking back at photos, I'm shocked to remember that it was only recently that our new refrigerator was delivered. Our old refrigerator has been in our garage, which I thought was going to be just a little less convenient than having it in the house. Did I mention our garage is not attached? And downhill from the house? And the inside was slammed full of heavy boxes? 

The kids survived mainly on Stonyfield Super Smoothies and trail mix. Food had to be easy, with little mess, healthy, substantial, and - here's the tough one - the kids had to like it. After months of living that way, the yogurt smoothies and the trail mix were the only things to stay on the approved list. I have boxes of granola bars that quickly fell out of favor. 

Day two of refrigerator love: YoKids, oj, apples, butter, and bacon. Important stuff. 

The day after the new refrigerator arrived was the best day of Rocket's life (according to him, I would have aimed slightly higher): the TV was hooked up and Stonyfield helped stock the refrigerator. He pounded the YoKids sMOOthies. Both kids debated how many smoothies were too many to drink in one day. The ruling: three is perfect, four is too many. What they really meant was I'd allow three, but not four. They'd drink them by the case, if I let them. 

Stonyfield Super Smoothies are large - perfectly sized for an adult or a hungry Rocket - but the YoKids sMOOthies are kid sized, which means they make a great snack, and before opening one, I don't need to quiz Rocket on how hungry he really is and making him promise to finish it. I like that it's a healthy snack, and that while the kids think they're drinking a strawbana (you read that right) or wild berry smoothie, they don't know that the drinks contain veggies as well. Ha! Rocket wouldn't mind knowing he was taking in some pureed carrot, radish or other vegetable, but Clover would. We grab the smoothies on our way out the door to softball or baseball practice, and the kids drink them in the car. Rocket's other key time is about an hour before dinner, when he knows I'm going to say no to most other snack requests. 

The kids would not have done so well through the remodel without Stonyfield Smoothies. Our new refrigerator has a french door style opening, and at least twice a day, I catch Rocket standing in front of the open doors, admiring the food and counting the YoKids sMOOthies. Every day is a great day for him. 

Disclosure: Stonyfield provided the YoKids sMOOthies for free. We have and will continue to purchase Stonyfield products because they provide healthy products that are organic and sustainably raised. Not all yogurts in the Whole Foods refrigerator can say the same. All opinions are mine 

Remodel: The Week Everyone's Dreams Came True

A rainbow over the recycling pile was a good omen. There was something for everyone this week. 

The most boring of the exciting things belongs to Kevin. The whole house fan he'd wanted for years was hooked up today. It's so boring that it was difficult to capture in a photo. We are ready for summer. 

My range arrived! Remembering the best piece of advice from wedding planning, which is to pick the one, most important thing and spend money on it, this was one of my non-negotiables of the remodel. I cannot wait to use this, just as soon as we uncover the pots and pans. Pancakes on the griddle this Sunday! (Hopefully.)

When I bought the Wolf, our sales guy at the appliance store asked if I wanted red or black knobs. After I said red, he said that no one ever wants black. Red is the signature. It has to be red. 

The television works! Rocket had been waiting for this day, well, since the TV was disconnected in July. He was watching a PBS video called It's Okay to be Smart, and about 30 seconds into it, he said, "This is boring, " and asked me to find something new. Now he'll never learn about DNA sequencing. 

Clover's loft bed arrived! It was backordered until late May, yet it arrived just slightly early. It needs to be moved though, not because it blocks the window, but because it overlaps with her new, super powered ceiling fan. I have enough worries with the loft bed to add decapitation to the list. 

This is moving weekend. The garage needs to be empty enough for baseboard painting next week. Wish us luck. 

How to Make a Baseball Seams Stencil Wall

Rocket's room required negotiation. He wanted it painted San Francisco Giants orange, which is...bright. We settled on a toned-down orange and only on two walls to dilute it further or else it would have felt like drowning in orange juice. To get him to negotiate, I offered to paint baseball seams on two walls. 

The idea was from Simply Mom, who has better pictures, and more information in her comments on how she did it. Not only am I thankful for that, but for her note in the comments (to paraphrase) that it looks best from a few steps back. If not for her honesty, I would have given up because up close, it looks wobbly, but from a few steps back, it looks awesome. It looks amazing to the eyes of a six year old, which is what matters most to me. 

First, the walls were painted Benjamin Moore's Mountain Peak White. I took a Major League Baseball Rocket got at a Mariners game with me to the paint store to color match. But that's only because I'm detail oriented. Any white, especially a soft white, would be fine. 

Second, we tried to imagine where I'd like the seams at their closest point on the wall. This ended up being about 51 inches from the top right corner of the first wall. The problem was, due to a door and a window, 51 inches didn't work well on all of the four corners, so we fudged it a little on those sides. We cut a string to the length that would reach our desired farthest point, Kevin held one end of the string in the wall's corner, while I tied the other around a pencil, pulled the string taut, and lightly drew in the curve. That was the easy part. 

Third, I used a foam brush and leftover paint from our family room (Benjamin Moore Revere Pewter) to paint along the pencil line. Anytime I stopped or slowed, the line wobbled. The thickness of the line varies, and up close, it looked wonky. The variation is somewhat obscured by the red stitches, in the end.

Pressing on to step four, once the gray line dried, I started at the edge of each curve, then marked off four inch increments. Those would be for the red stitches. 

Fifth, once ready to paint red, I cut the end of the foam brush (and wished I'd bought a tiny square brush...) for a blunt end. I painted red from the marked points to create stitches. The stitches are each four inches long, and I'd generally mark a spot four inches on either side of my centered seam spot, so this was almost like a dot-to-dot drawing. Some stitches are good, some are awful, but again, from a few steps back, it's all good. For the red paint, I bought a 2oz sample of a Benjamin Moore red. (I went into the store to buy Heritage Red, but they were out of the small sample size, so I picked something that looked similar.) 

The sixth step should be step back and enjoy, but for me, it meant more work. When I returned after letting things dry, I found this:

Someone decided to check to see if the paint was still wet...in several spots. When it was found to be wet, what better place to wipe off the paint than the white wall? Or your own sweatpants?

My step six was to touch up the white paint. It took about four coats to cover the red. Then it was finally complete. 

Now he wants me to freehand a giant, black SF on one orange wall. No.

Impending Death Star

Yesterday, Rocket said he couldn't wait until Christmas is over, and I couldn't agree more, which is sad because this is my favorite time of year. It's that I cannot go one more day with deep discussions about Christmas lists, myriad revisions, questions about North Pole details, requests for a second sitting with Santa after one child's mind when blank the first time when Santa asked what he wanted. Rocket wants Christmas to be over because he wants to play with the three-page-long-and-growing list of toys he's certain he'll be receiving.

He's been a good boy, especially if Santa overlooks yesterday's mishap where he accidentally released a mouse in the science room at school, potentially launching the Great Infestation of 2012 that will assuredly end in a tuition increase. 

The kid wants Lego, but which set(s) has been such a painstaking dilemma for him. He fully believes that if asked, Santa will surely bring him the LEGO Star Wars Death Star that he so desperately wants. His sister pointed out the cost of the Death Star, but he countered with, "Santa doesn't buy the gifts, the elves make them." I told him the Death Star is incredibly labor intensive, and it's unclear if the elves have the bandwidth for that type of project right now. He answered that he asked for it last year too, giving them all year to build his gift.

Make it stop. 

Remodel: Bold Choices in Review

Last week was really all about Advil Cold & Sinus and Kleenex, as I caught a cold. I still have it, and nearly two weeks later, it's gotten old and annoying. Last week also marked the first time I worked from our home since July, as I waited for hours for our new iPhones to arrive two days earlier than planned. Our builder put together a makeshift chair for me with scrap wood and a planter that I somehow neglected to photograph. I wish I could publicly thank one of my neighbors for having unsecured wireless as they were the only way I survived the day, sitting on a planter in a house with no electricity. Following Murphy's Law, UPS showed up 20 minutes after I gave up and left. (Thankfully one of the crew guys was able to sign for the packages.)

Our windows arrived, which was exciting and nerve wracking as I made a few bold choices and it was time to see if they worked. 

First bold choice: color. Seeing the color in front of me, and not in a catalog was reassuring. Olive was the right choice. "Go with white," everyone said. Pshaw. 

Second bold choice: family room window design. I wanted three windows for the family room that reflected the rise in the ceiling. Our architect drew exactly what I wanted, but I was given suggestions for something different, which is what our builder wanted as well, mostly because making one big window is less expensive than three smaller windows. The more cuts, the more cost is the rule, and this would be more labor than one big trapezoid, which is what the builder recommended. I stuck with my vision, and I'm so glad I did. It adds a little design flare to the room. 

Third bold choice: self-designed door. I'd fell in love with a door similar to this during my research, but Eagle (who manufactured our windows, master bedroom french doors, and kitchen door), didn't make anything like it. Thankfully our window rep had a great can-do attitude and said he'd check to see if they could do it. When they said they could, I had to verbally explain the spaces I wanted with dimensions, which made me a little nervous. They couldn't provide a sketch of what they were going to do, making it a gamble, and we had to make a leap of faith. I was worried, but Kevin reassured me that if it was a horrible failure, we'd buy a new door in a few years, and while it would be an expensive failure, it wasn't the end of the world. With that, we leapt and I'm so glad we did. It's exactly what I wanted and it matches the exterior window color too. It gives the kitchen needed light, without feeling like it is totally open to the outside. I love, love, love it. 

A lot of time was spent with our electrician planning for lighting and a/v wiring. Kevin made sure that the wiring will handle Nintendo's soon-to-be-released Wii U. We got to try out the Wii U in San Francisco on Saturday, and the kids loved it. The kids were game focused, but my interest is how the Wii U will handle TV controls too. There will be more to come as the November release date approaches, but for me, it's important to note that this goes well beyond gaming. (While I'm a Nintendo brand ambassador, I wasn't compensated in any way for the event or asked to write about it. It happened to play into our wiring schedule.)

We ditched school and work to go to the final Giants regular season home game. It was awesome. When explaining to Rocket that there will be post-season home games because we're going to the playoffs, there was a slight misinterpretation. "We're GOING to the PLAYOFFS?!" he exclaimed. Um, not us kid, unless you want to bust open your college fund. Go Giants!

Finally last week, I calmed down about the kids getting into a good college. I was invited to a talk at Stanford, and while it wasn't the point, that was the lesson I left with. We all need to calm down about our kids getting into great colleges. It will happen. They won't all get into Stanford, but that doesn't mean they won't be at a great college that is a better fit for your child.

This week is roofing, lighting, window framing, more Advil Cold & Sinus, a Frankenweenie screening, and a fancy dinner made from McDonald's ingredients (no joke!). Stay tuned. 

When Life Pushes You Down...

Every school year I under estimate how that first week is a knock out punch. The problem is that the second week hasn't been much better. 

The kids were squabbling yesterday before school, and Rocket slipped on a deck of cards (left out on the floor, of course), which caused him to slip and spill water. He felt that this slip had been assisted by his sister, and was upset that she wasn't getting into trouble. The injustice of our justice system is a hot issue in our family right now. The other person never gets punished enough, according to my kids, marking one of the few times they're in agreement. 

Rocket went out to the backyard, picked up a stick to tap the glass, and when Clover looked out, he stuck out his tongue and flipped her off. 

She ran out of the room like it was on fire, screaming, "HE GAVE ME THE MIDDLE FINGER!"

That is what my life has been like.

The Weird Family's Summer Road Trip to Oregon and Washington

My kids go back to school late. We're talking this week, the second week of September, which is long enough to have to answer the question of why they are not in school about one hundred thousand times. To escape the unofficial truancy officers, and with most kids in school, we headed out for a less crowded vacation. We packed up the car and headed north on our longest road trip yet.

SF-->Gold Beach-->Portland-->Seattle-->Grants Pass-->home.

After a week on a road, we found ourselves spending the last night in a room that smelled like it had been bombed with Febreze and carpet cleaner moments before we checked in, just north of the California border, eating Voodoo doughnuts. "I think this is our lowest point as a family," I said. After a pause, Rocket said, "We are a weird family."

What?

"We do weird things," he explained, while picking the mini M&Ms off his doughnut.

That came back to me when uploading our photos and finding this picture of us eating grilled cheese sandwiches in the top of a double decker bus. 

He says weird, I say awesome. Tomato, tamato.

(Tomorrow I'll post about what we did. Every last weird detail.)