The "Other House" -- Outside

We're heading off to visit family this weekend and I won't be around for a while. I'm going to try setting up some posts to show up occasionally while I'm gone, so there will still be something for you to see if you check my blog. However, I probably won't be on much so you'll have to wait until I'm back to learn about my travels.

I believe most of you know about the other house. If not, here is the brief story. Ray was going crazy because he didn't have a project to spend all his spare time on. So we bought a house that needed some serious work. Ten months later it is a whole different place.

This is the first installment of pictures. (Some of these may look familiar if you recall our Christmas letter.) On the left is how it looked when we bought it. On the right is how it looks now.
Front:
New siding, new windows, added the rock on the front.


North side







Back:
Ray tore out most of the back section of the house and re-built the walls.

South side

Tough work

Walking will just wear you right out. I found Ruby like this after noticing that it got very quiet.

Cora has almost figured out how to pull herself up. Ruby is getting close, too. My shelf of globes will not be safe much longer. So far they always come to this side of the crib, but I don't expect my luck to hold out forever.

Taking a Walk

And what, you might ask, is Ray carrying over his shoulder?

Yes, it is a mop. He needed a mop at the other house (pictured) so he could finish cleaning. We're just about done with the other house. I'll put on pictures soon.

Tagged

To play this game of tag, post the rules on your blog. List 3 joys, 3 fears, 3 goals, 3 current obsessions/collections, and 3 random surprising facts about yourself. Tag 3 people at the end of your post by leaving their names. Let them know they've been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

Joys:
1-The moments when my babies smile at me unexpectedly, for no particular reason, and listening to my babies laugh and play together. It is so cute when they both start giggling.
2-Family, I'm so excited to get to see everyone soon!
3-Sleep

Fears:
1-That something will happen to Ray and I will be a single mother with no income.
2-That something will happen to me and Ray will be left with two kids.
3-That something will happen to one of the babies.
I'm sure I had fears before having children, but I really don't remember what they were.

Obsessions/collections:
1-I collect globes -- mostly because people give them to me. Of all the globes I own, I have only purchased one. I have, however, purchased most of my large maps.
2-Organizing my life. This is a very difficult task and a never-ending one. I also don't think I'm really obsessed with it, maybe if I was it might get done.
3-Sleep. I can never get enough.

Random Facts:
1-When I was single I preferred to go places alone rather than with any size group because alone you meet a lot more people. (Now that I'm married with small children I don't really go anywhere.)
2-The last time I was asked what my favorite dessert was I didn't even think of ice cream. (That even surprised me, when I thought about it later.)
3-One of the best unforeseen side effects of having children is that I get to sing the hymns at church now. I don't know how many years it's been since I got to regularly sing rather than play the hymns at church.

Now, I'm not tagging anyone. My reasons are thus: I feel that tagging is the blogging equivalent of chain mail. I really don't like chain mail and never pass it on. If anyone thinks this looks like fun and would like to participate, pretend I tagged you here. Otherwise, it ends with me.

Teeth

Update: Cora has two teeth (both lower front ones) and Ruby has one (upper). They're showing up fast. (June 22)

Cora has a tooth now! It is her first. Ruby still hasn't had any show up. I am grateful that Cora is getting teeth first because she is my non-biting child. It really wouldn't hurt my feelings if Ruby waited a while to get some.

Cora didn't seem to be bothered at all by the tooth until it showed up. She's been sucking on her fingers a lot more than usual the last couple of days. She also hasn't been napping well at all. I don't know if it's all related, but the timing makes me think it probably is.

I noticed the tooth on Tuesday when I was feeding her cereal, I could hear it hit the spoon when she would bite down. I would try to take a picture but it isn't big enough to really see just yet. Maybe after it grows in all the way.

Happy Father's Day!!

Happy Father's Day to all you fathers out there.

Our new stroller

I now have two double strollers. This may seem like overkill, but both strollers have their best uses. The tandem is great for walking anywhere and goes through doorways so much easier, but it won't fit in my car. This one folds up small enough it easily fits in my car and the girls can see each other and play together.

We got a great deal on this stroller at a garage sale. Sometimes garage sales are great, like last week when we found this stroller, a walker, and a pile of baby clothes. Then there are weeks like this one where we basically wasted three hours looking through other people's junk. You just never know what you might find.

Random Happenings

We finally got the highchairs out. The girls look so tiny in them right now, especially Ruby because she slouches. It has been so much easier to feed the girls, I wish I'd gotten the highchairs out sooner.

In this picture I was trying to capture Ruby playing with the blind cords. She was standing up on the couch, looking out the window, and got hold of the cords. Then she got swinging them around pretty good, as you can tell by the blurriness in the picture. She seemed to quite enjoy the game.

These pictures relate to stories in the last posts.

Ruby sucking on her toe.

Cora doing crunches,
it's kind-of hard to see in the picture
but she does have her head and legs lifted up.