The walls are up, the drywall screwed on and tape is being applied as I type.  Quite honestly, I just walk around, gazing at it all and marvel that it is mine.

Three bedrooms and a bathroom went upstairs.  The “common area” (used to be called a hallway when they made them narrower) isn’t quite big enough for much, but it definitely feels open and airy.  I like the recessed lighting in it.  The bathroom is very small.  Just enough room for a 60″ double sink, toilet and tub/shower.  The girls’ bedrooms are about 11×12, Chip’s maybe 10×11.  Perfect size for kids.

The kitchen is going to be wonderful.  The new cabinets arrive next week some time, not that we are ready to install them yet, but we are getting close.  The new range is in and I’m hoping to order the new refrigerator before the kitchen is complete, though I’m trying to stay within budget and that might be one area where I have to wait.  We are using our old dishwasher and disposal.  The base cabinets that form the bar overlooking the breakfast room is going to be very nice – it’s where the sink and dishwasher are and has a raised area to eat at.  I wish I had made the breakfast room two feet longer, but whatever.  I’m picking a narrow table for the breakfast room and going with backless chairs for the bar.  Problem solved.  The windows were installed last week and they are stunning.  They make the 2′ shortfall not feel so obvious.

I’m going to gut the powder room myself and then pay the contractors to carry the wood floors going into the kitchen on into the powder room and then install the pedestal sink and toilet I’m buying from Home Depot.

I’m planning to make the kids’ old bedroom into my craft/sewing/scrapbooking/computer room.  Yay!  That moves me out of the downstairs office which John plans to make into his Mancave.

When I’m not thinking about my new mortgage, all I can think is:  Life is good.

Mare had her first basketball practice last night.  She didn’t know about it until I picked her up from school because I almost dropped the ball and didn’t get her registered in time I hadn’t told her about it.

Not that it matters at this age, but Mare is on the short side.  While she looks like me feature-wise, she seems to have gotten her height from the paternal gene pool.  When I see her in a group of girls at soccer practice, I’m stunned that I have created this child who is, well, little. For someone who was never little, in fact often thought of herself as the Jolly Green Giant when hanging out with her friends, I’m secretly thrilled for her.  Not feeling like you stand out all the time can be so liberating – I imagine, because lord knows I would not know how that feels.  But, I have to say that there were times when my height came in handy – like when I played basketball.  I was never great, but modestly good and tall enough that I could block a shot pretty effectively.  Back in the day, though, a kid didn’t start basketball until fourth grade.  That seems sane.  Appropriate.  Not so these days.

So, ever since last winter when some of her classmates played basketball, and she didn’t because her mom thought basketball in 1st grade was kind of crazy and Mare had just started taking dance and geeze – I already drive kids around non stop, I just didn’t want one more place to go, she has talked about wanting to play.  And talked.  And laid the guilt on THICK.  So I signed that kid up right away.  Well, erm, as soon as the coach contacted me and let me know that while I had missed the official sign up time (I blame my disorganization on the construction chaos at my home right now) they had extended it and there was ONE spot left.  I drove the check over ASAP.

She was thrilled when I told her on the way home from school that tonight was the night of her first practice.  Ecstatic.  We went to my mom’s for dinner and she was too nervous and excited to eat anything but cereal.  The french onion soup and salad apparently had the potential to give her a headache because of her nerves.  Ditto the slice of impossible pie (gotta love eating at Grandma’s.)  Finally 6:40 arrived and we left for the gymnasium.  I dropped her off and went back to help my mom clean up ran a bunch of errands and stopped by home to make sure my oldest was reading, which she wasn’t.  Got her started on a new book and drove back to the gym and sat to watch the practice.  And laughed my butt off.  Well, not really because then I would be able to fit in my skinny jeans.  But I laughed.  A lot.

These second grade girls were brutal!  And my daughter might have been the most aggressive.  I don’t know what happened, but she wanted that ball.  She wanted that basket, really, so badly that sometimes she forgot to dribble after managing to yank the ball from another girl.  Mind you, she was lacking, well, skill.  But the determination was oozing out of her.

After practice she was talking about all the at home practice she plans to do, per her coach’s instructions.  And, you know, I’m looking forward to shooting hoops with the kid.

Chip and I were driving down the road yesterday, talking about letters of the alphabet.  Do you know how hard it is to come up with words that begin with a certain letter?  Try it!  See – hard.  Right???

“Aaaaa – what letter is that sound”

“R!”

“No, no, listen “aaaaa”.  It starts the word apple”

“T!”

“Um, no.  “aaaaa” – It is an “A” Chip!

“A!”

“Good!  It also starts words like Aunt Amy and, um, apple (shit – already said that one), and um, ant (way to confuse the kid)!  And………………….. anteater!” (I am sooooo lame)

“What is an anteater, mom?”

“A big hairy animal with a long snout that goes around sucking up ants with its snout.  We’ve seen one at the zoo.”

“Well, I know it can’t live in a desert because then it would die from sucking up sand.”

Um.  Yeah, ok.  Well thought-out, my boy.

Have I mentioned that Chip is a pro at preschool?  He still needs an extra hug or two at drop off, but he seems to be really enjoying it – and is proud of that fact.

Yesterday they went on a field trip to the farmers’ market.  I had hoped to go but Mare has been sick (day 3) and thus couldn’t.  Though I was disappointed, I decided it might not actually be a bad thing for Chip.  Quite honestly, I’m pretty sure he was far better behaved without my presence.

I was late for pick up and he was the last one in the room, helping his teacher stack chairs.  She told me what a big helper he was on the field trip, holding the hands of the younger kids.  I glowed with pride because I know that is the real Chip, but not the Chip I get to see very often.

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The real Chip.  Just like the real Bird is the one the teachers rave about, that my friend tells me is such a grown up young lady when riding to piano lessons without me.  Not the Bird that talks back to me and screams at her little sister. The real Mare is the one that parents love to have over for play dates because they just go so well.  She is so polite and quiet, yet her friends have fun, I’m told.  The one whose teachers tell me is smart and respectful at school, getting along with a variety of children.  Not the Mare that teases her siblings and whines to her parents.

I love having glimpses of these real kids because it reassures me that I’m doing it right even though their behavior can be all wrong in my presence.

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Last night after getting back from my parents – where we have been eating dinner every night during the construction – the girls started playing with their Polly Pockets.  They had some elaborate scene going and though I hated to disturb them, by 8:15 is was nervous about getting them in bed at a decent time.  I was told they were “almost done” and so I gave them 7 more minutes and stood outside the door listening.  The dolls were getting married at this point, and I guess the girls wanted to end the scene with the wedding.  I found this so fascinating.  That there was an end to the story they had concocted.  That my 10 year old still wanted to play dolls.  That they could play together so well.

Those are my real kids.  Sometimes.

I was up until 12:30 last night clearing out the kitchen.  The rain has stopped work on the roof (which is going incredibly slow – two guys don’t make much progress on a roof, apparently) and yesterday they took out the exterior kitchen wall, the wall that encased the new stairs and the header in the dining room.  That done, it is much easier to see how open everything is going to be.  I’m so hoping this is going to look as good as I imagine it will.  So anyways, with the rain continuing, the only thing left to do is tear out the kitchen.  So everything needed to be out.

You can’t even imagine how much stuff was in my kitchen.  The small appliances alone were overwhelming.  Three crockpots. two rice makers, an ice tea maker and, well, you get the picture.  And I had to find a place to put it all.  Like, um, the basement floor?

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The girls come home from school every day and go up in the their new rooms.  Which right now have only studs for walls.  But they can imagine.  Bird picked the only room facing the back yard, which means it will be the darkest in the morning – a good thing.  She has her whole room planned out – furniture is theoretically placed, themes planned.  She even picked out the comforter and accessories, which I purchased and put away for Christmas.

Mare wants her room to be all white with multi-colored polka dots.  And she picked the large front bedroom with the biggest window.  So, the sunniest room.  Natch.

Chip could care less what room is his (the smallest) or what it will look like (race cars.)  He just likes playing with all the power tools lying around.

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The kids and I met some friends for dinner at Quiznos last night before they took their daughter and mine to piano lesson.  Chip was a freaking nighmare.  When I told him he had to quit climbing on everying he said “But mom, I can’t behave because I am so bored.”

Because I am insane, I then took him to TJ Maxx because I wanted to try and find something cheaper than what I bought for my high school reunion this weekend.  Amazingly, he behaved really well there.  While he did climb in the racks of clothes, he was very concerned about being near me at all times and called for me if he couldn’t find me.  This is unusual and a welcomed change.  Hopefully it is permanent.

I took him in the changing room with me and gave him the piece of plastic with the number 6 on it to hold.  He looked at it as I undressed, rotating it around and then asked “Is this a 6 or a 9?”  I told him it could be either but in this case it is a six because I have six things to try on.  And I discretely shook my head in amazement.

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Yeah, so 20 years later, I’m headed to my reunion.  I see a lot of the people all the time around town – more this year because an amazing number of women who I haven’t seen in 20 years take their kids to the same preschool that Chip attends.  It will be fun, but I sure do wish I had lost that extra 20 lbs I gained after Chip was born…

I picked Chip up from preschool on Thursday and was told he had a good day.  His first.  Yay!

Honestly, it was a battle of wills and he just had to figure out that I was, in fact, going to make him go whether he had good days or not.

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Speaking of battling wills, Chip is the poster kid for determination.  Friday I made the mistake of letting him bring his scooter to pick up.  We walked/rode up to the front of school and instead of stopping, Chip saw the crowd of people as an excellent obstacle course and took off like lightening.  I caught him and told him he could not ride in and out of the crowds of parents waiting for their kids to come out.  This was, of course, after he had already done it, because he can ride much faster than I can walk.  My “no” was not received well.  He lost it.  Major tantrum right there in the front of the school.  Impressive.  I finally got hold of his alternatingly limp and flailing body and carried him and the scooter to the side of the waiting area, where he say in a puddle crying.  I started talking to a friend and made the mistake of setting the scooter down.  Chip grabbed it and took off like rocket on the thing, weaving in and out of parents. Subsequently, I got to repeat the whole tantrum thing again.  Super-Duper!

Just before I caught him a friend called out from a few feet away, amazed at Chip’s scootering abilities.  Yeah – they impress me too, but NOT in front of school, breaking multiple school rules.  Gah.

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Chip had been bugging me to take him ice skating and so when Chip’s classmate’s mom told me she had signed up her son N for skate lessons, I thought it would a great opportunity to get Chip skating independently and promote a potential friendship.  Except he graduated from SAM 1 after the first lesson.  So while I’m glad that all those times I took him skating last winter means we aren’t starting from scratch, I’m disappointed that he won’t be in class with N.

He loves ice skating.  I told John that I know he would also be thrilled to try youth hockey – a sport that is strong in our town.  John was against it – too much contact.  I was planning to debate it more with John until I listened to Fresh Air on Friday.  The guest was talking about aggression in male baboons and talking about the human ritualization of aggression with sports such as football and hockey.  And I decided right then and there that John was right.

We’ll hold out for baseball and soccer.  Perhaps speedskating if he continues to be attracted to the ice.

Last night was intake conferences.  A time when we meet with the teachers one on one and tell them about our child so they can better understand each student.  A time when I can’t think of a thing to say.  Well maybe a thing (or two) but not enough to fill the 20 minutes we are alotted.  So I ramble.

Mare’s teacher confirmed that she is quiet and reserved in school.  A rule-follower.  Just as her first grade teacher said and once again john and  I were totally blown away.  This is so not the outgoing, vivacious child we know.

Bird’s teacher said she appreciated my emails letting her know the little things – Bird was upset about her homework, she had a bad morning, she loves the current book they are reading, etc.  It was good to hear that because although I feel compelled to write them, I often wonder if the teachers think it’s TMI.

I had a little intake, of sorts, yesterday with Chip’s teacher.  It was my turn to help in the classroom and boy did he put on a show for me.  He did not want to join the class on the blue rug.  He wanted to play.  After Mrs. J called him, repeatedly, he finally acquiesced but  insisted on bringing a toy which is against the rules since toys are distracting.  So, he distracted the class for the entire rug time.  Additionally, he did not want to put his smock away and when Mrs. J took his hand and forced him to, he got mad and took it off its hook and threw it back on the ground.  Fortunately, Mrs. J took it all in stride and, once again, forced his hand to pick up the smock and put it away.  Chip’s response was a tantrum.  Short-lived, but still.  Lovely.  Mrs. J also laughed about Chip’s tendency to explain and rationalize his bad behavior with lots of “buts” and general long-windedness.  Yeah, I can relate.

Mrs. J also told me that yesterday was spectacularly over the top for Chip – that many of the kids act up for the moms and usually he does jut fine.  I can only hope that is true.

It has just started and yet.  Wow.  The lack of air conditioning in this crazy-humid place might be the death of us.  No, it isn’t hot but it is freaking muggy.

I made dinner last night – frozen ravioli and canned sauce (gourmet cooking!) and was draining the pasta just as my brother called to invite us over to my mom’s for dinner (he had made bread and brought it over.)  I threw it in the fridge (gourmet grub tomorrow, then) and we left the sweltering furnace that is our home for the cool, conditioned home of my parents.  Ah, sweet relief.

They have the roof cut out to the exact dimensions of our addition (it looks so cool) and the new joists down in 75% of the area.   If the rain holds off, I’m thinking they’ll finish installing the joists and floor this week.  Then on to the walls!

Yeah – rain.  Only on nights and weekends so far.  Though I doubt I’ll be lucky enough to claim that by tomorrow.

Charlie spent the afternoon playing in the large pile of dirt in the backyard.  Then tracked it into the house.  When I told him he could go outside but had to stay off the dirt pile, he said “but it is the funnest part!” and I couldn’t argue with that.  I will be spending time with the vacuum this afternoon.

during a remodel:

Make (very yummy) meat loaf in the oven in early September when the contractor has disconnected both the air conditioner and the attic fan.  I believe the house is still 20 degrees hotter than the outside air.

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The foundation for the breakfast room is poured!  Chip loved that action.

They are also up on the roof adding floor joists but I can’t actually see any of that so while it is extremely loud, it isn’t quite as eventful.  Seeing the inside of my attic from the street is a little disconcerting.   So far, no feet though our ceilings.

So, it might take longer than two weeks to acclimate Chip to preschool.  Yesterday, his third class, was actually the worst.  I left him kicking and screaming as his teacher held him and eventually resorted to throwing him over her shoulder until the tantrum ended (she told me.  I left like a good mother.)  He claims he is shy, but really, I’ve never seen Chip shy.  Ever.  But I understand anxiety and I’m trying to be accommodating but in the end, he just has to accept the reality of school.  Better now than Kindergarten.

As I carried him into school he screamed asked why he has to go to school ALL THE TIME.  I had to stifle my laugh as I explained that in reality, he only goes two days a week.  For 2 1/2 hours…

When I came back to pick him up, he was busy playing with another boy and didn’t want to stop.  Such a cliche.

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In other news, we have started our addition!  We came back from our trip to Chicago (museums and American Girl Place) on Monday to a missing roof.  By Tuesday the the other side of the roof was gone and the foundation for the kitchen addition was poured.  Whoo-hoo!