Roddie Report: Birthday Party!

Roddie will be 3 this upcoming week, and with all the birthday parties we've been to recently, he was pretty excited to have his turn!  I wasn't quite sure what to do for him, with the house and yard in their current state (although, I suspect most 3 year old boys would love a visit to a construction site!).  I also didn't want to have something at a party place - Roddie really has not reacted well to the large spaces and throngs of kids, so it doesn't seem like it would be about him.  While we love the neighborhood gang, none of the kids are really his age, and the only kids he really plays with at this point are the proverbial girls next door - Erin and Allie, and Jack. 

So, what we ended up with was a heading to the playground with a small crowd of his closest buddies from school and the few kids from the hood.  It's somewhat 'home turf' for Rod, as we've been there plenty of times, and there really weren't too many people there other than us, despite the perfect day.

It wasn't only the weather that was perfect, I feel like the party was a perfect fit for Rod.  He got to be the center of attention on a scale that worked for him.  We rounded out the day with a swim at the beach adjacent to the playground and a 2 hour nap for Dad and both kids.  After dinner I went for a walk while Matt got started on an outside movie night in our screen house.  All in all, a stellar day!

Dad swinging the kids while we wait for friends to arrive

The boy asked for a ball party, and a ball party he got!

Friends from the hood... Erin, Allie, Norah and Roddie



Rod's school posse, Dominic, Kendall, and Alex

The whole gang - Alex, with his sister Elsa, Allie, Kendall, Roddie, Norah, Erin and Dominic, who was a little reluctant to line up for a photo

Fly, Little Buddy, Fly... 3 is gonna be great!

DW2DT: Day 33

Here at the DW2DT compound we've reached the 30% mark, at least as far as the planned schedule goes.  It's really pouring outside and I am working from home/trailer as I'm taking a mental health break this afternoon to get my toes painted and some final preparation for Roddie's birthday party tomorrow.  (and my sanity, Matt is going to be really busy at work over the next couple of weeks, the kids have a lot of appointments over the coming weeks between starting school and turning 3, and my own work is pretty stressful, though not in a busy way, at the moment... oh, and we're building a house and living in a trailer...)  Anyway, it's pretty cozy here in the camper with the rain beating down outside.  Tim just asked if I needed a coffee, and life is good, although clearly, I am not getting much work done. 

Things are moving along inside the house, or at least it sounds like they are very busy in there!  Each day I see some more wires and pipes in the house, so while it's not nearly as exciting as when the roof goes on, it's definitely getting us closer to normal life again.   

Downstairs Potty tucked under the stairs... no dashing up the stairs for us!

TWO new tubbies, sitting in Roddie's room... one for us, one for the kids.  Or, if we go with Norah's preference, one for the boys and one for the girls (I think she may be on to something...)  Not sure, but they may be going in right now!  Can't wait to have a regular shower again!

Foto Finish Friday: 2013 Week 31

DW2DT Day 30: The Guts

As expected, here at DW2DT Camp MacS, the excitement is starting to wane a little as all the "big stuff" is beginning to wrap up.   The first month of construction has really been exiting, with something new to see almost every day after work.  I've been trying to brace myself for a slowdown as the finer details get started, and phasing of all the various trades invariably starts to slow things down.  However, that didn't prevent me from feeling a little deflated towards the end of last week when the framers moved to their next gig.

But not to worry, the excitement continues on the compound!  The framers were back on Saturday morning before we were up, and did a bunch more work on the front porch!  Then, Monday, the electrician AND the plumber arrived to begin roughing in the guts of the house that must go in before the walls go in.  Word is that they'll be on site until they're done with the roughs, so that's good news.  Matt and I are making detailed decisions seamlessly on a daily basis (<< part of that statement may or may not be true!)  locations, fixtures, and finishes oh my!

If you want the play by play of the construction, you're free to check Beantown Bugle: The Build, our special feature section authored by Matt.  As for me, well, these are few of my favorite things!

That'd be an upstairs laundry room people!!  The Washer and Dryer outlet are shown and the hole where the plumbing will come thru.  Rod's room in the background.

Location of the MBR vanity (yeah, that's TWO sinks!), and *gasp* walk-in closet behind.  LOVE!

Adventure Chronicles: Family Fun Day - Boston!

I've been itching for a beach day, or more specifically a family fun day,  But between the house and the many many birthday parities we've been invited to lately, it's been tough to find a weekend to go.  In any case, we cleared our calendars for Saturday and plans were set.  Unfortunately, the weather didn't agree - it was exactly as the weatherman predicted - 80 and intermittent clouds.  So, we quickly regrouped, and decided to head into the "Big City" (Curious George reference), with no particular plan in mind.

Our adventure started off with a subway ride - turned out to be just about the highlight of the trip.  Then we wandered around the Common, saw a bubble man and took a ride on the Carousel.  Then we wandered over to the public gardens to check out all the places featured in Make Way for Ducklings.  By then, we were getting a little fried (especially since the kids were up late the night before at their first ever trip to the drive in!!) so we set out to find something to eat.  Our timing was bad, or at least the same as everyone else's as there was a line pretty much every place we tried, so we ended up eating hotdogs in Copley Square, which suited us just fine.

Of course, Copley Square is very near the site of the Boston Marathon bombing that took place earlier this year.  Norah was watching the marathon with me when it all started to happen, so she was aware of it, and we've talked about it on and off since then.  I decided I would tell her that this is where it had happened.  So as we waited for a light to change, I stopped and pointed and showed her, watching her reaction.  After we crossed, I stopped her again, and said maybe we should say a little prayer for the people who were hurt that day.  She looked at me, in a way only she can, and said "Mommy, I already did!  Over there when you showed me"  Of course, I teared up and thought to myself, that maybe, just maybe, we're doing ok with these kiddos!

 

Waiting for our train...

Checking out the Construction along the way

Quack, Quack, make way for ducklings!

Swan Boat Ride

Foto Finish Friday: 2013 Week 30

DW2DT Day 24: Coming Into Focus

Things have been moving along on the exterior of the house over the past few days.  We're nearing completion on the siding, with at least 75% of each side complete.  We're waiting on the new sliders on one side, the power company on another, and the front was waiting on the farmers porch, which has started to take shape.  The new front door should be in next week and the façade can be completed.  It feels good to have the outside coming close to being wrapped up - water tight and secure, and I'm getting anxious to start seeing the inside come together.