Times and Seasons

Remember when you were a kid and the winters seemed as though they would drag on forever? Or how a 3 month summer vacation from school was so long that you forgot a lot of the material that you were studying, and how you really did not think that summer would ever end?

As an adult time moves more rapidly. The reason that it seems as though time is so much faster when you are an adult is that you have many years of life experience to compare time against. A day is nothing, weeks are nothing, years and even decades come and go all while having to face your own mortality. This can be very sobering to an adult. Time.

As a child time is nothing, they have very little if any cognitive life experience to back up their life experiences. A school day is "forever", and the weekend "is years away". These are common childish thoughts. They have no concept of time.

What is the point of this rant? Why depress you with the fact that we are all getting older? It is because I now get to experience what parents for generations have been telling to their adult children,
enjoy them when they are young....They grow up so quickly".

This week Anna turned 22 months old...She will be two on the 22nd of November. Owen turned 3 months old today. He is growing so quickly and developing so well. He is laughing, cooing, smiles all the time, and gives that look that he knows who his parents are. It is amazing!
(For reference..I turned 334 months this week too!)

We thought that we would share more pictures with you all for this special week:

This one Owen looks really serious. I am not sure, but I think that he is contemplating supralapsarianism verses infralapsarianism. Or he's looking at Anna.
Look at that little grin. It seems to be cute yet cheeky.
Here is one more of Owen. It is really weird to think that Lydia and I have been married 3 1/2 years and that we have 2 kids. (We are old!...but all the grandparents are older!)
Owen always enjoys a nice kiss from Anna. Notice the blanket that Toni Dunmire made for Anna out of vintage materials. We love it!
Here is what Anna was doing before I brought out the digital camera. She was reading quietly in her room. She knows that this is the normal Sunday practice around here. Quietly reading.
Here is when she first noticed me. She said, "papa"! She has begun 3 or 4 word sentences as well this week. One phrase that she has been working on is "Miss Moey" (Marion Pickering, her Sunday school teacher.) She was practicing it by repeating it after me, and at one point she said, "Moey Miss" and then laughed because she knew that it was not correct. Very cute.
Here Anna enjoys a hug and snuggle from Lydia. I guess that Owen can have one too!



* * * For my mom...
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You can do it!! (That was a motivational cheer for my mom!)

Cruddy Study

In between being scheduled full time at work, being a full time Master's candidate, and my many familial duties there are "fun" things that must occur in order to get our basement finished and the guest room (someday Owen's) finished. We are looking forward to having the order back in our home that we normally have....But for now we live in bedlam!

Here are some of today's pics of our study being de-shelved and packed up. (Of course it is in alphabetical order and all are being cataloged before they go into their respective boxes.

Here is where we are. We have de-shelved A thru L with the exception of the one's that slip through our compulsive eyes. It is amazing how many books have been done...At least 1000 thus far, I would imagine, and probably 20-25 boxes.
Here is a look at the mess at Lydia's desk. We will each have our own study areas and we are looking forward to that. Sharing space is awful when two OCD people live in the same house and have differing methods of organization! (So, we are little crazy?)
Here is Anna playing amongst the books. She thought that climbing them was a fun expedition. We had to put an end to it when she climbed to the six feet mark. (A little safety is a wise thing.)
Lydia worked while I cataloged and boxed...It seems that she has given up on a clean desk for now. (The book by her right hand is on "no cry" sleep solutions for toddlers. She borrowed it from the La Leche League library.)
The pile of boxes grows as shelves begin to be cleared. I am amazed at how many books are on the shelves that have not been referenced for years. Even with the amount of papers and research that goes on in the study many are not touched once they are read.
Anna thought that since we were both busy she would be at liberty to use a blue-green Sharpie on the folding chair as well as paint her nails with it. I thought that it was so funny but maintained a straight face when telling her that she has to let mama or papa paint her nails. (She has great fine motor skills for her age, if you ask me.)
Here is a cry for help! I think that she would like to do something more Anna focused right now. I guess that a bath and getting ready for bed is a good thing. She has to go play with Noah tomorrow at La Leche League! (She loves Noah!)

More to come as our remodel continues.

Gothic sub-terrainian dwelling aliens

Sometimes fun things occur and you are not sure under which life category these events would fall. There are times when the normal things seem to be laden with enigmatic qualities while the down-right bizarre appear to be normal.

Life on Union Avenue is one of these places. Our home is filled with laughter, sobriety, light conversation, and deep discussion about origin and destination. Here are a few of our lighter moments that have brought us joy:

Anna came home one evening and informed us that she had joined a goth band. We informed her that to live in our home their would have to be an approved level of normality. She complied, of course.
This could be the poster child for cocaine abuse, but it is actually the exhausted head of this home after an afternoon of sanding drywall in the basement. Lydia thought that I looked dead. Blessed are the labours of our hands!
I am not sure what you think, but this reminded me of some type of alien ship from the planet Fischer Price. This was Anna's Baby Einstein play gymnasium that her grandma and newly dubbed "opa" got her when she was a month old. Owen has been enjoying it as well, but not without the careful watching eye of his dear sister. (He looks a little creeped out by her.)
Here is another one of the children at play. Here Owen is cheering for joy! "Yeah!"

Anna's blogging abilities

So Anna said to me the other day, "Papa, blah oh-poo." Which is being interpreted as, "Papa I would like to open my own blog." I said to her, "Anna, you are only 22 months old, maybe you should wait until you are two." She responded, "no two." I thought, "what a persistant little creature." She then pointed at the digital camera and said, "mine"! I knew that she was going to have to prove that she was not quite old enough for her own blog. I said, "Anna, why don't you post a few on Life on Union Avenue and see how you like it? You know, blogging is not for everyone (Such as your mother, Justin Pickering, and Gretchen Johnson), you can try a few on papa's site." She agreed....here is the results of Anna's first blog post on Life on Union Avenue.
Klos-oo (Closet)
Car-poo mama's (Mama's carpet)
fl-oh (the floor)
nigh-nigh (bedroom, or place to sleep)
say-oo nigh-nigh (Sedgwick is sleeping)
tv off (please shut off that blasted devil box and remove it from my home before my brain rots into mush just like 90% of the mindless droids that come out of the public school system.)
toes (toes.)

Well, there you have it, Anna's first attempt at blogging. She is trying to get Owen into it as well, but he is more of a hard-copy sort of guy. He prefers the smell of a seventeenth century tome to the flicker of an LCD monitor. I do not think that Owen will be doing it...at least until he's two!

Drywall days: day three

Day three and we are finished!

We got up late...or at least I did, so we got a late start, but we were able to manage. We needed to get more top coat for the job so we went to Standard Lumber for some but they are closed on Saturday. (Tara, tell your dad that people do projects on Saturday...open the store!)

So we had to go to the killer of all "mom and pop" lumber yards...Lowes. Of course they had it. So back home to begin phase three.

Here is the finished phase. We were able to get the second coat of topping on, but we had to work quickly due to Lowes not having Durabond 90...we had to go with 45. 45 minutes per coat. Quick work!
Here are two of the storage areas. (Is the one full enough?)
This is the entrance to the bathroom, we were unable to finish that as well, but I will tacke it on my own. Should be fun.
Notice the Jim Eshelman corners. Sharp as a tack. That takes years of practice. (So they tell me.)
Here is what is going to be my study area. There will be a built in desk as well as other nerdy features. The circle is the desk light.
Here is Ray Lanning's contribution to the basement project. A 1930 Kohler sink that is an original that also had its original mechanics. Godwin Plumbing restored it for us. I am glad that we have something classic in the restoration. Paige Jaquith has this same sink and faucet set in her house.
Here is dad and I enjoying a libation together. Notice that it is MGD. I do not drink MGD. The reason that I was unable to drink Guiness or Bell's Oberon is that the Plasterer's Union REQUIRES that jobs be finished with an MGD. Man, I hate unions.

At least the job is done.
Now on to the fun parts: paint, carpet, and trim.

Drywall days:day two

Day two of the drywall work has come to a close. It is 21:30 and we have just finished. All of the drywall has been hung, the seams taped, and the first coat of topcoat has been applied. Tomorrow we will finish up....hopefully. We had a 13 hour work day today. Not bad for a couple of old guys and fat 20 something. Here is dad with one of the tools of the trade. "Nate, more mud!" Yeah, that is still running through my head.
Minus all of the supplies, this place is starting to look like a room!
Here is one of the windows that Doug boxed in nicely. This one is going to be a window seat with a hidden toybox. It will make a nice reading nook.
Here is Jim Bob standing around with his hand in his pocket. (This is rare..in the 13 hours, we took only a 10 minute Starbucks break.)
Here is the corner of the basement and another window. Can't wait for this to be done!
Doug framed in the stairs nicely and also built in an area under them for a deep freeze. We are looking forward to filling it with Jaquith beef again this year. Mmmmm..beef.
This illustrates the wonderful job that my dad does taping and covering seams.

Drywall days: day two: post two

It seems as though "Opa" has a little helper that finds it very necessary to help out.
Here is Anna helping out. She really does help in her own little way. It's not always wanted help...but its help. We love having her with us while the work gets done. Free entertainment.
By the end of the night she was covered in dust, plaster, dirt, grime, water, filth and any other synonym that you can come up with.
She decided to get down and to go play in the electrical boxes instead of plastering. What a great time!

Last in the series tomorrow evening!

Drywall days: day one

The drywall days have finally arrived. My father arrived on Union Avenue at about 22:30 on Wednesday evening. I left work early (thanks Charles, RN) and headed home with a pizza and a case of "thanks dad." We enjoyed some food and conversation before bed and discussed the long weekend ahead.

Dad thinks that he will be able to finish all of the drywall, from hanging until finish coat, by Saturday evening. The pictures are here...we will see.

This is actually one of the last things that we did in the evening. We hung drywall until about 19:30. We were whipped, but the evening ended well at the Outback Steakhouse! Sorry you missed it mom.
Anna was our little helper in the basement. She handed me the drywall screws and also fell about 20 times. She tripped over drywall, extension cords, tools, herself, and I think that at one point, she even tripped over her shadow! (She was a big help though... its important to raise industrious children.)
Here is Sedgwick scratching his ever sensitive skin. The dust may have been too much for the little guy. Looks like Benadryl and salami is on his menu for the evening. When Doug and dad began the work, Doug noticed a smell in the basement that was less than worthy of discussion on this site.

Dad slipped.

Looks as though Sedgwick still is not a Jim Eshelman fan. (Need I say more?)

Here is dad and Doug Sikma attempting to figure out whose drill is whose. They both have the same one and got a little confused. They worked it out though.
Here is Nate doing manual labor. For all of my faithful readers at Pine Rest...enjoy. Looks like nerds can do things like hang drywall too.
Here are the two basement rennovation engineers. They work well as a team. Maybe my parents will move here and open Sikma-Eshelman Construction and Restoration. Notice how much was accomplished at the mid-day point. Doug commented that Lydia demands perfection, so we had better do it right! Work makes free, right Lydia?
Here dad is sinking a screw into the wall. (It actually looks as though it is being sunk into his finger!)
Here is how we left it at the end of the day. We will have to see what tomorrow brings. Its 22:39 and I see that dad is sleeping...I hope that he can sleep past 6:00 today...that is too early for me.
I do appreciate having him here, though. I can also learn some things that I should have learned while I was being a selfish, bratty teen.

See you tomorrow!

From the archives.

A little something from the archives. I cannot believe how fast these little critters grow!

As a public service announcement: The American Pediatric Association does not recommend the use of walkers.

I on the other hand do....Does everyone remember The Bratmobile? Soon Owen will be scooting around in it. Oh, so dangerous! Love it!

Killing me softly

Any parent of more than one infant/toddler can tell you that there are one of two ways that the older sibling will act towards the younger and more vulnerable sibling. The humorous part of the two methods of sibling interaction result in the same end: injury.

The first type of elder to younger sibling interaction is that of the jealous and subtle type. This sibling is the one that puts the pillow over the face of the new baby while pretending to show it the pattern on the pillow. This is also the one that punches the sibling or gives it little head butts in the name of kisses. Thankfully this is not Anna towards Owen.

Anna is the other dynamic in the sphere of sibship psychology. Anna is the sibling that wants to always hold Owen, count with Owen, name all of the orifices on Owen's head, and most definitely kiss him all the time!

I guess that I would rather have children that are overly affectionate towards one another than ones that have violent rages in the name of jealousy.

Here is Anna playing a lazy version of name that body part. Sometimes for fun she will point using the digital portion of the lower limb. This of course is much more exciting than using her index finger. Here she is saying, "head". Owen is saying, "ridiculous"!

This is one of Anna's favorite moves. This is referred to as "drop, hug, and roll". This move always ends with us saying, "Be gentle Anna, he is a baby"! She will usually give him a kiss and roll off.
But these are the times when it is all worth while. These pictures were during the Sunday nap. Anna woke up and decided that it was not time for her terrorize the home yet, so she cuddled in next to Owen, covered herself with his blanket, gave him a couple of soft kisses on the cheek and fell asleep next to him.


I love these times. It is amazing how this little family that began less than four years ago is growing and developing into a loving home. This is Life on Union Avenue.