Finis (That's Latin for finished!)

The basement is finally finished. This is the last basement post that deals with the renovation. (See the second post on this blog for a comparison!) There are some people that need to be thanked for getting this job done:

-Lawrence Malysa: the birthday gift.
-Sikma Construction: doing the majority of the work.
-Irmgard Malysa: the lovely couch (the capstone of the project.)
-James Eshelman: the 30+ hours of plaster & drywall work.
-Lydia Eshelman: putting up with the mess and my irritability through this whole project.
-Brian Anderson: many hours of labor and theological discussion.
-Paige Jaquith: many hours of labor and design ideas.
-Marion Pickering: design ideas.
-Starbucks: getting us through!

Enjoy the pictures. This adds a whole new dimension to Life on Union Avenue!

Here is one of the closets and some shelving...Lydia and I cataloged and alphabetized the thousands of books in my theological library to add to the project.
All of our artwork is vintage (teens-40s) posters that deal with books. This one is from a story hour club at a library.
This is my work area. Doug Sikma calls it the catacombs. (Google it.)
Here are more of the fantastic shelves. Notice the "butter cream" color in the background.
Here is the bathroom door. The bathroom is not finished at this time due to funds running out. We will finish this with-in the year.
A fantastic column that Doug Sikma built. The crown moulding is from the Lanning's 1860's Stick Style Victorian (thanks Ray!).
Here is the window seat which opens into a toybox as well as the built in bookshelf that holds some of our children's books. (This poster is from a children's story collection from 1915.)
Here is the couch as well as the stairs towards the kitchen. We love the carpet.
This is Lydia's work area. (It looks a little messier than mine but it is really well organized.) The poster here is a World War I poster requesting books to be mailed to the boys fighting in Europe.

Stop in and see it! (Basement warming party TBA!)

The tricks of the trade

There comes a time in every father's life in which he begins to really enjoy his children.
(Gasps from all around...What a jerk!...But wait....)
When children reach the age of three months or four months they begin to do cute things that set the attachment hormones in high gear. Baby will coo more, smile, respond to your goofy faces and noises, and even begin to take on more human characteristics such as extended limbs. (Don't get me wrong: babies are human when Mr. Sperm meets Mrs. Egg).

Owen has begun to do some of these cute things. His latest trick is that he rolls over all the way. Exactly like Anna, Owen gets agitated at the fact that his arm gets stuck under his body and he cannot remove it. He also gets stuck on his side at times, but is able to put his weight into it.

This is all really cute...But Owen has not learned how to go BACK onto his back. He gets very frustrated with this. For all who have children or have been around them you know the scene. Baby rolls onto stomach...Baby is cute and proud of him or herself....Baby's neck gets tired and begins to flop around like Notliberal's Ronald Reagan bobble-head doll which graces his kitchen counter. It is very funny.

Here is a series of action shots of Owen doing the roll-over. He loves it!

Step One: Throw your weight towards your dominant side.

Step Two: Complete roll using combination of gravity and good ol' ingenuity.


Step Three: Look around to make sure that everyone saw you.

Tute Mama Tute.

Anna is talking up a storm. The quiet days of peacefully reading in the dimly lit sun room are over. The days of lets play and yak! yak! yak! Have begun. Our lives have changed....But we like it.

Of course, Owen is "tute O-O" which is being interpreted as "cute Owen".
Here are two of Anna playing at her new table that we got off of ebay for her to have in the basement. It is "French country" style and Anna lets us know that it is "Anna's chair". She will line them up and then line a slew of Little People under them. She also will play at the table...which was the original intent.


Here is Owen when we all woke up this morning. The first thing Anna will do is say, "hi O-O". She then will give him a kiss on the head. If he is feeling talkative she will respond with "yes..yes". (while nodding her head.)

From the archives III

With the basement project completed (except for the organizing of closet areas) I have not had a lot of time to dedicate to digital imagery. I really do enjoy going through our archives and seeing the changes that our lives have gone through over the past 4 years of marriage. The past two have been especially exciting with the growth of our family. Life on Union Avenue is ever exciting. Please enjoy these archive photos and look forward to a few new posts by the end of this week.
This is Anna at six months. She spent a lot of time on the bed in those days. It seems that at least half of our archive pictures are of Anna on the bed.
What a cuddly little bundle she was then. I am unsure of the date on this one, but she is very little.
Resting in the boppy was a favorite activity. Owen does not get to do this too much because he finds himself attacked with kisses and hugs from Anna. Things are different with two. You have to think of the safety of Owen all while encouraging and helping Anna to develop good habits and skills. Bill Cosby said that you are not really a parent until you have two kids.

(Of course I disagree, but I get the point.)

Wow. This does not seem as though it was that long ago, but it was last year. This was a lot of fun attempting to get Anna and her cousin Hannah to pose. (Getting Hannah to sit still for thirty seconds was half the battle!)

Look forward to a few posts before this weekend!

Tante Angie and Oma Irmgard

Oma Irmgard came to visit her grandchildren this week and brought with her a few notable presents. She brought us a beautiful sectional couch that will stand as the capstone of the basement project.

The other nice thing was an oak rocker that she had finished to match our living room. The oak looks a little bit like tiger maple, but it is oak. Very lovely..probably late 20s, early 30s. Anna calls it "Oma's chair".
Here is a little pose of Anna, her baby doll, Oma, and me. Oma always looks great and Anna takes after her in that- two princesses.
Here is Oma wielding her glasses for fear that she will be photographed with them on her face. That is not the vogue thing you know!
Here is Tante Angie playing with Owen. She was impressed with what a good baby he is. She thought that the strong German blood was paying off. Tante Angie is not Oma's sister, but they are often accused of being sisters. Two tall classy blondes with loud German personas.
Here is Tante Angie with Anna. Angie is shaking her to build character. (Just kidding...you don't have to call protective services)!

We had a great time with them: laughing, talking, drinking Starbucks French Roast, and eating sweets from the Wealthy Street Bakery.
They are always welcome for coffee.

Basement Project, #643,467

The disorganization of these pics is a visual representation of our lives at the moment. The basement is near completion and our total house is in bedlam due to this.

We have decided that we could never buy a turn of the century home that needed total restoration...for we would go insane at the sight of the disarray.

To the left you see the area which will house my desk. The light that I found is very great for our home. It is a reproduction of a vintage model complete with amber globes. Lovely.



Notice the stairs and how rotty they are. Brian Anderson of "Poor Man's blog" helped in the deconstruction of the stairs. They had tile, linoleum, more tile, hardwood and burbur carpet over all of that. It is great anger management to remove 80 years of flooring from stairs.

Above is the terra cotta color as well. Lydia is very happy with this. We found a World War I library poster that goes with the colors very nicely.

Here is a good look at what the finished product will look like. At this point it is: carpet, hardware, upholster the window seat, paint and bring down all 10 of the bookshelves and we are on to business.

For now we sit in our own clutter. For some reason the last week of this project has effected the study, Anna's room, Owen's room, the living room, the dining room, and even the "Green Room". Next week folks. All done. Cannot wait another day!

From the archives II

Here are some more pictures from the archives. These are of Anna when she was quiet, not running around, and not attempting to push her little will onto us. She will be two years old next month and it is so hard to believe how fast this time is moving. When Lydia and I got married, it seemed like such a long time before Anna came along...now I cannot imagine life without her and Owen. Here is when Sam was still mama's dog. When she loved dog and child.
This one is when she was about two months old. (Owen is like twice this age now!)
This is one if the cute ones. Remember her little elf ears that she had to grow into. All of the Lord of the Rings fans were attempting to steal her and to worship her as some sort of elfish incarnate. I am glad that she grew into those!

A little Pickering

Congratulations to our dear friends, Justin and Marion (Lanning) Pickering.

They have announced that they will be having a baby at the end of May, Lord willing.

We pray that the Lord will bless this pregnancy and the delivery.

We look forward to welcoming the little Pickering!

Cards and gifts may be sent to:

Mr & Mrs. J. Pickering
1660 Wendler Ave SW, flat 2
Grand Rapids, MI 49507

* * There are other friends that are with child as well, but I am not sure whether it is public knowledge.

Works of necessity and works of mercy

It has been noted on this blog, as well as on my Theological blog, PRESBYTERIAN THOUGHTS, that Lydia is a hard-working woman. Lydia works from home part-time, she maintains a clean environment, she washes cloth diapers numerous times a week, and she cares for (and nurses) two lovely children, as well as feeds and loves a chubby perfectionistic, idealistic, and sometimes egotistic husband.

What do I do, the raging feminist will ask? What is my contribution to Life on Union Avenue?

Truthfully, not much around the house.
I work forty hours a week, I go to school full-time, I take care of the "man" chores around the house.
Not much.
Lydia is definitely the Queen of Union Avenue...and her subjects are too small to aid in its dominion.

Besides, grinding beans and percolating coffee daily, there is one thing that I like to do that could be deemed helpful to my loving wife. I get the kids ready for church on Sunday morning.
This gives Lydia some extra minutes of sleep as well as the opportunity to do her hair and other fru-fru things that ladies do in powder rooms.

I love to dress the children, and when the mini Presbyterians do not have the morning grumpies, I take pictures of them.....not one picture.....dozens of pictures. (This morning over fifty!) Previously they have been posted as "Sunday morning fun." Here are some from this morning that I found to be interesting, entertaining, and maybe even cute.

Anna always kisses Owen. I have posted numerous pics of this. This is not a rare scene. The norm here is hugs and kisses.
Here Anna is giving a sisterly grin to Owen while he is looking at me with wonderment.
Here Owen maintains the same face while Anna looks with a funny smirk.
Big smile on Anna...tiredness remains on Owen's face.
Here they were both laughing. Well, Owen was cooing and Anna was laughing.
Kiss.
Pose.
Grin.
And a kiss. There sure is a lot of love to give out. Notice that Anna has her arm around him. After about five minutes she said, "O O ouch" (in reference to him being on her arm).

What a great life. I love my family.

Miles of Smiles.

Smiles and laughter are things that we value in our home. We are pleased to see that Owen is developing a personality that is happy, loving, and full of smiles. Sometimes we take ourselves too seriously and we have Owen to show us that there is joy in the midst of the mundane.

Life on Union Avenue is a life that seeks to be loving and full of joy.

Here Owen poses for a photo while playing with his feet. Lately he has been quite impressed with the fact that he has toes and feet to which they are connected. He is always willing to pause for his fanbase.
This picture looks as though it was posed:

Now a little to the left. Tilt the head abit. Smile...but not too much....hold it!
I love this one. Owen is smart enough to watch his back with little miss busy body snooping around. He is very impressed with Anna's wit and wisdom. They sure are a pair.

What a smile. Can you believe that just over 3 months ago we did not even know this guy? Now it feels like he's always been a smiling part of the family.

As Anna would say, "O O cute"!

These are a few of my favourite things

Anna has joined the ranks of being a lover of wooden toy trains. She has purchased a Thomas the Tank engine as well as Lady the engine. The reason that she likes Thomas is that is reminds her of her friend Noah Vedra. She even refers to the Thomas train as Noah. Her favorite are the Brio trains from Sweden. She knows that her Great Grandmother was a Lawson and would be proud of her choice in toys.
When I reminded her that her birthday is still about two months away she was shocked that she would have to wait that long for additions to her train collection.

(Unless loving people mail her some)!

What is Life on Union Avenue?

What is Life on Union Avenue? Union Avenue and the Alger Heights area have been called by the chief of police as, "Grand Rapids' best kept secret."

It is a great place to raise your children. Daily we see joggers, babies in strollers (and slings), dog walking, children playing, and in the fall we have a marching band. No joke! Alger Heights has the Catholic schools of Grand Rapids marching around our streets as practice. I have tried to convince Anna and Owen that it is an army marching band that is trying to over take Grand Rapids. They don't buy it. Anna has decided that the best way to keep Alger Heights a great secret is to take down the markers that distinguish her from the rest of Grand Rapids.
I told her that we are not allowed to remove the landmarks which our forefathers placed for our own protection and comfort. (She agreed.)

An Army of One

Shhh...I know that you cannot see her, but if you could you would have to admit that this is super cute. Anna has been preparing for her end of October trip to the northwest regions of the woods of William Penn.

Anna knows that her uncle is an avid hunter. A Nimrod of the east. (Nimrod is Hebrew for mighty hunter). Preston will be so proud when he is able to see her new pj's. Anna is an army of one in her pink camouflage sweat suit. She is preparing to show up Preston on the ways of the woods....it's in her blood.

If you look closely at the above picture:
find Sedgwick and move towards the center of the picture.
Look a touch to the left and that will be her abdominal section.
Right behind Sedgwick's hind left paw is Anna's head.
You should be able to see that even with an untrained eye. It is not camouflaged.




Night-night warrior princess.