Our house...the kitchen...

Here are some photos of our "kitchen update"...We've painted the cabinets, doors & walls...It was funny, because I chose the color scheme not remembering what the floor looked like (right before we closed on the house) and lo & behold...the colors I'd selected match the floor practically perfectly! How's that for using what you've got! New countertops will be going in this week, and then we can put the lower cabinet doors & drawers in place. I'm searching for some cute, retro type cafe curtains for the windows...if anyone comes across a pair (two windows need them) while thrift shopping etc. please let me know! Moving day is one week away!

Home is where the work is...

So I'm a BAD BAD blogger...

The new digs have kept me so busy that I haven't had a minute to spend here, and the extra minutes I do have have been spent trying to edumacate my kids!

Here's what we're doing...

http://picasaweb.google.com/books4usborne/OurHouse#

Move in date is Oct. 25-26...

I WILL be back on track and an exemplary homeschool parent once we've moved in...

No more October Baseball...

Well...

In a way it's an odd sort of relief...

Now I can spend more time working on the new house & we can hopefully move in a few days earlier!

How is that for looking on the bright side???

There's always (always, always, heaven help us ALWAYS) next year...

Is it time to let the goats in?

I'm up too late...it's 12:13am, and I've just watched my beloved Cubs look like little leaguers...and I'm distressed.

Now...

I spent the first 5 innings of the game trying to calm the little boy down, and assure him that

#1 - there are still three more games!

#2 - on that note, the fat lady ain't singin' yet!

#3 - as Cubs fans, it just doesn't matter - we love our Cubs no matter what!

He replied to me, saying "Mom, why in the world didn't they just let the goat in?!"

A big sigh from me...do I tell him curses are nonsense, when I'm seeing the curse right in plain sight (I did see the goat there in front of D. Lee - I swear I did!) or do I lean on the crutch of the curse of the billygoat?

Those of you who are from Chicago, and particularly those of you who are Cubs fans know what this means...And my Cub friend fans, I'm pretty sure you saw what I saw tonight? The goat was definitely on the field!

Last night, game one, Dempster's folly (ok, I confess, the last few years I have referred to Mr. Dempster as "Dumpy"...but this year, I honestly loved the "new" Dempster, who has been decidedly "un-dumpy" as a starter!) How does the guy pitch beautifully all season - HELLO??? 17 and 6!!!!!

But alas...

The goat brought Dumpy back for game 1 of the NLDS playoffs...

I remained (and still remain, as only a Cub fan can) hopeful...

And then tonight...

It looked good in the first inning...Fonsie started the game off positively...Let's go! Goats be gone!

...and then, the second inning and the goat appeared...

Not sure who else saw it? I certainly did! Plain as day, the goat was in the friendly confines!

The commentators on TBS didn't help my mood...It was all "Dodgers woo hoo" and "Dodgers yeah-yeah!" On top of it, WGN radio is "real time" broadcasting and TBS is on delay didn't help. What is up with that????? Anybody else think the TBS broadcasters are annoying? To cover my butt, I have watched a few "non Cub" games on TBS and I find them annoying no matter who is playing...

So... here's hoping the damned goat can't get into Dodger Stadium! Our Cubbies have had a lot of winning streaks this season, more than three games in a row should be no sweat! Just hoping the bleeping goat hasn't knocked the wind out of the boys...

Here's what Wikipedia says about the curse

Say your prayers, Cub Nation...We could use a little divine intervention.

Whistle while we work...

Our lives right now are revolving almost completely around getting the new/old house ready for move-in!

We are doing a lot of reading, and occasionally some math (I've got a list of wonderful and fun resources for "math games" - I'll post it soon) as well as a good amount of science in our new yard (botany & biology!); we've had baby squirrels in our garage & on our window sill -so bummed that the camera was not handy, plus lots and lots and lots of plants to try to identify - and decide what is a weed and what is not to ready the garden beds/yard for winter...SO... officially "school" (meaning our "sit down every morning and do some semblance of traditional schoolwork") will not begin for us until we're in the new house...there is just too much craziness between the half packed apartment and the half torn-apart (ok, more like mostly-torn-apart) new/old house... However, as always, we are learning ALL OF THE TIME and learning a lot of great stuff every single crazy minute!

The little girl is simultaniously reading both LITTLE HOUSE IN THE BIG WOODS for her Liberty Belle's Club, and a DEAR AMERICA book about the Titanic...The little boy is reading book #1 of the CAPTAIN UNDERPANTS series (click here for CU trivia), plus a 3 story collection of TIN TIN comics (thank you Maryanne & Conor!) plus we are reading aloud Sir James Knowles' KING ARTHUR and listening in the car to THE SISTERS GRIMM book ONE...

We're also studying the history of baseball with numerous books from our library...one of our current faves being HEROES OF BASEBALL

Social studies right now consists of meeting all of the wonderfully diverse kids in our new neighborhood! One of the things that appealed to us most about our new neighborhood was the lack of homogenization...wink...wink...

The world is full of all sorts of folks, we believe a neighborhood should be the same! The kiddos have befriended a family whose parents speak mostly Spanish (HALLELUJIA!) - the kids, who are incredibly lovely, are bilingual...so Daddy-O is speaking spanish to the kiddos, and we've asked them to please help the little boy and girl work on their spanish! I've been looking for "immersion" avenues that don't require me to spend thousands of dollars every couple of months...now if I can just find a spanish speaking sitter for my work nights I'll be all set!!! We also have a magnificent (I need to get back to running/jogging! ACK ACK chubby-chubby!) home-made candy shop - mostly chocolate - where we found AMAZING caramel apples last week...hand dipped, some with chocolate/caramel, pecan/chocolate/caramel...need I say more... Kids rode bikes over there today and didn't bring candies for pop & mom! Kids these days...

If you're in the neighborhood...feel free to stop in & pick up a paintbrush! I'll even buy you a caramel apple!

You can look in on our progress HERE

Until next time...

Oh happy day!

Cubs Clinch!
WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

We own a house!

Here we are, we closed on our new home on Tuesday! Couldn't be happier! Will post more details/photos when we have a moment!