Holy crap! It's already April!

Seriously, how in the world does time escape me so easily??  Last blog entry I made was November*, & I swore then that I'd blog more often, but next thing you know, WHAM!  Five months have passed & I haven't written a thing.  (Five months??  Can that be right??). Wow.  I'm so sorry you guys. I'm sure you've all been hovering over your computers just waiting for an update from the mighty mom this whoooolllllee time, right? ;)
Tough thing is, I don't know where to start!  Some great things happened over the time of my blogging hiatus & I don't want to forget about them. But at the same time, we need to catch up. Maybe just a highlight reel?
Christmas came & went. I had to work, & Christmas 1500 miles away from extended family just isn't the same, but given all of that I think we had a pretty great holiday. Kids were spoiled rotten as usual. ;)

Matt's Birthday December 25th

New Years Eve was actually really fun.  We went to an activity here in town called First Night where we walked from place to place to see a bunch of different acts & do fun activities until a midnight fireworks display.  Our favorite part was seeing the hypnotist & little tired Natalie almost got hypnotized from the audience!

In January, we had a fabulous visit from Mathew's brother John & his wife Caroline. (Oh I wish I could've done a whole blog entry about their visit!). I can't tell you guys how happy it made us to spend some great quality time with them. They're kinda awesome. And we want them to move here. Not gunna lie. ;).

Ben & Jerry's in January?  Absolutely!

Hiking fun

Skiing at Burke Mountain

The whole winter came & went (well... it was supposed to go, but its April & I'm still looking at snow...). But in Vermont that means I missed out on blogging a whole bunch of playtime. The boys had a great time with their winter sports program, & this momma learned that she is NOT a snowboarder. :/. Wah wah wah...  It wasn't pretty. But next year they both say they want to ski, so I'll have a chance to redeem myself.

Mark & Gavin with their buddies Gabe & Carter

Mark went on a field trip where he even got to try out some cross-country skiing & he LOVED it!  That's much more Mathew's pace if he had to pick. So next year we anticipate tons of winter fun, assuming we won't be so consumed with the house renovations anymore & our bank accounts won't be as dry as the Sahara by that point.  Here's hoping!

So, on to the house updates.  This part is tough. If you've been through a full house overhaul you totally get it. Or if you do this kind of work you get it. But to anyone else on the outside I can see how it would seem as though things are moving at a snails pace. But honestly, it gets taxing to here the incessant question, "aren't you moved into that house yet??!"  Nope. But things are moving along quite well, I promise!  We are really pleased with the progress!

 

Mathew has been working non-stop. Imagine working on a house by yourself in the freezing cold with no heat or electricity all day every day. Add to it entertaining a kid (or three) throughout that cold day while Momma's working. With a bad back.  No fun. But still he's been working hard & getting a whole lot done, even going above & beyond to make his work perfect. He's insulating every wall, reinforcing every beam, re-laying floors that were too destroyed, and framing new designs to our bathrooms & kitchen. (All without electricity).

I mentioned in my last post (forever & a day ago) that the Academy was coming to put in electricity for us. Well, Christmas break came & went, then it was the start of the new semester. Then they had another project to complete. Meanwhile, we ended up putting many things on hold anticipating their arrival. Totally fine because, hey, they're putting in our electricity for freaking free!  But it did slow us down a bit.  They came this past week & started getting things moving.

The Crew

(P.S.: Having a rational discussion with your husband about where to put light switches after you've been awake for 24 hrs working a busy night shift is damn near impossible... Just sayin'.).

They got things planned out & put in some outlet boxes, but guess what!  Now it's spring break!  Darn it. Don't they know their priority should be meeeeee? ;). Anyway, after next week they should be back in full force & get things up & running.   Having the electricity starting has lit a fire under Mathew though (his words).  Now he's excited about what's ahead & he's deciding what to tackle next.  Today he bought a crap-ton of plumbing supplies & plans to get that started. Whoopie! :). There's also the radiant heating lines to be put into the floor & that's also on the radar to be placed soon. The school year's done in just 4 short weeks, so the electricity has to be done by then. If all goes well, we may have walls in our near future!  Actual WALLS you guys!  Happy dance!! And me?  Well I'm just daydreaming about what pretty colors to paint them. :D

So, I guess that's it. My highlight reel of the last five months. I hope to have much more to add as Spring finally arrives. It's coming any day now. Or so they tell me...


* Edit: I just looked back & I guess I did post one in December... Four months! Hey! I'm not as bad as I thought! lol