There’s always a few freakishly warm days in Seattle’s winter.  We happened to be at the Clinton Beach on Whidbey for this warmish day!

1) Have Wesley do something really destructive, disrespectful and disobedient all at once. 

2) Develop strong desire to wring his scrawny little neck.

3) Slam doors on the way out to power walk until said neck is no longer in danger.

I’ll be back at my college weight in less time than it will take my hair to grow out again.  Um, thanks Wesley.

 

If I didn’t have to keep reminding him not to suck his fingers, Wesley probably wouldn’t seem so baby-ish, but he still snuggles up just like he did when he was just learning to walk and still took naps. 

To celebrate, besides having a holiday off school, we went to the Pacific Science Center….as did the rest of the 206 and 425 area code population.  We spent more time in line than we did seeing the IMAX.  Then they were hungry and we spent more time in lines to get food. Wesley kept saying he wanted to go home to play with his new “electrician’s kit”. S0 after some play time at the Fountain, we acquiesced, with only one little stop at a tile store on the way home. 

Wesley loved having a birthday, so no matter how I felt at the end of the weekend, it was a success. 

*     *     *      *      *       

To cap off the day, we realized that Kyla was missing her retainer.  I searched frantically, Kyla searched not-so-frantically, and we finally concluded that she must have left it at the cabin.  I left at 8pm, didn’t catch the ferry until 9, searched every logical and illogical place at the cabin, and found so many items that weren’t the retainer.  I managed to hit a rock in the dark as I turned into the driveway, and when I left empty-handed to catch the 10:30, I was also empty-tired.  I ruined the wheel completely (only a $75 cost, as I was to find out) to limp down the street until I had some porch light from an abandoned house to see by.  There was no cell service.  I changed my first tire, with “help” from two neighbors who were both intoxicated and high.  Some youth are happy drunks, some mean, some sad, but these two were stupid, stupid drunk.  They were more helpful than a two year old, but that’s not a compliment.  But in spite of their whiny “wish I was less drunk so I could help” pleas, I got the donut tire on in time to catch the 11:30, and was in bed by Monday morning, hours before I had to be at the school to volunteer at 8am. 

It was the perfect end to the weekend.

Did I mention that we still haven’t found the $250 retainer? 

Last weekend was supposed to be the fun part.  We returned to the cabin to do the final touches on the bathroom.  I had gotten a shower curtain I love, and all the “right touch” accessories.  We took a few minutes to put a tile splashguard around the sink, needing only to grout it on Sunday, and maybe re-caulk the dingy shower. 

I thought it was gorgeous.  And if we keep the shower curtain shut, it is still this beautiful. 

Alas, it is not working out that well.

We began removing the old caulk and all the signs we have been ignoring since we resealed it 3.5 years ago—when we first bought the cabin—came back to haunt us.  The shower liner was originally put over plywood, and the bottom inch of two sides was soaked and rotten. 

Hence, our quick Sunday project became a very long, dirty, costly, and unfinished project. 

Here’s the charm of log cabins.  Almost nothing off-the-shelf will fit.  Most work has to be customized or have serious work-arounds.  And the issue with Langley, particularly, is that the nearest home box store is a full hour drive away. 

The good news, after lots of failures, is we realized that we could do a custom tile shower probably more easily and no more expensively than a boring plastic shower liner.  And then it was Sunday night, with a mess and hungry chidren and Wesley’s birthday on the horizon.  So we have left it, leaving all our tile tools there, ready to be put to use the next weekend we can get there.

To be continued….

My kids always get to invite their class over for cake and play after school close to their birthday—for the first year or two. After that, the girls and boys separate too much to make a cohesive party–besides having up to 24 kids and their siblings, which is a lot even when they are small.  Wesley had over 20 kids running around Friday for 90 minutes, and I’ve graduated from needing to include everyone so that I can get to know as many peers and parents as possible…at least in winter, when I can’t keep them outside the entire afternoon. 

I always state “no gifts, please, but if your child would like to do something, a homemade card and $1 would be perfect”.  That way, Wesley doesn’t get 20 toys, I don’t need to put together party favors, and once I get a Costco cake, the party is ready.  

Happy almost-Birthday, Wesley!  I loved you being 5!

To quote my own Christmas letter:

[Wesley] has lost two teeth from unnatural causes.

Update.  Make that three teeth from unnatural causes. Before Christmas, the kids were playing, and, as I understand it, Wesley had a blanket in his teeth and Kyla yanked it from him.

His tooth didn’t come out immediately, but it went from solid to snaggle-tooth loose.  Teeth are about the only thing that makes Dwayne squeamish, both teeth barely hanging in there and the idea of pulling it out.  So he sends the nearly-toothless kid to me and, ears closed to anguished whines, I yank it out myself. Piper is fully my child in this.  She tried to pull it out first, and then I stepped in and brought it home.  Wesley is actually a pretty brave kid, and he had the foresight to bring his tooth fairy pillow to the cabin with him.  So he got a dollar, I got a to pull out another tooth, and Dwayne got to banish his heebie-jeebies. 

* * * * * * *

This fell out when we all got our flu shots this year.  Kyla wanted a shot instead the mist, which we all regretted after a failed attempt to stab her and a very upset Kyla (who jumped out of the way on the first attempt necessitating me holding her down for the second) made this into quite the drama.  A month later was Piper’s turn, and she didn’t like, but she got it without any fuss.  Wesley had to wait a week, but was worried about his shot.  Instead, he sat still and calm and was surprised when it was over.  Kyla, on the other hand, squealed, jumped, and startled everyone else in the room when Welsey got his shot.  I’m making her stay at home next year!

Just a public service announcement to my girlfriends:

Costco has PUR mineral make up on sale for an amazing price.  The full size pressed foundation is usually about $35 and the intro kit (the other 5 items in the picture) is usually about $35 dollars.  Costco.com has these together for $28 and free shipping, only until this Sunday.  I bought two, and unless one of my munchkins did not get enough negative consequences last time she ruined my make up, this should last me a long time. 

 

I’m currently attending to my face and clothes more carefully in an attempt to camoflauge the bad haircut.  By the time I run out of make up, my hair should grow out enough.  Thanks, PUR!

Before:                                    Almost After:
 

We can’t help ourselves.  Back at home on Wednesday evening, after two nights in Leavenworth, I mentioned to Dwayne that since we were heading to Whidbey to do the Polar Bear, we should retile the master bathroom floor.  And if we had the floor up, we might as well think about getting a new vanity.  Dwayne, kindly, madly, or thoughtlessly, agreed.


Thursday morning:  Spend money at Home Depot.  Pack car(s).


Thursdsay afternoon: Travel to cabin. Bathroom looks like this.



Thursday at 4pm:  Start demo.




Attach HardieBacker board to subfloor.


Thursday Midnight: finish demo and prep.  Clean thinset buckets, etc, outside in 28 degree weather.  Sleep until 10 the next morning. Talk myself out of Polar Bearing.


Friday: Tile. 



Praise Piper for making us snacks to get us through the day.





Friday evening:  Dwayne and Jen drive an hour to nearest
Home Depot to return previously purchased vanity and buy a new one. And since we’re replacing the vanity, we decide to replace the medicine cabinet.


Saturday: Grout. Put toilet and new vanity in.  Go to store several times for various plumbing needs.  Look at vanity lighting and decide it needs to be updated, too.  Discover no South Whidbey stores carry a selection of lighting options.  Realize that we won’t finish early enough to go home that night.  Feed kids. More clean up. 
Post “Almost After” Picture:

Collapse on couch while composing a list of what to get on the mainland before we come back to finish up.

Saturday Midnight: Realize toilet  shut-off valve is leaking.


Sunday morning: Denise takes kids home.  Dwayne stays behind to work on leak, hoping to save us the time and money of not contracting a plumber.  Add this to my list of 1000 reasons I love that man.

Dwayne took the week off between the holidays, and after I reread this post aloud, we decided to plan a family adventure that might actually be fun or relaxing (I’ve gleaned enough wisdom not to expect both!).

We headed first to Ellensburg to visit Papa Jim, and the excitement of seeing him was completely overshadowed by the fact he had 2 feet of snow in his yard.  We barely saw Piper and Wesley our entire visit. 

Then off to Leavenworth.  See how excited they are? 

Our room was shabby, but that is the only semi-negative thing I can say about a place with a living area, kitchen, king bedroom for the kids and a queen bedroom for us, situated half-block from the heart of town for less than the cost of a Superbowl ticket (for Leavenworth innkeepers, December really pays the bills and the bonuses).

The kids were most excited about getting the sleds out.  A local told us to skip the downtown parks and head up to Enchantment Park.  Great advice that we’ll pass along to you!  Powder (not ice) with long hills and less crowds.

After a while, Penguin Piper decided she didn’t even need a sled.

You can’t have Dwayne around and not expect a snowball fight to break out.

With commercial break over, we went back to sledding.

Wesley is truly our Abominable Snowman.  He could play out in the white stuff longer than the rest of us, and when we returned from sledding, he played in the snowbank rather than go inside to warm up and have lunch.

I think his most oft-uttered phrase in 2015 was “I’m okay!”

Two lucky kids got rides back to the car.  We had to get back to go on our 1pm sleigh ride outside of town.

Draft horses with jingle bells?  A family favorite.  Piper even brought her wombat with her, as Buttercup wanted to see horses for the first time. 

With snow on the ground, and our bellies full from dinner, gelato sounded like a good idea…to the kids.  But even the biggest doubter, often known as “Mama”, succumbed to two scoops.

 

One of my favorite things to do was drag the family on walks through the park, or better yet, leave them all behind and enjoy the cold beauty on my own.

One of the reasons to go to Leavenworth is the Christmas lights.  We also found out from a local that the lights go through February, and costs and crowds drop dramtically in January, so I think we’ll keep that in mind for next year. 

One our last morning, the kids wanted to go downtown to buy cheaply-made, way overpriced, useless playthings, or what they called “souvineers”.  So I took a few last pictures with the mountain goats.

The first two pictures are mostly portraits of a Piper not getting her way—Kyla is sitting on the goat Piper wanted.  She’s vaguely happier when they switch goats.  Sigh. 

Aufedersein, Leavenworth!  We have enjoyed you!

I don’t look particularly gorgeous or exceptionally hideous in hats. But I’ve been wearing them almost nonstop (including in bed, poor Dwayne), since Christmas Eve when I got my Worst Haircut in three decades.  So I’m posting a picture of me before I got a  mullet and let’s just remember me like this, shall we?

Dwayne’s always handsome.  And that man has lost about 15 pounds in the last two months!  I’m so proud of him.