Up on the rooftop......

No .... it's not that time of year ..... I'm speaking of our contractor as he shingles the roof of our garage. It's coming together - we're about 80% finished.

Carrie Bradshaw would be proud

Yesterday we went into Bangor to do some shopping. I happened upon THE BEST shoe clearance I've seen in a long time - for size 8 - TODDLER :) Cate came home with more shoes than I've had the pleasure of purchasing in a while. And - being the true girlie girl that she is, is pleased as can be :) The best part - is changing into a new pair every, oh I'd say, hour. :)

May I take your order?

I've been burning candles this past week in the kitchen seems like we blow a circuit when we have lights on while they are using their compressor and other power tools outside - they all run on the same circuit. SO - one morning when Lexi came downstairs, she asked for breakfast at the center island and Cate followed too. She quickly asked for the 'specials' of the day :) - the girls got such a kick out of eating at "Mommy's Restaurant" by candlelight that we've been doing it each morning this week.

(please excuse the 'see-food')

(ambiance)

I've got to go - I've got 'specials' to plan for tomorrow :)

"Batter Up"

Yesterday was Lexi's first T-ball game. She is a member of the 'Cubs' team (of which Lexi explained was for LION CUBS - we have a HUGE lion fan in our home). There are about 50 kids signed up - and of those fifty, the teams are broken down in to ten teams of five - to give the kids a serious opportunity to play. Well - of the five on Lexi's team, she was the only one who showed for about five minutes until TWO of her other teammates showed up. They played with three of the five on their team against that of a team with its full roster and did a great job. Lexi was horrified that she wasn't on the wining team. We have a SERIOUS overachiever on our hands - but a visit to the concession stand and a ring pop later, she was convinced that the game wasn't a complete waste of her time :).

GO CUBS!!

Apparently it's not 'Cranky' enough

This morning the contractors are back and the crane to set the attic trusses arrived around eight. I told the girls this morning that a crane would be coming to help build the garage. Lexi was excited - she knows her equipment :). As it pulled up, we ran to the window to see. The excitement ended as she proclaimed, "that's TINY - Cranky the Crane is MUCH bigger than that" and walked away. You see, Cranky the Crane is a character and personal friend of Thomas the Train and apparently standards have been raised in this house since becoming a fan :).

Hear Ye.... Hear Ye

There is a LOSE TOOTH in the Thyen house!! :)

Lexi lost her two bottom teeth last fall - Yesterday, she bit into a peach with a 'yelp'. To her surprise, her two front teeth are wibbly wobbly. Stay tuned :)

Happy Father's Day!!

We Love You!

Sea Breeze

Saturday we headed to the coast. It was a BEAUTIFUL day. We all piled in the truck (Max included) and headed to Seal Harbor. We packed a lunch and stopped just outside Bar Harbor to eat. The girls love the rest stop and enjoy walking along the shore. The tide was REALLY REALLY low - so there was lots to explore. Max did really well (I was pleasantly surprised) no barking, no pulling). After lunch we headed to Seal Harbor - our very favorite place to go - simple - no frills - but just plain old fun. To our surprise this time, there were signs posting "No Dogs Allowed on Beach" - YIKES - that was new!!!! Jason walked Max along the piers and harbor while the girls and I played on the beach for a bit. Cate was ECSTATIC. She asks to go to the beach every morning - it's the first thing she talks about when she wakes up - SERIOUSLY. She loved the sand and digging and wading. Jay brought Max down on the edge of the beach for a bit and he played (reluctantly - he doesn't like water at all) and after some time swinging, we headed home. It was really nice to get back to the coast.

Life in a Small Town

We celebrated our third year in our home this past Memorial Day. I've learned a lot about small town life. The link below pretty much sums it up. Click and you'll see.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ga-1ex6wsOY

Special Delivery & Day Three

An "oversize load" vehicle pulled up in front of our house today - escorting our attic trusses for the garage! :) I didn't see the semi right away, but when I did, I understand why it had an escort. HOLY COW! They are LARGE :).

Day three went well yesterday. They got the first floor windows in and wrapped with vapor wrap and set for the trusses to be placed. Our contractor told us yesterday, that the soonest he was able to secure a crane in the greater Bangor area was MID JULY - YIKES!!! Fortunately, they know some folks in Lincoln who will be setting our trusses on Wednesday next week. So no more updates until then :)

Doesn't get much better than this

Day 2

We have walls!! :) Like Jay said when he got home tonight, "wow, they're moving fast".!! HOORAY!

Day 1

OH MY WORD - could it have been any hotter for the guys to work yesterday. It was HOT and HUMID and to add insult to injury, our circuit breaker kept cutting out. BUT - they got a ton of cutting done - one wall up two others framed before the end of the day. Thankfully a cold front is pushing through and a thunderstorm brought along cooler temps and a nice breeze. Here's a look at where we were at last night.

Just wait till you see how far they've gotten today!

They're Heeeerrrrreeeee........

Did all New Englanders hear a great big audible 'hooray' this morning around 6:50 am?! Normally, I'm not that excitable, it's a tad early, but here's what I saw out my window:

Yes, construction has started. Our Masonary was out last week and completed the foundation for our garage.

Normally, a six inch perimeter is laid to build on, but we're adding transom windows atop our garage doors

(like this)

and needed an extra two feet - so essentially our first floor walls will be ten feet tall vs eight. The second floor will be traditionally eight.

We left the portion of the original garage that was not effected by the collapse up (the two story garage with loft). Our plan is to take down the walls of the loft and attach it via breezeway to the new garage. We'll transform the front portion into a screened in area and the back room into a work room (yes, you must have 'vision' to get the idea).

It's supposed to be sunny all week and our contractor is estimating a week to completion. I'll be back with updates :)

My Memorial Day Project

I forgot to post - here's what I did on Memorial Day - or over the weekend. When we moved here, we had a lovely perennial garden - the only downfall, it was overgrown. Being pregnant our first year, and having an active three year old and newborn the next, I put it off. I could NOT however, put it off any longer. I removed what I like to call a "two ton hosta", split it and found new homes for it, as well as about eight lilies and iris plants. I wish I had taken a before - but if you look closely at the photo taken early this spring below, you'll get the idea:

after:

A friend we've gotten to know near our town has an INCREDIBLE perennial collection - AND, just dropped of some that she split this weekend .... HOORAY .... I have a little more planting to do (that IS excitement in my voice)!

It was a fun day......

This weekend wasn't a complete wash (no pun intended). It rained and rained and rained and then rained some more on Saturday - which made for a whole lot of fun when taking out Max (sarcasm intended) - and, our house was in need to blow off some serious steam - let's just say there was lots of energy and no where to put it. It wasn't bad, don't get me wrong - it was good, just not top five :).

SUNDAY, despite the forecast for rain, rain and rain again, started out sunny and bright. We packed up the kids, and Max and took the Explorer for a drive north to Milo, and then west to Dover-Foxcroft, two places with small parks to enjoy and let Max continue to get used to us and vice versa. We had snacks and lunch and it was a really nice day.

When we got home, Jay needed to get some things moved off the cement pad because they are going to lay our foundation (2 foot block wall) for our garage this Thursday - HOORAY!!! Our trusses are being ordered today and construction on the garage itself is going to start next MONDAY - HOORAY HOORAY HOORAY!!!

(essentially, our garage will look a lot like this ... this is what we modeled it after - however, we're unsure what color - our house is white, but we will be residing next summer - so we're playing around with color ideas right now - any suggestions!?!?)

We were blessed yesterday. When we came home, we noticed there had been Severe Thunderstorm Warnings issued for our county - and that a severe storm was passing through Lincoln which is just 10 miles north of us. Jay really needed to get some work done, and as he did sans the rain and storm, I watched the radar and storms pass to the north and south of us with a perfect clearing right over Howland - it's like God knew we needed family time in the morning, and Jay really needed to get some garage things done too and kept us dry :).

To end our day, we watched Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium. How cute is that movie!? It received mixed reviews - but honestly, it was a nice, clean, simple story, with beautiful colors and wonderful imagination and allowed for your imagination to take over, not be directed. I liked it :).

And - Lexi and Max continue to be pals :).

Thyen Party of FIVE

Well ... if you want to get technical, it really should be party of NINE. I bet my title got your attention though didn't it?! :)

We do have an announcement - and addition to our family - which was: Jason, Ruth, Lexi, Cate, Meuw (Kitty 1), Pecan (Kitty 2), Jake (Betta Fish 1), Spike Tail (Betta Fish 2) and NOW, may I introduce....... MAX!!!!!! :)Max is our new boy (1 year old beagle), adopted from the Bangor Humane Society yesterday. Jason was home (after stepping on a nail - serious puncture wound) and needing to go to the doctor in the morning - but that's another story), and after his appointment, we headed to the Humane Society where the girls and I had visited the day before. We were headed to meet MAX. We hadn't met him, nor had we seen him for that matter. For the past year or two, we have been stopping in to the local shelters, with the intension of finding a dog - that 'fit' into our family. It has taken over two years to find one and word had it, that there was a great dog who was on a 'field trip' to a local school but would be back the next day. He had only been a 'resident' for a few days, but the staff couldn't say enough of him. And honestly, we knew the minute we met him that he was that new member.

Word CANNOT explain the thrill Lexi has experienced with her new found pal. They are inseparable. Lexi, bless her heart, has been patiently waiting, although frequently reminding us, of her desire for a dog. She has understood our need to find the right dog, and has really taken a part in the 'search' and has really learned quite a bit about breeds on her own (our smart little five year old :) ). She knew we were going to visit, and that perhaps we might bring him home, but it didn't sink in until we were in the adoption room, when the staff asked Lexi what color Max's name tag should be - she asked 'why' and they said, he's your dog now' - you should have SEEN the look on her face. OH MY!!!! Cate - well - at one point yesterday, she thought she would give her hand at a little bare back riding (poor dog) - and bless his heart - not a peep - not even a look like, "are you for real kid" - as I chased her down and pealed her away from him. Other than that, she thinks the 'puppy' is pretty neat, but would honestly rather spend some valuable time on the swings outside :).

(this in not a picture of 'the pony ride' - that isn't behavior I want to document :) - this is Cate giving Max some 'love' :).

We are just so pleased to have Max join our family! The cats - hmmm - they're not to sure - although, Max is scared to death of them - that hissing noise you know!! :) I could go on and on about our new beagle friend. But I'll close for now - I'm sure I'll have much to post in the future about our new friend. I must say however, he has gotten crumbs from the floors I didn't know existed, he is currently laying at the bottom of the stairs waiting for Lexi to get up (how sweet is that) and comfortably went to bed after the lights were turned out, downstairs (he was welcome to come up - but didn't) where we didn't hear a peep from him (or the cats thank goodness) all night until I woke him up - YES, I woke him up - this morning :)

To Boldly Go Where No Man Ever Wants to Go Again

Monday - Jay went above and beyond his fatherly duty. Earlier that afternoon, Lexi informed me that her favorite lion had gone down the sink drain. Fine I thought, we can just loosen the pipe and shake it out thinking our pipe had the traditional 'J' in it. Mmmm .. no ... not so much ... it's not 'traditional', but stick STRAIGHT - leading away to who knows where. After much consoling, and mourning, Lexi came to terms that the lion had gone to sea (what else was I going to tell her!?).

That evening after Jay came home, I told him what had happened in the event Lexi told him. He told me that there was a 'sink trap' in the basement and he thought he could get it off to see. Well - after six earrings, a stone, a pound of hair and inches of goo, in the very bottom of the trap sat Lexi's beloved lion (from Uncle Bob - he gave Lexi his prized zoo collection he had when he was a boy). After rinsing, washing and soaking in bleach, Lexi was reunited with her prized possession. YAY!!!!! and GO DADDY :)

Now - on a side note, I think this is so cute. Lexi adores animals ... A-D-O-R-E-S them. Adores .. Adores ... Adores. She has a great variety of stuffed and play figures - somewhere around 100 or more play figures aside from her stuffed collection - seriously - thanks to Uncle Bob who shared his prized toys with Lexi from when he was a boy. Well - I am a firm believer that it's not the toy that creates the play - but the child - because the lion that went down the drain was NOT shiny or fancy, didn't have bells or whistles, wasn't produced by Nick or Sesame - but was a well worn, well loved, well broken-in lion that is probably reaching 40 years old. I love when things can take a child to places only their imagination can - with just that, their imagination and it thrills me that Lexi will have many more memories with her favorite lion. I'll think you'll smile too when you see what brought Lexi to tears and her Mommy too as I watched her understand it was gone - and again when her daddy fished up to his elbow in goo to fish this little guy out:

I put the lion next to Pecan so you can see how tiny it is and then....

I took a close up so you can see how special it is :)

CELEBRATE WITH US...IT'S OFFICIAL!!!!!

Cue the music and celebrate with us!!!!!

CONGRATS JAY on the completion of your graduate program at the University of Minnesota and receiving your Masters of Geographic Information Science!! You worked HARD - you deserve it!! I'm SO SO very proud of you!!!!

HOORAY!

A Few Photos