The Inside Scoop

 This past week we went down to see the house and approve some things like lighting and placement of electrical and structural things. We got into town late but stopped by the house anyway 'cause who can wait a whole night to see you very own house!? not us... well I could- after Jimmy told me that there was a 'Huge rat' on the side of the house I had to enter through... I opted to wait till morning.

 We met up with Johnny (our contractor) and Mark (our real estate guy and Jim's other Southern crush). We talked about the plans and the schedule. We caught some potential problems like the light over the extended island in the wrong place, a light fixture where the shower head should be, data components that were placed on the wrong side of the fire place a couple cracked windows and placement of the deck steps... see there to the right... that's where the deck will go!

Photo credit goes to Nick

 The kids were in tow this trip since it was so last min and it was a weekday, making finding sitters difficult. They were initially interested in the house... but soon they were antsy on a construction site. Camera to the rescue! They photographed all  the things they saw around them. Like  the masons mixing mortar for the brick they were laying while we were there. (I have the whole process, kind of like a flip-book if you are interested in how they do it)

 Then Claire took over and as you can see she is clearly a Havener-product taking pics of her toes at this important moment in her life. (closed-toed to save her tiny piggies from falling bricks and exposed nails)
She also photographed her future playhouse entrance in the crawlspace so we could begin the planning.   :)

 Jimmy did some planning of his own measuring out the space in the bonus room for his HUGE TV... and ensuring the surround sound was wired correctly

Here are some over-all pics of the house. 

From the upstairs hallway outside my delightful laundry room overlooking the kitchen. The sunroom entrance is  to the left.

 

A closeup of the kitchen.. that's my island in the middle and my kids already hungry and running around in it. See that closet to the right? That's the pantry! 

 

This is the view from the top of the stairs. Below you see into the Guest bathroom (it has a tub already!) and to the right you can see the fireplace and the messed up wiring they are going to fix. to the left (out of the picture) is the front door and the dining room and study.

and here are the stairs with the study to the right and the dining through the butler's pantry on the left. 

 

 All three of the 'master minds' surveying the lay of the land and discussing the landscaping/irrigation.

We are super excited to delve deeper into this process and see some sheet rock go up. But first the brick gets finished and screw-ups get fixed. Then insulation and county inspection. Then drywall and the race to the finish.

Crossing it Off

Crossed 6 more things off our sand bucket list this past week on vacation. Summer is flying by and we are accomplishing a little of nothing and a little of something just as it should  be.  :)

House Update

 It has windows! and see that... that's the brick and concrete for the driveway! 

And this is my backyard from what we assume is the great room windows. We are an estimated 8 ft. off the ground from the backdoor to the yard... meaning a raised deck off the sunroom. 

We head down there this week to check out the progress for ourselves so expect excessive pictures in the next update of the INSIDE!!

Also and a complete aside and absolutely unrelated- I had a moment of 'I wish you hadn't telled me that' this morning. It made me miss my family something fierce.

Water, Water Everywhere

Crossing off #4 - have a water fight.

Today it reached 97 degrees in NYC so it was the perfect day for this item on our list.

It will definitely NOT be our only water balloon fight this year but it was the first of the season so we are crossing it off the list.

 Retaliation is big part of a water battle.

 

 Close combat is the best, especially if you can't really throw that far.

And when you run out of balloons and your opponent has not, take cover!

Not So Little Anymore

My baby graduated from pre-k yesterday. She sang her songs so well.
 (there is video but it's too big to post) (although I have two very talented video-figure-er-out-ers in my life I can't figure out how to post it)

She has grown so much and in so many ways. I couldn't be prouder of her. Her daddy and myself are still unsure about sending her to Kindergarten but that's our parental attachment and has very little to do with how wonderful she will do there as well. 
And got her 'diploma' from Dr. McDonald and Ms. Mills. 

Now only 4 more days till Summer actually starts and school is over. 
Although today we'll reach almost 100 degrees so I think maybe we can call summer a little early this year?   

Raising the Roof

My house kinda looks like a house now... how cool is that?

I have not packed anything and am in complete denial about actually having to move everything I own...
Also I am freaked out about other people driving my stuffs and unloading it on the other end.. any advice from others who have already done this?

Going to the Zoo, Zoo, Zoo. How about you?

One thing we have enjoyed while being here in the great NYC is the zoo. We have a membership which is completely worth it since we are a family of 4. Plus there are perks to being a member besides just free parking and admission. You can sometimes get into the zoo hours before anyone else!

 They serve breakfast...

They give you a great hat...

 

And they paint your face!

 

I know, unbeleivable right!

And if that isn't enough for you, they will let you ride a camel. 

 

So we are able to cross off 'get face painted' (47), 'Go to the zoo' (8) 

AND

add and cross off 'ride a camel' (52)

Our summer is off to a fantastic start and we are still in school for another whole week. 

How is your summer going? Accomplishing anything fantastic? Traveling anywhere fun? Eating anything strange? If not- we suggest you begin, because summer won't last forever and soon you'll be a year older and have no exciting stories to share from this one.

Get out there. What are you waiting for?

Walls

And then there were walls on our absolutely terrifying adventure. 

Ok, only like one wall and it's for the garage, but as Claire said 'Look at that brick mommy!' Look at that brick indeed. :)

Soft Shell Crab Adventure

Last weekend we made mussels. Like the real, live thing. I learned how to remove their beards (?) and scrub them clean and that they are actually alive when you are cooking them.

So this weekend we tackled soft shell crabs because they are in season (they apparently have a short season so it was lucky for us that we thought of them at the right time). I worked up my courage and was talked into cleaning the crabs. I wanted/Jimmy convinced me I needed this new skill video taped. Jim offered to talk me through it and I agreed. He's a wonderful guy huh?  

Here is our soft shell crab adventure.



So there you have it. All that and I ate it with coleslaw.

Touring

 Fear not, we are still deep in training for the tour-de-bridge which is almost upon us. We did some trail training this weekend to see how we fair on uneven and muddy terrain. Turns out, we don't do so well. We don't like to get dirty, We don't like to get wet, We don't like to fall over into a HUGE pothole.

 

After a grueling two miles, we had to stop for some impromptu ice cream from a completely random (and very welcomed) ice cream cart. (we even had/got to order our ices in Spanish-and did pretty well if I do say so myself)

 If you are going to stop for ice cream we suggest the blue kind so that your tongue changes colors.

Also, just because we are concentrating on riding in a straight line and not running over other pedestrians doesn't mean we didn't enjoy the fantastic wildlife that was around us. We stopped every 15 feet or so to navigate around a mudhole (read smallish lake) or to view some animals (frogs, turtles, ducks).

We can't wait to see everyone at the start line soon!

Hey- I Live There

Large machinery has appeared on the scene of our soon-to-be home!
 This week I will be packing up things in the kitchen that we haven't used in the last two weeks.
 And I'll be cleaning out under beds.

Breaking Ground

 Soon to be the home of the Iovino's!

To the right side of the last picture you can see the side of our neighbor and Jimmy's man-crush Jeff's house. The man crush is mutual bizarrely enough.  They are already working out aerating schedules and seeding parties and the contract for C and their son Dylans' wedding.

Our Sand Bucket List

Thank you Miss Brenda for reminding us to make our Sand Bucket List this year... our list is slightly longer than your list-We can't Wait for Summer!

1. Go Bowling
2. Walk the Brooklyn Bridge
3. Sidewalk Chalk with Water Guns
4. Water Balloon Fight
5. Roast Marshmallows
6. Make Popsicles
7. Have a Scavenger Hunt
8. Go to the Zoo
9. Go to the Aquarium
10. Go to the Movies
11. Ride Bikes
12. Paint Something
13. Go to a Mets Game
14. Go to the Library
15. Get a Library Card
16. BBQ
17. Natural History Museum
18. Watch the Sunset
19. Have a Picnic
20. Homemade Pizza
21. Play a Card Game
22. Write a Story
23. Mini-Golf
24. Go to the Beach
25. Make a sandcastle
26. Visit Grandma
27. See GB
28. Breakfast at the Park
29. Visit Grandpa at the Fire Station
30. Mail Something Fun
31. Fly a Kite
32. Make Lemonade
33. Go on a Hike
34. Have Lunch with Daddy at work
35. Catch Lightening Bugs with GB
36. Take a Bath
37. Make Magnets
38. Take Pictures
39. Make Smoothies
40. Paint our Toe Nails
41. Journal
42. See some Fireworks
43. Long Island Children's Museum
44. Learn to make Mazes
45. Visit at least one Aunt
46. Make Milkshakes
47. Get Faces Painted
48. Ride a Train
49. Tie-dye with Kool-aid
50. Family Pictures
51. Have a Craft Day with Friends

Need some help

Quized by a 4 yr old:
What's the opposite of up....
    Right.
What's the opposite of music...
    Right.
What's the opposite of crayon....
     ????
     She's 'not telling' and I have no idea what a reasonable answer to that might be. We are open to any opinions.
Thank you.

Training Hard

Nick and Claire working hard. Training for the Tour-De-Bridge this July! 

We think we may sweep the under 4 category - if it were a race.

 

When you train hard- you crash hard- Nick took a two hour nap through the grocery store after our ride.

Wanna see the kitchen in the Charlotte house?

 

Above is the model so you can see the layout; the pantry and stacked microwave and wall oven are to the left.

mine is slightly different as we extended the island toward where they have a table (since our table will be in that gorgeous sunroom!) We'll have bookshelves on the sides of the island. (I guess I'll have to find some cook books to take up that space) 

 Below are my our choices for cabinets, counter tops and back-splash.

Something bright and airy... and it only took us 2 hours to come to these choices. This was the hardest room to choose because they just didn't have the counter tops that I had in my head at the design center when we went... But that's behind us now.. almost.

We break ground as soon as the per-appraisal is completed in about 2 weeks. :D
Then it's 4.5 months or so till we move and you can come visit!

My Birdie Sings...

Claire and I did a sneaky thing... It involved the post office, felt, googly eyes, tacky glue... let's just say it involved everything wonderful.
It was really hard not to share this right away but since it involved the post office (which isn't exactly speedy) and was a surprise for a few of the people who read this (OK maybe my entire readership) we are typing it right away and posting it poolside.

We made some chickens... Some puffs with eyes and felt beaks and feet.. simple enough for Claire to do herself but just adorable enough to be super exciting.

After we made a few we felt the need to differentiate between boy chickens and girl chickens. Felt bows are difficult.

Three tries later we had one that was acceptable to the chicken-supervisor who was very specific about how chicken bows should look. One of the rejected bows looked like a super mask so then we had a super chicken and from there they all took on their own personality...

Turns out dressing chickens up is a lot of fun!

After making them all I felt like Jillian Jiggs, it was difficult to part with our wonderful, marvelous Chickens.

But we had gone to the local CVS and bought huge eggs to put them in... so in they went. We taped them up, added some labels and headed for the post office...

That's right, we mailed huge Easter eggs to friends and family and inside them were chickens!

Ba Ha HA!

I'm tickled just thinking of you all hatching them and being so surprised.

Happy Easter!

Some specifics and things we learned or would do differently next time:
-Use packing tape to seal the egg shut the entire way around the seam.
-Attach your addresses with sticky labels would have been a better idea than taping them on with packing tape.
-It cost us under $2 to send each egg and some went to CA.
-The postal officer didn't blink an eye just mumbled something under her breath at us about 'oh, you're sending them just like this?'... she was not amused, even by the toddler who wore a Easter Bunny mask to deliver the eggs to the post office... bah-hum-bug
-we like sending strange items and now that we see how easy it is watch your mailboxes...