Christmas 2009

We had a wonderful Christmas this year and hope everyone else did as well!
The boys got a custom made 2 person easel and a train table (made of recycled pieces)--







Backyard sledding and Igloo building 101--

Insane Ginger Posse-

Multitaskers

James recently deigned to help Willy with his reading skills while he was simultaneously watching his new favorite show 'Dinosaur Train' (BTW how did it take this long for someone to finally combine those two?- any parent of a 4 year old boy realizes this is a pure gold recipe).

Halloween

Willy as the cutest frog ever

Willy and Mom


James and Sadie discussing strategy


Spiderman!!



Just the briefest update to share Halloween photos of the boys. Willy was thrilled to be a frog, and the costume turned out so cute. Willy really 'got it' by the fourth house, and then tried to run as fast as he could from door to door. I tried to carry him a few times and he refused, saying only "I running... I running"
We tried to make James a costume as well, but at the last minute (with wet paint on his spider hat), we borrowed Jeff and Izzy's extra spiderman costume. He had such a good time trick or treating with his friend Sadie.

the young ones

We are fast approaching Halloween and the boys are pretty set on what they will be this year- Willy has talked for the last two months about how 'I a frog' so that should be pretty easy; James was dead set on Spiderman, but we have managed to convince him that it would actually be cooler to be a spider (like the one that bit Spiderman) because there are going to be dozens of other Spidermen around. This conveniently allows us to make both costumes and not have to go out and buy stuff (besides candy).
Its full on fall here now- the leaves have been blazing out over the last couple of weeks and it is starting to drop down in temp. It will be interesting to see how much heating oil we burn in the new house this winter- our storm windows are pretty old and its difficult to judge how much insulation is in the walls- though the attic is pretty well insulated. We figure this will be our baseline year and maybe we can afford to do some more serious weatherproofing next year. Katharine has been very busy with her classes and working with sustainability initiatives on campus and writing grants etc. She is waiting to hear about funding and attendance for a possible class to Denmark early next summer. I hope I can update my building blog soon- I've been doing some interesting side projects as well as two big timberframes- a house and a boat barn. The boys had their pictures taken at school recently- the poses they manage to get them in are pretty amazing (and hilarious). We recently put the boys on a see-saw and had to push down on James' side because Willy outweighs him by a little already!




My absolute favorite; it looks like he fell over and is trying to smile as he gets up--

What are we up to...

well, some days it seems like just a little, and other days it seems like quite a lot. The boys are excellent, enjoying their new school and their new town. We've been using the backyard as much as possible while the weather is nice. Mike has steadily been expanding our space by aggressively trimming the back hedge or just outright removing parts of that hedge. He anticipates placing his timber frame model (that he erected in the yard in Bloomfield then took down before our move) in the back corner as a all-purpose shed and garden house. So, he made some space for that but also trimmed the other hedges-- so much so that we found some new friends in a pair of neighbor kids, ages 4 and 6, who live in the house behind all that hedge. We've had fun playing with them recently.

The boys love their new school and their teachers. The hallway at school has a HUGE map of the Netherlands on Willy's "family board" that tells the whole school about where he was born and what our family traditions are. In Willy's class last week they concentrated on musical instruments: he came home with a home-made drum, guitar, and tambourine. Good times. James has a new teacher who he really likes, and they are instituting "sharing days" where he will get to bring an item once a week related to the class theme. He asked me repeatedly this morning "is today sharing day?" I tried to explain that mom does not know the week's theme yet! He is very eager to take part. In his class they are starting a more formal music class on a weekly basis soon, which we are sure he will love. He continues to entertain us with his imaginative stories, songs, and words. We finished reading Stuart Little a few weeks ago-- his first real book (I read EB White chose the sudden ending because he was an overzealous hypochondriac and was sure he was going to die. He lived on for decades). James did not notice the abrupt ending, and we are planning to read Charlotte's Web next.

I (Katharine) am back in school, and working hard to inform my students about American Government and Environmental Policy. I am also running a Penny Campaign to raise money for student sustainability projects in Kenya and India. Mike is keeping busy with his own business and with his work for the Barn Raisers. We are anticipating attending the Timber Framer's Guild annual conference in Saratoga Springs in November-- it will give Mike an opportunity to hang out with the other Carhartt-clad timber nerds whom he dearly loves. Lots of fun. He has not had a lot of time to devote to our house, but we anticipate the slower pace of winter will allow that. Without further ado, some pics of the boys:
Willy eyeing the goats at the Haddam Fair

James feeding the goats at the same


James loved this giant slide...


while both boys adored the "train" ride
Playing with our friends Arlo and Ziggy at the fair-- these "sand" boxes were filled with feed corn for the event. Actually a little slippery if you are wearing rubber boots.

Greetings

this is what happens when you hand Willy a phone.
Hmmm. Wonder where he gets this?

Southern visitors

We have been settling in to Middletown little by little. This week Bammi and Peppy (and Heyward) are all visiting from south GA. They have all had fun with the boys and visiting the Essex steam train and two days in Mystic seaport which are both pretty close to us. We've all been enjoying the results of Peppy's generous trip to Sam's Club that filled our fridge and pantry to overflowing-
Here are a few pictures from the week:

Willy playing ball--

The Branraisers cut this frame and James and I helped raise it last Saturday; its a replica of a New Haven trainstop and seats 20 people--

The boyz--


Potheads--


Mom and James at the aquarium watching for Stellar sea lions


Lillies at the aquarium in Mystic--


James fervently explaining away some disreputable actions--

Predator--




Prey--

Maiers in da house

We realize how long it has been since our last post, and also how eager to see photos, and to hear information, our friends and family have been. Many apologies for the delay. Though we could be considered professional movers by this point, it was a HUGE endeavor. At least it seems to be a huge endeavor when one tries it with two children under three who are dying to help out/crawl in boxes/get involved/unpack what you are packing/or pack what you are unpacking.
Now, with just about 2 weeks in the house we are finally putting things on the walls, and managing to find homes for all of our items.
That being said, it is nice to move into a home with the knowledge that you will not have to move again for a long, long time. Hopefully, when we leave this place it will be about 2070. Without further ado, please enjoy photos of our place. Please understand that it is not quite up to museum status-- things are still a little messy and piled up while we make the final touches. We fear that if we wait until everything is perfect, you will not see photos until approximately 2019.


First-- the kitchen. Not enough counter space, but honestly: what kitchen has? Mike felt compelled to remove the cabinet doors early in the process, to allow visual access to all plates, cups, mugs, and glasses. The fridge, though from the 1970s is actually a replacement of the fridge that was in place when we moved in (by generous donation of Splint and Lydia). The original refrigerator was from at most 1952, was rusty inside, opened the wrong way and lacked several key shelves.


The '57 Chevy of OVENS. We love it.


Our dining room/ Mike's computer area. Much more space than the old place.

Our living room, in which the dogs are now extremely comfortable, as you can see.


another shot of the living room.



the stairway, with the beginnings of our mega-photo-gallery. We have begun to love this wallpaper [from the '40's?/ '50's?/ 60's?-- who knows?]




this is 'the nook'. when we moved in, we planned for this to be Willy's bedroom, but realized later it was deemed a 'nook' instead of a bedroom because it has no door and no closets... closets we can work around. Doors for the baby's room: we need. For now Willy's crib is in the guest room and the nook is a staging ground. We plan to get a door on there before the Owens grandparents and cousin Heyward visit in 2 weeks... please cross all appendages.

the "master" bedroom. The street noises are keeping us on our toes-- July 4th in particular was a late night for the inhabitants of Grand Street and their fireworks. Otherwise, it is comfortable, simple and JUST RIGHT.


Willy's crib in the guest room. We have a small child's bed donated from friends Izzy and Jeff, but since Willy is currently awake and ready to explore at 5AM, we decided to give it a few weeks before the transition.



This is James' kingdom. His books fill the shelves, his guys are on the bed, and his 'Carnivores of Africa' poster is on the wall. He takes up about 9% of his bed, pillows maybe 14% and the remaining 77% is all stuffed animals and books. His room is quite small, and currently features this ample chest of drawers, and a closet that he has turned into a fort: including wall mural in the closet made from purple marker and ball point pen. Naturally we support his artistic endeavors, especially those taking place in the closet.

Fingers crossed

We are holding our breath tonight as we wait to hear about the legal status of our house in probate court today. It turned out the house we have a contract on was owned by an elderly woman who passed away shortly after we signed the contract. Long story short we are scheduled to close tomorrow morning if all goes well in probate court today with the estate. Champagne only after the fat lady sings. Homebrew while we wait. Okay- so while I was waiting for the videos to upload we heard that everything went well in court and we are set to sign the papers tomorrow morning. I'll believe it when it is all said and done.

We have been enjoying a beautiful, if rainy, spring while we have been going back and forth on the house and packing and trying to organize all the little details of moving. I hope to update my timberframe blog soon with two new projects I've been working on here in the neighborhood- nice to work close to home for a while- and nice to do the design and cutting for the most part.
Katharine is doing well with research and teaching; she leaves Sunday for a conference in Madison WI. Between research and teaching an extra class and applying for more grants, she has been keeping well busy.
James is fast approaching four and has lots of interesting theories about the world and all the strange things in it. He keeps us on our toes. Here he is practicing flying in a bird costume he came up with--



Today, the boys got to help with some timberframe layout when they got up from naps.


Willy has been talking up a storm all of a sudden. About two weeks ago he woke up and just started naming everything he could and does not stop until he falls asleep in the evening. Its mostly hilarious; we are all learning more about language as he fills in the gaps. He is still a bruiser- here is a nice shiner from a header off the couch:



The boys sharing a rare quiet moment on the couch-

We end up with a lot of bath pictures- I think because it is one of those rare moments where they are contained in a limited space and we actually have time to grab the camera. Here they are sliding down the back of the tub--



James and Katharine pinning the bugs we caught in the state park with our sweep net. Katharine is the only one with the patience to pin all those tiny guys--

Spring fun

We are all enjoying the onset of the warmer weather and everything turning green over the last couple of weeks. The boys particularly like playing in the big mud puddle that forms in our backyard. Hopefully in another week or two we will have the final word on when we close on the house in Middletown- we are all looking forward to finally having our own place and even unpacking those last couple of boxes that we have just left alone since we knew we would be moving on soon.

James was thrilled to help me split kindling out of cedar scraps in his Superman pajamas-