Daddy's helper

Ben and Katie both delight in hanging out in the addition. They don't seem to understand (or care?) that it's a construction site, and try to find all kinds of way to help Daddy out. Chris finally gave in and gave Ben a few nails to work with. I'm pretty sure the parenting manuals would advise against this, but it seems to keep the kids happy, so....

Look out!

So Tyler got his Learner's Permit to drive back in September (on his b-day). He's been driving a handful of times since then, and today was the first time he drove with Mom AND the kids in the car. He drove to the Publix/Target plaza and back, and did a great job. He did admit, though, that Katie was very distracting ("Ty...I'm just talking to you? Ty? Ty?")

Go, Buckeyes!

The kids all dressed in their best Ohio gear for the big Ohio v. Michigan game. Of course, as the weather warmed up, the jackets came off, and Ben ended up looking more like a miniature Santa Clause (with the pants rolled up and all...), but still, they wore their Buckeye colors with pride.

Farewell, baby curls!

I've had many friends and family tell me lately that it's time to cut Ben's hair, and have had two of those same friends/family think that Ben was KATIE. I figured it was time for the curls to go. So...

I did it myself. Ben was as patient as can be expected.

It's a little choppy, but pretty decent considering I had a wiggling target. =) He looks like such a big boy now. I think that's why I let the curls stay as long as I did. I just wasn't ready to let go. I guess mothers never are.

Weeks 3 & 4

We now have a floor and interior walls in the addition! This shot is taken from the new "media room" looking into the back half of the addition. Ty's new bathroom is on the left, a hallway in the middle leads to his room in the rear, and my new laundry room is on the right.

The exterior has been Tyvek'd (is that a verb??) and the windows are in! Bad news on that means that now the subs have to come in and out the front door to access the addition--they were previously entering through a ladder placed at the front window. The good news is, the siding is going on this week, we're due to get a roof as soon as the materials come in, and next up is insulation and drywall!

The side view. The neighbors must LOVE us!

Setting the trusses

Once the walls were in place, the roof trusses were craned in. The roof was added, then the walls were enclosed and the windows cut out. THIS IS ALL STILL IN THE FIRST TEN DAYS!

Week one

During the first week of construction, the exterior walls were built in the driveway and then put into place using a crane. In photo three, you can see where a 6-inch cross-section of the house was cut out and removed!

Day 1

Construction finally begins on October 22nd!

Happy kids

Honestly, the kids spend a large portion of the day seeing who can collect the most toys (while keeping those toys from their sibling), so we couldn't help but photograph this moment of sibling bliss!

Sticky stuff

After trick-or-treating, the kids were delighted to each pick out a treat to enjoy before bed. Ben wisely chose M&M's which were easy enough to dole out and clean up. Katie's sucker was a little ill advised.

Getting into the spirit

Ben clung to Momma for the pizza party, and wasn't at all thrilled about wearing the hat to his costume....

but Katie IMMEDATELY remembered how to go about trick-or-treating.

Daddy and his kiddos.

Finally, Ben decided it was actually kind of fun to have complete strangers offer him buckets of candy. You ahve to wonder who invented this tradition....

Our little goblins

Katie was quite pleased to wear her "dragon-lizard" costume. Once again, it was a fairly warm Halloween night, so the kids ended up having to wear shorts under their costumes.

Ben, suffering from a bi-lateral ear infection and having just woken up from a short nap, was not pleased AT ALL with all this Halloween nonsense!

Our little goblins take a ride in style to the other side of the neighborhood for a kick-off pizza party.

Halloween cuppy cakes

Shortly before we went out trick-or-treating on Halloween night, Katie and Momma took a few moments to make cuppy-cakes (courtesty of Grama & Grampa Beutel) while Ben took a quick snooze.

Seattle Aquarium

On our last day in Seattle, we took the kids to the Seattle Aquarium (Katie's choice of activities). They had the most fun petting the star fish and sea anemones (which I'm pretty sure I spelled wrong....)

All Smiles

I took six photos, but this was the only one where both kids were facing the camera!

Me and Dad.