Demo/clean-up

Here are a few more shots of the demo (and a little of the clean-up) of Cedar Terrace. The place looks SO strange without the shed roof addition and the screened porch. More demo (of the floor) is on the agenda for this weekend-- anyone free to hang out and work at the lake tomorrow??!! ;-p The place is scheduled to be jacked up on Monday, so that should be another wild thing to see. Ben really likes to be part of the whole process and donned his workin' gloves to help pick up some of the debris and throw it into the trailer. I had to drag him away for lunch- he didn't want to leave what he calls "Our Crazy House".

Day #2 of Demo

Here is our house-- minus kitchen and bathroom (well, we have a tub...)
We're down at Cabin 1 for a while with no internet access and no cable-- it's wild! At least we have running water and electricity- it's a beautiful spot right on the water, so we can't complain...
Lots of updates to come...

Easter Sunday

Have we mentioned Class Clown?

Getting ready to plant tomato seeds~ getting the soil ready on Easter Sunday

Blue Eyes

Harley loves his spot on the hill where he can keep an eye on everything. :)

And So IT Begins

The next phase our our home renovations have begun-- with the stripping of siding and the screen porch.

Random Photos

The ice went out on Easter Sunday. The day before the ice was dark, but still reached from shore to shore. A little was gone Sunday morning, then we watched more and more disappear...
Ben with his new bunny from Nana & Pops Dwyer:

Blue Eyes:

Nana and Pops Dwyer have started their journey in their Road Trek, and Matt, Jessica, and the girls have started (and almost completed!) their road trip to Orlando. While that part of the family heads south, Grammie and Grampy Simpson will be heading north in just a few weeks! 'Tis the season!! :)
Jay and I have started the process of packing up, and Jay even took some of the siding off the house yesterday. More work will happen this weekend, and hopefully we'll get a good jump on the demolition this week.
I leave for Houston, TX on Thursday to attend the American Occupational Therapy Association's national conference. While it will be the longest I've been away from Ben so far, I'm looking forward to the conference and Ben will have some great quality time with his Daddy...

Helping me make the bed/Renovation Update

It was such a neat photo op-- the light was so cool between the sheets! ;-p
Benjamin LOVES to 'help' me make the bed and, lately, he loves to have his picture taken, though he does tease me and move as soon as he thinks I'm going to take the photo... This whole photo series was really awesome, and thought I'd share a few of my favorites.
We are all doing well in the Jewett World. We have some major 'stuff' going on-- a HUGE renovation planned for our house (yes, we're addicted- we just can not stop) among other things. The house-jacking commences at the beginning of May, so we're in the process of making plans, packing up, and eventually moving to a cabin on the property for a few months while our house gets worked on...
For those not 'in the know', we're having our house jacked up for a full foundation, removing and rebuilding our kitchen/bathroom addition as well as our screened in porch. There are bittersweet feelings about the porch (it's my favorite room in the house, though we are only able to use it 3 months out of the year) and will go from being screened in to being 'lived in'. Finally we'll have a dining room!!! And a mud room!!! Oh-- yeah, and a master bedroom/bath. Our camp is slowly growing. It's exciting though there is much adventure ahead.
Wish us luck in this journey. I will be sure to post photos as our project progresses.
Happy Spring!!!!

More outside time

Helping spread out the snow so it will melt faster. Tongue placement is key.
Having so much fun outside!

Florida- Part 4: Petting Zoo

Florida- Part 3: Animal Kingdom

I think the name of this ride is Mt. Katahdin (?) but it was wild to watch the ride come down the hill! The screaming certainly got our attention. :)
We saw lots of tigers. Here's one right under where Ben is standing (yes, there is glass in between).

We did the safari and saw lots of cool animals. This male lion was sunning himself- his mate not far away. And the giraffes were nibbling at the trees. SO cool!

Trip to FL- Part 2

We spent a lot of time playing and a little time sleeping! Ben slept really great at night but only had a couple of naps while we were there-- we had too much fun playing! He sure is cute when he naps though... :)

Trip to Florida- Hanging out with Grammie & Grampy

We had a great trip to Florida and enjoyed the warm weather. Ben LOVES hanging out with his Grammie and Grampy and enjoyed the beach, the pool, and especially riding his new Dora the Explorer bike (Daddy made a trip to buy a bike when we got there). And, of course, blowing bubbles. We had amazing weather while we were there- it was hard to come back to the Cold North but a good 'reset' to get us through till Spring...

More snow!!!

We had quite a snow storm overnight! We lost power for several hours, but thankfully it came back on as Ben and I were waking up this morning. I couldn't open our back door far enough for Ben and me to get out, so we ended up going from the porch in snow that was up to my thighs. It was hard-going, pulling Benners along behind me in his sled but he laughed and laughed at me as I struggled to get him into the driveway. Falling over into the snow was a sure bet for hysterics. Fun. Once Daddy got up we played in the snow and Ben was "King of the Hill" which he loved, but not as much as jumping from the top of the hill into Daddy's arms.

Out in the Snow

The last snow we had was very wet and sticky so we got out to make a snow-person and a few snowballs. Ben waited patiently for Daddy to finish on the tractor to throw some snowballs.

Daddy and his Boy

Finding ways to entertain ourselves indoors...

We're getting pretty good at this INSIDE thing... Ben loves to color and 'do' stickers. he also really likes to wash all of his animals in the sink. These two (giraffe and zebra) he picked out at the store himself! Ben was treated to the toys because he has been such a BIG boy about giving up his breastfeeding. Ben and Mumma nursed through his 2 1/2 year birthday! Wow! We talked a lot about how Ben is a big boy now and he didn't need to nurse anymore, so when it came to the day after his 2 1/2 year birthday (Thursday the 12th was his half-birthday) he was prepared. There have only been a few tears shed (both B and Mumma), but it's been far easier than I thought it would be. B would tell everyone, "no more nursing on thirteen" (the 13th). The few times he's really wanted to nurse I would tell him he was a big boy and he'd say, "No, I'm just a little baby!" Most of the time he agrees that he's a big boy though. And sometimes he'll ask to nurse and then look at me and say, "Mumma, I just teasing!" Such a funny boy.

One of Ben's favorite things to do is ride his bike in the barn. He straps on the helmet himself and boy does he cruise fast! He could ride around and around for hours. He's frequently very sweaty when that helmet finally comes off. :)

"Cheeeeeeese"

He sure puts his all into his "cheese" for the camera. Really, he is quite happy! We went outside for a walk today as temps are in the 40's. Ben informed me that we got some 'fresh air'. Unfortunately, the breeze picked up while we were outside so it cut our walk short, but we managed to make it down the driveway. Ben picked up a stick and a pine cone and has been quite content to play with these two things inside...
Things in the Jewett household are good. Ben and I both had a cough/runny nose type cold, and Ben also had an ear infection, but at the moment we are all quite healthy.
It's wonderful to have warmer temps today, and the sun is actually melting a bit of the snow so we see some drips! It doesn't take much to get us excited in the dead of winter. :)