in the weeds

When I realized I hadn't posted anything since Miranda's birthday, I decided that despite the long list of everything that is pending, I should take a moment to share our life right now. My brother moved into the lower level of our house in April and my parents came for a week to clean up, paint and refurbish his room and living room. Having my brother here with us is wonderful: he loves hanging out with kids, he helps around the house and yard and I love that we have an even bigger family. Miranda calls him Mr. Petrified Wood and Jove is learning quite a bit about minerals from him. He is looking for a job as a chemist and he is already hooked up with the mineral collecting community out here.

As the weather has warmed up the yard work frenzy has begun. The previous owners of this house were elderly and had not done much outside or inside for that matter. We are planting a small garden inside a fenced area around the pool and next year will create a larger fenced garden. We have seen deer in our yard many times and we are also figuring out what we can plant that they will not eat. The shed on the property was filled with years of junk and mouse infestation and it took us quite a few days to clean it out and haul all of the junk to the dump. We don't have garbage pick up here and I must say that I quite enjoy going to the dump, which is really a transfer station. Recycling does get picked up weekly and we really only make enough garbage to have to take it every couple of weeks. That was probably more information than anyone wanted to know about garbage I'm sure.

There are a lot of invasive vines, poison ivy and accumulated brush everywhere and it will probably be the end of the summer before it is all cleared up and hauled away to be composted. Our roof deck collapsed under snow back in February and we demolished some shoddy cabinets in the room that will be Miranda's and we have been taking all of that wood to the dump as well. We took a break from re-doing the two upstairs bedrooms to work in the yard but the bedrooms really need to get finished.

The arrival of Spring also brought activities for the kids. Miranda has ballet and tap class which she loves. The class is called Fairytale Ballet and it involves costumes and a story every week. My little girl who loves to dress up and pretend is thrilled.

Jove is busy right now and he loves all of his activities, but Jupiter and I are wiped out from taking him all over after work. Jove took a few horseback riding lessons at a local stable, he is playing soccer in the Stamford league, he takes a Ropes Course class at the JCC and he started Brazilian Ju Jit Su. All of the activities, except for Ju Jit Su, will wind down soon. The Ju Jit Su is making Jove really strong; Jove and I have always enjoyed wrestling but I can't really do it anymore because he's too tough. Jove has a lot of energy and he loves to be physical so it is a great match and its structured so he's not just wrestling with his friends.

Summer vacation will be here soon and we need it so badly. We are looking forward to spending our days here, exploring the nearby natural areas, getting the house fixed up and traveling a bit. If anyone wants to come visit this summer, we 'll be here.