Avery's 3rd Birthday Party

This past weekend was Avery's birthday party.  Being February, we never know if it's going to be raining or cold, so it's "iffy" to plan an outside party.  But since we've been having such warm weather this year, we decided to chance it.  Luckily it worked out in our favor- (more like lots and lots of silent prayers!).
She invited a handful of her friends and they all had a great time.  The "theme" of her party was cupcakes.  We set up some tables on the patio and when the kids first arrived, they got to paint a ceramic cupcake bank.  They got to pick out what color apron they wanted to wear and then went to town painting.

After painting, the kids got their wiggles out in this:

Avery was so excited that morning when they came to set it up.  She's been in bounce houses before, but to have one set up in your very own backyard?  Even Zoe couldn't wait to get in on the action- she was giggling and laughing and having a grand old time.
Then the kids had a picnic lunch.  It was so cute, they were all so good and just sat together and ate their lunch.  This was so much easier than having them all sit on chairs and getting up and down a million times and wiggling around.  And what kid doesn't like a picnic? 

Then back into the bouncy:

I found this cute little pull string pinata in the shape of a cupcake.  The kids took turns each pulling a string until the right one opened the bottom spilling all the treats for the kids to scramble for.  However, our pinatas trap door was sealed so tight, the right pull string didn't release the door.  The kids didn't know this, so we let them keep taking turns until all the strings were gone- it was hilarious!  Then a couple of the dads ripped open the bottom and the kids were none the wiser.

Then we sang happy birthday to Avery and it was cupcake time!

It was a really fun party and I hope that she remembers some of it as she gets older.  She had a smile on her face the whole time- it was adorable.  Later that afternoon, Avery was still going strong while I passed out on the floor.  That girl has some energy I tell you!
Today, I came across a baby photo of myself when I was 22 months old that made me laugh- I guess it's the pigtails.

Me at 22 months on the left, and Avery at 3 years on the right

Demo, demo and more demo to come

Last week the contractor wanted to meet with mom to go over a few things about her house.  This time I was able to be at the meeting, so now I have a better understanding of what is going on.  They had started the demo and once they opened the walls, of course, there were a few things that weren't quite right. 

The den is not original to the house, but it was already there when my parents bought the house.  After a little digging down at the city permit department, it turns out the den was never permitted.  And the contractor wanted to tell us that it also wasn't built structurally sound.  So the entire den needs to be torn down and built to code.

Den- not up to code

The wall with the windows specifically, is not anchored into the ground (!).  The ceiling beams aren't resting on the horizontal beam over the opening into the room (!).  The way it was explained to us is that the city will allow the contractor to renovate the den, but the square footage of the den will now need to be taken into account since it wasn't previously.  The city also has this little teeny, tiny rule about the size of the garage in relation to the size of the house.  So, the entire front wall of the garage will need to be removed, and moved forward approximately 12".  If the garage isn't fixed, then the city won't allow the den to be renovated.  The insurance company is taking care of this "little problem as well.

The contractor also explained that they cannot simply replace the electrical wiring throughout the house due to some previous electrical work that was done.  In the past, some new electrical work was tied into the old and this is no longer considered safe or up to code.  So more walls will need to be removed inorder to gain access to remove all the old wiring.

 

They've also removed the entire kitchen.  From what she's been told, it looks like she will most likely get a new kitchen as well, although the contractor is waiting on final approval from the insurance company before he says anything for sure. 

 

The master bedroom will be getting two new windows due to some water damage to the walls under the windows. 

And that is where things stand as of last week.  Hopefully the workers are there this week moving things along.  The scope of work looks large, but as the contractor explained, it's not that it's a "big" job necessarily.  What's taking so much time is the demo and the discussions with the city as far as the unexpected issues that arise when walls are opened.  Once all the issues are addressed, the rest of the work goes quickly.  Time will tell.      

Preschool

Yesterday was Avery's first day of preschool.  She's going Tuesday and Thursday mornings from 9:00-12:45.  King of Glory is right down the street from Franz's office- literally just a few hundred feet.  We've ordered another car seat for Franz's car, so hopefully he'll be able to take her most days and I'll pick up.  That will leave me with about 3 1/2 hours with Zoe to run errands, go to the park, have play dates with other kids her age or just stay at home and hang out.

First day of preschool

She was a little hesitant when we first got there, there were a lot of kids outside playing and I can see how it would have been intimidating for a three year old.  Her room has a real bunny named Chloe.  She is the sweetest little bunny, and Avery was really excited to get to pet her.  Zoe and I said good-bye and as we were leaving Avery said, "bye mommy, have a good day!". 

She had a great time because when I got there to pick her up she started crying and saying she didn't want to leave!  Her teachers said she did great.

I was wondering how Zoe would do at home without her sister around.  Sure enough, it was a long 3 1/2 hours.  Poor Zoe didn't really know how to play by herself- even for a few minutes!  But, she loved all the one on one attention she got. 

It was weird how quiet the house was with just one kid.  It has been so long since it was just Avery and I.  All in all it was a good first day!