Eykamp Haus

The best-laid plans...

2011-11-19T20:21:00.000-08:00

We have all heard this saying and I'm sure we have all planned something that hasn't gone the way we wished it would. It seems this is my life theme.

When I was little all I wanted was to be a Mom. I even remember telling my very disappointed parents, "I don't need to go to college, I'm going to be a stay at home Mom and you don't need a degree for that!". I moved out when I was 21 and lived by myself for 10 years. The first 5 years were hard, if it weren't for my sister, brother-in-law and parents I would never have eaten meat. I remember having only $30 to buy my groceries and that had to last me 2 weeks. But I finally got to a place I wanted to be; I had a good job, nice furniture, enough clothes, my own car and all my bills were paid. I didn't accomplish all this by myself, my family helped when I really needed it but by in large I did it alone. I was and am proud of the fact that I was self reliant.

When Matt and I married he knew (and very much supported) not only would we have kids but that I would stay home with them. I assumed it would be hard living with one income but for the first couple of years we did okay. We never had an excessive amount of money be we had enough to pay the bills and go away for a long weekend once a year.

Life has a funny sense of irony. Perhaps when I was so adamant about what I wanted to be when I grew up I should have added the note *a stay at home mom with financial security *. My husband is one of the hardest working people I know, he works 12 hour days most days. Times are hard and a lot Matt's customers are small businesses and small businesses are having to tighten their belts which mean we are having to tighten ours as well. It's been a hard couple of years and sometimes the stress gets to both of us.

I find myself jealous of friends that work because they are able to do much more than we are able to. I have to remind myself what's important to our family, what my goal is and honestly what my hearts desire has always been to keep that green eyed monster away. I'm not greedy and I'm not unrealistic. I just want to be secure enough that our finances are met, we have enough to take care of our basic needs and have some left over to tackle one of the "old house" jobs we have. That's it; no fireworks, no fanfare, no big expensive trips.

It's hard to keep my eye on the prize but when I think about what I'm gaining by being at home with my kids it makes all the struggle worthwhile and I know I'll be stronger for it in the end. Just like my "meatless" years.

"What doesn't kill us only makes us stronger" - I think I'll make that my new life theme. And when that monster starts rearing his ugly head I just need to look at this picture and remember what's really important.

The end of October already, how did that happen?

2011-10-23T07:03:00.000-07:00

I guess you can say I've been busy so I haven't posted lately. I'm still trying to navigate through my days and boy are they flying by! Homeschool in still going great and we are enjoying all the field trips we get to go on.

Enjoying the new fire pit (and smores!)

We took the kids to their first Fair - the reviews were good.

Homeschool sweetie

Trip to Petersburg with our friends

Marty turned double digits (I'm still trying to wrap my brain around that!)

Playing with electricity at the Virginia Air and Space Center

And I even found time to decorate for Halloween.

Hope you are all enjoying this beautiful Fall weather!

Kathy

Goodbye Summer, Hello Homeschool!

2011-09-09T19:48:00.000-07:00

Tuesday we started our new adventure... homeschool. So far it's been great. I was telling my husband last night how well we have been doing and he said "You sound surprised". To tell you the truth, I am! I had a huge melt down last week because I was so stressed out about the idea of my children's education being in my hands (I'm sure it didn't help that I was dealing with hurricane preparations and clean up too). After finishing up our week I can now see the beauty of staying home and teaching your own children.

If our local schools were an option I probably never would have taken on this journey. I know I'm only into this one week but I can't see why anyone would oppose this. Last year I cried for over two weeks when Louisa started Kindergarten. I missed having free time with my kids, we couldn't go to the park or the zoo whenever we wanted to. Someone else picked what was important to teach my kids, not what my children wanted to learn and certainly not what Matt and I wanted them to learn. I've had to fight school administrators every step of the way to keep my son challenged. My kids spent all day in school and then came home and had more work to do. I was watching my kids grow up way too fast.

I know this choice is not for everyone but for us it's a perfect fit.

Now here's where it might sticky... this choice was not made because my husband and I are rich and I can "afford" to stay home. The way I look at it we can't afford for me not to stay home. We are making sacrifices because it's what's best for our children. These are their formative years and they need to have the attention of their parents while they still want it. I know there are a lot of Mothers who choose or have to work and my hat is off to them - I don't know how they do it. But for me, my choice has always been that I would stay home with my kids. It's what my Mother did for us and I think it was one of the most important influences I had in my life. I have said many times; My Mother was always there for us each morning when we left for school and she was there for us when we got home. If this is all I can give my kids then I'm okay with that. Right now, I feel that I am giving them the best gift I can give them - my time.

I like that after we do Math and Language Arts we can do a little of this....

I asked them today if they like being home or if they missed going to school. They both said this was where they wanted to be. Who am I to question them?

Kathy

Still standing strong

2011-08-29T08:28:00.001-07:00

According to our local newspaper, our girl (I still want to name her, any suggestion?) has withstood approximately 40 hurricanes in her time. She has weathered them all gracefully. Once again, during Hurricane Irene, she kept her family safe and dry.

There's no place like home...

Military Families

2011-08-09T05:24:00.000-07:00

For those of you who have ever lived in or visited Hampton Roads you will know that it's a military town. Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard... we have it all. When you've lived here your entire life you become accustom to a group of young soldiers in McDonald's getting lunch or a convoy of tanks and Humvees rolling down the interstate. It's a part of life here. We wake up to the sound of Marines running and singing cadence in unison - there's nothing better than hearing that. Our house regularly gets "buzzed" by helicopters and if you visit Virginia Beach you are sure to see the Jets flying (we LOVE Jet noise!).

I have had more friends than I can count wait for a husband, wife, sister or brother come home from a deployment. I have silently cried while during Show-n-Tell a three year old holds up a picture of his dad in desert camouflage, standing in the sand, holding a sign that says "I love you Ryan". I know children who put their lives on pause while they wait for their parents to return from a too long tour. I know men who have missed the birth of their child; went away with a newborn and came home to a toddler. I have seen families anxiously wait for orders not knowing when or where they will move.

I guess what I'm saying is, I've seen it all. But what I never become used to is the ultimate sacrifice Military Families have to face. Two days after a helicopter crashed and killed 30 American servicemen in Afghanistan, my friend had to say goodbye to her best friend and husband. He is an Army helicopter pilot going back to Afghanistan for the remainder of a 15 month tour. They have two children. How they let go is completely baffling to me; my heart goes out to them and to every family who has to let go, never knowing if they will ever see their loved one again.

The SEALs that were killed in the recent crash lived and worked right here in Hampton Roads. It's hit our part of the world hard, you can read about it here:

http://hamptonroads.com/2011/08/fallen-seals-came-many-walks-life

"Thank you for your service" is a small thing to say.

****UPDATED Wednesday August 10th****

This article was in the paper this morning, a very sweet tribute to such a tragic event.

http://hamptonroads.com/2011/08/surfers-honor-va-beach-navy-man-killed-afghan-crash

Social ignorance

2011-07-03T11:00:00.000-07:00

There was an article in this morning’s paper about our local homeschool store. You can read it here:

http://hamptonroads.com/2011/07/virginia-beach-woman-was-homeschooling-pioneer

And while the article was uplifting and informative the comments left me shaking my head. Most of the comments were negative and ignorant and the majority of them pinged on the non-social aspect of homeschooling.

Who socialized Abraham Lincoln? George Washington? Thomas Jefferson? And if you think there are only a handful of famous homeschoolers please check this list:

http://www.homeschoolacademy.com/famoushomeschoolers.htm

Think of it this way; before schools were “public” most of the people in the U.S. were homeschooled. Their parents taught them, and as you know the United States was not formed by a bunch of idiots – so someone was doing a good job teaching them. If you lived on a prairie (Laura Ingalls Wilder) who did you socialize with? Now I’m not ready to put on a bonnet, churn my own butter and have 10 kids but I do think you can have your cake and eat it too. I can be a 21st century mom and still homeschool my kids, they will turn out to be well rounded and *gasp* “socialized”!

A couple of years ago I couldn’t figure out what was going on with one of my 3 year old preschoolers. He couldn’t sit still, he kept make “gun” noises and for the life of him he couldn’t keep his hands from moving – constantly. He was very smart but he was always in his own world, anti-social and was a major source of frustration. Finally I talked with his mother and found out the problem. Video Games; lots and lots of violent, not for 3 year old video games. He couldn’t even go to the bathroom at home without a video game! His mother said it kept him and his brother “busy”, which means out of her hair. This child was the very definition of anti-social; he had no desire to play with other kids and if he did find one to play with, he had no idea how to play with them (he liked spinning round and round on the playground all by himself).

We all know kids that spend hours playing video games. They can’t attend a family function without their DS, can’t go out to eat without an iPod or cell phone (god forbid you miss an important text from your BFF). They can’t hold a conversation with their peers much less with an adult.

I think these are “anti-social” kids and most of them attend public school. I know that not all kids are this way and most parents enforce time limits on video games. I’m just trying to make a point; there are exceptions to every rule.

You find anti-social kids in public school and you can find socialized kids in the homeschooled world. My kids are good kids. I can take them out to eat and don’t have to apologize to the restaurant when we leave for their behavior. They both have iPods but aren’t allowed to take them out of the house. I have been complemented numerous times for their conversation abilities, I expect if an adult speaks to them they respond. I allow my kids to be kids but I also set boundaries, something kids need and sadly these days don’t have.

Do I worry that my kids will not see other kids and learn how to interact with their peers? Absolutely not. It’s going to part of what I need to do as a homeschooling parent. The good news is I can pick and choose who they can (and can’t) socialize with. Marty learned a lot of things this past year in private school that I didn’t approve of and now I don’t have to worry about him being with those same kids next year.

I guess my point to this entire post is; there is a lot of good about homeschooling and there is probably some bad. No one is perfect and no situation is a good fit for everyone. If you want to criticize homeschoolers, fine but make sure you know what you are talking about before you just throw an ignorant comment out there.

On a lighter note, next Saturday we leave for Florida. The kids and I are very excited! Hopefully we will have loads of pictures to show you when we get back.

Have a safe a fabulous 4th of July!!!!
Kathy

I just don't "bounce" like I used to!

2011-06-27T06:34:00.000-07:00

Two Thursdays ago Marty asked "Can we go for a walk?". Simple enough request, right? We set off for the little park that's in front of our neighborhood. The kids love it because it's open and has plenty of space for riding bikes and scooters, I love it because it's contained and I can watch both of them. It was a nice day, not too hot and low humidity (just how I like summer days). We got to the park but had to cross the road that leads into Portsmouth Naval Hospital, it was in the afternoon so there were a lot of people leaving for the day. I made both kids get off their rides to walk them across - safety first! We got across but Marty was having trouble getting his bike over the curb. Now, if you're a Mom you know I wasn't just walking carefree to the park. No, I had the bottle of water (in case they got too hot), my keys, cell phone (for emergencies), Louisa's scooter (because she's still needs help) and Louisa's hand (because she still needs help!). As I was stepping up on the curb I reached down with my left hand (bottle water, keys and cell phone were in this hand) to grab Marty's tire when Louisa's scooter spun around and whacked me in my right shin. This caused me to trip and do the best somersault I have done in my 40s (Louisa later told me "Mom, you did a great flip!").

When you're a kid and you fall the first thing you do is look to see how much blood there is. When you fall as an adult the first thing you do is look to see how many people saw you! Lucky for me it was only a shift change at the hospital, the 4 Marines at the guard shack have seen worse I'm sure!

Not 10 minutes prior to my fall, Marty had taken a tumble on his bike and landed in almost the exact same way. He jumped up, wiped his hands and said "I'm ok!" - not a scratch, bump or bruise - and kept going. I was not so lucky. Marty asked me later "how come parents get hurt so easily when they fall?" My response "I just don't bounce like I used to".

Hopefully I'll be able to stop wearing the wrist brace this week :-)

Kathy

Why I'm homeschooling

2011-06-13T06:54:00.000-07:00

I know I've posted about the disappointment Matt and I have felt in the private school our children have been attending and the fact that our public school is not an option for us. I've met resistance from family, teachers and friends about the decision to homeschool next year (and possible every year) and I too have had my doubts. Why am I homeschooling? Well the current situation might have pushed me in that direction but now that I've done my research and talked to current and former homeschoolers I'm confident in my choice to take this on. I know this for sure, my family is my world and my job as a Mother is to raise my kids to be the best adults they can be. Homeschool is not for everyone and you need to be 100% on board to accomplish this goal.

My two friends (that will be homeschooling with me next year) and I went to The Home Educators Association of Virginia's conference this past Thursday and while I was listening to one of the speakers this thought hit me - If your child is having trouble in school you get them a tutor so they can catch up. Why does the tutor work so well? Because it's one on one teaching/learning and it moves at the child's pace - Homeschooling is like your child having his own personal tutor for 12 years, how can that be a bad thing?

We are excited that we get to handpick all the non-skill subjects. Growing up in Virginia all of my History classes consisted of the American Revolution or the Civil War. I didn't learn any world history until I went to college! Marty asked to learn about Ancient Greece and Rome. For Science class I got him a book about Genes and DNA and a book about inventors, when he saw the books Friday morning he got so excited he started reading them right there on the spot!

In the past 17 years Matt and I have had our ups and downs but one thing my husband has always been is my champion. He always respects my decisions and never tells me that I'm wrong. He doesn't always agree with me but he ALWAYS supports me, something I wish I could get from other people. This weekend he told me he knew I would do a good job and could see that I was getting excited about starting and then he told me he was proud of me. I know that crazy man loves me but knowing that he is proud of me and will be there for me makes this entire journey that much sweeter.

Last year after both of my kids were in school full time I wrote this post. I felt this way for a month and then I just got used to them being gone for most of the day. Now I get the best of both worlds. I love my kids and hope that homeschool will not only teach them a great deal but will bring us closer as a family.

http://eykamphaus.blogspot.com/2010/09/new-chapter.html

p.s. Summer vacation has been going well and we're looking forward to a vacation in Florida in July!

Summer's here!

2011-06-06T08:04:00.000-07:00

First order of business? Figure it all out... I'll let you know how it goes!

Kathy

Black-eyed Peas

2011-05-30T16:50:00.000-07:00

Marty is all about trying new things since he discovered butter beans at Easter dinner. Today at the grocery store he asked if he could try black-eyed peas. Now anytime one of my kids voluntarily asks to try a vegetable I'm all over it, so I grabbed a bag of frozen peas and headed home.

While we were eating I was telling the kids that they were one of my favorite foods (I don't ever cook them because up to now I had no one to share them with), while we were talking a memory that I had tucked away came creeping out. My Nannie used to serve her peas with small slivers of red peppers mixed in - you know the kind that will burn your lips off if you're not careful.

I know it may sound insignificant but it's one of those things I had forgotten about Nannie. When she died I swore I would never forget anything about her. During her many visits we shared a room. She snored so loud that it kept me awake most of the night, of course she said I talked to much she couldn't sleep either. My father was convinced one of us was exaggerating! She taught us songs with bad words and had the craziest sayings you have ever heard (S*&t in one hand and wish in the other and see which fills up first). We used to chase her around the backyard holding a frog, her screaming and laughing all the time.

I adored her.

Tonight my son's dinner request brought back a little piece of a wonderful woman who meant the world to me. The gift of a memory is a rare and wonderful thing, thanks Marty.

I'm not sure if I taught them or they taught me.

2011-05-02T10:46:00.000-07:00

Last night I realized that I only have a few more days as a preschool teacher. I have been going to the YMCA for 6 years and have been teaching for the last 4. I never set out to work there, I was asked if I would like to take the job. I never even considered getting a part-time job, I was happy being a stay at home mother. When Sue asked me if I would consider the job, I told her as long as my children came first I would love to do it. She said she wouldn't want it any other way, I guess that's why I have so much respect for her - she and I always put our families first. I didn't even ask her how much it paid, I didn't care.

Of all the places I worked and of all the important jobs I did; I've never had one that was more important to me, that I cared about any more or that I enjoyed working at as much as working at the Preschool. It's a special place; the kids make you laugh, you get paid to read stories and make crafts and you can eat Teddy Grahams for a snack and no one looks at you funny.

I've met a group of wonderful women that I now call friends. We don't fight, bicker, back stab or gossip. We care about each others families, make dinners when there are births and deaths, celebrate each other's birthdays and laugh, we laugh a lot!

My kids (my husband likes to point out that I call them "my kids") are beautiful and each one has their own personal place in my heart. There is nothing sweeter than a little child telling you "I love you" for no other reason than they truly do. I love watching them on the first day not knowing how to walk in a line or wait their turn and then by the end of the year they recognize their written name and can tell you letters, numbers and colors they didn't know before. They still have to be reminded to wait their turn but they are 3 and when you're 3 you are still finding out you are not the center of your universe.

My husband and I made the decision that I would home school next year. And being the person that I am I don't think I can keep up with this house, teach my kids and hold down a part time job. After a lot of soul searching I decided I would not return to the YMCA in the fall. I'm not sure if I'm doing the right thing and maybe I can return the year after but for right now I think it's what I have to do in order to stay sane.

I'm not sure if 10 years from now my kids will remember me but I know for a fact that I'll remember them.

I'm still here!

2011-04-25T07:34:00.001-07:00

Spring break has come and gone. We had a nice time and even got to do a few fun things while we were off from school.

Marty's class visited Jamestown (the first permanent English colony in America) and learned a lot about how hard life was for those first brave men.

Louisa's Kindergarten class had an Easter party at a friends house and I learned a lot of 6 year old knock-knock jokes while driving them to the party.

The Easter Bunny visited.

And we all got new hair cuts!

Best of all I learned I'm ready for summer break. I'm looking forward to homeschooling the kids next year and going at our own pace. I believe as a society we have all gotten so far away from each other that this "old fashioned" idea of school might just help bring us back together. Kids don't know how to function without an electronic game or phone in their hand. Parents run their kids here, there and everywhere but never really spend time with them. How many families still have dinner together every night without the Television on or in the backseat of a car on the way to practice? How many of them take a walk and just talk to their kids? I think it's time we all got back to a more basic way of living; slow down, enjoy each other's company.

I'm not ready to give up my computer or cell phone just yet but I think there's a lot to be said for a simpler way of life.

Hope you all had a wonderful Holiday and got to slow down too!

Kathy

Working out the details

2011-03-28T05:42:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I had to spill the beans about our plans for homeschooling to my son. He's seen me reading how-to books, organizing cabinets with school books and supplies and going to "meetings". He's too smart to let it pass so yesterday he finally asked me why all of this was happening. I told him as little as possible (he has a need to know everything, so it wasn't easy). I want him to know what we are thinking about but I'm still keeping all of the details to myself. I made him a promise that on the last day of school I would give him the full run down, only two more months.

At first he looked at me like I had two heads and then he asked the question I knew would be first "You mean I'm going to have to leave all my friends?". That's not an easy one, how do you tell your child you're taking him away from his security? After I explained the good points to him I could see a little spark in his eye. He had a few minutes to think about it and then he was on board! There are so many advantages to this way of learning and the more I hear the more I can understand why it works.

When I went to school my parents didn't have to think about where I went to school or the quality of that school. There were no SOLs and "No Child Left Behind" wasn't even a thought yet. Don't get me started on those two ideas... My best friend's fathers were a lawyer and a doctor. They could have gone to private school if they wanted to but we had a good school so it wasn't even questioned. The hardest obstacle we have had to overcome with our children is schooling. We knew before we had kids that we would never send them to our neighborhood public school and when we found the private school they attend I had been warned by many to beware. I figured that we could just supplement what they weren't getting at home. What I didn't know is that paying for your child's education doesn't mean you will be heard at the school when there is a problem; and I certainly didn't figure that our concerns would be ignored.

I still have a lot to figure out and some days I panic because I'll be in charge of my child's education but once we hit our stride I think we'll find it suits our family. This might be the answer we have been searching for all along.

Kathy

Fate

2011-03-09T05:38:00.000-08:00

“Habent sua fata libelli” (books have their fate) ~ Latin Saying
“Houses do too, don't they?” ~ Karin Eckelmeyer

Do you believe in Fate? I do, in fact I think it's one of the basics of existence. I believe we each run in a series of circles (for lack of a better phrase) that keep us coming in contact with the same people over and over again throughout our lifetime and throughout the lifetimes of our ancestors.

How else do I explain that months before I landed my new job, a man walked into the Red Cross with a colleague and spoke to a woman about CPR training. That woman was my Aunt who asked if there were any job openings at their company (she was always looking for me). After I had submitted my resume, interviewed and gotten the job I realized that one of those gentlemen was now my new boyfriend (who would eventually become my husband). None of that would have happened if Matt they hadn’t walked into the Red Cross on that day.

On the first week of my next job, Matt came to take me to lunch. He took one look at my new surroundings and said “I’ve been here before”. He had come to the air cargo terminal to pick up a package and had walked into the wrong office. He had been re-directed by my new co-worker, we are still friends to this day. I also went to High School with this new co-worker’s friend from back home. This wouldn’t be too much of a stretch except for the fact that they are both Icelanders. What are the odds that I would have a foreign exchange student in my Virginia High School that was a friend of someone I met 15 years later?

When Marty was in preschool I met a mother who had been displaced by Hurricane Katrina and was now living in her family home in Portsmouth while the repairs could be made to their New Orleans home. We became fast friends and after a lot of “old house” talk realized that her Bilisoly ancestors had built my house. You could chalk this up to the fact that Portsmouth is a small town and of course we know the same people. But, I would have never met Anne if a Hurricane hadn’t destroyed their city and forced them to move – they were only here full time one year.

The internet and all its social trappings have made the world a much smaller place and you become “friends” on a much more global level now. By in large I still think our lives touch many and we may never know we have affected them.

Why did I start this post? When Matt first bought this house in 1995 I did a lot of research on its previous owners. The internet was relatively new and there wasn’t as much information as there is today. I had the facts but I wanted details. I knew the names but I wanted family history. In 2008 I was cleaning out a closet under the 3rd floor stairs and found a little name scratched on the inside of the door. I also found a little half wall which had been built to keep things from going all the way to the back under the bottom stairs. I got a flashlight and a mirror and after much squeezing and stretching I pulled out a mailing tube from 1913. It was addressed to Hermann Aspegren who was the father of the little girl who had left her mark upon my house. All of the sudden I had what I was looking for… history. My discovery led me around the world; first the internet directed me to a passenger list of the Aspegren family through Ellis Island; then to a Swedish genealogy site (which was translated by my air cargo friend’s Icelandic father) and finally it landed me in California. I had found my link, Karin Eckelmeyer. Thank goodness they have such a great name, can you imagine me searching for Karen Smith? I’m sure Mrs. Eckelmeyer thought that was a very odd message I left for her that day; “Hello my name is Kathy Eykamp and I think I live in your Mother’s childhood home”. She called me back and I was elated! Finally I had received what I was looking for all along, my family.

Mrs. Eckelmeyer and her brother have been a wealth of family history for me. She sent me pictures of the Aspegren family around the house. I love that I have a picture of her Grandparents and their children on the same porch that we have enjoyed for so many years. I can hear the 5 Aspegren girls playing just as I hear my own children. I can imagine what their lives were like 100 years ago as they forged a new life in America.

I received an email on Monday from Mrs. Eckelmeyer that her Mother, Karin had passed away in June a week after her 100th birthday. You can read her obituary here:

http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/mercurynews/obituary.aspx?n=karin-eckelmeyer&pid=144600579

Did fate have a plan for me that day in 2008 when I was cleaning? I would like to think so. I would also like to think that in 1995 when Matt asked me to go look at a house he wanted to buy, fate was lurking in the shadows just waiting for me.

Houses do have their fate and we were lucky enough to be chosen by this one.

Don't blog while mad...

2011-02-20T15:08:00.000-08:00

It's probably not the wisest of ideas, in fact I'm sure it's breaking some "Internet" rule (anyone seen The Social Network?). Sometimes when your mad at your spouse they tell you they're sorry and then what? The anger just doesn't go away. So what to do with it? Saying your sorry is a good thing and something I have asked my husband on more than one occasion to do; "Just say you screwed up and you're sorry!". Okay, well he's done that but how do I move onto the next phase? How do you move from a screwed up face and a tight neck to "is dinner ready?". I guess it's like anything... time. Just give it time and it's like it never happened.

One of the biggest things I have had to learn in my marriage is how to properly fight. It's probably something we all need to learn - don't hit below the belt, we want a clean fight. But I probably struggle with it more than some. My parents never fought; never even argued and if there was a disagreement it was done in private after we went to bed. The reason for this is not that my parents were always on the same page but that my parents were born in the 30s. My Mother always agreed with my Father and when she didn't he knew it was important enough to back down and let her have her way. She is a saint. I am NOTHING like her, in fact I'm a lot like my Father. It took me a long time to realize that my way was not the only way. Matt and I grew up in two very different households and we have different life experiences so why would we think alike? We fundamentally share the same beliefs. I let him run the business and he lets me run the kids; but we both have input. I have no point of reference on how to fight "clean" so now what?

Taking 10 minutes to myself to type a small blog post and thinking about what I do next is a good start. I feel better now; no screwed up face, no tight neck.

I'll leave you with this poem, I chose it to be read at our wedding. It was written 125 years ago but still rings true today. I guess some things never change, which is probably what the last line eludes to.

Marriage Advice From 1886", by Jane Wells

"Never go to bed angry.
Let your love be stronger than your hate or anger.
Learn the wisdom of compromise, for it is easier to bend a little than to break.
Believe the best rather than the worst.
People have a way of living up or down to your opinion of them.
Remember that true friendship is the basis for any lasting relationship.
The person you choose to marry is deserving of the courtesies and kindness you bestow on your friends.
Please pass this on to your children and their children's children.
The more things change the more they are the same."

My son... the scientist

2011-02-08T05:45:00.000-08:00

I try not to brag about my kids too much but anyone who know us knows that my 9 year old, Marty, is well let's just say "special".

When Marty was little he could memorize entire books, he started reading in preschool and when we had him tested in Kindergarten he was reading at a 6th grade level. For as long as I can remember when you asked him what he wanted to be when he grew up he would tell you "A Scientist". No cowboy or football player from my boy, nope he wants to be a scientist.

Saturday he decided he wanted to make a solar powered charger for his iPod. Okay. He told us we could get one at Radio Shack (yep, he had already checked it out for us... he's not only informative; he's considerate!). So $15 later, a few failed mis-steps and Voilà! We have a "green" charger. I'm not sure how many sunny days it will take to repay my $15 but hey, it's not about that now is it?

He was so proud of that thing, unfortunately when he finished it was dark so we had to have 3 huge flashlights to test it (kinda defeats the purpose) but it worked. Monday came and it was cloudy so again he couldn't properly test it but today the sun shone bright and my little boy was ecstatic to find out that yes it will charge his iPod.

Sometimes it's hard for us to remember he's only a little boy. He doesn't talk like it; doesn't think like it. So when he acts like it, it's a little bit of a surprise. Tonight after my kids went to bed I came downstairs to find this... today's big experiment.

Super bouncy shoes.

I guess he is 9 after all...

Have a great week!

Kathy

School Daze

2011-01-28T07:06:00.000-08:00

I was originally going to write this post on Monday and it was going to be about how the previous owners of my house had stripped everything good out of it (except for a few doorknobs and window lifts). My original light fixtures have been replaced and the 1960s chandelier has even been stripped of it's crystal prisms, the old light switches are gone, the claw foot bathtub is no more. And although I'm sure the owners thought they were "updating" this house what they did was strip it of it's history. It makes me sad to think of all the treasures this old house is missing.

Anyway, like I said that was supposed to be the original post. For most of the week, however, my mind has been consumed by thoughts of what to do about school next year from my two kids. The public school system in our city is at best passable and at worst dangerous. They have been attending a private school but it also falls short. Although it has great teachers this year there are a few that are long overdue to retire and the governing body is blinded by their own small mindedness.

Along with two of my friends the idea of homeschooling came up. This is something I swore I would never do, I think kids need to be in school for the social aspect if for nothing else. But when you feel that your kids are being shortchanged in the learning department and you have no other option... well, what exactly do you do? My children are the most important people in my life (my husband gladly comes 2nd!) and our philosophy has always been that we do what is best for them.

In the next few weeks I'm going to have to do a lot of soul searching and investigating to make sure this is, in fact, the correct choice for me and my children. I would love to hear from other homeschooling parents, I need all the help I can get right now.

Have a great weekend - I'm going to a Garage Sale Gala tomorrow night so hopefully Monday I'll have some new treasures to blog about!

Kathy

Taking my own advice...

2011-01-12T06:24:00.001-08:00

Yesterday Marty was working on his "paper bag book report". You are supposed to put things into the bag that represent the book you read and then explain why you chose those specific items and how they relate to the story - I assume it's a version of an oral book report. I walked into the kitchen and saw him taping a piece of paper onto the bag with a picture he had scribbled in about a minute. I asked him if he was finished and he said "Yea, I did it really fast because I didn't want to miss Mythbusters". So I asked him "Did you do it to pass or did you do it to the best of your ability"? He stopped and looked at me with a blank stare (he really loves Mythbusters) and he said "I just wanted to finish". Needless to say, we started over again and he missed his favorite program.

This morning I was thinking about our conversation and I asked myself "Are you living your life to just pass or are you doing it to the best of your ability"? I think some days I'm just trying to pass but others I throw my entire self into life - I don't think I've accomplished the "best of my ability" thing yet.

Even though I'm exhausted every night I think there is a lot more I could be doing. More for my fellow man, for the environment, for my children's future. I watched a movie that a good blogger friend of mine recommended, Tapped (Thanks Victoria!!) and decided I would stop buying plastic containers whenever I could - not an easy task if you really think about how much plastic there is. We don't recycle (gasp!) because I never thought we had that much recycling and there is no pickup where we live. There is, however, a collection bin right next to the preschool where I work - I guess I'll be visiting that more often.

I don't need to leave a big mark on the world, I'm not that ambitious. I only hope that on my last day when Marty asks me, I can say "Yes, I did it to the best of my ability".

Kathy

Christmas Recap

2010-12-30T07:20:00.000-08:00

We had a really nice Christmas this year. The week before Christmas was a little hectic but this week I've slowed down and tried to let the kids enjoy their time off.

I wasn't going to pull out all my decorations this year but I did it anyway. I realized two days before Christmas that I forgot to hang my wreath but other than that I think I dragged everything else out (and it's a lot!).

I love all the old decorations I have, most of them I got from a family member so I always have a nice memory about that specific item.

My silver tree was purchased from Ebay. It came in it's original box and was made about 5 minutes from my house!

I didn't send out cards this year and every time I got one in the mail it made me feel very guilty! Oh, well.... there's always next year!

We had a wonderful dinner at my parent's house. The kids were on their best behavior... well all except my little angel who managed to blurt out the F*dash*dash*dash word while rhyming "truck". Aaaahhh, Christmas memories!

My parents gave Marty a new tent so he can sleep outside even longer this year!

Everyone acts like a kid at Christmas!

Santa was very good to us this year.

We got a white Christmas one day late (better late than never!)

This was one for the records, in some places we got 16".

By the time it was over my kids could barely walk in it!

Today is the last day of 2010 and although I'm sad another year has passed I'm also excited to see what 2011 will bring.

My you find peace and prosperity!

Happy New Year,

The Eykamp Haus

Snow...

2010-12-13T06:16:00.000-08:00

In January it snowed on the last birthday she would ever have and today it snowed on the first day that she wasn't with us anymore.

Thanks Grandmom

Mildred Bowen 1909-2010

The gift of the Magi

2010-12-09T12:06:00.000-08:00

"And here I have lamely related to you the uneventful chronicle of two foolish children in a flat who most unwisely sacrificed for each other the greatest treasures of their house." O Henry

Christmas chaos is upon us and not only have we been running here and there but unfortunately the girls of the family have been sick. I haven't been able to finish my decorating, we've only put up the big tree and it took me 4 days to do it! Hopefully this weekend I will be able to get more done.

The Gift of the Magi is one of my all time favorite stories. It reminds me that there is more to giving than how much you spent or how much you get. I would gladly sell my hair for a gift for Matt and I know he would sell his watch for me...

Kathy

Reflection

2010-11-24T06:14:00.001-08:00

I'm thankful...

he can still make me laugh after 16 years

we waited to get married

my Father is my hero

his father is his hero

he's a father

I didn't miss a minute of it

that he's curious

I still have a my best friend

I got a second chance

they love each other

we chose wisely

they were born on the same day

we took on this project

it snowed for them this year

she makes me smile 1000 times a day

Sometimes I forget all that I have.

I could name at least a hundred more but these are the highlights.

What are you Thankful for this year?

Kathy

Random thoughts

2010-11-17T07:32:00.000-08:00

Where I've been and why I'm so tired!

I'm not sure why I haven't found time to write a new post, I guess life was just getting in the way. I don't know many Moms who aren't busy, especially if you have small children and I still don't know how Moms who have full time jobs outside of the home do it. From the time I get up in the morning until I drag myself to bed (usually around Midnight) I am always doing something. There are nights when I just can't clean up the kitchen without taking a break first and then I end up cleaning it at 10 p.m. There is always a load of laundry to do, a lunch to pack, a toy to pick up or a toilet that needs to be scrubbed (not my favorite job!). I'm not complaining but I never knew how much my Mother did until I became a Mother. It's just not something you can fully understand until you are actually living that life and walking in those oh so tired shoes.

This weekend I heard my 9 year old mumble under his breath that I was a "Nag". Oh, boy did he get an ear full! My kids don't need to thank me for all I do but they do need to understand how much I do for them and know that I do it willingly because it's my job. I have always been a hard worker, I never do anything half way if I can help it. Both of my parents were hard workers and they instilled that work ethic into all of their kids. My husband also works hard, hopefully my kids will value the example we are setting and when they are adults will put their all into whatever they choose to do.

A life lesson

This year has been quite a trial for our family and I am trying to learn the lesson I am being taught. Sometimes I don't know what that lesson is and sometimes I get angry that I have been chosen to learn it. My husband and I are good people, we are not perfect but if my life came to an end now I wouldn't regret the things I have done. We are nice to people, we do what we can to help our neighbors, friends and family. I have chosen a job that doesn't even begin to pay our debt but I do it because I love children and I want to be a special part of their life. I jokingly call my husband George Baily (from It's a Wonderful Life) but truth be told he will help his friends and customers sometimes even to the detriment of himself and his family. We are always giving our travel money away! Hopefully the lesson I will learn is; "it pays to be nice". Unfortunately I don't always think this is true. I see too many people who are cheats and liars getting ahead because of their callous ways, it makes me sad and angry. I would rather be George Baily than Mr. Potter any day, even if that means we will never get to go on our holiday.

A new project?

This weekend my husband decided that he would move is home office to our third floor and then we could move my son's room across the hall. This is not going to be an easy move because our 3rd floor is currently filled with junk. The room is in good shape but we will have to do major cleaning, re-wiring, some plaster work and painting. The current office is going to have to go through the same thing before my son can move in. This will leave a vacant room that hopefully will become a family room. I'm very excited and nervous about these projects.

A day of thanks

Thanksgiving is next week and I'm looking forward to a little down time. I'm not sure I'll get that but a girl can dream, can't she? I hope everyone will stop to think about all they have and why they should be thankful, not just stuff themselves silly and watch football! And if you really need a good laugh... ask a 3 year old what they are thankful for. The top answers in my Preschool were chocolate and pillow pets!

Life should be that simple for all of us.

Have a great Thanksgiving!!

Kathy

The harsh truth....

2010-10-27T06:11:00.000-07:00

I need to loose weight... there, I said it.

It's a fact I deal with every day. I have no excuse why I don't work out, I work at the YMCA for crying out loud. When I clock out I see those dedicated people spinning and I think "I should be doing that". But I go home anyway. I'm tired and have mountains of things to do. Everything always comes first, everything except me. Laundry, dishes, dirty bathrooms, preschool work, blogging, grocery shopping, hair cuts, doctors appointments, homework, you name it; it comes first. The problem is I'm over 40 now (another truth) and I'm feeling the extra weight. You know what I mean, you can't get off the floor as easy as before. Your back and knees hurt. Your boobs are too big (yes, this can happen gentlemen!). I hate clothes shopping and looking in mirrors. I don't know that person anymore! What happened to the 22 year old confident girl who moved out of her parents house to be independent and wouldn't let anything stop her? After I had Marty (the first child) I walked 4 miles at least three times a week. I lost all the pregnancy weight and felt great. But then you have another child and the first one doesn't want to be confined so he walks with you. Let me tell you, you can't loose weight walking at a 3 year olds pace. Look a rock! A duck! A squirrel! You name it they stop every 2 minutes to look at something. So I stopped walking. I started working out at the YMCA and it aggravated my knee problem and created a foot problem - so I stopped going.

Today I vow I'm going for a walk. Right now in fact.

I need to put me first.

Kathy

A complete U Turn....

2010-10-09T08:13:00.000-07:00

I started pulling out my Halloween decorations (my kids have been bugging me for a week) and I was going to originally write my post about that. When I decided to write this blog I was going to dedicate it to "Our crazy life" not just decoration and renovating. I find it to be my therapy sometimes. I have one close friend that I can talk to about everything but she lives 4 hours away and I only talk to her a couple times a month. My family is no longer as close as I would like, in heart not proximity, so I find that sometimes I have no one to confide in. It helps me to write, even if no one is reading. I'm not going to be one of those bloggers who goes out and spends a fortune to totally redecorate their homes just to snap a few pictures and show off to blogland. I don't have the time or money for that. I love going to the Goodwill and thrift stores to find something old and seeing how little I can spend. It's the bargain hunter in me and if I were to win the lottery I would still try to find the perfect deal.

I didn't get married until I was 32, I wasn't a mother until I was 34. I lived by myself for 10 years and had parties and went to parties. I dated, had fun, had a career, had a house, drank to excess, went shopping and did all the things a young person should do. I also tucked myself into bed every night and didn't have anyone to check on or kiss while they were asleep. The only thing I ever wanted to be when I was little was my Mother. We had a perfect childhood. My Dad was home every night at 6:00 for dinner my Mamma came to every school function. She packed lunches, checked homework, broke up fights and kissed us goodnight every night. She didn't have a "girls weekend", didn't see her friends for lunch or drinks, didn't work outside the home. My Dad took us places; to the park, long drives for lunch, to the drive in movies (telling my age!), showed up for every Choral concert I had and yelled "Way to go Kathy" every time he saw me. I adored my Grandparents and all of my extended family (there are a lot of us!).

Being a wife has had it's challenges but being a Mother is all encompassing. At least that's the way choose to live it. Right now it's not about me or my husband; it's about our kids. "Home is where the heart is" I always knew that but not until I had kids did completely understand it. You see, when your children are born your heart leaves your body - all of the sudden your heart is walking around with someone else! I have found I do somethings different than my Mother. I do have lunch with my friends, sometimes even drinks. I have a part time job and I'm certainly not as patient but at the end of the day my children and my husband love me and I want to be Home with them as much as I can.

Pretty soon my kids will be too old to hang out with their parents so while they are young I'm going to take advantage of every minute I can get. My son once told me he felt bad because before I had kids I could do what I wanted, when I wanted. I explained that he was right, but I had had my time to do those things and now was his and Louisa's turn. When they got older I would have "my time" again (although I probably won't want it!).

I'm not trying to keep up with the Jones or anyone else. I'm just trying to keep with with my family and hope that when my children are grown they'll think I did a good job and want to come back to see me.

Kathy

I promised...

2010-09-27T11:01:00.000-07:00

I promised my husband that I would take it easy today. It's hard, I have so much to do and so much I want to do. But I hurt my back, I'm not sure how exactly - pulling on kids, cleaning, falling down the stairs (oops!), who knows but it's annoying! So I'm sitting on the sofa watching a hoarding show with a heating pad on my back. Watching the show makes me want to get up and clean some more. I can't help but watch them, it's like a train wreck... I just can't turn away! I can't stand a feather from my pillow on the floor or toys all over the place. I'm an anti-hoarder! I know it's a sickness but I just don't understand how people can live like that.

The kids are doing well in school, we like all the teachers (good) and so far I think they are both being challenged and having fun. I've been back at the preschool for 2 week and it has helped me get back into a schedule. I have a challenge this year, a 3 year old that's going to give me a run for my money. I'm up for the challenge I just wish I was better equipped to help him. He let's me hug him and sits in my lap so I guess I'm doing something right. I love my job!! I don't do it for the money, I do it for the smiles, hugs and to know that I have been a special part of a child's life if only for a moment. Before I had kids I had a job that I thought I loved, it paid very well but now I know that to do what you love may not be the key to riches but it is the key to living an authentic life. Some days it's not easy and I think I should go back to work full time but then 3:00 o'clock rolls around and two little kids get off the bus and I know I'm doing what I'm supposed to be doing, no matter what the challenge.

I'm looking forward to attending our monthly Flea Market this weekend. Maybe I'll find some goodies!

Have a great week,
Kathy

A new chapter

2010-09-13T11:09:00.001-07:00

Last week we started something I have been dreading all summer. Both of my children are in school full-time.

There is no one to ride to the preschool with me, no one to say "Good Morning" to the YMCA patrons, no one to help me clock in and no one to help me clean up after the kids are gone. There is no one to eat lunch with, no one to pick up after, no one to ask what channel Spongebob is on and no one to give me kisses "just because".

There is no one to push in a baby stroller, no diapers to change, no bottles to warm, no one to pick up and carry to a nap.

No one to kick my belly, no one to see on an ultra sound and no one to share my body with.

But... there are 2 special people to welcome home, 2 lunches to make, 2 book bags to collect papers from and 2 kids who I miss terribly.

I cried the first 2 days of school (and yes, even now I'm crying) but I know that in one hour I will be yelling at 2 kids to stop fighting.

And all will be right with the world.

Kathy

Back to a routine

2010-09-09T07:28:00.000-07:00

School started Tuesday and I am trying to get us all back into a routine (something I must have in order to be sane!). I go back to work next week, hopefully by Monday I'll have my head on straight and can start blogging again every week.

Until then I leave you with this image.... Never leave yourself vulnerable to the little sister you have picked on for the last 3 months.

I believe she was saying "Swing, batter, batter, swing!" right before she hit him!!!

I hope all of your "first days back" went as well as ours - hopefully there weren't as many tears....

Kathy

The last hurrah

2010-08-30T06:09:00.000-07:00

Summer is winding down. It's a sad fact but one that I must face. I started thinking; "What have we been doing for the past 3 months?", so I looked at my pictures. There is the photographic evidence that we actually had fun. Sure there was some fighting, crying and yelling (both on my part and on the kids as well) but all in all we had a great summer!

Hope you enjoy looking at the pictures as much as we had posing for them!

Filling the pool

A cool morning on my porch

Sleeping on a pirate ship

Welcome Summer!

Catching "flier flies" with new friends

A bug catcher (and a goof!)

Climbing mountains

He's still my little boy

Marty's idol

John L. Porter designer of the Iron Clad CSS Virginia

Fireworks for The 4th of July

Complete with popcorn and root beer

Lazy days

Favorite Ipod spot

Arts & Crafts

Colonel William Crawford, founder of Portsmouth

Our waterway

Hog Island Fresnel Lens

The Railroad Museum of Virginia

Making dinner with Dad

One of the many nights they slept on the porch

Marty explaining artifacts at the

Portsmouth Naval Shipyard Museum

Lightship Portsmouth Museum

Standing in the Hollow Mast

A very hot day!

City Park

My baby's growing up

Having fun

Norfolk Botanical Gardens

Mermaid statue

It should have said

"Beware of Mamma"

Huckleberry Finn and Becky Thatcher

Tree stump maze

Taking a break

This is what I'll miss most about summer:

The best part of our vacation is most of these pictures were taken right in my own backyard. We love living in Portsmouth, there is so much to do and see here (we didn't even scratch the surface!).

I start back to work tomorrow and we have an open house for the kids school Tuesday so I guess this is really it.

Back to the grind.

Next week I'll post pictures of their first day at school and probably of me crying. But I am looking forward to having some time to myself. I just wish it didn't come at the expense of their childhood.

Happy Monday Everyone!

Kathy

Conflicted

2010-08-12T08:21:00.001-07:00

They're driving me crazy today.

There I said it! Most days it's fine but today is my day to be short tempered and impatient. Today is their day to not listen and push my buttons. While I was brushing my teeth I was sadly thinking that I only have a few more weeks with them before school starts. I don't know how I'm going to get through the first day when I drop them off. The last 3 years I have taken Louisa to breakfast right after we dropped Marty off at his first day of school. Who am I going with this year? Who's going to help me punch my time card on my first day back to work? Louisa was always there with me, now who is going to reach up on their tippy toes and pull the handle for me?

Then I came downstairs and my two sweet babies had been replaced by two little monsters. "She hit me." "Because you called me butt face." "We need to go, we're going to be late." "Why does he always get to go first?" "Because I like him better." "I know you don't like him better, you're just saying that. He hit me again." "I didn't hit you. I tapped you." "Well stop tapping your sister." "Hey, she hit me back." "I tapped you too!" "Will you both please stop hitting or I'm going to hit you!!!"

Quiet in the car because they're pissed at Mamma. So I'm thinking again, what am I going to do with all that time? Who am I going to eat lunch with? "Get your feet off of me!!!" "You started it!"

I guess it's going to be like this for the next 26 days.

How did my sweet children go from this:

To this???

It happened in a blink of an eye, while I wasn't looking!

One minute I'm crying because my kids are going back to school the next I sending the little creeps to their rooms! I think it's a plan, it's so you'll want to send them out into the world. Go, for heaven's sake just go! But please come back; come back soon and tell me all you have learned. But be quiet because your giving me a headache with all that talking! Need me but not all the time, just when I need to be needed.

Today I went to get a cup of coffee from a little shop downtown. While we were sitting there I looked out the window and saw a lady wheeling a suitcase down the sidewalk and put it in her car. I told the kids, "See that lady with the suitcase? She's running away from home because her kids are driving her crazy. See the big smile on her face??". Don't think I'm too mean because I mess with my kids so much the don't believe anything I tell them. They both just laughed and said she wouldn't leave her kids! Yea, right!

But I know she (I) would come back because you can't live without your heart. Even if your heart gives you attacks every now and again.

Kathy

Louisa's world

2010-08-03T05:57:00.000-07:00

Sometimes when I take a picture I find there are a number of saved pictures I didn't take. Louisa, who is 5, likes to take the camera and capture little pieces of her world. At first I was erasing them but then I decided I liked seeing things from her perspective.

The last week of July

2010-07-29T06:53:00.000-07:00

This week I have been working on getting the window hardware cleaned up. All of our hardware downstairs (except for a few pieces that were added later) are very ornate. In the early 1900s the public rooms of your house would have been decorated with "show off" pieces, the rest of the house would have plain decoration. We are lucky that our hardware didn't find itself in the scrap drives during the war years (the back plates are iron but the window hardware is copper).

Here are the before and after pictures. It's hard to believe that the PO couldn't take 5 minutes to remove two screws so that this wouldn't happen. I've said it before, I just don't know what they were thinking!

Here are a few after pictures of our hall. I'm so happy not to be looking at drywall I don't know what to do!

Last night my children decided that playing in the bathroom (something I have always been very adamant they can't do) was a great idea. Now we have learned a valuable lesson about how much weight a curtain rod can support!

Kathy

Hot in Virginia!

2010-07-21T08:32:00.000-07:00

The first thing I wanted to do when I moved into this house 10 years ago was paint. Everything was white; walls, trim, fireplaces, ceilings, etc... it hadn't been done in quite awhile so it wasn't exactly fresh either. It seems as though something more important was always screaming to be fixed so we just kept putting it off. It's never an easy task to paint a room but when you have an old house it's not just about putting paint on the walls. We patched cracks in the ceiling and walls, dug out years of built up paint on the moldings and trim and I'm still working on getting the last bit of paint from some of the window hardware. There is still so much more to do, we decided we wanted to remove all the paint from fireplace mantle and the french doors are one of those task you just stare at for awhile and then give up on before you start. I made the executive decision that since we were on summer vacation and it was one of the hottest summers on record I was going to pack up the painting until the Fall (if you will remember we don't have central air and our window units just can't keep up in this heat).

I'm extremely happy with the results of our little endeavor, paint has the power to transform a room into something very inviting. Our next project will be the dinning room, now that we feel confident about plaster repair I think we will be taking on more painting jobs. I try not to think about the jobs that lay ahead of us. So far we have painted 8 rooms but we have 7 more that still need some TLC, not to mention the neglected bits that we just never finished.

This weeks project
Four heavily painted copper window lifts (it took me 1/2 hour to get two of them out of the window). I have been taking my time getting them scrapped down to the original finish. I tried to cook the paint off but I still need to use some good old fashioned"elbow grease" to get it all off.

Door hardware
This is the after picture. We decided to spray paint the knobs and back plates black. They are iron and when they were clean they were a beautiful dark gray but we all liked the black hardware against the white doors. The mortise lock is brass and copper, which I had no clue of since they were painted over and so tarnished I thought they were black. I'm proud to say I now know how a mortise lock works - inside and out!!

Actually this isn't the same door it's the one across the hall but I forgot to get a "before" picture. Trust me it looked just as bad.

If you look closely you can see a tiny #4 in the brass rectangle. After doing a bit of research I found out that Corbin mortise locks all have numbers on them which correspond with the skeleton keys. We have two skeleton keys but since most of the locks are slopped over with paint we have never been able to lock any of them. My son spent most of the morning trying to get the paint off the doors to see if the keys worked - to his delight they did! And on a side note; what did we ever do before without the Internet?? I sat down and Googled "Corbin" and received a plethora of information!!

Finished results

Here are the after pictures of the room. Again, we still have a lot of detail work to do but I am so pleased with the outcome I just keep going in there to look!!

If you notice I started this post sometime around Wednesday. Blame the heat, the kids or the fact that I can't string a sentence together without concentrating so hard my head hurts. I'm not sure what it is, I only know it's summer vacation and everything is moving at a snails pace at The Eykamp Haus! What's the rush? Pretty soon it will be back to routine and (believe it or not) I'll be crying that my kids are back in school. A good friend sent me a book called Simple Abundance (Thanks Victoria!) and I'm trying very hard to put it into practice, I'll let you know how it goes.

For now,
Kathy

The Money Pit...

2010-07-12T05:14:00.000-07:00

"Here lies Walter Fielding. He bought a house, and it killed him."

Tom Hanks, The Money Pit

Sunday the painting continued. I don't know how long it takes to paint a room in a new house but I can assure you, it takes much longer to paint an old one! Yesterday was dedicated to painting the ceiling, baseboards, crown moulding, radiator pipes and entry ways (we have 4 doors in that room, we are door rich!). We decided that we are not going to attempt painting the window casings, french doors or mantle. Those things will take time, we need to remove the paint to get the beautiful details back. We can make those individual project for another time, right now I just want to finish so I can put the furniture back and have my house back in order.

Before we could paint the ceiling we needed to make some repairs to the plaster. Sometimes things hinder you that really shouldn't; we were so afraid of ruining the ceilings, or at least making it worse, that we just kept ignoring the problem. There are a spider web of cracks that have been repaired and the patch is starting to crumble and fall out, remarkably the original plaster is still in great shape. Matt found the following product at Lowes, he was very impressed at how lightweight it is. In time we will need to use plaster washers to secure a few places where the plaster is falling off the lath but for now it should hold and it sure looks a lot better than what we started with.

Matt also fixed a corner on the fireplace where the plaster had fallen off. Again, I'm not sure it's a patch that will last forever but after we paint it shouldn't stand out like it did before.

There are some touch ups that need to be made but we ran out of time last night. At some point Matt and I both decided that it was a good thing we didn't do this for a living! It's not our strong point and at times like these I do have to wonder what the hell we were thinking getting involved with this house. Then I look around and remember that the house is part of our family - we all have some strange love for it. It just wouldn't be the same if we didn't live here!

Have a wonderful week!
Kathy

Where to begin?

2010-07-06T05:54:00.001-07:00

Some people have a cookout on the 4th of July, some watch fireworks, some go to the beach or take a ride on their boat. The Eykamp's well, we renovate! My big plan for this weekend was to attend our local monthly Flea Market, I haven't been in awhile and I was itching to go. Little did I know Matt had other ideas that included paint and a brush. We haven't been able to paint most of the interior of our house, it always seems there is something more pressing to do first. We have a few rooms painted but mostly every room is white and in dire need of a coat of paint (I think the last time they had a fresh coat was in the 70s).

Front Parlour

After we cleaned up

I'm thinking about selling my green Indonesian table. It's a dinning table that would be used with floor pillows. We had it on the wall by the front door and it's always been a catch all (which I didn't mind because we couldn't hurt it) but it's right in the walkway and I don't have anywhere else to put it. Its deep but short (only about 26" tall) and I have never really known what to do with it. Any suggestions??

The fireplace tile is deep green & black our furniture is red velvet, I wanted a neutral color for the walls that would match both so I chose gray. It's darker than I thought but I like it. Picking a paint color turned out to be harder than I though. My husband has been banned because I figured out there was no thinking involved on his part he just opened the chart and said "I like that color"! After explaining to him that the color needed to match the furnishings and should look good with the room color adjacent so there is "flow" he said, "just tell me what color to get". He was great though, he painted most of this himself while I busied myself with cleaning, meals, being a runner and keeping the kids entertained (which consisted of me yelling at them to stop yelling - ironic isn't it?).

The wall color is up and most of the trim has been painted (we ran out of white paint). I'm very happy with the results, but I'm ready to finish so I can get everything back in there!

The ceiling needs some patch work, it's mostly the old patches that are failing. We have had a lot of demolition and construction around our street for the past 15 years and every time something goes down one of the ceilings take the brunt of it. I'm going to get someone to look at them but in the past whenever we did that they wanted to tear them down or put drywall on top of them. Neither way is acceptable to me since I want to restore not remodel. If I can't find someone to do it reasonably and the way I want it, Matt and I are going to attempt to fix them ourselves.

The room that used to be the front hall

During the war most of the houses in Park View were turned into apartments to accommodate the influx of men coming to work at the shipyard. When we bought our house it was three apartments, the downstairs hall was one of the victims of this change. The front stairs came straight down to the first floor and the hall ran from the front door to the back door. In order to separate the downstairs apartment from the two upstairs the staircase was split and a turn was added in order to wall off this area. This created a very small hall behind the stairs and an even smaller foyer. We would love to change this but it does help in the winter with heating.

Wall going into the bathroom

Wall behind the stairs

I chose the color Bungalow Gold, I don't think it shows up well in the pictures but it's very pretty. The dinning room is attached to this room so we'll paint under the chair rail the same color.

A view from the dinning room

Hopefully we'll finish up this weekend, there is a lot of trim in an old house!

Saturday morning the kids and I went to the flea market then walked downtown and through our favorite cemetery.

We had a very productive weekend, hopefully we can keep the momentum going. Fresh paint makes such a difference!

Estate Sale

2010-07-01T06:27:00.001-07:00

This past weekend I was asked to help a friend of mine at an Estate Sale. Peggy Lockwood has been one of my closest friends for more than 15 years. The reason we were brought together is a funny one and yet would never have happened if my husband had not been married before - I'll save that story for later! She has been an Antique dealer and appraiser for a long time and is very knowledgeable (she's the one who helped me identify my Master Salt Cellar!). Twice a year she goes on buying trips to England and participates in various antique shows throughout the year. It was nice to be out of the house and use my brain for more than 3rd grade homework, plus the kids enjoyed being home with Daddy for two entire days!!!

Times being what they are, unfortunately a lot of the furniture didn't sell. There were a lot of beautiful pieces but I heard the same comment over and over again; "We just don't have the money". People are struggling right now and are being very frugal with their purchases.

I however splurged and bought a few pieces with my paycheck.

1820-30s Southern Pine Blanket Chest

(please pay NO attention to the rug in my bedroom, hopefully that will be going soon!)

White wicker rocking chair for Louisa's room

Beautiful wicker laundry basket
I'm using it to hold our pool towels

On the last day as I was saying goodbye to the family they handed me a grocery bag and told me they wanted me to have it. When I looked inside it was a set of doilies and a pair of vases I had admired earlier in the day! It truly was a nice weekend; I got some lovely antiques, spent 2 days with a friend and met a wonderful family.

Three of the doilies I was given (there were 40 total!)

One of the pair of Victorian vases given to me

My husband and I learned an important lesson this weekend. Neither of us wants the other ones job! It's hard being home with two little kids everyday but I wouldn't want it any other way!!!

I'm trying to view every experience as a learning opportunity, I may not always see it or understand it but everything happens for a reason.
Kathy

Heat Wave!

2010-06-22T12:47:00.000-07:00

It's hot! The first day of summer came in with a vengeance that won't be leaving until the weekend. Right now the heat index is 107 degrees! It's making me lazy and in need of a nap. We have roughly 5000 square feet of house (not all livable) and 4 window air conditioning units, 2 downstairs and 2 upstairs. Usually this is enough to keep us comfortable but today I closed off a couple of rooms to keep our living space a little cooler. My computer is in the spare bedroom so I'm typing this in a stuffy room.

I think the heat is getting to me because I'm really struggling with my wording and just can't think of anything spectacularly interesting to share.

Here are a few random pictures of some of my favorite possessions.

One of the handles of my desk

I was just "gifted" this school desk (I now have 3!)

A peek inside my china cabinet - I love that little book

One of a pair of vases we received for a wedding gift from a wonderful friend. Do you see my french door in the mirror? I love those too but I wouldn't dare take a picture of them in their current condition!!! You'll just have to trust me...

My Great Aunts bronzed gloves and my Grandmother's 8th grade school book

One of my Baby Ben's

My free piano that still needs tuning

I love this linen chest!

A comfy chair

My Great Aunt and Uncle's Wedding certificate from 1941

I think I'm going to take that nap now... stay cool!

Kathy

Summer break 2010

2010-06-16T06:02:00.000-07:00

I was going to label this post Summer Vacation but really It's not a vacation for me. I get to fill up the next 3 months with fun activities for my kids and try to get my regular work done in between. So far, it's been good. The kids are getting along (for the most part) and we have been passing the days happily. I know in about a week they will get itchy so we'll have to go find something to do. But for now they are happy swimming, reading, playing games and of course, watching TV.

We had a very busy weekend, we celebrated our friends Frank and Sherry's marriage. They filled up three days for their family and friends with so many activities we were all exhausted by Saturday! We had a wonderful time and got to meet a lot of new friends.

Here are a few highlights from our vacation so far.

Louisa at Marty's school program

Marty and Louisa with his 3rd Grade teacher

Filling up the pool!

A cool day on my porch

Catching "Flyerflies" (as Louisa calls them) with new friends

Bug catching device

Being 8!

Lunch at The Deck, enjoying the Parade of Sails

Parade of Sails, Harborfest Portsmouth, Virginia

A birthday party

My little Princess

I'm not sure what we are going to do the rest of the week, I think recover from the events of the weekend. It's going to be hard to top that!

Have a wonderful Summer Break - I need to go call my Mother and apologize for all the pranks we pulled each Summer!
Kathy

Trash & Treasure Monday - Marie Antoinette

2010-06-07T11:09:00.000-07:00

The past week I was busy trying to clean before my son was out of school for summer break so I really didn't go anywhere to buy anything! I did however pull out Marie Antoinette and once again ponder on what to do about her appearance. After you see her picture, you'll know why I call her Marie Antoinette!

Marie was my Mother's doll, although I'm not sure when she was given to her I do know that my Great Grandmother Annie made her clothes and hat. As what happens with most of these dolls, the rubber band that held her arms and head on have dried out and fallen apart. I was going to glue the arms and head back on but my husband said I should take her to be fixed. I'm not sure it matters because I'm just going to put her on display, I would never let anyone play with her!

If she were yours what would you do?

Marie with her head

Marie without her head

126th Annual Memorial Day Parade

2010-06-01T07:03:00.000-07:00

If you have ever been to Portsmouth Virginia you know we are steeped in History and surrounded by Military. It's a great place to live! I grew up here, my husband is a Navy transplant but now calls Portsmouth home too. My Dad grew up in Portsmouth so I know a lot about our town and could probably be a tour guide! One of the things we look forward to every year is the Memorial Day Parade (the oldest in the nation), it's small by comparison but so is our town.

This year was no exception so we found a nice spot in the shade and proceeded to cheer for anyone who passed by! It always chokes me up when the WWII Veterans pass by, their group keeps getting smaller.

This year I was impressed by the amount of young people who are in the High School ROTCs. It seems to me that the youth of our generation are too self obsessed and for the most part, lazy. So to see that so many still think the military is a great choice made me feel good.

Here are a few highlights from our Parade!

Shameless picture of my Son's school float!

I hope whatever you did yesterday you also took the time to remember all of the fallen solders and sailors. They are what helped shape our Great Country and what Memorial Day is all about.

Have a great week!
Kathy

Trash & Treasure Monday

2010-05-31T11:54:00.000-07:00

My friend Victoria at Confessions of a New/Old Home Owner has started hosting Trash & Treasure Monday and I thought I would join in on the fun! I stop in at the local Goodwill at least once every two weeks (or more if I can get away with it!) but this week I decided to hit a few antique stores. I was looking for a bookshelf for my son's room and I found everything but the bookshelf! Here are just a few of my treasures.

Matt and I got a much needed day to ourselves and decided to drive to North Carolina to a Antique Mall I had seen on Craigslist. They have wonderful things but I'm a savvy shopper and I not only want a treasure, I want a bargain! This store was reasonable but I know if I'm keep looking I can find what I want at a great price.

Matt found these pictures for the kitchen.

I finally found a small table that would fit between my swing and the wall (for my morning coffee). It matches the sun I have hanging on the wall!

I got this lovely birdcage from Victoria's Etsy shop and wanted something to put in it. I had a nest but it wasn't exactly right so I got this little figurine in NC. Matt said it wasn't right either!

Here's a close up, Momma bird feeding her chick.

I picked out this cute little pair of kittens at a road side yard sale.

NAPCO Goodwill find.

White wicker shelf for the bathroom.

A school desk for Marty's room, the best price of the week $24! It's in perfect condition, I almost tripped over Marty trying to buy it.

I had a nice week and got almost 2 full days of "kid free" time. This doesn't happen often so when the opportunity presents itself - I'm all over it! Marty only has 3 more days of school. I'm looking forward to being able to wake up without an alarm clock but really I always dread summer break! We'll get through, we always do, but it's hard to fill up 3 months with fun filled activities.

Happy Memorial Day from The Eykamp Haus!

Kathy

Cottage Charm Giveaway

2010-05-29T20:01:00.000-07:00

I said I would announce the winner of my Cottage Charm Giveaway at Midnight tonight. I have to tell you I'm too sleepy to stay up until then, so I'm going to announce the winner now. I would like to thank all of you who entered, I'm very happy to have some new friends. Now on to my winner.......

Congratulation to Vintage Gran!!!

I would also like to thank the ladies at Paperwhyte who graciously donated such wonderful items. If you are ever in Portsmouth please look them up, it is a truly wonderful store!

I've had a big day (antiquing in North Carolina) so I'm going upstairs to get some much needed rest.

Have a great Memorial Day Weekend!!!!

Kathy

It's good to have friends....

2010-05-18T11:50:00.001-07:00

I should have known to ask one of my best friends about the glass piece I was questioning on my last post. I have know Peg for 15 years, she has been in the antique business for more than that (but I won't post how long because I love her!). She's one of those people who know just about everything regarding antiques. I emailed her a picture of my find and asked her what it is, here is what she told me:

You have a good eye- you have a master salt- used at the table to fill individual salts. It would have had a small silver spoon with it. Remind me when you come out- I'll give you one. I date it around 1900.

Yea, I love a good find. Even if I don't know what it is at the time!

Kathy

p.s. School is almost out.... time to start meditating

A Conundrum!

2010-05-14T14:49:00.000-07:00

I picked this up today, I think it's a Salt Cellar but I'm not sure. I would be grateful if you could help me, any suggestions?

Mother's Day and the end of school.....

2010-05-12T10:30:00.000-07:00

I am a little behind on posting but I have been really busy (in fact I should be cleaning the bathtub right now!). Sunday was Mother's Day and we decided to go to the Gosport Art Festival in Portsmouth. It's an annual event and one I really enjoy. The weather was perfect so we ended up staying there for the majority of the day.

I was surprised Sunday morning by my two kids yelling "Happy Mother's Day!" and waking me out of a dead sleep. I got breakfast in bed, I'm not sure who invented this tradition but let me tell you; I would prefer to brush my teeth before I eat soggy cereal and cold coffee. It was a sweet notion and Marty didn't cut off a finger slicing my strawberries so I made a big deal out of it and now we all have a sweet memory of the day.

The kids really liked this exhibit

I love this picture

Stained Glass

Our local hang out, Baron's Pub

Marty explaining to Louisa how you blow glass. The guy was really nice, Marty would not let him say a word!

One of my Mother's Day gifts purchased at the Art Show

Next week is the last week of Preschool and I'm really looking forward to the break. It's been very hard this year dropping Louisa off at 9 and picking her back up at noon. Although it will make me sad for her to go to Kindergarten next year I am looking forward to having more time. Hopefully I will be able to get back to some of the projects around here!

The bathtub is calling,
Kathy

My very first Giveaway!

2010-05-03T12:28:00.000-07:00

I'm so very, very excited (I can hardly contain it!). My two favorite blogs (Confessions Of A New/Old Home Owner and Fairfield House) introduced me to The Twice Remembered Cottage 4th annual Giveaway! Since I am fairly new to Blogland this is all uncharted territory but I will try to give you all the rules (let me know if I forget anything).

First I guess you want to know what I'm giving away. Well, let me say I have some wonderful friends that own Paperwhyte; a stationery store in Historic Downtown Portsmouth, VA (my hometown!). So I'm going to give away some of the wonderful items they carry in their store. They are as follows:

2 packages of Beverage Napkins from Hot! Plate
Stationery from Caspari
Book plates from Zoomerang
Bridge Tallies from Caspari
A beautiful tea towel from Anali (I was tempted to keep this myself!)
A Writing Kit from thomaspaul
The Thanksgiving Ceremony by Edward Bleier

Now on with the rules.....

I will ship in the Continental US and Canada only
You must leave a comment for me (include an email address or your blog information)
You will get a bonus entry if you Follow my Blog (please leave a separate comment!)
The contest runs from May 1st to May 29th 2010
A winner will be randomly selected and posted at midnight on the 29th

If you would like to enter in all of the give aways please click on the button at the top right or paste this address into your browser.

http://twiceremembered.blogspot.com/2010/05/4th-annual-cottage-charm-giveaway-event.html

Good Luck (did I say I was excited???)

Kathy

Weekend recap

2010-04-26T06:50:00.001-07:00

Saturday we went to a flea market in Gloucester VA, it was mostly junk (and by that I mean JUNK!!) but I was able to find one dealer that had great stuff.

Glass washboard by National Washboard Company

Tin signs (okay, I got them at Big Lots but they were $6 each - I couldn't pass them up!), curling iron and Shopping Reminder list

Arrow backed chair for my desk (I should have gotten all 3, what was I thinking???)

Goofs ready for the Flea Market

The kids started their weekend off by having the first sleep out on the porch. Of course if you're going to sleep on the porch you HAVE to watch a movie and eat popcorn, don't be ridiculous!

We had a really nice weekend spending quality time with each other. I may have even snuck in a new Keurig coffee maker I have been wanting for 2 years (a girls gotta have priorities!).
Kathy

An unexpected remodel

2010-04-18T11:14:00.000-07:00

Friday my big plan was to pick out new eye glasses. Funny how one little unexpected event can change your entire weekend. I decided to wash a load of clothes before I went to the optometrist and sometime around the "spin cycle" my leisurely weekend plans had changed. I have heard of people being possessed and even houses being possessed but never have I heard of a washing machine being possessed until Friday. Our laundry room is upstairs (one of the best ideas Matt ever had) and I was downstairs on my computer when I heard a horrible noise. I ran upstairs and our 2 year old washer had completely spun around backwards and was only being tethered by the water hoses attached to the wall! The drum had cracked and caused it to spin out of control. Matt was home so he called one of his customers (Appliance Enterprises - YEA!) and was told it was cheaper to get a new one. So we ordered the washer and dryer Matt has been dreaming about for at least 6 months (he doesn't even do the laundry!).

I couldn't put this beautiful new washer and dryer in my current laundry room, it would probably be too embarrassed to live there! After we took everything out we decided we should paint since we only had primer on the walls. Friday night and all day Saturday was spent patching, painting and cleaning but I think the outcome was well worth it!

Before (I forgot to take one with everything in there - trust me it was UGLY!)

Louisa making sure Uncle Buzz doesn't fall off the roof!

After

Do you like my curtains? A line, clothes pins and vintage inspired towels, I love it!

The floor needs to be replaced, the gas needs to be hooked up for the dryer and I'm going to start looking for a white floor cabinet but for $40 I think we did a great job.

Also it gave me much needed time with my husband, I had forgotten how well we work together. Can it be possible that a day of painting and patching a room can repair a marriage too? I think we are on the right track...

Kathy

I like "stuff" too!

2010-04-15T11:10:00.001-07:00

Yesterday my post was about finding a Treasure. After I wrote the post I got ready and dropped a bag off at the Goodwill Store around the corner. Any good bargain hunter would surely go in, so I did. I got some more stuff, just because I wanted it (and this week I deserve a splurge!).

Kathy

Stuff vs. Treasure!

2010-04-14T06:34:00.000-07:00

Thursday I went into our shed (seen here to the left of the kids) to look for a net. I have been in there many times, usually I just sigh and close the door. It's an eyesore and a full of at least 90 years of "stuff" left by previous owners. Our neighbor had a shed next to it, so close in fact you couldn't walk between the two if you tried, he tore it down shortly after this picture was taken. When his came down we realized that the wall that touched his was so rusted it was only being held up by that rust. We got a friendly call from our neighborhood Inspector and then my Brother-in-Law came to replace that side. We would love to tear it down and replace it but it was built right on our property line and now with all the rules we would have to do some creative building. So, for now... it stays.

This is a picture of our shed that was taken approximately 100 years ago when it was first built! Look how straight it is, no rust, no dings in the metal, BEAUTIFUL! The Aspegren family must have built it before they left sometime around 1911. It has been modified a little over time but largely remains the same.

Now, getting back to the net... So I went inside to look for a net and I spied a red lantern that Matt and I bought years ago on one of our camping trips. I thought it would look cute on the porch so I pulled it off the shelf (which I could barely reach!). As I did something fell and I grabbed it. To my surprise, it was this...

I'm not sure what it is or who left it there but I assume it's a fancy bracket from a piece of furniture. If you look closely you will see the carving is of a woman's face. It's beautiful to say the least. I've looked on that shelf at least 100 times and I never saw it. Most of the time I only find "stuff" this time I think I found a Treasure!

Happy Wednesday!

Kathy

Spring break

2010-04-11T06:18:00.000-07:00

The kids and I had a week off for Spring Break. Lucky for us the weather decided to cooperate and we had very warm days. Not so lucky for us the pollen decided to drop but it didn't stop us from enjoying ourselves outside.

We did a little of this...

A little of this...

A little of this...

And even got to do some of this...

We got off to a rocky start (3 hour trip to Target with kids = not so much fun) but I think if asked both would admit we had a nice break. I even got to have some time to myself not once but twice! The kids spent the night with my parents (old movie marathon!) and I got to catch up with 2 friends from High School that I haven't seen in, well let's just say a lot of years!

I hope the Easter Bunny was good to you and you got to put your feet up - at least for a little while!
Kathy

Grrrrrr!!!!!!

2010-03-30T04:52:00.000-07:00

Everyone wants to start their morning like this!!!!!!!!!!!! That's my hot water heater and furnaces to the right. Needless to say, no hot water, no heat this morning for the Eykamp family.

Here's hoping that the rest of the day is better.

Kathy

Dreaming........

2010-03-29T06:43:00.000-07:00

I would love to say this is my porch. Don't you just want to curl up here with a good book and a cup of coffee and enjoy a lazy Sunday afternoon? Sadly, it is not my porch. Maybe when the kids are older and my husband is okay sitting on "girly" furniture I will finally get my wish but until then I will be happy with our version.

I'm not quite finished yet. I want to go back and get the matching rug and I need to add some plants (I think it looks a little stark). This will be the first time since we moved in (15 years ago!) that we will actually have a functioning upstairs porch. I don't know why I'm so excited, we have a porch downstairs that we use all the time. Last year the kids slept up here whenever they could, they have already started asking when they can again. I can picture them snuggled up on the love seat watching a movie and eating popcorn or Marty reading to his sister. Hopefully my husband and I will bring our coffee up here after the kids are in bed and talk like we used to. Somehow in all of our craziness we have lost each other. Maybe that's how it works when you have kids, you are so concerned with their well being that you forget that it was once just the two of you. You forget what brought you together in the first place. This year has been very hard, maybe I'm just dreaming this is the year we stop struggling. Maybe I need to learn that anything worth having is worth fighting for.

On a different note.. Louisa got a letter from a sweet pen pal! She was so excited to be showered in green flowers, she asked her brother to read it as soon as I handed it to her.

Thanks Victoria you made a little girls day!!!

Whatever you're dreaming of, I hope it comes true!

Kathy

Exhausted!

2010-03-19T07:34:00.000-07:00

Here's what they don't tell you when you become a Mother:

For the next 8 - 10 years you will be constantly pouring drinks, wiping bottoms (hopefully that ends at age 4!), getting snacks, preparing crafts, looking at said craft, wiping up paint on the floor (table or wall), doing homework, laying out school clothes, fixing meals (in between the snacks, of course), gluing broken toys, reading books, turning on DVDs, playing with Barbie, Hotwheels, cards, board games, etc..., tying shoes, changing clothes (for fun not because they are dirty), approving web pages, books and TV shows, listening to endless bickering about who gets to sit in the choice spot, chauffeuring to and from wherever, coloring, breaking up fights, picking up toys and anything else the little darlings can think of (did I mention that was just what I did in one day??).

What I have not told you is I also work outside of the house 2 mornings a week, fix meals, wash clothes and anything and everything involved in cleaning this big old house (I am a confessed neat nick so this is a big part of my day).

Why am I telling you this???

Well, I'm exhausted and I needed a break!

Have a great weekend!

Kathy

Spring clean

2010-03-15T06:46:00.001-07:00

Yesterday we spent part of the day cleaning the basement and side porch. We have 5 porches so it gets a little confusing when naming them ~ take this to Daddy, he's on the porch (now watch the kids run around looking for which porch he is actually on!). I know this isn't very exciting but we really needed to clean it up, it was getting very junky out there and I could only walk about halfway through. We primarily use this porch for storage since we don't have any. There are a plethora of goods out there but unfortunately the roof leaks so I can't use it the way I would like. For now I guess it will just hold the old paint, chemicals, yard toys and our freezer.

We had new concrete poured a couple of months ago in the basement (don't remind me of the mess it made in my house!) so it's pretty clean down there. There are 2 old hot water heaters that need to come out so Matt tried to push them through the window which resulted in the window breaking and my kids learning a new word (oh, who am I kidding... they already knew it!).

It's the little things in life that are usually forgotten. My husband and me throwing trash out the window into a garbage can listening to our children talking and blowing bubbles on their swing. It might sound boring to some but to me, it was a nice.

Whatever you did this weekend I hope you thought it was nice too.

Kathy

Nothing much, really....

2010-03-13T07:23:00.000-08:00

When my kids aren't driving me crazy (and let's face it, kids drive their Mother's crazy!) they are making me laugh. I always wanted kids, I didn't even think it was something that wouldn't happen. I didn't get married until I was 32 so getting pregnant was a priority. We waited 2 years to have Marty and then 3 more for Louisa. Some days I think I want more, if I were younger it wouldn't even be a question, but I'm happy with the two I have.

The kids decided they wanted a web show (like ICarly) so I let them make this video and post it to a blog. I think they made it back in February and every time I look at it I just start laughing. It's so "them". Marty the bossy know-it-all and Louisa the put-upon little sister.

I hope it gives you a chuckle too!

Until next time... Kathy

Spring has sprung!

2010-03-09T14:47:00.001-08:00

Saturday the kids and I met my friend Julie and her girls in Richmond. They live in Charlottesville, Richmond is in between us so that is usually our destination. I met her 15 years ago (on the same day I met my husband) and since that day she has been one of my best friends. We have been through a lot in 15 year and we can still talk on the phone for 4 hours, meet 3 days later and have plenty to say.

We went to Richmond National Battlefield at Tredegar Iron Works. Our plan was to do something (anything) outside! We packed a picnic and after a trip to the Visitor Center went across the street and enjoyed the warmer weather.

Civil War Visitor Center

Beautiful Richmond

The kids with Abe and Tad!

Aaah, spring (please note the lack of coats!).

Sunday Matt worked in the yard trying to clear out "winter". The kids were outside all day, they even ate lunch on the porch. I'm glad that finally Spring has arrived in Virginia.

Cheap entertainment.

Bike rides and snacks.

We taught the kids to play UNO - it's now their favorite game.

The best thing about this weekend is that my kids realized that they really didn't need to sit in front of the television all day to enjoy themselves!

Welcome Spring!!!!!!!!

An end and a celebration

2010-03-01T05:49:00.000-08:00

Last Saturday we lost my Uncle Eddie to cancer. He had a wonderful life and was surrounded by his family when he died. I'm not a religious person, I don't believe in a lot of traditional views (heaven being one of them). I do, however, believe that when your time comes your energy, your soul, your life force, whatever you want to call it, doesn't just leave forever. I believe that we are constantly being reinvented, reborn. I believe that family units stay together, we become our ancestors. I have no proof of this, of course, it's just what I believe. I don't ask others to believe it or even understand it. When my daughter (who was named after my Grandmother) was born it was like having a little piece of her back. She acts just like a Great-Grandmother she never knew! Maybe it's my way of holding on to a loved one.

Wayne and Eddie Bowen circa 1951

This Saturday my little girl turned 5. I was grouchy for an entire week and yesterday I realized it was because she is growing up. I love her being 5, she's funny and makes me laugh all the time. But I miss having a baby around the house (not the diaper part!).

She's a big girl now!

A birthday party at the YMCA

Cake, need I say more?

Two kids being goofy

A self portrait

We can't stop the passage of time on our family anymore than we can stop it on ourselves. You take it one day at a time and hope that when your end comes, you too are surrounded by the people in your life that matter. And then you go out into the universe and become new again.

I hope your week is peaceful.

Tales from the bathroom

2010-02-09T14:05:00.000-08:00

This is what our bathroom looked like before we took the 1970s surround out and put up tile. We call the bathtub the toe cracker! Isn't it nice how it sticks out in the middle of the room? I love the tub because of the size but just can't imagine what they were thinking when this bathroom was "designed". Originally I think it only had a tub and sink; the toilet was at the end of the hall. There were so many problems with the tub, I can't even begin to mention them.

See the crack at the bottom of the surround? It couldn't begin to hold enough caulk to keep the water out. This picture was taken after we pulled all the old caulk off which led to the surround tearing, my husband saying a few choice words followed by "Call Buzz (our friend/handyman/brother-in-law) and see when he can tile it" ~ Yea!!

This is what it looked like after the tile was complete (we didn't have the curtain up yet). It's still the toe cracker but at lease it looks better and doesn't leak!

Bathroom troubles...

2010-02-08T14:36:00.000-08:00

This is our upstairs bathroom.

It's the one we all use everyday. We have a brand new bathroom downstairs, it's bigger and has a shower. That's the "guest bathroom"! Here's my problem, I hate looking at the plumbing under the sink. Does anyone have a solution for this? I have seen the curtains that you hang underneath the sink but I think that would just be a dust collector (and I don't need anymore to dust!).

I know that anyone else would want a big huge bathroom (to accommodate 4 people) but I like this bathroom. It's the original room where the bathtub and sink were (the watercloset was at the end of our hall) and I'm all about "original"! I don't want to replace the sink if I don't have to but this might be the only solution.

I would love to hear how other old house people have fixed this problem!

Snow Day!

2010-02-01T06:53:00.001-08:00

Do you know what these are?

This is what Portsmouth looked like when we woke up Saturday

Almost 5" and counting.

I LOVE MY RADIATORS (had them drying clothes and shoes in 2 rooms)!!!!!

Having fun

A view from upstairs

Hot chocolate made with snow (we made snow cream after dinner)

Going for a walk

Snow fort

Found a snowman

Snowy streets

One of my favorite houses (love the roof)

The Clayton House

We haven't seen this much snow in ten years. To say my kids were excited is an understatement. I'm dreaming of warmer weather and time on my porch but for now I'll enjoy their excitement and keep the hot chocolate flowing!

What is the answer to my question? They're Virginia "snow" boots, of course!

Hope your weekend was nice!

Getting crafty

2010-01-27T09:20:00.000-08:00

I'm trying my hand at making old fashioned Victorian "Scrap" Valentines. I cut out the scrap before I got married for a picture I was working on. It was A LOT of work - but I had time on my hands then! It was going pretty well until we were all stricken with a stomach flu (not recommended!).

So far this is my favorite

I wanted to see if I could get a "sugared" effect but I think the glitter is taking away from the detail of the picture.

p.s. How do you like my tablecloth? Ebay - it had never been out of the package!

Bowen's Confectionary; Portsmouth Virginia

2010-01-23T07:52:00.000-08:00

In the late 30s my Grandparents owned and lived in a store that was located about 3 blocks away from where I live now. Unfortunately it was torn down to make way for "brick ranchers", a new prosperity for the Park View neighborhood. I'll never understand tearing down an old house to make room for a new one. I do think there are times when old houses are in such a state of disrepair that they should be torn down but I have also seen homes that I thought could never be revived turned into their once majestic selves! This is the only picture I have ever seen of their store. Portsmouth Naval Hospital is located on the street that runs beside the store. My Dad tells me that hungry workers from the Hospital would pick up lunch orders in boxes so full they would overflow. The phrase "Location, Location, Location" couldn't apply better! I'm sure it also had something to do with my Grandmother's cooking. This was probably the Fast Food Restaurant of it's day (you know, good old fashioned Diner food!). When my Dad saw the picture he sent me this email:

The sign reads BOWEN'S under that is SWIFT ICE CREAM. The bikes may be mine and Eddie's or just someone from the neighborhood, we did not deliver. The building (store and upstairs apartment) were an existing facility. Swift did a large business in the area and had an office in Norfolk diagonally across the street from Doumar's. If you will note all the sign work in the windows was done by Swift. When you walked in the door the service counter was on the wall next to the house on the right and ran toward the back of the store, across from the counter (Spratley street side) was booths and a juke box, in the back was a storage area and work area where they made up the hamburgers etc. I looked at the shadow on the foreground and think it could be your Granddad (just a guess). The city bus PTC stopped on the corner of Spratley and Elm across from the car that you see in the picture. Down the street (Elm) towards High St. on the right hand side was a D. P. Store (grocery) where dad purchased ground beef (after he fired uncle Wilson who put to much fat in his ground beef). D. P. was a local chain run by David Pender, through a series of purchases they became the Colonial Stores which was the largest grocery chain in the area at one time.

I don't remember when but my Grandmother gave me the cake plate that was used at the store and always had some kind of sweet under it's chrome lid. She always loved sweets and made the best Blondies you ever tasted (she also cooked popcorn in bacon grease and made Snow Cream whenever it snowed!). She was a true Southern cook and it was always a treat to have dinner with her and my Grandfather.

This is her 1931 Pet Recipe cookbook which has her hand written ice cream instructions and a notation of where her favorite Corn Pudding recipe could be found.

I don't cook as much as I would like to because I don't have the time. I think about all she and women of her generation had to do and wonder how they ever got it all done!

My Grandmother, Mildred, will celebrate her 101st birthday at the end of this month. One more year older, unfortunately she is slipping away from us. I miss the vibrant person she used to be, I miss hearing her hum along to her favorite song on the record player, I miss her laughing with my Nannie (they became very good friends!), I miss spending summers on their farm in Suffolk where we slept on the back porch and ate strawberries straight from their garden. So many memories I can recall when I hold something that once belonged to my family. My son was asking questions about all the stuff I have around here and he asked me how I could remember where every object came from, when I got it and who had given it to me. I told him it was my job to know, I had to tell them so they could remember our past. Without our past we have no roots, no foundation. These things are as important to me as my children's baby clothes, their first tooth, their hugs.

Happy Birthday Grandmom!

I have a secret!

2010-01-13T14:25:00.000-08:00

I’ve started decorating for Valentine’s Day. I pulled out all of my cupids and hearts, all the red and pink balls came off the tree; whatever I could find that looked “romantic”. I don’t have that much, just a few odds and ends but I like changing things up.

My Mother made this egg when she was pregnant with my sister in 1964. I 'm not sure how many she originally made (they were Christmas decorations) but this is the last one. I remember that every year we put them on the tree she would tell us about making them, it's one of those things I hope to pass on to my kids.

Now, are you ready for my secret???

I still have our Christmas tree up in the Parlor!

Big changes in 2010

2010-01-02T08:38:00.000-08:00

It seems like every new year brings thought and reflection of the past and resolutions for the year ahead. This year has been especially difficult for my family and for the past month (at least) I have been trying to decide what I’m going to do about it. What I will accept and what I will not. How to make myself happier, because lord knows no one else will do it for you!

I have some big decisions to make in the coming weeks and they won’t be easy. In fact these decisions have the potential to hurt a lot of people, including me. I wish I had a “playbook” for my life, but no such book exists – or none that I know of.

Hopefully I’ll make the correct choice but as with most decisions… the correct choice for me may not be the correct choice for everyone else! My wish for this year is that I find peace.

Happy 2010!

Merry Christmas Eve!!!

2009-12-24T08:30:00.000-08:00

Hope you all are enjoying your day and not too stressed out.

Painted hardware (my pet peeve!)

2009-12-14T08:44:00.000-08:00

What idiot paints over hardware? How hard is it to either remove it, tape it or go around it? While I was on hold with my eye doctor I started chipping away at the paint on the front door hardware, I just can't stand it.

Okay, I feel better now!

Christmas decorations done!

2009-12-12T12:40:00.001-08:00

It’s taken a week but I’ve finally finished decorating the house! I am a little disappointed because I didn’t use my bubble lights this year. I was going to put them on a small tree in the kitchen and decorate it with silver cookie cutters but I can’t find the base so I guess I’ll just pass (and I was so looking forward to gloating about having 6 trees this year!!!). I love our big 9’ tree in the front parlor but it takes almost 3 days to get it up and decorated. I still haven’t found my “Christmas spirit” yet but I think now that the work is finished I’ll begin to enjoy the holiday!

We are taking the kids to Bass Pro Shop tomorrow to see Santa’s Wonderland; as one of my friends said “Nothing Screams Christmas like Bass Pro Shop!”. My kids like going there on a normal day, I’m sure they’ll love it even more tomorrow.

My vintage silver tree ~ I just love it!

After the kids go to bed tonight I’m going to pop in one of my favorite Christmas shows and relax!

I hope your holiday preparations are going well and you are enjoying yourselves!!!

New concrete floor, dust and "A Major Award"!

2009-12-02T15:00:00.000-08:00

Up until the first of the week we were still pumping water out of our basement. Unfortunately there are too many cracks in the floor and walls to keep the water out so we decided to have new concrete poured over the floor. The guys came Tuesday morning to start as I was leaving to go to work. The door to the basement is in our kitchen, it wasn't originally but now that it has been opened up to one big room... there it is. It would be nice to have an outside access for just these types of occasions but a girl can't have everything. Needless to say I had a mess to clean up when I came home. It's amazing how far dust can travel in your house! We don't have a door closing off the kitchen to the rest of the house (we found it this summer in the shed and are thinking about putting it back up - I think now I'm leaning towards "put it back up") so the mess wasn't contained to just the kitchen. Oh well, my house is now REALLY clean and the new floor should help with the water problem.

Now about that award! Victoria at Confessions of a New/Old Home Owner awarded me with the "Superior Scribbler Award"! Yea, thanks Victoria!!!!!

As the rules for the award indicate I must pass it on to 5 noteworthy blogs - here is a link to the rules:

http://scholastic-scribe.blogspot.com/2008/10/200-this-blings-for-you.html

I am going to pass this Award on to the following Blogs that I enjoy:

Stephanie at The Nienie Dialogues

http://www.nieniedialogues.blogspot.com/

Thanks for making us see there is a purpose to our lives and we should strive to live them to the fullest each day!

K at 1902 Victorian

http://www.1902victorian.com/blog/

For letting us see the struggles some people go through to become a family and for sharing the good and the bad. Oh, yea and for all the work they have put into their home!

Rosie at Pondicherry Cottage

http://www.pondicherrycottage.blogspot.com/

For making me green with envy at all the wonderful things she finds at garage sales and thrift stores!

Tiffany at Plain Jane Victorian

http://plainjanevictorian.blogspot.com/

For preserving a wonderful Victorian home and doing it the right way!

Nora at Raising Laura

http://www.raisinglaura.blogspot.com/

For not only saving one wonderful piece of history but doing it twice! I admire your compassion!

Keep on writing Ladies!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2009-11-25T07:04:00.000-08:00

We dried out from the storm, mostly. There is still water being pumped out of the basement and it has been raining most of the week so I assume it's going to be awhile before we are completely dry. The roof cap was replaced and hopefully we came up with a better idea to keep it secure (we are beginning to run out of options!).

Yesterday was Thanksgiving and although I tried to be happy it was not a very good day for me. We have had a rough year and it's beginning to wear on me. I'm trying to be positive for the kids but it's hard to put on a happy face when your crying on the inside. I promised the kids we would put the small Christmas tree up in the den tomorrow. Let's hope when I wake up I can snap out of it and make it a fun day for them. I hope you all had a happy Thanksgiving!!!

The wind blew, the roof flew and the tide came in!

2009-11-13T06:47:00.000-08:00

For those of you who don't live on the East Coast we had one hum-dinger of a storm Thursday! Hurricane Ida blew her way up the eastern seaboard and decided to kick ass and take names along the way. The day was pretty uneventful for us until after dinner; then holy crap the shit hit the fan! The tide came in, the winds picked up, we had one huge gust, the power went out and then it happened. All of the inside doors blew shut, humm that doesn't sound right..... better go check. Oh look, I can see the sky through the ceiling! We have an access hole on the third floor (why anyone would willingly go on the roof is beyond me!) and the cap had been sucked off. This, unfortunately, has happened before. The last time it happened the cap landed in our neighbor's yard, this time it was still on our roof. Matt looked at me and said there was "No way in hell I'm going out there now!" so he went to the basement for a tarp. When he came back I asked him where the tarp was. "We have another problem, the basement is flooding" good thing we have a sump pump and generator (that we had never used before). So Matt and I went to the leaky shed and proceeded to read the directions on how to use it. Let me suggest that you have gone over this procedure at least once before you actually have to stand in the rain and wind with a flashlight trying to figure out how to use a generator. We decided that we really didn't need to follow the "suggested" safety tips (you know, don't sand in the rain while operating, do not use in an enclosed area, do not use a patched extension cord, etc...). We got the thing (death trap) started and the sump in the basement started pumping the water out. Then we went up to the attic and got the roof patched until he can retrieve the cap, which hopefully will be in one piece. The power was only out for about 3 hours so we didn't have to worry about having enough gas to keep the thing going for an extended period of time.

Not too bad, it could have been much worse. In fact the neighborhood less than a mile from our house was inundated by the Elizabeth River. Olde Towne is prone to flooding but I've lived here my entire life and I don't remember it ever flooding this bad. The crazy thing is we were actually warned about the amount of water that would come at high tide and the city offered free parking in their parking garages but since it has never flooded this bad before people were totally caught off guard.

Here are some pictures our friend Peter Youngblood took (you can see the front of his boat in one of the pictures).

An apartment building:

A parking lot:

That's Peter's house to the left of the picture:

We drove down there tonight and most, if not all, of the water has receded. We do expect flooding living in a coastal community, but the magnitude of water was amazing.

Cast Iron Radiator Humidifiers

2009-11-02T07:46:00.000-08:00

I love my radiators, it's one of the things that will not change as long as we own the house. I'm not sure when they were added (originally the house was heated by eight coal burning fireplaces) but I'm glad they are here now. There's no blowing air (because really, do I need more dust in the air?), they're great for drying rain coats and when I'm really cold I can sit on them and warm up in no time!

One of the disadvantages of radiant heat is; it really dries the air out. For years I have been searching for ceramic radiator humidifiers like my Aunt Ute has. She brought them over from Germany when she married my Uncle. I searched the Internet but only found those ugly metal things that you clip onto radiators. This was the basic idea but they were so ugly I couldn't bring myself to buy them! Last year I was searching again when Ta-Da!!!!! I found Tullula's Treasures. She had a similar story and luckily for us she worked in ceramics and decided to make (and sell) her own. This is the second year I have used them and, not only do they look beautiful, they do a great job of adding moisture to the air.

I recommend these to anyone who has the same problem. Check out her website for more information: http://www.tullulastreasures.com/

Kitchen:

Kitchen close up:

Front Parlor:

Dinning Room:

Olde Towne Portsmouth's Ghost Walk

2009-10-25T08:03:00.000-07:00

Every year for Halloween, Portsmouth's Olde Towne (one of our 3 historic neighborhoods) has a Ghost Walk. My kids have been asking me for a month if they could go! We have so much fun listening to all the stories and ending the night with hot apple cider and good friends. If you have a chance and are in our area, you should put this event on your "Must Do" list. If you don't believe in Ghost (and anyone who lives in an old house has to!!!) you will at least enjoy the history and architecture of our city. For more information check out the link: http://www.oldetowneghostwalk.com/Welcome.html

A past poster and one of my all time favorite houses. It's the "Dr. Madblood House", I'll know you are a local if you know what I mean!!!!

The graveyard, where it all begins!!!

Colonel William Crawford, back from the grave....

Kitchen Cabinets finished (finally!)

2009-10-03T15:34:00.000-07:00

Our original kitchen was horrible and I'm not exaggerating one bit. It was incredibly small and the pantry had been turned into a full bathroom. It's GREAT to have a bathroom in your kitchen - the nicest touch was the transom over the door so you could hear everything! At one point there had been a fire and instead of replacing the damaged plaster the walls and ceiling had been covered with knotty pine paneling (I'm guessing it went great with avocado green appliances!!). Part of the floor had been ruined when the washer, which drained into a utility sink, constantly overflowed in the floor and rotted everything it touched. Most of the back of our house was at best a cobble job (and I am being polite!). I don't ever want to tear down 100 year old plaster or hardwood floors but sometimes it just can't be helped. When the demolition was started I blocked off that part of the house and wouldn't look until it had all been hauled away.

I tried to blend the kitchen into the rest of the house but it's hard to make new appliances and cabinets look "period". The cabinets have the same trim that our doors and windows have, Matt wanted stainless appliances so I bought vintage aluminum accessories to try to tie it all together. I think I miss my floor the most, but you can't look back and it is much easier to clean!

I got my last two cabinets and the toe kicks last week and our very dear friend Buzz Guyot came over to install them.

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

This is what happens when you ask my daughter a question, you become her best friend and she in turn will be your best helper ever! If the toe kicks fall off, I'll know why. Buzz, you're a saint!!!

The Milkman's here!!!!!

2009-09-23T08:01:00.000-07:00

After hearing a radio commercial about Oberweis Dairy, I thought it would be a good idea to start having our milk delivered. It seems like we are always running out of milk and yogurt and maybe this would be a good way to avoid that problem. Not to mention this milk is supposed to be better for you because it's "fresh from the dairy"! No yucky hormones, cows free to roam the fields, just all around better.

I remember going to Bergy's Dairy in Virginia Beach with my nieces around Halloween to visit the pumpkin patch and get fresh milk. Yum! I'm not sure it made it through the week (and that was before I was married!). Sadly the last two dairy's in the Tidewater area closed or don't have home delivery anymore. My parents still tell stories about the milk and ice being delivered to their homes weekly, how the horse knew just where to stop without any prodding from the driver. I love hearing those stories, I think it was a simpler time, not always better, but it sounds like somewhere I would like to live. I'm sure when our house was originally built there were a lot of things delivered to the owners. The milk bottles clinking at the front door, the ice man throwing chips of ice to the neighborhood kids on a hot summer day. Well, now we too have that option, but with a twist! Instead of my husband hearing the milkman while he was reading the paper and I was busily preparing the morning breakfast it went more like this.... Matt was downloading information from his computer (one of 5 in the house) and I was listening to the beep, beep, beep of the alarm clock when I hear him shout "Your milks here" (there was a plastic thud of the Coleman cooler being placed on the front porch). Oh, well not quite the same memory but still we get fresh milk. My son jumped out of bed and got dressed double quick, raced down the steps and helped his dad carry in the cooler.

By the time I got downstairs he was enjoying his first glass and ready to try the chocolate milk we "had" to have. It was pronounced the best milk he every had (although I think he was just caught up in the moment and glad I was allowing him to have chocolate milk!). When my daughter drank her glass she said "It tastes yucky!". Aaaahh, the joys of having a picky eater. Another Norman Rockwell moment ruined!

I'll Never Forget, will you?

2009-09-11T10:45:00.000-07:00

Where were you 8 years ago today? Doing something mundane... reading the newspaper, getting kids off to school, washing the dishes? I was going to work. I was 8 months pregnant and happy that I had an OB/GYN appointment that afternoon (I wanted that baby OUT!). By the time I got to work everything had changed, everything stopped. For hours we huddled around a very small television and watched those towers collapse, watched a city change, watched our world change.

There are two things I will never forget about that day. The first is how the world became smaller. I started receiving emails from around the world; an outpouring of grief came in each one of those messages. No one could believe the events that unfolded that horrible September day. The second is how the Portsmouth Naval Hospital became an armed fortress. My house is across the street from the hospital and 1/2 block from the back gate. Before 9/11 Matt and I would ride our bikes along the waterfront at the hospital. After 9/11 it was a closed Military Base . When I came home there were tanks, concrete blockades and numerous Marines armed with machine guns at each gate. I tried not to watch the endless television shows, it was too upsetting and my pregnant emotions couldn't handle it. On the first anniversary I allowed myself to watch, allowed myself to grieve. I wrote a letter to my children and told them how I felt on that day. I let my 7 year old read it yesterday, he asked if he could take it to school and read it to his class.

We live in a military town. Everyone I know has either served or is related to someone who has. My kids know the people in the uniforms are the good guys, lets just hope they never have to see the bad guys.

Never Forget September 11, 2001

School days, school days, dear old golden rule days!

2009-09-09T13:38:00.000-07:00

My Dad always sang that song to us on the first day of school, it used to drive us crazy (DAD! Please stop!!!). Guess who sings it to her kids now? Somethings you are just destined to repeat. Marty started 3rd grade on Tuesday, Louisa (and I) will start Preschool next week. Hopefully I can get back to some kind of schedule and continue painting the kitchen trim. So many projects, so little time!

Traditions.....

2009-09-02T07:16:00.000-07:00

We got the news last week that Matt's Dad has cancer, his yearly October pilgrimage to Virginia will have to be postponed. Matt flew to Illinois to spend a long weekend with his family, it was the first time in 6 years that they were all together. It was a good trip, Thursday we get the final diagnosis and treatment plan. Isn't it funny how one phone call can change everything?

When Marty was born we started a tradition of taking a picture of the 3 generations of Eykamp's on the front porch. Let's hope we can continue that tradition in 2010.

Things I love about my house

2009-08-24T13:08:00.000-07:00

While I was cleaning my little girl's room today and sorting through her books (something I don't mind having a lot of!) I was thinking how much I would have loved that room when I was little. It got me thinking about what we have and what things I really love about this house - there are plenty of things I don't like about it but most of those are things that need to be painted or patched! Here are a few pictures of my favorite things....

Upstairs sink:

This room was a kitchen when we bought the house, we turned it into our closet (since we don't have any to speak of) but I don't have any idea what it was originally used for. All of the appliances were removed but my husband wouldn't take the sink out. It's cast iron and very heavy! I thought he was a little crazy for wanting to leave the sink in there but we weren't married yet so who was I tell him to take it out. We have bathed both of the babies in the sink and I don't think I would have made it through the kitchen remodel if we didn't have it. This room is next to our bathroom and laundry so it gets used almost everyday, plus I just love the look of it (I wish I had one in my kitchen too!!). Good call Honey!!

Sleeping porches:

We haven't used the upstairs porch in a couple of years. I didn't want the kids going out there when they were little and the paint was peeling badly. The downstairs porch has been used a lot and now that we have a new paint job and swing... I think we will use it even more! As soon as I can I'm going to get some furniture for the upstairs so we can start using that too.

Closet door:

We have a storage closet under the 3rd floor stairs, I used to have a hanger for wrapping paper on the door. I took it down and found this little signature. It says "Anna Lisa". Who is Anna Lisa and what was she doing in my closet?? Well, she was one of five daughters of the second owners of the house. She probably signed this in the early 1920's but why on the inside of the closet door (the ONLY one that has never been painted!!). Sometimes I just touch it to try to get a feel for who she was and how life was then.

Roof detail:

This detail runs all along the roof line. I don't know if anyone else notices it because it's 4 stories up but I think it goes to show the beauty of old houses. Is this element useful or strictly decorative? I'm not sure, but I'm glad it's there.

Transom openers:

I only have one complete opener and it's in my room. Three out of the four transoms upstairs do actually open (one is sitting in a frame that is hopelessly warped) and this year was the first time I got them operational. I am missing one piece of the opener in my son's room and unfortunately the other two have been removed. I would love to know what people are thinking when they carelessly destroy history. For what reason would these have been taken down?? I would love to talk to the previous owners and see what exactly they were thinking!

"The Library" :

OK, we don't have an actual Library but my daughter calls this small closet in her room "The Library"! We have two small closets in the bedrooms (not sure why there were only two when we have 5 bedrooms). They are just deep enough for this bookshelf but not to hang a coat hanger sideways. I have a closet in my bedroom and I added a rod so that I could hang our winter coats (cock-eyed but it works). I also have a bookshelf for storage. They are very wide but not very useful for clothing.

Sometimes my husband finds me on my hands and knees with a flashlight trying to find "something". So far we have found a few trinkets but the most exciting was a mailing tube from 1913 to Herman Aspegren. This was the clue that opened up the entire Aspegren family (Anna Lisa's family) history to me. I had all the names and dates but this round the world search turned up real people. Maybe one day I'll tell you the story....

New Porch Swing!

2009-08-20T17:11:00.000-07:00

For an early birthday present the kids gave me a new porch swing (Yea!). It's very nice, too bad it's been so hot I haven't been able to enjoy it! We're going to get the table cleaned, oiled and put back on the porch this weekend (the chairs that go with it are in the background). I would like to get an outdoor rug but think that will have to wait until next year. I also need to get some furniture for the upstairs porch. Louisa saw this on one of our trips and really wants me to get it for her. It's really cute but a little small - I don't think she will get a lot of use out of it.

Trying to survive summer vacation!

2009-08-03T15:20:00.000-07:00

We have about a month left until the kids are back in school. I would vote "yes" for year-round schools if a ballot was sent out today (and most days!). I think 3 months of doing nothing is entirely too long. I have been trying to take the kids somewhere one day every week. Last week the vote was for Chuck E. Cheese (ugh!), to say I hate that place is an understatement!!! The next day I was sick, you do the math... This week we are either going to Nauticus in Norfolk or the Norfolk Naval Shipyard Museum in Portsmouth, I guess we'll take a vote later.

With both of them home there is no way I am getting anything done inside the house. The painting has been put on hold (I have 3 windows left to paint in the kitchen), this is just going to have to be put off until September. I haven't been able to dust the bedrooms much less pick up a paint brush!

To make myself feel better I'm posting a picture of the kitchen before and after to remember how far we have come!!!

Sleeping porches

2009-07-28T07:51:00.001-07:00

Since we got the house painted the kids have been allowed to go on the upstairs porch (I wouldn't let them go out before because the paint was peeling so badly!). They asked (begged) me to let them sleep out there, so we got the air mattress and sleeping bags out and let them have a "porch camp-out". It was cooler last night thanks to a small storm that passed through so it was great weather for sleeping (we were able to turn off the a/c in the house too.). I'm not sure if the original owners slept on cots or just took their mattresses outside but I'm sure they didn't have blow up mattresses and Ipods for comfort! We've come a long way, baby!!!!!

Painting complete (for now)

2009-07-23T14:19:00.001-07:00

The painters are finally done and gone - yea! I'm not going to put any of the furniture on the porch for a couple of days (I want to make sure that it is dry!) and besides Louisa wants a new cast iron table and chairs!!! Here are couple a of before and afters....

Downstairs porch before.

Downstairs porch after.

Double porches after

Back wall before

Back wall after

Back porch ceiling before

Back porch after.

If you have 4 porch ceilings and three are painted light green, what color would you paint the fourth???? I guess we weren't specific enough when we said "Paint all the ceilings green". Oh, well... at least it has paint on it. As you can see they did scrape the paint off the door windows (not the best job in the world). I'm thinking this fall I'm going to take the door off and strip it so I'm not too worried about it. The best news is the city said we are off the hook for the peeling paint!

Painting 101

2009-07-21T08:37:00.000-07:00

In case you didn't know.... you should tape the windows before you paint! I'm hoping I'm happy with the end result.

Scrape, scrape, scrape, Primer!!!

2009-07-15T16:15:00.000-07:00

The painters have been hard at work scraping paint. Today we got some primer up! It looks a lot better with just the primer (can't wait until it's finished). I have been sick for the last 4 days so I haven't gotten any pictures. Hopefully tomorrow I'll be able to get outside before they descend upon us. Remember that scene in The Money Pitt when Shelly Long is in the bathroom and opens the medicine cabinet to get something and there inside the cabinet is the guy working on the house looking in at her? Well that's the way I feel, need to get a shower before guys are climbing ladders to the 2nd floor!

We have a painter!

2009-07-07T15:56:00.000-07:00

I am totally stealing this joke from "This Decrepit Victorian's" blog (because I laughed out loud when I read it!!!):

A guy meets a hooker in a bar. She says, “This is your lucky night. I’ve got a special game for you. I’ll do absolutely anything you want for $300, as long as you can say it in three words.” The guy replies, “Hey, why not?” He pull his wallet out of his pocket, and one at a time lays three hundred-dollar bills on the bar, and says, slowly: “Paint…my…house.”

We just hired someone to paint the double porches, side and back of the house! Yea!!!! He will start in the morning. He was painting the house 2 doors down and I stopped and asked for a quote. It's nice to be able to see someones work before you hire them. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they do a good job and it doesn't take too long (we won't be able to use the pool for a few days).

Back of the house looking into the kitchen. I'll have to take pictures of the porches before he starts. Wish us luck :-)

A look back

2009-07-06T08:24:00.000-07:00

Walter L. and Lillian Bilisoly were the original owners of our house, which was listed as 732 Park Avenue. We are not positive of the exact date it was built but it was sometime between 1900 and 1905 (this was the first time it was listed in the Portsmouth City Directory). The Bilisoly family was well known in Portsmouth, from my research most of them were doctors or druggist. Herman and Lydia Aspegren immigrated from Sweden and lived in our house from 1911 to 1923, they had 5 daughters when they moved to Norfolk. Herman Aspegren was the president of Portsmouth Cotton Oil Refinery. Their granddaughter, Karin Eckelmeyer, was gracious enough to talk to me and send me these pictures (how I found her is a story for another day!).

The Aspegren family on the side porch.

Lydia Aspegren (center) and relatives from Sweden - sometime in the 1920's.

Lydia Aspegren (far left) riding with her daughters. The brick pillars behind them are still in front of our house but strangely they are much shorter!

The girls on the roof of our shed. We still have the shed (which is filled with 100 years of wood) but it looked much better when it was new - I'm not sure I would stand on the roof today!!

After the Aspegren's moved out, our house had many owners. It was once used as a Parsonage for the Methodist Church and was eventually turned into apartments sometime during WWII (as most houses in this area were).

Matt and I are trying to update the house as best we can without altering the historic integrity. The changes that were made to the house before we got here probably will not be corrected while we live here but by in large the house is as it was originally planned.

Wow, I have a Blog!

2009-07-05T14:39:00.000-07:00

So after some pondering, I decided to create a blog so that I could post some of the craziness that goes on here! The four of us live in a 1900's American Foursquare. Although it's not perfect, it's our home and we love it.

This weekend was the Fourth of July holiday. We decided to stay home and enjoy the new pool, cookout on the grill and watch the Norfolk fireworks from our front porch (did I tell you I loved living here????). Here are a few pictures from this weekend....

My niece, Ashley, came over to watch the kids. It's great to have a 15 year old that likes kids.

The city of Norfolk had fireworks this year on Friday, Saturday and Sunday night! Lucky for us we can watch them from our house and miss all the traffic. My kids decided to dress up for the Saturday night show.