Michigan Fall

We have had beautiful weather so far this Fall. It has been really warm and sunny. Should be the same this coming week. Hard to imagine we are in the NL. Reminds me of Michigan. Wish there was more time to enjoy it! They closed down a lot of the trails near our house to give the deer some peace during their breeding season, so that cuts down our options. Nice to enjoy the playgrounds with the girls though!

I have been making progress on the maple cabinets for under the skylight. It goes much slower than I hoped for though. What a surprise. Got a new sander yesterday that should speed up the process though. It is so nice! Much quieter too...

Naomi and I decided (again) on the car that we will buy. A Volvo V60. The XC70 was too expensive on a monthly basis (insurance and taxes). The V60 would also be a newer car with some nice 'kid' features like back seats that transform into booster seats. It will be hard to find one with a sunroof though!

Taking a break from the potty.

Fun at the little playground that is a few blocks away.

The donkey farm.

Potty Training

This week was the beginning of what we hope won't be too long of a process. Both girls made progress with the potty. Abigail will sit on it but nothing comes out. A few weeks ago she didn't want anything to do with it. Amélie has done really well! When we are around the house we don't even need to use a diaper anymore, although she prefers that we do.

Naomi got a slight promotion at work - basically they will be paying her to do what she already does. She also has a permanent contract instead of a temporary one, unexpectedly giving us a bit more financial security. Teaching this past week was really rough though - the school was so hot that just sitting down meant sweating. Thankfully that was the last hot week of the year.

We are having trouble getting the final things done on the house. The wood around our new front door is rotting and was supposed to be replaced yesterday, but that fell through. All the wood needs paint on the outside but our painters seem to be too busy for the job. The electrical keeps getting postponed as well. Frustrating, because we just want to be done!

Our new front door.

Using the potty like a pro!

The New Normal

Finally. The new normal. Great to be at this point. Settling into work and the new routine. Finding time to rest. Enjoying the beautiful summer weather - we really live in a beautiful area of the country. Seems more like France than the Netherlands. The next few days are supposed to be too hot though...

We got our new front door on Friday! It looks great! We are so happy with it. At least I am. Also found the perfect car, but I wasn't the only one to think so, and it was quickly sold. Oh well. Naomi is happy to wait for awhile, and I suppose I am too. It will be tough to find one that good again though.

I started on the cabinets for under the skylight on the top floor. Got some beautiful Maple flooring from friends. What perfect timing! These will really look good once they are done. I am thinking of just oiling them instead of putting a proper finish on. Wanting to keep things as simple as possible...

The little ones are also getting used to the changes. They seem to be a bit happier and more stable now. One of the ladies from daycare just loves them! She went on and on about how much fun they are and how easily they adapt to the new group and lots of other compliments. Nice to hear.

The Routine

This week has been an introduction to our new routine. The girls go to daycare for the full day Monday and Thursday along with Tuesday afternoons. I have to teach Monday and Tuesday while Naomi teaches Monday, Thursday and Friday. Sometimes she will have to come Tuesday afternoons as well.

I work in my 12 hours a week for my business whenever the time is right. This week has been mostly about putting stuff online and developing plans for the next projects. I will build some closets for our top floor and a liqueur cabinet for Claire.

This week was still not a typical one because Claire came for a visit. We had a really nice time with her - even though she was sleeping for half of it. She gave us a chance to test drive a few cars yesterday. The one we have might be in bad shape, so we might need to replace it sooner than we would like. Next week should give us a better picture of what a typical week will look like...