Country Mouse, City Mouse, Suburban Mouse?

Today we did what should be the last of the paperwork for our new lease. Our new apartment isn’t far from our old one – actually just across the driveway – but it is smaller. As we’ve gone from 1800 to 1300 and next to 1200 square feet of living space and from 2 to 3 to 4 people, the change has made me think about how different this sort of life is to the one I had when I was growing up. City life means less space, but has meant more together time. We may not all eat meals at the same time, but there’s also no eating and retreating to your bedroom immediately afterward. Kid H can’t just go outside and play by herself, so we all go to the beach or playground together. Our apartment is almost always cluttered, with toys, projects, files, and dishes, but cleaning it up only takes a couple of hours so it’s not a big deal.

Living in Boston has exposed Kid H to some things earlier than I would have preferred, but has given her other opportunities that were almost only special occasion events for me when I was growing up. Frequent moves have forced all of us to be a little more adaptable, a little more flexible, and have seemed to strengthen our bonds as a family. It’s also changed our perspective on what we own. A move has a way of making that indispensible item into just one more round trip on the stairs. We are also finding that while the quantity of things we own decreases, we are becoming more and more particular about what it is that we hang on to.

Other discoveries:
• Public schools aren’t necessarily as good, but having Italian classes in K1 is great
• Cost of housing is high, but there are lots of jobs and housing around should you need it
• Groceries are expensive and grocery stores are kind of crazy, but Peapod delivers and there’s Haymarket on Saturdays
• Friends are everywhere, but everyone seems busy
• Car insurance is ridiculous, but if you don’t use it often, operating costs are very low
• Park Street Church – probably the best or second-best church we’ve attended

I occasionally wonder about living in the suburbs. It seems to be what lots of city mice with kids eventually do. However, although the space would be nice, I think the suburbs would be the death of me. It will be interesting to see what the future holds for us.

Up To Something

Why yes, Baby H and I are up to something. Why do you ask?

Italian Lessons

Kid H loves her Italian classes at school!

Birthday Party Prep

Here's a shot of Mrs. H and Kid H hard at work the day before the birthday party getting the frosting, sprinkles, and all-important princess rings on the cupcakes. The cupcakes were pink cake with white frosting and pink sprinkles.

We're trying to decide what to do with the leftover frosting in the frosting gun you can see on the counter. I offered to squirt it into Mr. and Mrs. R's eldest son before he left for home after the birthday party on Saturday, but was turned down. I thought it would be an interesting experiment.

Birthday Party Adventures

Kid H had her birthday party today. To celebrate, we invited her class from school as well as some of her other friends, but in the end only her friends from Bright Horizons, our wonderful neighbors, and our good friends Mr. and Mrs. R showed up. This ended up being perfect and everyone (both adults and kids) seemed to have a great time and enjoy themselves.

The birthday was princess-themed, including decorations; a reading of Tea for Ruby; making princess tiaras, bracelets, and necklaces; and a game of Put the Princess In the Castle.

After it was all done, Mr. and Mrs. R and their kids came up and we all hung out in our apartment, had supper together and relaxed for a while. It was a great birthday party and we all had a lot of fun. Tomorrow, Kid H sings "My God Is So Big" in church as well, so the weekend is definitely not over yet. We're also going to have a quiet family party with just the four of us. Besides, we still have a few cupcakes left over!

There were some great quotes today, like:

• "Presto! Now you're a fairy!" said to Mr. R by Sophia after a wave of her magic princess wand.
• "Why do they even make princess rings that aren't pink?" asked by Mrs. H as the cupcakes were being handed out and all the ones with pink rings disappeared first.
• In a little whispered voice just before all the guests left, "Thank you Mommy for the wonderful party," from the birthday girl.

Deep Thoughts On Juice

Tonight, while Kid H was getting ready to go to bed, she asked for some juice and milk to drink. Since Kid H and I had birthday cupcakes earlier in the evening, I suggested she drink water. After negotiating for milk, Kid H stated that it was better for her than juice since both milk and water prevented any accidents later in the night. This was followed by this analysis of where orange juice comes from:

Yeah, cause juice is made of pee!

Ok . . .

Juliet and Rachmaninoff

Here's Baby H showing off her Christmas dress, Romeo and Juliet face, and Rachmaninoff hands. Her hands and feet are gigantic already, and she started rolling over before she was one month old.

We're expecting her to be another tall kid. Her newborn sleepers are already starting to look like flying squirrel costumes on her. Her feet go all the way to the bottom, but she's not nearly large enough around to fill them out.

A thousand times good night!

Dealing With Change

Though this picture was taken over Christmas, it's a great illustration of my general state of mind. Barring a miracle, we will be moving to another apartment sometime in February, and probably making another move to an apartment in Washington DC sometime in the next two to eighteen months. In reality, this move will probably come sooner rather than later, but it is impossible to make that prediction, and I won't know that we're moving until about 4 weeks before we need to move. However, in order to hold out for the long shot that will perhaps let us make just one move, we are trying to put off our move in February as long as possible.

Dealing with this sort of uncertainty and upheaval has been a challenge for our entire family and a test of our belief that things work out for our good. It's been exhausting, even though we haven't actually made a move yet. However, it's the waiting that's the hard part. Execution means you have a plan. We're still trying to put one together while hoping that in the end maybe we won't have to move twice.

New Baby

It's been a while since the last post again, but in the meantime we added another member to our household, had company at our place for 2 weeks over Christmas, and have been doing the newborn thing since then. Baby H is doing well. She was 7 pounds, 7 ounces and 20 inches long when born, but has been stretching out a lot since then. She has also been an easy baby to take care of, which has been a huge blessing after another rather difficult pregnancy for Mrs. H.

Now that the baby is here, we have been very grateful for occasional meals brought in by the South Boston Mom's Club and my ability to work from home. It seems someone's always sleeping and someone's always awake around the clock. Baby H is almost sleeping through the night, but isn't quite there yet. Hopefully, things will even out in another week or two. Kid H seems to be enjoying having a baby sister and has been very helpful in taking care of her. I'm waiting for the day when she'll volunteer to help with the diapers, but I think that's still a way off.

Dame Farm

A while ago, I told you that I'd be posting pictures of Kid H doing her pumpkin impression at the Dame Farm. Today's the day. I'm also including some of the other pictures we took that day. The weather was wonderful, and we had a great time!

Fall Food

We've been eating a lot of chicken recently at the Hausmeister household, and have discovered the greatness of the beer can chicken recipe.

Since there are more recipes online than are possibly necessary, I won't give it to you here in detail other than to say that they all involve stuffing a half full container of beer into the back end of a chicken, rubbing it with seasoning, and cooking it. It's a rather ignominious end for the bird, but tastes great.

We especially enjoy the meal when it ends with some of Mrs. H's pumpkin mini-bundts. The little cakes themselves taste good, but when they're warm, stuffed with Nutella, and surrounded by a scoops of ice cream with cinnamon and nutmeg on top, they taste even better.

3 Month Recap

I haven't posted for a while. Some of you noticed. Some of you also contacted Mrs. H and told her to tell me to do something about it. When this happens, it often culminates in a night like tonight, when I'm flopped on the sofa while the sound of "O Tannenbaum" emanates from the bathroom as the rest of the Hausmeister clan takes advantage of the double shower in our apartment to soak and sing . . . loudly.

So, what's been going on you ask? How about a photo recap of the past 3 months?

First, Kid H went to the fair with her Aunt and M, where she rode elephants, fed donkeys, went on rides, ate junk food, got new clothes, and just generally spent time hanging out and having a great time. She came home completely exhausted, but now asks constantly when she can go hang out with them again.

Next, the Hausmeister clan went apple-picking at the Dame Farm in nearby Rhode Island. If you're ever in the area, I recommend stopping by. We are convinced that the best apples are at the tops of the trees and can only be reached by having Kid H and Mr. H combine to form the ultimate apple picking machine. Occasionally, the person on the bottom takes an apple to the cranium, much to the amusement of Mrs. H.

The Dame Farm also has wagon rides, all sorts of fresh produce, flowers, and is owned by some great people. Our stop there included enjoying all of the above, as well as a pumpkin impression by Kid H that will have to wait for a future post.

Our next "highlight" was the pooping-by-the-side-of-I-93-in-the-middle-of-a-traffic-jam-in-the-rain incident. Traffic was at a standstill and Kid H had to go.

What you can't see in the picture is that we also had a State Police escort as well, complete with lights. I made sure to pick up the TP when I was done.

This fall, Kid H started school as well. It was a little rough at the beginning, but we got things straightened out, and she's doing great now. The school she attends is in Boston's Italian district, and has included learning Italian, thanks to a teacher supplied by the Italian Consulate. This has added a fourth language on top of the scattered Chinese and Spanish phrases and words she knows. Tonight, I was treated to three songs in Italian and heard her count to 10. She's putting the "poly" in polyglot and making her dad jealous.

Mrs. H and I also went to Japan with her cousin and cousin-in-law for a week vacation and saw lots of very cool stuff. I'll have to dedicate a couple of posts to covering it in the next few weeks.

There was a trip back to the Midwest to visit one set of the Oma and Opas, and the other Oma and Opa came here to cover while Mr. and Mrs. H went on vacation and when Mr. H had to travel for business. While in the Midwest for business, I also got to meet my new nephew for the first time.

And there was Halloween. Kid H dressed up as the animal from the book "Put Me in the Zoo". Indeed.

That brings us to the present, which finds us getting ready for Christmas and thankful for the highlights of the last 3 months. This year the Christmas season is bringing with it a significant amount of change for the Hausmeister clan as well as a number of things to look forward to, including the addition of a new Baby H and a Christmas visit from family in the Midwest.

The Lock Jig

Either you were there, or you weren't. Either way, it was a sight to be remembered.

The Wonder of the Kinder Eier

I've always thought it would be cool to be a Lego designer. However, that's probably not meant to be. A similar job would be to design the toys that go into Kinder Eier. For those who aren't familiar with this treat, it's a white and milk chocolate egg, which has a plastic capsule inside it with a small toy that you assemble after eating the egg. They are SO COOL! The US version is the Kinder Surprise. Of course the German version is better. One of the things that makes them clever is that they almost always move or do something. Sometimes, you can even combine them to build a "super surprise." Echt cool!

After being away from home for the last week, Mrs. H greeted us with Kinder Eier. Mine was this cool little guy who could smile or frown when you flipped a switch on the back of his head. Kid H's toy was a pirate gorilla who's arms could flip up to reveal a map hidden in a barrel. When we got them, we both devoured the chocolate and got on to building the toys. I'm such a sucker for clever little things like this.

Thanks, Mrs. H! You're the best!

Poolside Walk of Shame

So tonight we head out to the pool for a quick swim before going to bed. Kid H and I have been on the road for work and visiting grandparents the last week, so we were both pretty tired.

After about 45 minutes in the pool, Mrs. H and I announce that it's time to go in. Kid H pops out, complaining bitterly about the unfairness of the whole ordeal and after being covered up with a towel, disappears.

Assuming that she went inside, Mrs. H and I head in a minute later, only to find that Kid H has disappeared. After a few minutes, I find her back by the pool, buck naked, and crying. Apparently, in a fit of rage, she took off her swimsuit and threw it over the railing. It fell down a story, but got hung up on a ledge. This was immediately followed by remorse, which was probably deepened by getting a naked spanking poolside.

After getting her back upstairs, I called down to make sure the suit could be retrieved, then Mrs. H and I put Kid H to bed. She was very ready to go to sleep, but had to be reassured multiple times that the wind wouldn't blow her suit away overnight before the staff could get to it.

We're all going to bed now.

LEFTOVERS IN BBEEEEEEEEEEDDDDD!

You'll notice that both Mrs. H and I are in the picture. So, who might be taking the picture?

Clicking on the image to see the larger-than-life version might allow you to see that the expression on my face isn't one of pure surprise . . .

"Put the camera down, NOW!"

Cartoons and Legos

Have you ever wondered about what living with a house full of girls does to the only male of the house? I have. I'm already sure I know more about Hello Kitty than most guys, and am adding knowledge of other foreign cartoon characters as well. These include Pocoyo, Kai-Lan, and Pokemon at the moment. What happens when I have two girls?

For those of you who wish to test your knowledge on the above characters, can you name the countries of origin for each without resorting to web searches?

I've also been getting pretty good with pop beads. However, I'm trying fight back. Kid H and I spent a lot of time a few weekends ago working on building a Sikorsky Skycrane Lego set (which I'm proud to say I knew by name when I saw the box on the shelf), complete with a working winch. It's a pretty close model of the original, and both Kid H and I are enjoying playing with it. We're going to try for the plane or boat next, but need to find one of the pieces of the rotor first. It's probably under a sofa.

Rainy days

"Summer" in Boston this year has mainly consisted of rain. I don't mind it, since it's relaxing, and keeps me from feeling like I'm missing out on doing something inside during the day while I'm working. However Kid H doesn't feel the same way. She's bored.

So, what to do? How about take some crazy pictures? Good idea! Here are the results:

Legacy and an announcement

It's funny to be only in your 30s and already thinking about your legacy, but I find myself doing that already. Actually, this sort of thinking really started in earnest earlier this week after a doctor's appointment when we found out that . . .

Mrs. H will be having a baby girl in December!

Kid H is looking forward to it, as are we. Mrs. H is doing great, and looks fantastic. She's doing so much better than the last time around. There are going to be a lot of changes connected to having another baby in terms of how life works for us, but we are trusting the Lord to help us through these changes, as he has with all the other seemingly large ones previously.

I also need to apologize to those of you who follow this blog closely. I've been rather preoccupied with some other projects recently, so haven't posted as regularly as I should have. For those who are interested, my excuses are as follow:

• July is the Tour de France. If it's on, I'm watching it, period. Every night.
• Mrs. H is pregnant, and I'm filling the Hausmeister role more than ever.
• Work's been challenging, but I can now install WSS or MOSS 2007 with Kerberos and PerformancePoint Server, on both Windows Server 2005 and 2008 platforms as well as setting up the SPNs, service accounts, and databases. If you could follow all that, I feel bad for you.
• I'm getting peed on a lot. Kid H comes out to get a snuggle at night, I go in and fall asleep. The next thing I know, I'm laying in a quarter inch puddle of fresh, hot . . . well you know.
• Speaking of sleeping arrangements, we have a two bedroom apartment, and I don't sleep in either. I'll be on the sofa till December, I think.
• I'm trying to read all the books on the Fog Creek management internship booklist. So far, I'm halfway through the first one. I know. Congratulate me now.

So, to make up for my lapses, I'll try to post a few posts that cover what we've been up to since the last post to keep you up-to-date. Until then . . .

Easter

Well, it wasn't snowing this Easter, but it was still pretty cold and nasty out. That didn't prevent us from having our first ever Easter egg hunt for Kid H before heading to church. One of the gifts that was hidden was Domo-kun with rabbit ears. This was supposed to be a gag gift for Der Hausmeister himself, but Kid H appropriated it.

Our attempt at making the Easter service was also sort of a bust. We were suspicious that the schedule was different, but nothing was posted to the answering service message. We also didn't have internet access, so couldn't check the website. So, when we arrived, right on time for a usual Sunday, but right in the middle of the service, there was little to do besides shrug and take in what we could. With no Sunday school either, that was about all Kid H could handle anyway, thanks to the chocolate sloshing around in her system.



Later that day, we all started feeling iffy, and began coming down with colds that we're still all fighting and sharing. At that point, Domo-kun became the household sickie mascot. When everyone's sick and nobody's sleeping, anything that breaks the grumpiness is a good thing.