My Graduate

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Cole graduated from 5th grade a couple of weeks ago.  It was a charming ceremony and the kids seemed truly prepared for their big night.  Some of the girls were in dresses with large bows and flat sandals and some of the other girls were in black dresses with heels and eyeliner.  With one foot in childhood and one foot in teendom, they were teetering like acrobats on a hire wire; some more surefooted than others. Due to the small class size (60), each child was singled out and read a short message by their teacher.  While there is an understandable backlash against overpraising kids, the hyperbole that night was very touching and heartfelt.  

 "With his mischievous smile and twinkling eyes, Cole will alway be remembered for the perfect balance of humor and commitment...."

On August 15th, Cole will begin Casey Middle School, which is conveniently located about 6 blocks from our new house on Pine.  The school, which first opened in 1924, was rebuilt in 2010 with a generous $33 million voter approved bond, and it now one of the greenest schools in Colorado (gold LEED certified).  In addition to its downtown location, it offers a rigorous Spanish bilingual program.  Cole has enrolled in the program, which will require him to attend two Spanish classes every day.  We know that it is very demanding, but we also know that kids are fairly fluent by the middle of seventh grade.  I studied French for almost a decade.  I could order croissants and catch the right train to Lyon; the deeper joys of mastering a language evaded me.  

Seating from 1109 Pine

I have identified three pieces of furniture from 1109 Pine that seem worthy of upholstering: a period Victorian side chair with casters;  a small love seat with casters; and a comfy arm chair.  I am making my first trip to Denver next week to look at fabrics and wallpaper while my mother, Janet, is in town.  She is the best shopper I know, a Manhattanite with a sharp eye and a bottomless appetite for retail reconnaissance.

Carson Turns 10!

Carson turned 10 on the 19th.  All he wanted for his birthday was a mountain bike.  It is one of those gifts that Grant and I, despite the cost, were happy to buy, knowing that it will his primary form of transportation to school next year and will serve him on many summer adventures.  In a couple of weeks, he will be heading to the mountains to attend his favorite Boulder summer camp, SMBA (Single track Mountain Bike Adventures), where he will ride for 5 hours through rigorous and rough terrain on the trails around Boulder.  I got my first 10-speed bike when I was ten, but my adventures were much more suburban; the only mountains I climbed were up the steep road to the top of the cul-de-sac on the quiet street where I lived.  

Mother's Day

My girlfriends and I  continued a Boulder Mother's Day tradition and ran a 10k in the morning and then had brunch at our house with the dads and kids.  It was a gorgeous day (80+ degrees!) and the food that the dads coordinated and served was tremendous (Craig Willert's green chile casserole was beyond extraordinary).  I spent the late afternoon in bed with the NYT and then took a walk to our new house on Pine Street.  It felt great to wear the badge of motherhood so conspicuously and joyfully throughout the day in celebration of something that has become so routine and essential to my life that I often forget the magnitude or the significance of this long, fun, hard, twisting path of being Mom.

Happy Birthday Quinn!

Quinn turned 7 on May 6th.  I love the hat he chose to wear for his party.

Progress

The Shed

"before"

"after"--sort of

checking out the new stairs

Quinn and Wynn

Steel beam in kitchen

kitchen-west exposure

We have owned 1109 now for 10 weeks and the progress on the house is encouraging, sometimes even miraculous.  Allstate insurance was breathing down our necks to repair the dilapidated shed and now it actually has some integrity--new floor, new foundation, new roof, new stairs.  It is not going to make the cover of  Martha Stewart Living, but at least it is sturdy and straight.  Throughout the house, old walls have come down and new walls have been erected, and we have rough plumbing and electrical throughout (i.e., outlets in bedrooms!).  They've installed a new boiler and have put in a steel beam to expand the kitchen and family room.   They took down all of the old ceilings in the basement (the hardest, dirtiest day for the crew).  Old houses demand a certain amount of respect and we are getting a fast lesson in turn of the century construction (big, thick walls....slow, messy demolition).  Meanwhile,  Grant is still busy sorting the contents from the basement and garage.  He bought hundreds of plastic magazine covers for all of the Life magazines (1938-1949 collection) in the hopes of preserving the ones that we want to keep and preparing to sell some of the collection.  It's a neat collection, but like all collections, there can be too much of a good thing.