What’s New with the House?

Well, I’d much rather this post be titled, “We Sold the House” but that post will have to wait for a bit longer. We have had steady interest in our house – it has shown over 60 times since it went on the market nearly a year ago. According to our realtor, that is a very good number. Unfortunately, none of the interest in looking at the house has turned into an interest in making a realistic offer on the house. We have had one offer that was so low we couldn’t afford to accept it, another verbal offer that was lower than that, and a lease-option offer that was rescinded within 24 hours.

After much thought, deliberation, and prayer, we have decided to hire a contractor to do some sprucing-up at the house. Of all the feedback we’ve received on the house thus far, we have consistently heard that it requires too much work. So, we’ve decided to do some of that work and hope that it’s enough to entice someone to make an offer.

The other story with the house is that we saw a 2000% increase in our electricity bill in January. We went from using 4-6 KWH per day to using 80 KWH per day. Since the house is vacant and we only have a few lights on, we couldn’t figure out why we would be using that much energy. (Ernie came up with a great scenario – that one of our neighbors was using an extension cord plugged into our exterior outlet to run their marijuana growing operation. The real story wasn’t nearly so exciting.) It turns out that when a previous owner replaced the original electric baseboard heat with a natural gas furnace, the wiring wasn’t disconnected properly. We think that someone who looked at the house turned the knobs on the thermostats in the house, kicking on the power. Once the breakers for the electric baseboard heat were flipped off, the power usage has returned to the low normal of 4-6 KWH per day.

Please pray with us that there will be a new post very soon entitled "We Sold the House!"

Subby Subby Subby, Can’t You See?

That’s what Ernie’s phone says when the sub service calls to see if he’s available to substitute teach in Thurston County. And it says that a lot! Unfortunately for the students in Thurston County, he is usually already spoken-for by a teacher in Lewis County. And since he likes to teach Special Education, he is in high demand. Sometimes he has multiple teachers request that he sub in their classrooms for the same days. (Usually because all of the special ed teachers sign up for the same workshops.)

There have been many positives to Ernie substitute teaching. His schedule has been very flexible, which has come in handy more than once! He has been able to get a feel for which school districts he likes best in terms of philosophy, size, and location. (Let’s be clear – he hasn’t found a district he doesn’t like, just some are in better locations than others.) His choice to teach elementary special education has been affirmed, and more than once! Ernie has taught at all grade levels, from pre-school to post-high school special education. (There is a program in Lewis County that helps 18-21-year-old special ed students transition to living independently.) He has taught special education (life skills and resource room), art & music (I’ll wait while you laugh out loud at the thought of Ernie teaching art & music), health, home economics, band, and Spanish. And through all of these varied experiences, Ernie has felt most fulfilled teaching in elementary special education classrooms.

We are very grateful that he has had these experiences, and for the bonus income it has provided. We are hopeful that God will lead us to a permanent teaching position for next school year.

Katy at Nine Months

Kaitlyn had her 9-month well-child check up yesterday morning and is healthy as a horse! She’s 17 lbs 6 oz, putting her in the 25th percentile for weight, and 28 inches long, putting her in the 65th percentile for height. The doctor was very happy with her development – she passed her tests with flying colors.

While Katy may not be gaining weight at the same pace she was previously, it is not for lack of eating. This kid can eat! She’s eating baby foods and has started eating finger foods as well. We’re also giving her tastes of table foods, and she gets so excited to eat what the rest of the family is having. Dinner time is much easier now that she can eat with us!

So, what else is new with Katy? Katy is sitting up by herself, army crawling, and moving from crawling to sitting with ease. And man, is she fast! She makes a bee-line for the cats’ food and water dishes, and would love to have access to the power strip with all of the electrical cords sticking out of it. (Don’t worry, it’s blocked!)

Learning to crawl means that Katy is quickly learning the word “No.” And in typical baby fashion, she is testing to see if we mean it. And we do. And when she finally realizes that we mean it, she lets us know her displeasure. (And we had to laugh the other day when she cried after being told “no” and Sophia explained that crying wasn’t going to change mommy’s mind. At least one child has learned that lesson!)

As Katy gets bigger and more mobile, we are learning just how different she is from Sophia. With Sophia, we never worried if the house got quiet – we knew that she was just playing quietly or reading. With Kaitlyn, quietness means that she has gotten into something forbidden. Katy is very curious, where Sophia was very cautious. Sophia was so cautious that she often waited to try new things until she was sure she could be safe doing them. She is still that way. Sophia was very aware of where her body was and rarely bumped her head or hurt herself at all as she moved around. Katy is not so aware, and not so cautious, so I have a feeling she’ll be the one to break a bone first. Or get her head stuck in something. Or taste a chemical. Not to be mischievous, but to try and figure things out.

Katy loves to play Peekaboo and has recently figured out how to initiate the game herself. The giggles that come with a game of Peekaboo are priceless. Katy also loves to read books that have texture. I’ve never seen a baby enjoy “Pat the Bunny” as much as Katy does.

We so enjoy watching Katy grow and learn, even if it means watching her grow up.

What Happened to February?

I realized as I sat down to update the blog that I completely missed February. Life has been so busy, yet I can't remember what we did in February. It was so busy it passed by in a blur. So I'm cutting my losses and skipping February. Moving on to March and bringing you all up-to-date on the going-on in the Dickason family.

Okay, I'll share one picture from February. For President's Day weekend, we visited some friends in Whatcom county and checked on the house. While visiting the Williams family, the kids (Mia, Sophia, Aidan, l-r) decided to form a band and gave a performance. It was a (not-so-Quiet) riot!

Sophia at 4

My goodness, where have the last four years gone? I cannot believe that Sophia is FOUR! She amazes us daily with her wit, imagination, observation, and brilliance.

Sophia had her well-child check the day after her birthday and is doing great! She was a little nervous that she would need a shot, but was glad to hear that she could put off any shots until next year. (We’ll see how she feels about that decision next year!) She is 44 inches tall and weighs 35 pounds.

Fia is desperate to read. She recently read her first word – no. Sophia still loves puzzles and is able to complete 60+ piece puzzles by herself, but is overwhelmed by 100 piece puzzles and asks for help. Well, actually, she delegates. For instance, she put together Tinkerbell, and told me I was to put together the other fairy. Sophia is a great helper – she likes to help Nana in the kitchen, she helps me with laundry, and loves to help Katy to stop crying.

We are convinced that Sophia’s imagination is endless! Just last night she found her reindeer antlers in her dress-up bin and decided to be Blitzen for the evening. She even had carrots for snack, since that’s what reindeer eat. Also, Sophia is quite funny, though often without meaning to be. She loves a good knock-knock joke (and who doesn’t?) and watching “the hurting show” which is known by most as “America’s Funniest Home Videos”.

We so love Sophia and all of the fun that she adds to our life!

The Princess Party

Since this summer, Sophia has been talking about having a princess cake for her birthday. We went ahead with plans for a princess-themed party. Those who know me, know how much I love a theme party. I count it as something that Tori Spelling and I have in common. I don’t have quite the party budget she has, but I think we share the same affinity for theme parties.

To date, all of Sophia’s birthday parties have been held in our home. This year, we are living with Ernie’s parents and I decided that we needed to have her party elsewhere. I just couldn’t ask to have Sophia’s party there. They had done more than their fair share of entertaining in the previous three months. We looked into available facilities in our area, and most were located within or near parks. Parks with toys to climb on. We ruled out those facilities because, figuring it would be cold and/or raining, we didn’t want to spend the entire party denying kids the chance to play on those toys. We settled on the multi-purpose room at the train depot in Centralia.

Once we settled on the location, I tried a few times to convince Sophia that she should have a Thomas the Tank Engine-themed party. Remember how much I like a theme? I thought it would be more fitting to have a train-themed party at the train station. But no, Sophia had made up her mind and was not about to budge. It killed me that I couldn’t plan a train party for the train station, but I was not about to ruin her party just because I am a bit (A BIT?) OCD.

So we had a princess party at the train depot. We had foam crowns for the kids to decorate and giant princess pictures to color. We were able to keep the kids entertained for quite awhile with those activities. Next came cake and ice cream, and then it was time to open presents. Sophia received wonderful gifts and remembered to say thank you most of the time! We had a great turnout and were so excited to have many family members in attendance, as well as some friends, and Sophia’s preschool classmates. It was a great party!

A Week of Birthdays

Wow was it a week of celebration in the Dickason family! First, I turned 31 (OMG I’m officially in my 30s!) on Sunday, January 10th. Ernie’s parents were kind enough to watch the girls so that Ernie and I could go out for dinner on Saturday night to celebrate. We went to Red Robin in Olympia so that I could enjoy my free “Birthday Burger” and hot fudge sundae. It was all quite yummy, and the wait staff was kind enough to spare me the singing and humiliation. On Sunday, Ernie got up with the girls so that I could sleep in. I cannot believe how long I slept, but I obviously needed it! Ernie and Sophia brought me breakfast in bed – a mocha and a maple bar. I had a very relaxing day, and ended it with dinner of my choosing, cooked by Ernie’s mom. I chose meatloaf, company potatoes, and corn. Ernie’s dad threw in homemade French bread as a bonus. Now, I know most of you are thinking “She ASKED for meatloaf? Isn’t that a punishment rather than a birthday dinner?”, but you haven’t had this meatloaf. It is amazingly good. For dessert we had white cake with rainbow chip frosting. Yum.

So then on Tuesday, January 12th, it was Sophia’s turn for a birthday. She turned 4. I am still in denial that I have a 4-year-old. What has happened to the last four years? We started the celebration early with breakfast in bed – hot chocolate and a doughnut with sprinkles. She also was allowed to open one birthday present from us, and Nana & Papa let her open all of the presents they bought for her. Since it was a school day, we took treats to school so she could celebrate with her friends. For dinner she chose to go to Applebee’s. We thought for sure she’d choose McDonalds or Burger King, but she surprised us! It was a fun day for everyone.

On Thursday, January 14th, we celebrated Ernie’s grandpa’s birthday. He requested chicken tortilla casserole for dinner. Unfortunately, I was late for dinner because I was gathering supplies for Sophia’s birthday party (more on that later). But I did make it home in time for dessert – angel food cake.

We ended the week with Sophia’s birthday party…