Bunkbed!

So our bunk bed saga comes to a close. After waiting all day for the UPS truck, it finally came around 4:30. Chris rushed home and we immediately started putting it together. No real instructions along with no pre-drilled holes for some of the screws made it a bit challenging. It started off like this:

All of us in their room watching Chris work. But it quickly turned to this:

The boys watching a movie in our room while Chris and I (half watching Gwen, half helping Chris) continued to work.

Enter dinner time. Luckily I had made chili and cornbread earlier, so it was just a quick break and then back to work. By this time Chris had half of it together enough to realize that the slats we bought at IKEA yesterday were barely too wide for the bed frame. (Actually, the bed frame was built too narrow) At least the mattresses were squishy enough to fit so all he had to do was cut down all the slats 1/4 an inch. 2 stores later, Chris came home with a circular saw and a ratchet wrench to get the job done as soon as possible.


By this time Gwen was past ready for bed, and the boys were tired so we put Gwen to sleep in our room and let the boys watch more movies downstairs. When the UPS truck dropped off our mattresses earlier we excitedly invited all of Alec's and Charlie's courtyard friends over for a PJ-Bunkbed-Slush party when it was done, so through the whole process we had Alec and his friends asking about "The Party" about every 5 minutes.

Finally around 8:30 the bunkbed was finished and Alec and Charlie were climbing into it for the first time. They are really excited to sleep without kicking or touching each other and can't wait to show it to their friends tomorrow. :) There was no way to connect the ladder to the bed frame but both Alec and Charlie can climb up without it.

It fits the room really well and feels very solid and sturdy and its not scary high off the ground for Alec and there still is plenty of room for them to stretch out. We're really pleased to have it! I'm not sure it was really worth the wait/stress/anxiety/hassle but I've learned a lot about patience and trying to think the best of others. It is very cute and I can see us loving it throughout the years.

Masters induced obsession

Ever since watching the Masters a few weekends back, Golf has firmly taken its spot at the very top of Archibald interests. I've had to go to the running store three times in the past month to work out a foot/shoe problem and right next door is a golf store. The boys (all three of them) out-lasted the girls during those shopping trips. In the end we came away with some new golf clubs for Alec and Charlie. ("Wait, aren't we sort of on a tight budget?" I ask. The answer: "but ... this is golf." ) At least, I insisted, we should have the boys earn their clubs. So we made a sticker chart rewarding obedience the first time, being kind, staying in their beds (meaning NOT climbing into Gwen's crib), and asking for food (meaning NOT opening the fridge and making a mess).

After a few days the boys filled up their charts. I think the concept was a bit beyond Charlie's attention span but Alec might have earned it all on the first day or two if we weren't trying to get them to finish at the same time.

In one word, Alec is obsessed. He constantly asks to go golfing or go to the driving range, or to get out his clubs and hit balls. He practiced hitting out back for hours on Saturday, and didn't even want to come in for dinner. And he's good. He's really good. 8 out of 10 hits are solid contact, he's averaging 30 to 35 yards and his longest drives are 50ish yards...all the way to the fence.

Charlie is doing awesome too. He reaches back and swings through. His longest drive was 15ish yards and straight as arrow. He likes to hit a few balls, watch Alec hit some, go play with some other toys and come back to hit balls again. Over and over and over.

Even Gwendolyn got in on the action. She got so excited about it all that she stood up to standing without holding on to anything and even took her first steps unaided today!

Memorial Church

The weather was nice last Sunday so we took a family walk to Memorial Church. Actually maybe it was too Sundays ago. Either way we all enjoyed it and we remembered to take our camera!

For any of you interested in our future, its all still up in the air and there are no new developments. Hopefully we'll know where we're going by the end of May. For those of you interested in our Bunk bed Saga. There IS an update. They sent two more packages and should arrive on Tuesday. The only thing they forgot in this set of shipments are the bolts and the slats for the mattresses to lay on. Instead of waiting another month for them to send those, we decided we'd just buy/make some here. So, if everything goes perfectly smooth (which I'm beginning to doubt) the boys could be sleeping in their new bunkbed Tuesday night!

Ogre Attack

Last week were we attacked by an Ogre. Well, it was only after little Gwendolyn. Actually, I think she was Princess Gwenyrs that day.

Lucky for the princess, she had two brave and courageous brothers to protect her.

The ogre was no match for their skills in archery, swordsmanship and overall destruction.

The cardboard box monster didn't even last 1/2 a day, but what a glorious few hours it was. I can't decide who had the most fun: the boys shooting, tearing, poking, and ripping or Chris watching his masterpiece give such entertainment and laughs to his children. Gotta love General Conference weekend.

correction...

PART of it came: the headboards and the ladder. There is no way to connect them, no place for the mattresses to go, no side rails, no instructions and no screws/etc... The shipping info says 1 of 1.

Maybe another shipment will show up tomorrow morning. But now that we have the boys twin bed all taken apart, looks like they'll be sleeping in sleeping bags for a few days or months or years. Ok. not years... I'm just trying to fight the depression.

IT CAME

Surprise of all surprises....

Our custom-made-extra-long-good-price-toddler-sized bunk bed was delivered to our house this morning!! After 1 year and 3 months, its here. I can hardly believe it and I can't stop smiling. We're waiting for Chris to come home from work before we open it....then build it...then drool over it and sleep in it (literally). Here's to patience!!

I think we'll have an open house for it and invite all our friends who've supported us and ached with us over our Bunk Bed Saga to come celebrate. I really hope its as awesome as we've dreamed about.

Small Spaces 2

Another benefit of living in a small space is how much it "forces" you to get out. If I had my dream home, I can imagine how comfortable I would be to just stay in it all day. Admittedly, I know the main benefactress of our constant outings is the nice California weather, but living in a small apartment contributes in its own way.

One of my favorite spots we affectionately call, Lake Lag (pronounced 'log'). Sometimes there's no water, sometimes there's a lot. There are zillions and zillions of teeny tiny frogs in the late spring and theres a nice path that goes all the way around it. My running buddies and I often go by it, or through it or around it on our runs.

This is last month - lots of water:

'

This is last year - hardly any water