Meg's Life: Moving right along

Bree is learning addition and subtraction, has been mastering dolch words using flash cards, and has finished reading the Dick and Jane collection.
Mason spends his time begging to play Lego Indiana Jones, playing with his toys, running, bouncing, and sliding around on his knees (most of his pants didn't make it through the cold season intact), and alternately eating more than Chad or refusing to eat much at all.
Lincoln has three teeth: one on the top, two on the bottom. We thought we'd get a break from teething woes, but he has two more coming in on the top. Poor guy. But he sure loves to eat. When we pour Cheerios on the high-chair tray, he shovels them into his mouth with both fists at an impressive speed.
I've lost over 25 pounds in the last three months! That's how much extra weight I had when Lincoln was born almost a year ago, and it's taken this long to finally get motivated to lose it. A fresh outlook with the new year, and our ward's Biggest Loser competition were the kick in the pants I needed. I've been working a couple days a month, and I've been enjoying it. I've also been slowly chipping away at my list of 30 goals, which has been a fun project.
Chad is working 10-hour day shifts right now, with Wednesdays through Fridays off. I've been enjoying the schedule, but am anxious to have him able to come to church with us again; it seems like he's been working Sundays forever, and it will be nice to have him there with me. He's been eating healthy with me, and has lost at least 15 pounds. And he's been cutting back on video game playing to spend more quality time with the kids and me, and tells me he's been enjoying that.
Last Sunday my parents took all the kids with them for the week, and Chad took the time off so we could have a "staycation." We worked hard most of the time (except for a visit with Adam and Heather, in between trips to hardware stores), completing projects that are next to impossible with three kids running/crawling around.

All white walls, trim, and baseboards now have a fresh coat of paint. All evidence of nose-wiping, hand-trailing, and rogue ball point pens has been wiped away.
We have new bi-fold doors on our laundry closet. Which are freshly painted. They look exactly the same as our old ones, but they open and close smoothly, with only one hand. And the one doesn't completely unfold off the track in an unnatural manner. And the other doesn't go "kreeeaach-ch-kkk" when you slide it open. They are lovely and as they should be.
The forced air vents for our air conditioning have now been taped up and sealed, the final of a series of attempts to control the toxic allergen situation in our home. We put in a new allergy-rated air filter, and are optimistic.
I finished the grout-cleaning project that my mom started months ago. When we were getting ready to move into this house, we had new tile installed throughout the kitchen, living room, dining room, halls, and bathrooms while Bree was being born (literally the same day; I went into labor after a long day prepping the subfloors). So I sent Chad to Globe to seal all the grout before we moved in. Well, he sealed the bathrooms, and I think the closets, then ran out of grout sealer. So he came home. And the rest of our grout never got sealed. Fast-forward six years...the grout that was originally light beige is now dark brown. But not uniformly, so I couldn't just pretend it was supposed to be brown. Anyway, after many hours of work (mostly by my mom) scrubbing and washing and grinding with a wire brush on the drill, the grout is all pretty and ready to seal. I'll probably have to do it in sections, or while the kids are asleep, but it will get done.
25 bags of insulation have been blown in to our attic. We finished at 9 pm Wednesday night because we only had the blower rental for 24 hours. I thought I'd be breaking up blocks of compressed insulation and feeding that machine forever. Then Chad came down from the attic covered in grey dust, and I was grateful to have gotten off easy. We hope to see savings on our future electric bills, and I'm already noticing that our A/C doesn't come on nearly as often to keep the house cool. Oh, and the walls surrounding our heat pump closet? The walls that used to radiate heat all summer long? Cool to the touch. This makes me very happy.

Our minivan passed its first test as a cargo van with flying colors. 25 bags of insulation. And then an insulation blower. Thank you Stow-and-Go seating.