Weighing in at 22 pounds....

After a fall (not sure what he hit on the way down) we made a trip to the ER. Thankfully they were able to glue it shut so no stitches. It looks like we have our own little pint size boxer. The scary thing is he wouldn't be afraid to jump in the ring right now. God, help me to get him to adulthood. (alive and in one piece)

Bathroom Upstairs Update

Lights are up. After many months of searching trying to find some lights to go with the style of the house and the little modern tile we got. This is what we settled on. They are up and working.


They need a little patching around the base. They are so bright. With all the white paint that little room is glowing.


Half tiled. Need to be grouted yet.


Next thing to get will the bathtub. Small steps.

Emmett Loves Super Readers on PBS

I came into the room this morning to find Mini sitting in his chair watching Super Readers on PBS very intently. He seemed to watch things like Baby Einstein movies but not like this. I was in his way while I was taking the picture and so he grunted at me in his little language and then moved over so he could see. What a stinker. This is a rare sighting to see him sitting for such a long time. At least long for him. He loves to sit in his chair lately. That is unless Dad is sitting in the rocker then he will literally push him out of it so he can sit in it.

My Bed....

I had a few requests to put my bed on too. I said I was going to put it on but I forgot. Sorry, I seem to be doing that a lot lately. Well here it is, Completed. Next on the agenda will be to make us bedside stands to match. I may have to take a woodworking class first before I start on that task. It is a platform bed that is very sturdy. This is my new hobby and I love it. To make something that we can use and looks alright is very rewarding for me. As you can see we need new lamps shades and paint the walls yet.

Look what I made!

I saw this organizer at the Pottery Barn website and really liked it. Well Of course they were sold out so decided to make my own. Well I decided I liked mine so much better because I made it with things that we needed or will use. We have hooks for keys and coats and a cork board for notes. A letter bin holder for misc. things such as sunglasses or mail. I bolted it to the wall because with my 2 boys, hanging their first coat would take it down otherwise (hence why we have galvanized plumbing pipes for curtain rods). I guess I take a part in that too since I am going to hang my purse there too. I am really happy with my end result.

Dad and Mom's Halloween

This year we were invited to a Halloween party. We thought we would just go for about an hour and not dress up. Well while I was out that morning with the mudder-in-law I decided that after our month we really needed to do something fun. So I decided that we were going to dress up and came up with the idea of being flys. I came home and informed Willy that we were dressing up. He must really love me because he put it on without to many complaints. It turned out we were the last to leave the party and had a blast. Will even bobbed for apples in his bug eyes. What a sport.

Halloween '07

You may recall sometime ago that we had a rather unfortunate event when that cursed pirate called "Black Everette" happened upon our humble abode. If you dare, you can read about that tale here. That was a dark day indeed for all of us, but we lived and now story continues...

In the days , weeks, aye and the months too, that followed that day of terror, many among us hunted that pirate across many seas to lands of paradise and other places... places I'd rather not remember. The pirate eluded us though, rumors we heard in waters, and whispers in the wind, but he was always some little ways ahead of us.

Until a fortnight ago, when storm rose up from the depths, a storm that Davey Jones himself probably rode, most likely to raise the count of poor souls already entombed in his locker. Perhaps, Davey came forth with this storm of all storms to capture that one he most wanted, the one we wanted, that Black Pirate called Everette. Fortunately for us we happened to be moored safely at shore when the storm came, but we heard rumors that the storm swallowed Black Everette's treasure-ladden ship, though many claim Black Everette himself escaped the terrible sea that night.

And that brings us to the tale of this night when we finally found that shipwreck and the treasure it held. Such a feat could not have been accomplished without the courage of our two hardiest sailor-divers. These two brave souls rode the lines into the depths of those turbulent seas to seek out a treasure that would make old King Midas himself tremble. That treasure Black Everette had thought to have for himself. Chocolately treasures, with the richness of caramel hidden inside them and others with nutty and cookie delights only revealed after that first nibble.

We gorged ourselves upon these treasures, wonderful, sugary treasures. Feasted until our teeths screamed for mercy and our stomachs wrenched at the mere sight of a lowly tootsie roll. That treasure feast gave us power and vigor, such that we could carry on til dawn, laughing and screaming and howling at the moon.

Unfortunately our Captain would have none of it, that one we call "Mama" would not have us carry on this way, tearing the ship to shreds in our wild glee. So we yielded and went to our bunks, dreaming of the next time we would find a treasure of such sweet delights.

See now those brave divers...

Sorry, we missed getting something posted in the month of August

Big news for our family was Ev starting kindergarten, he is loving it...


This labor day weekend we tried our hands at texturizing the living room walls, we went for the "orange peel" finish. Went pretty fast and turned out nicely. Pretty easy to do, the hardest part was probably making sure everything was nicely taped off.


After a day drying we were able to get it painted too.



Some other odds and ends... got some of the decorative wood shakes above the window seat replaced....


Gus came up and helped me do some scraping on the front porch window frames. Thank goodness for heat guns... Hopefully I can get them reglazed, caulked and painted near future.

Progress report

Its been a busy summer, but there has still been sometime to get a little work done.

Sheetrock has started going up in the kitchen and we've been using the ceiling fan even though the ceiling has a ways to go yet.



The downstairs bath has a finish coat of paint on it, just needs some trimming to be "complete".



The A/C has been moved as well, so we can get started on the deck/patio, one of these days.


Decide for yourself who wins the contest for the being the muddiest between Ev and Zoe.



The Mini enjoys his popsicles.

The Cistern Is Filled

The cistern started out like this .



A dump truck full of sand is delivered to our house. Everette was so excited. He couldn't hardly wait for the truck to pull away. He told me it was the best present ever.



The cistern was about 10 feet deep and about 6 feet wide full of nasty smelling water. That water had probably been sitting in there for years. First I broke up all the sidewalk (that was leading to no where through out the yard) and threw that in there. Then I added all the small rock that was around the house. And then threw the sand in on top of all that.



As I was hauling sand to the cistern and to our neighbors house, Everette thought he would make himself a bed, with a pillow and get comfortable.



I have no idea how many wheel barrow loads but it did take most of the sand pile. I now can have a peace of mind that the ever so curious 4 year old will not be falling in it. This area will eventually become a patio so the sand will stay until then.



After a days worth of work you would think that I would have lost at least one pound. Nope.... Not one. I guess all I get is the pride that I did it and he little added benefit our neighbor telling everyone is town that they should see me swing a sledge hammer and that I could probably take them out. So reassuring and great way to meet new friends.

Some teeth have turned up missing this week...

SuperBoys

Belated Easter pics

Easter 2007

Garden is ready

Before


After

Tonight the garden got tilled and is ready for planting. Planting however has been put on hold until next week due to weather predictions of a lot of rain and maybe even snow. We put the garden where the old dog fence was. when we first moved in and took the fence down there was a dog house inside the tall tall grass. Attached to the dog house was a chain with a collar still attached. As we were tilling we found three frisbees and several pieces of rubber balls. I must admit I was sure we were going to find some bones to explain why the collar and all was left attached to the dog house. But to my delight we didn't. We have discovered that our lawn is a worm sanctuary which is the highlight of Everette's life this year.

I know folks nothing exciting but another thing of my list. I am ready for summer. If anyone wants to offer me some gardening tips..... I'm all ears. My new little plot is probably three times the size of past gardens. Will said he will be impressed if I can maintain it. I will try to make him proud.

Finally something done!

I know it has been a while since we have posted so here is a quick update. Willy put in a new dining room light for us. He also put in 2 new can lights in the kitchen but while doing that he took out a few others. He has to replace the old wiring with new and the biggest challenge is figuring out what is connected to what and where in the heck some of where that old wiring is running to. He has turned into quit the electrician and I am very proud of him. the hole is temporary until we can find a drywall jack to drywall the ceilings. That is easier said than done.



Next I have been getting ready to put in my garden. I am excited because I get to upgrade from a postage stamp size to maybe a size of a small envelope. I had to take out some sidewalk that runs through the middle of our yard.



Finally a picture of the Beach boys.

Under Snow

Well over the weekend Iowa received a great deal of ice and snow. We had been stuck in-doors most of the weekend. We went for a drive last night to see all the beauty it left behind. We were fortunate and only lost power for the morning on Saturday. Will's mom, dad and grandma are going to be without power until at least Thursday. The bad news is, they are predicting this all over again on Wednesday. YIKES!
Here are some pictures of what we got.

Ice Storm In Iowa

We are getting a ice storm today. We just got our power back after spending most of the morning without it. We are still preparing to loose it again since it the weather is still going strong. Here are some pictures of how much we have gotten in just a half a day. the roads are very covered so we are stuck inside for the weekend.

The Beach Boys. Beach, Little Beach and Mini Beach.

Ok now about the bed...
I haven't finished it yet so no pictures yet. I have to make a trip up to Menards by myself to get my board I need. So Since this weekend is out and next weekend I am off to My sister's in Texas it won't happen for a while. Sorry. I am leaving you all in suspense.....

Upstairs Bathroom

We got the old nasty lath and plaster off the walls. That was a huge mess. I finished putting up the insulation on the outside walls while Will finished the new wiring. The old wire really dated back to the ceramic knob. (as pictured below) Slowly but surely we are getting a little done at time.

I took time out to build us a new bed. I know, what am I thinking. The directions looked quit simple but I ended up creating my own directions. It seems to be sturdy and holding so far. I will post a picture once I complete it. Have I mentioned that I have fallen in love with power tools. The newest toy I have fallen in love with is a cordless circular saw. I would love to take a furniture or cabinet making class if we had one around here.

Will has been busy with computer work so I thought I would help him out and put up a post. I am not creative as he is but you will have to make due until he returns. Here is picture of the boys. As you can see mini is growing very fast. Ev still loves his little brother and no longer wants to trade him for a puppy.

The Wrong Trousers...

Everette made a wooden boy to make Emmett laugh.

Demolition Woman

Nan has been a one woman wrecking crew lately...