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...

Dont always follow manufacturer's instructions...

The manufacturer's instructions on this PermaBase cement backer board says you can score and snap, yeah right, if you have a few extra sharp blades for your utility knife and dont mind going over your scoring cut 100 times. Much easier to get the circular saw and zip it right off. Slow progress, another piece of backer board goes down in the upstairs bath inbetween wrestling matches with Ev.

Emmett the Beach

I was kinda thinking that Em might have a little more McLane in him than Ev did. Got this photo from Dan, and it made me realize, no, he's all Beach. Sorry, Mama :-)

A couple days in Kansas City...

kansas city

A picture for Gg...

Check this out GeeGee I was rewarded for some of my work on the house tonite! After being in the crawlspace under the new bath in the freezing cold, I had this waiting when I came in. Steak, potatoes, I ate like a king.

And as everyone knows everything tastes better on a paper plate, especially the plate itself.

Snow, snow, snow...

Ev had been praying for snow for awhile and this weekend his prayers were heard...


What's this dishes being done in an actual sink?! This must be a picture from someone else's house.

Another action packed weekend...

What a fun weekend Everette had with Grammy, Papa visiting. A day at the Science Center was way cool. Especially static electricity...


Ev also never turns down a chance to be center stage (just like Dada, ha ha)...


After work Dada met them at the iMax theater, the plan had been to see Polar Express but our schedule made it Happy Feet instead, but we all loved it just the same. Dada thought it was one of the better movies he'd seen all year and highly recommends it to everyone.

On Saturday morning Ev and Papa worked on a snowman but like Frosty the sun went right to his head. Looks like he's on his way to the snowman hospital, but alas Mama would not let it enter the house (on its way to the freezer) so the snowman is a mere nothing now.


Emmett in his Christmas present from Auntie Jodi after a bath.

Tangled mess

Alot of the last couple of evenings have been comprised of untangling a mess of cables and pipes.

When we first moved in things were looking like this...


It has slowing been improving. There are some cold air returns that are setup like this, a piece of sheet metal nailed (with lots and lots of nails) along the floor joists...


And of course, alot of the really old wiring disappears inside of these and then reappears somewhere near the old fuse box...


Nothing to do but to open them up and trace them out so that we can get that old stuff out of there, when doing things bit by bit and still needing the juice to flow.

The old well pump is now off the wall, perhaps it will show up on ebay soon.

Some more work done...

Alot of work got done this Holiday week, thanks to alot of help from Papa McLane and Uncle Roger. Here's some before and after pictures...

Lots of Work was done Christmas week

Some more pictures from Christmas Week 2006

Christmas Time 2006

Uncle Jeff vs. the kids

Glad somebody besides Uncle Wooly can take the brunt of the punishment this year...

Linoleum is down....

Its a late night but the linoleum is in, just in time for the arrival of our Christmas guests. They'll probably walk into the house tomorrow night (technically tonite, I guess) and be hit with the wonderful Christmas aroma of..... vinyl sheeting glue.

Filling in the cracks...

Once this dries we'll be able to sand it smooth...

Still working on the house...

unfortunately upon arriving home from Hawaii, the house hadnt magically fixed itself so this weekend I was back at it full swing.

Kitchen Floor

Finally some more Hawaii photos...

Taken me long enough to get these posted...

Hawaii

Finally another post...

Good to be back home again. Hawaii is a great place to visit. Hopefully over the next couple of days I'll get some more photo sets online. Here are some pictures from the trail on Kauai that we hiked...

Kaua'i