A New Place To Sit

(I'm starting my catch up posts once again....)

Over Labor Day weekend we were planning on making a trip to St. Louis just to spend the weekend doing fun stuff.  After thinking about the weather (and heat) we were supposed to have and combining that with a 2 month old, we decided that right now was not the time to take that trip.  Instead we did something even more fun....

We DEMOLISHED our deck.  It needed to be done, however, how it all started was a bit more sporadic than origininally planned.  Rick thought he would try to pull up one board to see how easily it came off.  Next thing we knew, half the deck was off and we found our weekend plans. 

So, here's the rundown of progress in pictures...

The Deck Before (it doesn't look bad, but there were rotten boards that were only getting worse with time so it needed to be done)

The demolition starts...
see the grill and patio furniture is still on the deck - we were not expecting to pull it all off right then.

but that all changed quickly and the demolition continued...

and continued some more...



Now, once the demolition was completed we realized that we needed to get some wood to put it back together.  Note #1... we live in a small town.  Note #2... it's a holiday weekend.  Noting those 2 things brings us to the point where we have to travel at least 40 minutes to get the first load of boards because the one place in town that carries lumber is closed on the weekends after noon on Saturdays AND it's Labor Day weekend so they won't even be open on Monday.  So.  We.  Drive.  Rick went the first time by himself to Lowe's to pick up the corner posts to get started. 

New corner posts are on

Then it was time to get the main boards for the walking surface.  Again, remember - small town, holiday weekend.  We needed to drive.  But this time, because the other store didn't have much of a stock pile, we went to a different LOWE's that was almost an hour away.  Both vehicles so that we could carry more back in one trip.  All three kids - one of which is only 2 months old.  What an adventure it was!   But we got some of the boards and Rick went back to work measuring, cutting and installing.

The first row of boards goes on!



and more to follow...

and then the helpers were getting restless from their lack of Daddy time so they came out to help

Trevor smiling, but wondering if I am going to bust him for wanting to play with the drill.

Just trying to figure it out.  No drill bit so I was a-ok with him checking it out

Wheeee... this is fun to play with!

Kelty wasn't much help, but she did enjoy having a place to lay down again

Getting instructions from Dad on how the "hammer drill" works
oh yeah, did I forget to mention that Rick bought a new tool in order to do the deck?  Of course, every new project needs a new tool, right??

Time to help attach some boards

Ethan feeling like a man while working with the drill

All the walking boards are on!  Now it's time to stain...

There are no pictures of the staining process since we were either working on it together or I was doing it alone so the pictures didn't get taken.
 Maybe it was just Rick's way of making sure it looked like HE did all the work ;)
Anyway, here's a picture of the fully stained deck.  But the railing is going to have to wait til spring...

Back to School Projects

Now that school is back in session, it's time for Mom, (oh, that's me) to get back into gear as well.  Time to get myself back into a routine around the house and time to get some projects done.  Yep - projects... that's my goal.  What projects you ask... we'll there's a bunch of them.  Here's the run down....I did it in list form so that I can cross them off as I get them done.  Maybe that'll help keep me more accountable for what I am getting done during the school year.

Here is my blog page with my every changing project list...
http://rickandangie.blogspot.com/p/what-i-should-be-doing.html

The link to this page is also on the left side of my blog in case you ever want to check in on what I'm doing (or maybe it'll be more like what I'm NOT doing). 

Working On It!!!

Wanted to let you all know that I am finally working on my 2009 Blog Book again!!  Yay.... I'm actually excited about it again, so maybe I'll gain some momentum and actually finish it this time around.   I'm already through June with my formatting and I hope to finish a few more months tonight after the kiddos go to bed. 

Then it's on to adding more pictures, the table of contents, the text for the front and back cover (just my thoughts about the year, my wishes, my memories, my hopes), and then publish it!!

Wish me luck - hopefully I'll be a bit more successful this time.

Random things...

I have a bunch of little things to tell you so this is going to be a random post....

28 Down...
So I have 28 Ethan collages completed (one for every month of 2005 & 2006 plus a couple extra for special occasions - baptism, trips, birthday, etc). Now only 2 more years to go for both the boys! YIKES. But I really do love them and think I'll be happy when I get caught up. However, so far I've just been going to the pictures that I already have backed up on CD and named accordingly. Once I get into later 2008 I am going to have to go through and name, back-up, and then make the collages. Yes... the easy months are done - the harder ones are yet to come. UGH.




My 1st portrait...
This morning Ethan, without me knowing, decided to draw a picture for me. At first he didn't have a name on it so I asked who it was. He immediately said, "Oh, I forgot something," and then started writing my name on the top. Once done, he said, "Look, Mom, it's you!" Thanks Ethan - I love it. Especially the spiky hair!

Ham Hand....
We had ham the other night for dinner and Ethan found this "Ham Hand" amongst the pieces of ham that he had on his plate. (I specifically cut it off the ham bone like that -- aren't I talented? Ha...I couldn't even dream of cutting something so cute.)

Duck, Duck, Duck, Duck, Duck....
The boys are into playing Duck, Duck Goose lately. This was the longest period of "Duck, duck, duck..." I have ever seen with only 3 players.

Nesting...

You know, it's never a good thing when you husband comes home and says, "You've been busy... are you nesting or what?" What do you mean... just because I got more than one thing accomplished in a day - does that mean I'm nesting? Well, sometimes it probably would seem like that when the house work takes a back seat to playing outside and doing anything but the housework that needs to be done. But, hey, at least he noticed this time, right!?!

Our Outside Projects

The weather has been so nice here for the last week (60's & 70's & sunny!). And the nice weather (and a slower work schedule) brings time for outside projects to begin. Rick and I each had our own projects this past week.

Rick - a retaining wall in our back yard to keep the mulch from sliding onto the concrete slab. Angie - planting tulips and hyacinths in an area that has had NOTHING for the past 3 years.

And the progress reports...

Rick's Project
We have a slope in our back yard where the mulch never stays on it. Doesn't help that Kelty (our 50+ pound pooch) goes up and down this slope to get to where she does her outside business. So, the mulch slides off the weed barrier, covers up the plants that are downhill from it, and eventually ends up on the concrete slab at the bottom off the hill! UGH. So, we decided last year that we would build a retaining wall this spring in order to alleviate some of the mess on the concrete and keep the mulch looking nicer. Simple as that. Just a small wall with a few bricks. Should be a quick project (or so we thought).

We found out that putting up a simple retaining wall and filling in the back of it is not quite that simple. There are things such as drainage fabric, aggregate/drainage rock, etc that also need to be put in place to make it the correct way. Why must things be so much more involved than originally thought?? This past weekend, Rick got the retaining wall rocks that were needed and has them set up as they need to be. Now all the extra "behind the wall" stuff that needs to be done before he can fill in with dirt and additional mulch. (work in progress pictures below.... finished project pictures coming at a later date)

Having so much fun....

The remainder of the blocks that need to be stacked

Getting the work done, but not using the greatest "lifting form" here. Luckily no back issues the next day.

Angie's Project
I LOVE tulips! Many women love getting roses for special days... not me. I like them, but don't enjoy the smell of them (it actually gives me a headache if I am around it for a long time. I figured that out in college when my roommates had these boyfriends that would buy them roses all the time. They would set them on the kitchen table so everyone could enjoy them, but I would get headaches whenever I tried sitting at the kitchen table to study. Ok - I digressed, but that's one reason I love tulips so much more than roses.)

Well, I have wanted to plant tulips for as long as Rick and I have been married, but have never done it. It comes to fall time when you're supposed to plant the bulbs and I've run out of energy for doing outside work. So, fall comes and goes and once again I will not have tulips in the spring. UNTIL this year! I found tulips at Lowe's that were already established and just had to be planted AND they were 50% off because it's the end of the season. Of course, I couldn't pass up 50% off and stocked up on them and a few hyacinths. The planting started on Monday morning, and my project is complete as of this evening! And I must say, I am going to love the added color and freshness in this particular area of our back yard that was drab and rather boring before! Check it out...

The before...

on the left side is the boring, drab, nothing in the bark area under the deck

The After Photos....

Just some fun close ups of the flowers....

What's next on the project list, you ask? There are way too many to list, but here's just a few to let you know what we are going to be up to...

~Finish the retaining wall~

~Build a bigger sandbox for the boys~

~Replenish the mulch in the front yard flower beds~

~Paint the woodwork around the doors outside(it is in dire need of repainting!!)~

And the list goes on and on....

Technology Catch Up

If you know Rick and I, you know that having the latest and greatest product/technology out there is not all that important to us. Over the last 6 months or so we've been toying around with the idea of getting a new printer for our computer. Going back to that first sentence, we had a very old printer... you know, the kind that has only 3 buttons (on/off, paper feed, and replace ink) and sounds like you can hear every little movement it makes.

This past weekend STAPLES started running a sale that if you bring in your old printer you get $50 off a new one. Again, we hemmed and hawed and then I decided to go down and print off one of my collages on photo paper to see if our old printer would do the trick. (Originally I was going to print all those collages at SAM's, but the quality of a JPEG compared to the original Power Point was terrible. So I have to print them all at home.) Upon putting paper in and clicking on print, the paper started going through and then one of the "levers" inside got stuck in the up position, putting a slice in the paper. UGH. Fluke? Let's try again. Ran through all the same steps. Result #2.... slice in paper AGAIN. Well, guess that answers my question -- Yes, we need a new printer.

So, we've upgraded into the 2000's with a new printer and I love it!! (Here's a picture of the "tank".) I've printed off the collages that I have completed (and this amounts to a very small portion of what the final number will be. Why do I wait for YEARS before starting projects like this??) The quality is far superior to anything we could have dreamed of with our "back in the day" printer. Oh, and the best thing. I sit on the couch with my computer, finish a collage on the laptop and then hit print and the printer (that is located downstairs) will start working away. YEP - it's wireless. What a great invention!