Deck building

After almost three years living here, I finally get my wish for a deck in the backyard.




We are using dek blocks instead of concrete foundation piers; less digging and hopefully plenty stable.







Did I mention the pouring rain that came in a flash last night??



We have got all 25 piers in place, and support posts in place.


Next we are joining the 12' support beams. That will be tricky! After those are in place, the 10' decking boards go down. Woohoo! Lemonade on the deck tonight! (i hope)

Right now we are off to the church pig pickin picnic for a little break.








No only that, but we dug up the massive concrete stone that was out near the swing set that I hate for no really good reason than it is there! Yeah! It didn't go far. We stuck in under the deck foundation, but at least it is out. Getting the circle stone up means I can work on a side project and level hill back there and try to get grass to grow.

I am using our rotoiller for the first time myself.




And on our way, just a snippet of conversation.

Emily-"why does it say we hve to go this way?"
Mom "cause the road doesn't go the oter way."

Emily " are these buildings really old?"
Dad "yes."
"do people still live in them?"
"yes"
"why? They might have weird pictures in them?"


Status update


Framing


First board in place




Our little helper




8pm - Are we there yet?- we are running out of steam. But we are going to keep going!

9:30 - we are halfway done laying the decking boards. I love the magical sound of bugs zapping in the moonlight.

10:15 - Done for the night. 2/3rds done with the surface.

We have noticed that the height of our fence is much more noticeable when you stand 2 feet off the ground than when you don't! Fencing, a project for another day! Time to soak in the tub!

Bath time

It isn't even 11:30 yet and we already had the first mud puddle related bath today. Josh sat happily in a giant puddle flinging mud while I attempted to garden.
I didn't get pictures, but he was coated in it!

Languaged Challenged

Josh is learning to talk. It is really funny to hear him find buses, cars an balls while riding in the car. He loves to climb in my seat and "drive" He also loves all things dirty and gross in the mud puddle in the backyard. He really is all boy, so different from his sisters. Karl was taking care of him the other night, and ran out of ideas. He pulled out Car and Driver and showed to it Josh. He exclaimed Wooh! Wow! on each page. So funny!

He also has no word for Dad yet. He can say mote-for remote, but not Dad. He knows who dad is and will point on cue. Course the word for Mom is an awful lot like "Mine." hmmm.

On another note, I realized today that if we bought the other house we looked at on a busy road,we really would have a problem, as Josh views the street as an extension of the front yard and therefore a great place to be. We deadbolt the door and it keeps him inside for now. He got out once dead bolted, but I think it was a fluke. learning to lift the toilet seat seems to have been a one time occurrence so far.

Natural Consequences

This week was all about consequences it seems.

Lesson #1 If you have a snack and leave out a full box of cereal, and the baby of those house climbs on to the table and dumps it all out on the floor, expect to clean it up since putting it away would have prevented the mess. Same goes for the milk. That was a different day, and happily the cereal was put away that time. The milk was not, so she got to clean up the milk and learned how to use my good friend the Hoover Floor Mate.

Lesson #2 If Moms stays up too late doing stupid stuff and is less than pleasant all day, expect children to pray that mom will be nice the following day.

Lesson #3 If Josh sees anyone go outside, he will follow them. Lock all doors! Especially if you are showering and think he is watching Elmo. Otherwise you get to face the neighbors as the return the baby-ok the neighbor didn't come this week, it was a few weeks ago, but I did hear the door shut while I was getting dressed and had to grab the bathrobe and run outside.

Lesson #4 If it is bad for you, ie chicken nuggets, that is the only food he will willing eat. all other offerings are thrown on the floor.

Lesson #5 If you have lapsed medical insurance from changing jobs, you will have mysterious earaches or fluid filled ears from plane rides that linger for days!

Lesson #6 If you get to go away for the weekend, don't expect too much when you get home! Josh was thrilled to see me in the morning, but really wanted to tell me about the new toys in his room.

Lesson #7 If you have to wonder if a neighborhood child is stealing your things, it is time to nip the friendship in the bud. That was a hard lesson this week. We got the shoes back, and our neighbor got her stuff back, but the girls are disappointed about losing their new friend. This child roams free, takes stuff that isn't hers, and has no rules or respect. It is sad that she lives like that, but I am not willing to start questioning my kids honesty all the time as I do hers.

Lesson #8 If you or your child leave the garage door open a crack, a strange cat may come in and eat your cats cat food. You won;t know this of course, but you will blame your cat for being hungry ALL the TIME! And wonder why she didn't run them off.

Lesson #9 If you buy it, you will probably eat it. Avoid the ice cream aisle! Sigh. Yummy frozen goodness.

Lesson #10 If you see the baby is making poop face in the tub and even says "Stinky", don't think you can run to the changing table and get the diaper on in time. Shouting no Josh won't work either. Slap the wet wriggly munchkin on the toilet and hope you don't let him fall in. Otherwise the towel will get yucky.

Scrapbooking

I have been bothered by the fact that I am years behind on my family scrapbooks. I bought a digital scrapbooking Program a few months ago to make a digi book as a weddig present for a Good friend. I made her book quickly and was thrilled with the finished result. But since then I have not done anything for myself with it. I have made cards, incursions, handouts, and other useful little projects, but no more books.

So last Sunday, something it under my skin and I started with the cover of a 2009 book. This week u have worked on it almost everynight and I have 30 pages done so far. I am up to October. I think I can finish tomorrow and have a good record of the major events of the year. What a relief it is to make progress on a goal that has been mentally like a splinter. I know I want to do it, but the anal compulsive designer in me does not want to do a paper version because I might mess up, and I have to print the picture, and I hare my handwrting-insert complaint here... So nothing really got done after I stopped going to my Monthly scrapbooking club. I did a great job with 2007-8 but not Much since then.

I am excited to finish tomorrow! I can't wait to show the kids when it get printed. They love family scrapbooks. Sydney had already requested a "just her" book:) maybe I can do that for her birthday!

For now however I am grateful to go to bed and sleep off my sore throat and stuffy nose!

On another fun note, we are not moving this year. Karl got a new job in the area, although it will be a rough commute and is less than he was making at his other job, he will be home with hte family! We are happy to be together after 4 months of seperation. The girls are disappointed they will not be getting seperate rooms, as am I, but we will just learn to deal with the house we have and enjoy this great area and all our friends here! I plan to try some touristy stuff this summer with the kids and take advantage of the history in our area. Anyone wanting to visit, we would Love to have you come!