So Friday and Saturday were two days of miserableness out in the summer heat. Now I have a noticeable farmer tan/sunburn. I have regained the use of my limbs today. Fingers are still a little iffy.
Friday was spent raking out the rest of the medium rocks in the back yard and topping off the retaining wall with the extra big rocks. It was hot.
Saturday we spread out topsoil and finished the sprinklers in the back. It was really hot. My favorite part was having to dig back up a sprinkler head that had gotten covered up with the final grading/backfilling by the retaining wall. Took a while to find. It was really really hot. And then we tested the sprinklers. They were all in backwards. Had to turn em all around. Yeah, that little white line on the side that was supposed to be on the left...nope the other left.
We bought the seed for the grass. Cost $77. So, is it just me, or does that not sound significantly less than a thousand dollars for sod? Then why did all the landscape guys try to convince us that it really isn't that different?? They tried to tell us that by the time you water the seed and yada yada then you end up at pretty much the same cost. I don't know, but I will be surprised if we spend *$900* on water.
Monday, August 31, 2009
everything you need to turn five
Package in the mail.
Check.
{She carried it around for three days.}
{She carried it around for three days.}
Sammies for lunch. in your jammies.
Check.Cream puffs. 
Check.
Check.Dancing.
Check.Chocolate Cake with pink frosting.
Check.
Check.Pizza for dinner and flowers from Daddy.
Check!
Check!Sunday, August 23, 2009
We are so happy we do the dance of joy!
At the crack of dawn yesterday the pump truck made its appearance. You can see the sunrise in the background as the pump goes up. Luckily our cement guy was there first {6 am}. So this time I knew it was going to stay for a few hours.
I couldn't get excited until the cement guys were actually here. In our driveway.
The truck operator got everything in position. Here you can see the pump extending over the house to the back of the driveway.They started pumping at 7 and were done about 8:30.
Here is the patio after they had poured it and smoothed it out a bit. We had them add color to make it taupe.
I almost didn't think to have the kids put their hand prints. Phew! We stuck 'em on the edge of this little extension of the driveway extension. We'll put our garbage can & recycle bin back here.
After the concrete was ready they broke out the stamps. That's what everyone charges boo-coo bucks for. This guy was the best price by far. He charged us with the color and stamps a little bit less than the lowest bid we got from anyone else for just plain old gray cement. And it made me feel even better about the whole deal when the guy who drove the second cement truck {we had one with taupe for the patio and one with plain for the driveway extension} said we had some of the best guys doing our job. He said there are very few that he would recommend, and these were some of the best. That was good to hear. {So if anyone in the area needs cement work done, let me know.} 
Now that the patio is done we just need some steps. I would have liked to do some steps like these...
...but that plan was pre-emptively thwarted by the *geniuses* who put a window well directly below our door. Oh well.
The truck operator got everything in position. Here you can see the pump extending over the house to the back of the driveway.They started pumping at 7 and were done about 8:30.Here is the patio after they had poured it and smoothed it out a bit. We had them add color to make it taupe.I almost didn't think to have the kids put their hand prints. Phew! We stuck 'em on the edge of this little extension of the driveway extension. We'll put our garbage can & recycle bin back here.After the concrete was ready they broke out the stamps. That's what everyone charges boo-coo bucks for. This guy was the best price by far. He charged us with the color and stamps a little bit less than the lowest bid we got from anyone else for just plain old gray cement. And it made me feel even better about the whole deal when the guy who drove the second cement truck {we had one with taupe for the patio and one with plain for the driveway extension} said we had some of the best guys doing our job. He said there are very few that he would recommend, and these were some of the best. That was good to hear. {So if anyone in the area needs cement work done, let me know.} Now that the patio is done we just need some steps. I would have liked to do some steps like these... ...but that plan was pre-emptively thwarted by the *geniuses* who put a window well directly below our door. Oh well.Friday, August 21, 2009
So she says to me
"I'm only happy when I'm in dirt."
Yes. That was my daughter.
Needless to say, it's been great having no grass so far.
Yes. That was my daughter.
Needless to say, it's been great having no grass so far.
Need a laugh?
I ran across this blog a while back and then forgot about it until today.
{Brace yourself.}
{Brace yourself.}
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Seconds
Yesterday Cuddles could hardly wait to start second grade. I believe his exact words were, "I'm going to pretend I'm sick so they will send me home."
After dinner while jumping on the trampoline a certain little sister knocked out a SECOND wiggly tooth.
The Professor broke his foot a SECOND time last Wednesday night. Surgery was on Friday afternoon. The pain meds are no longer required and the cast will be on four weeks. He is just so happy about the whole thing. It was just how he wanted to finish the summer! As did we all.
And everyone wants SECONDS of the smores crepes Megan made for us. MMMMM... See how fancy she is lighting the marshmallows on fire!
Monday, August 10, 2009
In The Trenches
Since the patio pouring was a no-go on Saturday, we decided to take advantage of the cool weather {I think I heard we had record lows for August} and spent the rest of the morning {5 hours} connecting the rest of the PVC for our sprinklers. It was amazingly fun. And after we turned on the water to test them we only had minor fixes to tend to. It appears that we can finally fill in those puppies. Plow ‘em over. Stompety stomp.
After a quick lunch we scurried to the basement for a six hour session of cutting, drilling, hammering, and screaming at the moulding. We are just about done. So close. But sheesh I couldn’t believe how little we got done in that amount of time. And I had to have Easy walk on my back for a while afterwards.
Then we went swimming.
And since you’re here, I do have one tiny project to show. It’s in the laundry room. It took me seriously about ten minutes. Total. Check it out.
I just love it when everything comes together. I got the framed urn at Savers and used my trusty **teen year old flowers from our wedding reception {I know!} and hung the fabric with a little spring rod, didn’t finish the bottom just hot glued the little trim to it… wah-lah. See?
If I were a teensy bit taller I would have already finished the one for over the window. But I can’t quite make it up there to hang it. Well, only on one side. I can stand on the washing machine, but the other side will require some height intervention. So stay tuned for that.If you have any inclinations whatsoever toward decorating you really owe it to yourself to check out the Nesting Place.
Still. No. Patio.
Saturday Morning
6:00 am: Got out of bed {yay} to get ready for the cement to be poured at 6:30.
I had to tape up some stuff over the foundation to keep the concrete splashes from sticking to the plaster. But the beautiful morning weather cheers me up. And the idea of *finally* having our patio puts a little spring in my step.
6:30 am: Pump truck arrives and starts getting situated. {This is an extra $200 truck we have to use so they can pump the concrete *over* the top of the house. Driving a cement mixer truck up the driveway would result in a broken driveway.}
7:00 am: Wondering why the cement truck isn't here yet. Or our cement guy. But he's usually been late before.
7:15-7:30 {this is where things start to get blurry} am: I look up and see the pump truck hanging over my head. I think I should go get my camera and take a picture of this momentous occasion. But wait, just then the pump truck guy comes to the back and says, "It looks like you've been cancelled and nobody told you. I'm on the wrong job." What the??
Confusion soon turns to anger. The Professor gets on the phone as I watch the pump truck slowly pack up and drive away. Goodbye.
So then we find a message on our voicemail. Concrete guy called and said there was a chance of rain that morning so he was going to cancel and move it to next Saturday.
And apparently the pump truck guy didn't get the message either. OK, so the good news is that we didn't have to pay for him showing up and not pouring. But in some ways I think that made it all that much worse since the truck was *here.*
Incidentally, I love the fact that our phone doesn't show us any kind of indication when we have a message. It drives. me. nuts. But it's not like I thought at 6 in the morning to check my messages. The guy had been at our house Friday night, for crying out loud.
And it didn't rain. All day long.
6:00 am: Got out of bed {yay} to get ready for the cement to be poured at 6:30.
I had to tape up some stuff over the foundation to keep the concrete splashes from sticking to the plaster. But the beautiful morning weather cheers me up. And the idea of *finally* having our patio puts a little spring in my step.
6:30 am: Pump truck arrives and starts getting situated. {This is an extra $200 truck we have to use so they can pump the concrete *over* the top of the house. Driving a cement mixer truck up the driveway would result in a broken driveway.}
7:00 am: Wondering why the cement truck isn't here yet. Or our cement guy. But he's usually been late before.
7:15-7:30 {this is where things start to get blurry} am: I look up and see the pump truck hanging over my head. I think I should go get my camera and take a picture of this momentous occasion. But wait, just then the pump truck guy comes to the back and says, "It looks like you've been cancelled and nobody told you. I'm on the wrong job." What the??
Confusion soon turns to anger. The Professor gets on the phone as I watch the pump truck slowly pack up and drive away. Goodbye.
So then we find a message on our voicemail. Concrete guy called and said there was a chance of rain that morning so he was going to cancel and move it to next Saturday.
And apparently the pump truck guy didn't get the message either. OK, so the good news is that we didn't have to pay for him showing up and not pouring. But in some ways I think that made it all that much worse since the truck was *here.*
Incidentally, I love the fact that our phone doesn't show us any kind of indication when we have a message. It drives. me. nuts. But it's not like I thought at 6 in the morning to check my messages. The guy had been at our house Friday night, for crying out loud.
And it didn't rain. All day long.
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Monday, August 3, 2009
Stuck in the Middle
It seems like we have been stuck in the middle of a few projects lately. Like the patio. And the sprinklers. And the basement. And other stuff. Why does stuff take so long? 
Our patio guy was in a huge hurry to get the forms set up. {This was taken before the trenches were added to the mix.} Then it was supposed to be poured last Monday. Then last Saturday. Now this Saturday...
And our basement was going to have beadboard on the bottom to avoid having to deal with the putty. Obviously we changed our minds. After we cut all the beadboard...{don't worry I'll use it eventually.} This room will be for my little sister. {She already moved in.}
And our basement was going to have beadboard on the bottom to avoid having to deal with the putty. Obviously we changed our minds. After we cut all the beadboard...{don't worry I'll use it eventually.} This room will be for my little sister. {She already moved in.}And the sprinkler parts came on Saturday. But someone ordered a few wrong parts. So we will wait again. No hurry.
In the meantime, we decided to seed the yard instead of sod. {I always wanted to do seed, I was just patiently waiting for someone else to decide it was *his* idea.} So there are some advantages to being "slow and steady."
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