Caden, Kellan & Garren, their first official photo as 5 year olds
Thursday, April 28, 2016
Tuesday, April 26, 2016
Flooring, Gardening, Painting & A New Door
We've had a serious case of spring fever here! It's a good thing because we needed to get a little sprucing up done for the boys big 5th birthday party coming up.
It was barely March when the boys decided they wanted to buy vegetable seeds with their weekly earnings. They were eager to get them planted & watch them grow. With that came my desire to build a raised planter bed for said vegetables. As I was in the garage scoping out the supplies we had & making a list of supplies we would need, it dawned on me that we still had two twin beds that I never sold. Those twin beds would make perfect planter beds for our vegetables! I ran my idea past Donna who thought I was nuts but went for anyways!
We striped away all the bedding hardware so that we just had two wooden rectangles & then dug some holes to partially bury the legs & to set them level. Once they were in place I layered some cardboard boxes we had inside. Purpose 1, kill the grass underneath. Purpose 2, keep the weeds out. Purpose 3, keep the dirt inside until we get another board to secure the bottom portion. Then we added lots & lots of soil.
This is when I remembered there was a sprinkler head underneath that now had to be dug up & extended so off to Home Depot I went for some pipe & a fitting...
Once the sprinkler was modified we proceeded with transplanting the veggies the boys had already planted in pots & planting new seeds & flowers
We've only completed one of the 'beds' so far. We will continue with the other one probably after the birthday party now.
While working outside, we decided to modify our front flower bed a little. We had never liked the way they edged it out. It was kind of squiggly & not really pleasing to the eye. So Donna carved out a new border & we removed a little (maybe a lot of) sod. I love the new shape! We filled it in with flowers & are looking forward to seeing what it looks like when everything grows up & fills in. We still need mulch but are mulling over getting stone instead...
We were all set to finish laying the new laminate flooring in the hallway last Sunday when we inadvertently discovered water under the floor by the front door. UGH!!!
We discovered it was something we had done to cause the water but of course don't want to have to deal with that again so we pulled up half the floor in the living room, dried up the water & reinstalled cutting back & leaving an area to tile right inside the front door. The hall did not get done & now we've re-thought our intentions of carrying the flooring into the bedrooms. I think we will re-carpet when the time comes and stick with tile in the kitchen, entry & all other wet areas.
Lastly, We finally got around to painting the hallways. It was one area I was dreading & put off as long as possible because there are 9... NINE! doors in our hallway!!! It couldn't be avoided anymore though, between the dirty handprints, crayon marks & dingy dog scrubbings, it HAD to be painted! It came out beautiful & very clean. In the end it was worth all the prep work & meticulous painting.
It was barely March when the boys decided they wanted to buy vegetable seeds with their weekly earnings. They were eager to get them planted & watch them grow. With that came my desire to build a raised planter bed for said vegetables. As I was in the garage scoping out the supplies we had & making a list of supplies we would need, it dawned on me that we still had two twin beds that I never sold. Those twin beds would make perfect planter beds for our vegetables! I ran my idea past Donna who thought I was nuts but went for anyways!
We striped away all the bedding hardware so that we just had two wooden rectangles & then dug some holes to partially bury the legs & to set them level. Once they were in place I layered some cardboard boxes we had inside. Purpose 1, kill the grass underneath. Purpose 2, keep the weeds out. Purpose 3, keep the dirt inside until we get another board to secure the bottom portion. Then we added lots & lots of soil.
This is when I remembered there was a sprinkler head underneath that now had to be dug up & extended so off to Home Depot I went for some pipe & a fitting...
Once the sprinkler was modified we proceeded with transplanting the veggies the boys had already planted in pots & planting new seeds & flowers
We've only completed one of the 'beds' so far. We will continue with the other one probably after the birthday party now.
While working outside, we decided to modify our front flower bed a little. We had never liked the way they edged it out. It was kind of squiggly & not really pleasing to the eye. So Donna carved out a new border & we removed a little (maybe a lot of) sod. I love the new shape! We filled it in with flowers & are looking forward to seeing what it looks like when everything grows up & fills in. We still need mulch but are mulling over getting stone instead...
We were all set to finish laying the new laminate flooring in the hallway last Sunday when we inadvertently discovered water under the floor by the front door. UGH!!!
We discovered it was something we had done to cause the water but of course don't want to have to deal with that again so we pulled up half the floor in the living room, dried up the water & reinstalled cutting back & leaving an area to tile right inside the front door. The hall did not get done & now we've re-thought our intentions of carrying the flooring into the bedrooms. I think we will re-carpet when the time comes and stick with tile in the kitchen, entry & all other wet areas.
Lastly, We finally got around to painting the hallways. It was one area I was dreading & put off as long as possible because there are 9... NINE! doors in our hallway!!! It couldn't be avoided anymore though, between the dirty handprints, crayon marks & dingy dog scrubbings, it HAD to be painted! It came out beautiful & very clean. In the end it was worth all the prep work & meticulous painting.
Finally the leaky back door that disruoted our floor installation to begin with was replaced by the builder. They attempted to repair the door several times before throwing the towel in & just getting a new door all together & a new installer. It turned out that the original door was just installed poorly & it wasn't sealed well or at all so every time it rained the water just came in around the bottom. We had the house pressure washed the day after the new door went & and luckily there were no leaks! Hooray!!!
Thursday, April 21, 2016
Throwback Thursday - Birthday Countdown... FOUR!
One week until our boys are 5 years old... let the hyperventilating begin, lol...
We dropped the ball on having professional 4 year old pictures done last year so here's one of the only pics taken at their party last year.
The boys' Toy Story (k), Spiderman (g), & Thomas (c) cakes
Thursday, April 14, 2016
Thursday, April 7, 2016
Monday, April 4, 2016
Easter 2016
We started the weekend with plans to meet up with my sister who was staying on the island for a little Spring Break getaway. There is a lot of construction going on in our little town not only widening of the main road through town but lots of land clearing, a new school & community, new restaurants & stores & a ton of utility work. So needless to say, we got stuck in traffic on our way to meet-up for an Easter Egg drop saturday morning. My sister & her family were already there & it was already time for the egg drop when we crossed onto the island so we decided to head downtown for an easter egg hunt there figuring they would be done quickly & would meet us there. Well the drop ran WAY behind, we could have totally made it there but we ended up downtown where the boys got their faces painted, hunted Easter Eggs & ate cotton candy.
The weather forecast for the whole weekend was bad! Thunderstorm warnings & 100% chance of rain all weekend. The night before a loud crack of thunder woke all 3 boys scaring them badly, I've never heard all 3 of them scream like that simultaneously before. Well it shook Kellan up enough that every grey cloud had him nervous. We ended up heading home without ever seeing my sister.
We decorated Easter Eggs Saturday afternoon. The boys LOVE pretty much anything crafty or artistic lately so this was right up their alley. I picked out a kit that included little tiny mini paint rollers. They made for some very interesting, well coated eggs.
The Easter bunny made his drop shortly after the boys went to bed. We don't go crazy with holiday gifts outside of Christmas & Birthdays but the boys did get a little candy, some Minion Surprise Eggs, and some mini Avenger/Batman boxes with art supplies.
It was our year for hosting Easter dinner. My mom & bonus dad, Sister & her family & a close friend & her daughter came for the day. We spent the morning getting a few things ready for our early Easter dinner/ lunch.
We had a great visit & meal! We followed that up with our own Easter Egg hunt. While my bonus dad & brother in law spread out & stashed eggs we attempted a group photo of the 6 kids...
The weather forecast for the whole weekend was bad! Thunderstorm warnings & 100% chance of rain all weekend. The night before a loud crack of thunder woke all 3 boys scaring them badly, I've never heard all 3 of them scream like that simultaneously before. Well it shook Kellan up enough that every grey cloud had him nervous. We ended up heading home without ever seeing my sister.
We decorated Easter Eggs Saturday afternoon. The boys LOVE pretty much anything crafty or artistic lately so this was right up their alley. I picked out a kit that included little tiny mini paint rollers. They made for some very interesting, well coated eggs.
Kellan & Caden
Garren
G, K, C
The Easter bunny made his drop shortly after the boys went to bed. We don't go crazy with holiday gifts outside of Christmas & Birthdays but the boys did get a little candy, some Minion Surprise Eggs, and some mini Avenger/Batman boxes with art supplies.
It was our year for hosting Easter dinner. My mom & bonus dad, Sister & her family & a close friend & her daughter came for the day. We spent the morning getting a few things ready for our early Easter dinner/ lunch.
We had a great visit & meal! We followed that up with our own Easter Egg hunt. While my bonus dad & brother in law spread out & stashed eggs we attempted a group photo of the 6 kids...
This is honestly the best group shot, typical for this time in our lives.
Looks painful to have all these cousins, lol...
Finally! The Easter Egg Hunt!
front to back:
Kellan, Chandler, Canan, Garren, Caden, & Nadia
Eggs everywhere!!!
It was a super fun weekend & the kids all had a great time. I love having everyone for a holiday meal, especially one as simple as Easter. Hope you all had a great Easter too!
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