Recent Project

You know when a little thing that seems a simple fix catapults you into a major project? Well we live in an old house so I guess that sort of thing is going to keep happening. The latest was our front door. For quite some time, paint has been coming off our wall behind the front door. It recently got much worse, so we decided to address the problem. Thinking it was old water damage, and most likely just needed scraping and new paint, it seemed doable and easily accomplished.

Well, it wasn't... Turned out the damage was due to an old termite infestation that was never properly repaired. So we figured, scrape off the paint, get rid of the damaged drywall and replace it. Simple...again not so. Once we go into our wall we realized that there was some important structural damage to some of the wall. This lead to the fact that we would be removing our door to be able to access the wood that needed replacing. Since our front door was a hollow core door and we have never been too attached, it naturally followed that we ended up replacing it.

In all it took 8 hours, and a lot of help from a good friend. But we have a new door, new 2x4's in the wall that are solid and can bear the load of our roof. Now to do the drywall taping and texture on the wall.

 

The first glimpse of the damage.

All the damaged drywall removed.

 

Taking off the brick molding.

No more door.

The reason for all the madness. This was one of the 2x4's that was supposed to be holding up the roof line.

 

The new door, about 6 hours after the no door picture!

We also decided to get rid of the railing for the front walk. Since we moved in it has been falling apart due to water damage from the sprinklers and the fact that it was never properly installed.

Now we have to also pick a color for the door. Right now it is just primed. I would love to do something adventurous, but have no idea what that could be. I am guessing that we will end up painting it white.

Vacuuming

So somehow yesterday vacuuming turned into this, and then the vacuuming didn't actually get done! Maybe today........

Reflections

So I am taking a moment to go over my week and record it. Pretty busy. Last weekend all of Steve's family came to celebrate Uncle Mark's 60th birthday. It was great having them all here. I actually think that is the first time we have all been together in my house! It was a blast seeing them.

Monday was a holiday which made the work week a little short! The girls are doing well and adjusting to the new schedule of Steve being in school. They constantly surprise me with how mature they are getting, at the same time acting like little girls. It makes life interesting. Today we found out they have been sneaking into the sugar downstairs in storage and eating it. Crazy kids. They are starting band and orchestra this week. Kathryn is playing the violin and Juliana is playing the clarinet.
Something funny that Kathryn said, we were listening to some oldies. Which for me is music from the 1950's and she said, "People back then had sense. Because they know that love was about who people are and not what they looked like." I think we were listening to "I Love you Because" by Jim Reeves. Just a lesson that they really do listen to the lyrics in music, and that hopefully some of the things we are trying to teach them about the value of others and themselves is sinking in. 

I think we are all adjusting to having me working full time, and Steve back in school. We aren't there yet, and I am sure there is a lot of adjustment still to do. I get to start working with my students tomorrow one on one, which is very exciting. I have been doing so much managing and getting things set for the new year, it will be great to actually teach. I can't really believe it's September already.

Yesterday there was a freak storm that roared into town about 4pm. It took out two or our neighbors trees and left a lot of broken branches, leaves, shingles etc. everywhere. It was a site to behold, and I don't think we will forget it for a long time to come. Luckily we didn't have any flooding in the basement. A few people around here had a little water come in, and there were several roads that were impassible for a while as well. So much water fell in so little time. Well, there are a few highlights and thoughts from the week.

First day of 5th Grade

It's official they are in 5th Grade. The morning went off without a hitch. Although the girls did say I was embarrassing because I went outside in my sweats and scrubs tops to take their picture. Really? What about the time at the grocery store someone asked the bag boy what was wrong with his face? Or when someone told a friend "Yeah you should do some things with your house like clean it." Well I guess this is pay back, and if I really wanted to embarrass them, I could have walked them to school...I'm just saying.

 

Juliana

Kathryn

 

Thoughts on Back to School

I know that this time of year sees many tearful goodbyes as mothers leave their first last or middle children in Kindergarten. But around our house I think tomorrow will bring cheers on all sides. We are all ready for school to start. There is suddenly nothing to do all day but ask mom what to do. Suddenly the toys, crafts, and outdoor distractions are no longer enough. It probably doesn't help that I have started working in earnest and so my attention is divided. Last week when the cousins started school there were cries of foul play heard here at my house. "That's no fair! I want to start school." Really this is ideal I suppose, it makes tomorrow morning something to look forward to for both parties. Pics will be uploaded tomorrow.

New Year

I know it's not the new year, but it is almost the new school year. With the girls and Steven going back, we thought it would be good to have a little family council to discuss how we were all going to face and tackle this new adventure. Steve and I really wanted to help the girls see that even if it might be hard at times, we can still find good and exciting every day too. We chatted about how we could all support each other over the coming 2 years, and how if we are working together, we are much stronger than if we are trying to work separately. We even decided to come up with a family motto for this next adventure. We stole it from Google, but the one we chose is "Love is the main ingredient." I love it, and hope that we can keep that as our focus, and not get bogged down in the day to day challenges.

Check List

You know those items that get on your to-do list and get stuck there? Well I got one of those items done today! Yipeee. In our back yard, there is a bench that is attached to the patio. When we moved in the wood was very old and starting to get splintery. It's great to have when we have people over for extra seating so last spring we took it apart, and bought new 2x6 boards to fix it. Well we needed to cut them at a 45 degree angle so the wood promptly got put away and soon forgotten. Or at least put on the back burner. So this spring I decided to finish the dang bench. I found a friend who was willing to help me to cut them, then they sat again until this week. We finally made it to the store for some stain, and I got all the holes drilled. Yesterday a good friend let me use her big workshop to stain them. They dried and we got them back this afternoon. So the girls and I put the bench back together. It's so nice to have it finished. It only took 1 1/2 years. Here is a picture for your viewing pleasure.