Basement Framing

 This is the door in our kitchen which leads to the "work zone"  I should've put up some yellow tape or something!  Kitchen to the left, living room/hallway to the right.

Bottom of the stairs, looking north into the "family room"

 Framing!  We had quite the set-up with the compound mitre saw living in the basement for a long time.  I really enjoyed having it--I completed a lot of small projects with that handy tool just hanging around, waiting for me.  I was sad to see it go.  Note the dirty sock in the picture above--who could that belong to?

Bottom of the stairs, looking south into the laundry room/storage area

 Framing is difficult work--lots of precision needed and it is so permanent.  Nothing like construction adhesive and a power-actuated nailer to make you say, "Are we sure this is where we want the wall?"

Bottom of the stairs, looking east into the "office"

That first step was a big one, but it felt good to get it done!  We lived with the framing stage for a long time--energy and budget kept things moving slowly for a while.  It gave us lots of time to discuss layout of the rooms, location of outlets, etc. before making final decisions.  In retrospect, that was probably a good thing.

More to come--keep checking back :)

Basement Introduction

Well, that little Paint drawing didn't turn out as big as I thought it would, but I wanted to present an outline of our basement before I start blogging pictures of all the work.  Let me try to explain.

Our house is a perfect rectangle.  None of that "architectural interest" for this family!  The basement was completely unfinished when we bought the house--nothing but a big concrete rectangle waiting for some love.

Looking at the picture above, you walk down the stairs and end up in the middle of the space.  Right in front of you is the centrally located furnace and water heater.  Convenient placement, right?  Ugh.  To your left is the laundry area.  The skinny lines I drew in are the walls that Sam and Karl built--they were not originally there, but they are now.

So there's your introduction: Big concrete rectangle.  Utilities smack-dab in the middle of the room.  Inefficient use of stair space.  Check back soon to see how we made it work!

She reads!

Anne's reading skills have been exploding lately.  She continually shocks us with what she can read.  Here she is reading out of an antique book, "The Beacon Primer" (copyright 1912).  This was her first time ever seeing it--there was no rehearsal before Dad got out the video camera.

**I find it interesting that she chose the passage about the "little sister"  Does she know something we don't?**

Disclaimer: I am a professional educator.  I know she is at the "word recognition" phase of reading and not actually "decoding" anything.  Still, she's pretty awesome for a 4-year-old.

Easter Fun

 Anne and Sammy, ready for church on Sunday.  This was the best, non-blurry shot we could get.  We're thinking of re-naming the boy, "Blur Head"

 Anne and I dyed eggs on Saturday.  We used Kool-Aid and it turned out great!  Mix 1 packet of Kool-Aid with 2/3 cup water and dye away.  She thought it was the greatest thing ever.  I thought I was smart for putting Sambo down for a nap first.

 Color-coordinated bowls, spoons, and dye.  I'm so organized.

 The results!

Anne also helped me prep the plastic eggs for hunting.  We had math-related fun by sorting the jellybeans by color, then counting each color and dividing by the number of eggs we had.  For example, 42 green jellybeans divided by 7 green plastic eggs equals 6 beans in each egg.  She was a very patient little counter (and eater--she still has jellybeans left one week later!)

Getting Ready

"Ready" for Baby #1:
Multiple baby showers (both pre- and post-baby)
Tiny clothes washed in dye-free detergent, hung by size on matching hangers
Onesies folded and stacked in the dresser
Packs of newborn-size diapers in multiple brands (in case of allergy/skin reaction)
A perfectly dust-free nursery

All of these things completed 2 months before baby arrives


"Ready" for Baby #3:
One pack of size 1 diapers (Walmart brand.  Tell your skin to deal with it.)
Random assortment of hand-me-down newborn clothes from siblings (pink pile and blue pile)
Basket of white onesies, assorted sizes
Nursery badly in need of vacuuming, only furniture is the changing table and a bookshelf (crib still on loan for a few weeks, chair for Mom still nonexistent)
Mom with the attitude, "Yeah, I'll get to it.  I've got a whole month left!"

One can only imagine how well I might prepare for Baby #4....

The Tale of the Car Wash

We had several instances where our kids had complete screaming meltdowns while sitting in a car wash.  Anne was usually okay if she hid her eyes and plugged her ears, but Sambo was a total hysterical mess.  He would cry and beg to get out of his carseat; "I wanna see you!" would be his plea, meaning he wanted to be held.  I once took him all the way out of the car because he was freaking out before it was even our turn!  Waiting in line made him nutso.

So, one day, in preparation for another car wash (Why did we buy a black car?  So dirty all the time.) I created this wonderful little story:

Once, there was a family with a very dirty car.  They decided to go to the car wash.  They put their money in the slot, pushed the button, and waited for the big door to open.  When it did, they drove inside.  It was so noisy in the car wash--the water sprayed and the soap shot out.  But no one cried.  When the car was clean, they drove through the noisy fans to make the car dry.  Then, they drove to Kwik Trip for chocolate milk and donuts.

Prepare my Newberry Medal, right?  Anyway, these two kids LOVED this story!  They were totally calm during the car wash and now they ask me at least 3 times a week to "read the car wash"  I think Sambo likes that story better than any book we own.  When Anne asks me to tell a story she says, "Just read it from your mouth"

So if your kids have a situation they are not comfortable with, make up a story to go with it.  Make sure it has a happy ending (donuts!) and maybe things will go smoothly for you.  (In education we call these "social stories" and they are good teaching tools for kids with special needs.  My kids apparently have special car wash needs.)

Conversations and Quotes

Faithful readers, we are still here!  I have no pictures to show you, but we are knee-deep in basement finishing and baby prep.  All will be revealed when it is finished!

The kids have had some funny things to say lately, so please enjoy:

Sammy: Let's watch Wild Live by Century Link! ("Wild Live" is the Wild pregame show, which is sponsored by Century Link.  We watch it all the time.)

Anne (confused about something): Hmm...I'm puzzled.

Anne (about our baby): It's okay if it's a brother.

Sammy likes to look at our ultrasound picture and say, "That's our born baby!"

Anne, reading a book about states: That says "Texas".  That's where my grandma and grandpa are! (MY grandparents spend the winter in Texas--I couldn't believe she remembered that)

Words Sammy can read: home, Minnesota, wild, Wildcats, red, green, stop.  He blew us away when we were out shopping--he looked across a parking lot and said, "Mom, that says 'Goodwill'"  Why yes, yes it does, freaky 2-year-old!

Anne can read all kinds of stuff these days.  Some of the more impressive are "Plays of the Week" while watching NHL Network and "Big Bang Theory" from the guide on our TV.  She's also good at saying how you can change a word to make it something else.  She saw "tools" and guessed it said "toys", then told me "If you make the 'L' a 'Y' it would say 'toys'"  Close enough for someone who is only 4!

While I enjoy their reading skills, it does get a bit tiring to hear, "How do you spell _____" and "What's that say?" 1500 times a day.

Sammy has disliked the church nursery for a long time, so he sits in church with us.  He likes to thumb through the Bible and find "the Samuels" and "the Romans"  He gets a kick out of seeing both of his names in there.

Both kids have been keeping up with the Wild roster.  They can tell you who got traded, who is new, and who is still hurt.  Anne was almost in tears when her beloved Matt Cullen was injured!  (Her reason for liking him?  "He's number 7, and someday I want to be 7.")