and the fun begins

our first summer project.  I can't wait!  (not)

sneak peeks

We have had a busy weekend and I am sad to see it come to an end. You know when all your projects and ideas come together without a whole lot of mess in between? That is how it has been for the past couple of days.

Our community hosts an annual celebration called Summerfest. Three whole days of activities and things to get out as a family and enjoy. We attended the 2-hour parade and the kids came home with more candy than they did on Halloween. The afternoon was spent with Dave taking the kiddos to the carnival while I stayed home and enjoyed the peace and quiet. Well, the peace at least. I cranked up some tunes and laid carpet tiles in Madison's room.

Speaking of: Here is a sneak peek at the new flooring (story to follow later) and the painted walls. Only two of the walls are green, the other two are white. Oh, and the trim still needs to be done. And the electrical. Sheeeeeeesh

Today was spent doing yard work, running errands with Dave while Mads watched the younger ones, and some time with the sewing machine.

Sneak peek at the 'photo booth' for Ellie's party THIS Thursday!

I pieced together 7" strips of purple and blue fabric and backed it with a plain white cloth. I placed it up on our swing set's platform with double sided tape. Ellie posed so I could get a feel for how well it would work. ::check:: Another thing off my to-do list.

Snack Pouches

Sandwich Wraps

And the last sneak peek of the day is of my snack pouches and sandwich wraps. Last year the girls used SO many plastic bags for their school lunches. I'm not 'crunchy granola', but I did hate seeing all of those plastic bags being used once and then thrown away. My solution involved the sewing machine, fabric, Velcro and rip-stop nylon (flag/parachute material). Machine wash and air dry, of course.

The pouches are a cotton fabric on the outside and a water-resistant (ie, will not hold pickle slices without soaking through ........ okay, Madison?) nylon for the lining. A couple of pieces of Velcro and it is good to go. I plan to improve on these by using a zipper instead of the Velcro. Some of the snacks left messy crumbs in the hook and loops leaving them less effective at staying closed.

Next up are the sandwich wraps. One side cotton fabric and the inside lined with nylon; secured with Velcro tabs. I intended them to be dual use ........ as a wrap for a sandwich (duh) and a place mat. The theory was spot on, but the practical use not so much. The wrap is not air tight, so the bread staled. Also, if you wanted a sandwich with lots of condiments; it got messy pretty fast. I think for the next round I will just make a bigger 'snack pouch' with a zipper closure.

To round out the weekend, we are taking the kids to go and see the Summerfest Fireworks. At 10pm. On a Sunday. Hhhhmmm. What a way to take advantage of the WHOLE weekend!

work in progress

Last week my I wrote about my father-in-law coming over to help us move along our project for Madison's basement room. I was going to save the obligatory 'before and after' post until the project was completed, but what fun would that be? A little suspense and teasing is GOOD for the soul. And, besides, I have way too much fun taking photos along the way.

Madison left a little message for her Grandpa ...... written on the wall ....... with a Sharpie. I am such a cool parent. She also wrote "Goodbye yellow walls" and "Thank you Dad" signed with a little heart. So grateful.


The walls were concrete foundation, so the first step was framing up the walls to add insulation and drywall. Take notice of the carpet; it is a cheap Berber and we wanted it outta there.


Drywall done! Mudding, taping and sanding done professionally by Dave. He is not for hire, so don't ask.

What.......?

The carpet........?

What's the issue? It was a steal of a deal!

Um, ....... Madison picked it out?

This hideous excuse for a floor covering was under the Berber carpet. We knew this ahead of time because the ENTIRE basement was wall to wall red plush love. Kind of grows on you, huh?


Not done yet! The 'party carpet' was backed by a ^$#@%^ caustic rubber adhered with nasty chemicals to the cement floor. Removal by a scraper and lots of new curse word for the children to add to their repertoire.

Thank goodness Dave has lots of favors he can call in with the people he works around. A tough guy named Bernie loaned us a pneumatic scraper and the job was completed in a couple of evenings. Madison baked Bernie some chocolate chip cookies as a thank you gift for sparing her siblings' ears of more naughty phrases.

........... please tune in next time for more updates to the basement room remodeling tale!

saturday at the berg's

All hail the virtues and possibilities of Saturday home improvement projects. Rah! ..... Rah!

We have lived in this home for 4 years,5 months & have done many home improvement/destruction projects. Many started, few completed ...... you know the drill. So little time, so little money and such short attention spans.

It was the middle of January when we moved in, so the yard was blanketed in beautiful fluffy snow. Everything looked so pretty! As spring sprung and the white turned to brown then to green, we took notice of the 'not so pretty' parts of our yard. The metal shed in the backyard was a shining beacon in all it's ugly glory. Dave and I took one look at each other and declared "The shed will come down this summer!" quoted ~ 5/15/2005

::taps fingers as you ponder the date and assume what actually happened::

This Saturday we took the shed down, baby!
Supplies required to take her down:

• drill with phillips head bit (didn't think I'd know that?)
  
• 2 shovels to move the 7cubic feet of dirt (previously placed when we did other landscaping projects)
• one pair of gloves to keep from getting bloody scratches (safety first!)
  
• one cute guy with a mighty fine butt (he's not for hire)
• 2 pieces of chipboard plywood (to create a new floor)

And, Voila!!!!!
The plastic playhouse has been hanging out in our semi-finished basement for several seasons. Great for the kids, not so great when we could use the floor space. Ellie declared we needed some potted plants to spruce the place up.

Granted, we haven't increased our property value by completing this project, but we have completed a project. I'd say this was a very good accomplishment.