Monday, December 29, 2008
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Christmas Videos
I'm uploading Christmas videos, here's one from a week or so ago from Sawyer's preschool Christmas program:
YouTube supports wide-screen now, and it also allowed me to upload DVD quality video that you can get to if you click the embedded video above to go to the YouTube page and then click 'watch in high quality' below the video. However, I decided to try making this video private since I really would prefer for it not show up in the search results of complete strangers. If you can't see it, let me know and we'll figure this out.
YouTube supports wide-screen now, and it also allowed me to upload DVD quality video that you can get to if you click the embedded video above to go to the YouTube page and then click 'watch in high quality' below the video. However, I decided to try making this video private since I really would prefer for it not show up in the search results of complete strangers. If you can't see it, let me know and we'll figure this out.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Snow in Texas!
Believe it or not, we actually got some snow here in Texas! It's actually sticking to the grass and bushes and car and stuff.
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| Snow in Texas |
Monday, September 29, 2008
Slowly Recovering from Ike
Our road to normalcy is proving to be a very long slow road, but at least we've covered a few miles. Since my last post we have gotten a water damage restoration crew to dry the house out (16 powerful fans, 6 industrial dehumidifiers and an air scrubber running for 96 hours straight, plus just about everything ripped out of the second floor), and we got the windows replaced. The insurance adjuster finally came out Sunday morning but was only able to write us a check and re-assign us to a higher level adjuster since she was not equipped to assess our level of damages. I must have called them 3-4 times to update my claim with descriptions of the increasing severity of the damages we noticed, but they apparently would not believe me or my agent. Now our claim is escalated to the $35000+ level and another agent is coming out on Wednesday so that we can maybe finally get a roofing crew out here. The good news is they do seem to be willing to pay for a lot of small things like spoiled food losses and even to compensate us for all the time we've spent cleaning up debris and removing wet floors and ceilings.
To add to the misery, now our A/C isn't working. It's included on the claim and our agent got us a repair service to come out tomorrow, but right now it's the 5 of us sleeping in the master bedroom with a portable A/C. It's kind of like living in a one-bedroom apartment within our home.
To add to the misery, now our A/C isn't working. It's included on the claim and our agent got us a repair service to come out tomorrow, but right now it's the 5 of us sleeping in the master bedroom with a portable A/C. It's kind of like living in a one-bedroom apartment within our home.
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Hurricane Ike Aftermath
We got hit hard by Hurricane Ike. Thankfully I have yet to hear of anyone that got hurt in our area, but our neighborhood was slammed by what a lot of people are saying must have been tornadoes spawned by the storm since the inland winds were not supposed to be that fierce.
I never slept much at all during the storm, listening to every wind gust and watching the clock. At 4:25am, the power went out and the real nightmare began. We heard a horribly loud whistling wind gust followed by a thud louder than anything I've heard before. We went upstairs with a flashlight but the only thing we could see was a partially broken window an Harrison's room. There were no trees on it, and there no visibility outside so we went back down the bedroom. From that point on every wind gust caused all kinds of knocks and thumps on the roof, so we knew something was up there.
At around 6-ish, I was just drifting off to sleep when the window in our bedroom shattered. We rushed all the boys to the hall bathroom and stayed there. During a slight lull, Lindsay went back upstairs with the flashlight and saw the leak in the game room and what looked like the tip of a tree branch poking through the ceiling. We put a bucket under that leak and retreated back to the bathroom to wait for daylight.
When the eye came over, it was daylight and one of our neighbors came over to check on us and to let us know there was a tree on our house. That's when I got the first look from the outside and that's when I went ahead and called in our insurance claim. The only remaining damage we sustained was when the top of the pine tree in the yard behind us came down and smashed the fence right behind the swing set. That was around 9am and I happened to be checking out of that window at the time and watched the whole thing fall.
I never slept much at all during the storm, listening to every wind gust and watching the clock. At 4:25am, the power went out and the real nightmare began. We heard a horribly loud whistling wind gust followed by a thud louder than anything I've heard before. We went upstairs with a flashlight but the only thing we could see was a partially broken window an Harrison's room. There were no trees on it, and there no visibility outside so we went back down the bedroom. From that point on every wind gust caused all kinds of knocks and thumps on the roof, so we knew something was up there.
At around 6-ish, I was just drifting off to sleep when the window in our bedroom shattered. We rushed all the boys to the hall bathroom and stayed there. During a slight lull, Lindsay went back upstairs with the flashlight and saw the leak in the game room and what looked like the tip of a tree branch poking through the ceiling. We put a bucket under that leak and retreated back to the bathroom to wait for daylight.
When the eye came over, it was daylight and one of our neighbors came over to check on us and to let us know there was a tree on our house. That's when I got the first look from the outside and that's when I went ahead and called in our insurance claim. The only remaining damage we sustained was when the top of the pine tree in the yard behind us came down and smashed the fence right behind the swing set. That was around 9am and I happened to be checking out of that window at the time and watched the whole thing fall.
Friday, September 12, 2008
Ike Update
Wind gusts are picking up, and we're about 2-3 hours from the heaviest. Our area is still only supposed to get maximum sustained winds of 55 knots which is under hurricane strength, so I'm not so worried about the pines (which are all very tall, established and healthy). When we weathered Rita, there was a tree in our yard with a big weird horizontal branch that knocked into the roof right over our bed all night. We don't have that problem in this house, so I'm hoping I'll get a better night's sleep than I did with Rita.
Anyways, the boys are asleep in our room, the hurricane parties are winding down and I'm unplugging all expensive electronics.
Anyways, the boys are asleep in our room, the hurricane parties are winding down and I'm unplugging all expensive electronics.
Hurricane Ike
We're all set to ride out the hurricane. Everything that isn't attached to the ground is secured in the ground and we're stocked up. Not really expecting anything more than high winds and heavy rains where we are. The primary concern is the storm surge zone, which we aren't a part of.
The evacuation was much more orderly and organized than the disappointing fiasco we experience when Tropical Storm Rita hit. We even ran out today to fill the Sequoia up with gas, grab a few more things from Wal-Mart and had lunch at Wendy's.
The winds are just now gusting up, so we just have to hopefully sleep from 1am to 7am and then we're good. The eye path forecast as plotted on Google Maps shows it passing just a couple miles east of us and curving more to the east so maybe we'll mostly get winds from the North and not quite so much rain.
The evacuation was much more orderly and organized than the disappointing fiasco we experience when Tropical Storm Rita hit. We even ran out today to fill the Sequoia up with gas, grab a few more things from Wal-Mart and had lunch at Wendy's.
The winds are just now gusting up, so we just have to hopefully sleep from 1am to 7am and then we're good. The eye path forecast as plotted on Google Maps shows it passing just a couple miles east of us and curving more to the east so maybe we'll mostly get winds from the North and not quite so much rain.
Tuesday, September 02, 2008
First Day of School
Last Monday was Harrison's first day of school, now today was Sawyer's first day of preschool. Harrison has a nice big classroom with less students, computers in the classroom and even some fancy stuff like a 'Smart-Board' that appears to be a digital whiteboard that they are using as a learning tool. Sawyer learned that today was Tuesday, he did some artwork (painting with marbles), sang songs (head, shoulders, knees & toes and the monkeys jumping on the bead song) and he even learned 'uno mono', for 'one monkey'. He had a really great day and was excited to go back on Thursday.
Monday, August 25, 2008
Installing a Tile Backsplash
Ever since moving into this house, we've had it on our list to replace the tile back-splash in the kitchen. Yes, it was tile before, but it was plain old 6-inch glazed ceramic, bland and neutral, zero-character. This project spent a lot of time on the back-burner, but after making the decision to replace our stove due to various 'problems' (it's not good when the outside of the oven door burns your hand to the touch and you have small children running around it) (also not good when you turn a burner down to simmer over low heat and the flame goes out causing gas to just leak into the kitchen), we decided now would be the best time to go ahead and take care of the ugly back-splash. Plus, we visited a local Floor & Decor outlet and found exactly what we wanted in a 2x4 travertine brick pattern but weren't sure how long they keep specific styles in stock there. With zero tiling experience, we figured it would be a weekend job, but due to the tremendous amount of prep-work it turned into almost a full week.
It pretty much started with a call to Best Buy to check on the status of our delayed oven. They claimed it would be available on the 18th, which was the following Monday. Not wanting to make a huge mess with the new oven in place we started to think about fast tracking this project. Call it 'planning', maybe, but that evening we took a hammer and a screwdriver to one of the tiles to see how much work the removal was going to be, and after popping a couple tiles out we were officially committed to the project.
It took quite a bit of effort to remove a tile with just a hammer and a screwdriver. I was basically chipping away the grout line with the screwdriver so that I could pry at the tile to remove it. Each time I did this I would hear the pieces bouncing off of surfaces all over the kitchen. 
I did a little research and found a recommendation to use a rotary tool, so I bought myself a Dremel and a grout removal bit. This sped things up considerably, my process was to cut out the grout line with the Dremel and then tap a stiff scraper putty knife into the gap where the grout was to pry the tile out. 
This made quick work of some of the tiles, while others were very stubborn and took huge divots of drywall out with them. At this point a couple sheets of tile backer-board were added to the project shopping list along with a whole bunch more work. There was no turning back, however. I'm curious to find out if tiles can be removed from fiber or concrete backer-board without as much damage as the gypsum board.
So with one late-night under our belt, Friday's plan was to buy the materials we needed and get the drywall removed so we could buckle down and get the job done over the weekend. Harrison and I headed down to the Floor & Decor outlet to get everything we could foresee needing:
Also, after one late-nighter and in anticipation of more to come, energy drinks were added to the shopping list.
Removing the drywall was easy but very dusty. I used the Dremel rather than my drywall saw since a lot of my cuts were going to be going over studs. The cuts didn't need to be absolutely perfect anyway; on the outsides I kept them just inside where I wanted the tile-line to be, and then under cabinets it didn't matter because that's what grout and caulk are for. 
To handle the gap in our counter where the oven goes, I cut a length of 1x2 wood and fastened it to the wall level with the counter at either side. 
This served the purpose of guiding my line for cutting the damaged drywall out, as well as to support the tile in that location as the adhesive sets. Friday night's completed progress (very late again) was bare studs and insulation and dust all over everything. If was ambitious enough I would have created a 'dust zone' by taping those cheap plastic painting drop cloths to the ceiling around the perimeter.
With nothing but bare studs above the kitchen counters, Saturday's agenda was set. Our goal was to get all of the backer-board installed, thus completing the laborious
prep-work for this project, and then to get some actual progress on the tile itself before going to bed. Not wanting to waste a lot of time on botched cuts, I divided the back splash area into sections, grabbed a notebook and sketched each section, detailing each edge and outlet box and writing down all of the measurements. I also sketched the location of the studs, which helps for knowing where to put the drywall screws as well as positioning the outlet boxes. I cut each piece with a jigsaw (to get more precision than a circular saw) and also used my handy Dremel with the grinding drum attachment to grind away uneven cuts to get each piece to fit into place. This part of the process was very time consuming and covered the kitchen and the garage with dust.
Finally around 7:30 or so, all of the prep-work was complete. After another take-out dinner (kitchen was closed once all the outlets were exposed) and with the kids in bed, I was anxious to actually see some tile in place, but I also was unsure of how easy it was going to be to cut this tile. Considering that we were working with mesh-mounted 2x4 tiles, I didn't opt for the costly wet saw. All I had at this point was a ceramic tile cutting bit for the Dremel. I started into my first cut and after about .5" the bit snapped off and was history. With only 30 minutes before closing time for Lowe's, I did some extremely quick Googling, raced out to Lowes and purchased two options: The diamond cutter wheel attachment for the dremel, and a manual tile cutter as a fall-back. I tested the
Dremel attachment first and that diamond cutter wheel (priced a mere $14.95) became the most valuable tool of the whole project! It cut smoothly through the travertine with minimal force needed; I simply cut my line about 75% through and then the rest snapped off with little effort. The sides of the wheel could even be used for grinding down any rough edges, and with the Dremel precision I was able to make the cuts around outlet boxes easily as well.
To complete Saturday's considerable amount of work, I tiled all the way around to the light switches next to the sink, where we had to stop because the circuit breakers for the lights would need to be cut to prevent electrocution and we were exhausted anyway. I took a shower, washed out all the travertine dust that was making my hair feel like a brillo pad and collapsed in bed after 3 very late nights of hard work.
Sunday I was feeling the effects of 3 straight late nights, but the end of the project was near so I still had some drive left (although that drive required a little augmentation from some more energy drinks). I got the rest of the tile done all the way around and miraculously finished the island with one full sheet of tile still in the box! Tiling was pretty challenging, but somehow I managed to not botch one cut. The instructions on the adhesive said to allow at least 24 hours to set, so that was enough excuse to call it a weekend and celebrate with some good Chuy's take-out.
With the new oven scheduled to arrive on Wednesday, our timing was falling right into place as we ready to the grout on Monday. While not as time consuming as other steps, it was perhaps the messiest. I bought the dry mix, not realizing that the instructions called for mixing it at 300-400 rpm.
We tried a drill-mounted mixer, but it was too big for my drill, so I resorted to mixing it by hand with a long wooden handle. I also noticed at the last minute that the instructions called for sealing the tile once before grouting to reduce haze, so we sprayed on some of the sealant before dinner and then started on the grout around 8:30. 
I just used the grout floater to glob on some grout and press it into all the nooks and crannies and then use the edge of the grout float with a lot of pressure to squeegee off the excess grout. I did this one section at a time, and Lindsay came around behind me to try to wipe down the tiles after the grout had dried for about 30 minutes. We got this finished late again, but relieved that this would maybe be the last late night of messy work.
After letting the grout cure over night, Lindsay went around applied a heavy soaking coat of the sealant and trimmed with some off-white caulk. We didn't buy the color enhancing kind of sealer, which was good because instead of making the tile too dark and yellowish, it brought out the natural tone of the tile and balanced out the grout hazing for just the right amount of contrast, achieving the rustic look that we were going for. I was very excited to put all the outlets back together and re-open the kitchen finally.
Somehow I managed to get all the outlet cuts perfect (thanks to the Dremel) except for one plug outlet that was one of those thick boxy kinds with the GFCI test/reset buttons. My hole was just .25 inches too narrow to cram it back in, but that problem was easy to resolve again thanks to the Dremel. We moved the oven out of the kitchen in anticipation of the new one, and spent the rest of the evening admiring our work.
Well, we thought we were finished today. The oven got delivered nice and early, but it can't be that simple to finish this project off now, can it? Seems the builders of this house took a shortcut and installed the gas outlet 2 feet up the wall instead down near the ground where it's supposed to be. 
It didn't matter for the super-cheap oven they put in, but our new oven wouldn't fit up against the wall, sticking out 4 inches from the counters. Knowing that all good ovens would be the same way, and with our old oven having already sat outside overnight, we opted to relocate the gas outlet.
I found some DIY sites online detailing how to do this, and how it really isn't that risky if you're careful, but I was exhausted and was not interested in taking on yet another project, so we called out the plumbers.
The plumbers got the gas outlet moved down to where it's supposed to be, but informed us that the oven still wouldn't push all the way back because of the plug outlet. With exasperation setting in, I thought briefly about moving the plug outlet down since the drywall was cut out anyway, but there wasn't enough slack in the line, so considering that the electricity is only used for the control panel, the fans and the ignitors, I chose to hook it up through one of those extension cords with the flat profile plug. The insulation was high quality and the extension cord is rated for use with a microwave, so even though an electrician would probably scold me for this and recommend relocating the outlet for $250, I just went ahead with this solution.
Now, with the oven back as far as we were going to be able to get it, there was still a gap in the back even though the front was even with the counters. Apparently for this style of oven without the upright controls against the wall, you're supposed to have a thin strip of your counter top running behind the oven. To solve this last problem, I went out to the garage and found that piece of 1x2 wood that I had used as a support for the tiling, mounted it back to the wall and Lindsay painted it with the wall color. We'll eventually replace our counter tops, but this solution did the trick for now and finally allowed us to give this project the big DONE stamp.
Wednesday: Committing to the Project
It pretty much started with a call to Best Buy to check on the status of our delayed oven. They claimed it would be available on the 18th, which was the following Monday. Not wanting to make a huge mess with the new oven in place we started to think about fast tracking this project. Call it 'planning', maybe, but that evening we took a hammer and a screwdriver to one of the tiles to see how much work the removal was going to be, and after popping a couple tiles out we were officially committed to the project.
Thursday: Removing the Old Tile
It took quite a bit of effort to remove a tile with just a hammer and a screwdriver. I was basically chipping away the grout line with the screwdriver so that I could pry at the tile to remove it. Each time I did this I would hear the pieces bouncing off of surfaces all over the kitchen. 
I did a little research and found a recommendation to use a rotary tool, so I bought myself a Dremel and a grout removal bit. This sped things up considerably, my process was to cut out the grout line with the Dremel and then tap a stiff scraper putty knife into the gap where the grout was to pry the tile out. 
This made quick work of some of the tiles, while others were very stubborn and took huge divots of drywall out with them. At this point a couple sheets of tile backer-board were added to the project shopping list along with a whole bunch more work. There was no turning back, however. I'm curious to find out if tiles can be removed from fiber or concrete backer-board without as much damage as the gypsum board.Friday: Shopping and Removing the Drywall
So with one late-night under our belt, Friday's plan was to buy the materials we needed and get the drywall removed so we could buckle down and get the job done over the weekend. Harrison and I headed down to the Floor & Decor outlet to get everything we could foresee needing:
- 3 boxes of the travertine tile (30 sq. ft. total for our calculated need of 25 sq. ft.)
- 3 sheets of Aqua-Lock fiber-board to replace the damaged drywall
- 2 gallons of stone & marble adhesive
- 1 bag of unsanded grout, 'Vermont Brie' color
- 1 bag of 1/8" tile spacers
- 1 bottle of tile & grout Sealer
- notched trowel
- grout floater
Also, after one late-nighter and in anticipation of more to come, energy drinks were added to the shopping list.
Removing the drywall was easy but very dusty. I used the Dremel rather than my drywall saw since a lot of my cuts were going to be going over studs. The cuts didn't need to be absolutely perfect anyway; on the outsides I kept them just inside where I wanted the tile-line to be, and then under cabinets it didn't matter because that's what grout and caulk are for. 
To handle the gap in our counter where the oven goes, I cut a length of 1x2 wood and fastened it to the wall level with the counter at either side. 
This served the purpose of guiding my line for cutting the damaged drywall out, as well as to support the tile in that location as the adhesive sets. Friday night's completed progress (very late again) was bare studs and insulation and dust all over everything. If was ambitious enough I would have created a 'dust zone' by taping those cheap plastic painting drop cloths to the ceiling around the perimeter.Saturday: Installing the Backer-Board and Finally Some Tile
With nothing but bare studs above the kitchen counters, Saturday's agenda was set. Our goal was to get all of the backer-board installed, thus completing the laborious
prep-work for this project, and then to get some actual progress on the tile itself before going to bed. Not wanting to waste a lot of time on botched cuts, I divided the back splash area into sections, grabbed a notebook and sketched each section, detailing each edge and outlet box and writing down all of the measurements. I also sketched the location of the studs, which helps for knowing where to put the drywall screws as well as positioning the outlet boxes. I cut each piece with a jigsaw (to get more precision than a circular saw) and also used my handy Dremel with the grinding drum attachment to grind away uneven cuts to get each piece to fit into place. This part of the process was very time consuming and covered the kitchen and the garage with dust.Finally around 7:30 or so, all of the prep-work was complete. After another take-out dinner (kitchen was closed once all the outlets were exposed) and with the kids in bed, I was anxious to actually see some tile in place, but I also was unsure of how easy it was going to be to cut this tile. Considering that we were working with mesh-mounted 2x4 tiles, I didn't opt for the costly wet saw. All I had at this point was a ceramic tile cutting bit for the Dremel. I started into my first cut and after about .5" the bit snapped off and was history. With only 30 minutes before closing time for Lowe's, I did some extremely quick Googling, raced out to Lowes and purchased two options: The diamond cutter wheel attachment for the dremel, and a manual tile cutter as a fall-back. I tested the
Dremel attachment first and that diamond cutter wheel (priced a mere $14.95) became the most valuable tool of the whole project! It cut smoothly through the travertine with minimal force needed; I simply cut my line about 75% through and then the rest snapped off with little effort. The sides of the wheel could even be used for grinding down any rough edges, and with the Dremel precision I was able to make the cuts around outlet boxes easily as well.
To complete Saturday's considerable amount of work, I tiled all the way around to the light switches next to the sink, where we had to stop because the circuit breakers for the lights would need to be cut to prevent electrocution and we were exhausted anyway. I took a shower, washed out all the travertine dust that was making my hair feel like a brillo pad and collapsed in bed after 3 very late nights of hard work.Sunday: Finishing the Tile!
Sunday I was feeling the effects of 3 straight late nights, but the end of the project was near so I still had some drive left (although that drive required a little augmentation from some more energy drinks). I got the rest of the tile done all the way around and miraculously finished the island with one full sheet of tile still in the box! Tiling was pretty challenging, but somehow I managed to not botch one cut. The instructions on the adhesive said to allow at least 24 hours to set, so that was enough excuse to call it a weekend and celebrate with some good Chuy's take-out.Monday: The Homestretch!!!
With the new oven scheduled to arrive on Wednesday, our timing was falling right into place as we ready to the grout on Monday. While not as time consuming as other steps, it was perhaps the messiest. I bought the dry mix, not realizing that the instructions called for mixing it at 300-400 rpm.
We tried a drill-mounted mixer, but it was too big for my drill, so I resorted to mixing it by hand with a long wooden handle. I also noticed at the last minute that the instructions called for sealing the tile once before grouting to reduce haze, so we sprayed on some of the sealant before dinner and then started on the grout around 8:30. 
I just used the grout floater to glob on some grout and press it into all the nooks and crannies and then use the edge of the grout float with a lot of pressure to squeegee off the excess grout. I did this one section at a time, and Lindsay came around behind me to try to wipe down the tiles after the grout had dried for about 30 minutes. We got this finished late again, but relieved that this would maybe be the last late night of messy work.Tuesday: Give it the DONE stamp!
After letting the grout cure over night, Lindsay went around applied a heavy soaking coat of the sealant and trimmed with some off-white caulk. We didn't buy the color enhancing kind of sealer, which was good because instead of making the tile too dark and yellowish, it brought out the natural tone of the tile and balanced out the grout hazing for just the right amount of contrast, achieving the rustic look that we were going for. I was very excited to put all the outlets back together and re-open the kitchen finally.
Somehow I managed to get all the outlet cuts perfect (thanks to the Dremel) except for one plug outlet that was one of those thick boxy kinds with the GFCI test/reset buttons. My hole was just .25 inches too narrow to cram it back in, but that problem was easy to resolve again thanks to the Dremel. We moved the oven out of the kitchen in anticipation of the new one, and spent the rest of the evening admiring our work.Wednesday: Major grief from the oven...
Well, we thought we were finished today. The oven got delivered nice and early, but it can't be that simple to finish this project off now, can it? Seems the builders of this house took a shortcut and installed the gas outlet 2 feet up the wall instead down near the ground where it's supposed to be. 
It didn't matter for the super-cheap oven they put in, but our new oven wouldn't fit up against the wall, sticking out 4 inches from the counters. Knowing that all good ovens would be the same way, and with our old oven having already sat outside overnight, we opted to relocate the gas outlet.I found some DIY sites online detailing how to do this, and how it really isn't that risky if you're careful, but I was exhausted and was not interested in taking on yet another project, so we called out the plumbers.
Thursday: Get the DONE stamp back out... a full week later
The plumbers got the gas outlet moved down to where it's supposed to be, but informed us that the oven still wouldn't push all the way back because of the plug outlet. With exasperation setting in, I thought briefly about moving the plug outlet down since the drywall was cut out anyway, but there wasn't enough slack in the line, so considering that the electricity is only used for the control panel, the fans and the ignitors, I chose to hook it up through one of those extension cords with the flat profile plug. The insulation was high quality and the extension cord is rated for use with a microwave, so even though an electrician would probably scold me for this and recommend relocating the outlet for $250, I just went ahead with this solution.
Now, with the oven back as far as we were going to be able to get it, there was still a gap in the back even though the front was even with the counters. Apparently for this style of oven without the upright controls against the wall, you're supposed to have a thin strip of your counter top running behind the oven. To solve this last problem, I went out to the garage and found that piece of 1x2 wood that I had used as a support for the tiling, mounted it back to the wall and Lindsay painted it with the wall color. We'll eventually replace our counter tops, but this solution did the trick for now and finally allowed us to give this project the big DONE stamp.
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| From Tile Back Splash Installation |
Saturday, August 02, 2008
Back to the Beach!
After skipping our annual beach trip last year due to numerous weddings, we made it back this year to mark Griffin's first time at the beach and Sawyer's first time that he can remember. Although we prefer the mild weather and Carribean-like water quality of late September/early October, now that Harrison's in school that just isn't going to work for a pretty long time. Nonetheless, we had great weather and the seaweed wasn't so bad after the first day.
The trip down there was easier than anticipated. Griffin just needed his bottles and was quiet and happy the rest of the time and Sawyer and Harrison were sufficiently hooked up with DVDs and video games.
We made it all the way the Mobile, AL Wednesday night very late, allowing for an easy trip on Thursday. We probably got to the beach around 1:30-2:00 and both Harrison and Sawyer were in their swimsuits and on the beach by 3:00. 
The seaweed on that first afternoon was like split-pea soup, but they didn't seem to mind and fortunately it didn't stay that way.
Griffin was able to enjoy many late-afternoon beach walks thanks to the snuggli. He would drift off to sleep while making for a pretty good workout for me to earn my dinner. The sun was a little too intense for him during the rest of the day, but I think he had a pretty good trip.
We will definitely be enrolling Harrison in some swim lessons; during the course of this trip he went from being too scared to go in past his knees to us having to make sure to keep an eye on him so that he wouldn't go too far out. That happened in the course of two days, after which the tropical depression in the Gulf caused the surf to go to double-red flag for pretty much the rest of the trip.
We did the customary beach activities: Miniature golf, in which Sawyer exhibited a shuffleboard-like style of play and thoroughly enjoyed it to the point where 18 holes alone were not enough to make him happy. 
Go-karts, for which Harrison was big enough to drive on the rookie track this year, and a whole bunch of other amusements. We considered a trip to the water park, but since Harrison can't swim yet we didn't think they could get enough out of it.
For the evenings, there was plenty of good food, fun things to do, and very tired boys that were easy to get to bed. The boys got to dance around at a concert on the lawn at Carrilon beach down the street from us, and we visited Baytown Wharf in Sandestin for some good food and great scenery.
Also, Panama City Beach itself got a little renewal in a new development called 'Pier Park' with restaurants, shops and a movie theater among many other things. That was only 15 minutes from us so we did a lot there including taking the kids to see Wall-e and eating at Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville Cafe (Yes, that's the lost shaker of salt underneath the disco ball underneath the seaplane in the picture to the left).
We finished the trip off with an excursion on the Captain Anderson III, a glass-bottom boat that took us out into St. Andrew's bay. 
Nothing was visible through the glass bottom and there was only one dolphin out that day, but we still a great time seeing the sights and boys enjoyed having the run of the boat and feeding the seagulls and even getting to sit behind the wheel.
By the last two days of the trip, Sawyer kept whining that he was ready to go home, and he was glad to get home to his own bed, but not two days after getting back he stated that he was ready to go back to the beach house. I think we all had a great time and hopefully we can do this again next year.
The trip down there was easier than anticipated. Griffin just needed his bottles and was quiet and happy the rest of the time and Sawyer and Harrison were sufficiently hooked up with DVDs and video games.
We made it all the way the Mobile, AL Wednesday night very late, allowing for an easy trip on Thursday. We probably got to the beach around 1:30-2:00 and both Harrison and Sawyer were in their swimsuits and on the beach by 3:00. 
The seaweed on that first afternoon was like split-pea soup, but they didn't seem to mind and fortunately it didn't stay that way.Griffin was able to enjoy many late-afternoon beach walks thanks to the snuggli. He would drift off to sleep while making for a pretty good workout for me to earn my dinner. The sun was a little too intense for him during the rest of the day, but I think he had a pretty good trip.
We will definitely be enrolling Harrison in some swim lessons; during the course of this trip he went from being too scared to go in past his knees to us having to make sure to keep an eye on him so that he wouldn't go too far out. That happened in the course of two days, after which the tropical depression in the Gulf caused the surf to go to double-red flag for pretty much the rest of the trip.
We did the customary beach activities: Miniature golf, in which Sawyer exhibited a shuffleboard-like style of play and thoroughly enjoyed it to the point where 18 holes alone were not enough to make him happy. 
Go-karts, for which Harrison was big enough to drive on the rookie track this year, and a whole bunch of other amusements. We considered a trip to the water park, but since Harrison can't swim yet we didn't think they could get enough out of it.For the evenings, there was plenty of good food, fun things to do, and very tired boys that were easy to get to bed. The boys got to dance around at a concert on the lawn at Carrilon beach down the street from us, and we visited Baytown Wharf in Sandestin for some good food and great scenery.
Also, Panama City Beach itself got a little renewal in a new development called 'Pier Park' with restaurants, shops and a movie theater among many other things. That was only 15 minutes from us so we did a lot there including taking the kids to see Wall-e and eating at Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville Cafe (Yes, that's the lost shaker of salt underneath the disco ball underneath the seaplane in the picture to the left).
We finished the trip off with an excursion on the Captain Anderson III, a glass-bottom boat that took us out into St. Andrew's bay. 
Nothing was visible through the glass bottom and there was only one dolphin out that day, but we still a great time seeing the sights and boys enjoyed having the run of the boat and feeding the seagulls and even getting to sit behind the wheel.By the last two days of the trip, Sawyer kept whining that he was ready to go home, and he was glad to get home to his own bed, but not two days after getting back he stated that he was ready to go back to the beach house. I think we all had a great time and hopefully we can do this again next year.
Saturday, July 05, 2008
Family Portraits
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| Family Portraits |
Saturday, June 07, 2008
Harrison's Kindergarten Graduation
Harrison is officially a 1st grader with one full year of Elementary school in the books. It's hard to believe time has passed so fast!
For his school's graduation ceremony, they all got to go up on the stage one by one, and then they followed it with a full selection of song performances.
For his school's graduation ceremony, they all got to go up on the stage one by one, and then they followed it with a full selection of song performances.
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Griffin's First Video
Finally, here is Griffin's first video, covering his very first moments in the hospital through to coming home. It was so hard to condense all the footage down to a short video when it seems like every moment was so precious. The first 'screening' I did for the family was more than 45 minutes long and I dozed off during all those nice quiet calm shots, so I shortened it down a bit more. I hope you enjoy, and thanks to Google Video for not imposing the 10 minute maximum that other video sites do, although it wouldn't let me choose a frame to use for the thumbnail, and it randomly selected a frame that Baby Griffin wasn't even in, so rest assured this is Griffin's first video and not just of Sawyer opening presents.
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Riding Bikes
On Sunday we got Sawyer going on Harrison's old bike with training wheels, pedaling on his own, and then within just an hour we got Harrison riding two wheels like a pro. Once he figures out how to get himself going without our help, and to ride over the curb, there'll be no stopping him.
I put together a short video of both the boys demonstrating their newfound cycling skills, enjoy.
I put together a short video of both the boys demonstrating their newfound cycling skills, enjoy.
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Happy Mother's Day!
Happy Mother's Day!(captured Mother's Day morning, around 10:30am,
while Dad was out picking up a Mother's Day breakfast and
after the boys were upstairs playing so 'quietly')
Wednesday, May 07, 2008
Polish Festival
A few weeks back when Grandma Margaret was in town she noticed the Houston Polish Festival listed in the church events in the paper and mentioned wanted to come into town for that. The first thing I remember thinking was that I would be sure and give her good directions to find her way down there ;)
Well, it was this past weekend and she and Poppy both came down and the weather was beautiful so we loaded everyone in the car and all of us went down there and I'm glad we did, as they put on a pretty good festival. It was much bigger than I imagined, and it offered plenty of activities for the kids to do and some intriguing exposure to Polish culture for me.
First thing we did was trade some cash in for, not standard festival tickets, but shiny gold Pope John Paul tokens. I wasn't quite ready to commit to the Polish plate for lunch, opting instead for some pretty good BBQ, but I did try some off of Lindsay's plate and it was better than I thought. The dishes were very unique, but from similar culinary origins as German food that I'm pretty familiar and comfortable. The main item was golabki which was suprisingly tasty even though the aroma from the cooked cabbage was not all that appealing.
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| Polish Festival |
Well, it was this past weekend and she and Poppy both came down and the weather was beautiful so we loaded everyone in the car and all of us went down there and I'm glad we did, as they put on a pretty good festival. It was much bigger than I imagined, and it offered plenty of activities for the kids to do and some intriguing exposure to Polish culture for me.
First thing we did was trade some cash in for, not standard festival tickets, but shiny gold Pope John Paul tokens. I wasn't quite ready to commit to the Polish plate for lunch, opting instead for some pretty good BBQ, but I did try some off of Lindsay's plate and it was better than I thought. The dishes were very unique, but from similar culinary origins as German food that I'm pretty familiar and comfortable. The main item was golabki which was suprisingly tasty even though the aroma from the cooked cabbage was not all that appealing.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
At the Jimmy Buffett Show
For Lindsay's Birthday, I got us tickets to the Jimmy Buffett show at our nearby Cynthia Mitchell Woods Pavilion. It was his official kick-off to the 2008 'Year of Still Here' tour and it was the first time ever for us. He put on a great show, probably the best concert I've ever been to and I'll definitely be buying tickets as long as he keeps coming around.
I took some mediocre pictures on my cell phone:
I took some mediocre pictures on my cell phone:
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Griffin's First Week at Home
It has been quite a week, Griffin came home last Sunday, we celebrated 
Sawyer's 3rd Birthday on Monday, had a few days of downtime and then did an egg hunt on Friday followed by a weekend of Easter festivities. Lindsay and I took just Harrison and Sawyer to an easter festival and the grocery store on Saturday, and even after just a week it already seemed incomplete to be out and about with just the two of them and not little Griffin as well.
Friday, March 14, 2008
Baby Griffin is Here!
At 1:23pm, baby Griffin was born at a nice healthy 8 lbs 4 ounces and 19.75" long. Everyone's doing real well (now that it's all over).
Baby Griffin is definitely on the way!
Today is the day! We called the hospital at 5am, and were told to call back at 7:30am, so we were worried that we wouldn't be able to get in to do it today, but at 7:30 they said come on in, so here we are. Lindsay was having regular contractions before they even started the Oxytocin, and now she just got her epidural and her water broken, so we are all good to go. Hopefully we'll have a new little guy here with us by 2pm!
Thursday, March 13, 2008
All Ready for the Little Guy to Get Here
We've come all the way to the end of this journey and our new baby boy should be here tomorrow. The nursery is finished and the boys have taken their 'Super-Sibling' class, the house is clean, landscaped, the car is clean with a 3rd car seat securely installed. This'll be the last post before he's here probably.
Our Finished Nursery
Harrison & Sawyer at the 'Super Sibling' class
Our Finished Nursery
Harrison & Sawyer at the 'Super Sibling' class
Saturday, February 16, 2008
Poppy's Birthday
Catching up on some photos now that the nursery project is pretty much done. We traveled to Austin for Poppy's 60th birthday a couple of weekends ago. Courtney and Stefan came down from NY, so we got to see them and it was a full house for a 3-day weekend. We all threw Poppy a nice little ninja turtle party :)
Setting up a Nursery, Part 5
The last major task of setting up the nursery has been completed! We installed the crown molding last weekend and put a couple coats of paint on it throughout the week. This was the most challenging project of all, but I got through it thanks to the information and tools from compoundmiter.com. I bought the book and a angle measuring tool and although I couldn't get it perfect, I think it came out a lot better than if I had just tried to wing it.
My lessons learned from the whole process:
Everything else from here on out will be just the furnishings and decorations, so next up will be pictures and a video of the finished room!
My lessons learned from the whole process:
- Make the templates! The book talked about cutting templates before you begin, and I thought why bother if there's plenty of pictures in the book? Lets just say I had a couple backwards cuts from accidentally looking at the wrong picture in the book... I'm going to be cutting some templates out of my spare pieces :)
- Write the measurements down on the back of the molding. Normally when doing these kinds of projects I can measure a cut and keep that figure in my head until I get to the saw, but with this project I kept on having to try and remember a linear measurement, a corner angle and sometimes a ceiling slope and by the time I was finished following the charts for the miter angles, the linear measurement was partially forgotten.
Everything else from here on out will be just the furnishings and decorations, so next up will be pictures and a video of the finished room!
Monday, January 28, 2008
Setting up a Nursery, Part 4
This weekend we took on the chair molding to get us one step closer to being finished with this room. This project was a first for us and I finally got to try out my Christmas present.
The first challenge encountered was that the height of the stripes I taped out kind of increased by about 2 inches between the first wall and the last wall, not too apparent to the naked eye, but it called for some extra touch-up painting. The next challenge encountered was trying to find a process for installing each piece that would not result in liquid nails all over the place. Our general process for each piece went kind of like this:
It was a success, though, although I did have to cut a few shim pieces, and Lindsay's caulking finished it off into a nice professional looking installation. Lindsay also did the painting, which was not as much fun as the yellow walls. Instead of the Valspar, we just went with some inexpensive ultra-white semi-gloss that claimed to be commercial quality. Commercial quality apparently means very drippy and messy, and requires commercial quality cleaners to get it off the brush and your hands.
The final big project will be the crown molding, which we will take on in early February.
The first challenge encountered was that the height of the stripes I taped out kind of increased by about 2 inches between the first wall and the last wall, not too apparent to the naked eye, but it called for some extra touch-up painting. The next challenge encountered was trying to find a process for installing each piece that would not result in liquid nails all over the place. Our general process for each piece went kind of like this:
- Measure the angles and mark the trim for cutting
- Walk out to the saw and then try to remember which side of the tick mark to line the blade up with
- Return and fit the piece into place, check it with the level
- Take the piece back off the wall and put some liquid nails on it
- Try to put the piece back in the same spot, check it with the level again
- Turn to grab a nail quickly before the piece falls off the wall or shifts slightly from whoever's holding it
- Try to find a stud with my semi-reliable stud-finder
- Check the level again and fix it
- Nail a few finishing nails in, counter-punch and then try to clean up the glue that smeared out
It was a success, though, although I did have to cut a few shim pieces, and Lindsay's caulking finished it off into a nice professional looking installation. Lindsay also did the painting, which was not as much fun as the yellow walls. Instead of the Valspar, we just went with some inexpensive ultra-white semi-gloss that claimed to be commercial quality. Commercial quality apparently means very drippy and messy, and requires commercial quality cleaners to get it off the brush and your hands.
The final big project will be the crown molding, which we will take on in early February.
Monday, January 21, 2008
Setting up a Nursery, Part 3
We completed the next major step of painting the nursery this past weekend. Lindsay chose a nice sunny yellow color along with a darker yellow for doing stripes. The color scheme really works with the black furniture and blue accents that we're going to have.We got the base-coat completed earlier in the week, and thankfully only needed one gallon / one coat thanks to the high quality of Lowe's Valspar 'Signature Series' paint that we had to get because the color Lindsay picked was from the Eddie Bauer line. That was some pretty good paint compared to the stuff we got from Wal-Mart the last time.
Painting the Stripes
Painting the stripes was pretty tricky, but rewarding. The plan was to have the stripes go from the floor to where the chair molding will go, so we started by measuring off that distance and then with the help of a handy little $14.99 laser level from Target, I marked off 4" increments. That part wasn't too bad, but what took all the time was getting the vertical lines taped off. For each one I had to stick the laser level on the wall lined up with my mark, project the vertically level line to the floor and then carefully tape off the laser line. The idea was the chair molding would cover both the over-painting at the top of the stripe and the pinhole that the level left behind. Three full rolls of painters tape and three evenings later we had perfect stripes!
The best part is, no repeat trips to Lowes for more paint (just more painters tape).
Monday, January 14, 2008
Setting up a Nursery, Part 2
This weekend we let the sawdust fly as we finished off the next 2 projects for our nursery:
Letters for his Name
One of the ideas Lindsay wanted to do was to put his name on the wall with wooden lettering. She did some pricing and the letters we liked cost as much as $10 apiece from Pottery Barn, or as low as $3 apiece for dinky little letters from other places. She suggested that we could do our own and I jumped at the opportunity to make a contribution.
We scoured the web for the perfect font, but wound up picking the default Comic Sans font for it's simplicity and roundness. I blew the letters up to full page size and printed them out to use as stencils. We thought we could utilize some plywood in the garage left from Harrison's bunk bed, and it was thick enough, but not really meant for jigsaw cuts, so that got scrapped. However, our second attempt, armed with a fresh piece of solid pine and a better jigsaw blade for scrolling cuts, was much more successful. Lindsay sanded each letter, spray-painted them red and then attached ribbon bows for hanging them. The final product looks great, but there will be no pictures as our tradition is to not reveal the name until the little guy is here (although I tried to convince to Lindsay that it doesn't matter this time around, as there will be no more letter cutting).
The Rocking Chair
Our second project for the weekend was painting our rocking chair red to fit the decor for the nursery. I borrowed an orbital sander and sanded down the finish the best I could and Lindsay dispensed about 3.5 cans of spray paint on it, covering the garage in a light pink dusting and making the tendons in her right hand very sore in the process. The results were amazing, the chair looks brand new and really sets off against the furniture.
Next up, getting some paint on the walls...
Letters for his Name
One of the ideas Lindsay wanted to do was to put his name on the wall with wooden lettering. She did some pricing and the letters we liked cost as much as $10 apiece from Pottery Barn, or as low as $3 apiece for dinky little letters from other places. She suggested that we could do our own and I jumped at the opportunity to make a contribution.
We scoured the web for the perfect font, but wound up picking the default Comic Sans font for it's simplicity and roundness. I blew the letters up to full page size and printed them out to use as stencils. We thought we could utilize some plywood in the garage left from Harrison's bunk bed, and it was thick enough, but not really meant for jigsaw cuts, so that got scrapped. However, our second attempt, armed with a fresh piece of solid pine and a better jigsaw blade for scrolling cuts, was much more successful. Lindsay sanded each letter, spray-painted them red and then attached ribbon bows for hanging them. The final product looks great, but there will be no pictures as our tradition is to not reveal the name until the little guy is here (although I tried to convince to Lindsay that it doesn't matter this time around, as there will be no more letter cutting).
The Rocking Chair
Our second project for the weekend was painting our rocking chair red to fit the decor for the nursery. I borrowed an orbital sander and sanded down the finish the best I could and Lindsay dispensed about 3.5 cans of spray paint on it, covering the garage in a light pink dusting and making the tendons in her right hand very sore in the process. The results were amazing, the chair looks brand new and really sets off against the furniture.
Next up, getting some paint on the walls...
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Setting up a Nursery, Part 1
With our last little boy on the way, we have an opportunity for a first this time around: setting up a proper nursery before he gets here.
With Harrison, we were still in an apartment when we brought him home, so we didn't get to set him up a nursery until we moved into our first home a month or two later. When Sawyer came along, he had to bunk up with Harrison for 6 months until we got into this house where we could set him up his own room. But now with #3 on the way, we actually have a spare room to decorate before he even gets here.
Our baby furniture has served us well, and probably would have held up for another round, but since this third little guy is going to be up to his ears in hand-me-downs we decided to get something new for him. We sold the old crib, changing table, crib set, and a bunch of stuff out of the spare room, a surprisingly easy task using Woodlands Online. The proceeds from that helped us to pick a nice new crib and crib set with a fresh new design. Matched with a nice new dresser and side table from Rooms to Go and this nursery is already on it's way.
With Harrison, we were still in an apartment when we brought him home, so we didn't get to set him up a nursery until we moved into our first home a month or two later. When Sawyer came along, he had to bunk up with Harrison for 6 months until we got into this house where we could set him up his own room. But now with #3 on the way, we actually have a spare room to decorate before he even gets here.
Our baby furniture has served us well, and probably would have held up for another round, but since this third little guy is going to be up to his ears in hand-me-downs we decided to get something new for him. We sold the old crib, changing table, crib set, and a bunch of stuff out of the spare room, a surprisingly easy task using Woodlands Online. The proceeds from that helped us to pick a nice new crib and crib set with a fresh new design. Matched with a nice new dresser and side table from Rooms to Go and this nursery is already on it's way.
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