First day of T-Ball

DJ seems to have a knack for crushing a wiffle ball off of the tee in Sonny and Eleanor's back yard.  Therefore, we registered DJ to play T-Ball with the local recreation team.  He is a part of the Carroll Manor Orioles, and his first practice was on April 12.

He was a little wigged out at first but once he calmed down, he started to get interested.  Sort of.  More times than not, it was more fun to play with the dirt on the infield than to pay attention.  It's just too hard to resist kicking the dirt with one's cleats.  We are not surprised.  

He seemed to have a good time.  The coach is great, and they didn't spend long doing any one thing.  They ran the bases, hit the ball off of the tee, played catch, and learned how to throw.  DJ tried hitting left handed, and he was a little awkward.  So we told the coach to try righty next time and see how he does, even though he does everything else with his left hand.....

Basement silliness

The day we got the basement carpeted, the kids ran and ran and ran in circles for at least 20 minutes.  Then they got the bright idea to get their bouncy balls!





If you can't see the video, click here: http://youtu.be/8GXQcZ-Mb-w.  Enjoy!

Feelings

Today, the youngest Old Married Couple had quite a deep conversation during lunch, according to Sonny and Eleanor.

Something happened and Elektra says to Evan, "You hurt my feelings."

Evan replies cooly, "I don't have feelings."

Elektra, more forcefully points out, "You hurt my feelings!!!"

Evan, with equal force, replies, "I told you! I don't have feelings!!!!!"

I don't know how Sonny and Eleanor kept a straight face.....


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Basement - we're done!!

Holy smokes, it seemed like it would happen, but here we are!

In February, the bamboo was installed in Steve's man cave.




Then about a week later, the carpet would be installed. But first, George confirmed what Steve already suspected.... The solid wood door to his man cave was warped to the point of no return. We were 3 days from the carpet installation, and so it was do it now or forever hold our peace (else lots of mess on new carpet and you want the carpet install to be done correctly). Off to the Gnome Despot ....at 8pm... to buy a new door.

George wanted to get an exterior door because it's metal (so it won't warp) and because it's insulated by design (insulate from sound coming out of the room). We were on the hunt for a 28" door. There was not one. The smallest door was 30". Seriously?!

So we inquired... How long and what would it cost to have a custom 28" door made? Well, it wouldn't be paneled so it wouldn't match any other doors in the basement - this drives George's sense of detail and construction fashion bonkers, it would take 3-4 weeks to get, and it would cost more than double than a stock door.

Forget that. George said he'd make a 30" door fit. I wasn't going to ask how. So buy a 30" door we did.

And he did. He took one of the framing 2x4s out, and voila... The 2 inches we needed to make a 30" door fit.

The carpet was installed correctly, and we finally had a room to love.




The kids ran around the support poles for 20 minutes straight. They needed not one toy, just the space to run.

In this picture, off to the back left, there are 2 white doors. Those are custom doors that George made to cover our electrical panel. Those ROCK. He did an awesome job with those! This was after he had to fix the framing that the electrician installing the generator cut rather goofy to install the required resistors.... That's another story altogether.

George finished the laundry room details and the bathroom, Steve and I finished installing the electrical sockets and structured wiring drops, and then it was time to bring stuff back in!

I gave to Eleanor and Sonny (our awesome daycare provider) 80% of the kids' toys that were being stored in the garage. That way, she could pick through any age appropriate things she may want for the younger kids she has and/or give them to those children's parents if they want them. So amazingly, not THAT many toys came back in. They just happen to be messy toys, e.g. blocks that can be strewn everywhere!!!

Today, my cousin Parris sent us six (6) guys to help,us move our stuff back in. Six!!! Parris is the best!! Plus It was a gorgeous 72 degree day... Maybe a good sign for once...?

We did NOT send everything back inside. In fact, probably half of what was out there still is! So it's time to borrow a truck and do a few Goodwill and dump runs! But we can get compact cars into the 2 garage bays that were being occupied by stuff and construction junk.

So tonight we are unpacking, sucking up stink bugs that were hibernating in our boxes if they happened to pop open, and can barely believe our eyes that we are FINALLY here!!

Now to start dreaming up the next project......... Or not. :-)


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DJ's spaceship

While I was taking a (4 hour) nap, DJ was in the living room being INCREDIBLY creative!!  According to Daddy, DJ built this spaceship all by himself!

Way to go, DJ!!

Tucked into bed

Elektra has been really into tucking what's important in her world into bed.  She loves pulling the covers up over herself to tuck herself into bed as well as any stuffed animal or toy that is in her favorites at the moment.  Usually, Bunny is tucked in at Eleanor's house into one of the beds there first thing in the morning when we arrive.  Today, I walked into DJ's room, and I saw this:

Frosty the Snowman was tucked into DJ's bed with his race car blanket.  How incredibly sweet...!

Elektra milestone - potty trained!

It's official as of Christmas, really.  Elektra is potty trained at the age of 3 1/4!  We thought she was potty trained before Christmas, but used the Christmas break as the time to really see if it was true.... she was dry overnight and during the day.

Last weekend, we went to Target to buy true Big Girl Underwear, and she picked out Disney Princesses and Minnie Mouse sets.  Maybe we should buy stock in Disney for a few years.  Regardless, she loves her new underwear!

I cancelled my Amazon Mom diaper subscription, and now I'm looking to give away a box of Size 5 diapers.  I still have some loose 5s and 6s as well as some pullups, just in case of diarrhea but but both kids have been really good even in those trying circumstances!

YAY ELEKTRA!!

The pumpkin mask

DJ was a pumpkin for Halloween, and one of the clearance items I found while making his costume was a pumpkin mask.  He wore it with his costume, and it has been around the house since, getting wear every once in awhile.

Today, Elektra donned said mask, and walked up to me and said, "I'm Elektra Eye Patch!!  And I'm going to get you!"

And sure enough, she GOT ME!!!!!

Then after she got me, she took off her mask, and told me that she was "...just Elektra."

She put the mask back on, and said she was going to go get Daddy!  She yelled, "I'm Elektra Eye Patch!!!", and off she went running.

For Christmas, Elektra received a treasure chest of Princess outfits to wear from the West Coast Steaks.  There were 2 full dresses, one 2 piece set, and all sorts of accessories like necklaces, rings, and slippers.  She couldn't WAIT to put them on.  And apparently, her cousins Sophia and Eleni, couldn't wait to help her!!  As you can see in the pictures below, they had a very willing live baby doll to play with!!

In October, we met Damian, Jenn, and Leo at the Gaver Tree Farm in Mt. Airy, MD.  There were tons of activities there for the kids, including a giant corn maze, slides, water duck races, straw bales for climbing, bean bag throws, and a giant pumpkin patch that required a straw ride to get to it!  

Here is a video of DJ at the water duck races.  If you can't see the video, click here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_r1o2upR_dA

And then there was Elektra trying hulahooping for the first time.  If you can't see the video, click here:

http://www.youtube.com/embed/0bMClcNjq0s

Finally, a few pictures of our little pumpkin patch romp!

Crazy Mouse

On Thursday morning, we were getting ready to leave to go to work (and take the kids to daycare).  I left the house first, went down the driveway, and off I went.  I thought Steve was right behind me, and he was... except that I got about a mile down the road when he called me.

"Did you see the crazy mouse on the driveway??" 

"What crazy mouse?"  

"This field mouse is just running in circles on our driveway!"

"Get video!"

I hear Steve disconnect the call and a few minutes later, I received the following video text (isn't technology awesome?!).

If you can't see the video, click here:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3sa_mZXZHY.  (sorry for the typo in the intro)

Yep, this little guy was most certainly chasing its tail happily not caring about anything else in the world.  I don't know how Steve saw it on the driveway, but he had gotten out of the car, and was literally inches from it to take the video.  

We find it amusing that it took nearly 3 minutes for this critter to realize that Steve was even there and when it did, it stopped, eyeballed him, and then scampered off.

DJ participated in his first Christmas pageant at his school on Thursday, December 15.  Although we weren't supposed to video the event due to chapel rules (and, they had a professional videographer), Nadia and I decided to use our iPhone video cameras to film this first time event for our children.

There are a fair number of children in the 4's class... DJ and Grace are in the afternoon 4's class, which is smaller than the morning 4's class, but combined the two classes are just over 30 children.

Look for a bouncing-and-can't-stand-still DJ in the far right hand side, wearing a purple and white striped shirt, standing just underneath the pulpit.  He's just to the left of a little boy wearing a white long sleeved shirt and a sweater vest.

Grace is more in the middle - towards the left side wearing a shiny pink dress, standing just to the right of a girl in a white shirt.

They sang 4 songs, Angels We Have Heard On High, Go Tell Them On The Mountain (that Jesus Christ is born), Bells Are Ringing, and Happy Birthday (to the Lord).

I think you'll agree that this is just hilarious.

If you can't see the video, click here:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JB1h86nRrMs

Christmas Lights

I started to decorate the house for Christmas, and I found the lights that Brother John gave to my parents in the 1960s while they lived at Charmuth Road.

After 45+ years, THEY STILL WORK!!  Of course they do... they had lots of tender loving care, and stuff made back then was made better (right?).

But I can't bring myself to hang them.  They would be a fire hazard and would waste a metric ton of electricity.  Plus, there are bulbs missing their moisture protective rings, and I can't replace those!  Unfortunately, I missed the 2011 old light trade-in at the Gnome Despot, but I am thinking about saving them for next year.

Karma works in weird ways, though.  I attended my department's holiday party today and participated in a white elephant gift exchange.  The gift I picked was...

Yes, really.  And you know that there was no one that was going to steal this gift from me.  That was the only way I would have it!!

I'm having trouble finding these on the internet to get more.  They're just too hilarious to not try and find more of their brethren!!

Merry Flamingo Christmas!

We have a bug problem.

We have a bug problem.  Ironically, the stinkbugs were not nearly as bad as predicted, and we are only seeing them come in through our chimney flue.  But we knew they were coming, and we did various things to try and keep them out, including putting screening over the eves and the bathroom vents, as well as pulling bushes/shrubbery lining the house. 

The week after Thanksgiving 2010, I went into our basement and discovered bugs... lots of bugs.  Camel crickets, in fact.  When I couldn't just step on them to squash them because they JUMPED, I got the vacuum.  I went down 3 times a day for over a month and a half and vacuumed 7-10 a session.  I sprayed the baseboards with insecticide of some kind.  I saw a reduction, but I don't know if it was because the weather got warmer and they moved outside or because I was actually winning "the war".

An adult camel cricket, and not the biggest we've seen either!!

With the basement being redone, I thought that maybe the camel crickets would be gone since we put in new windows and doors, we well as sealing the cinderblock with drylock and framing/insulating/drywalling 90% of the basement.

Then, a couple weeks before Thanksgiving, I saw Mr. Camel Cricket.  Then I saw another one... another...and another.  Out came the vacuum, and the war began.  Again.  I was seeing the majority of them in the unfinished utility room, but they were venturing out into the new laundry room and bathroom.  

I decided to try an experiment.  I put a towel down to block the threshold between the laundry room and the utility room, I caught all of the bugs that I could find, and then laid down glue traps in the utility room.  Apparently, my experiment is working.  

I have not seen 1 camel cricket since in the laundry room or the bathroom, and my traps are filling.  Of the 4 traps I put down, 3 of the 4 are about 1/3rd full.  The 4th trap was flat out disgusting when I looked on Saturday. 

I tossed that one in the trash, and put down a fresh one.  In 24 hours, it had another 4 bugs.  Since Saturday, that trap has another 5-6 bugs on it.  

This begs the question: how/where are they getting in???  Don't know, but I seem to have them under control at this point.  The glue traps placed in strategic places are working, thankfully.

Yuck.

Laundry room floor is done!

Today the grout was installed in the hallway to the laundry room and the laundry room itself!  I helped George with the cleanup part of it... the part where you have to wipe down each tile with water and then dry it with a towel to get the sandy film off of it.

When I took this picture, the grout was still wet, so it's darker than how it will likely dry.  Ironically, we want the dry grout color to be more like the dark shade it is when it's wet.  Oh well.  It's done now so we aren't changing it!!

It should be ready for having everything permanently installed tomorrow, provided George gets out of his other job early enough.  Otherwise, it'll be done on Friday.  At minimum, the floor needs one more wipe down to get the last bit of grit, and I'll do that tomorrow evening after work.

It looks really awesome!!!!

Flooding the house

In April, May, and September, our basement flooded after very hard rains and Hurricane Irene. The water was muddy, and came from both the door and one of the windows, the one facing the back yard.

In April, the water effectively solidified our need to demolish the basement and start this never-ending project. The musty smell from the carpet could not be ignored.

In May, the water was spread with a broom and dried with a fan because although maddening, it wasn't directly damaging since the basement was empty. But it pooled in one section of the basement, apparently where the floor is lowest.  As part of the water proofing plan, I painted all of the cinder block walls with Drylock paint, too.

In July, we regraded the side yard. We also dug a drain pit, and installed a new drain at the bottom of the stairs.

By September, we had the subfloor down and the insulation and drywall installed.  Hurricane Irene hit, and the basement flooded AGAIN.  Floor fans fad to be brought in and we spread kitty litter where we saw water seeping up through the subfloor in hopes to keep the damage to a minimum.  The wood subfloor swelled in multiple places, and the insulation underneath the window facing the back yard was soaked and covered in mud.  The water on the floor that we could see (where there isn't a subfloor) was also muddy.

Side note: the home inspector that looked at the house before we bought it says that there was no evidence of water intrusion - even after Hurricane Katrina - because I asked very specifically about that.  Sooooo, we didn't have a water intrusion problem BEFORE the land owner behind us cleared his land and regraded it in April....just sayin'.

Anyway, we had to re-slurry the cinder block that was outside of our new basement door.  We also had to install a window well outside of the window facing the back yard.

In October, we regraded one more time, brought in top soil, put down grass seed, and covered it with 10 bales of straw from a local farm.

Meanwhile, we had a minor laundry mishap in early October. The washer drain wasn't actually IN the drain pipe, and I ran laundry not knowing that. Thus, the washer drained onto the floor... and it went where?  To the lowest point in the basement.  Fantastic.  How did we know?  Because that section of the wood subfloor swelled horribly.

On Saturday, Steve cut open that section of the floor, and we found water trapped underneath the moisture barrier as well as between the moisture barrier and the wood.  No wonder the wood continued to swell.  Once the floor was opened, we vacuumed it with the shop vac, and it dried within half an hour.

Otherwise, it seems that the regrades, the window well, and the work on the outside stairs seems to have worked to keep us dry from the muddy silt floods coming from the southwest.  It's just annoying that we have to patch the floor already!!

At least we don't have carpet down yet.... ?

Other house projects

Last week, the generator install was completed from an electrical perspective.




What you see in this picture is 2 (automatic) transfer switches, one for the main house and one powering the garage's circuit breaker box. Initially, we were considering just the one box, but then we remembered that the lights and ceiling fans for both the kitchen and the living rooms are wired to the circuit breaker box in the garage. Why have a whole house generator if you can't turn on the lights in the 2 rooms you use the most??

Now we have to decide what our propane source will be. We currently rent a tank, and we probably need a second tank... So do we rent or buy? We will have vendors come out to give us estimates in a few weeks.

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Tile in the laundry room

George has found some time to tile our laundry room! We bought the tile early to mid-summer, so now we are actually getting it installed!!




Since this picture, George has finished almost all of it. One more day of tiling, a day/night of drying, and then grout!!

Then we'll get to do laundry again... As we'll get a fully functioning laundry room!!


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Preventing dog pee....

Since we bought the house, we have practically gutted it and started over.   We have replaced a few pieces of major hardware, and added new pieces as needed (e.g. the water filtration system).

The first piece that was replaced and subsequently moved, was the oil tank.  We intend to eventually put a high efficiency air conditioner near it, too, but that's later down the list now because we ended up remodeling the basement this year.

With Hurricane Irene, we lost power for 5 days.  With no electricity comes no water.  We borrowed a small generator from the autocross club (I am the chairperson... so I should be able to use the equipment as needed.... it's the small perks for being a volunteer, right?!) to save our refrigerator and power the TV.  But really, the lack of water really cramps one's style, to put it mildly.

Enter stage left, a whole house generator.  When we bought this house, we had every intention of putting one of these in since the electricity goes off every time a squirrel walks on the lines.  Luckily, BGE has been fairly responsive up until now, and we've been REALLY lucky during the major snowpocolypses to not lose power, but Hurricane Irene was the first time BGE resources were stretched way beyond their capacity.  The morning after the storm, the neighbors were all outside talking around a fallen tree across the road (which was cleared by neighbors with chain saws and front loader tractors).  I asked them what the over-under was on getting power back any time soon, and every last one of them said,

"Oh, it'll be at least a week."

Because that's what happened with Hurricane Katrina.  So the bets were pretty good that the same would hold true here.  And it did.  So this pushed the whole house generator need up to the top again.

Today began the generator installation.  It's not complete yet as it's not yet hooked to the house, and I need to schedule time for my propane company to move my oil tank and install it to the generator.  But now that we have at least 2 new "appliances" outside, I decided it's time to fence it off from the dogs.

NO MORE DOG PEE ON MY NEW STUFF.

To be fair, I should have done this with the oil tank when we first got it, but I wasn't thinking straight at the time... I had a lot of other things going on at the time.  Imagine that.

Oil tank on the left, generator on the right.

Generator in the foreground, oil tank in the background.

Anyway, clearly this is a temporary solution... since i'm using baby gates.  Yes, I said baby gates.  In fact, baby gates tend to be effective as dog gates, too!  My dogs could jump these if they REALLY want to, but I think they're too lazy for that.  And actually, this needs to remain temporary until we plan out where all of the other "appliances" (air conditioner and propane tank) will be.  Then we can work through making a more permanent solution.

Or, we put up something semi-permanent knowing that we may have to start over when other hardware is moved.

I can't wait to hear my neighbors laugh when they see it tomorrow.  LOL

Halloween 2011

Halloween was full of fun for the kids this year!

DJ told Eleanor and me late last week that he wanted to be a pumpkin which had me scrambling to figure out if I could buy a costume or if I would have to make one.  When I searched online for a costume, the only thing that was sized for a boy his size was $40 shipped.  Not a chance was I buying that!  That left me the "make my own" option left.

Saturday morning, I began my journey at Target to buy pumpkin leaf bags.  Then I went to Michaels craft store to buy "accessories".  While I was there, I saw an orange tshirt, a jack-o-lantern stencil, a leaf stencil, and a few hats/masks for DJ to try.  I also bought fabric markers.  I brought it all home, and craft time began.

Meanwhile, my parents and I had seen a Tinkerbell costume that I knew Elektra would love (and she did).  Between her Tinkerbell costume and her new sparkly shoes, she was set!

During the day, DJ and Grace went to Preschool where they were scheduled to have a Halloween party, and they were supposed to wear their costumes to school.  Grace dressed as a flower this year.

The Great Pumpkin and The Flower

DJ and Grace dressed to go the prom Halloween Party.

Fun on the stairs!

DJ at his preschool party

That night, when they got home, the DJ and Elektra were SO excited to go Trick-or-Treating!!  I dressed the kids to be relatively warm, and off we went!  Daddy stayed home to give out candy to the kids coming to our house.  We saw a bunch of our neighbors, met some new ones, and one house was all decked out in Halloween decor!  The kids walked the full mile that our street is and then some (since we also walked down driveways and sidewalks!).  By the last house, the kids were done with walking and ready to go home to check out their loot.

Elektra-Bell

Elektra-Bell and The Great Pumpkin

Elektra-Bell and The Great Pumpkin

The Great Pumpkin being silly

Happy Hanoween (as Elektra says it)!!