Phonebooth?

After a slumber party where curls were created with damp hair and rags overnight... we found ourselves in the old-timey part of COSI where they had a rotary dial phone booth. The girls were fascinated.

Happy Birthday Trevor!

Well, it happened... the boy turned 3. The day included presents in the morning, a trip to COSI with the family and Pauline, some downtime to watch new movies, and a party at Grandma and Grandpa's house. Happy Birthday Trevor, we love you!

Winter / Christmas 2010

Can't wait for Christmas!

Ok... maybe waiting kind of sucks...

And, more importantly, the painting crew has finally finished painting the basement. Carpet installation begins tomorrow!

Gingerbread House

Although I don't think it will hold together through the night... it was fun to decorate. The roof keeps sliding down...

Backyard!

he's a dinosaur... hard to catch him smiling.

leaf piles are fun!

Etch-a-Sketch

She's a etch-a-sketch whiz! This is our house... upstairs are the 3 bedrooms, bathroom and heat return grate in the hall, downstairs is the kitchen, complete with microwave and toaster with toast in it. It was truly impressive.

??? Huh ???

I'm pretty sure I posted this last year at about this time, but seriously Kohl's. Christmas in the third week of October? Aaargh.

Edit: Here it is, but it's from SEPTEMBER of 2008. Kohl's, you're crazy.

Trevor with Sammi Pahlsson

From the Breakfast with the Blue Jackets at the R Bar this morning. Actual quote from Trevor upon seeing this picture: "That's my hockey guy. He's my best friend."

cloud gazing at the playground.

Real Horsies are Fun Too!

Debbie and Pauline have been "getting to know" a mare named Reilly. They may buy her... but are right now helping groom and feed her. Yesterday Lauren went to Athens for some cousin time... and got to go for a ride! When we were packing, she's the one who told me that we should pack her bike helmet. She's so smart--I probably wouldn't have thought of that.

carousel horsies are fun

And Trevor is going with my suggestion that our favorite horse is the only one with the armour on it, just like his sister did. Muh-ha-ha.

Project: Complete.

Ta-da! After painting the plywood and strategically placing some wooden shims for levelling purposes, we're calling finish line on this project. Except for my thumb, this has been a fairly painless way to save $400. Now, to get to that two-week old stack of laundry!

Here is a link to the Youtube that showed the way.

I made mine slightly different: Instead of 17" tall mine are only 12", and since at that height it's too small to put your laundry baskets underneath, I went ahead and put plywood on the front face. I would recommend larger nails for the plywood, he is using 1 1/4" finishing nails, I would say go to 1 1/2".

My thumb:

Ouch. I probably drove 500 nails this afternoon. I guesstimated I missed the nail 1.5% of the time, which, at that volume, is enough to do this to your thumb. Next time I' m going to rent a nailgun.

Construction Phase:

Complete.

Pedestal #1...

Complete.

Back to Lowe's to re-cut boards.

OK, so raise your hand if you knew that a 2x4 board was neither 2 nor 4. Oh, really? Everyone knew that but me? Grumble grumble...

Trevor helps hammer

Lowe's is loud

We're having boards cut to make our own DIY washer and dryer stand. We're not paying $500 for two glorified drawers. What do you put in those things anyway? One of the great rip-offs of the modern appliance world. Pictures of finished project to follow.

Lorz Reunion 2010 pictures

We had a great time at Lake Chautauqua in Western NY. I realized after I got home that 90% of the pictures I took were of my own children, whom I see every day. Next year, only pictures of non-immediate family members!

Here is a link to the photo album.

Click HERE to start a slideshow instead