PROJECT phase 5

We had a "painting" party yesterday for FHE and finally finished the tree house!!!!! I had lots of Great helpers and all I can say is that its a good thing I decided to go with natural wood color. My helpers were eager but not always careful. The kids you don't recognise is the neighbor boy.
I would personally like to thank my Dad for taking me to all those jobs and teaching me how to use tools. Thanks Dad for making me work, I can now say I like to work. (on the occasional project)
I want to thank my Mom for teaching me that there is nothing we can't do. Even if we don't know what we are doing we can figure it out. Thanks Mom I used a lot of that. I had a lot of fun. I just hope my kids have as much fun playing on it.

squeamish

All squeamish people close your eyes for this one.
With potty training Brennen has been a nightmare about pooping in the potty. He knows how he just wont. I am completely fed up with the whole thing. Just when I think that if I have to swish out one more pair of underwear I am going to go CRAZY!!!! (insert buh, buh, buh, here )
he does this.
All on his own.
I know its gross to most of you, but to me its a beautiful site

Avatar

My kids are obsessed with this show called Avatar. They want to watch it morning noon and night. When I block the TV so they can't watch it. they act it out in the backyard.
It is not that its a bad show there is just too much of it. Now they got Scott hooked so he allows it all the time.
Brennen started drawing the main characters tattoo's on his own skin so all markers have been confiscated. As you can see Ellie decided to get in on the action as well. However her tattoos are more true to the animation.
I will be glad when this trend is over. The only problem is another trend is around the corner. I wonder what it will be.

Friends

I love when I catch my children playing nicely together. I looked outside and the little boys were playing transformers together. It was so cute. I tried to be as quiet as possible so I could capture this sweet moment.
I could have watched them for hours just playing nicely talking in their cute little voices.
Its times like this that I think I might be doing something right.
Its times like this I know why I became a mother.
Its times like this I m glad I could capture the moment to remember it forever.
I love my kids and I love being a Mom.

Woobie

Peter and his favorite thing in the world his WOOBIE. Or the way he says it weebee. Peter LOVES!!!!!! his Woobie. It can make everything better no matter how dirty or smelly it gets. Sometimes its a pain to haul it around everywhere we go. There have even been times I forgot it and had to turn around to go back and get it. I have to say I love it too. Life is so much easier with Woobie around. Peter can be content to sit while I shop if Woobie is in his grasp. I love that the world could be coming to an end, or Brennen is driving him crazy. As long as the Woobie is around it doesn't matter. I think I will be more sad than him when it is time for the Woobie to stay home.

PROJECT phase 4

I have a new appreciation for net makers!! I wanted to do something a little more elaborate with the rope on the railing than just a criss cross pattern. I tried and failed many times to make a knotted diamond pattern that would be small enough that Peter couldn't wiggle through. After 2 hours I gave up and went with the basic criss cross pattern. It works, although for my final side I think I will put the eye hooks closer together.
I also installed the the pulley system (probably the easiest part of this project). The kids LOVE this feature. I made sure to install a pulley that can handle 150lbs in case they get the idea to haul each other up in the bucket. Not recommended but they will probable try it.
I also finished the trap door. Nothing super fancy but it does the job. Today I made a rope loop ladder that they can use to get up or down the trap door. Basically I tied a bunch of big loops in a single line of rope so they could put their feet through the loops to boost themselves up or lower down, again extreamely basic but very utilitarian. I should finish the entire project tomorrow. We are going to have a "painting" (water sealant, the wood will stay its natural color) party for FHE to complete the treehouse.

PROJECT phase 3

Okay I don't really know how many phases this is going to take me (probably 20)so just stay posted. I am doing this little be little and trying to figure out solutions, problems, plans etc. as I go. It takes a little ingenuity because I am trying to use as much reclaimed wood I got from a construction site as I can.
So, yesterday I completed the ladder and a good portion of the railing. The ladder took me some time because I had to figure out the angles and I had no extra wood. Who would have thought I needed that geometry class? I guess I should have paid more attention when they said I would use this someday. I do have a square which my children love to point out that it is a triangle and NOT a square. However not really using one for its designated purpose before, it took me about 15 min to figure out the whole angle measure, marking thing. The ladder steps look a little sloped in the pic but that is because of how I was standing when I took it. I can assure you they are fabulous.
I think I am going to do crisscross rope on 3 sides of the railing. In part because it would be cheaper, and because it would be easier. Either way I am still having fun. I just wish I could work on it as much as I wanted and not have to worry about dance class, tennis, gymnastics, school, meal times etc. etc.

PROJECT phase 2

So my tree house is coming along pretty good. I am back to doing everything on my own. I only got Scott to help with with the things that actually take 2 people to do. I guess I'm okay with that, it is my project after all. I realized as I hung my floor boards that I am not completely square but that's okay because I am going to put a trap door in the corner of the floor, so I can fudge the angles a little. I took one of my extra slides off of my hill and set it up on the tree house.
I will need to put a couple of feet on the slide so it is at a better angle but that should be easy. I have to make another trip to the hardware store to get a few more things. Isn't that always the case?
I worried about what I should do with the gaps around the tree that would be too small or awkward to put wood, but they would be big enough that if Peter was up there he could get stuck. Until I had some inspiration. I am going to use that small squared chicken wire and screw it underneath the planks and over the gap so no little legs can fall through but the tree could still grow with out opposition.
My family probably feels neglected because I am spending all my time with the tree house that I keep forgetting to make them food. So sorry, isn't that what a microwave is for? Hang in there guys it wont be long.

Camera where are you?

this is not an advertisement just me reminiscing and hoping for better things

I lost my beloved camera. :( I started with this little number which was great at the time.
I loved that it was so small and splash proof. It did a pretty good job. As time passed, technology got better and it was time to upgrade. Because I was so happy with this little guy I went for his bigger better brother.

mine was blue

I LOVED this camera. It did everything I needed it to do. It had image stabilizing which was great for my very active subjects. My favorite feature was that is was waterproof!! and shockproof!!! I took it swimming and hiking with me. So childproof I never worried if my kids wanted to take a picture because it could handle a beating.

Sadly now it is lost. :( I feel like something is missing. All these precious life memories I can't record because my beloved camera is no where to be found.

I had to go back to my old camera. It still does the job but not nearly as nice. Now I remembered why I upgraded.

Now I have my eye on this little number

Olympus STYLUS TOUGH 6020 GREEN CAMERA

Same idea only better. More features to fit our changing lifestyle. Still waterproof but it can go deeper. Still shockproof but you can drop it from higher up. New HD film quality, 1 button drag panorama shot, and its the cutest shade of green.

I know the new thing is to get a nice SLR camera with all the bells and whistles. That there are cameras out their that take professional quality photos etc. etc But I need a camera that fits my life, while I'm living it!

I want one that I can keep in my purse at all times so when life does happen I'm prepared. . . So. . . anyone want to donate to my memory capturing fund? j/k I think I have a birthday coming up in a few months. Maybe I can get it then.

ITS A PROJECT. . phase 1

For awhile now I have been wanting to build a tree house in our backyard. I think it was actually me that talked everyone into it. Scott would really rather me leave him out of the whole thing but as you can see, I roped him into helping. I know it is quite a project but I really want to do it. I don't know if it is because I want the kids to use the backyard more, or because I always wanted one myself, or because I remember all the awesome times we spent as kids building forts in general.
I used to love to plan it all out.
Find the scraps around the property, and even the dump. Ahhh the dump so many great treasures found their but that's another story. I decided if I post my progress it will actually get done.
To fund this "little" project we held a yard sale. We earned $130 after tithing was taken out. I went to the hardware store the same day and purchased all the materials I thought I needed. The total came out to $131. If that's not divine help I don't know what is.

Of course I needed a few more materials but I decided I could put up the extra cash.

So first things first. I had to dig the holes for the posts. This turned out the be the hardest job and my little minions did not want to help. Once I placed 2 out of the 3 post supports I realized I had to move them to the left about 8 inches. What's that saying measure twice cut once? I guess that applies to holes as well. Another hour later I got the post supports in the proper place. . . . I hope. . Here's a before picture of the project. With a few pics of some of my helpers. I know they mean well but man it takes a lot of patience and a lot of extra time when they want to help. Hopefully they will learn to love work if I let them help. Or maybe it will just kill me.

wish me luck

Mouths of babes

So Brennen has had a rough time potty training but he finally made it all the way. We have been talking a lot about him being "potty trained" hoping he would just do it. After far too many accidents we had to buy some new underwear. I thought he would like to pick out his new underwear. He picked these.

I was a little confused because he has never even seen Thomas the train. I thought for sure he would go with the Buzz lightyear or superheros, but no, he decided on Thomas the train. Who was I to judge so I said sure and threw them in the cart.
2 days later he is wearing his new skivies when he points to them and says "See mom, potty trains." I finally got it. He didn't understand when I said pottytrained because there were no "trains" involved. Now he has his trains and every day he says "I want to wear my potty trains"
Gotta Love a childs logic.

Sea Shells

What do you do with all those interesting shells you find at the beach?
We like to make necklaces out of them. Here is our most recent batch.
Sometimes we keep them for ourselves.

Other times we give them as little thank you gifts. At the end of the last school year we gave them to my kids teachers with a note that said,

"Something from my favorite place for one of my favorite people"

They were a huge hit.
The trick is to find ones with holes already in them. Unless you have a diamond drill bit. (Seashells are next to impossible to drill otherwise) We also lacquer them so they look fresh from the ocean (shiny)