Driveway Chalk

One of the great things about spring is that the girls (Elizabeth especially) rediscover the outdoors and all of the things that they love to do outside. Last week, we did a bubbles posting - which is certainly up there among their favorites. Over the last two weeks or so, however, Elizabeth remembered chalk and has been drawing all over the driveway. Aunt Denise taught her how to play hopscotch on Saturday and that is becoming her new passion. Running out of room on the driveway, Elizabeth starts drawing on building scraps.

A Work-Ing Weekend

We made a lot of progress on the house over the weekend, with a lot of power wash-ing, deck build-ing and cement mix-ing. Friday night, Lee power washed the shakes on the front of the house. Saturday, Lee and Peter toiled over the decking and finished before the sun went down. Sunday was a short day, as they only built temporary steps and poured the concrete pad for the landing of the permanent steps. Much progress - if the weather holds out, the end (of the porch building, that is) just might be in sight.

Hard to believe that Lee is afraid of heights - the power washer is pretty unwieldy.
Deck progress.
Doing the happy deck dance.
Digging out for the pad
Making sure that the concrete is perfectly level.

New Hampshire Visitors!!

Today, Uncle Andy and Aunt Denise came down from New Hampshire to see the girls. We had a great visit - they have a ton of energy, so they were actually able to keep up with the girls and wore them out. We played in the yard and took a ride in the the wagon to the playground. Elizabeth had such a good time that she literally cried when they pulled out of the driveway.

Drawing on the driveway with Uncle Andy
Taking a wagon ride

Emily and Aunt Denise, sliding
Now its Uncle Andy and Elizabeth's turn

Sisters

Elizabeth at 24 months
Emily at just shy of 23 months

Bubbles

I don't know if it's all little kids or just our little kids, but they LOVE bubbles. For both Elizabeth and Emily, bubbles equal hours of entertainment - although it is even more fun for them if an adult is blowing the bubbles for them....

Serious Progress Over the Weekend

We got very lucky with the weather this weekend and between Friday afternoon and Sunday night, Lee and Peter made a lot of progress. They poured the cement piers on Friday afternoon/evening (complete with my run to Home Depot to pick five 80 pound (!!) bags of cement right as the sun was setting). Although they could only work during the afternoons on Saturday and Sunday, they somehow managed to put up all of the framing for the deck. If the weather holds, they should be able to lay the decking and build the steps next weekend. I also overheard Peter telling an inquisitive neighbor that they will be putting up the roof within three weeks (not likely, but I figure that maybe if I put it in writing, it might actually happen!!). All in all, impressive weekend work.

The cement mixer makes its first appearance.
Elizabeth checks the cement levels after the first batch of cement goes in.
First completed cement pier.
Saturday's work
Sunday night.

And what house posting would be complete without a video of the actual work in progress? I thought that the cement pouring would be the most exciting/interesting thing to watch.

The Perfect Dunkin Donuts Commercial....

House Update

Having been advised that we are the "talk of the neighborhood" by one of the many onlookers that stopped by to examine and (of course) comment on the progress over the weekend, I thought that some of our regular blog viewers might also be interested in an update on the progress.

The scraping is basically done and Peter put tar paper up one night when Lee was at work (notice Emily in the doorway, watching her crazy mother take pictures).
Here is the joist that Lee and Peter installed over the weekend - it doesn't look like much, but it apparently took them the better part of a day, including the flashing.
One of the six soni-tubes where the posts will be installed.
They had to go below the frost line, so these are at least 48 inches deep - two dug by hand.

I'm not sure if they planned to cover the tubes or if it was my "hope Emily doesn't end up like Baby Jessica" comment that convinced them....

Talking to Auntie Kelly and Baby Yogi

Yesterday, Auntie Kelly sent us a picture of her baby belly - she's 27 weeks, so she actually has a belly to show! Elizabeth and Emily were very excited by the picture and had all sorts of things to say about Auntie Kelly, Baby Yogi and Santa Fe. Of course, they were a lot more chatty before I turned on the camera, hence the prompting.

I think that we ought to invest in a webcam, so we can have some real family chats.

Weekend Warriors

This past weekend, we were a family of weekend warriors. The girls and I went to NH and made the rounds through family and friends (four separate visits in well under 24 hours!) while Lee and Peter laid the foundation - so to speak - for the porch, installing joists and soni-tubes. The girls, who handled themselves like champs, were a little worse for the wear by Monday afternoon.

Emily, Grammy and Elizabeth keep an eye out for nature at the lake.
Elizabeth, Emily and Ethan playing Let's Go Fishin'
Emily gets Grandpa to help her out while playing with Mommy's old Little People.
Elizabeth checks to make sure the holes are deep enough.

The Recital Is Just Around the Corner...

If she gets this excited about Angelina Ballerina, can you even imagine what she will be like at the recital this year? I did some alterations on her costumes this morning (picture day is next Saturday) and she could hardly stop admiring herself in the mirror!!

Afternoon At Play

Our Own Demolition Derby

At my request (and much to Lee and Peter's dismay), part of this renovation includes removing the brick on the front of the house. On Sunday, Lee and Peter (our neighbor, friend and only helper on this project) tackled the brick. I'm happy to say that it ended up being "easier" to remove than they expected, that it's ALL off the house, and that it is starting to become obvious that this going to look really good.

And so it begins...
One side down

Almost done!

In case you can't hear her clearly, Elizabeth is saying "You guys are making a mess" (they did!) and "I don't want you to wake Emily up" (they didn't - that kid can sleep through anything!). Lee is using an air chisel with a compressor to remove the bricks that are wedged along the top.

Here We Go Again

Exterior house renovations began in earnest over Easter weekend, with Lee tearing the siding off of the front of the house. I won't get into the details of what I hope we can accomplish this summer because we (Lee) fear falling far short of our (my) expectations. You can follow our progress by clicking on the "House Renovation" link on the right side of the page.

The siding on the front of the house is gone!Ladders and a pick - a sure sign that work is about to begin in earnest.
Last weekend, Lee hung the shutters that I made over the winter.

Open for the Season

The snow is gone, the temperature was in the mid-40's and the sun was out - opening the sandbox for the season was an obvious choice. The girls climbed right in like it was the most natural thing in the world to play in a sandbox in Connecticut on the last day of March.

Even a fever and stomach bug can't keep Emily out of the sandbox.

P.S.The sick bug hit Lee and I hard on Tuesday and Wednesday, but Lee took the brunt of it. Emily is starting to eat normally and (knock on wood), it looks like Elizabeth will successfully avoid it.

Turning the Corner

After a very, very rough Monday, which included a full bed strip down around 9 p.m., Emily seems to be turning the corner. Beginning around 3 a.m. this morning, she started eating 2 or 3 animal crackers and drinking a few ounces of water every hour or so. This morning, she had a few Ritz crackers and seems to be acting more like herself. Lee went to bed with a raging fever, but was returning to normal this morning. Elizabeth and I continue to remain unscathed, although she stayed home from preschool today. I am amazed at what a tough cookie Emily is - she's lost more than a pound, she's hardly eaten over the last four days, she's been so very sick, but through it all, she's been pretty positive, with little spurts of happiness and sunshine.