A Sizzle, Fizzle, Fourth

It was hot. There was a pool. There was a grill. There was an extremely dense chocolate cake. There were some less than impressive fireworks.

So no rabble-rousing for me this time around. We were invited (at 10:00 PM the night before, I might add) over to another family's house for the Fourth of July. At the end of the day, we were all pretty wiped out. It was alright for what it was, but it just seemed like any other weekend. I didn't get all crazy-patriotic (a little, but nothing "extremist" inducing). And then, today, I went back to work. ::shrug::

We actually have a lot going on this month. This Wednesday, is Cub Scout day camp (I got the day off work so I get to go). Mid-month, we're headed out on a family vacation to the zoo and aquarium across the state. At the end of the month is a local gaming convention that might be mildly amusing. We'll see.

The basement in the house has been almost finished for quite some time now. Leslie's been doing a lot more work on it than I have; that's because I'm a slacker - I've accepted this about myself. We just have a small bit of mudding and taping to finish up, then it's on to texturing and painting. After that, we can spend a fortune to carpet everything. The downstairs bathroom won't be finished yet, but the toilet flushes and that is good enough for me.

Woo Hoo! Spring is Back!

(I'm going to ignore the fact that I haven't posted anything in almost a year. Just roll with it...)

So with the warming of the weather (*cough*snowed last week*cough*), I'm getting out and doing some outside work on the house. We have three big outside projects going on right now:

1. Trimming back the foliage that is threatening to topple over and/or grow INTO our house.
   
2. Planting and sprucing up our front flower beds.
   
3. Getting our vegetable garden started (we're doing container gardening where everything is in buckets/pots)

I'll take these one at a time. First off, I can officially say I have pruned the hedges (any "Three Amigos" fans out there?) I bought a pair of huge shears and went to town on the shubbery separating our house from the next-door neighbors. They've been neglected for years, but a little straightening up has done wonders for them.

Also, there is a errant tree planted right in front of our house. I don't particularly like that type of tree, but it does provide a ton of shade to the front window in the summer. Unfortunately, one of the large branches was starting to grow dangerously close to the roof. So, being the manly-man that I am (*cough*), I grab my handsaw (didn't want to buy a chainsaw for just one limb) and proceeded to hack that bad boy off. Once my arm recovered and I regained consciousness from being whacked on the head by a mysterious falling branch, it occurred to me that perhaps I should cut back on the manly pursuits for awhile.

Front yard flower beds:

'Nuff said.

Vegetable gardening is something new to us...kind of. We had a bunch of pots sitting around so we decided to see if we could grow some veggies. We had tomato plants last year, but they were given to us. This year we have tomatoes, leaf lettuce, carrots, zuchinni, bush beans, onions (walla-walla sweets), and strawberries. We'll see what happens...

Making the House Official

It's amazing what little things make a house a home. It's also funny to see the difference in what makes a home for me and what makes a home for my kids. For example, I apparently made our house official yesterday by doing one simple thing.

I hung up our coocoo-clock.

As I was doing this simple thing, Emma came up stairs, paused when she saw what I was doing, and said, "Is this our new home?" A few minutes later, Rebekah came upstairs, saw the clock and said, "The coocoo-clock! The coocoo-clock! It's our home again!"

Apparently, that clock is something the kids (especially the younger ones) really identify with our home.

What a Month!

March is always crazy in our family each year. When you add in a new house that is in various stages of being remodeled, a car trip to Minnesota, and various other little doo-dads, you can find me on the brink of insanity.

I actually do have a digital camera now and pictures of the new house, but since the computer at home hasn't been unpacked yet, I don't have access to them. While it has been a stressfull and sometimes aggrevating process, things are finally starting to take shape. There are still lots of little things to do, but only a few big ones left, and no vital ones. It just has been hard trying to find the motivation to work on the house after I get home from work...especially since we aren't unpacked yet and things are still very chaotic.

Still, it's home.

Written in Stone

Break out the stone tablets and the chisel and the hammer. We're signing all the paperwork for our new home on Wednesday. And after my arm goes numb from signing my name on every scrap of paper they push at me, the REAL work begins.

Egads! What have I done?

Oh Give Me a Home (Sans Buffalos)

We have started house hunting with a Realtor. As we've gone through several houses we realized that we are not going to get everything we want (at this point anyway). There are too many neighborhoods around here that I just don't want to raise kids in, and others in which the houses are way too expensive for what they are. I'm sure we could raise our maximum buying price, but I refuse to get into a house payment that might get me into trouble down the road. So, we compromise.

There are a few we are going to walk through this coming weekend. One house in particular, while it is on a main arterial road, has caught my eye and I have high hopes for it. (Link Removed) I'm only going to keep that link on this blog for a little while, then I'll be deleting it. So, if you're interested, look at it now.

Sea Monkeys and Other Drivel

Something I forgot to mention: I joke a lot about Sea Monkeys at work, so my co-workers bought me some for Christmas. So now my desk proudly displays a small tank of water bugs. Yea me! They are actually rather ugly little critters. They are still quite small but growing. I don't have to lean real close and squint any more.

ING.com...good stuff.

I haven't posted any Gleemax stuff to this particular blog in awhile, but it is still going...well, maybe not strong, but it is still going.

The House Hunting should begin soon. Updates to follow...someday...

So..Umm...2008...Yeah

All in all, a fairly unremarkable day. Well, at least it is a paid day off.

As for the past year...well, it was perhaps slightly better than the one before, so that is something at least. I imagine this next one will be slightly better still, especially when considering a home purchase will most likely occur at some point in this year. Huzzah! When it does happen, I plan on hanging a plaque in the entryway with the following inscription:

This home is dedicated as a place where the Spirit of the Lord may dwell, where our children, Mary, Isaiah, Rebekah, Emma, and Benjamin may learn to love God and serve others, and where friends may feel welcome.

In memory of Margaret and Walter Schroeder.

Forget Jack...This Could be the House That STEVE Built!

Nothing is final yet...but...check this out:



Click on it for more details. And, yes, a further explanation will be forthcoming...in the next few weeks.