Sum, Sum, Summah Time!

W and G's last day of school was last week, and boy are we ready for summer! But, prior to school being out, we had W's end of year field trip to the park and G's class party.

The Friday before school let out, all the 3K classes at W's school walked down to the locate park for some play and a picnic lunch. I brought our wagon and half a large watermelon to share with the kids. It was a hit! Unfortunately, severe weather is a normal occurrence in the South this time of year so our class trip was cut short due to a severe thunderstorm warning so we had a quick trek back to the school in case it got bad.

G's party was in his classroom so no big trips in his age group. They had party food and played a lot. At this age, they are so thrilled to have mommy or daddy pop in. Thankfully, one of the fellow moms took lots of pics and offered to send them to the class so I didn't have to pull out my camera.

Now that it has gotten hot, - yes, it's only May, but we've hit the 90s more than a few times already so it's going to be a HOT summer, for sure - we've pulled out our big inflatable pool and the boys are having a blast. The first day I pulled it out, they played for 3-1/2 hours nonstop! I imagine we will be party city for the kids circuit this summer. We've already invited a few of our friends over for some playtime.

With numerous playdates scheduled, involvement in MOMS club, a Zoo membership, a mountain vacation and a beach vacation planned, this summer is sure to great one and fly all too quickly by!

moving on along

The bonus room is, that is. We did have slight hiccup though. Our contractor worked very hard on getting all the blemishes out of the concrete (meaning over 3 hours of sanding and buffing it to get rid of any old glue, etc.) prior to staining it. Well, no matter what he tried. The stain wouldn't take so we ended up with a floor that looked like, well, rusted.

Pretty, right?

Obviously, not the look we were going for so back to the drawing boards. I think S and I really would like hardwoods down there at some point, but the budget isn't going to allow that at this point in time. Also, in the essence of time, we really just needed to get the room finished so we went with a basic garage floor epoxy. To be honest, I wasn't really thrilled with the color selection offered but I think it's going to turn out better than I thought.

First coat of garage floor epoxy

A close-up of the new floor

S and I are now focusing on room color. Ok, really, I am, but S is obsessed with getting the furniture in and set-up. I keep telling him that we aren't doing a thing until all the painting is done, because truthfully, if we don't finish the wall color and trim before we start moving the new stuff in, then it probably won't ever get finished. With that said, I've started painting here and there trying to feel out the new color. I wanted something fresh and funky for a modern look and now I just have to make sure I can live with it. Ha!

Sneak peek

The color is light aqua and the picture doesn't quite get it right, but you get the drift. I've ordered a red area rug and am making large cushions for the futon with red accents for a fun twist. Now, I shall keep my fingers crossed that it all comes together.

Hopefully, I'll have a picture of a finished room by this weekend!

the end is in sight...

of construction that is. The bonus room once finished will serve as a sewing room for me and a place for overnight guests to stay. Additionally, it will serve as media room down the road as the boys get bigger.

Background: Our bonus room flooded in November/December 2009. We had to rip out the carpeting and sheet rock which had begun to mildew in mold. Then, we decided to add extra insulation the the wall that connects to the outside of the house, which meant tearing out more sheetrock and redoing it. After that we decided to take out the drop tile ceiling which was oh so nasty due to the apparent rodent infestation that had been there at one time. As you can see, this turned into a bigger and bigger project which was being done by S and a part-time hired help. Since S was doing it in his free time (ha!) after a full time job, part time school, and 2 little boys, you can easily see why it drug out throughout 2010.

That's why we made the decision in December to find a contractor to finish it for us and we could not be more thrilled. We hired Natco Construction to work on the ductwork to make it more efficient, finish out the room, and to stain the concrete floor while we are at it. The guys at Natco construction are doing a fantastic job and we should be done sometime next week! WOOT! Here are some of pictures of the room under construction:

Removed the built-in bookcase and shelves. They were way too deep

to be efficient so we took them out in order to have a nice storage closet.

New ductwork to have heat and a/c in the room.

Patched up wall

View from stairwell.

View from the end of the room

View from other side

Additionally, we made a trip to Ikea in Atlanta for our 6th anniversary for a shopping excursion to help get the new room in order. We bought some bookcase systems, a futon bed for guests and a new table (sewing) for me. Since we will have exposed ductwork in the room, the room needed a more modern and contemporary feel to it so Ikea was the perfect fit. In order to make this happen, I had to get a trailer hitch put on our vehicle on Friday and borrow a trailer. We looked like country come to town rolling into Ikea on Saturday. The kids did well for the most part, but then the no nap meltdowns started occuring as we were trying to get our stuff loaded for checkout. We decided at that point to divide and conquer. Since we had filled out cart and still hadn't gotten the futon loaded, we decide to pay for what we had ready and take it and the boys to car. From there, I gave the kids their "special" snack and drink and pulled out the car DVD player which they hadn't used before and almost immediately we had happy campers. I stayed with them while S finished shopping for the futon.

With all that said, we then rolled out of Ikea and headed to Steak 'n Shake. We didn't have a romantic or fancy dinner with just the 2 of us for our anniversary, but it was perfect the way it was. We came to Ikea, we conquered Ikea and then we got milkshakes. As we sat there with our 2 babies, I couldn't help but think about the all the changes we had experienced since our wedding day. Here's a few pictures:

On February 26th, 2005, we became a husband and wife, but on February 26, 2011, we were a family of four. It was as it should be.

Circus FAIL

I am probably the only mother who was not in a hurry to take the boys to the circus. Don't get me wrong I love the circus. I also felt like lil'G would love it as well, but dear, sweet, lovable W is very much susceptible to sensory overload. He always has been. He's never liked loud noises. He loves firetrucks but won't get near them. He was well over 3 before he would try inflatable bouncies or slides, because he didn't like the noise. He was overwhelmed by the crowd on the Quad before the UA/Penn State game. He loves, and I do mean *loves*, the Zoo and the animals, but if they even hint of coming up, he moves as far away as he can as fast as he can.

You can see why I wasn't in a hurry to take him to the circus. But also, I wanted him to love it when I did take him.

So, when I heard that they march the Circus elephants from the train to the Civic center, I thought that, perhaps, this would be something they would both love. Last Tuesday, despite the rain and cold, we went to see the elephants in a much more demurred setting and we had a ton of fun!

Where are they?

Snacks make the time go past.

And, the Cheetos make us look like clowns.

Here they come!

And, there they go!

After seeing the elephants, all W could talk about was going to the Circus. Oh my! I had my hesitations, but after scoring free tickets for the boys and getting discounted tickets for us, we were going to the circus!

I prepped W will all day regarding the noise and the crowds. He was prepared and so excited.

So excited to go in!

Enjoying the pre-show

See the clowns!

And we lasted all of 45 minutes - 25 minutes pre-show and 20 minutes into the show before asking me non-stop if we could go home. When the clowns juggled fire, we had our first mini-meltdown. S took him out to buy popcorn hoping to get him to calm down, but when they started walking back to our seats, W melted into the floor crying togo home. S got him to me and there I sat trying to calm him down.

Lil'bit, on the other hand, sat in his seat with the jumbo tub of popcorn (aka pop-pop as he called it), eating it as fast as he could, and yelling "YAY" every five minutes.

We had several more attempts to calm big boy down, including me walking him around the entire arena and culminating with him sitting close to me with my hands covering his eyes and ears. When the fire and cannons shot off signaling the men walking the hamster cages, the crying and hysterics reached epic proportions and I waved the white flag because I knew there would be no calming down and enjoyment after that.

With all of that said, I still have hopes of W one day loving the Circus. Perhaps, we will try again in a couple of years... or thirty.

great oogly-moogly

As I've mentioned before, we signed Will up for fall soccer. We thought it would be a lot of fun and were hoping he'd enjoy it. Well, if you know me, then you'd know I have a way of getting into these situations without meaning too. Hence, the "where nothing is as easy as it seems" tagline in the header comes from and this is no exception.

When I registered Will, they had a check box for anyone interested in being a parent volunteer. I checked that box. Mistake number one. I didn't hear anything back so I thought they must have plenty since it's a big organization. Then, I got an e-mail a couple of weeks ago, again asking for parent volunteers. I shot back a quick reply that I'd be happy to help, but I'd be a little scarce for the month of September as my father was having transplant surgery. But, I never heard back. Again, assuming that another parent had volunteered. Mistake number 2.

On Monday, we go to the parent meeting. They go through a Power point show, and then they put up the listing of teams and every so often a name would be highlighted in yellow. They finally get to Will's team and his name is in yellow. S says, "You know why his name is highlighted?" Me: "Maybe, it's a marker to show where that team ends and the next begins? I'm not sure." Mistake number 3.

Yeah, I got an e-mail today with the team member's information and that yellow line clearly signifies the parent of said soccer player as Activity Leader which is a farking roundabout way of saying COACH. OMG. Thud.

Seriously, I thought parent volunteer was something like team mom. You know, the one who makes sure the kids have snacks and something to drink. Mistake number 4. Great oogly-moogly. I've never even played soccer! And, really, don'tcha think they should have responded to me in some way?!

So, with a voice of authority, I walk in and tell S this news and declare that he is now Activity Leader/Coach. Love ya babe!

We finally have a new date

Daddy's kidney transplant has finally been rescheduled for September 8th. I'm so happy to have a date to work with. Funny thing is that I'm not as worried about the surgery (UAB has one of the best transplant units in the nation) as I am trying to make sure my boys are taken care of while I am trying to take care of Daddy. (BTW, I have already set-up a carepage for daddy that I will keep everyone updated through when we get to transplant time. That site is: http://www.carepages.com/carepages/crayp.)

You see, daddy will spend roughly one week in the hospital and approximately 2 - 3 weeks in the rehab unit. In the rehab unit, he will be required to have someone there 24/7 to assist him. Since my mother is gone and my sister will be recuperating from donating him her kidney, this responsibility will fall to me. This means that I will practically be living at the hospital for 3 weeks with dad. I'm kind of panicking on how to do it all: take care of daddy, taking care of my babies, making sure laundry and home stuff is done. Thankfully, I have a really good friend who lives close by and who has offered to help with the boys as well as my wonderful Aunt S who has always helped me out with the boys when I'm in a pinch.

(I know y'all are going to think I am nuts but I am putting it out here to help me stay organized.)

Monday, Wednesdays and Fridays: S will drop the boys off my GF's house on his way to work. GF will take the boys to school and pick them up. (They are in school from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.) They will stay will GF until S can pick them up. I'll probably spend the night at the hospital unless a family member offers to relieve me.

Tuesdays and Thursdays are a different story: I need people to keep the boys which one of my aunts has offered to do, but I am also hoping that other family members are willing to stay with daddy during the day (and I'll stay the night) so the kids won't feel like I've totally abandoned them.

And then there are the weekends, I'd love to have someone to stay with daddy on Saturday mornings so I can have a little family time with S and the boys, especially since W starts soccer in September.

Most of all, just pray for peace and healing in all of this. That dad's surgery and transplant goes well. That, his body won't reject the kidney. That everything works out well for him and the care of my children.

so, ummm, phone calls

I just want to put it out there. If we don't get to the phone and it goes to voicemail, please don't think it's personal. It's not. We're just either busy with the kids, because they are small and need a lot of hands on time when it comes to bathing them, or putting them to bed and let's not forget diaper changes. Lord knows, that darn phone decides to ring every time I do a diaper change. It's like it's got a sensor which alerts it to the fact I am up to my elbows in poop and wiggly baby.

Case in point, last night's phone dilemma occurred with S. He was on solo duty as I was at my sewing class. When he's keeping the boys, well, our bath time and bedtime routine slightly goes out the window. Anyway, S has just finished giving baby G a bath and put him bed when chaos ensues. S discovers that W has gotten into a tube of toothpaste when the phone starts ringing. Obviously, S has to deal with our toothpaste bandit since W doesn't get the whole spitting it out and Scott has no idea how much W has ingested. (See below for the rest of the story regarding W and the toothpaste.) So obviously, the phone call right in the middle of this gets lost and we don't call that person back.

Today, we woke up to an e-mail from that person commenting on how we always seem to not to answer his calls, followed with a "don't you check your answering machine?" Since this is seems to happen to this one person in particular, I would like to explain to this person with all love and respect:

1. The reason this keeps happening is that you tend to call on Tuesday nights and Tuesday nights aren't a good night for phone calls. S gets bogged down with the boys and I'm not here.

2. The time you call ends up being around the time S or I (if I'm home by then) are putting the boys to bed. Usually we do put them to bed earlier so that time would be good, but with me being in class, S gets a little off track with the boys' schedule.

3. Yes, we do check our answering machine, but it's normally checked the next morning. I don't do it late in the evening, because by the point in the night, it's normally the first opportunity S & I have had to have alone time so we are trying to catch up on each other's day. Plus, we tend to believe that if it's an emergency then the person will call back or try our cell phones.

With all this said, I'm sorry. I hope we didn't hurt your feelings, because we love you and we do want your phone calls. I asking for a little patience and understanding. After all, you did have small children at one point so maybe you remember what it was like.

So, what happened with W and the toothpaste? I arrive home 15 or so minutes afterward to S completely panicked and reading horror stories of fluoride poisoning and telling me that we need to take W to the hospital. Thankfully, I think a little more rationally in crisis and have S call poison control instead while I go inspect the tube of toothpaste to see how much I think he has eaten. The good news is that it isn't much. We give milk as instructed by poison control and stay up with W to make sure he's okay. They call back and all is well so to bed he goes and we pretty much are exhausted and head to bed with the toothpaste put away up high where little hands can not reach it.

Foundation work

S and I live in a 1970's split level home on top of a mountain (albeit a small mountain). The house originally had a 2 car garage, but the owners decided to convert 1/2 of the garage into a finished bonus room, which quite honestly was a nice selling feature. However, the crawl space is attached to the room through a closet and as we soon discovered subject to flooding during heavy rains. In the 4 years we've here, it had only flooded once (that we knew of), but then came the heavy rains of November and December 2009. No kidding, we had somewhere around 3 weeks of non-stop HEAVY rain and you know, where this is going...the room was majorly flooded. Not above your ankles flooded, but the carpet was soaked and the sheet rock in the closet had started to mold and mildew. YUCK. On top of it all, the crawl space became an attractive living space for rodents since they could crawl in through the outside vents. SO GROSS. Anyway, we knew this project was bigger than what we could individually handle so we called in the experts. We took estimates from 3 foundation repair companies and finally felt good about our options.

The company that we chose offered us a solution to flooding problem as well as the rodent problem. Yippee! Last Friday, they came in and installed a french drain into the crawl space which attaches to a sump pump. The sump pump collects the water and then whisks it away through a pipe that empties out on our driveway. The second part of the solution involved placing covers over the vents so rodents could not make their way in and then installing a thick insulated sheeting throughout the crawl space to seal off any mildew or mold and make it dormant. The final part of the equation included adding a de-humidifier in the space as well to help protect the foundation over the long haul.

Digging out the crawl space to put in the french drain.

The finished room with the sheeting and de-humidifier.

Our wonderful sump pump.

Now what? The true construction can begins, well, after we clean out the room. Has anyone seen A&E Hoarders? Unfortunately, that is what the room looks like at the moment. See for yourselves...

We've consulted with our friend who is a contractor and hopefully work will begin as soon as the room is empty. So what are we going to do? Rip out the drop tile ceiling and put in a true sheet rock ceiling. Additionally, we will have exposed ductwork to give it a cool modern look. The ductwork will be painted and may need to be reworked a little so it won't be disjointed. We think we will have an 8 ft ceiling in that room once it's done so it will really help open the space. At the same time, we are also going to tear out the sheet rock that is on the wall facing the outside and add more insulation; then, of course, we'll replace it all. And this of course means repainting the room. My mind is already swirling with all the color possibilities! Ok, moving forward, as the final piece to the re-work, we are going to have a coating put on the concrete to give it a modern finish.

The ultimate goal is to turn it into a nice media room. We've already priced out bookcases and furniture from IKEA. This is what I want for the sectional sofa which is also a sleeper sofa which will be nice for guests. The wall facing it will have 2 bookcases systems for our 100s of books.

I can't wait to have it all done and see the finished result!