Home demolition, Part I

Our house is turning into one big remodeling project. We spent all weekend pulling out old carpets, old padding and removing old staples. We decided that if we want something done right, we should do it ourselves. We found a few items under the old carpets that I don't think I would've left there, if I installed the carpets myself... three carpenter blades, coins, staples, nails, beads, etc.

Granted, the blades were laying flat and they were "harmless", as someone pointed out to me, just the thought of a sharp blade laying under my feet, gives me chills...

Not to mention all the stains we had found. Every room had some major damage to the carpets, and since we don't know the origins of the stain, I feel relieved that it will be replaced with a brand new carpets and a pad. So, we can "install" our own stains!

Home improvement projects are certainly not easy. Lucky for us, temperatures were in a good range, but even so, we shed some sweat.
There is nothing better than finishing a hard day of work, cleaning up, having a nice dinner, then sitting outside with a glass of wine. Enjoying a new view:
Kids just love our new backyard and all the nature that comes with it. Old home owners left us a hammock, and after we gave it a good wash, I let kids sit on it. It is a little tricky though. If you loose your balance and fall off of it, you might end up rolling all the way down to where Turner Creek runs :-)
We also discovered that we will have many visitors enjoying our backyard. Besides the birds and squirrels, we already saw a couple of dogs, a raccoon, and lately a black cat likes to sit on the log just below the hammock.
* This weekend I learned that it is true, kids sometimes mistaken harmful things for something that is harmless. (A good example would be pills vs. candy)
Earlier this weekend Larissa bouthg a pocket size hand sanitizer that came in a "High School Musical" clear bottle, and she shared some of it with Jon.
On Monday, as I was loading the laundry, I turned around to find Jonathan with a clear bottle in his hand, applying "hand sanitizer"... or so he thought! To my horror, it was a bottle of "Loctite" glue. Not as strong as Super Glue, but Jon was trying to rub it on his hands!
The bottle reads "avoid eye and skin contact"... AWWW!!! He must have pulled it from one of the "to go through" boxes sitting around. We were able to get most of it out right away, he didn't get much on his hands yet, when I caught him.

May 17 weekend

This weekend was something... Temperatures went up to mid-nineties, humid and sunny. We started moving our boxes into the new house, but high temperatures and heavy boxes just don't go together very well.

On Saturday Gabe and I went fishing at a Hagg Lake with his classroom teacher and another student and her Mom. It was just perfect. We slowly dragged our lures behind the boat, sipping cold drinks while having small talks. Here and there we would all jump, grab a pole and pull out a fish. We caught 14 Trouts, lost a handful, and had the best time ever.

With all the excitement, I completely forgot to take pictures of the fish. Not until I prepped it and bagged it, ready to be frozen, that I realized it...
We came home very tired, but managed to move a few things from our storage room into the house.

Sunday started with some body aches, but quickly turned into a full blown move day. We moved out couches, kids' beds and out wardrobe in, then realized that we would really like to replace carpets in the house before a total move in... Now we have our stuff in three places and our house is starting to look like a major renovation site. The carpets are coming out!

Mother's Day 2008

Happy Mother's Day to all the Moms out there!

We had a quiet weekend, with much time spent playing video games with kids and going on short walks.

Kids decorated a cake for me on Saturday and could not wait till we could eat it on Sunday.
Somewhere in that heart-shaped cake there was a "MOM" sign, until it got completely covered up by all the extras.
On Friday Jon's school had a Mother's Day parade and Mommy and Me Lunch. All the kids in his class were decorated as "flowers" and very excited to share their meals with Moms. Weather report is predicting a hot weekend ahead. We are also closing on our new house and will probably start moving our stuff in.

May I have some sunshine?

Yes, you May!

Larissa had a cheerleding class at her school. It was hard for her to get over the "shy factor", but all in all she did very well!

It felt like Summer and I hope it stays that way. Sunny, dry and in 70's.

On Saturday Gabe and I volunteered at the Open House for Intel. I found a perfect position for Gabe, supporting an X-Box 360 demo station. Little community service, and a lot of fun, what a deal!
To top it off, he ended up winning a wireless controller and a Star Wars Lego game in a raffle drawing!

Sunday started a little slow for us. Probably because we stayed up waaaay to late the night before playing Star Wars Lego game... We didn't even get out of the house till after lunch. Kids and I went to a Rock and Gem Fair, looking for good jewelery making bargains, but I couldn't wait to get out. With the temperatures in 70's outside and no air flow inside, it was absolutely miserable. Plus Jonathan fell asleep in my arms with his sweaty head leaning against my shoulder. Gross! :-)

I think that the gas prices are making us look for things near the house, within either a short drive or within a walking distance. Playground is perfect for that, but that's getting old fast...