The Deck

Finally, a week later.  Last week we finished the restoration of the deck.  Although we originally wanted to redo the entire deck, we decided to redo the parts of the deck that showed the most wear and tear (the railings which were falling apart) and the lattice that goes around the bottom of the deck and on the pergola.  For the rest of the deck, we used Restore by Rustoleum (thanks to Troy for correcting what I had earlier).  It puts a thicker texture on it, which is somewhat bumpy.  We put that on the floor of the deck and the matching stain went everywhere else.  Overall, we are VERY pleased with the results and the fact that this stuff should lengthen the life of the deck for 7-10 years.

Here are the before pictures:

After the demo of the railings

And the after pictures:

Here is a picture of the actual boards - a little bit of bumpy texture in it. 

The lattice on the pergola

So happy that it doesn't look so old and worn now although most of the bones stayed the same.  I'm also happy to have railings that aren't loose and wobble back and forth, with splinters coming out of the top.  Lots of work, but well worth it!  A huge thanks to Troy for working as much as he did on it.  Sure, I did my fair share, but I also wasn't working during the time (and very thankful because I would NOT want to work on it after work).  Also, thanks to my parents for coming over and helping us finish it last Saturday.  Extra hands always help get it done faster!

A day in the life...

What a day week!  This week I was back to school - a new school.  While this school is definitely more organized than the last one I work at, there is always a little adjustment just because of the new setting, new procedures, new paperwork, etc.  I'm getting an awesome vibe from the staff so far though.  Hoping that good vibe continues.

As most of you know, the boys were supposed to start day care this week (just two days to start with), but Sunday night/Monday morning around 3am, Ellis got sick and was pretty much up until 5am throwing up.  So, no day care for Monday or Tuesday like planned, so technically today was their first day.  And what a great day!  My nerves didn't last too long this morning since I was able to talk to Troy about the drop-off before heading into work.  He said they were good and didn't have any issues when he left (although it probably helped that she turned on a show while other kids showed up before breakfast).  One main reason we switched to a home day care at kind of the last minute was because of how motherly she was with the kids.  When I stopped by a few weeks ago to get some information, we were chatting about some educational and developmental beliefs.  She has a Masters Degree in Psychology and is getting her PhD in Early Child Education, so she bases a lot of her child care on researched practices and has a Montessori-type style, which I like.  She made comments that she likes to take pictures every so often and send them to parents, so of course I was secretly hoping that she would do that today, and she did.

It was awesome - made me feel so happy to get pictures every hour or so on what they were doing.  So,  here is a picture version of "a day in the life" at day care (with the text messages we got along with the pictures):

Happy and doing great!  (8:06am)

Enjoying watching the birds and squirrels (8:12am)

Time for breakfast (8:24am)

Time to play outside (9:30am)

Hi mom, hi dad.  I'm having fun.

Indoor play (10:57am)

Making friends and sharing very well

Lunch time (12:06pm)

Nap time - fell asleep right away (12:40pm)

Ellis slept all the way until 3pm and Logan just before 3pm, which is shocking because I'm lucky Ellis will nap for 1.5 hours at home.  Goes to show when he's busy with other kids in a different setting, it just wore him out!

I picked them up just before 5pm and they were standing at the door (another boy was just leaving) so they saw me before I even got out of the car.  Ellis received a good report and she said he was very mellow, yet social throughout the day (yes, she's talking about Ellis!!).  Logan was also good - a little clingier to her, following her around a bit.  He didn't whine much but did a bit when she was out of his sight for a minute.  Otherwise, they were very good.  Such a proud mama here!  Now, I'm just hoping they repeat this tomorrow, that this isn't just a honeymoon phase.  When we first started speech classes, they were good the first day and then the next time we went (although its only once a week so the frequency isn't as high), they were a mess and didn't want to participate in anything.  Hopefully this is not like that and they have a great day tomorrow!  Having such a good report the first day confirms our decision to change them to the in-home day care versus the bigger day care setting!

Now, I know I was on a bit of a hiatus with blogging.  I was trying to enjoy the last few weeks of summer with the boys and honestly didn't want to spend time blogging about it.  So, just trust me when I say we had lots of fun.

So, I'll end this post with a few shout-outs!  First, a huge thank you to Grandma Bush for coming out and watching the boys Tuesday and Wednesday.  She was originally going to watch them Wednesday-Friday (since we were planning only 2 days of day care this week to work them into it), but because Ellis got sick, she saved us by coming a day earlier.  The boys definitely enjoyed spending time with her and we enjoyed the visit too!

Also, thanks to all of you sending positive thoughts for me and the boys today.  It was greatly appreciated and helped me get through the day easier!

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom - the full version

I know, I put up a video earlier in the week of Logan reading this book on his own, but I got a better version of it.  He's not reading it this time (and if you have a hard time listening to someone that can't "sing", you may not want to listen to this video either as I guarantee I'm no singer), but he is doing all the hand motions and is pretty good at pointing to the right letters as I read the story.

Some of you may be thinking "geez, will she lay off the videos?", but guess what?  No I won't!  I know I'm a little repetitive, on them at times, but if you are sick of them, then you don't have to read/listen any further =).  And for those of you brave enough to listen, here you go:

Lovin' life

This past has been so much better than last week.  Last week I was in a bit of a funk, but I'm officially out of it and enjoying each minute I have with the boys before the dreaded day I go back to work.

Last week was the Big Rig Gig in Lake Orion that we checked out.  The boys LOVE trucks, so it just seemed perfect.  Unfortunately, with a lot of trucks comes a lot of horn honking, so aside from Logan covering his ears every so often, they seemed to enjoy it.  

Hard to tell, but he's "driving" a school bus

And Ellis' turn - which he was super excited about.  He just LOVES busses!

And nothing beats a little fun running (and apparently doing UFC moves) in the field that all the trucks were in.

Couldn't leave without checking out the smelly garbage truck.  

Troy, being the smart ass he is, wanted to pose in front of his favorite truck!

Cousins!

Over the weekend, we put a huge dent in the deck restoration.  We put all the railings on, on Saturday, and on Sunday, we did the railings for the steps and put a 2nd coat on everything that needed it.  Before and after pictures (once we stain the steps and the pergola this weekend) will be a post all on it's own.

On Monday we headed to the park and again fed the ducks.  Apparently its just mandatory now to visit and feed the ducks every time we go to the park.

On Tuesday we headed to the library story time.  The boys played at the library beforehand, and despite all the kids playing (I've never seen the kids section so full before!), probably because they all had the same idea of playing before story time, I was impressed at how well the kids played with the other kids around.  No grabbing/stealing toys, no whining, etc.

Yesterday we headed to see Nicole, Morgan and Parker.  After lots of playing inside, in the morning, we headed outside in the afternoon.

Bubble-chasing time

A little impromptu water fun.  No bathing suits = playing in diapers.  It's all good! 

I loved how Ellis stared so intently on what Morgan was doing (dipping her hair in the water then standing up to squeeze it out).  Logan's diaper got way too bloated, so he changed into a pair of underwear so he wouldn't be so uncomfortable.  It is wrong to think your child looks so cute wearing underwear?!?  

Today we met up with Sheila and Luke at the zoo.  We tried something new today - no stroller - and it was a very fun, successful trip.  Earlier in the summer, the boys get out of the stroller when we stop to see an animal and then get back in to travel to the next animal.  Well, the last time we were there, they barely wanted to go in the stroller at all, so when they did get a little out of my reach, it was near impossible to get them both together, and the stroller at the same time.  This mama only has 2 hands, ya know.  Today, we enjoyed ourselves and they did such a good job listening and holding my hand for quite a bit of the time (like they do when we walk around the block since we don't have sidewalks).

Tiger siting!

I was pretty surprised that Ellis let Luke hold his hand - too cute! 

Up close and personal with a gorilla.

At the polar bear/seal exhibit, there is an ice wall.  Usually the boys are in a hurry to get out of there that they never really touch the cold wall.  I asked Logan if the wall was cold and he said "cold".  I did a double-take and looked at Sheila and she heard it too.  Baby steps....

Seeing the polar bear from the outside.  It looks really far away in the picture but it really didn't seem that far away.

And you can't keep this kid off of the rocks, so we took a little break while the boys climbed on rocks and jumped off of them!

Whew!  Looking at that week, it's no surprise I'm a little tired.  Sure we've been a little busy, but the boys have loved every minute of it and I want to make the most of our last 2 weeks.  For tomorrow, we are going to hang low during the day because we are headed to the Chandlers for the evening.  Such fun days = little/no nap and I don't want to risk that tomorrow and have to come home to early from their place.  Hope everyone is enjoying their summer too!

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom

Logan has loved this book for as long as I can remember.  Today when we were getting ready for dinner, we found him over by his books "reading" this one.  Of course he did a better job before I got my phone to record it, but I thought it was too cute.  I love, too, how he mimics how I read the book to him (I point to each letter as I read it in the story, then run my fingers up the tree since the letters are climbing up the tree).  In case you can't tell, his favorite letter right now is P.