Deck Project Complete!..Nearly

Jon and his dad laid the foundation for Jon's summer project: a deck.  After his dad left, Jon spent about 5 days trying to figure out some stubborn stairs that I requested cascade down from the corner of the deck.  I recanted the cascading request, as well as the corner of the deck, but Jon set his mind to complying, and with some internet searching and trips to the lumber store, Jon figured out his way of making the stairs.

 This deck is really something else.  Jon installed solar lights on the step up to the deck and post caps that are also solar lights.  The stain turned out very pretty and I could not be more impressed with this accomplishment.  Jon worked very hard after work up through 10:30pm some nights, and the last night before company, we had the whole family staining!  We didn't eat until 9:30pm that night!  The girls were thrilled to help, though! 

The only part we have left is to put the foot boards and spindles on the stairs, but we feel good about the rest.  Now that I know Jon can figure out how to do such great work, I'm looking for more projects I want him to do!  He's still requesting a tv out there on the deck, but I am not budging on that one! :)

Deck In Progress

WHAT: Bishop Deck Project
BUDGET: $500 according to wife, but she allowed + $300 after 
      a profitable basketball tournament last weekend
TIME FRAME: 10 Days

On Friday, June 10th, 2011, Jon and his dad started working on "the deck project."  For the previous 2 months, Jon had been persuading me, and mapping out his plans.  I joked about making sure to check diy.com so he wasn't embarrassed by guessing measurements and winging it.  He noted that his dad would make sure of that, and he did.  His dad can build most anything, and likes to be exact on measurements and angles and we are soooo thankful for that!  So far, the deck looks awesome!

 The girls loved the dirt that came out of the 3 foot holes, except the sound that the rented post hole digger made.  Macy was definitely not a fan of that thing.

 She did love the dirt, though, and on Sunday held up a chunk of dirt and asked, "Do you want some
poop-pie, mom?"  I passed, obviously.  I wonder if diy.com would have an answer for this question?

 I wanted to take some "before" pictures as my cousins always do, since I will (hopefully soon) be posting some "after" pictures. 

 Before, we had a cement patio that our table and chairs sat on.  It was nice, but a little cramped.  Our grill sat off to the side on a cement slab Jon and his dad poured 2 summers ago.

This is just some of the lumber that we bought to start the project. 

This is how one of the work days ended.  Macy is the only one that's truly asleep here, but Caitlin wanted the picture to include everyone napping.  The two that needed the nap the most worked from sun up until sun down, though.  Jon has been working daily on the deck at this point, and has been struggling some with the steps and the rude guy at Lansing Lumbar.  Splitting wood has been his nemesis from Home Depot, but he's kept going despite those and what he thinks is a possible broken finger (after he slammed the hammer down on it himself).  So, who knows?  Maybe we may get on Renovation Realities after all!

Spring Soccer 2011

This was Caitlin's first year in Lansing Soccer. There were 13 kids on her team and this year they got to use a goalie (which they call a "Sweeper," who cannot use their hands). Each player usually is supposed to play sweeper at least once a game, but apparently if you whine about it, you don't have to.

Caitlin had a few quick kids on her team, the usual kids who were more interested in the blowing leaves, and a little girl who always had her hair in matching bows and perfectly clean socks...who rarely kicked the ball. She averaged about 2 goals a game, which we were very proud of. We still think this is her best sport at this age, although she claims that basketball is her favorite (which has to be in direct relation to her dad because it certainly is not her strong sport).

We were quite proud of her this year, and more so towards the end of the season. She showed more toughness and gutted out a lot of hard work towards the end of the season and worked harder for her goals.

Caitlin was most proud of her strong kicks, I think. She told me of her friend, Landon, who was "taunting" the other team when Caitlin was goalie. He looked at an opposing player and said, "Better watch out! She kicks far!" Caitlin nailed it to the other teams goalie and Landon screamed with a snicker, "Told ya!" and belted out an evil laugh. Although I don't promote taunting, it was pretty sweet.

Mother's Day and Dad's Birthday

We celebrated Jon's 40th birthday this year very low key. I gave him a golf GPS, and the kids picked out their own presents for him. Macy chose a hook for hanging tools on the side of his large tool box (?) and Caitlin chose a screw/nail organizer. So, he may have only put 1 of those items on his list, but he loved all of them dearly.

For Mother's Day, the family let me sleep in and made breakfast for me. I requested no long lines at any restaurant, and to grill out instead. I got just what I wanted and Jon added a homeade breakfast, too!

The kids gave me some bubble bath (that I asked for) from Sephora and some hair product Jon picked out.

Jon and I were most thankful and appreciative of our kids and each other on these days!

Easter 2011 - We're Back!

It has been a long while since I have posted, so I know I have a few make-up posts to do.
Easter 2011 was spent in Wichita and Grandma Nancy started us off decorating eggs! The girls were surprisingly patient waiting for their eggs to become "vibrant" in the many colors of dye they drowned their eggs in. Macy consumed practically every color while Caitlin debated where to put hers.

Dad supervised and gave creative tips such as doing half the egg in one color (they slowly bored of holding the egg 1/2 submerged and just ended up letting it go allowing for a two-toned egg of the same color).

We decided we should have added at least one more dozen (I told Nancy 1 dozen was enough - who knew the hours of fun we could've supplied them with if only we had given them more eggs)?

The next day we moved on to duck cupcakes. My mom gave me a cupcake decorating book (to help support her book fair) and I felt that I needed to try it out. These cupcakes stressed me out. To top it all off, we forgot to put them out on Easter Sunday, and Grandma Nancy and Papa Don were stuck with 24 duck cupcakes after everyone left.

The girls shaped the beaks and stuck the eyes on, and they did great at their jobs. I didn't do so great at my job - the heads and tails didn't stick very well.

The afternoon was full of kite flying. Grandma got kites for the girls, and one of them just wouldn't fly. Grandpa and Jon tried their best - for quite awhile, but couldn't get that thing to fly. Brian, Carrie and Ashley came, and Brian felt he may have the magic touch, but that kite just wasn't meant to soar.

Caitlin had a blast. She was thrilled with flying the kite. I think she may have wished it was a tad more windy as she really wanted to run with it and she had the most fun when it started b-lining for the ground. It was so exciting and provided a challenge to get that thing back up in the air.

My Grandma Tootie would've loved this afternoon - she loves kites. I remember her kite collection that included Chinese box kites and one of those dragon kites that was like 20 feet long. I can't remember if we ever flew those, though, but we had our fair share of kite flying afternoons.

Macy and Caitlin were thrilled to take their baths early in the morning for 8:30 church. They put on their dresses with pride - these girls would wear flower girl, Christmas and Easter dresses daily if their mom let them.

After church, I saw the Easter bunny and made the girls stay "out of sight" so he could drop off the goodies! They did a good job and came out to a beautiful yard full of "easy" eggs for Macy, and "challenging" eggs for Caitlin. It's so intriguing how the Easter bunny distinguishes which eggs are for whom and the kids never question it!

The kids displayed their collection and got their big Easter basket later. They had a great day. The weather cooperated and they got to be outside - their favorite thing in the world. With all of the technology and the games, I'm glad that's still the number one choice on a Saturday afternoon with no plans.

VEISHEA 2011

Great Grandma Phyllis was so great to be able to come again this year on VEISHEA weekend, but opted to come the night before to see us instead of the chilly morning outside. What a smart woman... She played with the kids and the kids entertained her for a couple of hours. We were so glad to have gotten to see her.

And the next morning, we proved that the rain, freezing temperatures, and wind we brought in from the tornado state could not keep us from singing the ISU fight song, cheering on Austan Arnaud, eating 3 pork chops on a stick (Jon and Macy) and burnt pork burgers at 10:00am, and collecting tootsie roll after tootsie roll at this year's VEISHEA parade.

After the parade, we ventured to Perfect Lanes to play a game of bowling, jump in the Jump House, and play arcade games. Brian and Kelly threw bullets into the pins, Grandma pulled her "butt muscle" while challenging Jon to the best score, and Caitlin cheered as her 2nd half went better than her 1st half of the game. Talia and Macy alternated bowling and loved the Jump House...a little too much. As Brian took on Caitlin in air hockey, Talia threw up all over the Racecar game. Poor little thing had too much jumping.

Grandma and Macy scoring big at Deal or No Deal (Macy calls it No Deal or Yes Deal).

In the end, I'm glad cold, wind, and harsh temperatures couldn't stop us from seeing cousin Talia, Grandma Dawn, Aunt and Uncle Kelly and Brian, cousins Kara and her boyfriend, Andrew, Uncle David (quickly the favorite), Aunt Mary, Grandma Phyllis and just celebrating being able to spend time together.

Family Birthday Celebration

Just Jon, Caitlin, Macy and I celebrated the girls' true birthdays on their birthday at T-Rex cafe'. (Shocker)! They always are amazed at this place - the fire rain, the loud Triceratops and the scary T-Rex...and not to mention their food! I must admit, we are members of T-Rex's "club," and we get a free appetizer every time we go - cha ching! The service is always great, and their food is excellent. The atmosphere is something else and it's the first choice of where to go out to eat whenever we go! Happy birthday to the best things in our lives!