I forgot the biggest excitement ...

Timmy went pee-pee in the big boy potty this morning. How in the world I could forget that momentous occasion I do not know, but hopefully this is a marker for bigger things to come, both literally and figuratively!

Two in a row ...

Well now ... two days in a row after missing the weekend. Aren't you all impressed?

Yesterday was a fairly typical day. The Cyndie took Timmy to the doctor because he's still feeling a little off. They said he still has a sinus/nasal passage infection, so gave him a different kind of anti-biotic. After that, the kids had gymnastics which they really enjoyed. Especially Timmy since he was the only kid in his class yesterday, so he didn't have to wait in line at all! Emma has had a continual stream of friends over the last couple of days, which she loves. By the end of the day she is beat, which is fine with us! I went for a long lunch over to Paul's office to watch the Liverpool midweek game (2 - 1 victory!), so that was a nice break in the middle of the day. In the evening Emma was very hyper waiting for Grandma and Grandpa D to come, so we called them to say "hi" and that we were ready for them to get here. Fortunately Emma has school this morning to distract her! Timmy has been very into playing fight/wrestly/rough lately which is a lot of fun for me. It's really fun to sit on the floor with him and "beat him up"!

In the evening, Cyndie and I moved the bookshelves out to the garage to get them ready for paint, so we felt pretty accomplished.

Neal

Back and Blogging

I guess it was a relatively busy weekend since I never did find time to sit down and write. I don't even particularly remember what we did, so it must not have been too exciting!

Saturday was just around the house. I partially moved the gas pipe, but that is still going on as I have to still get the right lengths of pipe to fit it into the wall. I also spent some time doing some wiring for the lights. Saturday afternoon was the birthday party for the little girl across the street. It was at Boomers, a mini-amusement park/arcade type of place. The kids played mini-golf and had pizza and got tokens to play some arcade type games. It was really pretty fun.

Sunday was church, then a short business meeting afterwards at which we voted to change the name of the church to Coastal Community Fellowship. Then we went to a birthday party for some folks at church which was pretty fun. They have this rock fence and formation in their front yard which was a perfect playground to keep the kids occupied!

Last night Josh and Priscilla came over for dinner and then it was early to bed.

So that's the life and times! Emma and Timmy are very excited for Grandma and Grandpa D to come!

Neal

Rest

Yesterday was different than most recently in that we rested more than worked. Cyndie and the kids went to the Inland Empire so that Lee's mechanic could work on the Suburban (weld the driver's seat back to the rails ... it had be rocking a little ... and put on new suspension). They hung out at Gene and Pam's most of the day. Emma had a good time with her (in her eyes) glamorous big cousin Brandon, although I think she overwelmed him a bit. I had a pretty normal day, but have been fighting a little bit of cold/allergies the last week. So the bottom line was that when Cyndie and the kids got home about 8p, we put them right to bed and hit the sack ourselves!

Next up for the weekend, moving the gas line into the wall (with the help of our neighbor Dan), and starting to work on the wiring.

Neal

More big progress ...

Well, Cyndie and I made some more big time progress on the kitchen last night. Our date was dinner, sandwiched between buying the appliances and getting a lot of the electrical stuff.

Miss Ashlee, the babysitter, can at five to watch the kids, then we headed to Howards, a TV and appliance place. We wanted to get hands on the appliances that the place that we bought the cabinets from had recommended. We ended up buying all the appliance there because they gave us a good price. So that stuff should come in the next couple of weeks (the dishwasher was a special order). After dinner at the Indian place we like, we went to Lowe's for an hour and a half of light/fixture/wiring shopping. There is still a lot to do there (we still have to buy the 16 recessed lights and all the under cabinet lighting), but I should be able to start working on the wiring very soon!

So that was the big news from yesterday. Today Cyndie and the kids are visiting her dad to get a bit of work done on the Suburban by his mechanic. They are going to hang out at Gene's house while they wait which totally makes Emma's day because she totally loves her cousin Brandon, and he gets to ditch school to see them!

More another time,
Neal

End of the "Normal Day"

Well, Timmy, and especially Emma, loved gymnastics ... here is a picture.

Emma made a new friend (I think her name was Katie?) while she waited for Cyndie and Timmy's class to end.

In the meantime, back at the house ...



... the contractor was there to frame in the new window and put in the extra ceiling studs. The pix are above. So things are moving right along. I spent the last hour making a shopping list for Cyndie and I's date tomorrow (we're going to buy all the wiring/lighting related stuff). We also took a brief tour of the neighbor hood on our walk this evening, with stops at Dave and Bonnie's and Paul and Cara's to peruse their kitchen lighting options. I think we're going to try to go with smaller recessed lights (there will be 16 in all in the kitchen) with true white light bulbs, cost permitting.

That's it for now,
Neal

Normal day ...

Today is stacking up to be of the "normal" variety. Work for me, Cyndie and the kids have gymnastics class (mommy and me for Timmy, an intro class for Emma). Emma, particularly, is looking forward to that. She was sick last week, so missed the first class. It was really funny and cute last night. Emma put on a show for Cyndie and I after dinner while we were still sitting at the table. ("I'm not going to dress up, but I'm still going to do a show.") She was dancing around and doing spins and kicking her feet up ... totally cute. And the most fun part was how she was so obviously having a good time doing it with a huge grin on her face!

On the kitchen front, the contractor is at the house framing today! We should have our "window hole" in place and the new rafters done by tonight. Next up is the wiring. Tomorrow on our date, Cyndie and I are going to go do a visual approval on the appliances we've picked out, and then, after dinner, go pick out lights.

The Kitchen Help

This week we're moving along with the remodel. The step occuring now is the framing of the ceiling (we're going to insulate and drywall, so there need to be more studs to attach the drywall to so that it doesn't say) and the windows (removing the small one, making the big one smaller). So, the contractor that's doing that was by today to measure for materials, and now we have some lumber sitting in the back yard with work to start tomorrow.

After the framing is done, we'll be able to start in with the wiring.

Mother ... the Return

Well Cyndie is back home. She had a great, relaxing time being with the ladies, relaxing, and going in the spa!

The kids and I made it through. They were actually very good and kind to eachother and helpful. They fell apart a bit when Cyndie got home, which didn't make the transition back to reality very easy for Cyndie, but they're in bed soon, so that will ease things.

This week is lining up to be a pretty normal one.

Neal

It's Saturday

Here I am, sitting in the kitchen watching the kids play. Emma and Timmy and Chris (a little boy from church that I'm babysitting this morning) are playing house out in the backyard.

The day definitely started out right, with the kids "sleeping in" until 6:30! It got even better when Paul and Neve came over and Liverpool hammered Chelsea 2 - 0!

The rest of the day should be fairly low key. I'm hoping to move most of the bookcases out to the garage this afternoon, and perhaps do a bit more work on the wiring scheme ... that is, of course, assuming that the naps/quiet time come off as planned.

Neal

A long afternoon into a good evening

Well, it's just the kids and I for now. Cyndie left this morning and (I hope) is having a very relaxing time with the church ladies at this point.

On the otherhand, at home, things were a bit more chaotic. The late afternoon was a bit rough as Timmy screamed for about 30 minutes when he woke up, and then Emma terrorized him and was acting up and crying for the next thirty minutes. Then Timmy was a pill, not wanting to cooperate with dinner. Finally we ate and then the rest of the evening has been great. Maybe they were just hungry.

We're watching the Little Mermaid before bed. Tomorrow Neve and Paul are coming over for the Liverpool game ... it's a big one against their arch-rivals, Chelsea.

Neal

The Party People

Well, we had a great time last night for Cyndie's party. I left work early to coordinate some set up etc. Emma was hilarious ... the total hostess ... in fact, if I might be so bold to use an existining name, I'd call her the hostess with the mostess (my apologies to those of you how aren't in on that joke). She was totally into setting up our house for her friends to come over to play and eat, she set up a series of smaller tables, chairs, etc. for all the kids to eat and, and she had a "boy" play area (cars) and a "girl" play area (barbies), etc. It was funny.

The adult party was fun too. It was nice to eat slowly and just sit around and talk. We had a cider/cheese fondue for an appetizer with bread, pears, and apples to dip, beef in oil fondue with curry, horse radish, and BBQ dips, salad, and for desert, ice cream balls rolled in almonds and biscote (sp?) and dipped in either chocolate or rasberry. It was delicious!

Today Cyndie leaves for the women's retreat with church. I think thats her best birthday present ... having a bit of time to unwind with no one demanding her attention! The kids and I probably won't do much other than keep out of trouble!

Neal

Kitchen (in progress) pix

Okay, so now that the kids are in bed, here are a few pix of the kitchen in progress ...
This first one is where we took on the heater (nearer side) and the pantry (far side). Where the concrete is visible is where those things where. This area will be under a portion of the island/pennisula. In the middle there, you can see the pipe for gas. We have to move that into the wall.

This next one is of the window. We're going to remove the little window completely (there will be a corner cabinet there). The big window will be replaced with a smaller one (42 x 42 inches). You can see the tape marking where it will go. The remaining space on that wall will be mostly covered by the corner cabinet, and another smaller one over the dishwasher.

This picture shows where the island is going to go. The little "L" that you see is where the bar is going to be. It's not a bar per se, but rather the same level as the counter top, just hanging over so that we can sit at it (to use it for our family meals).

We also had a drywall guy come through today with a winner price, so we should be set for that before too long.

Next we're going to be buying the lights and planning the electrical work while the ceiling and window walls are framed (by the drywall guy). Then I do the electrical, then the drywall and window. Then the cabinets!

E-mail notification

Hey all,

I set up an e-mail forwarding account which should notify you when I post a new message on the blog. Please let me know if you get it.

Neal

Cyndie's Birthday

It's Cyndie's birthday tomorrow ... the big 3-2!

Laurie and I are throwing Jim and Cyndie a combined birthday party ... a fondue party with four courses. The adults will be over at Jim and Laurie's, and there will be 16 kids running rampant at our house for a couple of hours. It should be fun!

Kitchen Update

It looks like we have a lot of work ahead of us (is that a surprise?). We sat down last night (over American Idol) and plotted out what lights we want and where. We ended up with 10 switched circuits and 5 or 6 sockets. Just doing that is going to be substantial! The huge saving grace is that this time I'll (essentially) be dealing with exposed studs instead of having to try to run the wiring behind drywall like I have had to do everywhere else in the house!

Laura asked for some pix of the kitchen remodel, so I'll try to remember to post some tonight.

Neal

Regarding Comments

Hey guys,

I'm not sure if you have noticed the comments icon at the end of each post. The gist of that is is that it is a way to "talk back" regarding that post.

Just wanted to let you know.

Movie Day

As I drove home today, I received a phone call from Cyndie ... get medicine, popsicles and pizza, Timmy has a fever and we don't have anything to eat. She sounded a bit alarmed. Being the good husband that I am, I rushed home, ran the errands, and arrived to find both of the kids in pretty good health and spirits. The fever had subsided, and the rest of the day went pretty well. The theater on the other hand took a beating. A day filled with movies left it well cluttered and with crumbs everywhere. It wasn't something a little clean up didn't fix, however.

Now it's off to plan the wiring for the kitchen!

Neal

The sickness has struck

Cyndie took Timmy to the urgent care (after hours clinic) on Saturday because he was totally cranky and kept grabbing his nose and ears. It turns out that he had a nasal passage infection, so he is on anti-biotics for ten days. Now Emma appears to be getting it too. She had a bright read cheek and her nose looks pretty similar to what Timmy's did. Needless to say, there is plenty of snot running around here these days!

On a brighter note, Crista is out visiting us, so that is fun. Cyndie and Crista went last night to get their toe and finger nails painted.

The kitchen project continues to move along. On Sunday afternoon, I finished ripping out the false wall (still leaving the load bearing wall), and re-framing the soffit above. The next major project is re-framing the windows to fit the new window size (smaller). Then after that we'll start with the wiring.

Today Emma and Timmy start their gymnastics classes, so hopefully they'll feel up to it.

Neal

Some photos most of you already saw ...

I think I sent these out to all of you, but here are some photos of the kids at Disneyland and Timmy's new treefort (which will hold his bed as soon as we get a mattress).

Kicking this thing off ...

Hey all, I'm going to try a new format for doing my somewhat weekly letters. That way it will be easier (theoretically at least) to post pictures as well as allowing everyone to catch up it they miss a letter or two. Anyway, let me know what you think.

Also, I didn't have Lee or Laura and Gow's current e-mails on hand, to let me know as I believe I have to invite them before they can get into this site.

Neal