Deck Progress

Steve is making progress. And I'm impressed! He's doing this all on his own. Not much help, other than the Deck Guru who helped with planning. Papa (Steve's dad) came over to help, but we weren't far enough along for him to actually help us. <update below>

I'm honestly surprised at how much is involved to make a deck. This thing will last much, much longer than our pool! LOL. 

We've got 18 holes, all about 45"-48" deep. 

July 9th. Cement in the holes, posts up.

We've got a few HUGE 20ft beams. We're hoping to get joists up soon.

Steve says that in about 2 weeks, the TREX decking will be laid down, so that we'll be able to get up there and have a platform to sit/be up on. Railing won't be up yet, so we'll need to be really, really careful with the kids. 

I can absolutely picture Ava looking over the edge and tumbling over. 

July 12th. Here's the view from Mila's room - a bit easier to see in its entirety. 

July 12th. It will end up being 600sq ft of usable space!

Not a bad view ;)

July 15th. We have the long beam + joint in the middle. Boards have been cut flush. 

July 16th. Joists going up next

July 16th. He's got all the super long joists up and is figuring 

out to make the curve that wraps around the pool 

(this view is from the girls' bathroom upstairs)

He told me he's hoping Wednesday (7/17) will be the day he starts laying decking down. 

If not, you'll see me this weekend up there with some plywood. LOL It's going to be like 93 on Saturday. I'm going to want to get in the pool! 

As of July 17, we have not yet started with the decking. However, we were very, VERY lucky that Steve's friend, the Deck Guru, stopped over and helped him for almost an entire day. He's the guy in the orange shirt. 

Here it is, as of July 17. All the framing is done. 

Literally the next thing to do is start laying decking down. 

I'm so freaking proud of him, you guys. Like, he spent every waking moment (almost) working on this thing, all while parenting the girls and making sure they were fed and kept alive. And the house was still standing (most days). 

Here's hoping we're able to use this deck the first weekend in August. Fingers crossed! 

Bella Dog Update

Here's our 7 week update.

We are at week 25 with our Bella girl!

She is still a super chill dog.

She still sleeps a lot.

She still gets super excited about food.

She's learning to sit nicely before I put her food down.

The girls absolutely love her and I have to remind them not to hug her too hard or invade her space too much. She tolerates them very well. Her little nub wags so fast when she sees the girls.

She's definitely coming out of her shell more and her personality is starting to really come through.

She and MR play a LOT more now and it's hilarious. They run back and forth from the kitchen to our bedroom, fighting for the same toy.

She makes this absolutely adorable whine when we come home from work or if she's excited. It sounds like "hermph" and is so freaking cute.

She loves going for walks and hikes around our property. When I get her harness out, she "hermphs" all over the place and can barely keep her wiggle butt still for me to put the harness on.

We put the kiddie pool out back for them since it was just so hot out and she dove right in! Jumped in, laid down, jumped out, etc. LOVED IT!

I think we have finally figured out her gut/allergy issues she was having. She's been on fish/sweet potato food for over 4-6 weeks now and we haven't seen any red marks and she hasn't been scratching nearly as much.

No more Benadryl or steroids!

We allowed her to sleep in bed with us for a while and it was lovely. BUT, she's still not waking us up to tell us she needs to go to the bathroom, so we woke up one day with two piles of shit on the floor. Um, no thanks.

So back in the crate she went.

But, I do think she's loving life now :)

So pensive.

my pretty girl!

MR always lets her win. Yes, I realize our carpet is disgusting. It's been shampooed and it still looks gross. I cannot wait until it's time to put new floors down! 

they are playing lol

Summer Camp!

Like I mentioned in my previous post, the girls were signed up for Summer Day Camp this year. It's their first time! It's through our town/district and it's very reasonably priced.

I thought the girls would be excited to go, but as the date got closer...Mila's nerves started getting to her. She actually teared up a couple of times, which was a bit surprising to me. She's always adapted really well to situations; if we went to a family or friend function, she'd make friends easily and go off and play.

She did great going off to Kindergarten and made friends quickly.

But she told me a few times before camp started that she was afraid and nervous. I explained that "camp" didn't mean sleeping over and that it was only for a part of the day, instead of the WHOLE day.

Because she was all anxious, Ava got all anxious and nervous too (or, at least, she acted like it).

Steve was the lucky one to drop off on the first day.

The first day came with some...mixups, but in the end was great.

I signed them both up for the same drop off location - the school, for convenience sake since I didn't think multiple drop offs in the morning would be fun. WELL, even though the technical drop off is the school, a couple times a week they have different drop off locations, based on whatever field trip they are doing that day.

So day 1 Mila went to the park and Ava went to the school.

Well, since we're newbies, we didn't know that if/when drop off is at the park, the kids need to bring their bathing suits and towels.

Steve had to go back to get those. He told me that Wal-Mart was closer, so he ended up getting her a new suit AND a new towel.

They said pick up was at the park too, so he went and picked Ava up at noon, then went home and worked on the deck until it was time to pick Mila up.

Only he gets there and no one is there.

They are at the school. So back to the school he goes. (I, personally would've panicked, but like he always does, he kept his cool).

Once we got all that figured out, it's been great!

I am lucky that I'm able to drop off and pick up a couple days a week, so it's really fun to hear about their day.

The one lucky day that drop off for both was at the same location!

Mila has so far: gone to two different beaches, the park/playground, the Zoo and tomorrow she will go to the amusement park. And she's made a couple new friends! 

Ava has so far: gone to two different beaches, the park playground, and this week she goes to the water park. A police officer and a fireman also stopped last week and did crafts with them. 

We are really happy with the day camp so far. I think next year we will plan on signing them up for more than just 2 weeks. 

Our first harvest!

The girls' have harvested our first veggie of the season!

a beautiful green pepper!

We are very proud!

Beautiful weekend on the farm

We've had a stretch of some really hot, humid days lately.

I'm not really complaining - since we had so much rain in the Spring. Plus, I love hot.

We don't have central air conditioning in our house. We don't have ducts. Our house is heated with baseboard heat.

I grew up with central AC and I wasn't sure how I'd deal.

Our first home had central AC too.

We were spoiled.

But, I have to say, I actually like NOT having AC.

Here's why.

It actually feels like summer in our house.

Windows open, breezy winds.

I'm usually wearing a tank top and shorts. Or a summer dress.

I have memories of Steve coming home after a (hot) day at work, only to find me snuggled under blankets in our 68 degree house.

Now, it really, truly feels like summer in our home.

The first couple of years we managed without having AC units.

We installed ceiling fans in the bedrooms, to help with air flow.

Last year was SO HOT FOR SO LONG that I came home from work one day to see that Steve had bought 3 window units. One for our bedroom, and one each for the girls. LOL.

He couldn't handle it.

So, we have those window units for when it gets stupid hot.

We leave one of the girls' on all the time, in case they want to go upstairs and play.

We leave the one in our master on most of the time as well, if we want or need relief.

Both dogs enjoy lounging in our bedroom on the hot days.

This past weekend wasn't that hot at all. I used the opportunity to get some outdoor chores done.

Fresh water for the chickens! They always have access to water from the little spickets, but I like to make sure with the big waterer.

And we have another rooster. Ugh.

Enjoying the beautiful morning

I feel like my garden is finally taking off!

Heirloom tomatoes

Tomatoes

Green pepper! Ready to harvest soon.

More peppers

Peppers

Corn lol.

Zucchini and yellow squash

Tomatoes mostly. I have a watermelon in the back and 3 eggplants over to the left. 

Lovely day for a swim! I got them that circular water fountain - it lights up for night swimming! 

Here's a better view of the fountain. 

More deck building

20ft boards

Took Bella Boo for a walk around the property. Here's our apple tree!

Tired pup after her walk. Tucked her nose right in! 

Independence Day 2019

Happy Independence Day, everyone!

We've been lucky that our schedule has been super easy this week.

Steve was off of work for most of the week (until Friday) and I'm off starting Wednesday at noon and don't go back until Monday!

Steve worked this last weekend, so we didn't hit up the normal fireworks/parade that we'd normally go to. Steve and I have been going to this particular 4th of July celebration since we were kids. I have fond memories of going with either my family or a neighbor's family and staying until the fireworks.

I also remember watching the fireworks from my childhood home's kitchen windows, because of where our house was in proximity to the local school/park where the celebration was held.

So it's been fun to bring our kiddos there to experience it as well.

Our town holds the celebration on the actual day (versus the weekend preceding the actual holiday like other towns). Steve and I are excited to bring the girls down to the lake to enjoy the neighborhood picnic, live music and fireworks.

If only we had a boat and could do the "Ring of Fire" - maybe someday!

Went down to the lake for the July 4th celebration! So many people.

My kids don't get to eat a lot of fun stuff when we're out - but we know they can have fried dough! 

The only way to eat it! :)

So happy!

such a goof

Playing ring toss on my arm

I would like to point out that we forgot to bring our folding chairs with us. And we parked kinda far away. We knew it was going to get busy.

Realizing that we had 2 more hours before fireworks, Steve asked if I wanted to walk back to the truck, go home and grab our chairs. 

I didn't really want to sit on the ground where we were - just a lot of traffic and people in chairs. And Steve still wasn't feeling great, so I went.

Walked allllllllll the way back to the truck (maybe half a mile?) then drove home, found the chairs, cleaned them off, drove back. 

BUT, during my walk to the truck, I had noticed several "good" parking spots that were much closer to the center of activity. I didn't think any cars would see these spots unless they were coming from my direction...so I kept my fingers crossed that I'd be able to get one of these two great spots.

On my way back to the lake, I took another route - one that would allow me to go straight - and I'm glad I did! I saw that the lane I was in, and the one to my left were all turning left to head down towards the shopping area (Wegmans, DD, etc.) but there were NO signs saying we couldn't go straight (towards the lake). So I just went. 

And well, the police officer grabbed the "ROAD CLOSED" sign and put it up RIGHT AFTER ME.

HALLELUJIAH! LOL. I'm so proud that I squeaked by.

And I got the spot I wanted. 

So much closer than our original spot.

Grabbed the chairs, flung them over my shoulders and walked back.

I was gone about 50 minutes total, which wasn't bad!

We were able to sit comfortably. I also grabbed a beach towel at the last minute in case the girls wanted to sit on the ground in front of us. 

Turned out, Steve and Mila took the chairs and Ava and me sat on the ground together.

It was awesome! 

We had a great time. 

This is one tradition I hope we continue!