More Deck Progress!

DadOf3 found some time to work on our deck for a while this weekend! Here is a picture of the latest progress. In case you don't know what the heck this is, it is the concrete supports for the stairs!

Here are some before pictures.
Here are some demolition pictures.
Here, here, and here are some construction pictures.

Tuesday Night

We had a pretty good Tuesday Night. The Knight, the Prince and the Princess played together without fighting too much (!) after Princess got home from school. Princess wanted to put beads in her hair because she saw someone at school with beads in her hair. Kind of cute! DadOf3 got home around 6:00. We ate and then headed outside. We only walked to the mailbox last night instead of going all the way around because the Princess was tired. (Plus I had already reached a new record of steps on my pedometer: 22679.) They run their 1/3 of a mile track twice on Tuesdays at school. This was the last Tuesday of the school year! We got back home and played in the backyard for a little bit. The mosquitoes were pretty bad last night so we didn't last long back there. At Wally World, the boys and I picked up a plastic rake, hoe, and shovel, so the kids got them out last night in the sand box. I made the Princess and the Prince pose for an American Gothic-esque picture. Ha ha! I got another picture of the rails on the deck from down below. Progress!

Saturday Morning

There was a free concert in town this weekend. We are lucky to live in a city where there are lots of music venues. One in particular holds free concerts 2 or 3 times per year. This year, the weather was perfect so we decided to go. That was not until the afternoon, however. Saturday morning was spent doing lots of stuff. DadOf3 went outside and finished the rails of the deck! Yippee! The kids and I went for a walk while DadOf3 worked on the deck and then came home for lunch and naps. The Prince wanted to ride his trike. He does a good job with it and made it almost the entire way! The Princess wanted to take her beloved Sea Star with her so she rode in the stroller with the Knight. She made the Sea Star at school and just loves it. It is made of plaster so I was a bit worried of the Sea Star meeting an untimely demise but all went well. DadOf3 and the Princess also went to Lowe's to get the wood needed for the deck stairs after Princess decided not to take a nap.

Saturday of GrandmaOf4's Visit!

We had a fun day today! When the kids woke up, they played for quite a while inside. The Knight woke up at 5:30 - yawn! The Prince and the Princess slept until 8:00 - almost unbelievable - especially since they had a sleep over last night. They did a really good job with that though. GrandmaOf4, the kids, and I headed out about 10:00 for a fun time at the park and a picnic. The Prince rode his trike the entire way. We played for a while at the park on the swings and slides and then settled down for a peanut butter and jelly and juicebox picnic. It was a fun time and everyone ate their lunch - it doesn't get any better than that! After lunch we went for a hike. Even the Knight was able to keep up without being carried. A first! The Princess liked hiking so much that she wanted to go a second time. The boys didn't want to go so I took the Princess for another go-around. She was a little tired by the time we got back. She is in such good shape from all of her running at school though! We met back up with the boys and Grandma playing in the sand and then headed home to see DadOf3. He stayed home and worked on the deck all day long. The kids asked if they could help DadOf3, and he agreed. They were very good helpers and DadOf3 was able to get lots done! He is making some good progress. I will add some pictures. These blogs are turning into more of a play by play than any intellectual thinking. Maybe someday I will get my mind back and surprise you with my insights into Motherhood! :)

Deck Work - Construction 3

More progress...

Deck Work - Construction 2

Here are some pictures of the work DadOf3 has done on our deck after Grandma and Papa left.

Deck Work - Construction with Papa

Here are some pictures of the new deck going up.

Deck Work - Demolition

Here are some shots of the demolition of our old deck. DadOf3 got to use his sledge hammer!

Deck Work - BEFORE

This is the way our deck looked before DadOf3 started making our new deck!

All dressed up with somewhere to go!

Our FamilyOf5 woke up around 7:30 this morning. The Princess and the Prince had a successful sleepover and actually slept in! Remember that the Prince is an early riser - he gets up at 6:00 in the morning willingly every day of the week. Sleeping until 7:30 is a treat! After breakfast we all headed to church. The kids went to Sunday School while DadOf3 and I went to the service. We used to try and take everyone to the service, but it just does not work. The Princess usually does pretty well, but the Prince and the Knight do not like to sit still at all! They want to get up on our laps and then they want to get down and then they want to go potty and then they want to sit up on our laps again and then they want to color. I think you get the idea. DadOf3 and I just don't get anything out of the sermon when we take everyone. PLUS they actually LIKE Sunday school! The Princess had a craft today and was able to do some coloring. The Prince got an animal cracker snack and made a picture of clouds using real cotten balls to teach him how "God is everywhere." The Knight got to go play with some kids his own age. His teachers have bubbles, and the Knight loves bubbles. They all had a fun time. Ours is a pretty big church. It has quite an expansive parking lot. The church even has men in golf carts driving around the parking lot looking for anyone who needs help getting to the door. Every once and a while, one of the guys will come and pick up our FamilyOf5 and drive us to the Sunday school area. If you are 3 or 5 in our family, this is the coolest thing EVER! The Prince not only gets to sit in the front seat of this golf cart, he doesn't have to wear a seat belt! Now that is being a rebel in our family! The kids were pretty disappointed this morning when we didn't get a lift to church. After church and after picking up the kids from Sunday school, we were literally 3 feet from Otis the van when one of the guys showed up and asked if we wanted a ride. After explaining that we were already at our van, he gave us a wink and asked if we wanted to take a spin around the church parking lot anyway. This made the Prince's and the Princess's day! The Prince got his favorite front seat spot. The Princess sat in between DadOf3 and me, and the Knight sat on my lap. Too fun! More later! DadOf3 is outside working on the deck and the Princess, the Prince, and the Knight are up for naps. It is a cloudy day so they just might sleep! Here's to hoping!