Handy

Well, not as much as I'd like to be. Today I pretended to be handy by checking a couple items off the honey-would-you-please-finally-get-around-to-this-stuff list.

But before I show some of the fruits of my Saturday labors, I have a couple pals to introduce.

Meet Ryobi, my new green drill. Green, as in the color, not the environmentally sustainable power source. It doesn't run on dirty diapers. Though that would be cool.

This was my Christmas present to myself last year (really one of two, but more about the other at a later date): a Ryobi drill from The Home Depot. It's already helped me with a number of little projects around the house and helps me feel manly.

The tools. Note that they don't smell like dog urine, thank heavens. Dad's tools still smell horrendous.

This is the tool set Dad gave to me shortly after I got home from my mission. I'm not sure exactly when it was or if I was already married, but I imagine he must have thought I wouldn't be a proper husband if I entered marriage without even some basic tools. Interestingly, Jeff must have thought the same thing because he got me a mini battery powered drill (more like a screwdriver) that proved very handy a bunch of times before one of the kids gave it a bath or something. Dad gave me a beefier Black and Decker drill that same Christmas as Jeff, just a week or two before I married Suzanna, but that drill has also since passed on, hence the Ryobi.

I digress. This set of tools has been with me all along our marriage so far, through seven residences, six years, four states, three kids, and two home buying experiences. It's one of the last things Dad gave to me that I still have and is in working order. Tools make me kind of nostalgic, if you couldn't tell. And washing cars.

All right. Here's what I made today (with lots of help from Suzanna and a little from the boys as well):

A blurry shot of Logan's bed.

A bunk bed set for L&L. Here is the twin Logan sleeps in. Luke's is nearly identical, believe it or not. For now, we want to avoid unnecessary ER visits (must be the health actuary in me, trying to find a way to bend the cost curve and keep medical claims cost low) and will use them as separate twin beds. But some time down the road, I'm sure we'll convert them into a bunk bed.

It's so shiny!

A brand new crib for Emmelise! This was a long time coming. But finally she has her own bed in her own room with plenty of space to stretch out and no more stinky shoes. Until now, she has been sleeping in our walk-in bedroom closet. I'm sure she'll appreciate her own space, as she gets a little older.

So that was it. I followed some instructions to assemble a few pieces of furniture. But it does make it seem like the kids are growing up and changing fast. They are all three now in their new beds as I sit outside their bedrooms, listening to make sure they go to sleep nicely.

Uh oh, is that Emmelise I hear crying now?

msh