The Adventure Continues: Day 2

Well, Luke woke up last night at about 2:30 a.m. complaining of being too cold in his sleeping bag. Actually, he had come out of his sleeping bag and that explains why he was so cold. He was coughing a little bit as well and asked if he could go inside to his own bed. Not a bad idea. We both went in at that point and enjoyed our final hours of sleep.

I got a picture and text message from Mom this morning a little after getting up. It was of our sweet Emmelise, sitting up on Mom's floor, holding a picture of the other four of us, taken last summer in Utah.

Big smile!

Mom was happy to tell me that Emmelise didn't show any signs of being nervous around her. Emmelise is getting to the age where she has had a bit of stranger anxiety. Our boys didn't have it too much, but Suzanna thinks Emmelise might be a little more nervous around people she doesn't see a lot. No problems this morning though, apparently!

Luke was my super-awesome helper around the house! I told him that if we got some chores done in the morning, then we could go get a doughnut from Dot's Donuts for a treat.

Vanilla frosting with sprinkles

As you can see from the picture, Luke definitely earned that doughnut! He helped me with a ton of things around the house this morning: sorting, folding and putting away laundry, collecting garbage and recycling and taking it out to the cans, cleaning both the boys' and our bathrooms, tidying up the kitchen, cleaning up all the camping gear, and doing the other usual things including making beds, getting dressed, etc. I was really impressed with how Luke didn't complain and did a pretty good job staying on task throughout the morning!

First bike ride together!

After a few errands, we decided to take a bike rid together to Maplecrest park with our lunches packed in our backpacks for a picnic. We haven't ever been on a bike ride together before, so this was a really fun first experience! He's ridden in the trailer a number of times, and of course I've walked alongside him before when he has ridden his bike, but this was a lot of fun to both be riding our bikes!

Sandwiches, cantaloupe, yogurt and water. Not a bad lunch!

We had a tasty picnic and then while I studied for a while on this absolutely gorgeous afternoon, Luke played with some "friends" on and around the playground. It's fun to see Luke not afraid to talk to and play with other kids, especially older boys. I think these boys were between the ages of 8-10. Pretty good for a four-year old!

Luke with his new "friends"

We came home and took a rest. Well, Luke took a rest that is. I headed back outside to mow and edge the lawn and get cleaned up before dropping Luke off at the Lowder's so I could go to the Stake Center and sing at the Adult Session of Stake Conference. Luke had a ton of fun jumping on their trampoline and watching a short cartoon episode of Spiderman. I really enjoyed singing in this men's quintet, made up of men from our ward. We sang a piece that Doug (Lowder) arranged for five men's voices, and I was pleased with how it came out. I had Skyler record it from the congregation using my iPhone, so I've got it saved now!

After getting Luke down in bed, I watched the BYUtv replay of the BYU-Texas football game that took place in Provo today. For the second week in a row, there was a two-hour weather delay, but in the end, BYU stomped the Longhorns 40-21 in an incredible, record-setting performance for the Cougars, who rushed for 550 yards! It was amazing and definitely worth staying up late to see! Hopefully they can keep up this momentum and success in the offense going forward!

msh

Needed Cleanup

I used some of the time without the family at home to do a few more things on that honey-why-are-you-so-lazy list! The front section of our yard near the driveway has been an eyesore for some time. When we first moved in, there were a few low scrubby bushes at the front, and a bigger bee-attracting lavender bush in the middle. The rest of the area had some old decomposing bark chips and weeds poking through all over. Over time, I have pulled out those bushes and loads of weeds. We even shoveled up most of the old bark chips. However, since we didn't put anything else down in place of the bushes, we've had tons of weeds growing back up and even the roots of the lavender bush have sent new sprouts to the surface.

I spent a couple hours last night taking out as much of that lavender bush as I could and pulling all the weeds. But this time I had planned ahead and bought some Round Up from The Home Depot as well as eight big bags of brown mulch.

I sprayed the Round Up all over in hopes of preventing more weeds and then I spread the mulch as best I could as the sun was going down. Here is a picture of my work from last night.

The "after" picture!

I wish I had a 'before' picture! Oh, and I felt pleased with my effort, when Suzanna got home and mentioned that she noticed it right away!

msh

Pooleli

"Pooleli" is Estonian for "unfinished" but the  root part of this word "pool" means "half." I don't love leaving things halfway done, but such was the case with the shed today. Here are some pictures of the project progress so far.

Before, with evidence of the paint samples

After covering nail holes with putty

Trim painted

Tape around trim; this step took the longest cause we had to wait a couple hours for trim to dry and then be very deliberate and meticulous with the tape

Edges and grooves painted brown

Rolled the rest of the shed

Rolling the rest of the paint on the shed was by far the quickest and easiest part, but as you can see, we're still not done. I think everything needs a second coat. Plus you'll notice the trim along the top (and the underside of the overhangs) are unpainted, except for where we inadvertently painted it brown! Suzanna also told me that she saw our tape didn't hold up so well and the brown bled through onto the trim! And, um, there's a reason I kept taking photos from this viewpoint. The back and other side are still totally unpainted (minus the trim, which I did do all at once).

So, we're halfway. Sorta. Pooleli. I would have liked to spend more time on it, but we had a date night planned! Suzanna and I met up with a few other couples in the ward to go to a local production of Les Miserables in downtown Portland at the Newmark Theater on Broadway. Our home teacher played Javert, and he was awesome! I overheard some kids at intermission talking to their mom about who they thought was the best singer. One of the little girls said, "the serious one" to which the mom replied, "Javert" in a low authoritative voice, as though she was imitating him. We were also of the common opinion (biased as they may be) that Javert was the star of the show and really delivered an incredible performance!

Before the show, though, we went to Elephants in the Park (why didn't I take any pictures!?) at Directors Park just a couple blocks from the theater and got some tasty grub. Suzanna had a Tuscan chicken sandwich on focaccia bread, and I had the Park Burger, which was just a standard classic burger, but oh, so tasty. The weather was beautiful and cool as we sat outside under a big glass awning, watching the kids (not ours!) playing in the big fountain and a ballroom club of seniors preparing to dance their Saturday night away!

From Elephants in the Park, we headed over to a Ben and Jerry's (yes!) scoop shop where we loaded up on ice cream. Well, at least, I loaded up on ice cream! I got a double scoop of Americone Dream and Double Fudge Brownie on a huge cookies 'n cream dipped waffle cone (amazing!). Suzanna got her own double scoop on a normal sugar cone, but the other three couples each only got one ice cream! Some shared and some went without. We felt a little funny being the only ones getting two ice cream cones, but it was special occasion, and we've been really diligent at eating better for the last month or so.

Andersons, Spences, Shattucks, Holdaways

Here's a picture of us outside the theater. Forgive the silly expression on my face and the awkward way Suzanna and I are standing. My mouth was full of ice cream, so I was reluctant to smile. I was still holding the remnants of my monster ice cream cone in my right hand (behind Suzanna's back), and I had also just spilled some on the front of my shirt, so I didn't want to get too close to Suzanna for fear of getting in on her, too! I was very sad to throw the last little bit of my ice cream cone in the garbage because we had to go inside to take our seats. Oh ice cream cone, I barely knew you.

"Javert" and Mrs. Javert; I didn't know Javert was married and wear adidas!

After the show was over, we waited around for a few minutes until Javert (Gordon) came out to say hello. I really liked his chops, but he promised that they'd be off before church tomorrow! He is here with his wife (with whom I share a birthday!), who I am sure was very glad that this was closing night and would now be getting her husband back on nights and weekends. We really like the Thomas family and hope they stick around for a while.

Hopefully I'll get back to the shed on Monday, but we'll see how the weather holds up.

msh

Let the project commence...

Going to paint that shed tomorrow. Suzanna picked up the paint and some other supplies today. I took some time tonight to go over the spots that needed some putty. The guys that put the shed together were kind enough to cover a few of the nail holes, but they left a bunch of them uncovered.

I took this picture as I was about to get started with the putty. Hopefully my picture-of-the-day post tomorrow will have a nicely painted shed.

msh

Haircuts and Home Depot

I took Logan with me to The Home Depot tonight to pick up some paint for the shed.

Cute Logan with a new haircut and a yellow paint swatch!

He insisted on wanting to paint the shed (and house!) yellow!

We got a few samples of paint to try out on the shed to see which we liked more in real life.

I think we'll go for the dark brown at the top

I let the boys help paint the samples on the shed and it was quickly becoming a messy project! Fortunately we avoided any major mishaps, but it makes me question out plans for keeping them around while we paint on Saturday.

We like this off-white color for the trim, but we were still trying to decide on the color for the main parts of the shed. I don't care too much for the blue, but I'm undecided between the two browns. Suzanna favors the darker shade, but I kind of like the warmer brown on the bottom. Reminds me of milk chocolate.

In other news, Suzanna's parents were in Tallinn, Estonia today! They are on a cruise right now around North Eastern Europe, with stops in Stockholm, Tallinn, St. Petersburg, and ending back where they started in Helsinki. While in Estonia today, they stopped by one of my favorite restaurants which is located in Old Town Tallinn. It's called Kompressor and has a wide variety of tasty filled pancakes. I like to get the smoked cheese and bacon pancake which is served with a sour cream-type sauce. I also really like the apple and ice cream pancake for a treat as well. More on that place another time, I suppose.

msh

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