Ready for Take Off

The kids made a fun game for themselves last weekend. They were going all over the house acting like an airplane, making different airports & runways, and providing us with some good smiles. Brady was the pilot and they put together a great little costume for him. His smug little grin was cracking me up. Plus the way he was talking to Chayse, the airplane, was so cute. He always addressed him as "Airplane." So official. Alyssa did a great job of directing all the flight traffic. She spoke into a can which made it sound like she was coming over a speaker. She had the lingo down pretty good, even recommending to keep your arms and legs in the plane at all times. And Chayse was being an awesome big brother. It was fun to watch. I took a snippet of video, but can't get it to upload on here. :( It's just a smidge too big and I can't figure out how to trim it just yet. So pictures will have to suffice, and you'll have to use your imagination for the sound effects.It was one of those heartwarming scenes, seeing them all playing together so well. And it was even more touching when during sacrament meeting yesterday Brady came over to Chayse, gave him a big hug and said "I wuv you airplane." Chayse replied, "I love you pilot." I loved overhearing their sweet exchange.

Fair Fun

Our Stake put on a Fair this last weekend. We were late getting to it, trying to make the most of the work day, but enjoyed hot dogs & watermelon for dinner when we got there. The highlight for the kids were the inflatables. Brady loved the slide and had to be dragged out of the ball pit at the bottom. Chayse & Alyssa both loved the jousting. Chayse talked me into doing it with him, which was fun, even though it ended in a tie. Next time I'll know not to take it easy on him. ;-)If we'd been more on the ball we would have entered one of our monster zucchinis in the produce entries. However we enjoyed the festivities, even without a monster zucchini in tow. It was a simple, but fun little fair.

Friends & Football

My good friend and her husband were out of town this last week and we got to have two of their kids, my kids best friends, stay with us. They were so excited about it. So excited that I had to tape Chayse and Lincoln's mouths shut so they could finish their homework! (I suggested it in jest, but they were all for the idea, so I went ahead and did it.) They just couldn't stop talking. Even by the time midnight rolled around they were still talking. It's no fun being the mean mom, laying down the rules, when you know your kids are having fun with an extra special occasion. I mean how often is it friends spend the night (never) and on a school night too (never!)?

Alyssa and Mary participated in the high school's drill team dance camp. They learned the dance for two nights, then on Friday night we went to the football game to watch them perform it at halftime.They were very excited about it (but a little nervous too). It was cute and fun to watch. I was really glad it worked out to do it because I've been wanting to get Alyssa in some sort of dance or performing thing (heaven knows she loves that kind of stuff...she is constantly putting on shows for us). But life is slightly too crazy right now to add another thing in. Plus soccer & piano both just started up again. But I felt bad it hasn't worked out cuz I know she would totally eat it up. So when this came up...it was perfect for her to be a part of. Short and sweet, and yet exciting! Plus, she was extra excited because it was at a football game, and she was so proud to tell everyone that her dad loves football.

So we went to our first Layton High football game this weekend. It was very underwhelming. I was so surprised. Coming from a small town where going to sporting events was a big deal (or at least it seemed like a big deal from what I'm remembering), I thought for sure athletic events in a large city would be a bigger deal. Didn't really seem so. Even with tons of little girls' parents there to boost attendance, it wasn't as big as I thought it would be. It was interesting. But I guess I can understand a little why it might be the opposite. And being around high school kids was a bit strange. They really looked liked (and acted like), well, kids. It made me rethink how long ago it was I was at that point...and yet it doesn't feel like it should be that far away. Bryce thought it was slightly strange also...but of course he was usually on the field, so he definitely remembered games as a bigger deal too. I had so forgotten how high schoolers stand and chat and move around the whole game, which to an adult trying to sit and actually watch the game, it's quite annoying. But it was still fun to go. We sat right by the band, and Brady didn't like that so much at first. But soon he was dancing with the girls and enjoyed seeing all the different instruments. Chayse and Lincoln loved the band and would crack up at the funny noises they would make with kick offs and such. Overall, it was a fun experience.

Playgroup

We started a playgroup for Brady and some kids his age. It started the week after school, but this last week was the first time it was at our house. We got to do the letter 'B', which was great cuz there are so many 'B' things that it was pretty easy and not so stressful to pull some stuff together. My goal is to make this a low-key, stress-free experience. The kids had fun playing basketball, Bingo, and with balloons. And they were good at making the 'B' sound. I'm glad it went well and that it really wasn't too crazy fitting it in amongst all the construction. A fully functioning yard would have been nice, but we survived thanks to the neighbors grass, kids loving rocks and dirt anyway, and the house being mostly intact still. Brady is very happy to be going to his own "school" and I think it will be great for him. This last week he's becoming very good at recognizing letters and spelling his name. It's been fun to see him learning and growing. Now if I can just get him to understand some "school" rules of not talking and bugging your neighbor.

A Note from Church

Addition Update

There are times I've been feeling slightly overwhelmed in my life lately. And the thought of posting an update on our progress is one of those times. It's definitely been on my to-do-list. It's just easier said than done. But hopefully the many requests for pictures will be answered with this post.

Since my last posting about our project we have had a few more weeks of work. We are definitely feeling the tiredness of cement work...since that has been the majority of what has been accomplished.

After finishing the walls for the new storage room, the next phase was building cinderblock walls against the house, filling them with cement, then backfilling with cement, and topping them with a cement cap. We also did a smaller wall like this that would be the base for the shed portion of the room. The picture on the left shows this step. It was a LOT of work. We mixed the cement by hand (see the small mixer in the bottom left of that picture) then carried and dumped it with buckets. We had to do it this way because we were trying to make a wall right next to our existing house foundation. I actually don't have a ton of pictures of each step from this point on because I was so busy working and helping that I was lucky to snap a few pictures here and there. Then footing holes were dug for the house and deck supports. Chayse and his friend found a new favorite spot and loved to sit on the top of the wall to watch.

Then we were able to pour the shed floor, stairs going down to the storage room, the footings I just talked about and also a footing for a new retaining wall.Next was an exciting step. The forms for the suspended cement slab were built. This would be the ceiling of our new storage room, as well as a patio we could walk out on behind our garage. That was a lot of fun to be able to stand where we hadn't been able to for so long.After the wood forms were in place, we covered it with visquine and got rebar and conduit in place for all the lighting and electrical outlets. The slab took a ton of rebar that was drilled into the existing foundation as well as rebar from the new walls that would be supporting it. Then 20 tons (40,000 pounds) of cement were poured for the slab.We colored and stamped the top of the slab so our new patio would have a little more interest than just plain, flat cement. What a dirty job! We got so stinkin' dirty throwing the color release and moving the stamps around. It was quite humorous. We were also sweating up a storm trying to move fast and having four of us squished on a small rubber stamping pad making our way around the cement. If I hadn't been so busy working I would have videod it, it was that funny watching our little dance. But I was lucky to even be able to snap a picture right at the end, then get one of us completely filthy. The coloring didn't work out exactly as we hoped, but we have plans to put a stain on top and see if that will give us the result we're looking for. It has been fun to be able to use our back garage door again! We haven't used that door for literally years. What was the point when you walk out on steep, broken steps. So it's just been a storage place in front of the door. But now it is an access to a level, very nice patio. So exciting!Then we got ready for and poured the first portion of the lower patio, a new retaining wall (on the left in the next pictures), and also a wall on top of the upper patio (sorry, no picture). The last several pours of cement have been very laborious. Because of their locations we couldn't get a cement truck next to them and they weren't big enough loads that it was worth getting a pump truck, so we've been using the backhoe as much as possible, but mostly using wheelbarrows to get the cement where we need it. Luckily, I've been in charge of controling the flow of the cement into the wheelbarrows and not actually pushing them around full of cement. The guys are much better suited for those kinds of jobs. We bought some new wheelbarrows to use one morning and had a panicky time trying to get them put together before the cement showed up. How many people does it take to quickly put together two wheelbarrows? Apparently four adults and a couple of kids.Then the destruction moved around the house to the front. As we finished taking out the old sidewalk all the way around the house we continued with demolishing the driveway and even our porch! We had thought perhaps of just pouring over our old porch, but ended up deciding to tear it out. That was a really hard decision for me. But so far, we are thinking it was the right one. Even though seeing our porch and driveway gone is one of those "what-are-we-doing, are-we-crazy!" overwhelming feelings. That was another exhausting day... listening to a jackhammer all day and hefting chunks of cement into the backhoe. Dad and Kyle were great! They just kept plugging through it. But I was right there with them and am quite proud to say that I kept up and felt like I definitely did my share. It was awesome because our next door neighbor wanted our cement for fill. So we didn't have to haul it all away! Dad just hauled it around back and dumped it over the fence into his yard. That was a great blessing, cuz boy, it was a lot of cement.Again, there was nothing but sand under our driveway and porch. We have HATED our driveway ever since we have lived here and it's been one of our big dreams to replace it. So even though it's gone right now and we won't be parking in the garage or the driveway for quite some time now, it's exciting to realize one of our dreams is on it's way to coming true. We were thinking we wouldn't be doing the driveway until the very end of the project, but it just worked out to take it out at this point. We are going to wait to pour it until hopefully last though. We are major paranoid about not driving on it for a while and making it soooo much better than it was before. So right now we are left with a big pile of gravel in our driveway. The kids have been having fun with it.So to date, besides the storage room being done (at least the cement part), and the upper patio, we now have a lower patio which will be covered by the addition and the deck, and a new porch. We poured and stamped a decorative border in a seperate pour on the lower patio. I'm really excited about the curved edges, I really like them. The porch is bigger so we will actually be able to have leg room when we sit on our bench, and the stairs are centered and wider coming up to it. We had a nerve racking, and slightly sad point while pouring the porch when the forms were stepped on and knocked out of place. Most of the cement was already in so it was major work trying to get it aligned back up. Thank goodness my dad is amazing because he was able to get it almost back to perfect. We were glad he knew what he was doing and that he could maneuver the backhoe so well to be able to brace it up a bit. Looking on the positive side about that situation...at least it was in the shade.

We also have the retaining wall done next to the lower patio as well as the stairs, landing and part of the sidewalk going up the east side of the house. I don't have pictures of it, but we also leveled the yard a bit as well as the new orchard area, dug out part of the play area, and moved most of the rocks that were lining our yard before back to the orchard. We hope this will be the last time we move these rocks....we have moved them so many times!!It's coming together. Now that the major cement stuff is done in the back, we can start putting in the posts and floor joists and start into the framing and wood stuff. I'm thinking it will be nice to have a bit of a break from cement. We were realizing the other day that when we are done, the entire house will be surrounded by cement. Who knew cement could be so beautiful. Hopefully we can keep making it even more beautiful.

So there you have it. As much of an update as I have energy for right now. I need to remember to keep taking pictures and not let the project slip away from me. I need to take one of the awesome storage room. It's absolutely huge compared to our current storage options! I also probably need to update more frequently. Then the task won't seem so daunting. Even though this has been needing to be done, I sort of feel like I've wasted my whole morning sitting here at the computer. I'm not dirty, sweaty or exhausted yet. :)

You have now entered...The Twilight Zone.

It was the beautiful, finally calm after church part of Sunday when some friends stopped by to see our project. So we stepped outside to give them the tour. We spent a few minutes visiting with them and walking around the house. Bryce noticed the phone box was open while we were walking (left open by Blue Stakes coming to mark our lines before digging) so he hurriedly shoved the wires in the box, forgetting about the touchy connection that if it isn't just so, the phones go dead. After our visit with friends and while still outside, we decided we'd run across the street to see our neighbor whom we'd been trying to visit for several weeks. We were close to the time we needed to leave for a family dinner, but figured we could squeeze this one quick stop in before we left. We didn't tell the kids where we were going cuz they'd been completely content playing together for the last hour. Plus they usually don't even seem to listen if we try to talk to them when they are involved in something and figured they wouldn't miss us for 5 more minutes. Boy were we ever wrong.

After our visit at our neighbors, and somewhat in a hurry now because of the need to get on the road in time, we headed back across the street. Before we even got to the street, however, we could hear our children literally screaming for us, completely distraught, crying, and blubbering all kinds of indistinguishable phrases. We can't tell what's going on, only that they are clearly upset and using sounds of utter fright...sounds that we have only heard on very rare, scary occasions.

We try to calm them down and interpret what they're saying and what they are so upset about. It was just so bizarre. Just a few minutes before they were all giggles and laughter playing together. Just the kind of sounds you hope to hear on a nice, peaceful Sunday afternoon. Not sounds like "Where were you?!" "We couldn't find you!" "We tried to call you!" "Something is wrong!" "We tried to call the Zierenbergs!" "She's just laying there, at the bottom!" "We tried both your cell phones!" "We even tried to call Grandma!" "We can't call anybody!!" "We think Wendy is dead!!!"

What? We were so confused. Bryce takes out his phone wondering how he could have missed the call. As the kids are sobbing and rattling off more slightly incomprehensible phrases we remember about Bryce messing with the phone box and the story starts to unfold and make a little more sense.

While we were visiting outside, unbeknownst to the kids, they were upstairs playing with the parakeets, Tinkerbell and Wendy. Tinkerbell was being quite accommodating and doing all kinds of tricks. Then they turned their attention to Wendy, noticing that she'd been sitting on the same perch for quite some time. Chayse tried to pick her up and see if she'd take some lettuce. But she was having a hard time even standing in his hand. Then he said she tried to fly and she couldn't even do that. So as he's holding her, she literally keels over and falls off his hand. Stiff. Thud.

So the kids start freaking out, running all over the house trying to find us, knowing that something is not right and hoping we can take Wendy quickly to the "emergency vet." But they can't find us. So they pick up the phone and start calling our cell phones, but none of the calls go through. They try calling our friends. They try Grandma. The phone is dead.

The phone is dead. The bird is dead. The parents are gone. Missing? Vanished? Abducted?!

I can only imagine what sort of terror they were experiencing. I have never seen them both so simultaneously upset & scared. Brady actually seemed fine, just sort of there, but not really involved or comprehending. But Chayse & Alyssa were both beyond distraught. It was so horrible and yet horribly funny at the same time. Isn't life funny how circumstances come together...

So they cried and cried. And we talked and talked. And hugged and hugged. And we apologized for not letting them know where we were going. And told them how much we loved them and how we would never just leave them. We told them how sorry we were about Wendy and how we didn't know the answer to why she died. Then they sobbed some more and cried out their fears and questions. Then they cried some more in the car on the way to the family dinner...at least until they were absorbed in watching The Backyardigans. Needless to say, we were a bit late to dinner. But at least by the time we made it, got some food in our bellies, and were able to relay the story of why we were late, Chayse was finally able to laugh a bit about his time in...The Twilight Zone.

Buzzzz

Brady: "Once I had a bee on my ear."

Grandpa: "Did it bite you?"

Brady: "Bees don't bite. They have pointy bums."