Tuesday, May 30, 2006
May 27-29, 2006 Memorial Day Weekend
Friday night we finally watched a movie after dinner and Liam went to bed. It was sorta like a Cheech & Chong type
movie with the guy from the 70s show Danny Masterson. It was called
Puff Puff Pass. It was pretty funny and made us laugh out loud a couple of times.
On Saturday we had to return books to the library. We then went home and got ready to go to Bill and Janet Marks wedding
reception at the Old Breton Inn. Bill and Janet recently got married in Hawaii and decided to bring back the Islands to the
reception. There was a 45 minute show with dancers and fire eating.
The food was exotic and the pig was stuffed with delightful pork. I stuck to the coconut shrimp.
Bill and Janet had a kid friendly reception so Liam was able to tag along with us. We had got him an Hawaiian shirt for
the reception as everyone was encouraged to come in Aloha attire. Pretty nice on this warm evening on the Potomac to have
a loose shirt on. Chrissy, Erin's friend from the Mom's group was there to photograph the event. Her husband Tim and her set
at our table and we enjoyed their company and conversation. Their son Landon, who is a day younger than Liam, got together
with Liam and the boys had a good time running and playing.
It was neat to see that Chrissy is due in October now so Erin and her got a chance to catch up. Alas after the bridal
toast we bid adieu with a tired kid in tow. He was asleep before we left te parking lot.
On Sunday Liam woke up with a fever and even threw up as we sat on the couch. Erin and Liam were going to go to a birthday
party. It was for Raisa whose mom and dad, Chuck and Brenda, were in our Bradley Class a couple of years back. Erin called
them so Brenda and her will find a time this week to get Raisa her gifts. I watched Liam and cuddled him and we watched the
Indy 500. WOW! What a race. That Marco Andretti was something else. Even Erin watched the end of the race with us.
Erin had pulled out the brown paint and did the lower part of the stairs and upstairs hall. I was worried it may not
match the original from a couple of years back but it was a perfect match and looks so much better. The dog traffic really
had dirtied up those walls. After the race Erin took a break with Liam and I went out and mowed the lawn and weedwhacked.
On Memorial day Liam was 100% better so Erin and I got started on a couple of projects in the morning. I painted the
trim around the front door as well as the trim on the back patio door. I moved out the dryer and Erin painted the laundry
area.
The day was not all work as we took a break and spent the afternoon at Andy and Donna Heffners place. We ran into them
at the wedding reception Saturday and they invited us over. We used to picnic with that group alot back in the late 90s. After
our friend Lee passed we all sorta went our seperate ways. It was so great to see our friends Art and Kitty and Michele and
Rob. It had been too long. Andy had the grill blazing with great food on this hot day. Donna went out of her way with many
tasty foods and desserts. A shade tree was well placed for good conversation and watching Liam and a cute little almost 4
year old girl named Justice play.
Liam even got to try his first watermelon which went over well but not as much as the strawberries.
We headed home and since we had so much to eat we just skipped dinner. We did tag team to finish the front door trim
and the inside of the front door. The green paint for outside seemed a little watery so we will have to buy more to repaint
the outside front door and lower trim.
We also watched a really good movie called the
Family Stone. It was very poignant and grabbed a few tears from both of us. Definitely recommend it. The weekend was filled with socializing,
a little work, and lots of time with our boy. The other little one is spending plenty of time kicking and playing to let us
know he/she is around too.
Tuesday, May 23, 2006
May 19-21
Another weekend down, and a few more sprucing up projects complete. During the week previous, I put in some new
shelving in the pantry. It isn't anything fancy, but provides a good deal of storage space.
We also began doing some research on what sort of Van to purchase. I got the Jeep paid off, and we plan to give
the Saturn to Noah, so the time was appropriate to do a little shopping. We settled on considering a Dodge Grand Caravan
or a Chrysler Town & Country. Though I wasn't fond of purchasing another Chrysler product, I couldn't find a comparable
alternative to the vehicle's complete Stow & Go seating where all the rear seats can conveniently fold down beneath the
floor.
Thursday evening, we dropped off the Jeep at Tires Plus to have some service work done on the brakes. Of course,
it turned out the rotors needed replacing as well. As we exited the garage, and pulled into the Lowe's parking lot,
we noticed the engine steaming, and lovely green antifreeze dripping from the passenger side. After a quick trip in
Lowe's we decided that when we picked up the Jeep the following day, we'd plan to drop off the Saturn.
We tried not to let the vehicle concerns of the evening dampen our Van shopping plans for the following day, but it was
difficult.
Friday morning we began power washing the house siding with a power washer that we'd borrowed from one of Russ's co-workers.
This was great fun, although Russ was not thrilled about balancing himself atop a rather tall ladder. I was not thrilled
with standing around the bottom either, but the power washer really did a good job on the siding.
I prepped the planting areas and worked on fixing the closet doors that were not closing correctly. We needed to
wait around for a guy to come and service our air conditioner too, so we kept ourselves busy with the myriad of little things
that needed to be done. Finally, after he departed, we sprung ourselves out of the house, and headed to the dealership
to see about buying a van.
The remainder of the afternoon was spent either at the dealership or at the garage shuffling vehicles for repair.
Our salesman at the dealership was very accomodating (considering I hadn't had good experiences there previously) and patient
as we viewed a half a dozen vans in our price range. Soon, Russ happened to find our perfect vehicle on the lot.
It had all the extras that we wanted, yet didn't have that price tag that would have really strapped our budget - and it was
RED!! So, of course, we test drove it and fell in love with it. It probably has more features than practicality,
but considering it was my first NEW vehicle, and that I'd scrimped for the past year to pay off the Jeep, I figuered a few
rewards were due. It's a 2006 Chrysler Town & Country with Leather seats, a sun roof, automatic doors and lift gate,
stow & go seating, sirius satellite radio, and probably a few other gadgets that I hadn't discovered yet. We got
a fair deal and a good warrenty, so I hope it serves us well for the next 10 years!
As for the Jeep... well, it was a hefty bill. As for the Saturn... another hefty bill, but at least it'll be safe
for Noah. We plan to take it up to him in PA in a couple of weeks. It'll be a quick trip, as at this point in
my pregnancy we don't want to be too far from home for too long.
Saturday morning we lingered on the couch a little longer than we should have, but it was nice just to steal a few extra
moments before diving into more sprucing projects. Luckily, the weather was beautiful, and allowed us to spend most
of the day outside. We finished up the power washing and started planting flowers in the front. Russ also patched
the concrete under the front door.
That evening we even took a few minutes to lounge in the hammock. Normally, it had no trouble holding all three
of us, but this evening, I guess we put it beyond the test now that Liam is bigger and I'm about 20lbs heavier with the baby!
We fell to the ground in a heap, but fared pretty well. I took a few minutes to make sure the baby and I were both okay,
Liam cried a little mostly out of fear, and Russ nursed a lump on his head. Between groans of pain we couldn't help
but giggle a little at the irony. No rest for the weary!!
Sunday we got a good start on finishing up a few things. We got the front flowers all finished, and then churned
up a spot along the back fence for some more impatiens. I planted those, as Russ power washed the patio. I also
got the pantry closet door re-hung, but it still isn't perfect. Maybe over the next few weeks it'll straighten itself
out.
Sunday afternoon we decided to give ourselves a little fun time. We piled into the new van, got some fast food
for lunch, and then spent the remainder of the day cruising around the South part of the county for HOME FOR SALE signs.
We found a couple that intrigued us, but since we are still a good month (maybe even two months) away from seriously shopping,
it was more of a dream trip just for fun. Still, it let us scout out some nice areas where we might consider living.
The market for Single Family Homes is slowing though, so perhaps some of the houses we actually did see will still be available
when we are ready to buy.
When we returned home early in the evening we made ourselves a nice dinner. I finished hanging the laundry room
closets that are better, but STILL not perfect. At least they stay closed pretty well now. Then after some snuggles
with Liam, we watched a little TV. Russ worked on some Basketball players for his computer game, and I drifted off into
dreamland.
Monday, May 15, 2006
May 13-14, 2006
Short two day weekend and the kitchen still loomed large. Something that wasn't so large was our motivation to complete
it. Having the weekend off the previous week kind of spoiled us. Earlier in the week we celebrated Mother's Day early by going
to Arizona Pizza after Erin's baby doctor appointment. All is well in that department. We will start going weekly after the
next visit and Erin now knows what she can take for indegestion which is a little better.
On Friday night I took Erin shopping at Target for some more pants she needs for comfort here in the home stretch of
her pregnancy.
Saturday morning brought sunshine which we thought would be the only sun of the week. We needed to check on a cache and
decided since we were out we go find a few. We also launched a couple of Travel Bugs. One was a neat idea of Erin's. She got
this little Kite with its own pouch and decided to make it a Travel Bug. Well we wnated a shot of it for the geocaching page.
The light breeze did not help but we finally got it aloft long enough for a picture. We went and pulled our old Hollywood
Bowl cache as there was a lot of activity of taking down trees all around it.
Afterwards we went and found another cache in that park and a couple of others. Liam and I then snuck in to the drug
store and got Mommy a card. I let him pick it. More on that later.
Finally we started on the house around three in the afternoon. We put in three intense hours prepping the kitchen to
paint and cleaning doors. Liam enjoyed helping Mommy clean the doors.
Erin and I also took turns on refinishing the bay window wood that turned out real nice.
On Saturday evening Liam and I settled in for our usaul corn/crab feast as Mommy enjoyed her Sushi. Liam got to wear
his new tie dye pajamas and Erin and I saw an interesting documentary called
In The Womb. I could swear we saw it on PBS last year.
On Sunday we were committed to finishing the kitchen project. With everything masked we ate breakfast and got started
at 9:30. I felt bad working Erin on Mother's Day but she wanted to. Erin had already painted Killz over where her Ivy stenciling
had been. She did that a week ago so that saved us time. I had masked the room the day before. By lunch time we had the first
coat on and also finished the pantry. We broke for lunch and got Liam up from his nap.
Liam played and played with his toys. By the end of the day they were everywhere. He plays really well by himself but
the picking up his toys routine needs a lot of work. We need to teach him one toy out one toy back up. On Friday night we
got a kick out of hom driving the Tonka truck Uncle Brian and Auntie Jo got him for Christmas.
In the afternoon we finished the room. We need to touch up the trim in a couple of spots but for teh most part teh kitchen
is done. We took a quick trip to WalMart. I needed to get a switchplate and some felt pads for the cabinet doors. When we
got back Erin started on the new pantry shelves as we will be taking our nice ones with us. I put the switchplates back up,
padded the cabinet doors, and pulled teh masking down. We then settled for dinner and had broiled steaks since I need to get
new propane next week.
Also Liam gave Mommy her "Mothers Day card". What I failed to notice even when I had Liam write on it was that it was
a birthday card. Erin certainly got a chuckle out of that one. Hopefully next week we can start doing a few outdoor projects
and enjoy the Spring a little. Erin and I enjoyed watching the Survivor final. We also put calls into our Mom's for Mothers
Day.
Thursday, May 11, 2006
May 5-7, 2006
We were relieved from a weekend of home improvement projects. Instead, we traveled to Doylestown, PA to see Noah and Marcie.
We got a late morning start on Friday and were in PA by 4:00.
Marcie had some brownies in the oven when we arrived, so we just relaxed a bit before taking her to the grocery store.
While Marcie shopped, Russ figured he'd make his usual trek to the Hobby Store to get some Airline Magazines. While he made
his selections, Liam and I enjoyed playing with the train sets. Since we were hungry, and didn't know just how long Marcie
would be, we went to this place around the corner called, "The Little Store." It truly is a "little" store and has the BEST
BEST BEST cheesesteaks around. The weather was beautiful so we sat outside the shop and ate our dinner. Liam even got to eat
at his own toddler-sized picnic table, so he was quite pleased. Afterwards we went to Doylestown Airport. If you go to the
opposite side of the airport you can park at a cul-de-sac and get a very close vantage point of the private planes landing
and taking off. Liam sat on the hood of the truck and enjoyed the planes. He waved at one plane taking off and the pilot waved
back by wiggling his wings. Liam thought that was neat. Then we checked on Marcie's shopping status, and since she was about
to finish up, we made a quick detour to the shoe store next door since it was having a big sale. Liam needed a pair of sandles
for summer, and we were happy to have a nice selection and good prices to choose from. That evening we visited and enjoyed
playing with Liam.
Saturday morning, Russ went to pick up Noah. When they returned, we had a nice breakfast together. We let the morning slip
away with good conversation, kid play, and TV shows. Around 11:30 Russ, Noah and I drove to the nearby town to pick up Noah's
girlfriend, Kayla. After meeting her and her father, we went to the Strawberry Festival at Peddler's Village. Peddler's Village
is a quaint little shopping village, and we just enjoyed getting to know Kayla and dodging the crowd.
We did have a good time in the OshKosh outlet and got a few items for both children. We even found some really cool
Tie Dyed sleepers! It was a fun afternoon, but we had had enough of the festival, and decided to head back to Marcie's for
a pizza dinner. We watched a couple of movies and then took Kayla home before we got too tired to drive on the winding roads
of Bucks County.
Sunday we all slept in a little as Russ took a turn cooking breakfast. We decided to get moving around as we needed to
drop off a geocaching travel bug that had a specific mission. It was to collect Harely-Davidson keychains from dealerships
across the country. On the way up north past Quakertown we followed a line of Harleys so that gave us the feeling it might
be open. We went in and all the keychains were pricy so Russ asked the saleslady if they had any with the dealership on it.
She went into a back office and came out with one and gave it to Russ for free. How cool was that!
We then dropped pictures off at a CVS to be printed for Marcie. We then did a micro by a highway and then headed off to
a park that looked like it used to be an underground water station for the Allentown Water Works. We hit three caches there
but did them backwards so we circled the park three times. The last one we found was one of Sue and Perry's and we put the
Harley Davidson Travel bug in it.
We then headed back to the apartment after a brief stop by K-Mart for caulk. We grabbed a good lunch from the fridge. After
lunch we tiled Marcie's counter and Russ fixed the tile on the floor where the Apartment superintendent did a bad job. Alas,
a great weekend came to a close. Liam said his goodbyes to Noah and sniffled a little but was a little better than when he
all out cried the last visit. The ride home was uneventful and we talked with Anita, our petsitter a little when we arrived
home. Hayride is getting to the point where she's having trouble moving much, although she still eats with gusto, and not
that we've been getting rid of her worms, she's picking up a tiny bit of weight too. It's just not time for her to quit yet.
The next time we visit we will have another passenger in early August. Hopefully we will have a new van then and will be
bringing the Saturn up for Noah to drive.
Monday, May 1, 2006
April 29 & 30, 2006
KITCHEN CABINETS
The house projects in the Cole household began anew this weekend. We took Thursday and Friday night off and that helped.
We had new momentum on Saturday morning as Erin took the cabinet doors off at a great clip and we both took turns sanding
doors down.
I got the bottom doors back on and it really does brighten up the Kitchen. We are both pleased with the way they came
out.
Well Liam was patient as we took turns playing with him and he spent some time playing by himself in the Living Room.
Once he was down for a nap we cranked it up a notch as I finished almost finished painting the doors and Erin sanded the cabinets
and masked them for painting.
We called a halt for dinner and cleaned up. We were pretty much ready to start painting in Sunday. I had a couple of
more doors to paint and then I could pitch in and help Erin paint the cabinets. We primed them with Killz. On Saturday night
we just kicked back and watched TLC channel.
On Sunday it was hard staying motivated. Another four star beautiful spring day taunted us outside the Kitchen window.
We have missed a beautiful spring cooped up in teh house doing projects all the time. In the end we hope all our hard efforts
are worth it. Mandy called Erin and while they talked houses and babies I tackled the floor under the fridge. With Goo Gone,
a scrapper, and some elbow grease it looked great when done. I got sidetracked painting the wall behind the fridge and the
sides of the cabinets complete so I could put the fridge back in place. Meanwhile Erin painted the tops of the cabinets. By
three we met under the window and Erin called it done. I continued on for another hour. We were pretty much toast. We have
another coat to do in some places but I am in hopes that we can get the doors back up this week. We will tackle painting the
kitchen in a couple of weeks. We are going to see Noah and Mom next weekend and the break from the house will be nice.
Erin did get Liam out for some fresh air at the playground while I got a shower and got cleaned up.
Poor old Hayride had a bad weekend. Nearing 15 she is starting to act her age and Erin is taking her to teh Vet today
for some bloodwork. There are remedies we may able to try to adjust her diet. She is not in pain but her back legs have weakened
dramatically and she has become a little incontinent so Erin will see what we can do to help her.
On Sunday evening we had nice steaks and all settled in to watch The
Mists of Avalon which is based on King Arthur. After everyone was alseep I watched the Wizards beat Lebron James and teh Cavs in teh NBA
Playoffs.
We planned on going to the Cole Brothers Circus today to take Liam but Hayride's vet visit is more important. We will
probably go tomorrow evening. It will Be Liam's first Circus. I will put a few evening hours in this week to try and finish
the cabinet project. Next weekend will be a much needed break. We are very much looking forward to seeing Mom and Noah.
