oh happy day

Remember our water problems? The city begins replacing the storm drains tomorrow. They are officially my new favorite people....

And then the animals lined up two by two...

Most of you know about our flooding issues at this house, a result of a completely dysfunctional storm drain. The water from several neighbors, including across the street, gets pumped to our yard--and then just sits there. Well, it happened again last night and we finally took pictures. John is out with the shovel because we had to reinforce the earthen dam that keeps the water from covering our front steps, and pools it so that our improvised sump pump can take it across the driveway (where it drains down the backyard). I know, you're saying, wasn't the City supposed to take care of that? Hasn't this been going on since February? We're still waiting...







This first picture is from our front door, you can see part of the dam, the pump, and our CRV "swimming." Pretty much anywhere it's shiny, imagine flooding.














This second picture is out by the road and our mailbox. Believe it or not, there is actually a storm drain beneath that water. Well, calling it a drain may be a bit of an exaggeration at this point....












This is the view from near the road looking back toward the house. Notice how deep the water is! Also, you may note something funny on the roof above our front door. Well, last week we had really high winds one night and the metal porch awning blew up backward on the the roof.

And Mom got a strike

Daniel and Sam went bowling for the first time this last weekend. Mom should have bowled in their lane instead of with the adults...I needed the "bumpers." Note: Although I did bowl 3 frames that had a score of 0, I also got a strike the last frame. John was home doing demolition, and I haven't bowled in 3 years...not that I was very good back then, either. One of the boys little friends went too, and they had a great time; they were bowling in the last lane, and liked to run down the side ramp to chase the bowling ball. Sam sometimes treated his bowling ball like a soccer ball, "kicking" it down the lane. And of course they all tried to give themselves concussions by sticking their heads in the ball return rack. It was truly a hoot and a half.

The demolition continues

John spent Saturday doing more demolition to our current garage, getting ready to build our new garage. Our neighbor Aki was kind enough to help...and you can tell they had fun doing it!

a dog's life

Leo says, "Gee Dad, this is a swell fort you built!"

Steady

For those of you who check our blog regularly, please prepare yourself. I don't want the shock to be too much. We actually posted pictures and posted more than once in a week (or a month for that matter). Thanks for not giving up on us.

The heat wave has finally broken--now it's just hot, not unbearable. The kids are still enjoying going a parks several days a week and sometimes playing in the water. Today we went to our old neighborhood--Peppervine Circle--and played with new and old friends. It's really nice to have Daniel weaned so we can play without ceasing.

Getting ready for dinner and a nice quiet weekend now.... Post and let us know what you're thinking these days.

Zzzzzz...

So nap time has been new and interesting. I don't know if Sam thinks he's ready to give up naps, but let me tell you he's really not. The few days that he doesn't take an afternoon nap, he's cranky and usually down for a "nap" by 5:30 PM--two hours short of bedtime. Since the boys share a room, we've had to just let Sam romp around and possibly keep Daniel awake. We try to have heavy activity in the morning, then lunch, then put the boys down ready for sleep. Some days it works...other days apparently Sam plays until he falls asleep in the rocking chair. Daniel's crib is next to the rocking chair, and by the looks of things he was involved with playing too before falling asleep. It should be...interesting...when we convert Daniel's crib into a toddler bed in a month or two.

Up in the air Junior Birdman

We weren't kidding when we said that Sam's new obsession is airplanes. Ever since our trip back from Washington State in July, it's been nothing but airplanes. Since we didn't really have any airplane toys, Sam was flying cars, balls, and yes, making airplanes out of Legos. The first time he did this John and I were relaxing on the couch. Sam smiled at us and said "Airplane." We were prepared to humor him...but he had really created a recognizable airplane. They have been getting more creative ever since, and yes, we did go buy him some actual airplane toys. We also finally hung the airplane pictures on the walls of the boys' room.

Watch out world

For those of you who have not had the pleasure of seeing it yet...Daniel walks.

Biker Daniel

Here's a picture of our little daredevil--he is truly becoming a monkey and climbing where ever he can!

A great picture of their bed time routine--Sam and Daniel "brush" their teeth--after Mom and Dad help.

pant pant pant

The heat index is over 100, and we're stewing out here in Ohio. The humidity slaps you in the face the second you step out the door--if you have the courage to step out the door. It was been an especially interesting week or so for us; it turns out that our central air conditioner needs a new compressor. We toughed it out for a few days ("It's not so bad--it's only 82 in the living room!"), then suddenly remembered that our friend Becky (hereafter known as Saint Becky) had a window A/C unit that she doesn't use. So between that unit and our overhead fans the house is kept at a tolerable comfort level. It's a good thing, or we would certainly have checked into TLF by now.

This really isn't intended to be the "complain about the house" post but projects around the house have been our life...so.... I think we've reached a point where we're not taking out any more trees, at least not soon. John has given his chainsaw a rest and is now tearing drywall out of the one car garage. Our permits have all been approved for adding on an attached two car garage to the front of our house, now we're finallizing a contractor to pour the foundation and a new driveway. It's an ambitious project considering the short amount of time that we're likely to be in Ohio...but it's a twofold benefit. One, it modernizes the house. The current garage (with a double layer of sheet rock that was apparently covering up both mold and dry rot) was unusable for parking cars since the garage door was a reluctant opener. Two, it will help to solve the major water issue we had out front last spring (and eliminate the need for the dam that we currently have across our driveway). The current driveway is sloped so incorrectly that it will always pool water in front of the door. One of our neighbors says that the renters who used to live here solved the problem by taking off their socks and shoes to get into the house...not really an ideal situation.

The sheetrock is coming off the current garage because we are going to raise the roof so it's level with the rest of the house. Then the new two car garage will attach to the front of the old garage and the dining room. This will cover up a window, but we will reuse that window in the living room--probably next summer. The current garage, laundry room, and half bathroom with be converted into a new laundry room, master bedroom, master bathroom, and walk-in closet. Whew!

In all this heat, why haven't we been spending our time down in the basement? Well, most of you know that it's only semi-finished--not a good place for kids to play. In addition, with the moist weather and general humidity we've been having, we've discovered the growth of mold. Eek! Now everything that has been stored down there is slowly being cleaned and absorbed into the upstairs. I know that sounds like a recipe for clutter, but I promise it's not too evil. We have a dehumidifier down there now, and plan to dig a french drain around the outside of the whole house before the weather turns cold (late October).

John is doing most of this work himself--my primary contribution is watching the boys and keeping the house running smoothly. It's not a bad contribution, you understand, but I often wish I could help more with the "real" projects.

OK, I think I'm talked out for the morning.