Progress

Jewels put up plywood on all of the exterior walls. His theory - if the wall is rigid there is less chance of cracks. Dry wall and accessories were delivered this morning. The "guys" should be at the house between 8 & 9 tomorrow morning! Yippee!!! Hopefully the job will run smoothly and we'll have solid walls and ceilings finished by Tuesday. Chris - the fantastic wood floor guy - is slated to begin fixing patches and installing hard woods next Thursday. We've decided to put hardwoods in the kitchen. Chris will come back when we are finished with tile, painting, etc. to sand and stain. PROGRESS! I'm guessing we will have the bathrooms and utility room tiled in 3 weeks.

Our annual trip to the beach is this Saturday for the Sandcastle competition. Those of you who know me know how much I look forward to the competition EVERY YEAR! Not. We're leaving the little one with my parents. The other two will have a blast - like EVERY YEAR!

Pre-K Graduation

Our big boy "graduated" from Pre-K last week. He starts kindergarten (dual language) in August. Two down, one to go!

Music Program

Our oldest performed (along with all of the 1st and 3rd grades) favorite songs they have sung through the school year. She enjoys her music class and teacher. She also had a musical solo - chimes!

Gymnastics Show

It's the end of the school year which means awards, recitals, and shows. We watched the boy perform his gymnastics "talents". Unfortunately he has my skill and Jewels' grace. He had a blast in the class though...

Pocket Doors

Jewels installed most of the pocket doors last week. The rest will be completed this week - hardware was missing on a few doors. We're waiting for new to come in the mail.

Walls Insulated

Payless Insulation showed up bright and early Saturday to insulate our outside walls. The work was messy, dusty, and long. The guys worked from 7:30 am to 5:30 pm. We are happy with the job. Once the dry wall is in place, they will come back to blow in insulation in the attic.

Jewels hasn't been able to work in the house for a few days while the walls dry. He is getting antsy to get over there. We've been busy this week getting quotes for dry wall, tile and flooring. We hope to have a schedule by the end of the week!

Jewels spreading boric acid (anti-roach) before insulation

Finished Brick

Mr. Brick had two crews working on our house. The job took a day and a half. They also replaced the hall bath's window with two rows of glass block, then bricked up the bottom half. Two of the glass blocks are askew, which will have to be redone. Otherwise, I'm extremely happy with all of the work.

Bridging

Our oldest went from Brownie to Junior Girl Scout last weekend. She is very proud of herself. I had forgotten what a big deal bridging is. The ceremony was nice (and fairly quick) and ended with cake.

Birthday Boy

We celebrated birthday No. 5 at Chuck E. Cheese's. The party started at 10:00 am. I've decided the ONLY time to go to the big rat is in the morning before 11:00. We practically had the place to ourselves.

Mr. Brick

Mr. Brick worked on the backside of the house this week. They did a great job matching the mortar ooze - yippee.

Alarm Company

We were suppose to have the house wired today for the alarm system. Andy waited at the house - they were over an hour late. When they got their, the guys went inside, looked around, and said they didn't have the right tools, then they left! Andy said they were seedy looking. Jewels called the salesman who didn't answer his phone. Then, Jewels called the company, who didn't answer their phone without punching every number on the keypad. Their answer was to call our salesman - who didn't answer his phone. Did I mention we paid them for the wiring yesterday? I stopped payment on the check. Jewels finally got in touch with the salesman, telling him that we were interested in an alarm company who actually took phone calls from their customers!!!

Anyone have thoughts on ADT or Brinks?

Step on a crack, break your FATHER'S back?

Bill went to Richmond Bone and Joint Clinic yesterday. His back had been hurting ever since he fell trimming tree limbs in HIS yard. After x-rays, the doctor came in nonchalantly and said, "well...you broke your back." Yep - we broke him! Okay, technically he did it in his yard, but still - he's been working HARD at our house. Luckily, it will heal on it's own. No need for surgery, no brace, no meds, nada.