Driveway update...

They couldn't get the stain to budge. So I brought in big gun.  The power washer. Which of course didn't work at first, but after an hour of splicing a new power plug on it kicked in.   Unfortunately, the stain wouldn't budge. 

You know... the stain is starting to grow on me. Looks pretty good as is :-)

More Baseball Practice

Reuben is now determined to try out for the Double AA team in the Fall. If he keeps practicing like this he very may well make it.




Pretty good practice regime going...

A Perfect Night For A BBQ

It was such a beautiful evening that on my way home I stopped off to pick up some hamburgers and hot dogs.... and some watermelon!

Karen is off in Florida, we missed her at our fun dinner.

After All The Rain...

Spring is in full swing.
This rose was Karen's from Valentine's Day. We planted in late March after tending to it inside. Looking pretty nice, prettying up the area where I keep the garbage :-)

Backyard is even looking good. Jacob had a week of punitive weeding out there and he really made a good dent. Nothing beats child labor! The grass laid last Fall looks amazing.


And hopefully in a couple of weeks our giant mass of roses will start blooming for a summer full of roses.

Movies From Another Cold Spring day

Little League game was cancelled today due to a wet field. Maybe for the best since Jacob has a fever and will be in again tomorrow. So what is there today...
DANCE!!


Later faith and Reuben went outside to play all bundled up. Faith is really becoming a good bike rider. A new bike is in her future as a 7 year old.

Afterwards, Faith and I ride our bikes to and from the park.

Mulching

Reuben and I hit the nearby park's mulch pile this afternoon. I made an earlier trip this morning.  Makes the work fun.  He's doing it all :-D

Yardwork

Got the boys helping me weed whack in the front.  Lots of fun. :-)

Pre-Spring Cleanup

Finally got a Saturday to whittle down the todo list.  Today we added some shelving units to the garage. Pretty nice units and easy to assemble. 9 feet of five shelves.  Hmm how fast will they fill up.

Fall In The Backyard

While the new gate was being put in, Reuben, Jacob, and Faith were hard at work in the backyard.







That Japanese Maple is magnificent this time of year.

New Gate :-)

We finally got our gate to backyard replaced.  No more escapes from Tipper.  I also had them add a small alcove next to our shed to keep garbage cans.  Glad its finally done.  Practically had to beg fence guy to get on his schedule.
That gate isn't going anywhere.  Framed by two 6"x6"s.  One leg is in patio.  I thought they bolt to a U bracket but instead they drilled out a 10" diameter hole and seated it into new cement.  Solid!

Mmmm Good Burgers

Grill worked great.  Meanwhile Reuben found a little snake.  Jacob thinks it was a baby adder snake.

Grill Ready To Go

My Father's Day grill is now ready to go for some hamburgers tonight.

Clean up

Beautiful day in Northern Virginia. Perfect day to clean out the shed.  I wish I took a before picture.  It seriously looked like that ubiquitous cartoon closet that explodes with junk when you open the door.  For a bit I had the kids help me, but it took much longer than planned. I threw out lots of junk and moved some stuff to the garage.  Next weeks its a shelving system for the garage. 

Just In Time

Put this futon together last night in our new guest room.  Nana arrives any minute :-)

A Whole Lot Of Sod

Today was a busy day. Interior fix-it guy was doing some finishing touches. Big thing was labeling the circuit breaker box for me. That took him about 2 hours. Then the concrete guy was here cleaning up some concrete work from the winter. Siding guy made a quick visit to get the color correct this time for the new shutter. And then this happened...


So yesterday I took a half day at work and rented a tiller at Home Depot. Got home, tore my jeans getting it out of the Sorento, and went to work in the back. I was not making out too well. Ground was rock hard, and I hadn't watered the area. Went at it for about 2 hours, finally starting to break up some earth. I stop for a minute and see Karen and the chief contractor watching me. He then asks what he hell I was doing! Didn't I have something better to do like grabbing a beer and sitting on the couch. I protested a bit telling him sometimes even I get dirty and can break a sweat (oh did I mention it was 99 degrees). To be perfectly honest I would have much preferred the beer on the couch. Meanwhile, he pretty much ignores me and starts talking into his cell phone calling a guy to come over and sod my yard. 'Lo and behold this afternoon a team arrived and were done by 6pm! That tiller rental fee was way worth it!!!

A Home Cooked Meal

A delicious home cooked dinner and blueberry muffins for dessert.  This baked ziti was made in our new advantium oven in 27 minutes on speed cook.  A few hundred more of these zitis and it will make that oven worth its price ;-)

Cabinet Filling

Got the importance stuff put away.  Put together a quick and dirty wine rack... perfect.  But shelf a bit low for a Macallen 10 year and a bottle of gin.  So they are lying in wine rack :-)  not sure if that's ok for the liquor, but gotta do whatya gotta do.

Baseball Catch

This is what makes a dad happy

Almost Feels Like Home Again

Some pictures on the wall. A few more touchups here and there. Putting in the missing cabinet and our pendant lights over the island and we're pretty much done!

COOKING!!!!

Made some delicious scrambled eggs with some fresh tomatoes from our farm share.   Mmmm.  Best eggs ever.
Even ate on a real dish with a metal fork :-)