Chop Shop

Joanna and Mackenzie got their hair cut today. I hadn't put a picture of Joanna up nice and pregnant, so here you go. The first picture is a before picture so we could look back remember the good old days. She had been waiting for her hair to get long enough to donate it to beautiful lengths. It's been a year and a half since her last haircut.

Mackenzie is donating her hair to Locks of Love. She also has been saying that if she dies we need to make sure to send in all of her hair so someone else can use it.


As her dad it sounds kind of morbid, but it's really sweet of her to think of other people. I'm really proud of my girls.

Oops!

So, last night I finished most of the kitchen. I haven't done under the oven. I also completed the stretch in front of the washer and dryer, the little short hall to our bedroom. I was busy all day and so I didn't have a chance to work on it earlier. I was finished at 9 right when Joanna came home with a movie for us to watch. She did the dishes and I started to clean up. Right before we started the movie, she noticed the water. It was spilling out everywhere. When I took out the dishwasher I removed the hoses on the dishwasher side and then put them all back. What I didn't notice, is that the hose that drains into the disposal had somehow come detached on the other end. We then proceeded to remove all of the floor and dry everything off. We had to blow dry the floor. Needless to say, we didn't get to the movie. Joanna stayed up helping until past midnight and most of the boards were back in I finished up by 1:30 and put the furniture back. One good thing that came of it was that there was one board that had something under it and the board next to it would drop a little when you stepped on it. I didn't notice until I was well past it. I was able to take the nail out which was holding one of the boards up, and now no crack. It was in the spot that I circled. Yahoo. I also had to take up the kitchen which required moving the fridge and dishwasher and removing some trim I had already reinstalled. Aggghh. Well, It's one of those things that you don't want to do, but you are really glad you did it after the fact. I can now rest easy knowing that there is no water under the floor. Oh, and I had to take out the whole run all the way to the wall like the section in the picture shows because of the way they lock together. I could have been done with the whole kitchen and more in that amount of time. Oh well.

Bow and Arrows

Today was the first day of scout camp and we had a great time. Josh's favorite part was Archery and then BB guns. This video I got of him shooting an arrow is great.


After dinner Josh helped me out putting in the toilet. He was a big help he tightened all the bolts. Now the bathroom is done.

New Floors!

On Friday, the first day of my summer, we decided to go look at some different laminate floors in Everett. That was about noon. This First picture was Friday at about 4PM or so.

Then I had to run back to Lowe's to get a flush cut saw to get the 1/4 inch plywood up from under the vinyl. Here is Josh and I pulling out the staples later that evening.

After the vinyl was out of the way I started in around the fireplace. It was a little bit difficult around the tile. This is where we got to on Friday night, although I took the picture in the morning after I started laying out another row.

On Saturday Josh, Kenzie and I tore up the carpet all the way down the hall. We wrote bible verses on the floor. Here is Josh with his.

Then we put all the hall pieces in that evening.



On Sunday we went to church and then Josh and I went to Jacob Elenbaas' birthday party in Everett. When I got home we finished off all the way to the garage wall and into the bathroom. I had to pull out the toilet and vinyl flooring and plywood in there too. Isn't vinyl great? I still haven't finished the bathroom, but it runs straight through the door to the cupboard. I need to do the left side all around the toilet.

Monday is the first day of cub scout camp and I'm going along to help out. I'll have Tuesday and Wednesday to finish up the kitchen, living room and little short hall to our bedroom. Oh, and the rest of the bathroom. I think I can manage. We'll see. I'm mostly afraid of putting the trim back up. It seems like such a pain. I almost forgot, I'm planning on doing the hall closet too.

Summer's Almost Here

The kids had a day at the park today with the homeschool group. They played kickball and soccer and had a great time. Joanna made Levi his own special cupcakes so he could eat them. He was thrilled because normally he doesn't get the goods, if you know what I mean. Then when I got home we got out the sprinkler and Levi was an incredible helper with the hose. I'm thinking maybe he'll be a fireman. Look at the skill with which he's moving that hose along. This is not inexperience. I know you're thinking... WOW! That's amazing at such a young age. What poise, strength and determination. I must say I'm proud of the little bugger.

Cube Freak!

You've got to see this. This kid is a ridiculous. He puts me to shame. You can see by the timer mat that his parent(s) must be really into speedcubing.

Crazy Times

This is AJ, Zack and me after they both spoke at Baccalaureate. On Monday, the next day I went with the Seniors to Wild Waves. It was a fun day. I've been really busy but I'll add some more pictures soon. The last day of school is Thursday and I have a bunch going on.

Joel and David's Graduation

David and Joel are Joanna's sister's twin boys. When Joanna and I first started dating they must have been about five. We would go over to her sister's house every so often and I would play with them. Then when we moved down to Marysville we would see them all the time. I wrestled with them a lot I think it was their favorite pastime when I came over. Well, more Joel's than David's. Anyway, Joel snuck up on me at graduation and almost knocked me over. Then at Noah's birthday party today he wanted to wrestle. It wasn't a good idea with the little kids around so I called it off. I told him that he better start working out this week because I was going to take him at his graduation party next weekend. In reality, I'm probably the one who needs to work out. He's pretty strong, so I'm slightly worried he can take me. On the other hand I have experience and I know I will come out on top. Regardless, I'll be the one hurting for the following few days and he will not even have an ache to remind him. Today we went to 2 grad parties and a birthday party for Noah our great Nephew. He's over at our house every Friday afternoon until 10 Saturday morning. He just turned 4.

Graduation Time

Yesterday we had some fun evenings. Joanna and Mackenzie went to Rachel's graduation and party. She graduated from the eighth grade. Joshua, Levi and I went to AJ's birthday/graduation party and had a good time as well. Today during my planning period AJ and I worked on his speech for graduation. He has some great ideas and I know it's going to be awesome.

Kittens

Our cat had kittens recently and they are very cute. She's moved them a few times and has recently settled on keeping them in the closet under our stairs. We have to remember to keep the door open. My favorite is this little gray kitty. I think that our babysitter, Violet, is planning on taking this one. If you are interested in another one we need to find some homes.

Superman at the Beach

I thought that I'd add this picture of Levi Enjoying himself at the Lake. It was a tough call with me hanging on to all this pregnancy sympathy weight and all, but Levi was having such a great time so I thought what the heck. Levi was all over the place discovering things about sand and water. This isn't quite like his sand and water table at home. This is a whole new adventure. He walked out into the water until the waves knocked him over and I flew him around like an airplane dipping him in the water each time around. He loved it. You can't see it clearly in the picture, but he's smiling ear to ear. He's got a great grin.

Weekend Fun

We had a great weekend. We did some cleaning, but we played in the yard a bunch too and enjoyed the sunshine. After church on Sunday and a Levi nap we made it down to the lake for a few hours. The kids had a great time in the sand and water. Levi went in the lake for the first time and really enjoyed it. He even threw himself off the island floaty thing into the depths for a quick dad retrieval. I guess it's time for swim lessons. It was nice to have a relaxing weekend because the next couple are going to be ridiculous. Our nephew is having a birthday party. I have 4 cousins and 2 nephews graduating, 3 sets of twins. I have 7 guys that I've done a bible study with for 5 years graduating. Joanna's bible study girls are graduating coincidentally there are 2 sets of twins there too. I think it's the year of the twins. Our niece is also graduating into high school. That makes about 16 parties and 5 different graduations and baccalaureate. Also, AJ is the student speaker at LSHS graduation and Zack is speaking at Baccalaureate. These are 2 of the guys in my bible study. I'm not going to make most of the parties or graduations. What can I say, I can't be everywhere at once. I also have to take some class the week after our graduation so I can renew my teaching certificate. Fun, Fun, Fun!! Anyway, I hope everyone has a great graduation and if I don't see you, I'm surely thinking of you.