Ready...Set...Clean

Between the heat and moving back into the kitchen, the basement had become absolute pit.  I had finally had enough, so after lunch I downed a Spark drink, grabbed a 45 gallon trash bag and set the timer for 60 min.  Lincoln pretty much just played the role of supervisor, but I was on a mission.  The transformation amazes me every time.

Kitchen: Grout & pot filler

Austin grouted the tile back splash and installed the outlet covers and the pot filler today.  It's almost finished and I'm loving it!

We had a bit of an adventure/disaster with the pot filler a couple days later.  Austin was supposed to leave to drive to Chicago for work after supper.  However, he checked downstairs and discovered a steady drip of water coming from the wall where the pot filler was installed.  The floor joists were wet and there were puddles on the floor.  He turned off the water main to take off the pot filler since there wasn't a shut-off valve installed.  He couldn't get one of the additional plumbing parts unscrewed and ended up bending it.  That wasn't going to get fixed right then, but the water was still off.  He didn't have a spare shut-off valve for the PEX tubing, and the local hardware store had just closed, so he ended up having to drive all the way to Cedar Falls to get a shut-off valve and install it so the water could be turned back on.  Then he couldn't get the valve to stop leaking.  Luckily, it was dripping directly over a floor drain in the basement.  He finally left for Chicago at 8:30pm.  The next day I called our friend, the plumber.  He was able to remove the bent parts and reinstall the pot filler.  It took him a couple tries, too, but he finally got in a shut-off valve that didn't leak.  We decided that we couldn't see any evidence of water damage to the upstairs walls, so we didn't have to tear things out.  Whew!

Digger fun

I stopped a friend's garage sale and found this fun battery-operated digger toy.  Lincoln is too big for the tracks to move, but he had a lot of fun with the scooper.

 Of course, a guy's gotta keep his toys clean...

Character Counts & a new roomie

Emily was ecstatic today to be awarded the "Character of the Day" with a display of good citizenship.  Her teacher awards one each school day.

While Emily was at school, I finally relocated the goldfish tank from the basement to her room.  She will now be the one primarily responsible for feeding the fish (although I'll continue to do all the other tank maintenance). Emily is very excited about her new roommate!

Ballet class

In lieu of piano lessons this fall, Emily is trying a ballet class.  After the first class she said, "That was AWESOME!"  Here she is ready to be a ballarina...

First day of Little Lambs Preschool

Today was Lincoln's first day of preschool at Little Lambs.  He has been so excited to go since Emily has already been in school for 2 weeks.  Emily got out her preschool photo album at breakfast and was explaining to Lincoln all the stuff he would be doing.

Look at this cutie all ready to go!

 

Lincoln did great and absolutely loved it.  Here's Winkin' Lincoln and Owen after the first day.

Post-Summer bucket list

With summer traditionally ending, here's how our bucket list turned out.  We pretty much crossed everything off except bowling and another park tour.  Oh, and the closet organizing.  There's always next year!

More chalk art

The kids spent Labor Day decorating the driveway.

Kitchen: Backsplash tile

Austin spent Labor Day finally putting up the tile back splash.  It had been delayed because the original vent hood arrived damage.  It took a while to get a replacement because it got left on a shipping dock in Des Moines for an extra week.  Then there was the small matter of having enough time to install it and the tile.

We used a natural limestone tile with coordinating mosaic tile for behind the cook top.  It turned out we could only get the tile in 18"x18" squares, so we had it cut down to 6" widths for an offset subway pattern on the wall with a custom-sized border around the mosaic.

Boote family

We took a semi-impromptu family picture with my family on Sunday.  We didn't even plan outfits.  It just happened to be quite the rainbow.  It's also the best we've ever gotten.

I also have to throw in this picture of my dad giving Lincoln some napping tips...