Photo Phun

Craig bought us a new HP TouchSmart 520 PC recently. Today I discovered the Photoshop program:

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the 1st after, no before

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no before, didn't know what I was doing yet

ditto to the caption above

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I Dream of Vanity

Craig and I glued the bamboo flooring down in the basement bathroom. Now the floor no longer squeaks. We purchased a vanity and set it in there so we can get an idea of how it will look. I have 2 mirrors to choose from, one is a black oval mirror and the other is the one you see in the pic. Looking forward to purchasing a new toilet, faucet, and vanity light.

Pipe is a little large, when cut down, drawer will shut.

Craig is planning on putting a 60" TV in the man cave, and we want to buy an L shaped couch and maybe one recliner for the room as well.

Entering a New Decade

Well, Craig's 40th birthday was on Saturday. I worked really hard to plan a nice party for him. I really want to thank our friends that had the courtesy to RSVP and/or show up. It really made Craig's day. He was especially pleased that our wonderful friends and former neighbors from Alabama came out especially to be there for the celebration. Thanks, Hearns!

Also, on Friday Craig put the moulding around the basement bathroom door. I was so happy I could have cried. Craig's wonderful friend Reed who has done so much to help us get this house back into shape since it was destroyed by renters has been helping Craig with the basement painting. He is also trying to fix the horrendous taping/mudding/sanding job that the renters did in the basement bedroom. (The last pics I posted showed the basement man cave and bathroom before it was mudded, taped and sanded by a very nice gentleman named Tim.)

New basement bathroom moulding.

Inside the bathroom. New moulding.

Starting to paint bathroom blue.

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Fiberboard is up around tub.

Will have slate tile around tub.

Reed's fixing the poor sanding job in basement bedroom.

Man Cave painted.

TV wall still needs some paint.

Needs final touch-ups.

Speechless--I Guess

I was cleaning out the nether-reaches of the Odyssey today when I found some leftover Halloween candy: 5 suckers and a piece of hard candy. 2 of the suckers were Dum-Dums while the other 2 were Valentine's suckers. Yes, you heard it right, Valentines. Part of our modest-starter-home neighborhood is gated because the houses there have waterfront property with docks. The houses are all around $700,000.00.

On Halloween evening as my friends and I took the kids trick or treating, we found a great many houses had their porch lights off, so we decided to take our kids to the "rich" part of the neighborhood because some passing trick-or-treaters told us the gate was open. I asked my friend Kristi what kind of candy did she think they would give out and she mentioned when she was a child the people in the more expensive homes would sometimes give out full size candy bars. I was thinking that would be a nice surprise for my boys to get treats like that as opposed to the mini Hershey's they were used to getting.

Well, you can guess what the boys came back with:

Not only are these 9 month old Valentines suckers, they also appear to be from some type of motivational work seminar, why else would they have the word CHALLENGE on them?

I don't know what else to say about that.

Thinking About The Holidays

We went to Bass Pro Shops in Leeds, AL the other day. Santa was already there so Chase ran to him. Peyton was a little freaked out. He was too interested in the stock car race cars and rc monster trucks they had for the kids to drive. Both kids made out their Santa lists and I was completely surprised by the fact that Chase, who never stops pointing out what he wants for Christmas when we are in range of toys at any store, only requested 2 items in his letter. He must have been tired that evening. Do you think he will mind when he only gets those 2 toys? I can tell him when he complains of the lack of toys on Chrsitmas morning that that was all he asked for. I don't think it will go over well though. Peyton finally relented and went to sit on Santa's lap. Both boys got their pics taken with Santa. So cute.

Craig has primed the family room and still needs to prime the bathroom. The walls around the shower are awaiting the backer board as well. Then he will paint the rooms. We purchased slate tile for the floor since the wood floor we put down started squeaking like crazy. Craig can't stand it. I liked it cause it was free, oh well. I do love slate tiles though. We talked about putting slate on the walls around the shower that match the floor. Time will tell. Right now all Craig can think about is hunting. I am afraid that with the holidays coming up and with the ongoing hunting season, that little will get done in the basement in the next 2 months.

Take Me Out To The Ball Game

While my computer was down I was unable to write about the Braves baseball game we went to on Sep. 28th. Chase has been to a game but he was a year and 1/2 old and Peyty had never been to one. Thanks to our good friend Beth who gave us free tickets, we were able to afford it. We arrived early so the boys went to the outfield where the teams were practicing so they could catch balls. Craig was able to catch his first ball ever. The game was a whole lot of fun. We bought lots of candy, and ballpark food which rocks, plus the boys each got ice cream in a collectable helmet bowl. As we entered the park we were given tomahawks and posters. Everyone got into it. About the 7th inning, Peyty's patience was thru and Chase was getting sleepy. The kids lasted another 2 innings and then they couldn't take any more. we left. What a fun day and a great memory.