Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Our Basement is Finished!!!!!

The basement is finally finished after about 2 1/2 years of working on it! It began April 2007 with a meticulous drawing that Matt drew on the computer, deconstruction of the old basement, and then new construction began. He spent almost every waking minute in the basement - including evenings and weekends. Matt did almost everything by himself with occasional manual labor from friends and family. He did the wiring, plumbing, framing, drywalling, woodwork, tiling, installing, and painting. I was usually standing by for assistance and moral support.

The guest room
The bathroom vanity


The tub and toilet (notice the tiled access panel)


The bathroom


The furnished living room


The sitting area

The living room including Matt's Fooseball table
Before - The egress window in the bedroom.


After - the window in the living room. Matt had to cut the wood to size to create a frame around the windows. This was a long and complicated process.


The egress window in the bedroom.


Beautiful polyeurathaned wood.


Before - The stairs


The gorgeous pine column wrap.


Pine baseboards around the column wrap.


Before - the polyeurathaning/woodworking/construction area/tornado zone!


Someone forgot to cover the Fooseball table early in the construction process. Now there's a little clean up to do.


"What am I going to do now that everything's done?"


Before - the living room


Before - the living room


Before - the bedroom


Before - the stairs


After - the bedroom


After - the stairs

After - the living room


After - the living room

Saturday, October 31, 2009

Halloween

My nephew & niece, Trevor & Preslee(the Grouchy Ladybug - just like the book by Eric Carle)

Trevor was Scooby Doo

Sunday, October 25, 2009

Family Gatherings

My Uncle Gregg was visiting from Texas this weekend, so we had a little family get-together. Of course everyone got to hold Preslee. She is still adorable as ever, but now anytime she's awake, she usually wants to eat. And she doesn't sleep through the night anymore. She loves bouncing in your arms, loud white noise, looking outside, and singing.
Preslee with her Great Great Aunt Joan.
Great Uncle Gregg & Preslee (showing her belly and telling us she's hungry).

Amy & Preslee

Me & Preslee after I just got her to sleep by bouncing.

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Kaitlin Blake

Matt's sister, Angela, had her baby on Tuesday, October 13. Her name is Kaitlin Blake. She weighed 7lbs 3oz and was 20 inches long. She has a head full of dark brown hair, Ryan's feautures, and Angela's nose. She is very adorable!
Proud Parents Angela & Ryan

Kaitlin & Me

Matt & his niece

Getting her check-up from the nurse.

Proud Big Sister Teagan holding Kaitlin.

The girls of the family: Angela, Teagan, and Kaitlin (under the blanket).

I mentioned that Aubrey's toy looked like Tyler, so Matt had to take a picture of the resemblance...Weird.

Saturday, October 10, 2009

Fixing-up Mom's House

We've all been helping out around my mom's house getting it ready to sell. On Saturday we were all there doing various odd jobs: washing windows, hanging new doors, and re-installing the closet tracks after getting new carpet.
This is Jon, my brother-in-law, power-washing the deck. We had a cold snap that day, and unfortunately for him he had to freeze (along with all the water he poured onto the deck.)
At least he was dressed for the weather.

Pooky looking out the now completely open window while I was washing it.


I heard some giggling downstairs while I was working and had to investigate. I found Matt and Trevor playing a game with the newly installed door. Ahhh...it's the little things in life. (sorry it's sideways)


I am always trying to get Trevor to tell one of his great long stories. He gets so animated and uses different voices and hand guestures just like his dad. This was the best I could do. I think he's telling about the time he hit his face on a clothes rack at the store.


Snow in October?!

Woke up to a fresh layer of snow this morning.
It must be Global Warming.

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

The Twins Game

Our brother-in-law, Jason, got us tickets to the Twins game Tuesday night! There was a record attendance of 54,088 people. It was loud, tense, and amazing! We will truly miss the close atmosphere of the dome, although I'm sure the new stadium will be awesome.
Shake your Homer Hanky!
TC

The Dome

Me, Jason & Melanie

Me & Matt
This was a nail-biting game!
Joe Mauer batting


Cuddyer, Mauer & Gardenhire at the mound.

Jason - this is his excited face.

Matt - "We're gonna win!"

We Won!!!!!!!!!!!

A lot of the game was played like this - many close calls and very tense!

Even though he was out at first, we advanced our runner.