Penn State Chics Dig Nerds

 Brady needed a family project for his Boy Scout family life merit badge.  We decided that it would be a great time to replace the living room carpet.  The carpet was very stretched and bumpy in places.  Plus, we could not ever move our couch because the carpet underneath looked like new. We all pitched in to help in some way.  I picked some hickory wood.  This time, they are a bit wider than in the dining room.  Brady and Jesse did a lot of the floor, but the girls, my dad, and I pitched in, too.  This is how we spent segments of our time Memorial Day weekend. Before: During:   It went much faster this time than when we put flooring in the dining room. The boards were wider for one thing.  Additionally, we learned tricks last time that made the process go much more smoothly. After: I'm pretty sure Brady is laying behind a "prominent piece."  Every piece I liked when in the "prominent pile" to put in a good location.  The boys ...

While at Natalee's piano lessons last Tuesday, it was hailing and raining really hard.  By the time lessons were over, the storm was mostly over.  On the drive home, I noticed that it didn't really rain very much in town.  Then my neighbor sent me a picture of what was happening at my house: It looks like Sioux Falls, South Dakota!  We do have a drain that goes under the driveway.  It just rained too much too quickly.  I've never seen it go over the edge by the swing before.  Now you can see why it was going over the driveway: The drain that comes from across the street by the apple tree looked like a geyser.  It was shooting water up into the air several feet.  My neighbor said that she hasn't ever seen it rain as hard as it did.  I heard reports that we recieved more than 1 inch of rain in 20 minutes. Even though it was not warm, the girls were begging to go splash around in the receding water.  It ended in full body mud...

Our yard is landscaped to drain water off of the property, but there is definitely not a stream, lake or waterfall on our property. I just wanted to remind you of what our yard normally looks likes: On Thursday afternoon we received 3.1 inches in 2-3 hours.  We had many storm cells come through. After one storm went through, another one immediately formed.  So, it seemed like we had one huge storm.  There was not any break between the storms.  Here is what our river and waterfall looked like when the worst of the rain was over Thursday: In all of this, none of the drains were clogged.  It was simply too much water in a short period of time. Then, the older two got on their swimsuits and went out into the water when the sun came out.  I now regret that I did not go out with Amie.  These pictures were from the dining room window where we watched.  I just didn't think that Amie would do well in slightly moving water with uneven ground....

It has really rained a lot in the past 4 days.  Sunday evening I got to witness a large tree branch that had fallen on a Corvette and a Mercedes.  Unfortunately I did not get a picture of this. Today, I took this video.  I didn't do a great job with the video camera because I was in a hurry.  I could tell more rain was coming soon!  Plus, I had a job to do.  I needed to take off the drain cover beside the driveway to let the "lake" drain into the "river".  I found out that the drain was not blocked at all-- there was just too much water.  I was in nearly up to my knees to take off  this drain cover.  The water was really rushing off of the driveway and out of the drain.  I'm glad we didn't put mulch in this flower bed yet! UPDATE: On the news last night, they said that during the hour long storm, our specific geographic area received more rain than anywhere else in the Western/Central Pennsylvania viewing area-- 1.75...

Dad came up today to help us dig up all of our potatoes.  It was rather wet, but the forecast does not look like it will be any better any time soon.  We dug up red potatoes, white potatoes, and sweet potatoes. The kids, especially Natalee were a really big help.  For some reason, Brady kept wanting to throw in tomatoes instead of potatoes.  I think he was getting confused by the similar words.  Plus, he got side tracked by the worms.  He kept wanting to throw the potatoes.  I guess they looked like a ball?   Eventually, I did get him convinced to find the potatoes in the dirt and put them in the crate.  Natalee helped picking up, digging, and washing the potatoes.  Later on in the digging, Natalee took over the potato digging fork.  By the end of it, she was really tired!   Since the dirt was wet, it took all of her might to pull the dirt up.  She was quite proud of her good help. What really pleased me was ...

At least I think spring is coming.  It sure has not felt like it yet.  At lunch time when I took these pictures, it was still only 36 degrees.  I guess it is warm enough for the daffodils! This is the only place that they are blooming.  The ones at the front of the house have just barely poked through the ground.  This spot gets more sun than anywhere else on our property. Miniature Daffodils The kids, still decked out in their hats and mittens. Can you tell that I am excited for spring?  Most of our activities are done for the winter, so now we need some warmer weather to play outside (comfortably)!

I LOVE this time of year. The flowers are blooming and the days are getting longer. Plus, it has been so sunny here lately that we've been spending A LOT of time outside. Both of my kids seem to be outdoor oriented. (I wonder where they got that?) I am so glad that we are blessed to have a wonderful yard and driveway to play on. We are also blessed to have been able to find good deals on play toys at yard sales and estate sales. Natalee has been extremely tired lately from playing so hard. Sometimes she hasn't even been able to eat her lunch! Her imagination has really blossomed and it is very apparent in her play. This is a tree in front of our house: This is the same tree, with the gazebo behind it. Unfortunately, when we go on the porch, Brady likes to pick off and eat these burgundy leaves: Last night, with the help of my parents, we were able to get our garden tilled and plant potatoes. I planted beets, sweet peas, radishes, and lettuce in my regular flower be...

It took me nearly forever, but I finally have some of my family pictures hung on the wall. When my sister-in-law, Katie, took the pictures way back in July, I was sooooo excited that I could not wait the 3-5 days to have them developed at the store-- I had to have them done in 1 hour. Then, I did not have any frames. And, I did not know what frames I wanted to get because I did not have an idea of how I wanted to hang the pictures on my wall. Then I got an issue of Better Homes and Gardens that inspired me. This was how they had them hung: They gave me this great idea of how to hang them so that we could get them in the right places. I just used the big paper that Jesse brings home from work and taped the frame shape on the wall where I wanted them. Jesse hung them up for me. And, I think they look really good!!!

So I am home right now. Lindsay, Natalee, and Brady are in Sandbridge, VA (south of VA Beach) for the rest of the week. I was able to go down for the weekend, which was great. I am not a big fan of the beach, but Natalee really likes it and being there with all the extended family is pretty fun, especially when they start playing cards!! I did something that qualifies as a bonehead move. When I got home last night and went to put the road atlas in the seatback pocket, I thought "this dumb car seat is in the way." Then I thought, "@#!*, that is Brady's car seat and he is still at the beach!" This is definitely one of the dumbest things I have done. So we are going to have to buy another one just to get the little guy home. It will be funny later. We installed some new windows in the kitchen a couple weeks ago. The kitchen had no windows other than the one in the door. It was very dark and there was no way to see the side yard where the kids will likely ...

Natalee and Dog are driving the new lawn tractor. Actually, it was made in 1991. I think the saying "They don't make 'em like this anymore" is true. I need to touch up a few spots on the tractor itself and I am going to repaint the mower deck. Other than that, it is in really good shape. Lindsay's dad may be shuddering at the sight of green and yellow (he retired from New Holland a couple years ago), but I like it. As you can see, we had some 55 degree weather over the weekend that melted all our snow. Now the yard is mushy because the top is thawing but it is still frozen underneath.

Yesterday, Aunt Lois and Mom came to help me get the wallpaper off of the spare bedroom. We are in the process of making it look a little nicer. Even Natalee helped to rip off some of the border. She was really good at it! Now, we just have to decide what we want to do with the ceiling, patch a few spots on the dry wall, and fill in a few holes on the paneling. Then, we'll be ready to prime and paint when the weather allows for it. I'm glad to get rid of the pots!!!

Natalee helped me to rake and sweep the leaves today. We have MANY. This is just one of our piles. It was warmer today, so we were taking advantage. Sweeping leaves off the driveway (yes, she has yet another boo boo on her lip): Then, running through them: After all that fun, it was back to the good ol' shovel and rocks!

Some people have wanted to see pictures of our house now. We moved in over labor day weekend. We posted pictures in the past, before we moved in. Here is the outside: We haven't done anything outside differently, aside from my PSU flag. A view of the colorful ridge down the street: We have not done anything to the kitchen. It is wonderful. You can kind of see the wallpaper border in the upper left--it is the same border that I had in my Port Orchard laundry room. We still have our station for shoes and coats because we still do not have a coat closet! Dining room before: We painted in this room, mainly because I wanted to paint the living room. I liked the color before, but our things didn't go so well with it and I didn't know how to decorate the living room to match better. We used to have a the toy box along the far wall by the area rug, but it did not go so well there for Natalee's taste. (sorry, it's kind of a dark picture) The dining room after : The liv...