bed joints, head joints, tuckpointing, and, well, you know....

last july, i gave an update on our outside projects. somehow, i don't feel like this list has gotten any shorter, but we have made some progress:

wash the porch rip out rhododendron rip out plants and ivy on side of house (or prune?)
fix mortar in cracks till front yard to even-out crappy work by the city and replant grass
till sides of house and regrade landscape front of house
fill cracks in porch steps
paint porch steps so they don't look like poop paint porch railing paint ugly board above door (or better yet, replace with a door that FITS!!!)
paint the house...bye bye red!
flash chimney relocate family of squirrels living in our soffit  :-)

the brickwork on the side of the porch steps was in really bad shape (i.e., the wall was falling over).  once we tore the ivy out, we realized it had completely pulverized most of the mortar. the wall pretty much needed rebuilt.

problem: that's about the last thing we want to spend money paying someone to do.

luckily, i am just dumb enough to think that watching a few youtube videos makes you an expert...and my husband is dumb smart enough to go along with me.

enter: joanna, the mason. :-)  i knew more lingo than the guys at lowes.

so, today, my first official day of summer break, i learned how to mix mortar and lay brick. i'm tickled pink with how it turned out (for $70!!!), even though i finished my joints differently than the existing joints and got the mortar color wrong in a few places.  i have already taken some advil before bed. i am not the young pup i once was!


before...yikes!...

during...always the ugliest part....

 

boo helped...she barked when creepy dudes were watching me... 

AFTER....

Happy No Pants Day!

my friend brad texted me today, reminding me that today was National No Pants Day!...phew, i had almost forgotten.


Will participated.

 

Easter

Will and I got to spend Easter weekend with my family.  brian left friday for a tough mudder race in the poconos with one of his best college buddies (hopefully pictures to come), so we headed to nan and pap's house. brian got back sunday evening for dinner, but we didn't get a family picture. bummer. Will got to play with uncle trey, play with his "easter basket" toys from nan and pap...beach toys for later this summer, and hunt easter eggs.

i have some work to do on buying gifts for this boy (especially since his birthday is TWO WEEKS away...ahhh!).  i guess because we know others are going to get him toys, we get his essentials.  for example, our best contributions for an easter basket were new socks (so Will's legs no longer look like stuffed sausages...see evidence below) and a toothbrush/toothpaste combo (b-o-r-i-n-g)! maybe as he gets older and starts playing with things i'll be dying to buy him toys.  until then, the amazon box we get in the mail every once in a while seems to be doing the trick.

these socks are practically strangling his legs. poor guy.

he was storing the eggs in his cheeks, like a squirrel, until he made it back to the basket...surely....

11 month tricks

I smashed a few iphone videos together of Will's latest tricks including waving, saying no and dada, transfering between pieces of furniture (he's SO CLOSE to walking), and some awesome games of hide and seek...or hide and peek...or something like that!?

Enough already, Mom!

Will was completely uninterested in this series of photos, but I just kept snapping. I have a feeling this is just the start of a compilation of pictures where it is totally obvious he would rather be doing something else. It's almost as if there is an audible "Ah, MOM!"

He had better get used to it. 

38-45 weeks!

have i neglected this blog recently or what!?...i haven't given this boy's weekly updates for a good 8 weeks! yeesh! you would think we were busy or something!

Will is almost 11 months. he is eating literally everything that we give him...but scrambled eggs and toast are worth smack his lips over! at school, his teachers say that broccoli with cheese and cheeseburgers are his favorites HA! he is crawling at lightning speeds and pulling up on everything. it shouldn't be long until he starts letting go (oh my word). he has two bottom teeth and just cut two top teeth this week. teeth cutting days are lousy days, but he is generally a really happy fella. we are teaching him all kinds of tricks.  however, boo is really irritated that he can do high-fives...she was under the impression that trick was squarely under the "dog" category. he learns new things every day. we are having so much fun with him.

getting these pictures is becoming increasingly difficult.  laying still for longer than 30 seconds is just not on this kid's daily itinerary (as evidenced by the wrinkly blanket and week 45), unless he's just had a bottle and has his blingy by his side.

as robin would say "sunday school hair"

 

baby steps...in the mudroom

life seems to be getting away from us lately. we need some serious organization around this joint (and to throw crap away), but i just haven't had time to work on it.

this week, i am on spring break and have been a crazy lady around this place. my #1 goal for my break was to "finish" the mudroom.  i posted almost exactly a year ago about getting this room painted...transforming it from this (ew!)....

         

to this.....

      

functional was the name of the game for this room. a few months ago, my dad helped me hang 4x1s to put hooks on.  we thought this was necessary so that weighted down hooks wouldn't rip big holes in the plaster if they didn't hold.  come to find out, there is solid brick behind that plaster, so the wood was overkill...but it looks pretty.  this week, i got the boards painted and hooks hung.  i need two more hooks for the lower board (lowes was out), would love to switch out that light, and want something under the bench for gloves, hats, etc....baskets? galvanized bins? i haven't made up my mind yet. oh yeah, and something more attractive than a cardboard box for recycling.  but, finally...progress!