Abby's Walking!!!

It's finally happened. The day has come that we feared never would, but she did it. Abby's officially walking! Whew! She started last week and is going great guns! It's so cute to see her little body walking around the house and yard.



I had a really cute little video of it, but of course, I can't get it to load. I don't know why I never have any luck with videos....it was only 1 minute long, so I can't imagine it was too much for blogger to handle. Maybe I'll try again with a shorter one and see if I have any luck with that.



Anyway, just wanted to let everyone know that our little girl has made it into the big leagues. :) Too cute.

My daughter is a huffer

So I walked into the kitchen the other to THIS. Hmmmm, I'm pretty sure she was just sucking on the end (which doesn't do anything, right?) but she sure was happy about it! Should I be worried??? This was the next day. She found it again and is doing her famous "cheeeeese!" smile. I gotta keep that refrigerator locked.

My Carpenter Man

Andy negelcted to put up a picture of himself, the designer/carpentry/sand-box builder guru. So, I am putting this up of him because I'm pretty darn proud of him and all of his hard work! :)

The Fort / Sandbox

So, Here it is (Almost complete) "The Fort"..... I built it almost entirely out of wood from some shipping containers I salvaged from a huge job that I sold. The only costs that I had were for (3) 4"x 4"x 8'0" Pressure Treated Posts, (3) Concrete Block Footings, Wire Mesh around the sides, 1 1/2 yards of sand, 12lbs of screws, and some hardware for the trap door and counterbalance assembly. The freebies were the labor, the wood, the Coiling Overhead Door Shroud - turned slide, blood, sweat, tears, and Zach's constant pressure to meet his completion deadline. I now have an extension on the deadline, but have met his "substantial completion" for occupancy. This picture shows the view from our patio. Note the strip of dead grass from where the slide used to be.

This is the side view from the gate. At the base of the fort you can see the (3) separate lids for the sand toy storage. The ladder goes up the tree and through a push up hidden trap door...
Here you can see the trap door as it is in the open position. It actually balances very well considering that the 4"x4" chunk of post that acts as the counter weight was the first thing I tried....... Dumb Luck!!
And here the door is closed. It works very easily for Zach. My biggest worry was that he or Abby would fall through any opening that was left around any type of ladder that I built. Zach climbs up the ladder, opens the door, closes the door with his foot, and goes down the slide.... It proves to be no fun at all!!
And here is the happy owner sitting on his dream fort. About five minutes after I took this picture, Zach told me that he wanted me to build him a fort in the front yard.... I told him that he needs to wear the new one out first before I'd think about it.... They're never satisfied!! My next project will be more along the lines of watching the grass grow, or watering the grass, or watching Zach mow the grass with his bubble mower...... Sounds nice! (Once this job has the final stamp on it!!)

An Early Mother's Day Treat

At Zach's pre-school today they had a special Mother's Day celebration for all of the moms. I knew they had been working on "things" for it for awhile now, because Zach has been dropping little hints about their big surprises. So cute. Anyway, the whole thing was so sweet. The kids sang a special song for us, and then recited a very sweet Mother's Day poem. Then we had a little tea, punch, cake, and strawberry celebration at our little tables, complete with tulip centerpieces! The kids were so proud of all they had done! I loved seeing that joy and pride in their eyes. It was just the best morning and I'm pretty sure I have the sweetest little boy in the world!

I of course didn't bring my camera, which I'm pretty upset about now, but I did take some pictures of the card and present that he made and gave to me there. A little potted handprint flower.
Inside it said this. Geesh, I'm getting all choked up again just reading it! I will be saving this little gem forever, that is for sure! And the gift. His little footprint plaque. The other thing you see is the corsage that he made for me. How cute is he?!? I just love him and he's just growing up so fast. It's hard to think about sometimes.