My lovely daughter...and her dog. Both are such fashionistas.

Stairs Re-do

We took the carpet off, the kids' co-op class stripped and sanded the stairs for us. 

5 kids' + 2 adults' stuff (cothes, bedding, toiletries) brought downstairs to camp out in the livingroom for the weekend. Check. Wood putty stained, in, and sanded. Check. Caulked the gaps between stairs. Check. Stairs wiped down. Check. Now for the risky part - stain opened and being applied...









This is what WE do at 11pm at night when Dave is out of town.  Done with stain. Poly and paint left. 

We were going to sleep downstairs, but one of my BRILLIANT children (Em)
 

thought we could climb the ladder at midnight and slip in an open second story window. (Although in my case there was more scraping than slipping.) So that's what I did and I slept in my own bed last night. Our old dog couldn't stand it and broke through the barrier to come upstairs to sleep, but the stairs don't seem any worse for the wear.

Expanding the garden -- ultimate money savings

Thus morning Drew and I put up the Mother's Day present from Dave - bunny fencing for my extended vegetable garden. Then Pete and I planted it. Thank you Shannon & Christie for the MANY plants you gifted me with! The boys and I spent all this week planting the existing garden & clearing that bed to ready it for my new veg's!!

Pete's 11th b-day

 We packed a picnic dinner of pigs-in-a-blanket and Boston creme cupcakes, chips & pop (Pete's a health food nut) and had a screamingly cold swim in Lake James for the evening. The highlight of the evening was listening to 39 Clues on CD and putting the van in neutral at the top of a hill to see how far it would coast up the next hill before gravity took over. Will said, "I LOVE neutral," as if it were a ride on a roller coaster.