First Concert T-Shirt

What a great way to ring out the summer...going to your very first concert. The intimate setting of seeing Colbie Caillat at the Pabst Theatre was a great way to get her feet wet:-)

Playing along with Wordless Wednesday at 5 Minutes for Mom and Wordful Wednesday on parenting By dummies:-)

The Remodel

It has been quite a ride already. We started before the 4th of July looking for a contractor to put siding on our house because the brick was pulling away:

Since then, we have met with 8 contractors, 2 banks, 1 mason, 1 engineer, 1 plumber and 1 basement specialist. We have had to dig up gardens, move a retaining wall, move electric, move plumbing and we lost a door. Now, the basement guys are digging a giant hole in my yard to see if we have to replace drain tiles.

Keep your fingers crossed...that's a $5000 difference!

I feel tackled already! Playing along with Tackle It Tuesday with 5 Minutes for Mom .

Saving Roses During a Remodel

As part of the remodel, I had to dig up two of my gardens. I experienced physical pain ripping my babies from the earth. I wanted to keep everything but the repairs are going to take me well into October. They will not have a chance to reestablish before the ground freezes. So, I have to stash some in my veggie garden over the winter. Here is how I did it:

1. Dig a hole:

2. Fertilize the hole:

3. Fill the hole with water:

4. Put the rose in the hold and pack with dirt:

5. Water well and keep watering well for the first two weeks. This will help everyone settle in.

Wish me luck:-)

First Time Alone on the Big Slide

One of the things that has kept me away from my blog this summer was fun activities like going to the Wisconsin State Fair where they have a big yellow slide. This is my youngest's first solo ride:

That's pure terror on her face!!!

Playing along with Wordless Wednesday at 5 Minutes for Mom and Wordful Wednesday on parenting By dummies:-)

She Was a Brick House

Wow! I sure have been gone a long time! On top of preparing for my new positions as PTO President and Girl Scout School Organizer, we are in the position where we HAVE to repair our house. Here is the story:

This beautiful Roman brick...


...was pulling down our front stoop and poking a whole in our basement wall:-( If you think it sounds expensive, you would be right! We have found ways to keep the cost down. For example, our contractor wanted to charge us $1000 to take down the brick. We found a brick reclaimer who came took down the brick for free AND pay us a nickle a brick! Now, that is smart!!! But, here is what it looks like:




Quite the mess, right? Oh AND, they didn't take the mortar away. So, we had to haul 3 trailer loads of cement to the dump. No THAT is sweat equity!


And, the fun will continue. As a result of this, I have plenty to write about. Like how to menu plan when your plate runneth over. Not to mention, how are we going to put our palace back together. And finally, I get to redesign a bunch of my gardens. So stay tuned for all the mad-cap fun.


Playing along with Tackle It Tuesday with 5 Minutes for Mom .