Cartoon Boys & Big Helper

We were at a store recently that sold  eye glasses. Chad and Evan were trying them on and acting goofy, so I had to take a couple of photos. I then got an application on my phone that turns photos into cartoons (Toon Paint). I couldn't resist using those photos to experiment with the program. These were my first try, so they aren't perfect, but we all thought they are hilarious.

Cartoon Chad

Cartoon Evan

Now that summer is here, the grass is growing like crazy. Chad was a big help yesterday and mowed the back yard while Todd did the front. Way to go, Chad. We appreciate your help!

The grass was pretty tall, so Chad had to take it slow.

Check out the our neighbor's pretty garden in the background.

Sunday Derailed

As usual, Todd had lots of projects on his list for Sunday afternoon. That was until I went to put clothes in the washing machine and saw water along the wall of our laundry room. Todd came in and quickly diagnosed the problem as a water heater leak. 

We proceed to mop and use the wet vac to get most of the water up while we drained the tank. After that was under control, Todd headed off to Lowe's to get a new water heater. Fortunately for me, he is very good with electrical, plumbing and other household maintenance projects. I would have had no clue what to do.

After about an hour, Todd came home with the new water heater. I help him unload it (it is not light) and we got it in the house and out of the box only to discover that it had a big dent in the top and side. We repacked the water heater, got it back on his truck and he headed back to Lowe's to exchange it for an undamaged one. About an hour after that, he returned home with the second water heater. We went through the unloading and unboxing process once again.  Luckily, this one was in good condition.

Todd hooked everything up and about an hour later we had hot water and no leaks. Needless to say, it was almost 6:00, so it was time for dinner and baths. He will just have to save that project list for next weekend. Thanks for the good work, honey!

Chad offering Todd some assistance with the hook-up.

Happy that this project is almost over.

Next time I ask for something shiny and expensive for Mother's Day, I will be more specific.

Busy Saturday

Todd woke up yesterday and noticed that his clock was not illuminated. He went and checked our electric panel and saw that one of our breakers had tripped. To make a long story short, it turned out that there was a short in our septic tank pump and that it had bitten the dust.

Todd is very good at mechanical things, so we started calling plumbing stores to see if we could find a replacement pump. After instructions to use as little water as possible to avoid a backup into the house, Todd was off on his quest. One trip to the plumbing store, two trips to Lowe's and several hours later, Todd had the pump changed out and we were up and running again.

In addition to that project, we also had our friend with the tractor return and do more leveling of the dirt in our backyard. Who knew that owing a house was so much work!

Septic crisis of the day.

More backyard work.

The boys played outside a lot since the weather was beautiful. Evan has insisted that I don't put any more photos of him on my blog, so it may be a while before you see him again.

Chad throwing the baseball.

"We love to play catch!"

More Backyard Progress

Yesterday was a nice day weather-wise, so Todd got some help working on our back yard. Todd finally removed all of the concrete sidewalks and with all of the rain, it was a muddy mess.

Our friend has a gorgeous tractor and spent a couple of hours disking the back and side yard. After lunch, he used another attachment (some type of blade; I'm sure my folks know what it is called) to smooth everything out. The results were incredible. There is a night and day difference in the yard...it is gorgeous!

Yard after disking.

Our friend and his "purdy" tractor!

Todd is pleased with the progress.

Before--A Disaster!

After--- Much Better!

Outdoor Project Progress

Todd has been working diligently and has made a lot of progress removing all of the sidewalks from our backyard. He has been putting all of the broken concrete on our driveway, which up until last week, stretched from the front of our drive to the street. It looked like this:

 No, we aren't building our own levy...

A gentleman who needed the broken concrete as filler for some of his property removed a little every day and now our driveway just has one small pile left. It is a relief to have it almost gone!

The rubble is disappearing!

Now, Todd is working on the backyard. It used to have a watering system, so there are lots of pipes and other treasures that need to be dug up. With all of the rain, it is still very muddy, so Todd is waiting for it to dry out some before he continues leveling it out and fixing our drainage issues.

The mud pit!

Backyard Progress

Todd has been working like crazy (in between the rain) to finish taking out all of the concrete pathways that were in our backyard. They have been causing us drainage problems since we moved here and we are anxious to get this project finished.

Todd working hard on removing the concrete.

 

Almost gone!

 

This side is done!

 

The rubble pile that extends down our driveway.

 

Chad practicing his basketball.

 

Taking a break on the rubble!

Harder Than It Looks

This weekend Todd took his turn on the Bobcat in an effort to get all of the sidewalks out of our backyard. The sidewalks lift up in sections about 8 feet long and once they are up, the question is how to break them up and get them to our driveway which is where the pieces are being temporarily stored. 


Below is a short video of  Todd doing his thing. At one point I thought he was going to flip over, so I had to go inside. He is figuring it out...it is just going to take a while. Thank God I have a husband who is willing to try pretty much anything!

Sidewalk Removal Progress

When we moved in our current house about three years ago, we realized that we had a lot of projects to do. One involves removing the sidewalks in our backyard. 


The story is that the previous owner had a love of roses and planted the whole backyard with rose bushes. She had concrete paths laid throughout the back yard and the roses planted in between. I can imagine it was beautiful.


Now, the concrete paths have affected our drainage and that is not a good situation when we get a lot of rain or experience a hurricane. Thus, we really need to remove them. 


A few months ago, Todd rented a jackhammer and spent two long days cracking the sidewalk up. Now, we have finally gotten use of a bobcat to lift up and remove the sidewalk. Our friend who is letting us use the bobcat did a trial run a few days ago to see if he and Todd's plan would work. He tried to lift the sidewalk up in several different places, to no avail. I started to get concerned that the bobcat would not be able to A) get underneath the sidewalk and B) actually be powerful enough to lift the pieces.


Finally, we found a place where Todd had broken up the sidewalk a bit already and the bobcat was able to lift and remove a large piece. Yes, now the work begins!

New Sofa

After all of our searching, we finally decided on which sofa to get for our living room. We ordered it a few weeks ago and have been anxiously awaiting its arrival ever since. This past week I got a phone call that it would be delivered. We were so excited when the truck pulled up. We love the sofa and hope to enjoy it for many years to come!

Finally, it is here!

Everything was wrapped up very good.

Yea! A nice and cozy sofa to watch t.v. on.

T.V. Mounting

We continue to work on getting our living room furnished. This weekend Todd finished mounting the t.v. on top of the fireplace. It took about a week because the first mounting kit that we got had a defect and wasn't straight. 

I was sweating bullets as Todd and I lifted the t.v. up onto the mount. My sweaty hands didn't really help the situation as the t.v. is pretty heavy. I could just imaging it crashing to the floor as we were trying to get it high enough to latch onto the mount.

Nevertheless, we got it up and Todd was able to watch the exciting Saints game on it Sunday afternoon. Of course, we haven't gotten our sofa in, so he had to stand (he was cooking at the time, so basically just went back and forth between the kitchen and t.v.). What a guy!

Todd showing off his t.v. mounting skills.

The t.v. is up; now for the rest of the room....

One Down, Many More to Go

We have had a pretty typical week. One bit of good news is that we finally made a decision on what sofa to get for our living room. It is on order and should be here in about three weeks. Once we have that, the rest of the decorating should be easy, right? Luckily, I have a good friend who is a decorating diva. Once decision down, one million more to go.


Evan went on a field trip to the Acadian Village in Lafayette today. It is a recreation of what a typical Cajun village looked like in 1800. He had a good time. His favorite part of the trip was the gift shop. He bought a mini deck of playing cards and two ceramic rocks that look like alligator eggs with mini alligators coming out of them. Oh, he also liked that the bus they rode on had a bathroom and that they got to watch movies there and back.

Football, Haircuts and Furniture Weekend

It seemed like we spent the whole weekend running. Evan started playing flag football and had his second practice on Saturday morning. After that, I was determined to take the boys for a haircut as they had been looking pretty shaggy for the past couple of weeks.


After the haircuts, I took the boys out to eat. While in the restaurant, we saw a young man a few years older than Chad who looked like his twin. Since Todd wasn't with us, we decided it would be a good idea to take his picture so that we could show him. We had the best time trying to figure out how to take the picture and be inconspicuous at the same time. I got one shot that ended up very blurry. Chad got one also, but it only showed the back of the young man's head. Needless to say, we weren't able to show Todd Chad's twin, but we did have a lot of fun trying.



We continue looking at furniture for our living room, but have yet to make any final decisions. There are just so many stores and choices. We have looked online and are also considering looking in New Orleans. With even more choices, I fear that we may have an empty room for a long time.


In addition to all of these activities, there was also a LSU game and a Saints game this weekend. Both teams won, so Todd is happy!

Evan post haircut...looking good.

Evan insisted on taking a photo of himself. This is the result.

Evan once again turning the camera on me.

Chad trying out a mini chair while furniture shopping.

Evan acting silly in another mini chair.

Furniture Search

Now that our living room ceiling is completed, we are on the hunt for some furniture to fill it. We went looking at sofas and were very overwhelmed. So many sofas, so little time. We all had a great time checking all of the choices out.

Chad looking comfortable.

"This one looks comfy, mom."

Todd looks ready to watch the game in this chair!

Living Room Progress

Todd spent Sunday afternoon watching the Saints and putting up new vents and lights in our living room. He changed all of switches on the lights to dimmers and they are pretty cool. What a talented hubby I have!

White lights and vent covers have replaced the gold ones that were there before.

Looking Better!

Our contractor has been working hard on our ceiling for the past two days. The first day involved scraping all of the popcorn off. It was very dusty and my whole house will need a thorough cleaning when we are done. 


Today he is working on patching some damaged areas and repainting the ceiling white. It has a slightly textured look is 100% better with no popcorn or glitter!

No more popcorn!

Bye, Bye Popcorn

When we moved into our house about 3 years ago, we had a lot of renovations done to bring it up to date. We didn't do anything, however, to our large living room as it was the least in need of updating. The one negative about the room that I have been wanting to change, though, is the glitter popcorn ceiling. Yes, you heard me correctly, popcorn and lovely flecks of glitter.


Well, after considering doing the ceiling ourselves, we finally came to our senses and have hired a contractor to do it for us. The work is supposed to begin on Monday, so we are spending part of our weekend emptying the room out. I can't wait for the work to start. I know it will improve the room 100%!


When I explained to Evan what we are doing, he didn't see the reasoning and said that he thought that the ceiling looks fine and that the glitter was pretty neat. Who knows, maybe the look will come back one day?

Lovely popcorn and glitter.

Gold vents and lights are going, too!

Room is almost empty.

Our Poor Tree

We have two huge oak trees in in our front yard. After Gustav, we came home and found that large parts of each of them had split off. We decided to cut the parts that had fallen down and try and save the trees.

I walked outside on Monday and noticed that another large part of one of the trees was on the ground. Todd thinks that the tree is dying and that is why it fell. Todd was a trooper and spent several hours on Tuesday cutting it down. We are just thankful that it didn't fall on anyone.

Huge limb that fell.

More of the tree is gone.