Day 204: The Downstairs Wall

Ever since we bought our house, the one wall we have been totally nervous about replacing was the back wall in the family room. It had some termite damage and we afraid of what we might find beneath it. Thank god it wasn't that bad. Now we can finish painting the room and the office before we go. We also worked on the trim outside and just need to do the upper level. Hello fall break.

Day 196: The Blue House (10/5/2008)

The transformation of the house continues (it is so blue it transforms into the sky). I'm just waiting for a plane to crash into it or more likely a robin.

Day 188: Painting the House (9/27/2008)

Now that the dissertation is written, guess it is time to get the kids to paint the house. Hey, for some toddlers there doing a heck of a job.

Day 142: Reclaiming the office from paper overflow (8/11/2008)

I've been shredding documents and getting rid of the massive amounts of paper that have accumulated over my tenure as a graduate student. I've recently made a more concerted effort to keep my articles in electronic format in order to lessen the amount of paper I use. I consider it kind of tree solidarity.

This picture shows two black garbage bags of shredded documents, a grocery bag of recyclable white paper, and some chipboard. I'm suddenly beginning to feel much lighter.

Day 140: Home Updating or That 70s house reclamtation phase 2 (08/09/2008)

We are now working to get the house ready for sale. Our only worry is that we will like it so much that we won't want to move. The project today was to replace the blinds throughout the house and install a new light fixture over the bathroom sink.

Day 96: Playroom (6/25/2008)

The playroom when I wake up
The playroom when I go to bed (and this is clean).

Day 94: Fresh Cut grass (6/23/2008)

One of the things I love most is mowing the lawn. I have no idea why but I find it peaceful. Since we bought our house a couple of years ago, I have worked pretty hard to remove the weeds and have learned a lot about growing grass (not that kind). Now I have my lawn almost complete. Only if the boys would stop excavating in the back maybe we could get the whole yard covered.

Day 80: Flood (6/8/2008)

The rain hit us full on today and flooded the backyard. He have a small hill in the backyard that runs onto the patio and so occasionally turns into a lake. Today, the water creeped in the back door and the garage before we got the sump pump up and going. This picture is me wading through the flood and then you can see the retaining wall in the back.

Day 56: Shruberry (5/15/2008)

Has anyone seen Roger, Roger the Shrubber. I would like to get a slightly smaller shruberry with a path down the middle.

"Even those who arrange and design shrubberies are under considerable economic stress at this period in history.

"

P365R Day 14: Here Comes the Rain Again (4/03/08)

Spring officially started on our anniversary but now it is actually starting to look like it. Here comes the Kansas rain and things are starting to green up again.

P365R D13: The Sump pump

We have owned our own house for two years now. One of the joys of ownership is fixing things when they go wrong. Our sump pump has been inoperable through most of the winter as Blossom, the youngest talk chewed through the cord as a puppy. Now prior to being a homeowner I had no idea what a sump pump was, I'm of course still not quite sure. It appears that the biggest problem with our sump pump was that it wasn't plugged in (see we are still new at this) and that Blossom had chewed the cord to the battery back up. Now of course the problem is that the sump pump won't turn off, apparently a problem with the mercury switch. Yet another thing to learn about or replace.

P365 D107: The Weather outside is frightful

but the fire inside is delightful!!!

P365 D82: My Neighbors Tree

My neighbors have some great trees in their yard, the trees have terrific fall colors (reds and orange). I like looking at them but I'm a die hard evergreen kind of guy. Being from Montana and all, I believe they are nice to look at but raking all those leaves (maybe when Spencer and Xavier are a little older and can rake) is not for me.

P365 D17: Backyard Ecology

This afternoon, Cordelia and I were chilling in the backyard when we spotted this massive grasshopper (locust or whatever). If you know the scientific name let me know. I like hanging out in the backyard and seeing all the interesting bugs that show up. The ecological makeup of our yard is actually pretty interesting. I mean its not like Montana where you have grizzly bears and stuff but if you do a little digging and explore you would be amazed at what your might find. Great I gotta go before I start channeling E.O. Wilson

P365 D16: Hummingbird in the yard

Here is a slightly blurry picture of a hummingbird I took that was at the feeder that g-ma put up in the backyard here at Casa de Chaos. You can kind of make out the animal up near the corner of the picture. For most of the summer they avoided the back yard but now that it has started to cool down some they have come to eat the free food and chase each other around the yard. I'm just waiting for Ranger to figure out what is going on.

P365 D14: A Day in the Life Pictorial

So today I thought I would demonstrate a typical day in the life of myself by taking a picture every waking hour to kind of walk you through the things I commonly do each day. It was a little bit more difficult than I imagined and I'm now exhausted. So here we go.

6:18 AM - The First Cup of Coffee
7:35 AM - Bike Ride to school 8:20 AM - Coffee mess and clean up at school office (this normally doesn't happen)9:50 AM - Hard at work on Area Statement Number 3.
10:37 AM - Overseeing an undergraduate do PCR in the lab.
11:43 AM - On my way home, photograph of the infamous squirrel attack site.

12:16 PM - Lunch with the family

1:21 PM - Chilling with the kids.
2:12 PM - Xavier crashes out (I moved him shortly after the photo was taken)
3:27 PM - Feeding Cordelia her breast milk bottle - difficult to take picture of.
4:09 PM - Serious Ranger Envy
5:05 PM - A soothing adult beverage on a hot day.
6:16 PM - Dinner
6:58 PM - Bath and Story Time for the kids.
8:36 PM Spencer and Rover Crashed out on couch.
9:02 PM - Taking garbage out.
That's all folks!

P365 D13: Labor Day and Paradigm Shift

We had a pretty mellow labor day. Here are a few pictures from the day. First off is one of me (I'm actually smiling in a photograph) playing on my new computer. I finally broke down and bought a new laptop, so far I really like it even it is impaired by having Microserf Vista as the OS.

The second photo is of Spencer filling up the pool. While Ranger (our Great Dane) is a big dog he isn't quite this Clifford size but he likes the pool and he thinks he is just another one of the boys.

The third photo if of Cordelia standing up by herself. This represents a major paradigm shift as all three children will be mobile soon.

P365 D7: Signs of Male Domestication

This has to be one of the strangest things I own, the Conair NE152CS Ultimate Turbo Nose/Ear Trimmer , while I haven't been blessed with hairy ear rims, I do have some long stinking nose hairs. So Jennifer bought one of these for me a couple of birthdays ago and about once a month I stick this contraption up my nostrils and rotorroot them. Every time I do this, I'm always perplexed as who thought sticking a nose trimmer was safe and a good idea. This also always reminds that I'm becoming uber-domesticated because back in my single days I would just yank the nose hairs out and then sneeze like crazy for 72 hours.

Project 365 Day 6: Living in a shoe

Living with three kids under 5 can be a little hectic. Coupled with grad school, it is downright insane. So while we don't live in a shoe (at least not yet), the creativity of the kids to find interesting hiding and playing places is pretty amusing (occasionally annoying). This is a picture of Spencer and Xavier hanging out in the pots and pans cupboard.

Project 365: Day 4 - Home Office Reclamation

Since we first moved into the new house, the home office has looked like the first picture. A random disarray of paper piles, books, and kid stuff. Xavier was sick today so we decided to do some home reclamation and organize our office so we can get some work done at home. Granted the idea is to build a home office into the wall. However, by getting Jennifer's desk into the house, we feel a little more settled.