Build And Grow At Home: Bulldozer

This project ended up happening on the same day as the blizzard I posted about earlier.  I just wanted to split up the days for posting.  It was Husband's birthday, but kids ages 2 and 6 don't really get that its other people's birthdays just yet.  But Husband/Daddy decided to take some time out of doing homework and build something with Chancellor as he seemed to be so very insistent on wanting to do.

This is going to be a bulldozer.  Chance likes putting the nails through the holes and then hammering the nails in.


No, Daddy.  I want THIS ONE that's OVER HERE!!


When Chance lost interest, Daddy brought over Atrus to get the project going.


And Chance promptly decided he wanted back in.  Especially since it involved putting more nails in.


Then nailing.  Look at that smile!


Lining things up.


Some more nails through holes.


Its starting to come together now.  Dad's helping Chance use the hammer better, also save his own fingers from being whacked by wild hammering.


Back to his favorite part.


Finishing touches.


Dad's going to get the nails as flush as he can, and then sticker it up for him (the kit came with stickers for decoration).  Once that's done, Chance will have a bulldozer to play with.  There's another bulldozer kit for Atrus to do as well, so no worries that he's being left out. 

Farktography: Pets

I've been sparsely participating in Farktography this year, I think only two contests so far.  This might make #3. Here's the contest link, and below are my entries.

Tea Cup.  She's snoozing in the "bed" I made for her on my desk.  And by bed I mean a cardboard box with a blanket in it.


Also a Tea Cup shot.  She's fun and playful, if a bit derpy.


Snuggling kitties.  At least that's how it looks I think.  Kieran has become playful with Tea Cup, chasing her on occasion, and then sleeping/snoozing with her like this.



Next post:  Build and Grow at Home, a bulldozer.

Snow Fun

Blizzard Nemo did hit us, though not as bad as other areas.  I managed to make it outside with the boys for a bit this year, camera in hand.  I hadn't gone out previously in the snow as I don't have snow pants (that situation needs to be rectified), but I ventured onto the porch this day to get some shots.

Chance found a shovel and is making use of it.


He's pleased with his work.


This is the way its done, right?


Just like this.


Atrus wasn't so efficient at moving snow.  He'd pick it up, then dump it right next to himself.  He was insistent on doing it that way though.


Not too far from where he picked it up.


I just love this look.  Not sure how I got it, but its funny.


Atrus eventually gave up and just flopped himself in the snow.  I think he was attempting a snow angel?  Or he was just having fun moving the snow around.


Not too long after this the boys ended up coming inside.  Chance wasn't necessarily ready to come in, but Atrus had lost boots in the snow, once for each foot.  Perhaps he should begin tying them better.  I reassured him that he wasn't the first, nor will he be the last, kid to have a boot come off in the snow.  Both boots made it inside and were dry by the time he needed them next.

Next Post:  Farktography Contest #406, Pets.

Let's Play Ball

We interrupt the next slated post to put this one in because I forgot about these.

For Christmas, Chance got this basketball stand/net thing.  It came with a Nerf ball, but other ones work just fine, like this ball. While he does like playing, he misses more often than not, and it isn't entirely steady so it will wiggle when the ball barely touches it.  On the times he manages to leave the net intact, he does enjoy playing.

He shoots, he scores!


Why throw it when you can slam dunk?


He throws it anyway.


He overshot entirely, but thought it was fun anyway, and that's the point, right?



Next post:  The storm.  I promise!

New Kitchen Floor

Children are like a sandstorm.  Any weakness, and their tiny fingers will find it and exploit it.  Such became the case in our kitchen.  Somehow, a leg of a chair caught on a small piece of linoleum and next thing we knew, the linoleum kept getting chewed at by the chair and started peeling away.  As such, Husband went to Mardens, picked out some laminate flooring and we got to work on getting the linoleum up to put the new flooring down.

Atrus is helping me get some linoleum up.  He was surprisingly good at it.
 

While we got most of it out in one day, this little bit remained and I took care of that the next day. 


After waiting a week or so because of various scheduling conflicts, it was time to get the new floor in.  Padding was needed, even a thin layer, and that got put down first.


Its starting to go in.  The first few sections were difficult to keep together and lined up, but after that, it was relatively smooth sailing.


Here, Husband's working around the island.  Between the door and cabinet in the back of the picture is where the fridge is supposed to be.


Look how much is done already!  Its looking good!


Here, Husband is cutting a hole in the floor over the vent.  He drilled through the laminate where he knew it would be, and then used the jigsaw (skill saw?) to finish cutting out the rectangle.  That way it would line up better.


Nearly done.  At the last cabinets.


Under the stove needs to get done as well.


Diligently working on getting the remaining bits done.


The stove can go back now!


Finished part 1.  We put down a small rug in front of the sink to catch water drips.  Also, that's another vent Husband did the same drill a hole then cut out the rectangle procedure with.


Finished part 2.  The rug for the doorway is back in place, and other things are put back as well.


Finished part 3.  The kids tables are in as well.  This is their work space for painting, coloring, etc.  Its an even keel surface and easy to clean from messes as this is also where they eat.  The living room is more for play now for them.


I love the new floor!  It looks so much better than the linoleum ever really did.  At some point we'll take down the wallpaper and paint the walls.  We also plan to replace the counter tops.  Turquoise doesn't really go with a whole heck of a lot.

Next up:  Snow Day from the recent blizzard.

Cute Kitties

First up, kitty cats. 

We found them like this.  Occasionally they end up snuggling.  Tea Cup bugs the crap out of Kieran regularly, but he has been getting more playful with her and big brother like. 


Aren't they cute?


Daddy's hanging out at home.  This is Chance's favorite game ever.  Daddy set it up for him while he watched.


Then Chance took both hammers and went to town.  He thought it was hilarious, and then begged Daddy to do it all over again.



 Next up:  Floor project, replacing the kitchen floor, linoleum to laminate flooring.

So I'm late getting these up

Christmas Pictures

Santa came on Christmas Eve after the kids went to bed.   Pretty good haul this year, we think.



Stockings first.  Chance got a movie, Elmo in Grouchland.


Atrus liked his stocking.


A comic book, Sonic!


Whoppers!  Yumm!


Look at all that loot!  Notice some of the candy wrappers are opened?  Chance had Christmas candy for breakfast.


What is this?  A Batman thing!


Dr. Seuss's Horton Hears A Who.


A puzzle from Grampy.


Legos!  Batman!


"I love you through and through."


More books for Chance.  Chance has been getting into books lately, enjoying reading them, so we added to the library.


Brain Benders!  3-D puzzles.  A present for Atrus from Grampy.  These will take a bit to figure out, but that's good.


Working on one.  These are not easy, but that's the point.


Chance gets a music/alphabet toy.  Probably his favorite.


So these are late getting up.  At least they're here, right?  Next post:  Cute Cats and Chance having fun with Daddy.