Out With the Old…

I have quite a few “Before and Afters” this week.  The first is the fence on the left side of the house.  We were having some problems with the gate (it was starting to sag) so we made it stronger by adding another diagonal piece to each section.  Now it is an “X” gate. 

We attached the old fence to the corner and I removed the old fence.  We think it looks much nicer (and gives a little more privacy) than the old rusty, broken fence that was there before.  Once the lumber dries out more we will paint this white.  We still have to complete the gate on the other side of the house but I’ll post those pictures when it’s complete.    

Today (Monday) we have our final inspections for our plumbing and building permits for the bathrooms.  One item that was missing was the showerhead in the master bathroom.  Chris installed it this week and the great news is that there are no leaks!  Yay!

It’s come a long way from the stud wall it used to be…

 

Now we just hope that the inspectors are happy with the work!

A few people lately have asked about the planters I built and if they were working.  I’m happy to report that they are thriving!  Everything in these planters started out as seed and I have only had to add water once so far.  We have a ton of lettuce and herbs in the one planter and beans, tomatoes, cucumbers, and herbs in the other planter. 

There are a few great things about these planters – they don’t have to be weeded, don’t have to be watered (except 2 times), there are no pests bothering them, and I don’t have to bend down to pick anything!  We know exactly what we’re going to plant in here next year (the groundhog has had quite the smorgasbord in the garden!). 

Now in addition to our garden and planters, we are picking up our CSA-type basket every week.  This week was again a very impressive spread.  We have been eating so healthy and the only things we’ve had to buy at the grocery store are sandwich buns and some avocados for Samantha.

For Samantha’s first Independence Day we wanted to have some fun.  We went over to the lakefront where they were having shows and children’s activities.  We saw a magician which she seemed to enjoy but then we were left with a long time before the fireworks.  It was incredibly hot and humid that day so we decided to come back home.  We can actually see some of the fireworks from our front porch but Samantha was already asleep – maybe next year!

Now that Samantha’s eating solids, we continue to try different foods with her.  To date she has had rice cereal (not too excited about that one!), banana, and sweet potato.  She is really starting to get the hang of it but she sometimes just gets so excited that she dives for the spoon and ends up with food all over her face.  I guess that’s to be expected though.  At least she’s not throwing food yet…knock on wood!

Samantha has been very mobile lately.  She has started to “army crawl” backwards.  I put her down on her play gym and she crawled her way under the entertainment center.  I have to keep her in sight at all times when she’s loose!

She also loves to bounce in her exersaucer.

In order to keep Samantha from eating dirt or dog hair, I have been laying down clean blankets where she can play.  I may have to forget the blankets and start cleaning the house more frequently.  She started out on a nice blanket while I was folding laundry and after a couple minutes she had the whole blanket wrapped around her.

She is such a happy baby.  Yesterday in church a woman commented that she “has the joy!”  We would definitely agree with that statement! 

It’s still hard to believe that she came into this world five months ago today.  It’s gone so quickly!

Wish us luck with the inspections today!