Handy Husband

We either have to split the pile of wood in our backyard or I have to stay off of Pinterest.
Now that Mike has stopped his summer job, I have put him to work at home.
He has been a busy little elf in his workshop this pass week.

First let me say it all started with the pumpkins I had made for Sharen for our birthday. I also made some for me, Stacy, and Mary. I did ask Sharen if it was ok for me to make some for the girls. It was a birthday present for her and it didn't seem special if I started making them for everybody else without her permission. She said Go for it!

Mike and I had cut a whole bunch of circles so I needed to do something with the leftovers. I looked on Pinterest and saw some cute little snowmen. Mike drilled some holes and put in a dowel and I got me a snowman to paint for the front porch.

He is still waiting for his hat. I just can't find the right size log/stick. But I will walk around the neighborhood with my eyes open and Mike will make it for him as soon as I find it.

Then of course, I started browsing Pinterest to see what else Mike can make me. He is having a good time and we have been working together pretty good. I tell him what I want and he does it. 

 

I found these Christmas tree made out of pallets. Hummmmm.... We don't have a pallet, but we have a whole bunch of scrap wood. 

We sorted through the wood - I showed him what I wanted and bam. I got me a Christmas tree to paint.

I painted it with leftover paint

Then there it was. The cutest little reindeer made out of logs. I told Mike He had to make one for me. 

And sure enough he comes through again.

Isn't he cute sitting on my front porch?

And it didn't cost us a dime. Everything was recycled from stuff we had at the house.

Excerise Buddy

Everyone says it's easier to get exercising if you have someone to do it with.
2 years ago I lost my buddy.
LA Fitness was screwing with Sharen and her membership so she decided to try something else and she left there for Planet Fitness. I didn't like it but I could totally see her reason behind it. She now went to the gym with Dup. I tried dragging Mike to a couple classes, but he's a person who can get his workouts done without a buddy.

I went to LA and got into the pool more than I thought I would the first year. I could go whenever I wanted or (the big one here) NOT go whenever I wanted.

This summer I slacked big time. I got my frozen shoulder back and was in pain on and off most of the summer. Enough that I didn't go to the gym. I know - just an excuse. Turns out exercise is good for my shoulder. I went and got some ART treatments and my shoulder (and neck) are good to go. I just gotta say this ART stuff is life saving. This is my second time needing it and I would recommend it to everyone. The treatments can hurt, but it is sooooo worth it.

And that is a very good thing because....

After Linda invited us to her pool to exercise out in the fresh air this summer, Sharen realized how much she missed moving around in the water and came back to LA Fitness.
Hallelujah, I have my exercise buddy back.
.

Sunflower

I have talked about painting flowers down the fence in our backyard. Big project and I never got around to doing it.  I just picked out the flowers and talked about doing it.

When the doors on the shed got to the point that they badly needing replacing, I thought here is my chance to paint something- on a smaller scale.

Mike had the doors made in a weekend.
It took me a little longer to paint them.
I know I was going to paint a sunflower.
Step 1 - Spray paint the background. green outside and a accent black inside the center.

 Step 2 - add brown to the center and first layer of petals

 step 3 - add accents to the center of 1st layer of petals and layer another row of petals.
I took a look from far away and decided it needed much more color. It looked way different close up.

 I finally told Mike that I was done with trying to make it any better. Put this bad boy up so I will leave it alone.

 TaaDaa. The shed has new doors. And the center on the flower actually lined up.

The neighbor loves it. Turns out sunflowers are her favorite flower.

Senior Night

Time won't stop, even if you want it to.
Dylan played his last regular season home game on Friday.
Senior Night!
Of course we had to pose with his banner. They had one for each of the 13 Seniors on the team.

 Parents escorting their sons on to the field. Mother were allowed to wear their sons away jerseys for the day.  Most of them complained that they were a little too snug - but they all wore them.

Mom and Son

Post Game Picture with Grandma

The Cogs won the game. 41-7
Now on to the playoffs.
First game is at home this Saturday. 10/28 vs. Elmwood Park.
GO COGS!!!!

Grand Parents Day

Roger is in 1st grade now and he is learning at such a faster pace.
According to Mary he was very excited that we were coming, along with the Murpheys. He had so much to show us. Both Luke and Owen wanted to come too.
His teacher has been teaching for 37 years and her room showed it. So many things to explore.

Owen found the books

Roger sits in the front row of his class next to a new girl named Grace who wasn't starting till tomorrow. That makes 17 in his class.

little brothers are impressed

He asked Ms. Chilvers if he could show us around the rest of the school. She said yes so off we go. He led us up to the second floor. Walking at a fast pace.
"This is the music room" Pointing at a room.
"This is the computer room." Peeking into the room.

"Down there is the gym."  Pointing down over the balcony.
And "THIS is the library!"
It wasn't too hard to figure out his favorite spot.

He walked in like it was an ice cream shop - arms out wide and a big grin on his face.
He told us he is going to join the book club.

Telling Papa he can check it out for him

This was a perfect way to start our day.

Owen turns 3

It all started with the Comer's Childrens Hospital race for the Kids on Sunday. The weather cooperated and it was a dry, but cloudy day.
We again teamed up with "Robo Kids" which is the group of Luke's Dr. patients and families.
We didn't run we walked the 5k. Ok, maybe not the whole way - when we saw that the runners were making a loop around the last block we bypassed that. It was an easy walk - this campus is beautiful.

Flory Family

Then we headed on over to celebrate Owen's 3rd birthday.
Mike and I took the scenic route home down Lake Shore Drive. It was pretty quite the Bears were out of town. Chicago is a beautiful city. We drove by the golf course on the lake and I made a mental note of looking into golfing there next summer.

4 years ago I made keepsake quilts for everybody for Christmas.
Seeing that Owen wasn't born yet he didn't have one. I remedied that this birthday.
Owen is into trucks - so it only made sense to make this for him.

Notice the red candy bar in my hand. He looks all sweet (which he is most of the time), but he was not taking the time for a picture without a bribe. 

Yes, our sweet little baby is 3.

Quilt Guild

I have been thinking about joining a quilt group for some time now.
I belong to a few online, but I'm thinking going someplace and interacting with more quilters could be fun.

When Sharen and I were with Linda at her outdoor pool (This September heat wave is brutal) I got my invite.
A lady shows up to get in some water exercise and she looked very familiar to both me and Sharen. Sharen asked her her name and when she told us Beth Reuter we both knew exactly how we knew her. She was married to our brother in law Bill's brother. She also worked with me at the CN as a motor route driver.
We got to talking and turns out she is a die hard quilter.
She tells us all about her quilt adventures and suggest we come to one of her Guild's meetings. Now was my chance.
Turns out it yesterday on our birthday.
So after having the most delicious cake for breakfast. Thanks, Steve.  Yes, me who rarely eats cake had this one for breakfast - it is that good.

Happy 65th Birthday to us

 Seriously, I cannot take a selfie I like to save my soul, but this one we got in one take. Maybe because we were "sharing a moment" along with the cake.

I couldn't let her eat alone

She could eat cake every meal

The meeting was at a church in St. Charles - not too far.
I was pretty sure it wasn't for me as soon as we got there, but we paid our $10 and stuck around hoping it was different than it seemed.
Nope. Don't get me wrong most everybody (135 women) were friendly and 1 lady showed us around to all the tables of things going on and introduced us to people, but I did not feel comfortable at all. Sharen wasn't going to join - she was just there with me to check it out. She felt the same way I did.
We stayed for the "show and tell" portion, because we wanted to see Beth's quilt, but left after "treats", seriously more cake?
I'll  keep looking for something to join, maybe a smaller group.