Tag Archives: Family

We were framed

Cabin, Family, Land, Nature, WV, , ,

We only got a chance to work on the cabin on Windday…I mean Sunday.  We framed a lot of the walls when my family was here last weekend so we started putting them in place this weekend.  Our plan was to attach the OSB sheeting and then set up the walls already covered.  We sized the walls so we could lift them with OSB already in place.  The wind, however, said differently.  We started to set up the first wall and nearly flew off the back of the platform.  I don’t know what the wind-speed was officially, but it was ridiculous-miles-per-hour by my reading.

So, Plan B…We decided to set up the walls sans OSB just so we can say we made progress.  There is a fair chance we will regret that later when we have to go back and hang the OSB, but doggone it, we have walls up!  Emily’s granddad came up to help us.  He’s been around the sun 86 times but you would never know it.  He was a huge help in getting these walls in place and we couldn’t have done it without him!

Poppaw...86 years old and we couldn't have gotten the walls up without him!

You may notice that these walls look a little different than most walls.  Good eye!  We are roughly following the Advanced Framing Technique.  What that means for us is that we are building with 2×6 boards rather than 2x4s.  We are also building on 24 inch centers (the space between boards) rather than the more typical 16 inch centers.  You can read the details on the link, but we are excited about the potential savings in materials costs and the potential for improved energy efficiency.  That and we like the weird looks people give us.  It sort of flies in the face of traditional house framing which makes it all the more appealing.

 

Building a wall…and the view out the front door!

 

Abigail surveying the scene…that’s as far as we got!

So, anyhow, we got the hardest walls set and plan to work more this weekend on getting the remaining walls up.  We will need to get the OSB started too.  I figure we will set up some elaborate pulley system to get the wood in place so we can start on the roof.  If we get wind again this weekend, I am going sailing.  Let’s see, I will need to get that old washtub and some sheets…what else do I need to build a sailboat?

 

See all of the progress on the cabin

We are Broke

Family

Well, it’s not so much that we are broke…more like Isaac.  And, really, Isaac isn’t so much broke as his collar bone is broken.  He plays on the middle school soccer team and the game last weekend was pretty rough.  During one play, the other team was breaking away with the ball, headed for our goal.  Isaac got on an intercept path and beat the other player to the ball and cleared it.  The other player, however, was close by and got tangled up with Isaac.  Both of them went down, head over heels and did a great couple of rolls. It was pretty awesome, really.  Isaac said he got up and thought he was just a little stiff from the fall.  He did a throw-in and heard bones grinding and that’s when the pain hit him.

He made it to the sideline and the coaches looked at him.  They called us down and a doctor friend who was there looked at it and said we should head to the hospital.  When we looked at it, it was clear something wasn’t right.  His shoulder just didn’t look quite right.  His one side was a little caved in and definitely not straight.

The broken collarbone

We had x-rays at the hospital and the doctor confirmed that Isaac’s collarbone was broken.  I think it is pretty obvious in the picture.  Let’s play, “Spot the broken bone”…ready class?  Do you see it?  Click the image to enlarge and see if you can see it.

We followed up with a bone doctor and they told us to keep it in a sling and it should be fine in 6 weeks with full strength and movement returning in 8 weeks.  We pretty quickly discovered that a broken collarbone makes many things really tough.  Isaac can’t really carry his books very well.  Getting help with books isn’t too bad.  He also has trouble with buttons and zippers.  Button and zipper help is not really an option though so we have been sending him to school in gym shorts and warm up pants.  You catch my drift I think.

So, we got some pretty snapshots of the boy’s internals and closed out of soccer season for the year.  He really enjoys soccer, so this was not an ideal end to the season but I think he is pretty happy to wear gym shorts all of the time.

Product placements

Cabin, Family, Fun, Land, Nature, WV, , , ,

My parents and brother and sister-in-law came into town this weekend to watch the kids play soccer and to help us work some on the deluxe shed.  We pretty much finished up the sub-floor before the visit so my goal for this weekend was to get some walls built…and that we did!

As we always do, we loaded up the van with the generator and all of our tools, drove to our place and unload them once again (I can’t wait to be able to leave some stuff up there!)  I didn’t notice it at the time but in looking over the pics, many of which my Mom took, I noticed that we were like a product placement extravaganza!  See how many different brand name/logo shots you see in these pics…it is like we were setting it up!

 

 

 

Anyhow, my brother brought a propane framing nailer and it was amazing!  I have never used such a beast before, but basically, it is a cordless nail-driving machine.  With a regular hammer, it takes, I don’t know, 5 seconds to drive a nail, another few to get the next nail and set it, etc  Each nail and swing of a hammer takes a lot of energy so things go slower with each nail one drives.  This nailer drives maybe 5 nails a second and I never got tired.  Incredible!

So, we discovered another crazy thing as we all worked away.  It looks like a cow must have gotten loose in the neighborhood.  The prints were from a hooved animal but they were far too big to be a deer.  It looked more along the lines of what I expect an elk print would be, size-wise but I don’t think there are any elk around here.

In addition to getting a lot of work done, we got to goof around together which was nice too.  We talked about a little bit of everything and nothing is better than working on a common goal!    We also got to see, once again, just how beautiful our WV mountains really are.  The leaves are coming along nicely and will probably be at their peak next weekend.  I couldn’t take a picture that did it justice but it’s just amazing!

See all of the progress on the cabin

We were floored

Cabin, Family,

Well, we were almost floored anyhow.  We worked very hard Saturday and Sunday on the cabin and made great progress.  We almost got the sub-floor done in fact.  There were a lot of joists to finish and then we put blocking between the boards to spread loads and add strength and stability.  It took a long time doing all of the cutting and measuring and so on but Emily, a friend and I had a good rhythm worked out.  My favorite part was the magic that Emily worked with a power saw.  She cut off boards and sort of earned her man-card.

 

My buddy working...or napping?

Isaac also jumped in and did a little of everything.  He nailed joist hangers, screwed in lag bolts and did about anything we needed.  Of course, he did find opportunities to hide now and then but we all needed breaks…some more than others.

Break time

Emily’s grandparents came out on Sunday afternoon and helped.  Emily’s grandfather is taller than Emily so he was able to do some of the high nailing from the ground that Emily couldn’t do.  That allowed me to keep working from atop the decking-in-progress.

I love this pic...the posts and piers and beams and stuff all look pretty cool I think

Emily's grandfather surveying our work

 

Subfloor - not screwed down yet but at least out of the trailer!

We have great neighbors on the hill too so Abigail took some time to play with the kids that are from the next field over.  They roamed around and found mushrooms and sticks and bugs and had a great time.

The one little girl said, “Don’t worry about us…there will be teenagers there too.”  Of course, that had quite the opposite effect on me but it all ended up good.  And most importantly, Abigail got to ride a horse which made her day.

The cabin doesn’t look quite as small as it did when we were pacing out the dimensions on the ground.  I am finally starting to see it come together a little and we are so excited to get the first wall framed and up!  With any luck, we will start on walls this coming weekend!

See all of the progress on the cabin

The only reason I go there

Family, Food, Fun, ,

There are many places I go to that really only have one draw.  If not for one or two things, I would never go there.  I am sure we all have those sorts of places.  In recent experience, two places in particular come to mind.

Walmart used to be a fun place to go and look at the latest and greatest stuff I would break and throw out in the next  few months.  I enjoyed looking at people and buying donuts or a bargain movie.  Lately when I go, however, I feel like I am in a Mad Max movie, only with long lines and even worse personal hygiene.  Walking through the parking lot really is dangerous now too.  In frustration, I guess, folks whip around illegally parked cars and older folks in electric scooters and put everyone at risk.  Cutting across lanes and general craziness make me hesitant to get near the place.

Sometimes, though, I have to go to Walmart.  We need this or that and the only place that has it is Walmart.  I have found a new stress-less way to get through.  I stroll past the lines that stretch for miles, find my item and then head for the ammo counter.  I own guns and like to shoot so buying ammo to plink at targets is fun anyhow.  I don’t like when folks check out at specialty counters if they are not buying items from that area so I always feel obligated.  Doggone it, I hate to buy ammo for my plinking habit, but in the interest of preserving check-out etiquette, I always buy a box of some ammo.

Emily needed a Valentine’s day gift last year, she got a frying pan and a box of ammo.  Kids need notebook paper, they get a bonus box of ammo.  I need a box of ammo, I get a bonus one to go with it!  See, it’s perfect!

Ok, so the other place like the ammo counter is the ball park.  Ever since my time as a little leaguer, I have hated baseball.  Really, I didn’t hate baseball until the one year when a preacher in town was the coach.  By association, I learned to hate baseball.  So, last night, my company went to the local minor league park and we all watched a baseball game.  The WV Power played some other team.  “We” lost so I don’t’ even care who it was.  Come to think of it, I don’t care even if “we” would have won.  Anyhow, back to the story.  Abigail and I went to the game and we both had the same mindset.  We went to the game for the junk food…nothing else.  She had a hotdog and Dippin’ Dots and I had nachos and vinegar fries…and a half-gallon of Mt Dew.  When the food ran out, our patience did too.  We hung around awhile but 5 innings was all we could take!  The only reason I go to a baseball game is for fries with vinegar or a box of nachos.  If they had an ammo counter there….

I guess everyone has places that the go to that are less than awesome.  I just like to find things to make my time there bearable, if not pleasant. And with ammo or nachos as a reward, I have found much patience…

Summer? Over?

Family,

Yeah, so school is back in session today and the kids were somewhat less than delighted. Isaac, in particular, was a mix of excited to begin middle school and not excited because it is not cool to be excited. Both youngsters have gotten used to staying up late and sleeping in. They both are used to goofing off all day and eating ice cream and funyuns for breakfast, lunch, and supper.  Life has been pretty easy this summer as they didn’t even go to summer care.  Ah, but life turned on them this morning.  Reality struck them hard.

 

Emily and I take special joy in waking the kids on the first day of school.  We flip on the light and holler, “Good morning childrens…it’s time to get up childrens” in our best non-native-English-speaking voice.  They try to pull their blankets over their heads at which time we throw a cat on their blanketed heap.  Oh yes, the first day of school is excellent fun for Emily and me.

I like to make a movie of their first day back too:

Isaac – First Day of middle school      Abigail – First day of 3rd grade

 

The thing I do not like much, though, is that summer is over.  It will still be hot as blazes and we’ll still have a ridiculous electric bill as the AC runs, but summer is over.  School’s in y’all!  Let’s go childrens!  It’s time for school!

WV to PA to WV

Adventure, Family,

Abigail and I went to my parents’ house in Tionesta, PA last weekend so Abigail could stay several days before school started.  Isaac made the middle school soccer team so he has practice 6 days a week.  Anyhow, I took pics along the way and thought the mess of them was pretty interesting…

 

 

 

A landmark a few towns from home

It’s so pretty driving there

What a salad I had!

  

It isn’t any good without a campfire!

Marshmallows were bigger up there!

Too big for the graham crackers!

It was sort of funny…

Oh yes, there were clouds…not sure why I got so many pics of clouds!   

Well, I made it back Sunday and my Mom and Abigail made it back on Wednesday.  More of a ricochet than a trip but still a pretty good time!

I love this picture

Awesome, Family, Technology,

Isaac is trying out for middle school soccer and practices have definitely stepped up a notch from the rec leagues in which we have been playing.  The poor boy was exhausted after the first practice.  I picked him up and we talked all the way home.  I pulled into the driveway and we just crashed on the steps.

We didn’t talk about anything in particular, but I so loved sitting there, relaxing and just talking with Isaac.  Middle school is going to be ok…

Gimme a call

Family, Thoughts,

My baby boy is growing up!  It seems like just yesterday he was born and here we are preparing to send the boy off to that wasteland that is middle school.  I grew up in BFE so we had k-6 in one school and 7-12 in another.  It was somewhat terrifying because of that age span but there were a lot fewer kids and most everyone’s family knew everyone else’s family so trouble was somewhat minimized.  Anyhow, Isaac will soon be headed to “real” middle school where there are hundreds of kids…my little baby!

As a sort of “nerve pill” for Emily and me, we decided that we wanted Isaac to be able to reach us at any time.  So, we ventured out to the mobile phone store and were thrilled by the technological spectacle that presented itself.  Well, actually, we were flabbergasted by the price of phones and mobile plans.  Holy cow!  Anyhow, we decided that with soccer practice starting soon, Isaac needed to be able to contact us and, more importantly, contact his friends.

Isaac put up quite a sales pitch for a full-blown smart-phone.  The sales guy was all too willing to help Isaac make his case.  Fortunately, we held our ground and got Isaac a poverty-level phone…you know, one with calling and texting only.  I sure hope he can survive.  My poor baby!

I know, lots of people made it through middle school without phones.  I don’t care.  Technology is around us and we embrace it.  We are trying to be sensible though and are using this as a way to teach responsibility.  Any time I see a way to expand communication, I am for it!

None of us is too worried about middle school.  We are building it up so we all have positive expectations of the next school year.  A little bit of trepidation crops up now and then in the back of my head, but I know it is going to be alright.  Heck, my baby boy is only a phone call away!

Super Proud

Awesome, Family, ,

It’s hard to believe how time has flown (is it almost July?!) but I have been meaning to write about Isaac’s 5th grade graduation.  His school had a special catered presentation at one of the big hotels in Charleston.  They had everything fancied up so it would be special for the kids.  We knew there would be awards and speeches and typical graduation stuff but we didn’t know what to expect.

After we ate, they started with the awards.  There were awards for various things and initially, Isaac didn’t seem to be called for anything.  He was not the best singer in the chorus or the best at archery.  We didn’t know what to expect but, as parents, we just wanted him to get some award so he could walk up in front of everyone to receive some applause.

Finally they called his name.  He marched up sort of shyly and shook hands.  We were relieved.  Then they called him again…and again…and again.  All told, Isaac ended up receiving 9 certificates of various types including the American Citizenship award, the National Young Scholars Award, the DAR Good Citizen award, the President’s Award for Academic Achievement (which included a letter signed by President Obama…very exciting for Isaac!) and the technology student of the year award.  I was so worried that he would just receive some award and he blew me out of the water!  By the end, his face beamed!  He wasn’t arrogant at all.  In fact he was a little embarrassed by his repeated trips up to the front.  To me, that was all the more indication that he truly deserved every award he received.  I could not be more proud!

Jump forward to this weekend.  Isaac tested for his blue belt in tae kwon do.  The blue belt is the last step before black belt.  The testing gets a lot more serious and the number of students testing thins a lot.  There were only a few people testing so the the spotlight was really on those folks to perform.  Each person did their forms (basically, a routine that shows skills such as balance, focus, etc).  Isaac did his cleanly and without problem.

The part of TKD that always worries me is the sparring portion of the instruction and testing.  Of course, a large part of TKD is fighting.  I mentioned before that it’s a weird feeling that sort of comes over me when I watch my son fight.  I want him to be disciplined and focussed and also prepared for things out in the real world.  Still, I would much rather he never have to be in any sort of threatening situation.

So, Isaac was paired up for sparring and they started the fight.  He quickly landed several punches and kicks.  At one point, he knocked his opponent to the ground.  It shocked me a little but the boy jumped back up and they continued.  Sparring is pretty much full contact.  No head shots and no blood are allowed but otherwise, there is quite a bit of freedom.  He has gained so much confidence and so many skills in TKD and that was evident as he sparred.  I was so proud to see him fight and watch as he just did what he needed to do to fend off the other boy.

I am so proud of my boy!