Snowmen!

That Bakerella has got nothin' on me....nothin', I tell ya! I made these cutie cake snowmen for my GS troop. They have no mouths - it would be baaaaaad for little girls to hear these pricks repeating the string of cussing that was coming out of my mouth while working on this project. Bakerella makes it look so easy. They weren't really too difficult, but mine are lumpy, bumpy and my lack of patience made them....meh. Alas, they are for little girls, and they will think they are perfect!!

That treehouse thing - yeah, it's toooooo cold to proceed. It is a full tree deck with rails and a slide, just no "house" yet. We did decorate it for Christmas - lights and giant candy canes. I should take a picture!! It's playable, so that's what matters right now.

Progress!

The treehouse is underway. It's not as I had envisioned, but nevertheless things are moving along.

I've tried to design the thing twelve ways from Sunday by using tree bolts and having the design be completely within the tree. I think that would be SO cool. BUT. I want a larger platform and I'm working around 4 trees, so it's been challenging. Plus, I'm not a builder so there's that. I was worried about my house not having enough support to handle my kids plus their friends, so plans ended up changing. I'm a little irked, but in the end my kids won't care - it's still a treehouse to them. For me, it was a personal challenge that I didn't win. Oh well.

I consulted my dad on the supports, etc. and he suggested that I build the treehouse with 4 stilts - basically a deck surrounding the trees. It's the exact opposite of my vision, but I'm moving forward. Got the stilts set today and my dad came and helped get it squared - a difficult thing to do when you can't use your diagonal (the tree is in the way!).

An interesting thing about my tree is that it has a barbed wire fence that runs through it. There was a fence running near the tree WAY before I was born and the tree grew over one of the wires and eventually absorbed it. The fence has been gone for more than 30 years, but there's still a spot hung in the tree. I'll be trimming it soon, but I don't have the proper tool yet. This tree has obviously been through some stuff, so maybe it's a good thing I'm not drilling into it.


My building inspector came by today, just to make sure everything was going well. And to take a pee on a pile of fresh dirt. Can you believe how big my kitten is!!?? She walked along every piece of wood today, walked the entire square like it was her own personal balance beam.

It looks like lots of boards, but all the angled boards are just there to keep the posts leveled while they set - I made concrete today - yeah baby! I'm also all splintered up.

Tomorrow the floor frame is going up! That will be it for a while since next week is holiday week and we have a lot of plans.

Being Thankful

Yesterday I took my girls & our troop downtown to deliver warm items to the homeless. We made 100 lunches and tied over 200 fleece blankets to give away - we hit the areas where folks are set up fairly permanently and visited those under bridges. It was quite an experience for the kids....ended up taking 12 girls along. The attitudes washed away and the girls spent some quality time talking to the people who we served. I've got tons of great photos, but can't share them because of the girls in them. They all gained a new respect for the comfort they live in. A great way to enter into the Thanksgiving season!

My head is in the trees

All I can think about lately is the treehouse - I'm ready to get started, but I have yet to get my first big necessity.....attachment bolts. I didn't find what I wanted at the local big box home improvement stores so I'll be ordering online and spending more than I had planned to. Oh well, what in life doesn't cost more than you wish it did?? I'll feel better about getting the bigger, better attachments - especially since I'm a novice builder. I'll post a picture of them once I get them in hand, I think they are going to be huge.

I've been working on design ideas and I keep changing my mind, something that I am definitely going to add is a widow's peak. It will be a small lookout tower that will rest high in the trees above the actual tree house. This project keeps growing in my head....

In other news, I'm dealing with a lot of crap in general - first, my grandfather. He's been someone I've always looked up to, but lately it seems that he is just pissing me off. I don't agree with his ideals, his morals or his view in general. It's really hard to start seeing someone without the filter after so many years. I want him to be my hero, but honestly, he is a racist and a chauvenisitic pig. That's hard to say about him, but I'm just being real. He is old and he is easing his way into dementia so I'm just riding along as usual and playing nice. I wouldn't want to ruin our relationship before he passes (at least, ruin it for him - it's already gone for me). I hate that my memories of him are now shrouded by what I've realized is his true personality. I can think back and see it all along, but as a child I just wanted him to be a hero and I looked past so many things. He was so completely rude to me a few days ago that I left his house in disbelief. He is just selfish. Period. Selfishness is something that I detest.

My grandmother on the other side of the family is slowly going down hill - she now has home healthcare and really just stays in bed most of the time. She has lost her desire to be on earth, but she trys to keep it positive on the outside. I'm inheriting her dog. I'm not a dog person, we have 3 cats. I've been spending a lot of time with her dog so we can all get used to each other - judging by the amount of dog bling I've purchased I could be getting converted. The kids are excited to get him - he is a black lab, very big. He has been an indoor dog his whole life, but that is not an option at my house. I'm kinda worried about the cold weather and how we will handle that. I'm hoping for the sake of the dog that grandma doesn't give in before the spring. The dog can stay in her house as long as she is there.

Funniest thing about the dog - I've always seen the cartoons where dogs bury their bones, etc. I thought is was just a cartoon thing. NOT. I gave Bo a rawhide and then he disappeared into the woods - near the treehouse spot - once I eyed him I saw him digging a hole. He dropped the rawhide into the hole and proceeded to cover it up by nudging dirt and pinestraw with his nose! It was the cutest thing ever! I'm anxious to see if he will actually remember where it is in a few days!!

Treehouse!

Boy, *the* Twitter sure has affected my desire to blog! No excuses, but it has definately changed things. I've never been a frequent blogger by any stretch, but it just seems like I can keep up with everyone on Twitter. Unless there is something lengthy to report 140 characters seem to work just fine for me! Of course, there isn't a lot to report about in my life - it's regular old day to day around here, EXCEPT...when I get a hairbrained project in mind.

I tend to have a LOT of ideas for projects. A LOT. I'm constantly brainstorming about what I "could" do with my house, my kids, my pets, etc... I have some great ideas and many that are questionable. I usually think BIG and I truly believe that I can do ANYTHING, so that makes other people look at me sideways when I suggest something huge. Let's add another garage! Let's extend the kids' rooms! Let's build a tennis court!! And it goes on and on. A recent idea - I want to install about a mile of fencing around our property (and I think I can do it). Now, I DO NOT want to dig holes, I do draw my lines somewhere. Those can be hired out, BUT I can set posts, mix concrete and nail up the slats. Why not? It's not too terribly "out there", is it? I think the hardest part would be the leveling. It would take a long, long time to complete - yes. But I could do it. We are planning to get two horses next summer and I could finish the project by then, I really think I could.

Do you see why Hunk thinks I've lost it? Honestly, I'm saving him money if I try to do it. I think he hates my ideas most because he would feel the need to help me if I was doing it while he was home. He is not an outdoorsy type, he is not a project type, unless it involves architecting (is that a word?) a server room, or a data center, or a virtual environment...things that happen behind a desk, in other words. I DO NOT have a problem with that, I knew him before I decided to keep him. I'm not trying to change him, but I don't see why MY outdoorsy, crafty, do it yourself inner self must be stifled because he is not interested. I simply do not want to hire out everything, I find it more fun to DIY.....and THEN hire out to fix what you screw up! :)

So my newest obsession is a TREE HOUSE! Last year we gave away our huge outdoor playhouse/swingset to a single mom with younger kids. It was a GREAT set, but in all honesty my kids didn't use it. Of course, now they miss having an outdoor hangout so I think a treehouse would be a really cool thing. I also think that I can build a treehouse. I really do. There will be heavy lifting, but once the main deck is on I can get the parts placed up there and I can do the rest. I have big visions of Robinson Crusoe types of structures, but I am going to try to keep it simple at first with the options of adding on features later.

I've read up a lot on the ins and outs, the safety, etc. and I still think I can do it. Here are some pics of my scouting out for spots. We have a lot of land, but I want to stick to the front so I can see it from my front porch. Plus, it's mostly pine trees in the other area - not good for treehouses.


I had a treehouse growing up and I can't believe we have gone this long without one. I'm so excited to build one, too. I *hope* it turns out as fun as I imagine it will be!

If you have built a treehouse for your kids I'd love your opinions on my spot choice. I'd also love any tips anyone wants to pass my way. I've been first and foremost doing my research on how to minimize the stress and damage to the trees. I plan to put one bolt in two or three trees and use a sliding frame. The Garnier Limbs are expensive as all get out (special bolts) so I think I'll be going with 1"x12" lags if Home Depot has them - and then I'm a bit confused as to how to attach knee joints. I'm going to keep reading though.



Did you have a treehouse growing up? What was the BEST thing about it?? Give me ideas!!

Pancakes and Astronauts

We had an amazing vacation....3 weeks ago!! I can't believe it has taken me this long to update from our week in Florida, but here we go!

We ended up leaving at midnight on a Friday so that we could drive while the kids slept, but more importantly so that we could arrive in time for PANCAKES at the Old Sugarmill Restaurant in DeLeon Springs. We read about this place in the Florida magazine and it sounded like a fun family place and we were not disappointed. Well, maybe a little bit because they don't have A/C, but I can also be high maintenance that way. The Old Sugarmill is an old cabin looking restaurant inside the Ponce DeLeon State Park, we paid our parking fee and proceeded to find the restaurant. It was right next to a giant cement pond (channelling the Beverly Hillbillies....) which was actually a pool created by the spring. It was really cool and the kids swam in it later - they said it was really cold. According to the literature it maintains 68 degrees. There were tons of people in the pool and even some Scuba divers - this was because the pool ranges up to 30 feet deep!! There is a drop off (according to my daughter with a mask) that is like an abyss - the literature calls it a chimney and it leads to the spring inside a deeper down cavern. COOOOOOOL!

At any rate, I was there for the pancakes. The restaurant has tables that are similar to mini hibachis - each table has it's own built in griddle for making your own pancakes. It's $4.50 per person for ENDLESS pancake batter!! That's right....FOUR DOLLARS AND FIFTY CENTS. For reals. They have regular batter and a whole grain batter. Both were phenomenal. You can purchase things to mix in to your pancakes like bananas, chocolate chips, etc. My daughter also ordered a scrambled egg and they brought her an uncracked egg and a bowl and told her to get to work!! She made her own scrambled egg right on our table - it was definately a very unique experience and we are very glad we made the trip! I was thinking our bill would be incredibly cheap, but once we got Diet Coke (comes in a can, no refills), milk, sides of bacon, an egg and some toppings our breakfast was nearly $50. TOTALLY worth it. It was so much fun. Even though it was sweltering with no A/C and about 20 pancake griddles heating the place up. We got there at opening time and on our way out the wait for a table was close to one hour, a few minutes later it was 1.5 hours. If you go, GO EARLY. But the bonus is that if you are waiting the kids can swim in the spring pool because it is literally at the steps of the restaurant.

After breakfast we finished our drive into New Smyrna Beach and piddled around on the beach watching surfing lessons until our beach house was ready for occupancy. We rented a fabulous condo with a beachfront pool. Our living room window overlooked the pool and the ocean. It was great!

The next day was spent at Kennedy Space Center - we had planned this vacation around a Shuttle Launch (which was cancelled AFTER we had already paid for the house), but we had fun doing the extended tour of the facility and getting the closest as any tour goes to the launch pad. Hunk was totally geeking out all day long. We met an astronaut who did not look at all like Kevin Bacon :( and we got Icee drinks in giant space shuttle shaped bottles. What could be better?

We spent the following three days laying around on the beach and then at the end of the week we went to Islands of Adventure to visit The Wizarding World of Harry Potter!!! So.Much.Fun!! In fact, it will be another post because it deserves all the attention! Plus, this one is getting long winded....

Can't believe I've been away so long that I almost forgot my blog password. Eeeeeeek! How've you all been?

Packing Heaven

I've mentioned before that I really do enjoy packing....or even more - planning. It's not the thrill of putting things in a suitcase that I love, but the whole idea of gathering, shopping and planning for all the fun stuff I can organize with. Then I really do love putting it all together neatly and "just so".

My kids are going away to camp in a week and the prep and lead up time to this has been absolutely fun for me. My kids, quite frankly, could probably not care any less. If I sent them to camp with a trashbag full of t-shirts and shorts they would both probably be just fine. In fact, last year my oldest daughter refused some of my 'bunk set up techniques' because one of the other girls called her a "fancy camper". Sadly, this made me feel very accomplished.

At any rate, I only have a week left to find all the perfect little things to get these kids off to camp. I spent this morning at one of my favorite place - The Container Store - and I spent way to much money on organizational tools for packing. I bought my oldest daughter things that I know she probably will not want to use, but things that I just could not resist. Luckily my younger daughter is all about the "set up" and she thrives on taking an idea to the limit. There's still hope for me as long as no one teases my younger child about all her accessories. If she gets the minimalist attitude I'm going to have to enter a program or intervention.

If you'll excuse me I've got a trunk to organize......