Happy Halloween!

Close enough anyway. Out here the official trick or treat day is today. Too bad it's raining like crazy and generally pretty miserable. Couple that with the fact the Kendra is bound and determined to not wear her costume, I suspect we will not be going begging for candy this year.

These are the pumpkins we carved for this year. We have two more we didn't get around to carving. Being pregnant is wiping me out - more so than I remember being Kendra.

We're off to the preschool party in a bit. 35 hyped up toddlers in a gym...anyone else want to come?

June 21, 2011

That is our goal... In case you hadn't heard the news, we have a baby Pinkard coming to join us. Here's hoping this pregnancy is easier than the last one!

So far, so good. I'm exhausted most of the time, and since Kendra is sweet enough to still be taking naps, so do I. I've also been sick with a respiratory thing almost continuously, although that's the same as it was with Kendra.

We had our first doctor appointment on Wednesday, and everything seems fin so far. We have a tiny grain of rice with a heartbeat. I go back in 4 weeks for a double check of the due date since 6 weeks was still pretty early.

Fence Is Done (mostly)

We finished installing the last of the mesh pieces, and hung the second gate. The only work left is to add the decorative mesh pieces at the top of the wooden sections.

The yard is officially doggie proof! So of course last night our phone rang at midnight. A very nice couple had picked up Mickey happily running down the street. We had no idea he was even gone, and less idea how he managed to get out! Houdini dog. Back to the drawing board...

Fence Update

Here's the latest picture of the fence - with the gate! One more afternoon of nice weather, and we'll be done!

Drunken Toddler

Kendra and I were walking up the stairs earlier today, and she insists we hold her hands to walk up the stairs. She is perfectly capable of doing this on her own, but whatever.

As we walk up the stairs, she starts counting them.

"one, two, free" hiccup.
"one, two" hiccup
"one, two, free, five, six" hiccup

She sounded just like the town drunk as she hiccuped and would start her counting over. It was hysterical!

So Close...

Today was not quite as nice outside, but we still managed to go "play in dirt," as Kendra would say.

We are so close to being done! These pics are from this morning, before we got started. By the time we finished for today it was too dark to take new ones. (I hate it getting dark so early!!)

As of quitting time today, all the wooden sections were done, and about half the wire mesh sections were done. The gate on the far left was built and installed, and Dan started the gate on the right side.

The top picture shows how we've been working. A long extension cord and power strip hooks up the chop saw and table saw. There's a portable air compressor that runs the air nailer and staple gun. Kendra keeps busy by collecting rocks and acorns in her yellow bucket, and has created some lovely chalk artwork on the steps next to the pile of wood. (We also have quite a pile of scrap wood at the moment. S'mores anyone?)

This is the other end of the fence - where we ran out of old wood. I actually like the way the old wood looks. It has character. :)

Progress

We have made quite a bit of progress on our fence. Dan took off work yesterday, and the weather cooperated nicely. It was gorgeous - sunny and warm.

With Kendra in preschool for 3 hours, then a nice 2 hour nap, we were able to get a lot of toddler free work time in. We have all the support structure built, with the exception of where the gates will go (one at either end). We also started cutting the slats to fit. Good little environmentalists that we are (ok, fine - we're cheap!) we are reusing the boards from our old fence. I was looking at each board and cutting off the bad sections and Dan would tack it into place. It's a lot of time consuming work, although fairly low effort at this point. Each 8' section needs approximately 16 slats. After they are done, we'll have to cut and staple the mesh into the 4' section. Last will be tacking the mesh to the top of the wooden sections.

We have no idea how to build the gates. One problem at a time I guess!

Hopefully tomorrow will be just as nice, and with some hard work and a bit of luck, we'll finish it!