My Husband Builds Stuff..........

So on to some more 'fluffier' stuff on this here blog..........

My husband has built us a patio table. Now if you have been reading the blog lately, you know that we had our patio and backyard done as well as the flooring (some of which insurance picked up, although I am frustrated that insurance did not pay one bill to the company that dried our house out, and I am still asking to get it paid - as the company needing to be paid has hounded me....but that's a whole other post.).

The backyard is narrow, you might have found a post on here where I showed how narrow it is.  There is a huge retaining wall also.  So, we have been limited in what we can do with it.  We decided to cut our yard in half (there was also a saga about the sod we got that died,etc., that might have appeared here - I'd have to search it and I'm too lazy to do that right now)and put down a concrete 'pad' for an Intex pool to go on it.  The girls love to swim in water, and we thought as temps have been rising here (expected to be 108 on Saturday, but it's not the norm for this type of year.  We are just getting hotter weather earlier, which means it's going to be a hot summer) and we figured having a pool was a good option.  We got one similiar (but with more depth) to this one, but not from this company, but I had researched it so still had the link (see I really am lazy this week, I think I'm in denial for school ending!).

http://www.kmart.com/summer-escapes-14-ft-x-42-in-metal/p-004W004409598001P?prdNo=7&blockNo=7&blockType=G7

If  you are thinking of getting a pool like this, it's really worth it for some backyard fun.  We had hoped to get a larger size than this, but we can't because we need acces to the side yard, and we had no more room.  But this will be fun for the girls to play in and we can spend some time outside now that we have a patio table to do projects on.

Now I scoped out the neighbors' pool (just like I scoped out their patio cover and copied it, although it's sturdier than theirs is) and they have not quite upgraded to the pool we have, they have the one we had previously, which I believe is this one:

In looking at patio table sets, I found they were super expensive for what we wanted.  We wanted a wooden set and a very sturdy set (Dave's 6'2 and a bit on the 'husky' side, so we wanted something to hold him).  Most of the sets I saw were really flimsy (really?  You want me to pay $400 for a set that the mesh could rip and be destroyed in seconds???).  The wooden ones were higher, and we just couldn't see spending that kind of money when we wanted to do stuff on it, like paint outside,do crafts, etc.  So Dave decided to build one.

We had left over wood from our patio cover and we had some wood cut.  The table is very basic but it seats 6 and it will work for our needs.  Dave still has to sand it down and we have to stain it (as well as the task of staining our patio cover).  I like how it came out, and I think it will work for us.  It's not super pretty (as I think some people were expecting. I sent it by phone to my friend who really didn't comment on it, other than saying, "well I'm glad you have a table, and you could get some chairs from the thrift store and maybe a chandelier.") but I like it and that's all that matters.  The girls can do stuff on it and if they spill I won't care, because it can be sanded down and when they are older we can get a nicer set.  So at the bottom I will share a little sneak peak of it with some new plants we bought to hang from the patio cover.

Dave's getting very Home Improvement as he was talking about making some sort of shelving unit from the left over wood.  It's fun to see him doing some projects.

I need to find some chairs. I'd like to get basic ones that I can spray paint in some bright colors and then put some chair pads on (or not).  Our little yard is shaping up.

An update on the chores:  going well, the girls and I rocked the housework this weekend and I think they will get to go get something from the toy/game aisle when school lets out.  They have done work for a solid month and have done a great job.  I will say that there is a difference in how they do chores.  LGA is VERY OCD, and she does a great job.  The cat has taken over the computer chair and there was some hair on it.  I gave her a hair pick up pet thingy and she went to town on the couches, chairs and computer chair.  She finally decided to pick the hair off the chair by HAND when she found the pet tool wouldn't work.  Then she took cushions off the chairs and couches and I had to vacuum inside them (so now my couches are nice and clean under the cushions).  She then went to swiffer the family room, living room and hallway, that have the laminate and she covered every inch.  What she couldn't get she used the broom and a dustpan to pick up. She dusted and cleaned the clutter in her room as well. What a good helper.

Now BGA on the other hand, tends to have a more 'stuff thrown on the floor' look to her room and while it's not a sty, and it is fairly neat (due to asking both girls to clean rooms at least once a week/two weeks) just things end up on the floor (and the dogs chew them) and she has a habit of leaving stuff (like video games) in the chair/couch cushions and a game has been chewed by the dogs.  We finally took a game from her that we found in the chair cushions and hid it.  She frantically searched for it on Saturday, and I could see how she didn't want to say it was lost, LGA picked up on it and began in her loud voice to draw attention to it. I made out that I had no clue where it was and she finally asked Dave and admitted (huge jump for her) to him that she lost it.  But her ADHD is full blown at times and she exhibits all the tendencies to forget stuff, lose focus, etc.  So when she cleans she does a good job, but not the detailed job that LGA does.  I know that's part of ADHD so I don't make a big deal unless I can see she really didn't take the time to do it and then I make her re-do something (and she sighs but does it......we are full throttle in the eye roll, muttering under our breath, sighing, etc.) a 2nd time.  She does a very good job, oddly enough, on the dishes.  She really takes time to wash them and now that she knows how I want her to clean the bathroom, she does a great job on that too.  But I realized I had shown her basics of cleaning the bathroom but then things would be skipped so I outlined each part of the bathroom in stages (finish one, then she'd come back to me and I'd explain another part) and she got it that way.  I guess because BGA doesn't exhibit too many ADHD traits all the time I get lulled into thinking she can do things and then I realize I need to tailor my explanations to "ADHD" type of explanations.

The girls did a great job on the house though and all 3 of us rocked the house work on Sunday (while Dave built our table).  It was great to have their help, I was so glad we could do it together and I remember the days of doing it all by myself and am glad they are at a stage to help me (especially since I hate housework and they don't seem to mind it, LOL). 

Here's the pic of our table......rustic, but homemade and fun, just what we needed.  Now what type of chairs to get???  And I guess the girls and I will be doing some thrifting after school gets out.  Also Dave picked out the flowers and we have a red rose bush in the corner of our lawn, so we have yellow, red and white colors.  At first I wanted to go bright colors for the chairs, yard, but we really liked these plants, so now I'm thinking maybe spray paint chairs yellow and red? Thoughts, anyone?

Happy Weekend, everyone stay cool (our temps are supposed to be in the 100's, up to 108!!!).