Deck Re-Do

This was the spring to tackle the deck project.  The old deck was showing a lot of wear and the steps where too steep and narrow, so it was time for a re-do.  Here is the "before" picture.

 Step 1 - remove the old deck.  It came off fairly easily.  We ended up using a Bagster bag from Waste Management to get rid of the old deck.  We filled the bag, their website was easy to use to schedule a pick up and they hauled it off!  Step 2, pour new footings, we didn't change the foot print of the deck much but I wanted bigger posts, I used 6x6's instead of 4x4's and added one additional post for more strength.

 Step 3 - frame up the new deck and add deck boards

 This step was easier said than done, that 29 foot 2x12 was heavy!

 Step 4 - add deck boards.  We did our deck boards at a 45 degree angle, this took all the wiggle out of the deck.  This also eliminated any seams in the boards.  We needed to run our joists at 12 inches instead of the normal 16 inches...

 ...but I am really pleased at how this turned out.

 Step 5 (or so) - add railings!

 Step 6 - the landing, the stairs and the slide!

 More railings to finish it off and we've got ourselves a deck!

 We moved these big flagstones to line up with the new steps and make a path down to the patio and fire pit.

 We added more pavers around the fire pit and then filled the gaps with river pebble...

And the finished deck!

 And the finished patio/fire pit!

Now we are ready for summer!

Birthday Party - ONE

Our little man turned 1! So we had a party to celebrate!

 Heather did an awesome job decorating for his party.  For the mantel, we built this backdrop frame (using my Kreg Jig) and covered with it fabric, hung some colorful fans, cut out a "1" from cardboard and a "Happy Birthday" chalkboard sign.  Heather then cut out the banner to hang behind his highchair....

 there was also the "ONE" banner hanging from the front of his highchair.

 We used the monthly pictures to make this picture recap of the last year.

 And then a tall chalkboard sign with lots of fun facts about Garrett!

 Our friend Jamie made us a "1" cookie cutter and Heather made "1" rice crispy treats for the kiddos to take home after the party!

 Close up of the "1"

 "1" on the front door!

 The center pieces on the table

 ...and the seat of honor!

 Ready for my birthday cake!  Heather made a sugar free banana cake...

 ...it tasted great and Garrett loved it!

 Happy Birthday!

 After the food and cake...time to open presents!

 He was pretty excited to play with the wrapping paper and books generally grab his attention!

 More fun stuff!

 Sporting his "I AM 1" t-shirt!

Happy Birthday Garrett!  A year ago the high temperature was 5 degrees, who would have thought at your 1 year party, your cousins could play outside in a 51 degree day!
We love you buddy and can't believe how fast this past year is gone.  You are a blessing to our family and we look forward celebrating many more birthday's and decorating for many more parties!

Winter Fun

A few weeks ago we had a really nice day, lows in the 40's and we still had a good amount of snow on the ground, so we decided to head outside and shake off a bit of cabin fever!

 We got out our sleds and hit the hill!

 Garrett bundled up too and joined us for a ride down the hill!

 Remaining very serious the whole ride down

 With a half smile once we got the bottom!

 Then we marched back up to the top...

 ...and down again!  Trigg flew down the hill by himself...

 ...and then he would bail out at the bottom, rolling in a pile of snow and laughter!

 Trigg and I with our trusty sleds!

 And there was a little time for a snowball fight

 One more group ride down the hill!

 The dudes!  Mom did join us for the snow adventure, but she was taking the pictures and didn't get on the other side of the camera this time...

Fireplace re-do

When we moved in to our house, the fireplace had some cracked tile on the hearth.  It has been on my list to redo the tile, so after Christmas we tackled the project!  I'll start with the before and after picture in case you don't want to read all the way through the post.  

 This is the before, the fireplace had white tile with white grout.  It wasn't terrible...but cracked and broken tiles needed to go!

 We got 3 different samples to narrow down our options and try to figure out what we wanted to use.  We also posted the options to Facebook to survey our friends.  Option 3 had the most votes...and was our favorite as well.

Step 1...break up the old tile.  Trigg got his safety glasses on and we got to work.  Hammers and crowbars!

I also picked up some of this edging material that creates a boarder where the tile meets the fireplace.  I couldn't find black at the big blue and orange stores, but I did find it at Hank's Specialties in Urbandale.

 With temperatures below freezing outside and temps around 27 in my garage, I wasn't too excited to use a wet saw in the garage...so I set up a plastic enclosed cutting station in the basement!

 Trigg grabbed his ear protection and helped me get started with cutting!

 Mix up some thin-set and away we go!

 Weekend 1 in the books...and about 1/2 way finished laying the tile.

 Cutting 300 plus little stones gets very messy...be sure to wear old clothes, an old hat and eye protection

 ...and if you have it, a full face shield would come in handy too...but safety glasses work well!

 After the thin-set dried, mixed up grout.  We went with "Delorean Gray" from Home Depot.

 ...and the finished product.

 We sealed the edges where the tile meet the wood trim with white, paint-able caulking and then touched up the white paint.

I am very pleased with the way the project turned out, I really like the dark herringbone tiles with the light grey grout.