Awards

Courtney got her Success Academy awards in the mail.  Yeah!

Poor big toe

I have the routine of getting MDF boards down to a routine.  I got into HomeDepot, find the boards I need to get, put one foot on the top of the bottom edge, pull the board over to the edge while using the foot on the board to push it to the floor, and then pick up the top edge until it is standing on its end.  I can then load it into the "taco" card and take it to the back to be cut into smaller pieces that will fit on our truck.  I know what I am doing.  

The boards are pretty heavy and then are 4x8 foot sheets, but I can never find anyone to help me so I muddle through by myself.  It works great...until the one day that it doesn't.  

I forgot to put my one foot on top of the board when I pulled it toward me and it smashed down on my big toe.  It was totally my fault but it hurt!  I tried to make it seem like I didn't do anything, not like anyone was watching me but they have surveillance cameras and I didn't want to look dumb, and took my boards back to be cut.  It wasn't until later that I noticed that my toe was turning purple.  I learned my lesson!

Installing baseboards and getting carpet

In order to get carpet installed in the bedrooms, we had to have all the baseboards installed so they could space the carpet correctly.  We had been working hard and today was the day to get it done.  It is a lot of work but we have it down to science.  We have the saw attached to the central vac, so it takes care of most of the dust.  Then we measure, cut, and install.

The carpet people came and started on the installation.  It didn't take too long and then we had an awesome basement!  I can't believe how different it looks with carpet.  Courtney loved it!

It looks like a real basement now!

Boat building

Courtney had a boat-building activity for school.  They are in groups and expected to make a boat out of butcher paper and boxes. When they finished building them, they had a day when they had to float in them.  It was hilarious to watch them build the boat.

They wanted it to look like Perry the Platypus from Phineas and Ferb.  I had to scour St. George for orange and teal duct tape so they could get it to look authentic.

They used the pool at the new Human Performance Center on campus.  They got the boat there in and then got ready to load up.  They only had to have 3 people in the boat, so one took pics.

It didn't take long to sink.  Courtney tried to push it to the other side so they could finish, but it didn't get over there.  It was heavy and sunk.

They pulled it out and then just had fun together.  I'm glad she got to have that experience.  It seems like she had a lot of fun.

Basement tour before carpet

 

Lilies

Our lilies have bloomed!  They are only blooming for about a week so we have to watch for them.  If we aren't careful, we will miss the blooms.  We have a ton of them now so I really should thin them.  But I haven't taken the time.

I love how beautiful they are.

She beat us!

Courtney was bored so we played Wi Frisbee Golf with her.  She usually has a hard time with disc golf but she figured it out this time.  She ended up beating us and she was so excited!

Ethan's accent wall

I wanted to do an accent wall in Ethan's room.  But I was having a hard time figuring out what color of blue I wanted to paint it.  So we went and bought some testers to make swatches for the wall.  I wanted to see what the blue would look like in his room but I didn't want to paint on the wall.  These little test papers were perfect.

What do you think?  We chose the top left.

I got the wall painted and Bryan started putting the baseboards on.  I think it is coming together well.  We are going to do board and batten soon too.  I'm excited to see how it all turns out.

More soccer

It has been so cold during her soccer games!  I don't know what is going on but we have been bundling up to try and stay warm while we watch her play.  

Easter

It is Easter morning and Courtney got a present from the Easter Bunny!  She got a basket of candy (including a chocolate dinosaur) and some Chacos.  She was pretty excited about what she was given.

Baseboards

It is time to get some baseboards finished in the basement.  Baseboards are expensive to buy so we got a 4x8 foot sheet of MDF and then used our table saw to cut it down. When we had them the size we wanted, we sanded the corners to make them softer, then we primed and painted them.  It is a long process but it isn't too hard.

Physical therapy

Courtney has been having problems with shin splints and plantar fasciitis.  Our neighbor is a physical therapist so I asked her what we should do.  She had Courtney go in to see her.  She messaged her calves and feet, she zapped (it's like a taser) her calves, and Courtney was given a message.  

They then wanted to check Courtney's running gait.  So they put Courtney on an antigravity treadmill so they could watch her run.

They discover that Courtney is really pigeon-toed.  When she runs, her one foot tends to trip her other foot, so she has had to overcompensate so she doesn't trip herself. They helped Courtney turn her feet so she isn't pigeon-toed and try to get her to keep it that way.  I thought it was cool.  They didn't keep her on the treadmill too long because of her feet and shin splints.  But they have some good data.

We are hoping that the physical therapy will help fix her shin splints and plantar problems so she can play soccer without pain.