THE PLASTIC IS DOWN!!!! (5/20/08)

Last night we did a deep clean of the downstairs bathroom as well as the kitchen - walls, ceiling, and floors all washed up! Cabinets vacuumed out and washed down! I LOVE IT! I can actually walk into the kitchen from the dining room without having to walk around the house! It was a day for celebration! I was so excited! Tonight we are going to try to get the fridge and stove in there and maybe even hook the stove up so I can COOK! I'm so happy!

My deepest sympathies to Randy & Carol who are starting their kitchen remodel now... I feel for you!

Kitchen Progress Update

Overview of Kitchen since last week...

We started hanging cabinets after Gavin's Homecoming last Wednesday and were able to get up the left-side-wall, and cabinet for above the refrigerator. Then on Thursday we got in the upper cabinet and drawers...
Saturday Randy came by to help Joey with the windows!
Our old nasty windows
The dumpster was picked up on Saturday too - we had no problem filling it!
Windows in progress
Scarlet's been outside more these past few months than ever before! She can't come in the kitchen and if she's on the other side of the plastic then she's whining to be near us so she gets to be outside the kitchen on a chain and she can come lay down in the mudroom.
Our cabinets IN and BEAUTIFUL! Do you like the custom counter top?
The hole is for the dishwasher. Our counter tops aren't going to be in until mid/late June so plywood it is for now!
The door frames I've been working on! Thanks to Andy's help on Sunday we were able to get them stained!

Andy - your help this past weekend was AWESOME! I cannot thank you enough for helping me to get the sanding done, for helping Joey carry all of the cabinets up, and for just being you! It was nice to have an extra set of hands! We are a day ahead now because of you!

Randy, Thank you for your help with the windows! I HATED the old ones and they were just terrible and didn't open at all! I'm grateful that you were able to get this project done with Joey!

I'm also happy to say that I was able to put the second coat of Poly on this AM since I got up early! This means we will do a deep clean tonight and TAKE THE PLASTIC DOWN!!!!!!!!! I am the most excited person EVER!

Welcome Home 1Lt. Gavin Laskowski (5/14/08)

Yesterday people from Lake Zurich to McHenry stood on the roadside to show their support for a soldier coming home! This particular soldier is Gavin Laskowski, Niki Aikin's fiance (for anyone who isn't sure who Niki is, it's Joey's niece)! We were so happy that his tour in Iraq was completed and he was able to come home safely to his family & friends!

The McHenry VFW had a sign made for him!
Madison waiting for the motorcycles and police cars!
Here they come! There were so many riders you couldn't even see the limo for a while!
It was emotional! These riders represent years of service to this country and they get together to escort home individuals who stood for our country! THANK YOU PGR's!!!
Madison & Joey watching the "parade"
The limo in sight now!
The Patriot Guard Riders motto is "Standing for those who stood for US"
Gavin waving to everyone!
All of the flags on the cars and bikes was quite a sight!

Joey and Madison walking back
Gavin taking in the crowd after he got out of the limo
A loved one with a sign! The whole thing was so moving!
Gavin in shock, LOL!
Niki, Carol & Joey striking a quick pose!

Joey, Carol & Gavin
One of the Patriot Guard Riders leaving - these guys did a GREAT JOB!
Gavin being presented with some things from the Patriot Guard Riders
A plaque he got but I'm not sure who it's from b/c the lady only talked to Gavin, not the crowd, LOL!

To see Gavin's speech you can click this link

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHjglYGhATY

Mollie and the girls were all able to make it out too! It was so nice to have you guys there! I loved it! This was I think my 5th attempt at a picture with everyone looking!

Link to NW Herald article
http://www.nwherald.com/articles/2008/05/15/news/local/doc482c089e0eda9253335504.txt

WELCOME HOME GAVIN and THANK YOU FOR SERVING OUR COUNTRY!!!

Horseback Riding with Tina (5/13/08)

Tina Wang is in the US visiting from China for work! It's been great getting to know her and on Tuesday we got to have our own adventure! We started off going Horseback Riding at Fantasy Hills Farm in Delevan, WI! I highly recommend that place to anyone who wants a trail ride - way better than any other stable/farm/ranch I've ever been riding at! You get to go through the woods and even run the horses in you are comfortable doing it!

Tina all geared up to go riding!
Mounting her horse

Tina and her horse GeorgeMe & Drifter - she was a great horse!
Getting started on the ride
After we were done with the main ride we went back out for a quick run! It was so awesome! I can't wait to get back there again later this summer!
After riding we went to Lake Geneva for lunch at Popeye's, took a walk on the beach, and then did some shopping!

It was great getting to know you more Tina, I'm glad we had the opportunity to spend time together! Thanks Phil for the day of FUN out of the office!

Floor COMPLETE (5/12/08)

We were able to finish the floor on Monday and are SO HAPPY it's DONE! This means we can finally start putting up cabinets and getting life back to normal... we are about a week behind where we wanted to be but it's still getting done. The dumpster gets picked up early Friday AM so we are busting our butts to get everything in that we can!

Great Job on the floor Rob & Joey!! We learned a lot this time around - Joey learned how to lay tile and I learned how to use the wet saw! I'm happy this step in the process is complete!!!

Tiling Begins (5/9/08)

Rob came by Friday after work and worked his butt off with Joey getting the full tile pieces started... looking good so far!

Saturday we get to do lots of cutting to get the rest of the pieces in place.

Heating Mats Down (5/8/08)

Rob came by (Joey's brother for anyone reading this who doesn't know that already) last night and got the floor mats laid out!

Looks good to me so far!
We are one step closer now...
Tonight (Friday) the boys are going to start laying the tile down.

Thanks Rob for working so late last night to get this part of the project done! We are so happy to have your help with this part of the project!

Kitchen (5/4/08)

After I woke up from Rocketfest (see below if you haven't already) I had to go home and work on the never-ending kitchen project.

Joey convinced me that painting would be the best thing we could get done that day so we did and I'm very happy we did too!
Now it's done and out of the way... our color is Benjamin Moore "Adobe Beige" with about 1/2 a gallon of white added to it b/c we didn't like it on the walls.

Thursday Rob comes by to start laying the heating pads on the floor! Still hoping to be mostly done by the 16th!

Rocketfest 2008 (5/3-4/08)

Since Jennie was leaving for Alaska in a few short days we decided it would be a good idea to have a party... actually Jennie and I wanted to get together and Teddy (the biggest man-child I've ever met) planned his 3rd annual Rocketfest! So we all bought Rockets and prepared for a night of unexpected fun where anything goes!

Here's Tedd's 7' Rocket (A.K.A. Big Daddy)
Do you see the rocket up there?
Rocket under canopy
Rocket Retrieval Successful!
Jennie and her Rocket (A.K.A. Flower Power OR Pride and Joy)
Jennie & Amber launching Flower Power
Me and my Rocket (A.K.A. Number 5)
Hailey did a shotty build job on my rocket so Jennie is trying to rig it up to launch it, LOL!
Plus I just wanted to put this butt shot up here since she's in Alaska now and can't do anything about it, LOL!
Sarah and her rocket - no AKA name here.
Jennie thought it would be a good idea to get Sarah and I goodie bags and in them was Silly String, LOL!
Scarlet and Tedd's boxer Raybine - they love each other! It's SO FUN to watch two boxers together!

SO cute!
Our first adventure... 3 four-wheelers, a trailer, and a golf cart
Hailey and Amanda (and the side of Karley's head, LOL)
Tory and Amanda (Tory and Hailey are Tedd's kids)
Us girls doing pie shots while we are waiting for the go-ahead from Tedd after he checked to see if the field was too wet or OK for the golf cart.

The Creek - We all got off our machines and passed on foot while Tedd brought all of them over. He makes sure everyone stays safe and together when we are out!
I was VERY happy he drove the golf cart across! Especially because he got it stuck and then the guys had to climb into the freezing cold water to push it out
Hailey drove it out while they pushed - she was freaked too b/c it was at such an angle
It was COLD too! This is on our way back over the creek now - Grant and Mike fell out of the trailer. It was too funny - they were complaining and then Tedd comes back around the corner saying "I told you to hang on!!!" - We had too much fun!
Tedd walking back after falling into the creek, LOL! It was so dark we couldn't see anything so he walked straight in, then flopped around a bit and came our way, LOL! Good times! Oh yeah and he broke his sandals so they are in some field by Monkey's house and he was riding barefoot the rest of the way home!

I love Rocketfest!

The golf cart heading back over...

Poor Joey had to work (Thank you babe for taking such good care of us) so he didn't show up until around 1:15 am or so when everyone was already pretty much in the bag... we had just returned from our first adventure and then Tedd came out riding the mower!

Tedd doing wheelies on the lawn mower, LOL! At least Joey got to be there for this, it was hysterical - and he had to do a LOT of them for me to finally get this picture!

**note he's still barefoot, LOL!

After this we left to go on our second adventure and Joey went home!

Jennie standing in a muddy field where we got stuck (#1)
Here we got stuck again (#2) and Jennie was trying to push us out and after we moved a bit she was flat on her ass!
Then we got stuck again right away (#3)... when we yelled for help to the guys ahead they yelled back "We're stuck too" so we hung out until they got there to get us out b/c we couldn't budge it!

What a great night! No headlights on a golf cart sure does make navigating in the fields interesting; especially when your flashlight is dying and you have an "on-the-go-bartender" in the back spilling all over you! Thanks to Tory again for the impersonation that makes me laugh each time I think of it and picture Jennie doing it! Thankfully Sarah was wearing a waterproof jacket, Jennie is right handed, and I was driving. See... Jennie rode in the back of the cart - you know, where the bags are supposed to go. In there we had the pie shots so she could pour while we were on the go, LOL!!! I'd also like to point out that despite what Joey and Scarlet thought Jennie was only ejected off the golf cart one time! She was picked up by the four wheeler behind us and brought our way since it took Sarah and I a while to figure out she had fallen off.

Thank you Tedd for a fantastic evening! It was a great time and I couldn't have asked for a better send off for my BFF & SIL Jennie!