GRANDKID'S DORMITORY

I have a dream.

I have a dream that one day all of our out-of-town grandchildren can sleep and play in their own space while their parents sleep by themselves in the spare bedroom.

I have a dream that one day Weathersby children and Moffit children and a little Hunter can play together in unity in their very own room at Papa and Nana's house.

I have a dream today.

And today I took steps toward fulfilling that dream.

With a 220-volt heater installed in our covered patio a couple of weeks ago, the grandkids can now sleep in warmth. But with a concrete floor, comfort may still evade them.

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A piece of indoor/outdoor carpeting might provide just the finishing touch to make the covered patio more grandkid-friendly.

Lighter than it looks, I carried it from the pickup to the patio all by myself.

Trimming required for proper fit.

Razor knife in action.

Trimming around the cabinets required.

Carpet installed.

Heat above, carpet below. Bring on the grandkids!

Rest required upon completion of project.

BEING THANKFUL

A couple of weeks ago, it looked like we were going to be creating an annual Thanksgiving Day tradition of taking Dee to Hometown Buffet. Since there were only four of us, we decided to repeat last year's performance of keeping it simple.

Then a couple of weekends ago, Josie mentioned that she and Gordon would be home alone with Alexia on Thanksgiving Day and that Gordon's parents, Tom and Ruth, would be spending the holiday in northern California with Baylee and Rylie at the home of other relatives.

So, Hometown Buffet no longer seemed appropriate, and we decided to cook a traditional Thanksgiving dinner for the seven of us: Debra, Ashley, Dee, Gordon, Josie, Alexia (who can't quite chew on turkey yet) and me.

Then, because of weather, Tom and Ruth decided it would not be safe to drive over the Siskiyou Summit into northern California. So, Tom and Ruth brought Baylee and Rylie and a delicious bone-in ham to our place and we all ate, and were thankful, and ate some more. And after that we ate again. Then we had dessert.

This year's Thanksgiving crowd, clockwise starting with the booster seat, included Makiah, Gordon, Baylee, Rylie, Dee, Ashley, Debra, me, Josie, Ruth, Tom and Alexia.

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Dee, sitting beside Ashley, was the senior member of the group.

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Alexia was the junior member of the group.

With a closet full of games and toys, the most fun activity for Baylee, Rylie and Makiah was running and sliding on our new laminate floor.

A mother flanked by two daughters after enthusiastic eating.

HEATING UP A COLD PATIO

Our covered patio makes a great ping-pong room during the spring and summer, but is much too cold to use for anything useful during the fall and winter. Yet, with a fairly steady stream of grandchildren flowing through our house, we thought it would make a great wintertime playroom--if only it were warmer. With carpet and sleeping bags added to the mix, we also thought it would make a good place for young bodies to sleep at night.

So, we installed a 220-volt shop heater.

Our covered patio, with a heater sitting on the floor.

Heater installed on wall.

Covered patio is now warm-up-able.

TURNING TWENTY-ONE

Hear The Beatles sing their birthday song on the birthday of a twenty-one-year-old by clicking here.

BAYLEE'S REQUEST

Several weeks ago Baylee, in anticipation of her upcoming tenth birthday, asked if Papa and Nana would take her to Science Works Hands-On Museum in Ashland. We agreed to take her on the Saturday before her birthday and marked our calendar. Today the three of us got into the car and headed south.

After spending two hours at Science Works, we had planned on giving Baylee some birthday cash and taking her to Barnes and Noble to spend it, since she is an avid reader. What we did not know is that Baylee has been wanting to learn guitar and that she saw a cheap one advertised at Toys-R-Us for only $29.99. We checked it out, discovered that it was not tunable, and apparently it was manufactured for little children who don't really want to learn guitar as much as pretend that they are playing guitar.

So, we asked Baylee how much money she had that she could spend on a guitar. With her saved money and additional birthday dollars, she could spend $64. We left Toys-R-Us and drove to the nearest pawn shop. We found a small guitar with a good sound on sale for $65. We bought it and Baylee is now one dollar in debt, but thrilled to be on her way toward learning guitar.

And, oh yeah, I agreed to teach her for free.

At Science Works, Baylee lifts a chair carrying her own weight using pulleys while Nana watches.

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Papa's turn.

The three of us plus one camera inside a kaleidoscope.

Nana tries to guess the scent in one of several smell tests.

Nana does not like what she just smelled.

Baylee makes a bubble wall.

This demonstration gives the sensation of slippery or velvety hands when pressed together and rubbed through chicken wire.

Baylee investigates an indoor beehive by magnifying an image of the bees onto a television monitor.

After leaving Science Works, Toys-R-Us, and the pawn shop, we returned home for Baylee's first guitar lesson which started by learning the "D" chord.

Baylee then learns the "E" chord.

Finally, the lesson ends by learning the "A" chord. Baylee now has three chords to practice. Once she learns them, she will know all she needs to know to play and sing "You Are My King".

Lesson complete.

FLOORING PROJECT REPORT #5

The new floor has been installed. Once I put the old baseboards back in place, the project will be done.

Two days ago, on Wednesday, I finished the hall and continued laying the floor in the dining room. From left to right are the particle board sub floor, the green laminate underlay, and the laminate flooring.

Yesterday, on Thursday, the dining room was almost done. The black things at the edge of the floor are quarter-inch spacers to keep the floor from touching the wall. Laminate floors expand and contract with temperature and humidity changes and need room when they expand. Laminate floors are also called "floating floors".

Today I finished the dining room.

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This cool little wooden vent cover fits in nicely with the new floor.

Table and chairs returned to their places.

The family room is also done.

FLOORING PROJECT REPORT #4

I bought a special saw before beginning to install our new laminate floor. It has two handles, one at the end of the blade and one on the side of the blade. The blade on this saw is also double-edged.

It is called a "laminate undercut trim saw". It allows the laminate panels to slip under the door frames. I used this new saw today to trim six door frames (which means twelve door frame sides).

Very slow. Very tedious. Very uncomfortable. But this particular part of the project is now history.

Laminate undercut trim saw.

The base of this door frame needs trimming so that the flooring panel can slide underneath it.

The laminate panel is too thick to slip under the door frame.

The frame is trimmed by sliding the saw on top of a scrap piece of flooring material while cutting into the door frame.

Trimming complete.

The flooring panel can now slip underneath the door frame.