Build & Play in 1 Day

guest post by Mark

If you ever get one of those backyard play-sets, you should probably know what you're getting yourself into. Having recently completed one, I found the manufacturer's claims that you could "Build and Play in One Day" a bit disingenuous. Here's what really went down: 143 pieces of wood in 42 different dimensions, plus 94 additional plastic and metal pieces held together with 935 screws, bolts and fasteners = 1,172 parts/pieces.



Day 1: Monday May 23 Delivery and unloading. 1 hour
Day 2: Tuesday May 24 Unpacking and sorting. 2 hours
Day 6: Saturday May 28 Shopping for stain, water seal and other supplies at Lowe's. 2 hours
Day 7: Sunday May 29 Water sealing party with the Kerstings. 14 hours: noon to 2am (minus hours spent on BBQ, plus time gained from two workers)
Day 8: Monday May 30 (Memorial Day). Finished water sealing. 10 hours: 2pm - midnight.
Day 10: Wednesday June 1 Cleanup and wood sorting. 1 hour.
Day 13: Saturday June 4 Counting and sorting hardware. Discovered 6 of 10 brackets are faulty. Called company for replacement. Completed steps 1-2. 6 hours: 3pm - 9pm.
Day 17: Wednesday June 8 Replacement parts arrive.
Day 25: Thursday June 16 Completed steps 3-6 (okay, 5.5) before nightfall. 2.5 hours: 7pm - 9:30pm.
Day 27: Saturday June 18 Completed steps 6-19 (minus 16 and 17). Began leveling ground underneath playset. 12 hours: 9:30am - 9:30 pm.
Day 28: Sunday June 19 (Father's Day) Continued leveling with only partial success, completed through step 22. 8 hours: 9am - 3pm, 7pm - 9pm.
Day 29: Monday June 20. Got stone and slate to support and level posts. 1.5 hours: 7:30pm - 9pm.
Day 30: Tuesday June 21. More leveling. 0.5 hours: 7:30pm - 8 pm.
Day 31: Wednesday June 22. Assembled rock wall while alone with three kids. Found bricks to aid in leveling foundation. 3 hours: 3pm - 6pm.
Day 32: Thursday June 23. Built ladder and began roof section. 2.5 hours: 7pm - 9:30 pm.
Day 33: Friday June 24. Rebuilt roof section, correctly this time. 1 hour: 8:30am - 9:30 am.
Day 35: Sunday June 26. Installed roof and canopy. Attached ladder and supports, as well as rock-climbing wall and supports, upon newly-laid brick foundation. Leveled foundation for extension section with brick, after going out to collect discarded bricks at Rosemont Station. Laid decking on extension. 11 hours: 10:30am - 9:30pm.
Day 36: Monday June 27. Raised slat walls on extension, built and attached picnic table and bench. Added window trim. Back in order, completed up through step 36. 4.5 hours: 4pm - 9:30pm (minus one hour for grilling and dinner).
Day 37: Tuesday June 28. Hung swings, filled around benches, assembled monkey bars. 2.5 hours: 7pm - 9:30pm.
Day 38: Wednesday June 29. Assembled stairs to monkey bars, attached stairs to monkey bar assembly. Used post-hole digger to prepare two 2' deep holes for stairs. 2 hours: 7pm - 9pm.
Day 39: Thursday June 30. Attached monkey bar assembly. Built landing zone from leftover wood. Attached slide to unit and then to landing zone, which had to be built upon level ground and brick risers, and a 2x4 stake driven a foot deep. Cleaned the playset and mowed the yard. 8 hours: 10am - 6pm.

"Build and Play in One Day" totals:

95 work hours over 39 days.

Note from Jen: The kids love their "park" and Daddy is our hero!

Sophie is 4!

Sophia Madison turns 4 years old today. Four years ago I gave birth in the back of a moving vehicle. Four years ago today she had surgery correct her duodenal atresia (intestinal blockage). Four years ago my soul was reborn as her tiny body came bursting into this world. Sophie has taught me, has taught so many of us about love, patience, acceptance, and joy.

Happy birthday my little punky! Tonight we celebrate with fireworks, friends, and family.

Wonder

Most people who know us recognize this as a very special song for our family. Tonight as I'm decorating the front porch for the 4th of July with a ridiculous amount of bunting, I'm listening to my favorite songs on youtube. I had not heard this version of Natalie Merchant's Wonder, nor this introduction with her description of the song's inspiration. Take a listen.

Covert Op

As parents of a 6 year old boy and two girls, (Sophie is nearly 4 and Helena just turned 2), Mark and I are chronically sleep deprived. Much of our energy is expended while keeping the girls out of trouble. When I say trouble, I mean trouble with a capital "T" and that rhymes with "P" and that stands for Pool (you get bonus points if you can tell me that reference).

I would be wealthy beyond imagination if I had a penny for every time I have to break up the girls who seems to be training for extreme cage fighting, writing on surfaces that are not approved, and exploring every nook and cranny except their designated spaces and toys. They have a special radar for honing in on the exact wrong thing to seek out and destroy. I'm convinced they are special operatives in our armed forces.

To understand this story you must know that Sophie gets up like clockwork around 6am, every.single.day. Helena and the rest of us could sleep till noon, so Mark and I switch off on who has to get up at dawn. We have a series of baby gates and locks designed to keep our special ops from having access to specific areas but most importantly, from escaping the confines of the house without pre-authorization.

On this particular morning, we were sloppy. We've stopped setting alarm clocks as we know that Sophie will get us up. Her MO is to wake up and fuss, but never leave her bedroom. Our security system was unarmed and while the outside doors were locked, the baby gates were not closed.

The special forces leader, A.K.A. Sophie woke at her normal time. However, she remained silent as a mouse. Seeing her opportunity to leave her ungated room, she snuck downstairs and began a covert mission. At some point, she recruited her partner, A.K.A. Helena who joined the mission. They betted on their parents being so exhausted that they wouldn't wake up if they were sneaky and quiet.

From what we can gather, the special forces had free reign of the house for 60-90 minutes. What you don't see is the huge puddle of bubble juice left from the spilled bottle, a towel and bath rug that were stuffed in the upstairs toilet, and a living room and dining room that were virtual landmines of toys and shoes because we began cleaning before I thought to grab the camera.

Let me break this down for you. As upset as I am at the havoc created by this mission, I can't help but admire the cunning, planning, deviousness, creativity, ingenuity, and team work it took for the girls to pull this off.

Happy Birthday Helena

tenacious, creative, beautiful, sneaky, loud, funny, curious, playful, loving

Happy Birthday Schmoogie! We love you.

Scootin

With my new job in the city, I commute to work by train a couple of times a week. We live very close to the station, yet not quite close enough for me to walk, given my time constraints. I also have to lug my work with me, which makes riding my bicycle impossible as my bag is too heavy. I'm usually gone in the morning before most of the family is up. We had been making due with parking the car at the station, but this left Mark or the sitter with no vehicle for the whole day. On the mornings when I tried to get a ride, the kids were cranky about getting up early or I would go in later. We need a second mode of transportation and today we got one.

We had been researching scooters as an option for a couple of months. As we chose a Buddy with 125 cc's, we need a motorcycle permit (it has some giddy-up). Mark and I passed our tests on Friday at the DOT.

We will need to get a full motorcycle license before we can carry passengers and with our permits we are restricted to riding from sunrise to sunset. PA offers fantastic motorcycle courses for free and when you pass you get your license. I hope to take a class this summer.

The kids and I followed behind Mark on our trip back from the big city and we all made it back to the burbs safely.

Alexander joined in the fun by wearing his bike helmet but the kids won't be scooting around with us for a while.

We're smitten and I just found a new reason to let the chores go another day. Ciao bella!

It's Not Acceptable R-word PSA

The Spread the Word to End the Word campaign has a new PSA. It will be airing tonight 5/24/11 during Glee at 9:50. Read more about it and the talented actress and self-advocate Lauren Potter HERE

Please be advised that this PSA uses strong language.