Backyard Minas Tirith grows! We added the A-frame and swing arm, attached to the main structure and also attached the swings and chains. The ladder and slide aren't yet attached. I have the ladder sitting up on the platform as we let the kids play on the swings this afternoon. Another few sessions and we'll be done!

Maya came down to visit me at work yesterday, and pilfer things off of my desk.

Slowly but surely this puppy is going up! You can't see it, but there's a ladder on the back. And yes, it IS square regardless of the picture :)

Stephanie and I spent the kid’s naptime today starting construction of the twinkle’s own backyard Minas Tirith.  Or maybe Rivendell, given the “rivers” that run adjacent to our property.  We were just about to start the floor of the watch tower before Devin woke up.  Note: the slide escape route isn’t actually attached just yet; I put it there for show.

And of course, here’s Maya’s room.  She’s obsessed with… well, just about everything, so we opted for a Nature Walk theme.  Again, Stephanie made all of the wall-tastic adornments.  Note: check the tree closely in the large version (click on the picture).

  

Since I’m posting pictures of our decor, why not continue with the kid’s rooms?  Sure!  Here’s Devin’s room – faithful readers will no doubt recall that Devin is obsessed with all things aeronautical.  Stephanie made all of the doodads that adorn the walls.  I found the cool airplane mobiles online.

I'm quite proud of the design work Stephanie did for our master bedroom. And I'm rather tickled with the stuff I did too. I'll let Steph leave comments as to her design aesthetic and ideas/inspiration for this room.

Work-wise, things have been a tad on the slow side, but enough to keep me busy what with learning ADF and other such Oracle technology.  But enough about that, because this blog is less about work and more about play!

Davis has been down to visit for a few days, which has been fun - we haven't seen him in at least a year!  I got to practice my soldering technique by repairing the charger input on his cell phone.  It's been fun watching the twinkles get to know him again, they haven't seen him since they were a year old. 

Yesterday we had sort of a birthday party for me, which was fun.  Had a few folks over to the house for a rollicking game of poker, which was pretty wild with the introduction of Robert.  $2 bets on nothing?  Yep, go for it!  Downstairs was rocking with RockBand into the wee hours of the morning.  Sherwood was smacking the skins on some Rush classics like Tom Sawyer while Stretch was tickling the strings on the guitar.  Well, to the extent that there are "strings" on the RockBand guitar, but I digress.

House projects are moving along at a creeping pace, but that's what happens when you have little time for projects.  The master bedroom is mostly complete - we have only to install the closet organizer and that floor is *done*.  I say it's complete but there is still the matter of replacing the bathroom vanity and sinks with something a little more current and functional, and removing the deck-let and sliding glass doors and replacing that with some sort of bay window or something.  But those items are livable for the moment and we can put those on the "some day" lists.

The downstairs level is still somewhat of a work in progress.  Stephanie and Davis worked to get the guest bed/bath area decorated, functional and complete.  I think they did a great job and it's finished.  I still have to do some work on the window in the guest bedroom.  The seals in the gliding window down there are kaput and will need replacing.  Note: anyone with experience in fenestrative activities is welcome to call... :)

The den area is complete and all niced-up, with the exception of the forest green carpet which is incredibly dark for a basement.  It's a shame since it's relatively new, so we won't be replacing that any time soon.  My office is very much a work in progress, since the bookcases are sitting in the garage, which is still a work in progress.  The band room/storage area is still functioning as a storage area, and it's waiting for things to be moved from upstairs to downstairs... anyway, I could put a whole project plan together with critical paths and all sorts of detail if I was so inclined.  Or I could stop writing this and get busy moving boxes around and unpacking.  Off I go!

The twinkles enjoy making a few faces at dinner.

Yes I realize my last post was a while ago, so I thought I’d just regale you with a few pictures from some Christmas festivities.  I will not regale you with the tale of Maya, She Who Barfs On Daddy at Christmas Dinner.  That shall be another post.

Maya shows Devin who is boss:

 

Daddy is about to take a bite out of a naughty boy:

The twinkles enjoy playing “house” with a new, er, house:

 

Devin is excited about his new helicopter:

The twinkles love playing “food”:

I take that back.  I shall indeed tell you the tale of The Night When Maya Barfed on Daddy at Christmas Dinner.  It’s actually not that long.  We were visiting with the Reeds and their clan (Terry, Jo, Alan, Val, Susan, Sarah, Jessie) and other assorted relatives (the Fishers, and boyfriends).  Steph, the twinkles and myself were enjoying some “beerds” (as Maya calls them), and munching on ribs n’ snacks.  Maya announces that she is ready to go home.  She repeats this several times over the course of about 10 minutes, and of course nobody wants her (and presumably us, but one can never be sure) to leave.  I took her aside to Aunt Jo’s couch in the formal living room, picked her up and asked, “Maya, why do you want to go home?”  She restated her request… and followed up with 4 rounds of bile, vomit and assorted gastrointestinal juices – squarely onto my chest.  I just held her there, in disbelief,  while Steph, Val and Aunt Jo ran around with towels, Maya, air freshener, paper towels and laughter.  It was almost surreal.  I hate to say it, but I think she didn’t like Mom’s shrimp & grits from breakfast.  Sorry Mom.  At any rate, she was pretty freaked out by the situation as she has never barfed before, so we decided to take her home.  Thanks Uncle Terry and Aunt Jo for letting us visit, and barf on your couch!  Perhaps we may yet be invited to return next year…

Today we went down to Midtown to have lunch with Ankle Valan.  The kids rather enjoyed getting to walk down the street to Taco Mac, and enjoyed some grilled cheese, pasta and milk.  Maya got to wear Aunt Val's NC State hoodie and was quite happy with that.  Devin was happy just to stroll with Aunt Val.  Oh, and lest I forget, apparently the kids really like watching football --  "Go Dolphins," was their chant throughout lunch.