Deck Demo- Day 5

Well, now it's really more of putting back together than demo, but you know what I mean.

Here's the backyard after the last two pallates of sod:

It's done!

Now it's just water, water, water! And then I have to decide what to plant in my new flower bed. Any ideas?

And Justin has rolled over twice more! So maybe it's for real! I have been working on reading too:

He's my boy, so reading is in his blood!

Deck Demo- Days 2, 3 and 4

So I am a bit behind with the posts. There have been some "incidents" on the job site. Here is the rest of the Deck Demo project:

On Day 2 Randy joined the festivities, it being his every other Friday off. Travis used his little potty for the first time! That was exciting, but it was only once so we still have a long way to go.

Highlights of Day 2:

Loading all the wood from the deck into the dumpster. We also fit all the hot tub parts inside too.

Our dirt arrived!

Travis peed all over the bed when he was napping so I had to run out to the laundromat and wash the comforter. (You don't need to see a picture of that!) You recall he used the potty in the morning...



Here is the view at the end of the day:






It looked so great! All that was left was the stump and then dirt and sod. Easy, right?

Deck Demo- Day 3

Day 3 brought excitement and promise: New energy! My sister joined in, plus a few friends from church. The sod arrived and the guys did a fantastic job of clearing out the last of the greenery and they started working on the stump. Randy admitted that he needed the stump grinder so I made a trip to the rental place and picked one up. Randy and a friend worked most of the rest of the day on the stump. That left the rest of us to haul dirt and lay sod. My sister is not used to working outside very much and it didn't take long for her to start melting. I have to sing the praises of the friend who started this whole project because he is a trooper! He worked 3 days straight, from about 9-5 every day, in the HOT sun and didn't complain once. He's the one we are trying to convince to move here, and he still didn't knock our weather even once. I was VERY impressed! He only brought one set of work clothes for the entire time he was here, so I did laundry every night. He was pretty stinky, so it was good for everyone.

So stump grinding. Have you ever tried it? Not very fun. The tree has been dead for about 5 years, but apparently no one told the tree. It was still very green and did not grind easily. So Randy took a swing at it with the ax (no, he didn't hurt himself...) but he did manage to knock off a chunk and it flew into one of the french doors on the back of the house. Oh yeah, and it broke, into a million pieces. It actually took about 30 minutes for the entire window to fall out, but fall out it did. It gave us time to cover the window and put plywood up to contain the glass. And that leaves me with another project for Monday. We aren't certain that the glass can be replaced, so we might have to get a whole new set of doors. Did I mention there's a hurricane coming this week? Here's the picture:

And here's the progress at the end of Day 3:

Deck Demo- Day 4

We sent Travis to church and called my mom to watch Justin and we both attacked the project with vengeance. We had to move the dirt so the dumpster can be removed and we had to lay the sod so it doesn't die.

I mowed the lawn:

Randy ground the stump:

I made a flower bed:

Randy ground the stump:

I fed Justin (You don't have to see pictures of that!)

Randy ground the stump:

All in all, we moved 20 wheelbarrows of saw dust out from the tree stump!

We got a call from someone at church who said he would help us for a bit in the afternoon. He was truly sent by God, because there was NO WAY we could have finished ourselves. I returned the stump grinder and they were hard at work by the time I got back. The guys finished laying the sod and moving the dirt right before the sky opened up and the rain came. We didn't quite finish everything because we ran out of time, energy, and sod! But, we are well on our way! All in all I would call the weekend project a success. Randy stepped on a nail, and we are still waiting for the doctor to call to see if he has gotten a tetanus shot recently. But really, other than that, we are well and healthy, if not a bit sore. (Some more than others!) We are so incredibly thankful for all the help we received. We thoroughly admit we could not have done it without you!

And here's the final product:

(And here's the window after being secured for the night!)

Deck Demo- Day 1

So we started the weekend of deck demo today actually. Our friend came to town and he wanted to attack it himself for a day before Randy was able to help him. He made friends with the neighbor and borrowed a reciprocating saw and made quick work of the hot tub. It is now some assembly required. Then we got the dumpster delivered! We had a 12 hour delivery window (7 am -7 pm) and it arrived at 9 am this morning. It was awesome! The driver was amazing and he put it down right on the squares of plywood we laid on the driveway. Very impressive! It has a HUGE door on the back that we opened and we are now able to walk in and load it very easily. I highly recommend getting a dumpster for any of your trash disposal needs!

So Travis helped with the deck demo by cooling us down with his spray bottle:

This actually is a very important task you see. And Travis really was a great worker (when he wanted to be of course!) He cleaned the dumpster and mowed it a little, and he even loaded a few rocks. And for some reason he thinks our dumpster should be red so he told us several times during the day that the dumpster was NOT red, but green. Thanks, Travis!

The best part of the day is what used to be here:

Is now here:

SO COOL!

That was not fun work, but so great! And look at how much room we have to fill up yet! We were only supposed to fill it 1/2 to 2/3 full, but we showed the hauler what we had to put in and he said that he could probably lift it no problem and to go ahead and fill'er up. Thank you, we will! Randy was very impressed with our progress so he went ahead and ordered 5 yards of dirt to spread and fill in the yard before we sod. Playing in dirt...Travis is going to LOVE it!

Oh, and the raccoons must have moved on because they were nowhere to be seen today. We didn't have to take anyone for rabies shots. It was a bit disappointing not to see them one last time...oh, who I am kidding? PARTY!! THE COONS ARE GONE!

Yes, they're still here...

We saw the raccoons again Tuesday morning. I CANNOT believe that after the weekend of jackhammering they did not move out. I would think they would not get any sleep during the day and that would make them look for new housing. Apparently not. Then it rained on Thursday and on Friday night we were outside grilling some burgers and we saw this:

RACCOON TRACKS!

The little stinkers! I feel like this is an all out war, and we are losing the battles, but I know in the end we will have victory.

I am getting very excited! We are having a dumpster delivered this week. Now that surgery has been postponed, we can get excited about the deck project. And of course my planning mode can kick in. It didn't take Randy near as long to mow the grass today with the backyard being in such disarray. Half is dirt and the other half is full of rock fragments. Randy cleaned out the gutters and he said that he even found rocks up there! He also worked more on demo today. He said that he heard some shuffling under the deck, but he didn't see any eyes peaking out at him, and nothing bit him. He did promise me that if he did get bitten he would tell me immediately so that I could take him to get a rabies shot. It is looking so great, but it just makes us more aware of how HUGE this project is! Here are some more pictures from the progress today. We added another pile to the picture array. Randy has started dismantling the deck, so now we have wood in the garage. Randy's car has been relegated to the driveway for the time being.

More Backyard Work

So Randy got the small jackhammer and went to town on the rest of the rock waterfall. It did great until he came upon a HUGE chunk of concrete that was the base of the entire structure. A couple of friends came to help and even with the extra help there was no hope for that big chunk. So today Randy went back and got the big guns: the 65 pound jackhammer. He is attacking it right now. We'll see what becomes of them, Randy and the concrete...

Oh, and we saw the raccoons again. We hadn't seen them all week and then last night after the major renovations on their home the came out to see what we had done. We had hoped they were spending the week looking for a new home, but it wasn't to be.

The Backyard Project

The backyard project has begun. Randy decided that it was too much for the group (whoever comes) to do in one weekend and he didn't want them to have all the fun so he has been chipping away at the waterfall. You can't really tell. Well, that's not entirely true. There is a huge pile of rocks which our neighbor has been taking a few at a time to build a little wall around her flower beds. The waterfall does look a bit smaller, but there is still a lot to go. So please don't feel like you have been jipped because Randy started without you. It has been a whole family affair. Randy's dad has helped, and so have Travis and I. Travis likes the dirt that we uncovered behind the back wall. He helped scoop the dirt out and...okay, he really just played in the dirt!

We have a picture of the before. I didn't take a picture of the back because I didn't know that the most progress would be visible from the back, but I suspect you can imagine what it looked like before.

And this is the now, after this weekend of work:

I think we have decided to rent a jackhammer for next weekend. I hope that finishes off the waterfall part at least. I thought (okay, hoped!) we might have scared away our friends, but I saw them come out last night after dark. I didn't see them come back this morning, but I have great faith that they are still there. I told you, they are smart little guys! We did pry off some boards to try some more Critter Ridder; we'll see if it works...

The Coons

So apparently critter ridder does not work as well as we had hoped. I didn't see them yesterday, but this morning I got up just in time to see 2 of the babies head down the hole by the tree stump. And then as I was feeding Justin mommy came home and sat on the stump for a minute and snubbed her nose at me, daring me to try to take away her home. So on to Plan B...not sure what that is yet...

Party Time

Last night I was ironing and the cat started going crazy by the french doors that lead onto the deck. I turned on the light and found the raccoons having a little party on the deck. Mom was sitting there and the kids were rolling around and playing. I watched them for several minutes and they didn't seem bothered by my observation. The cat wasn't happy and I don't want to take Travis out there where they were playing! So the deck cannot come down soon enough for my taste!

You are invited to a destroy-the-deck party! Anyone is welcome to take out their aggressions on our deck on August 2-3. Come for a few hours or stay the whole time. Really, please come! Tetanus and rabies shots are not included!

The Week in Review

OK, so really just the past couple of days, but you get the picture...


Wednesday we visited the cardiologist. I went by myself with the 2 boys, and I got a picture of what it will be like on the day of the surgery. They did a few tests on Justin and one thing they did was a chest x-ray. Since I had Travis and he couldn't go in the room during the x-ray, I had to let them take Justin and do it without me. I had to stand in the hall and hear him cry. That was very hard, and I know it will be ten times worse the day of the surgery. The doctor said that more fluid had accumulated on his lungs, but not enough to warrant giving him the diuretic medicine. She said that she is going to e-mail the surgeon to say that if a surgery date become available earlier that she wouldn't mind if he went ahead and gave us the time. All in all it was a good appointment. We have to go back July 14 for another echo and appointment with her. Then it's on to the date of the surgery. If we do go in for the surgery early, she said that it's okay if we don't get the echo because they always do one before the surgery in the operating room.



Then on Thursday we went to a meeting where a lawyer discussed estate planning for the disabled. Mostly it was about special needs trusts (SNTs) and guardianships. I am OVERWHELMED to say the least and I left the meeting feeling to totally helpless again. In essence I am relying on Social Security and the government to care for my child when I am gone.

The lawyer told a story about her daughter, who has DS which is how she got into the business of SNTs. She said that she was going out to school one day and she wanted to take her jacket when it was over 100 degrees and she couldn't understand why she needed the jacket. Her daughter kept saying what her mother thought was "tortilla" and she kept asking and trying to figure what was going on and she finally got that it was cold in the "cafeteria". She said that she shuddered thinking about how someone else wouldn't take the time to figure out what she was trying to say and that she would have been cold every day in the cafeteria.

I don't understand how God could send me a child who needs so much care and then make it so I cannot provide the care. No, that's not right. I know that I am God's instrument for caring for Justin, but really it is God who cares for Justin all along. My humanness makes me want to protect him, but no person can do that for anyone else no matter what. I don't want Travis to be hurt either, but I know he will. I just pray that all of things that happen help him to grow closer to God. That is my prayer for Justin too, but of course in a little different way. I pray that the people he touches will see God. Everything that happens is a way to show God's glory. It comes down to: Do I believe that God can use Justin and his circumstances to show God's glory? Yes, I do. Some of that will be in my response to Justin and his life. That is promising for me. That gives me hope.

And the raccoons have been putting on quite a show for us the past few days. Randy decided that he didn't want our friend to have all the fun taking apart the deck, so he started attacking it this past weekend. Then we didn't see them for a couple of days, but then they returned and had a little party on the deck. I got a picture of a few of them:



Mama raccoon is sitting on the stump of the tree we cut down and her babies are peaking their heads out next to the stump. That is where they get up and down under the deck. The babies look like coonskin hats when they are running around.



And here are my boys. Travis likes playing with Justin, maybe too much! Travis has never had a security object, except when he sucks his thumb he likes holding on to my finger. Now that I am nursing Justin so often my hands are busy so he holds my toe, or even better, JUSTIN'S toe. That has to be distracting when you are eating. He likes Justin's toes...

A Little of This and A Little of That

Yesterday was a big day for us. Or should I say, last night was a big night for us. Travis spent the night with his Me-Me and Pop last night for the first time. I know it was harder for us than for him. He is not a very good sleeper and he often wakes up before 6 am, so we were excited to be able to sleep in for the first time in the 2 plus years since Travis' birth. We thought we might get a call to get him in the middle of the night because whenever we are away from home, Travis tends to wake up even more during the night. I know that whenever Travis spends the day with his grandparents they sleep VERY well that night, so I think it will be safe to assume that they will sleep very well for a couple nights after this!

I had lunch yesterday with a woman who used to attend our church whose son has DS. He is now 25 and works at Kroger bagging groceries. She shared a lot about his growing up and high school and the emotions that she has experienced. At the time he was born, there weren't as many opportunities for children like her son, and she was encouraged to send him to an institution and not expect much from him. She brought pictures for me to see and she said that it was a little hard to go through everything just because it was a bit like reliving it again. I just watched a video from his high school days as manager of the football and basketball teams and it was amazing the things he has done. He was featured as athlete of the week on a local TV station even though he never played a down of football. How can we say that he cannot accomplish much? The message of Jesus Christ was spread to hundreds and maybe thousands through him. Everyone spoke of his encouraging words, and his prayers for them. I cannot help but be lifted up knowing how endless the opportunities are for our precious son.

We are in the midst of a small baby boom at our church. We had 2 more babies born this week. There will be about 12 babies born between March and September by the time we are done. It is hard to see and hear. Just a bit. I can't help but be sad as everyone is enjoying their healthy babies. I don't want anyone not to share their joys and milestone accomplishments with us, but it still hurts. Just a bit. I can't say it will get easier. I don't know. I love that Justin will have other children his age to push him and encourage him, but part of me cries inside. Just a bit.

And then there's the coons: We have decided to attack them head on and take away their home. A family friend has agreed to tear down the deck and re sod the area. Yeah! He will be doing it about the time of Justin's surgery, so it will be a surprise when we come home from the hospital. It will be quite a chore because not only is it a deck, but there is a hot tub with a rock waterfall. The hot tub heater doesn't work, and we have used it a total of 3 times since we moved in 9 years ago, so it won't be a huge loss. But it will be the first step in our backyard makeover. It will probably take us 3 years to finish, but at least it has begun.

More doctors and more coons

We went to the pediatrician yesterday for more shots. I thought we were just going to see the nurse for the shots, but we ended up seeing the doctor too. So we filled her in on the ENT information and agreed to delay a visit to the opthomologist for now. While we were there, she said that she had spoken with another parent whose child she sees, who also has Down Syndrome and she got her name and number for me to consider joining the informal support group that they have going in the area. The group is mostly younger kids (obviously still older than Justin) but preschool age rather than high school. The doctor told me her schedule for the summer and made certain that there would be someone in the office I would feel comfortable seeing during the times she would be out. And then she gave me a hug if she doesn't see me before the surgery to wish me good luck. All this makes me feel like we have definitely chosen the right doctor. How great is that?

And the raccoons have become very brazen. They come out during the day and drink water from the rock waterfall that we have in the backyard. And they sit and look in the french doors into the living room. The mother (I call her that, I cannot say that I have checked this out. I think she is a single mother.) leaves at 7:00 pm and goes to get breakfast for her kids and the rest must leave after that because the whole gang comes back at about 6:00 am. Travis now thinks that every animal that comes through our yard is a raccoon. And there are many because we are the only ones without a dog in our area. It is a little fun to watch, but it is freaky to think they are under the deck when we play on it during the day. I do take solace in the fact that they are probably more scared of us than we are of them....right?

Raccoons

They're back!

Some of you may recall about 7-8 years ago we discovered a family of raccoons living under the deck in our back yard. We couldn't find anyone to take care of them, so Randy bought a trap at Academy and searched the internet for what would attract raccoons. We caught: 4 raccoons, 1 armadillo, 1 possum, and 1 neighborhood cat who was in the wrong place at the wrong time. The possum and the armadillo were easy to get, bu the raccoons were another story. It took a lot to get the raccoons. We could only use one method of bait one time before they would figure it out and not go in the trap. Or they figured out how to reach through the side without entering the trap. It was quite the challenge. And once we did get one, it was very destructive. One of them tore a piece of siding off the garage before we could release it far far from our house. We learned to set the trap in the middle of the porch away from anything.

Yesterday, we spotted a mother and her 5 babies coming back from their night of prowling the neighborhood. And of course they are living under our deck. They will probably be there a while since I am not sure that Randy has the energy to trap them right now. And marshmallows are their favorite food (who knew?) and Travis eats most of the marshmallows in our house these days!