Day 12? Day 48? What day is it again?

So Pat took another day off to help Pepere with the playhouse.   They are both really struggling between the aches and pains and the heat (we are in the middle of a 4 day stretch of 95+ degree days) They really made some progress today though.
They were FINALLY able to finish the roof.

They also made great progress inside.  They closed off the loft on the shed side, and put up a shelf too.  It's a little hard to see though...

And in the playhouse, they got the railings up for the loft and the finish work on the inside of the skylight.

Still to do....
Attach the doors, make a ladder for the loft, finish some trim work....
And the grand finale?   PAINT! 

The Last Day of My First School

Last Wednesday was Jocelyn's last day at My First School.   It's been a little hectic around here, so there hasn't been much time to share my feelings on this, but now with a few minutes free, here they are:


Proud - I am so proud of my sweet Jocelyn.  The teachers told me every day how well Jocelyn did in class, and of course I saw some of that with my own eyes through the window as I was stalking!

Sad for her - that her fun class is over.  I know she had so much fun and she was so excited to see me every day and show me her artwork and tell me what she did in class. 

Embarrassed - Yes, really, I'm embarrassed to admit I stayed out in the hall on more than half the days.  Really, at first it started out as wanting to be there in case she needed me, then it went to just enjoying watching her through the window, and then, honestly, it was just nice to have 2 peaceful hours to read a book.  If I came home I would have done laundry, or cleaning, or wasted time on the computer, but by sitting in an empty hallway, I slammed through 50 pages in 2 hours, and loved it!


Nostalgic - It has dawned on me that we have reached a milestone, and I'm struggling with it.  Every class Jocelyn has been in up until now has been a Mommy and Me class.  I have done gymnastics with her, toddler music and games, My Gym classes, the works.  But now she is at the age where most classes will be independent.  There's no need for me anymore.   (I tear up just thinking about it)  Though I learned to appreciate those few free hours to myself, nothing could be better than experiencing things right along with her.  Something significant has changed in our lives and I won't ever get it back.  I can't help but be sad about that.

Now there's no way I will not be involved.  No Way!  As we move forward, I will always be THAT Mom - the volunteer, the room parent, the chaperone, the PTA mom, count on it, that will be me. 
But the thing I will treasure most is when I arrive to take my Jocelyn home from whatever activity she is in, - the moment she first sees me, I will watch the way her eyes light up, and I will hear her voice in the group of kids as she calls out to me, and I will grab her up into my arms for a big, big hug.  And I will know in that moment that no matter where she goes, she will always be in my heart.

Ta Da!

In the midst of a break from the back yard building project, Jocelyn shows us that Pepere is not the only one that can build stuff...

Day 11 - There's some cussin' going on here

Despite their best efforts, there was a Roofing Day #3, yesterday, and there will be a Roofing Day #4.  These poor guys are killing themselves, literally, but the roof is just taking so much longer than they had hoped.  It doesn't help that it took me two more trips to Lowes to get the right color shingles.... long story.
Yesterday, they managed to get the shingles up on the front half of the roof...

And they got the skylight and 2/3 of the shingles up on the back.

Dad tried to get some work done today, but everyone is just too tired and sore.  So it looks like everyone is taking the long weekend off.  Pat is at a weekend Volleyball Tournament in PA with Allie, Dad is looking for some pain relief, and I wouldn't blame Jack for running to the hills!
In the meantime, Jocelyn is enjoying the chance to peek around.  She can NOT wait to get out there and play!
So Day 12 will come on Tuesday I suppose.  We are running out of time!  Dad has to be back in NC by Saturday.  I think we will be doing some painting after he leaves...  

Day 10 - Roofing Day Part 2

So the roofing part of this project has been a little more challenging than originally hoped.   We had some issues with the loft support and today we had the big problem of how to deal with the skylight.  Originally it was going to be vertical, but when all the heads were put together (thank you Jack for coming to help again!)... they realized it wasn't going to fit, and now it has to go horizontal.  Now how do we do that???

But they figured it out eventually and the roof started to go up!

Except for one little issue....

Ha! Ha!  Just kidding!! 

That's the hole for the skylight! 

Next up was the tar paper. 

 Of course, I must include the

handsome-hubby-hanging-out-on-the-roof photo!

For those of you following from Pat's office, I can assure you he is working harder at home than he ever would be there!  He has the cuts and bruises and slivers to prove it!

At the end of the day, we had the roof in place.  Tomorrow, the roofing project continues.... Ugh.  There are still shingles to put in place and a skylight to install.   Fun! Fun! Fun!

Here's our end of day photos for today!

Day 9 - Miscellaneous :-)

Pepere spent a lot of time today working on bits and pieces.  Since tomorrow is Roofing Day Part 2, he wanted to wrap up a couple things today.

While Jocelyn was at school, he finished off the left shed wall side...

Not a great picture, but what can I say?  There's not much space on that side!






He also finished the front wall on the shed side.
And when we got home from school, Jocelyn and Pepere had lunch together on the front porch.  Notice there's no chair for me. 
I see how I rate...

While Pepere continued working his tail off, Jocelyn enjoyed the life of leisure...

A little pool time...

And a popsicle break...

Such a tough life.

After lunch, Pepere began the design work for the side wall of the playhouse.  Very cute!

Here is today's finished product.  It's hard to see from this picture all the stuff Pepere got done, so that's why I included the photos above.



Just in case you have forgotten, this is where we started 9 days ago!  :-)

More fun to come tomorrow!



Day 8 - starting the roof

Roofing day, yesterday, was a little more challenging than first expected, so the guys didn't make as much progress as they had hoped.
Frankly, for a little while, I thought it might have been a bit of the blind leading the blind....

This is Jack...

He is the latest victim....   um...  recruit....   for the shed / playhouse project.  He and Dad worked together for years building decks, so it was fun to watch them together in action once again.  Jack said that they are very much like Laurel and Hardy.  I'll give them that!
When Dad and Jack told me that they had both read books on how to build rafters, and that they were on the same page, I was compelled to ask if they actually read the same book.  I wasn't too comfortable with the answer.



But despite it all, the rafters started to go up, up, UP!

After coordinating around the loft supports and what will be a skylight (yes, I really said skylight), this is the final photo for the day...

Jack will be back on Thursday and Pat will take another day off.  I know they are all hoping for better progress on the roof.  We'll keep our fingers crossed!

Day 7

Day 7 was a quieter day on the build.
Unfortunately, Dad ended up working a lot on his own because Pat and I were running in different directions for a good part of the day.   He still got quite a bit done on his own though, surprisingly!
Here's our end-of-day photos for today.

Auntie and Pepere did the window boxes.  Aren't they cute?!
So Pepere is taking a couple of WELL DESERVED days off.  Stay tuned though because Tuesday....  
             IT'S ROOFING DAY!!!

Day 6! And we have a loft!

So what is a loft you ask?
Well, we went round and round on what it would look like, how big it would be, where it would go, etc., etc., etc.  When we finally worked out all the kinks, we came up with this.

This is the playhouse side with a little counter top, and there will be steps leading to the loft.  The loft will be walled in on the shed side and have a railing on the playhouse side.
Do you think Jocelyn likes it?

I think she is especially excited that there will be an air mattress up there for reading and (eventually) sleep outs with Auntie!  She already wants to bring a blanket, a pillow and her lovies out there!  We had to break it to her that we need to finish the rest of the building and clean up a little saw dust first!  Poor Pepere just can't move fast enough for Jocelyn's liking!!!

Not to be forgotten, there WILL be a shed side too!

Here she is checking out the solidness of the counter.

And here's a picture of her looking through the frame of the loft.  I had to include it because it's just too cute!

Here is the end-of-Day-6 photo!

I'm not sure what the plan is for tomorrow, maybe finishing enclosing the front wall, I'm not sure.  Tuesday is roofing day, so there's still much to do to get ready for that!

Day 5 Walls and Windows!

Today we had some fresh blood.... er... ah...  a new volunteer to help with the build.
Auntie joined us for building the walls.  (As Jocelyn would say: "TaDa!")

Jocelyn continued to build her hammering talents helping Mommy with nailing on the back walls.

Then she helped Pepere with window placement.

Jocelyn still loves her vest and hammer, but we can't seem to convince her to wear her hardhat!

I fixed up her ID badge though. :-)

Today was a very productive day.  We ended the day with wallboard on the back and two sides and the playhouse door and front window were framed out.  Tomorrow Pepere starts framing out the loft.  Bet you can't wait to see what that means!  Stay tuned!

Day 4! We need a roof Pepere!

The build continues!
I think Pepere is starting to ache a bit.  He may have built decks years ago, but I think those knees and back and hands are starting to let him know this is a pretty big project he has taken on.  Pat and I try to help as much as we can.
But it's a good thing we have Jocelyn around to help with the hammering!...

When she's not making loops in and out of the framed walls that is!  (She may be disappointed that they are going to be closed in soon...)

I have tried to take pictures of her with her complete construction outfit on, but I'm not having much success getting her to stand still for very long.  She is totally hyped about this playhouse!!   We've had lots of rain lately, but that's not stopping her from running around and getting really muddy!

Today's progress included adding on the front wall frame, putting the flooring onto the front deck, making doors for the two sides of the building (don't forget there is a shed side to all this!), and shortening the sheets of wood that will become the walls.  Dad has been calling  these sheets of wood, "T one eleven" and confusing me for days.  You can see them all cut and standing in waiting, in today's picture.

Of course I just have to add a picture of my hunky, handsome, hubby lugging the wood!

Tomorrow I think some of the walls will be going up.  I'm amazed at the progress, but it's still not going fast enough for Jocelyn.  Today she told Pepere "You need a roof Pepere!"
No pressure....

Good Job Pepere! Day 3

Day 3 started with the acquisition of the

appropriate construction building uniform, including hardhat,

vest, protective eye goggles, hammer and hand saw.

Today we helped Pepere build the walls.  Jocelyn used her trusty new hammer to work on her part,

while Pepere worked on his.

How's this for progress???  Pepere might be the builder, but I like to think he couldn't do it without us!

And at the end of Day 3, we have 3 framed walls and a window!!

As Jocelyn said "Good Job Pepere!" 

I would say so!