Park Fun

Here are some of the pics from the park I wrote about earlier in Park Drop. We had a great time, as I said before, despite the bonk.

More making it right again

Well, I was up in the attic trying to get a few things squared away when I decided to try to straighten out the insulation that is at the end of the vaulted ceiling in the Family room. Well, I start pulling the batts of insulation back and what do I find:


The phone cable isn't that bad, but it should be secured, but the electrical splice is a big NO NO. This had insulation sitting on it just like that so it was a fire hazard for sure. I think this electrical line goes into the kitchen by the sink and runs the plug there (GFCI), the plug under the breakfast counter, the dishwasher, and the hot water tap under the sink.

[sarcastic] I am so looking forward to finding all the other messups that have been done around the house during the last owner's remodel.

Oh, and I evidently didn't get the picture of the wire that was just past this that just had wire nuts on the ends of the wires and the ceiling box, probably for an old light(?), that had wires running into it. The box had joist hangers on it, so not quite sure if is a light box, but it had a small gauge wire coming back out of it that was cut off... hum?! Anywho. Without having some way to identify if they were live circuits, I decided to just end there and get out for the night.

Ended up at HD and got a non-contact circuit tester that I will keep with me at all times when crawling in the attic or anywhere, for that matter, around the house. I have had enough close calls with electricity to not want to get zapped again. Although most of the experiences were just with a lot of sparks from the screwdriver making contact between the beknownst live wires I was working on.

... [chuckling nervously] except that one time at Gordy's when I thought I could fix the plug with it being live and shorted it when the screw driver slipped... oops! But that was the first really bad one that started the process of making me respect electricity a lot more. That time and when I shorted the water heater at our first apartment when the cover, that I had cleverly left the top screw in and turned so it was up, decided to swing back down unexpectedly and caught both of the connections to the thermostat. Live and learn; what doesn't kill you, makes you stronger.

Ouch!

I kinda forgot about this one although it has been numb ever since I tipped the ladder and caught myself on the rafters in the bedroom a little bit before this happened. I was securing the light switch to the attic lights that I moved to put the switch outside the access hatch, instead of inside where it is dark. Well, I hit my finger with the hammer while trying to hold the box... I was laying on my side in the attic over the rafters and trying to get it done pretty quick. It sure hurt like crazy and went really numb when it happened, but didn't bother me too much after that. The numb fingers started the next day and haven't come back to life totally yet.

As far as the numb fingers go, I think it caught myself on the nerves that run down the inside of my arm. Aimee noticed a nice bruise, that still hasn't gone away in 2 weeks, on the underside of my upper left arm the day after it happened and what my chiropractor said about the way the nerve to my fingers runs down my arm finally registered with me about a day later that this is probably what the issue is and not the hammer. Hitting it with the hammer probably didn't help though.

More making it right

Well, what did we find here? This is what I found when I tried to secure the heat duct in the bathroom:


come to find out there is a pipe clamp over a piece of rubber wrapped around the cold water pipe in the bathroom. They had a leak, which had to have soaked the drywall on the ceiling, and instead of fixing it proper, they put a bandaid on it. I am really surprised that this hasn't leaked in the 3 years we have been in the house. I literally touched it and it started dripping. It amazes me that in gutting the bathroom, we didn't end up disturbing that pipe enough to start it leaking.
Oh well, better to find it now than when it failed later. I can make it right and fix it with a proper copper connector. I really wonder if it would just be easier to just replace all the copper with PEX and get rid of the hundreds of elbows and splices in the lines.

Oh and here is a view of all the wire nuts that werer used to splice the line for the microwave with the rest of the wiring in the hall, lights and plug:

All electricity to this area are turned off, by the way, but I didn't notice Sam was standing there when I took the picture til I just uploaded it.

The long wires are from the forced air heater I was taking out... but all the wire nuts there are a splice in the line that should be in an electrical box and not just hidden in the wall. Everything is so short I am probably going to need to run some new lines to take care of this, but we shall see. Maybe I will take down the wall where they patched it poorly and have that redone with the rest of the drywall.

Project Update

So in the last week or so, I :

1. Installed the vent fan ducting and roof vent
2. finished insulating the garage wall above the bedroom
3. installed and insulated the attic access door for that end of the house
4. got a couple pieces of wall insulation in the bathroom.
5. took out the Living Room forced air wall heater that Sam kept playing with and found a 4 line electrical junction in the wall with just wire nuts holding it all together, no box. Nice huh. Mike Holmes says this is not a good idea!
6. picked up everything yesterday and vacuumed since it was getting a little messy in there.
7. Oh, and I fixed the sprinkler head I ran over with the mower and broke off; as well as removing a 6 inch strip of the grass that runs along that sprinkler head so that I don't risk hitting it again.

Things that I am stuck on:

1. Does it matter if cellulose blown-in insulation is up against the roof sheeting? Do I have to allow for some kind of air brake in each rafter cavity or just the vented ones?
2. How to insulate the water pipes that go through the corner of the house where it is going to be hard to pack insulation in around, especially considering if I have to leave a air space below the sheeting
3. What do I do with the electrical line that is coming from somewhere in the house (haven't been able to trace it yet) that is just hanging unconnected over the bedroom?
4. Should I install the gable vent fan before I get the bathroom closed up so I can access it a little easier... should I be putting that above the main living area?
5. How to insulate the vaulted ceiling the best way so I get the best R-value and less gaps and ghosting on the rafters.
6. Am I really going to have to run a new electrical line to the Living room to correct #5 accomplishment?
7. Why do I keep making lists of things to do, ordering them and then not following the plan?

Bend over backwards.

Aimee, Sam and I get to rough housing from time to time and it usually is instigated by me with Sam. He sure likes being flipped over from his belly to his back; when he is on his belly, I grab his legs, pull him up so his feet are above his head and then kinda toss his feet so he lands on his back... this is done on the bed or couch so soft enough to catch him. He also enjoys coming and flopping down on us when we are lying on the ground. He will just lay his head down afterwards, sometimes it seems like he is listening... to our heart, stomach, breathing... something, cuz he has a concentrated, for lack of a better word, look on his face when he does this.

Sam also likes to climb up on your back when you are on all fours. Yesterday Aimee had put her head down in this position and Sam came up and kinda pounced on her back, with his feet at her head. They had just come home from somewhere and he still had his shoes on, so when Aimee raised her head up and he was on her back with feet up in the air, I grabbed his shoes off his feet. Aimee thought I was lifting him but in fact I took a couple steps away to put his shoes down by the door. Thinking I had him, she raised up and Sam went sliding off the back of her, planted his forehead on the floor and arched his feet over him as they went over his head.

I hate giving notice of these types of events, but it is part of growing up. Lord knows I had my share of falls, accidents and emergency room visits; but I can't say that I remember Mom talking about any bad falls we had when we kids had in our first years.

Anywho... We were both mortified that this had happened but when he wouldn't be held more than a couple seconds because he wanted to continue to play and even though he continued to whimper for a couple minutes, we figured he was OK and unharmed. Oh, but this was after he fell and had a big bump under his eye that had pretty much gone away at this point, but still. This was probably the 5th time I can think of when he really fell hard or hit his head, but was probably one of the worst contortions he has gone through.

1. Don't remember the details, but he was pretty young, less than 3 months old
2. Grandpa and Grandma Beltz's house 6-9 months - head hitting the corner of their chair with metal brads on it; ended up having two welts puff up and turn into one big knot.
3. Auntie Ann's (early Nov 09) - falling off the bed when I turned my attention for a second. The box spring and mattress were on the floor but the carpet pad is pretty worn and it sounded like he hit solid floor.
4. Falling backwards off the couch during playdate at the groups most protective mom's house; I felt like a really neglectful dad since he fell to the floor and landed on his bottom then whipped his head back and hit it on the rug covered hardwood floor. But, to my defense, Sam had been playing on our couch for months where we had shown him how to be careful and respect the edges; evidently unfamiliar couches have a learning curve and are not to be dismissed as the same as home.
5. This week's bend over backwards.

He continued to play and act normal the rest of the day and went to bed without trouble so hopefully any damage done was minimal. I just hate when the unexpected tumbles happen and my protective impulse get bruised; I guess you can't keep them in bubble wrap their whole life. He is bound to have more during his life; he is a Beltz, after all.

Bed, now.

In putting Sam to bed the last couple nights, he has evidently been really tired or not really interested in the books we have been reading for the nighttime ritual. It probably helped that it was kinda late last night when we got home from shopping at Costco and Fred Meyer, so Sam got a later dinner and to bed about half hour later than normal. I started reading his books, only two when it is that late, and he signed "bed" to me. This is a new sign he has started to do when we prompt him for it, and I have been pointing to his bed at night when I do the sign so he evidently got the idea that was his bed and he wanted to get in it now.

So when he did it the second time and pointed to his crib, I knew he meant business. I stopped reading, had him turn out the light, thinking I would still get some cuddle time in the rocker, but NO, he signed bed and pointed toward his crib again. I got up and he did lay his head down while I tried to rock him like normal while standing up just a little bit before laying him down, but when I guess I didn't lay him down fast enough. He picked his head up off my shoulder and signed bed again and pointed at his crib again. So I said, that is fine said his final goodnight prayer and set him down, said goodnight and left the room. There was not another sound come out of that room and he went right to sleep.

It is great to see him come to understand when he is tired and all he has to do it ask to go to bed when he wants. Tonight I actually got in one book, which he showed interest in, but that was all and he did the same thing tonight. I didn't fuddle around this time and said his little prayer and left... again without a peep and he went right to sleep. Amazing. We will have to see how long this lasts... hopefully potty training will go just as easy when he figures out what we mean when we sign potty when he is evidently straining.

Drywall decisions, Prep and Weeding

Well some of the plans for the bedroom and bath have been a little on hold this week cuz I am still trying to decide who to have do the drywall. The second and third bids were 1.5x and 2x the cost of the first two. The 2x one was the most professional contract looking bid with everything that was going to be done listed out, so that is attractive, but can I get that from the other guys for less money? and will they do as good as a job? is the more expensive one worth the extra money? who knows... I think I will end up calling a couple other places to get some more quotes to compare.

Anywho... I still need to do the insulation and finish up some repairs before they come do any work anyways.

So instead of thinking about a lot of that this week, it is yard debris week and we didn't have anything in either of the two cans we pay for so I decided I was going to go out and weed and thin stuff out for an hour every night. Aimee and Sam have come out and helped for a little bit after dinner also, so a lot got done this week in cleaning up all the weeds that grew over the winter and taking out part of the rest of the Yuccas that ended up taking up almost one whole bucket. We filled the other 50 gallon can with weeds and only got about half the back yard done... the garden area is the next and most densely weed infested area.

Anywho... I realized tonight that it is just fun working with Aimee and having Sam try to help. He at least is at the stage where he can bring me the trowel he has taken without me noticing when I need it. He really seems to just like being with us even if we are concentrating on something else. He at least didn't' keep trying to go out into the street tonight like he has in the past... maybe danger, road, cars, DANGER, NO, cars, no road... has finally sunk in.

Park drop

We decided it was a really nice day out and made plans to go to Costco and shop, get hot dogs for dinner on the way out, drop off the fridge stuff at the house and then go to the new park that Aimee discovered last week. Well, it wasn't in Sam's plans to wake up from his nap until almost 4:30, so we got a late start. With Daylight Savings it was just fine though.

So we got the shopping done, got hot dogs and drinks, got the milk and stuff in the fridge at home and got to the part around 5:30, not too bad. Well, we ate and fed Sam his food we brought with us, cuz I am not feeding my 15 month old a hot dog, yet. Anywho... I go to throw away some of the trash and Aimee is like yelling at me about something when I come back and I can't figure out what she is trying to tell me to look at.

It ended up being her friend Tammy and family who were getting out of their van in the parking lot. Evidently she had recognized the boys who were running out to the park equipment to play, so she waited for Tammy to go walking across and called her over. We had a nice visit and I finally got to meet her since our families hadn't met yet, so that was nice.

It was a really cool park. I will have to post pictures to do it justice, but I have to download them from my camera first, so maybe this weekend. Anyways, Sam had a blast going all over the place and unfortunately thought he was bigger and more coordinated than he was cuz he kept wanting to try things that were just kinda dangerous for his size and coordination; like climb down poles from the second story of the climbing structure or go down the slides without someone to catch him.

I had fun trying to catch some good pictures of him while trying to keep him from doing the before mentioned stuff. Aimee and I had fun too, since we would take turns running to the top of the third story of the play structure to go down the really big slide. I went down once with Sam also which he loved.

Then Aimee went to take her turn climbing around and I was watching Sam as he went from thing to thing on the ground level and he started doing something I thought would be a cute picture, I just don't recall what it was though cuz as I went to walk around in front of him to get the picture... BONG... I hit the metal pipe from the monkey bars and laid myself out. It really kind of dazed me but I was alert enough to be concerned that I needed to identify where Sam was and make sure he wasn't in immediate danger where I couldn't get to him with me laying on the ground.

I look over and he is sitting the ground about 3 feet from me and then lays back, copying Daddy I guess. It was quite funny and I had a really good chuckle over it. You will never know just how funny and good of a boy you are, Sam, until you maybe read this years from now. I love you and am so glad you have such a good time with me. I love spending time with you and really hate times where work or projects keep me busy during normal family times.

So I have a bit of a knot on my head, right frontal lobe, and I felt kinda silly having just about knocked myself out at the playground, but we wrapped things up and headed home since it was dusk and starting to get dark. Sam got to bed a little late, but it was all well worth the memories.

Sam's belly laugh

Sam just started doing this really good belly laugh/giggle. It has happened in a couple different situations when Aimee and I have been playing with or even just holding him. I have yet to get it on video since by the time we get the camera, he is evidently all laughed out. We will keep trying to remember to video it from the beginning and I will post as soon as we get it.