SparkDad

Today was an emotional rollercoaster! This was the first full day alone with boys in over a month.  It was tough. The big problems that I had today were that the boys fought a lot. They were having problems with sharing. Everything that I have read says that this is normal especially with Pork Chop since he is only five. But Skeeter knows better and still has a problem with sharing his toys.

Skeeter’s problem is not so much the “sharing” part, but the “destruction” part where Pork Chop breaks or looses something. Skeeter goes ballistic. He is very, very picky with his toys. Especially with the Legos. We have taught him that we are not made of money and cannot just go replace a broken toy. He takes a lot of pride in his toys and takes very good care of them. This is a value that Mama and I feel is important, but it can be a problem at times because Andrew wants to play with them.

I sat them down today and explained to them that at the end of the day when all the toys are gone they will only have each other. Brothers are very important. More important than any “thing”.  Pork Chop said “We are not friends, we are brothers.” I then explained that while they are Brothers and not friends, the fact that they are brothers makes them very special friends.

They hugged and were angels the rest of the day…whew! (Spark Dad wipes his brow)

After getting the vacation clothes put up, laundry in progress, sweeping and cleaning the wood floors, I made dinner for Grandpa Joe. Grandpa Joe is very special to us so we made brownies and bought a cake. The boys made a very good card for him and since we could not find the keys to the car and could not go buy him a present they opened up their piggy banks and gave him about $2 and change in the card. I believe that Grandpa Joe will cherish those $2 for many years.

Now all the dishes are in the dishwasher and the kitchen is clean! This brings up a very important point. For all those stay at home Dads and Moms out there, I truly believe that a clean kitchen and sink before bed really helps keep the house clean and in order.

This morning when I got up there were dishes in the sink. I avoided the kitchen all day. I did  not want to cook or do anything in there. In fact I made the boys fish sticks and corn because it required no cooking. One of the biggest favors you can do for yourself is to make sure come hell or high water that your kitchen is in order before you go to bed.

With that note, I am out!

Spark Dad

Well the first 3 days of Skeeter and Pork Chop’s vacation has been very productive! I have made great headway in the garage. Mama and Uncle Pete helped out as well. On the left is the before and on the right is the after.

You can see my post on this project here.  After moving the cabinets to the other wall in the garage, I used a sheetrock putty to patch up the holes in the walls and used a primer paint to paint the walls. Next I will paint the walls gray with red and black racing stripes. Then on the blank wall we are going to install either slat wall or peg board to hang gardening tools on.

The cabinets moved to the opposite wall.  In

between  the upper cabinet and the tall two door one we are going to build a workbench and shelves.

This arrangement should give us a lot more storage and the ability to park our jet skis and one car in the garage.

Other than working in the garage, I managed to clear out the front office of the house and pack up some books to sell on Amazon.com or at Half Price Books.

The house is really coming together.

I am out CYA!

Today is the first workday since Skeeter and Pork Chop began their four week vacation away. I have big plans to accomplish this month while they are gone!

1. Clean and Organize the attic

2. Garage “Man Cave” Project

- Paint Garage

- Build workbench and shelves

- Cover garage floor with rubber tiles

3. Paint master bath

4. Paint trim and doors in house

5. Paint Skeeter and Pork Chops room

6. Build shoe shelves in boys closet

Whew I am tired already! This weekend after the Jet Skis were serviced we went out to a local lake for some fun! We had a great time. BUT, we sucked a ski rope up the impeller, that was the end of the day for that ski. And the other one still will not idle well.

Other than that it was a great weekend! I will post some pictures of my attic and garage progress later today.

C Ya!

As "retirement" grows near I am seeing all sorts of problems around the house. I have been mentally making a list over the past couple of weeks and thinking of ways to solve some of them. One of the main problems that we have in our house and I suspect many people have is clutter and not putting things back where they belong. There are basically two classes of people living in my house:

• The Nesters -  Mama and Skeeter fit into this one. It is in their nature to organize things and keep them organized. Disorganization drives them nuts. They can handle things on the counter tops, floor or desks; but they cannot handle things being put where they do not go.
• The Stuffers – Me and Pork Chop are the ones that hold this title.  I can not stand stuff lying on the floor or counters. In addition I am ALWAYS in a hurry because we have too many things to do in a day. So I stuff things into closets, toss them in the garage, etc.

As a result of my Stuffing, every closet in the house is full and disorganized and the garage is a disaster. My first major task is to first clean up the debris from the garage.

Then I am going to purge. I do mean really purge! Get rid of stuff that has not been used in 6 months to a year. Once that is done I am going to institute a shelving system on the side wall that you can see in this picture. I would like to have a fold up workbench in this plan, but we will see.

I will scan in the plans once I am done. I also need to find a way to hang the bikes up so that we can park at least one car in the garage. Once the garage is organized and the shelving system in place then I can begin to empty out the closets in the house and properly store the stuff that is in them. A lot of it is craft stuff, old books, etc. And yes the old books will be purged for cash! I will sell them on Amazon for sure!