WEEKEND'S over

weekends over and its time to go back on break! the last two days have been some fun filled hard working days!

we got a lot done, but still have a lot to do.

the picture above is of today when we went to go get pictures of akello in his baptism outfit at Sears portrait studio. He had a good session but was wearing thin towards the end. We managed to get out of there for only 60 bucks and got some great pics! i cant wait to share them. We have been waiting for a few bad scratches to clear up b/f we took him in.
BUT, soon he will be too big for his outfit so we decided to take him in today with scratches and all, and during the photo-shoot he even scratched himself on the nose!

i swear, you just cant keep those nails short enough. and when your playing with him, he will grab at your cheek and squeeze! it feels like hes going to rip your cheek off!



while we were at sears i spotted these cute little adirondack chairs. if they had one in green i would have bought one. speaking of adirondack chais, the wait for the green ones to go back into production is over. I spotted a huge stack outside the HD and had to stop and pick some up. i bought 2, b/c now i dont need so many with the school going in the backyard now and all.



speaking of the backyard, its starting to look, well, like a school!



i have begun to clear out the flower bed of old landscaping rock and will soon be teansplanting the plants to the front (wich are still alive, they just look dead)



then i can lay the weed carpet and dump all that pea gravel thats sitting on the concrete into the hole!

We took a family trip to ikea too!

(akello was mad cuzz we were leaving when i took this pic)

this was akellos and theresas first time. I (the seasoned vetran) was able to guide us through in minimal time.



Akello loved ikea! he was smiles throgh the whole thing. we picked up the expedit bookcase and some other items that theresa needed for the school. I also took back some pendant lamps that didnt work out for the living area.



We bought some little bitty table and chair sets for the school as well, but we are going to have to cutt off the legs, b/c the dimensions are a bit too high.

i also looked around for a floor lamp that could best compliment my new reading chair. thats right! look what arrived!!!!



Its simply gorge! and im so glad i sprung extra for the Edelman leather upgrade. its quite noticible an worth every penny. I mean how could you say no to the "dream cow" leather option if this is your dream chair?

i have been expiramenting with placing it in the house and for now have repositinoned it in front of the Tv for the superbowl, but i think i will put it in the guest bedroom. but well see.

i cant show you a picture of the rosewood finish on it because no picture can do it justice, so youll just have to come over. im still planning a reception and viewing.

Since this is the 50h anniversary of the chair i got this free book that came with the chair! i have already read it, since we have one at work, and i might just leave this one in the cellophane. im that crazy.



we re-arrranged the bedroom too. that window is so cold, so now i sleep next to it and the air ionizer, (wich puts off a draft) is on my side too instead of next to akellos floor bed. so now im cold enough to sleep under the cover with theresa instead of on top of the bed.

heres what the room used to look like.


and now


this is walking in and looking to the left

this is as seen from the hall


theresa and AK take a break after a long day out.

Hello!

Holy Craigslist Batman!

SOOOO!

i dont know where to start. first a pic of akello



I love it when he plays with his feet! he's like a little rolly polly!


Saturday was a COLD one! after Theresa met with her "my husband works on saturday" mommy group she brought akello to visit me at work on saturday! what a treat.



Here he is testing out the freja sofa, (which is on sale by the way till the 31st)
Akello highly recommends it.

The past 24 hours has been a frenzy of Craigslist Hookups so unreal, I can hardly take it.

Sometimes The craigslist gods are with you and sometimes they are against you. In our case, the craigslist gods were not only with us, its like they were emailing us to say, "i found this table that you have always wanted for free, go pick it up at 11:00am tomorrow.

I am usually not on Craigs that much but lately theresa and I have been looking for some key items to fill the school. Well, in the hunt for a little tikes table and bench I happened across this FREE dorm fridge that didn’t work out for the owner. “this fridge is just too cold, its only good for beer or liquor as it keeps it at the brink of freezing.” Hello!!! Yes I can pick it up today!

The funny thing that I noticed about people on craigslist is that older people (40-up) will give you directions on how to get to their home. But younger people don’t, because we all assume that you have heard of Mapquest or Google maps by now.

Old people will start giving me directions, and im like,"I already have directions, see you at 8! this only confuses them and so i just twiddle my thumbs and let them give the direcs to me.


So anyway!

Later that day, Theresa hit the gold mine on craigslist. Long story short....
She hooked up a bunch of stuff from a school that was going out of business and had to be out of the space by this week. So she ventured with akello to go seal the deal.

75 BUCKS LATER.....



We were the proud owners of "whatever we wanted" including a bunch of "softplay", (expensive vynl covered foam). and a bunch of other stuff, including a phillipe stark designed childs Teepee. I saw the logo on the teepee and was like...."wait a minute!" this thing is worth hundreds!"



We left a lot of it, we simply didnt need it or have room for it, or it was too damaged.



NOT only that., but the lady said that we could have alllllll the gravel in her backyard. and there is enough gravel for me to not only build a gravel pit for the school at our house, thereby saving me the 50 bucks that i was about to drop at the Depot but enough to landscape our entire property.!


this is a foot deep folks. this gravel is prolly worth 1 to 2 grand!

Oh, did i mention friday that i hooked up a fridge? oh i did, ok,

now what im about to tell you is so awesome i cant beleive it.

remember a few posts back when i was talking about how i put in the new ikea light in the dining area, and how i closed the post with "but what we really need is a 42 inch circular dining table, more on that later"? do you remember that!!

well. there i was...on listpic....(wich is a craigslist picture viewer)....

looking at free stuff......and what do my eyes see but a horribly taken picture of a table. the caption reads..."free table, good condition, 28 inches high by 42 inches round off white."

well i was pretty sure that this guy was GIVING away an eames table by herman miller.
thats right a table that would go perfect in our dining area. i emailed him literally 6 minutes after it was posted. He emailed me back saying, "its yours, pick it up sunday."

HAPPY HAPPY JOY JOY HAPPY HAPPY JOY! (ren and stimpy voice)

you gotta be quick! im surprised i got it actually!

well i show the pic to my co-workers and they all confirmed that i was right. Designed in 1950 the eames table was part of the Aluminum group series.
and while the pic was dark,. we could all see what appeared to be the indicitive "contract" base denoting what it really was.

Well i picked it up this morning, and let me tell you that yes. its the real deal and yes, it looks amazing in the space.
BEHOLD!!!



nO! the pictures do not do it justice! the great thing is that theresa wanted a round table too and just hadnt had a chance to discuss it with me. we need more space in the kitchen for the little kids table thats going to go in there for the school as well as a bookshelf. i have been wanting a saarinen Tulip dining table by Knoll but its not even in my price range right now.



(perhaps its in yours? Knoll prices go up 11% on feb 11! call me!!) so i was going to go with an Ikea KNOCK OFF! the Docksta!



but now, im out no money, i can make some money selling our old one. and i have a vintage eames piece for my dining area. This will hold me for a long time! until i can afford the MARBLE sarrinen table. that will be when akello graduates collegs.


the picture you see is in dining view mode. i will put it in the corner and re-position a hook in the cieling to center the light over it. that rectangle table was just too big and sure we can only seat 4 now, but let me tell you, it feels so much better in the kitchen. the table is the perfect size. did i mention it was free? its also going to be better for playing poker! oh, and another thing....

if anyone needs a glass topped aluminum based table in good condition i got one for sale for 100 bucks! delivered!!!


that is all.

im beaming with joy over here. beaming.




stay tuned...next time i will talk about replacing this lamp




and this lamp



BYE!

Jaden the testdriver

Jaden and his mom came over to play the other day and it really helped to have jaden test out the room with his curiousity and physicality. Jaden is in the age range of the kids that T will be teaching.

We learned that the floor lamps in the living room are going to have to go! I got a plan for their replacements already, more later. you can see it in the pic below.



Theresa and I have been finding a good deal of used items off craigslist for the school but will still have to buy a few things. If you have any push or pull toys, balls of any shape size or texture, wagons or easels, or anything like that dont hesitate to donate it to us if its just sitting in the attic.

Theresa and I are excited and busy and have already started re-arranging furniture (my favorite part) as if school were to start any day! THeresa and i get so excited just seeing the big empty room. We are busy designing the flyer and the website for the school too!

scratched forehead

We were going to go take pics of akello in his Baptism outfit at Babys'rus but he scratched himself AGAIN. so maybe next week.



Akello has discovered the "VISUALIZER" in itunes, also known as Baby Crack. If i need a moment to chill out, i just put on some tunes and turn on the visualizer.

happy tuesday!

Birds!

So here is more of the bird that i talked about a post back.




the Sewcial Butterfly Logo.

Bird on the fan pull. Ball on the light pull.


"details are not details. They make the product" - Charles Eames







So my sling came in the other day. im no expert at it yet, so you wont see me sweeping like mama does...



whistle while you work.


Here i am putting akello in the sling. You can almost see the breathable holes in the nylon fabric.
Better pics later

Theresa and Akello

Sometimes Akello looks like me. Sometimes he looks like T.

These days he's really showing T's eyes. Below is a picture of Theresa at the same age as akello is now, in the same chair in fact!

cooped up

Were all cooped up here in the house due to the bad weather that has paralyzed central texas.
Icy roads all around! they even closed off all overpasses that connect to I-35.

Theresa and I have not really been too fazed by the whole thing. I have been sick for a while, so i couldnt do anything but rest and tuesdays and wednesdays are my days off anyway, and im used to staying at home on those days. so it was pretty normal, just cold. What was frustrating was the fact that my fridge is full of beer and i cant drink any of it b/c of my cold, or allergies, or whatever i have.



i am hoping that tommorrow is the day. i felt pretty good today cept for some congestion this morning.

Akello is better than me! he got a cold on monday night and he seems to have bounced back already!
we also think that he might have had pink-eye. We caught some early signs of it and squirted some breast milk in his eye immediatley! yES bREASTMILK! apparrantly its the cure for what ales you. Behold the power of breastmilk!

we have been continuing to apply warm compresses and milk squirts and his eye seems back to normal. well, not really squirts, but drops from a bottle.

We have been having a good time these past few days despite beeing cooped up. Theresa has been thinking more about her school and has decided to have it on thursdays and fridays from 9 to 12. she is going to be looking for 2 students ages 12 to 18 months (i think) im not sure on the ages, but she did decide on a lot of things after speaking with her friend Lara who runs a school herself.

New Art!



Akello received a gift for his baptism from Amy with The Sewcial Butterfly, a pretty red bird mobil! theresa put it on one of the pulls on the fan above. on the other pull she attached a ball via a red ribbon. Akello lays down on the sheepskin and kicks the ball. the ball therefore moves the ribbon that moves that bird, that holds akellos attention, that gives daddy time to make breakfast! Thanks Amy.

The bird even has a little SB logo tag sewn in on the wing, a nice touch. i will post more pics and video later. in the background you can see akellos new gym mat. it fits perfectly between the wall and the shelf!

DESIGN STUFF/////////////////////////////

New Lamp!

i have been wanting one of these lights ever since i saw it at IKEA a couple of years back.
the KNAPPA! it weighs in at 24 bucks and a whole lot of "you put it together"
it came in this tiny box



I finally got clearance to buy one b/c of theresas upcoming school.

She wants to put our dining table against the wall so as to make room in the kitchen for a kids table. Well the only problem with that is that the pendant light will hit you in the forehead if you get to close to the table once it is pushed against the wall.

lets look at this file photo of how the kitchen used to look



As you can see, the Jbox is not centered in the room, even though it is centered in the middle of the blinds. so the only way to place your dining room table and have it centered is to put it like so. This complicates things when we have dinner for 6 and want to move the table the other way and put to chairs on the ends of the table. aggg frustration. So i knew we needed a pendant light on a cable.

Below is a picture of Eneas at the table in the new "schools in" location. i had just put up the new light seconds before. Now it is centered above the table!



we put it this way for the baptism reception, and with the new light it wasn't a problem, because i carefully measured and measured and measured again so as to get two correct locations for hooks to go into the cieling for the pendant to hang over depending on the positioning of the table.

(this pic is in dining mode)

Another thing that required measuring , measuring , and measuring again and some extra patience was the wiring. this light comes set to plug into the wall! wich is cool i guess, but i just needed the plus and minus cable. so i had to cut it at the right length to allow for all the right length + the wire that i had to dig out of the insulation and strip to conect it to the jbox.
the beads of sweat were starting to gather! but i pulled it off!

You might also notice that the clock that was in the original picture on the back wall has been replaced with our Bonnie Gammil art piece that was from the bedroom.
the clock was too small and had to much angulatur to be in such close proximity with the new light pendant. Bonnies piece looks awesome in the Dining area. We still need to tell time though and i moved another clock into the kitchen to fill the void.




yay!!!!!!! dining for six! and centered in the room!!!! its an awesome light. these pictures do it no justice. you can barely see the new clock on the left there. This is awesome but what this room really needs is a 42" circular table. more on that later......