Drum roll please...the basement is mostly finished!!

We thought this day would never come, especially Jim who has spent countless hours in the basement working on making it into a living space for us all to enjoy. But, finally, after nearly two years, the basement is almost finished!! We have a few small details left and some touch-up painting, then it will be ready for furniture. We are SO excited!! Here are some pics of recent projects:

 

Our ugly black support poles have been transformed into nice features! We used a pole wrap made from wood veneer and Jim fashioned these caps and bases with his new router. Pretty impressive, huh? See below for the post-stain pics.



Another big project was the hidden door bookcase that hides the storage room. Jim designed it from scratch, and even made the hinges himself! Trust me, I watched him tediously saw through thick metal to fashion them. It's on rollers and opens all the way out so that we still have the full width of the doorway to move stuff in and out of the storage room. Genius!

Storage room entrace before

Unassembled panels for the bookcase

  

Crazy cool custom hinges



Bookcase before paint

 

Check out how it opens!



Finished bookcase

 The kitchen has been done for a while, but I haven't posted any pics. So, here you go! I love it and can't wait to get done there to enjoy it very soon!

 

Love our new kitchen!!



 

Close up of granite

And finally, we had our carpet installed last Friday. We love it! The boys have enjoyed playing on it too :)

Living room is ready for carpet!

Bedoom is ready for carpet

Carpet in living room

Check out the finished support poles!

Carpet in bedroom

 

Claytor Lake

Last Friday, the boys and I took a spontaneous trip to Claytor Lake to play on the beach to enjoy the last few days of summer. The weather was gorgeous and the beach was really nice. It made me wish we had visited earlier this summer! They had fun playing in the sand and water, and even took on a some lifeguard duties ;) It will definitely be on the top of our list for next year!

Before we left, Walker took his beach towel out of the bag, threw it on the floor, and laid down. Needless to say, he fell asleep in the car on the way there :)

Mommy & Walker's handprints



Hanging out...and growing up!

Once again, we are behind on posting. Sorry! The boys are growing so fast and learning something new everyday. They are moving quickly now and love running around everywhere. Garrett is an expert climber and will be on top of the dining room table in a hurry if you leave one of the chairs pulled out. He can also climb the stairs standing up while holding onto the banister. New words are being added to their vocabulary everyday, including recent additions of "bowl" and "outside". Walker loves shoes. He goes and get one of our shoes (he especially loves to lug around Jim's size 14 clunkers) and gives them to you, hoping you'll put them on. Garrett loves balls and can spot one from a mile away, whether its on Walker's shirt, in a restaurant, on tv, or in the backyard. Both of the boys have started cuddling blankets, especially when they are tired. It's adorable! We have lots of dance parties, and they point to their CD players when they want to hear music. Walker has mastered the bounce, while Garrett likes to sway. Garrett has become a big Sesame Street fan lately and will point to the tv when he wants to watch it. They can point to their eyes, ears, nose, mouth, bellies, and toes. Their level of comprehension continues to amaze me. They can follow simple directions, like "go get us a book", and truly seem to understand nearly everything we say.

We have been really busy lately and are enjoying what's left of summer with all of our baby buddies. The boys have enjoyed a trip to Mill Mountain Zoo in Roanoke with their friend Kathryn, several playground trips and evening walks with our buddy Max, backyard playtime with our friend Kellen, lots of MOMs club playdates, a visit to Romp N Roll, and lots of other fun activities. More pics of all of this to come. Here are some recent "hanging out" pics....

Splash!



Our new (to us) train set



Walkie



Balloons make Garrett so happy!

Daddy fed us our first Oreo...if you look closely, you can see a little chocolate around their mouths :)

Walker loving the new bean bag



Playing around with brother





Working on our baseball skills with Daddy