home improvement?

Mother's Day came early this year! This week Team Fulkerson has delved into some much-needed, much wished-for home improvement projects.

We had the carpets professionally cleaned for the first time ever! What a concept...I kept playing with the kids, doing dishes, folding laundry...and the carpets were cleaned at the same time!

Only problem was that the guy who did the carpet cleaning asked for a tip.

Twice.

I wasn't expecting that. I'm new to this...someone needs to warn me about these things! I don't tip my furnace maintenance guys or the guy who carries my water softener salt down into the basement.

Have they both hated me for the last 8 years?

We also hired a handyman company come do some things around the house. I've been wishing for a new bathroom faucet and some new light fixtures for years...so I had high hopes. I was so excited to get started!

Then the handymen arrived.

One of them spilled coffee on my cleaned-less-than-24-hours-ago stairs and didn't cop to it or say he was sorry. I found the spots after he left. That's a lucky thing for him. He'll get an earful if he ever comes back this way. I thought that was pitiful.

Maybe he's friends with the carpet cleaning guy I stiffed.

The guy who was assigned to work on our to-do list for three days apparently is handy when it comes to patching drywall and painting (good!) but not so handy with having the necessary tools, being willing to go buy the necessary supplies, or plumbing in general (bad, considering I wanted a faucet installed). Without giving you all of the gory details, I'll just say that after three days we still can't use our downstairs sink, we have several holes in the walls surrounding the new light fixtures, and the other major project he was hired to do (build frames for our existing vanity mirrors) wasn't even started.

Here are a few photos so you can all enjoy the view.

Is it normal for the after to look decidedly worse than the before?

Maybe just for Team Fulkerson.

Have a great weekend everyone! Be thankful you're not our handyman's boss, who's coming bright and early Monday morning to finish the job!

This used to be our drain...and one of our nicer hand towels.

Mirror and faucet look good. It will be great when we can use this bathroom again! I know I should pick up the towel and clean up the mess but I'm being obnoxious and leaving it for the handyman's boss to see Monday morning. (Tattletale).

I am so happy with our new light fixtures! Too bad the previous light hid several holes in the drywall that are now exposed (see the rectangles next to the globes?). Our handyman doesn't carry drywall in his truck, nor does he go to places like Lowe's (literally a mile away) to acquire some. Instead he asks ticked-off housewives with crying children to go to Lowe's - for the second time that day- to go buy drywall instead.

Interesting approach.

The good news is that the wood frame surrounding our front door is repainted and we have a functioning doorbell for the first time in six months! Aah, the little victories in life. The doorbell chime was only installed upside down for a little while...

coundown

Where has this week gone? It's a great sign that the days are flying by, right?

Dan has 57 days to go in his fellowship.

More soon! :)

countdown

MMMM, post-its! I promise I didn't let her swallow it, nor did I let the lid from the box behind her fall on her head! Maybe I should have cropped this picture a little smaller... ;)

Leah likes sweet potatoes! Emma enjoys feeding her. Win-win for Mom!

Smiling at a sibling standing behind me. I don't remember which one.

Dan's fellowship will be over in 66 days!

Leah is now 7 months old! She crawls and sits up earlier than any of her siblings. Uh oh. She also has a love for Cheerios that blessedly serves as both nutrition and entertainment.

Happy Tuesday everyone!

sweet irony ( warning - this post contains obnoxious bragging)

Daniel has taken part in a program called Math Pentathalon the last two years. They meet before school two mornings a week from January until mid-April.

They play math games.

For fun.

I can't think of very many things I'd find less fun.

Obviously this is not my genetic input at work.

Daniel had a great time this past Saturday at the Math Pentathalon competition in Indianapolis. He won all of his games...something no one from his school has ever done there! Way to go, Daniel!

Way to pass on those math-lovin' genes, Dan!

countdown

Springtime in Indiana! We may not have palm trees like they do in Houston, but won't Dan be glad to ditch the apartment and come back to Chez Fulkerson?!

Coming milestone: Dan is poised to give his 60-day notice to the apartment complex. WOOOOO HOOOOO!

Team Fulkerson sincerely apologizes to our "followers" - we are getting worse and worse at posting our countdown numbers on Mondays.

Today (Wednesday) I'm happy to report that we're at 71 days left!

I'd say that daily life has been pretty tame for us throughout the winter months. Emma had two after-school clubs each week as well as weekly art classes. OH, and youth group at church, but our church-friend-and-neighbor has driven her to that all year (fantastic baby gift, eh?).

Daniel had twice-a-week karate classes and a before-school club that also met twice per week.

That was it! Considering the number of children we have I thought that was not too bad! Manageable, even.

Well, now that spring is here things are ramping up a bit. So far this week we've already had six extracurricular activities (would be seven if we'd made it to karate tonight - oops!), a fitting for a new scoliosis brace, an evening choir concert, an after-school playdate, a 4-hour-long van maintenance appointment, a MOPS meeting, spring school photos and an MRI at the hospital.

Hard to believe it's only Wednesday...

Hurry home, Dan! :) We miss you!

Enjoying the sunshine,

Team Fulkerson

Easter 2010

Dan went back to Texas on Good Friday, so we celebrated Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday without him. Boo! We missed him! Glad to have distractions, we were thankful to have an Easter egg hunt at church on Saturday. We also colored Easter eggs.

On Sunday we had church and a family get-together. Our Easter tradition is for the older cousins to stuff and hide the eggs so the younger kids can hunt. Here are a few photos from our weekend.

Luke - ready to hunt for eggs at the annual Christ Church Easter egg hunt :)

Emma's two-tone egg...I love those shades of blue!

Aren't they beautiful? I remember coloring eggs on Holy Saturday every year at my Grandma's house. I associate the scent of vinegar with this tradition, for sure! :)

Of course I should mention that this year I bought 18 eggs to boil and color...then forgot to put them out for guests at Easter lunch. Anyone who lives nearby and is craving hard-boiled eggs should come to our house - and soon!

I'm kicking myself for not getting a group shot of the kids dressed up and better shots of the family members that came to visit that day. Guess there's always next year, right?

Dan - don't let me forget!

Cousin Tim (sporting his Indiana University Little 500 bike-team-solidarity haircolor!) with kids searching in the ivy.

Leah - flapping with joy

Luke with loot from his Easter basket

coundown - late!

Dan was with us for Spring Break last week! We enjoyed having him home with us so much!

His fellowship will be over in 80 days!

Leah has now tasted her first bites of baby rice cereal. She didn't like it any more than the other kids did. I mixed the cereal with formula - that's probably why. Maybe we'll try it mixed with baby applesauce soon. I remember being so excited to feed Emma baby food. Now I see baby food as a whole lot more work than it's worth! Anyway, we have a few high chair photos to share. There will be more - eventually! ;)