Happy Birthday part II

Finally, Shawn's birthday parties are over!  He celebrated at school on Friday since they have their week-long intersession off.  Shawn did his part to drive his teacher crazy by providing all his classmates a sugar fix in the form of a giant cookie cake.  Lisa and I took the day off to prepare for Shawn's second birthday party.  We also had the builder that built Lisa's parent's house to take a look at the basement for ideas and to see what it would cost for framing.

On Saturday, the family party took place and it was one of the more easy parties to prepare food for.  We ended up doing hot ham sandwiches and I tried my hand at an Italian hot sub.  Typically I'm stress beyond belief getting food together and try to make sure it's all ready by the designated time.  Everything was pretty much made up ahead of time for the exception of the Italian Subs.  What a relaxing party!  Shawn was happy about all his presents this year.  He received all his favorites including Harry Potter "props", Lego sets, model rocket kit, Wii games and an I-tunes gift card to go along with his favorite gift of all....an I-pod touch.  What gives?  Shawn has a much nicer MP3 player than either one of his parents has currently.  The touch is a pretty cool gadget.

Sunday was spent emptying the almost 5 year old fridge and transferring the food to our spare fridge in the garage.  Thankfully we have two fridges or everything would have been lost and there was a lot.  I scheduled a service call for Monday and ended up paying nearly $350 for a circuit board that controls the defrosting of the damn thing.  After waiting 24 hours to let the fridge defrost, we were back in business.  I was taking the day off anyway since the framing was to begin on the basement Monday morning. 

Tuesday was Shawn's actually birthday.  Lisa and I took the day off again to spend time with Shawn; he really was more interested in spending time alone messing with his new gifts and watching movies.  We did end up going out to eat to celebrate.  Of all places....KFC.  Shawn's very favorite food is Fried chicken it seems and KFC was his choice.  Not that I needed the extra calories.  I am pushing maximum density once again. 

Tonight, I'm going to head out and purchase much of the electrical supplies I need for the basement project.  Of course, not that the project is started, I want it to be done!  Here's a boat load of pictures from the past week:

They look like they get along (looks can be very misleading)

Beelzebub in the flesh 

Basement Pictures

Prior to framing (TV wall)

Bar area (looking into the bar)

Looking into the bar area (counter top to the left)

Bathroom before framing

Bathroom after framing (bar to the left)

Storage area before framing

Storage area after framing

Shawn's Brithday weekend number one-2010

This weekend marked the beginning of Shawn's two week long celebration of his 9th birthday.  Friday was pretty much uneventful but I did manage to swing by the home brew store and pick up  ingredients for a couple batches of delicious beer.  So since I had the ingredients and since Brad is visiting soon I brewed a beer on Friday night.  The beer is a bit outside the box as far as it's different than anything I've brewed before.  I call it Starbucks Stout.  Yes it's a stout with coffee added into it. 

Saturday morning, Lisa's Mom and Dad picked up Katelyn for an "adventure" (code for staying with Nana and Papa), Lisa went shopping and I brewed another batch of beer.  Brad and I should have ample beer now...can't run out during his visit. 

Saturday night was the big friend birthday party.  Lisa, Shawn and I picked up three of Shawn's friends and headed to BW3 for dinner and then headed down to the arena for a Walleye's hockey game.  The hockey game was an absolute blast and it was probably the best game I've ever attended.  The game was high scoring, had several fights and ended with 6 seconds in overtime.  The game was a hit with the boys as well.

Sunday it was to church and grocery shopping.  Unfortunately, Katelyn wasn't feeling well and the rest of the day was trying to make her comfortable.  This morning she's feeling much better.

Here's some pictures of the big party:

 Logan, Luke, Shawn and Michael (AKA Shawn's Posse)

All sugared up

At the game

View from our Seats (5th row)

Parma....

Here's a pretty funny video if you live or have ever lived in Parma, OH. Thankfully I lived in Parma Heights. The area isn't really that bad, at least when I lived there over 20 years ago. I actually miss Parma from time to time.

March 2nd

Not too much new happening around here lately.  I'll be so glad when spring arrives and the weather starts to become a bit less gloomy.  I've been busy making preparations for a trade show I'm attending in May that I'm piggy backing a 4 day weekend in celebration of Lisa's 40th birthday and our 15th wedding anniversary.  The trade show is in Dallas and then I'm meeting Lisa and some friends in San Antonio for a little vacation.  I have visited San Antonio for business for a day and a half a few years ago but didn't see much other than the River walk.  River walk was a pretty happening entertainment district a few years ago but it looks like it got even larger recently.  I am really looking forward to hanging out in Texas for a few days and not have anything major planned other than wandering around and exploring. 

This weekend is Shawn's birthday party with his friends.  Shawn chose to take three of his friends to  dinner and then to see our minor league hockey team play in the new arena.  I'm not sure what it is about hockey but it holds Shawn's attention unlike any other sport.  His family party will be the following weekend and then another celebration on his actual birthday on the 16th.  The kid always seems to have 3 birthday parties.

Our wonderful dog Cody is a major shedding freak of nature.  In an attempt to combat the hairball generator, we purchased "The Furminator".  It's a brush that is supposed to remove the loose undercoat of a dog to help minimize the shedding.  It seems to work at removing a ton of loose hair (nearly a pound the first time we used it) but we still seem to be losing the battle of the hair ball.  Below are some pictures of the furminator in action.  Don't mind the nice batman pj's.