The crack of the bat. The snap of the glove. All of the sounds that make baseball great are music to my ears. And now our oldest just joined his first baseball team. Okay it’s tee ball but I will take what I can get! And he loves it! Absolutely positively loves it. It helps that he is good. He is wearing number 7 like the great Mickey Mantle but he is not quite there yet. Nowhere close really but loves every minute of it. And we could not be happier. At first we were not sure where we would find the time to take him to practice and games but we have figured it out (like parents do) and it was definitely worth it. On practice days he wakes up and can’t wait to get there. And on game days he is on cloud 9. And being the way we are with our boys we could not sit idly by and just watch. We had to have an impact, We have to help. And the best way to do that is to coach. So I am. And I am happy doing it. Really excited to see how the season goes! Hope he has some fun and learns a bit along the way! Stay tuned for updates throughout the season...
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Any solid house starts with a solid foundation. In the case of a Playhouse, that is the deck (and posts). It was our anniversary weekend and we wanted to build a Playhouse for our boys. Not a typical anniversary trip, but those who know us know we love doing things for our boys. So this was not out of the ordinary. The idea of it anyway. The actual build was daunting before we started, but once we got the lumber we were not turning back. We got all the supplies from Ace Hardware and Home Depot. The section titled "Kid's Playhouse" has more details about the lumber and supplies we used for the deck. Like I said, once we got all the supplies we were moving forward. There was definitely still some doubt as to whether we would finish the deck but with each step forward our confidence grew. We laid out the frame and made sure it was square. We only started with one floor joist, but the finished product now sits with a total of 5. The last 4 were added once the deck was in place. Not the easiest way to do it, but the result was a strong floor that a full sized adult male can jump on with no fear. Once we got the frame screwed together, we added the posts to each corner. The 4X6s were the right choice, especially since we couldn't find the 4X4s I originally wanted. The next part of this was tricky. Be built the frame and attached the posts but with the frame on the ground and the posts up in the air. This was simply because of a lack of options. Hindsight being 20/20, we would have used sawhorses or something similar to support the frame while we attached the posts the proper way. It was heavy and awkward, but we got it flipped without breaking the frame. Once we breathed that sigh of relief, we placed the frame and were ready for floorboards. The first couple of floorboards were slow because we needed to be sure they lined up properly. Then the rest flew by quickly as we got into a rhythm. Next thing we knew, the deck was built. We fought nightfall and mosquitoes, but got the deck stained too. All in all a long day, especially for two full time working parents dabbling in DIY projects. But it is done and we could not be happier with the way it turned out. The next step is framing. Stay tuned for the progress. Keeping checking our site and our Instagram page for progress, tips and tricks. And eventually the final project. If you have checked the @thedaddyslife instagram feed at all, you know about our oldest child - our princess, Madison. Soaking wet she is 8 pounds of fury in a Maltese-Shih Tzu body. In spite of her size, she has gone through all types and sizes of toys with relative ease. Some professing to be tough and durable and all the other synonyms you would expect. But her favorite has been, and always will be, the Petstages ORKA Mini Bone. Yes, sooner or later she does get through it, leaving it in pieces over the course of days and weeks. But not as quickly as the other toys she has played with. Each night before bedtime she searches the house to make sure she has it with her to chomp until she falls asleep with it in her mouth or laying right next to her. We now order them in bulk so we can avoid sleepless nights if she can't find her favorite toy...
Because being parents is not enough for two full time working parents, we decided to take on a DIY project. We want to give our boys a new playhouse so we did hours and hours of research. But we kept coming back to the same conclusion - the only way that we would really get what we want would be if were to build it ourselves. So we are. We are building a brand new playhouse from scratch. We are both very handy, but have never quite taken on a project like this. So here goes nothing! (And keep checking our blog and this site for progress, pictures and all the details of how we build our playhouse.)
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