Weekend Wrap-Up + basement update!

Let's start with Friday.  First of all, evidently I was kidding in my last Thankful Thursday post when I said we were all on the mend and beginning to feel better for the weekend.  We weren't.

Kael woke up with a swollen cheek/ear, which happens occasionally when he's got a cold/virus.  It's pretty painful for the poor guy so he stayed home from school.  Kase and I were also not feeling great.  I had been up with Kase since 5:00 Friday morning, then he took only a 40 minute nap that day.  I was dragging.  Big time.

Thankfully, my mom had seen something on Pinterest worth trying AND she was willing to run to the store to get a few things we needed for it. (She also brought me an emergency stash of diapers, batteries and chips- you know, the essentials.) You see, we've tried nearly everything for Kael's ears.  He's had tube surgery, twice (and his adenoids out the second time), we've been to a chiropractor, and he's tried every medicine in the book.  I was hoping this natural remedy would work and while it wasn't the quick fix I was hoping for, I do think it provided some relief for Kael.

Anyhow, it was a long day at home with two sick boys while I wasn't feeling all that well myself.  A good friend dropped by with some chocolate covered espresso beans knowing I would welcome any chance at an energy boost! She rocks. She later brought me a new iPhone case (we have matching phones that previously had no cases because evidently we have matching toddlers who are very hard on our phones so now we have matching, although different color, cases). She really rocks.

Anyhow, back to Friday. Kent and I have been looking at showers for the basement so he was hoping to skate out of work a little early on Friday afternoon to go buy the shower and come home to start working on it.  This wasn't the case. He didn't get out of work early at all, it took much longer than expected to get the shower, and by the time he got home on Friday night I'd already fed the kids and we were watching a movie on the couch.

Saturday Kent cut concrete (aka The World's Messiest Job) so he could move a shower drain in the basement which means I spent a great deal of my day dusting, mopping, and vacuuming. I did manage to get away for a pedicure with a girlfriend and our daughters, so don't feel too badly for me.  My dad helped Kent out in the basement and the kids spent some time off and on at my mom's during the day, then later that night all three of the kiddos spent the night there! I think that's only the second time Kase has stayed overnight and the last time he did was nearly a year ago.  Kent and I were so very thankful for a "night off".

Ready for spring!

Saturday  night we went out for dinner downtown with some friends then came back here to play some old school Nintendo.  The ladies killed the gentlemen in Tetris and Mario, so we moved on to Catch Phrase where again, the ladies dominated.  The boys finally won one game so we decided to call it a night.  At 10:15 because we're night owls like that.  Kent and I even slept in until 6:45 the next morning! Crazy!

This brings us to Sunday.  I got a fantastic jump start on my week since I'd already cleaned the entire house top to bottom and got some groceries and did a little meal prep for the week and did three loads of laundry.  We played outside a little, grilled out for lunch, then spent the afternoon at Kylee's gymnastics meet. Sunday evening Kent and Kael had baseball practice, where Kael declared that he will now be a left-handed batter. (???) It's been a bit of a trying season (we're a whole two practices in) as Kael tries to establish some independence while Kent tries to establish some fundamentals and ground rules.

Moving on...the basement! I've written here and there about some of the progress but I want to take a second to fill you in on where we're at.

First of all, Kent started this whole thing about three months ago- only working on it when we have a free night or weekend (especially when the weather's been so cold/rainy/snowy), and I'm so impressed with the progress he's made! The entire basement is framed, storage shelves are built, a drop-down work area/desk has been built, the electricity is done (with actual light fixtures put up, even), the plumbing is done (for the toilet, vanity, shower, and wet bar), the toilet is installed and functioning, the shower is 90% installed and Kent thinks Kael will be able to shower in there by the end of the week if he wants!

Kent has worked really hard, you guys.  He's had some great help along the way- both my parents and his- and he's been able to borrow a few tools from a friend at work who recently finished his own basement, but Kent's pretty much done it on his own.  He spends our evenings after the kids are in bed watching YouTube videos on how to install showers.  He texts our builder, consulting him about moving the drain.  He's made calls and shopped around to get the best deals to make this an affordable thing for our family.  Plus he's put up with my insanely high standards.  (Are you sure that's level? Is it supposed to look like that? Why is the board there? How much did that cost? I'm not sure if I like it that way...) And, in true Patterson fashion, he's managed to keep the basement incredibly clean and livable during construction.  He painstakingly cleans up every nail and every bit of sawdust each time he's done working for the day so the kids are still able to play down there since our Wii, several riding toys, roller skates, and Kase's beloved toy kitchen/grill are down there.

Here a few photos of our work in progress.

The bathroom will be at the bottom of the stairs.  Storage area is to the left.

Kent has a pretty good helper.

Carrying the lumber downstairs became a family event. 

Whew! I imagine we will  Kent will take a little bit of a break as our lives get busier as the weather gets nicer but we are leaps and bounds ahead of where I thought we'd be by this time.  But I'll keep you updated! Nice work, Kent!