closet shelving cabinet

 i made this little gem for the closet. its going to go in the middle of the double doors with a double pole close hanger. it has 18 inch deep by 6 foot 8 main runs and 12 inch shelving. the poles will be 48 inches and 72 inches high on either side. 

 my bother in law Laser helped me stain it. man day at its finest. 

 also made a shelf to go on top for random storage.

finished staining. ta-da. 

ikea!

 i love ikea. closest one to me is two and a half hours away in chi-town. we bought lots of stuff. but they will come in a later post. got a trash can, kids book, stool for grissom, kids plates cups and bowls, all of our kitchen cabinets and this lack shelf. 

 easy installation. the mount in the first picture had plenty of mounting holes but they were not 16 or 24 inches on center. so i had to make some. no big deal. but the mount went on the wall then the shelf slid onto it. then two set screws secured it underneath. 

i used some serious drywall anchors so that it could hold pretty much anything. i love ikea.

planting grass

 i forgot to put these pictures up when i was trying to plant grass in the field part of the property.

 john deere stx38 with a dethactcher attachment. for some reason i am now obsessed with riding mower attatchments. i want them all. dethatcher, garden wagon, roller, yard rake, aerator, plow, disc, fertilizer spreader. very manly.

 since it was my luck that i had to clean up dead corn stalks instead of beans was great. i ended up having to make 5 massive rows of stalks then burn them.

 i got my seed from menards. cheapest for the most amount. since its been forever since i actually did this, i forget how much i got. it was enough to cover a half to three quarters of an acre.

this little spreader was great. planted the grass in cute little rows and aerated the ground.

pella replacement windows

so it was time to buy some replacement windows. i went to menards first, priced 15 jeldwin windows and they said it would take 6 weeks to get in. yikes. so i went to lowes to see what some pellas would be. ends up 100 bucks cheaper and i can get them in 22 days. think i have a winner. 

 luckily i have a cousin/ neighbor/ window installer to help me out. we started upstairs since ive never done it before.

look at that great form. 

 slow is smooth, smooth is fast. 

 we then went downstairs. the windows came out easy but the trim on the outside was not so nice. power tools solve every problem. 

of course packing foam wont come off  in one piece. why would it do that? i have a kazillion little white balls all over my kitchen. 

whats crackin?

have i done a post in a while? son of a buck no. so here goes. 

 grissom escaped from his crib, so down with the crib and up with a toy story bed. grandma and grandpa o nail it.

 wife is pregnant. 

 the little tank is ready to ride some motorbikes. 

 heres the new bike. hopefully i can keep her for a while. im pretty sure grissom is putting rocks down the yosh.

grissom is shown here sporting martian pjs and a classic arai helmet to aunt amy. also known as my other mother.

 once you start, you will never get a break.

 eeo and cheese got grissom a pool for his birthday. its a fancy pool. i wanted to dig a hole, put the pool over it, and have the wife stick her baby belly in it. i would imagine it would be pretty dog gone comfy. 

 the little man is friends with everyone. 

 wife is about a month away from baby number two.

 alright. time for actual house stuff. where that bald spot is in the grass, there used to be a bush. i removed it with my bulging muscles. 

 photobomb. 

 as you can see here, my grass is planted and has been growing for quite some time now. i love my lawn. 

 heres the bigger side of the planted side. 

 work van. i call her cecelia. 

 once again, photobombin away. and the other side of the newly planted grass. i am so proud. 

 oh so very manly. me and my grass. 

 as she stands today. 

 grissom falls all the time. literally all the time. but he never cries about it. cause he a manly toddler. 

 hes trying to figure out how to take the pole out. i took off the satellite dish, now i cant take out that crazy pole. i think it has some sort structural integrity to the house. i would have to dig up my precious grass to yank her out. 

 so upset that it wont budge. 

 my parents got him this awesome wagon. when he would help me mow, he would fall asleep in less that 10 minutes. and when hes asleep, hes crazy heavy. so  i hooked this bad boy to the back of the ol john deere and he loves it. but do not get to close to tree roots, it will tip. then grissom will tell on you that you dumped him out. 

 there used to be a nasty bush here. i cut it down man style with a chainsaw. it was as tall as the gutter. so i cut it down, and NOW the wife tells me she liked it. no good. 

 this is what started my chainsaw greatness. there was two massive bushes here in the middle of nowhere. so i cut them down with great pride. now the existing backyard goes into the new side yard with great ease. 

 this used to look quite ugly. now i just looks ugly. soon itll get all knocked off and a new mud room, bathroom, and basement will be put up. possibly a second story. roof angles might put me into a pickle. 

 old backyard going into new side yard. i feel like an old man and his lawn, but its awesome. 

 heres our first take on a garden. probably never weeded once. we have zucchini, squash, tomatoes, cilantro, and tons and tons of pickles. 

 mango the great. she keeps the deer, racoons, rabbits, and stray dogs away. she fights crime in her own dog way. 

 bought this dethatcher for 10 smackaroos. all i need is a lawn sweeper to attach to the back. maybe wife will get me one for my birthday. hint hint. or something for the motorcycle. barend mirrors, shorty levers, or some renthal bars. there i go off on a tangent again. 

 grissom found some pickles. 

 he loves pickles. when we leave the house, he always says bye to his collection of pickles that he stashes in his big wagon. 

 he decided to bring his crazy small wagon and only pick one pickle today. 

 my burn pile is getting smaller. sooooooo slow. 

 so grissom is now 2 years and 2 months. we got him this awesome bike so he will learn how to balance without training wheels. its a smartgear wooden balance bike.  http://www.smartgeartoys.com/c/balance-bikes

 when he first got it, he couldnt touch the ground. and never rode it. then about two weeks ago, bam, hes mobile. we also got him that awesome Giro Rascal helmet. 

http://www.giro.com/us_en/rascal.html 

 the bike has three or four seat heights to it for when he grows. ive read a bunch of reviews on it and some say not to leave it outside cause the clear coat isnt that thick. i was thinking about tearing it apart and throwing some minwax uv clear coat so itll last longer. 

 since its wooden, if the handlebars or something ever break, i can make a new set off the jig saw.

 it has solid wheels instead of spokes so the little dude wont get his fingers caught in them. other than that, we love the bike. 

 and the Giro helmet. 

the Giro has two LED reflectors on the back. they are pretty bright when you turn them on.