The Basement Project

If you've ever been to our home, you will remember our basement was one big room.  It was nice to have all that space, but we felt we could get more bang for our buck.  Hence, the basement project.  Like most projects, Ashley had a vision for how things should be, and then we contracted out the real work :-)  Fortunately, our daily lives weren't disrupted.  The dogs, on the other hand, were confined to the side yard so the workers could use the basement entrance.  The project lasted a little more than two weeks.  We are very pleased with the results.  We had one wall put in to give us a bedroom in the basement.  We made the bedroom door a double so we could move the piano if we ever need to.  We moved the bar to the other wall, added a door to the laundry room, and painted.  Voila!  You have the below results.

Ashley would love to get rid of the green couch.  It is the last piece of furniture I own from my single days :-)  Bode continues to improve as a swimmer.  The outdoor pool at the gym was open today.  He, of course, wanted to swim.  I think the water temperature was warmer than the air temperature.  It really wasn't bad--Ashley didn't get in, but Bode and I swam around for an hour.  The little guy can go anywhere he wants.  He swims all around and never gets into a panic.  I wouldn't throw him in the deep end and expect him to tread water for a long period of time, but we're probably at the point where he could be unsupervised.  Of course, being the worriers, we won't get to that point just yet :-)  He also is now in Beginner Stroke Clinic.  Coach Danny makes them do "deck work" before practice.  Fun.  Obviously Bode needs to work on his core strength.

They also did push-ups.  I didn't take a movie, so I don't know if it's obvious but Bode needs to keep his butt down.  In the picture below, he looks pretty good.

After a couple push-ups, his form broke down.

Here's a movie of Bode doing some freestyle.  He seemed a little tired at practice today, but I assume I should cut him some slack since he's six.  Well, almost six and a half!

I recently mentioned how Joey will sleep with Bode.  This has become the norm at night.  Joey will simply jump up on the bed and sleep with our little man.  In the mornings, he'll come down for breakfast, and then head back up until it's time for Bode to wake up.  Very cute.  I took this picture early one morning.  I think the flash woke Joey up, as he looked at me as if to ask, "What's with the bright light at 5 am?"

Bode will sometimes take the camera and shoot a lot of pictures.  I won't know about these until I download them onto the computer.  Most are shots of the ground or blurry.  Some are gems.  Here's Harley eating, not really a gem, but I feel obligated to include a picture of both dogs.

Next is a funny one of Joey.  Note the tongue--it is always out.

Bode has three days left of kindergarten.  We can't believe we are about to have a first grader in the house.  He's got some camps lined up for the summer, some trips, and some quality time with Mom and Dad.  Should be a great summer.