I don't know if this will help.....we had a tramp for years. When the kids were younger they loved to jump and as they got older it became the go to hangout with friends. They'd sit and talk for hours or lay in the sun....have sleepovers on it...the puppies loved to hop up and sunbathe too. :) It's funny even when we had to get rid of it because it broke my kids, both out of high school, still missed it.

I think that anything that gets kids out of the house and exercising is well worth the investment! Any chance your insurance will cover part of it?

As for my projects, I'm still slugging it out in the barn. I used my crude freight elevator to haul more stuff up to the loft, and I've put everything up there that I plan to. Oh, my aching back! I bought a couple heavy-duty shelving units and set them up downstairs to try to organize all of my 'guy stuff'. The goal is to get the barn cleared out so that I can 1) Get my old camper out to sell it, and 2) Start the electrical work so that I can actually use the shop space.

I bought a huge amount of dirt and compost (about 3 tons!) to fill my raised bed gardens, and make a stab at a little front lawn. I had to unload all of it with nothing more than a shovel. The raised bed is ready for planting (veggies), and I seeded the lawn area and covered it in straw. It's kind of a trial balloon to see if I can actual create a bit of a lawn. I also used some of the dirt to make a small flower bed alongside our front walk. I'll plant some annuals to try to make it look a little more like a residence, and less like a construction site.

If it sounds like I'm trying to do a lot, it's because I am. I go in for hernia surgery a week from today, and then it's two months of recovery and light-duty. I'll probably become a real pest on all of the various forums I frequent as I try to fill my days.

I don't think I made much progress, but then I worked from Good Friday (almost 15 hours, yay for holiday pay and OT!) through until yesterday and Friday and Saturday were real brain drains. I'm now on 6 days off since they owed me a day from when I went to Toronto in January. On March break from school the weather wasn't great, and I can't remember if that's when I dug up part of the yard next to the cement patio to add extra stones or not. My younger son and I did that, but I've been working and it's been crummy weather since, so I haven't moved the "sod" pieces back to where I want them yet. That will have to wait for better weather.

Sometime in the last week or so, the guy who will do my basement came over and measured and he will be getting me a quote. I've asked him to build me a new, taller structure for the basketball hoop. I'll have to tell him that is a priority. Either that, or I'll call the guy who built my fence to make another one. I can't proceed with anything in the basement until I get the ceiling tiles down. That will be tomorrow since today is for cleaning house and have two friends over so I can do their income tax returns on Turbo Tax. I have already moved everything except the TV, TV stand, router and flooring into the furnace room. When I'm done with the tiles, I'll start pulling down the cheesy 70s paneling. When we get the electrical in, we'll start on the track for the drop ceiling. I hope to have this done by July but I'm at the mercy of my friends husband who will be doing this work when he's not working his full time job building houses.

GAH!!! I just lost half my post and ctrl + U won't undo it and bring it back. I can't be bothered to write the rest again. I'll come back later and do it. I need to clean the house, my friends are coming to do their taxes over here.

Had a little flurry of activity when DS moved home after graduating from college in December (woo hoo!). I've been wanting to turn our sun room into a proper room instead of a staging area. From our local craigslist I'd scored a toile armless chair, a wool rooster rug, and a bakers rack. One day I came home and DS had arranged all the furniture! I arranged wares on the bakers rack, and it's starting to look great. We still need to move the old enamel-topped table from the basement for my desk, and it will be much nicer. In the meantime, though, he cleaned the basement! So now we can use one of the rooms for the exercise equipment that he excavated from under the games and toys and clothes headed to the rummage sale. I love having DS home! But he's been traveling and auditioning, too, so plenty of breaks in our momentum.

One step forward, one step back with our quartzite counters. After many failed efforts to hone and re-hone our counters to get any sort of consistent look, fabricators decided to leather on site: that worked, and left us with a surface we're very happy with. However, counters were sealed last Wednesday; come Friday, they scored a B+ on the water test. Water beaded fine, but left a slight shadow when wiped away. And when we wipe with a damp towel now, we can see 'absorption shadows/darkening'. A few pros online have remarked that the sealant worked, but water is just seeping into the crevices of the stone. But when I chatted with the online GranQuartz rep, he/she said if a counter is sealed, there shouldn't be any visible darkening of the stone:

Tops pretty much flunked the oil test: I dabbed oil onto the surface, waited 10-15 minutes, then wiped up (which made the three dabs run into one another and left a rectangular oil patch). The oil absorbed right into the stone, and no amount of Dawn + water rinses have removed the stain.

Back to the drawing board: going on Day 6 (again) without water hooked up in the kitchen. Suggesting to fabricator to consider the GQ sealant that is meant to be water and oil repellant.

bpathome, boys are great, eh?

javiwa, that counter has been quite an ordeal.

Okay, my friends are due shortly, the house is clean and the fat cats are sitting on the table sniffing at the open window. They'll bolt when my friends come over and that will be their exercise for the day.

Regarding the trampoline. When my now 14 year old was about to turn 12 and after I purchased all of the Christmas gifts, he asked for a trampoline. I had to buy one; it was the only "toy" he asked for and seemed to be growing up too fast. I got it on a black Friday sale from the US Walmart internet site and went to pick it up in store and then put it in my shed until Christmas. The exchange rate was good, so it was no big deal. I think it is 14' and I got it for less than $250USD. A friend and I wrote out a little poem from Santa and I put it in a box. When they read the poem and figured it out and ran to the shed, well I will never forget that! They love it! They both still use it regularly. I don't have the U shaped things to stick in the ground so it doesn't blow away, but I don't have a super windy yard, generally speaking. I say go for it! I'm with mushcreek, if it gets them outside and moving... You can always say no for now and then save up and get one for an end of school celebration. It'll be such a treat to see their little faces light up when they see it. :)

We met with our KD last Tuesday and nailed down the last few changes and updates. I'm hoping to place the cabinet order this week but haven't heard back from KD. Did not realize all the back-and-forth that must be done to complete the process. Have settled on lighting, and thanks to everyone here, I think we have a good plan going forward. Slowly packing up everything and trying to keep it organized for easy access during demo and reconstruction. All is good. :-)

We are on hold waiting for counter tops to arrive. In the mean time, we went south for a few days and I finally got the appliance company to take back the oven that they delivered with concealed damage (it took a month of e-mails, phone calls and store visits!!) And I've narrowed my paint colour for the kitchen down to 2. I'd say I'm on a roll.

If they loved it that much, I would get another one. How about Craigslsit? I hate seeing my kids on electronics and love watching them play outside.

Go for it :)

I managed to get all my ceiling tiles down, and loaded into the van to take to the dump. I'll do that tomorrow morning, and when I get back from that, I'll take down the trim and paneling. I'm pretty impressed because in the main living area they have styrofoam insulation between the joists for both insulation and a sound barrier. I'm going to pull that down and put it in the furnace room so I can re-use it if possible. I even managed to get a hair cut/colour today too!

My friend was over today and almost has me convinced to take down the whole wall separating the bedroom area. Still debating on that one.

my view on trampolines is gonna be a bit different. I think great for the exercise aspect. However, my neighbor once had one that was installed directly behind my house (my bedroom is in the back) and their lot is slightly higher. Those kids (they had four) would jump till past midnight or even till 2 am and the parents had no courtesy to call them in at a decent hour. So I heard screams of joy - their joy obviously not mine. So I'd say invest in one if the kids really enjoy it but do keep your neighbors in mind if any of them are close to your house or have shift work. :-)

as for project this week, we are still in kitchen design phase.

Texas- Just an idea: My kids are 2 1/2 years apart- one in winter and one in summer- neither had B-day parties- January in VA= SNOW and July 4th- friends always on vacation, so we had an end of the year "homework burning" pool party. I took what I would have spent for 2 b-days and rented bouncy houses and water slides for one end of school party. Maybe make a deal like that with the kids? They'll feel like they contributed in a way to the purchase also!

progress- countertops!!!!!

Friday: edging, dishwasher panel on, grout. Next Friday: windows arrive and get put

in, mini back splash and back splash behind stove. OMGosh we are getting there!

Then: trim, trim, trim...

Next Big Job- make island. Augh!

Have a great weekend! Heather

Since this is a kitchen thread, I'll count this as a project: gumbo.

I've always wanted to learn how to make gumbo. This week, I got motivated. I had fun reading and watching Justin Wilson and other chefs on YouTube and realized that there are just a few rules for gumbo, and so many different versions. I practiced making a dark roux and really, really enjoyed the process. Yesterday I made a gumbo with ingredients we like - andouille, chicken, shrimp and okra instead of file. Served it today to company - success. I think we'll have lots of fun perfecting a recipe.

I remember enjoying trampolines at camp. Add me to the voices saying its great to have something to keep kids outside, exercising, and excited. Good luck!

About 37 yrs ago, we were fortunate to be given a trampoline. It was the rectilinear one - in fact, competition grade. Oh but my children loved that thing! When we moved, we quickly learned it should be the last thing on the fan and first off. The neighborhood war drums quickly announced "New people have a tramp!" And our yard was quickly filled with the neighborhood children. When children were 14 and 16, we finally took it apart and put it away. Fast forward to grandchildren being 2 and 4. Got it out and took it to my daughter's house. Bought new jumping surface and pads. Boys are now 13 1/2 and 16 next week and they still love it. A good one is a major investment but it will never blow away and will bring countless hours of joy and provide great exercise.

Wow!! I'll be honest and say that I did NOT expect to get a 100% in favor response!

Some of you may not be aware but the American Academy of Pediatrics recommended several years ago that no one should have one, and they should only be used in properly supervised settings with trained personnel. Add to that the fact that one of my close friends is an x-ray technician and she told me years ago to never get a trampoline because the most comon cause of ER child visits she was x-raying were from trampoline injuries.

I was hesitant to take the free trampoline in the first place because of these warnings, once it broke and I was faced with repairing/replacing it, I became even more hesitant.

I want to thank all of you for reminding me of what I initially thought years ago.

Yes, there are risks, yes, kids can be hurt BUT sheltering them is not the answer.

My girls have all taken gymnastics and, even before our brief trampoline ownership, they were quite aware of the safety rules. The biggest one being no more than one person on the trampoline at a time.

Could they potentially be injured? Of course! They could also be injured riding their bikes down the road while wearing their helmets and pads, it doesn't mean we should shelter them from any and all risks.

I know I'm going off on a tangent but it seems to me that our societies obsessiveness with safety has probably contributed to the ongoing obesity epidemic. We, as a society, are literally telling people to NOT go out and be active because of a percieved risk of potential injury.

We WILL be replacing the trampoline, I love the ideas of making it an end of school year thing!

In the meantime, my kids will continue to spend their after school time climbing trees and engaging in all other manners of "dangerous" stuff that gets them outdoors. ;)

Texas, you have good sense! You can't wrap kids in bubble wrap. I do know two people who broke bones on a trampoline, I also know my own son, who broke his arm when he put it out to stop from smashing his face on the ground when he was tripped playing soccer! Accidents happen, especially if kids are active.

My son is 14 now (January baby), and starting last summer I let him go ride his bike over to his friends. I knew he'd be in one of a few places and if he wasn't at one, he'd be at another. I ask him to check in periodically and if he's going somewhere else, to let me know in advance. He said his friend who has an April birthday (today, actually), his Mom and Dad won't let him off their street alone. How is that kid building confidence, becoming independent and making good decisions?

I got the paneling and trim in the back room completely down, and the north wall and part of the west wall, up to the cold storage door. Found a gem of a 1970s carpet underneath the other carpet! I hope to get the rest of the paneling down today and then I have to get the styrofoam down from the ceiling. So, the walls have 1.5" square strapping. Is that considered a 2x2 or a 1x1? I'm wondering now, if the styrofoam (you know, that special kind, not the lightweight packing stuff) and the aluminum foil vapour barrier is sufficient and simply putting up drywall will be enough to cozy the place up? I don't know, I'll let the guy who's doing it decide. Any opinions? Good news, no moisture anywhere! :)

Our son was into all sorts of stuff- climbing trees, riding bikes, roller blades, etc. How did he break his arm? Jumping on the bed! Whatta ya gonna do?