The garage project

 We knew we had some rotted out wood trim around the garage. The plan was to replace it with PVC. We seem to have alot of "bugs" in this neighborhood and by bugs I mean termites and carpenter ants and things like that. Everytime we do a project we find rotted out wood. This house was built in 1991 so its not that old. But we did add gutters as soon as we bought the house so hopefully that helps. We also removed all the mulch and bushes and plants that were touching the foundation or siding and replaced it with a perimeter of rocks around the foundation.  Anyways back to the garage project. Mike had taken a few days off of work when he  returned from China to rest and spend some times with the kids. He figured the garage project would take a few hours. Little did we know what would happen he started removing trim. Rotted out trim, rotted out plywood, carpenter ant eaten wood ( see pic below)

 From trim to this.

 Whats left of a piece of wood. See the channels the ants made? We saw the ants by the hundreds when he peeled back the trim.

Its been a few days but its almost back together. New plywood. New pressure treated studs, new cedar siding. Ice and water shielded all along the bottom. Pvc trim. Also he was able to get rid of the octagon corners around the garage doors. I like the clean lines much better.  Still needs paint of course but its currently raining so that will have to happen another day.

9 years together

9 years ago today ( May 12th) on a cold, dreary, and rainy day we came to the alter at Ste Marie's and professed vows of love till death do us part. I remember so much about that day. I remember that I wasn't nervous about getting married just about standing up on the alter with everyone looking at us. I remember feeling blessed that so many people came from so far away to celebrate with us. I remember how I teared up missing my moms presence on that very important day and how you teared up when Chris Allain sang " I Can Only Imagine" as only he could sing it in his amazing voice. And although there was nothing special about today because you needed to spend the day patching the garage back together before the rain and I needed to battle the demon of " morning sickness" and take care of the kids- there was beauty. So much beauty and love in the mundane. I see the way you are working hard in the heat and humidity on this day that was supposed to be your last day of rest from traveling. For 9 years we have worked together through thick and thin and stress and the endless demands of little kids. In 9 years we have created 5 little souls. My prayer today is there are many more days and years we can spend together raising our kids and watching them grow to adulthood. You are God's greatest gift to me. Happy Anniversary Michael Gabriel Vigneau! heart emoticon heart emoticon

Deck Living

We still need to paint the deck but in the meantime we have been loving it. We try to eat dinner out there most nights ( easy clean up) and the kids play on the deck most days and I work on my tan every day during naptime. 

First mow of 2015

Its finally Spring! Winter jackets and boots have officially been put away. The grass is green and the pollen is blowing around.

3 weeks sans husband

I have kind of lacked the motivation to blog recently because A) life is mundane ( which is good!) B) no one reads this blog anyways but I do want to keep it going for the kids and so we have a record of our house projects. 

April 17th Mike departed for a 3 week work trip to Shanghai, China and Bangkok Thailand. I know the traveling husband is normal for many of my friends but its not normal for us. Mike has only traveled 2 other times in the past 9 years for work and each time for only 3-4 days. So this was a big deal to us. Mike has never traveled internationally before so I was worried about cultural shock and jet lag and food poisoning for him and for us just worried about my sanity. I'm used to his help with the kids and his companionship around the house. I'm happy to say we survived the 3 weeks and he did too! We were beyond blessed to have my sister in laws mom Kathy here to help us for 9 days (she came all the way from Minneapolis!!!) And Mikes parents came over a bunch too. In addition friends invited us over for dinner many times to help the weekends go by faster. God took care of us as he always does.

 Samuel sums up how we all felt while Mike was away...... :)

Our daily view ( thats Bangkok you see out his window)

Affirming Motherhood