The Monster Shelf

So our boy's room is in the peak of the house and has slanted walls on each side. The one side is tall enough for us to walk in and use for storage but the other side is much shorter & there is so much wasted space behind the wall. I love watching home improvement shows & saw this episode a few years ago where they built a storage shelf into the slanted wall. For 3 years I've wanted one of these shelves.

Since my brother Jeff is a contractor I thought I would enlist his help. As we talked it out it seemed like a pretty simple project, but once we got going it turned out much bigger & better than I had ever imagined....

Jeff making the 1st cut in the wall

Here is the opening...doesn't look so big in this photo but it's actually 7 feet wide!!

Connor got home from school just in time to help us lift and install the bottom section....this was so heavy & definitely a 3 "man" job

the bottom pieces has 4 sections...each section will house an under the bed storage bin

2/3rds done

the second from the bottom row will be 4 sections...each section will hold a iris drawer and is 20x24x21"

The top shelf is custom made to hold DS game cases, CD's, etc

the 2nd shelf is for decorative items and the big open shelf is deep & for storage in the back & a play table intended for building with legos, but we'll see what it ends up being used for :o)

There we go...now just to paint it yellow (since we have a Buffalo Sabres theme) and get all the stuff off the wire shelves below loaded in....

Splash Lagoon

This winter we thought it would be nice to go on a "mini tropical vacation"

In Erie, PA there is an indoor water park called Splash Lagoon.

We got a great deal and stay 3 nights in the attached hotel. We just had to walk down the hall & right into the water park. We didn't have to face the cold for anything except to grab some dinner.

It was great...they had several water slides, a basketball court pool, kiddie pools, lazy river, adult only hot tub, as well as kids hot tub.

Zack, Hayley & Connor LOVED the water slides, Riley stuck to the kiddie pools.

There was even an Arcade...the best part was the kids could turn in their tickets for snack coupons (like ice cream) instead of leaving with a bunch of little trinkets.

Connor Maxx is 10

Connor Maximillion is 10 today!

The idea of that is just crazy; where did the time go?

We celebrated with his friends yesterday with a bowling party. It was a blast & sad at the same time to watch the boys at an age when they can all bowl without our help.

Connor is an absolute riot! He is so funny and fun loving. He makes a joke out of everything and rarely cries even when he gets hurt. He still enjoys football but is taking a break from baseball to try a different sport.

For his birthday we got him a fly box (2 ramps with a connecting deck) for his bike and skateboard.

I remember this day 10 years ago so vividly. It started with me already in the hospital; I had been in the hospital for 2 days because I was having kidney failure. The doctor came in and said "we need to induce you today because you baby is at risk" That was so scary he wasn't due for 7 more weeks. It was better to have him early and deal with whatever what thrown at us than to carry him any longer and risk his life.

Luckily he was born healthy; just a little small (well compared to our other babies). He remains smaller than most kids his age but that doesn't hold him back one bit.

Happy Birthday Kee Kee!!!