FUN TIMES TO CHAIR-ISH

Momma Peach has slowly returned to the land of the living from her sinus yuck of last week and no longer resembles a scary zombie (well, most of the time). Dadda returned from his business trip to Las Vegas to find two very tired girls, but both of whom were very happy to see him. 

Miss Priss and her parents have been loving the cool weather that the recent rain brought to Georgia - so we've been playing a good bit outside in the early evenings: 

By "play" outside, Evie really just
likes to ROCK outside!

Motorboat, Motorboat...
BBBbbbb... BBBBbbbb...
BBBbbbbb.
Her new favorite sound to make!

Good try, Mom, but moving me under this tree is
not going to get me out of my chair.

In fact, I'll just suck my thumb
and get even cozier in this position.

Just chillin'....

Little lady is quite fascinated by climbing into
anything and everything that can be a potential sled.
(that's the new englander coming out in her!)

Yup, that is a bare-bottomed baby booty in a basket!!

"It's bath time, you guys!
Follow me, I'll lead the way!"
(please note the fabulous pink toenail polish)

A NOT SO PEACHY WEEK

Momma Peach was slightly under the weather this week (uughh... sinus infection/flu!). It was especially tough since The Most Interesting Man in the World was out of town on a business trip and wasn't around to baby the two babies in the household. 

Because Momma Peach's head felt like it might have exploded at any moment, she decided to call in reinforcements to help with Evie.  Gabba Gabba answered the call and came to play with Evie while Momma Peach recuperated and stayed home from work on Tuesday.

After wallowing on the couch and struggling to push down liquids through a sore throat, Momma Peach's spirits were lifted when she trudged outside and saw this:

Hi Momma! Nothing to see here!

Naked Baby? What naked baby? Nope, not me! 

Hmmm... I'll help you look for that naked baby.
That baby is obviously not in this wagon!

On another note, the Yankee and Peach household is MORE than ready for Fall 2010!

Yesterday (Wednesday) was officially the last day of summer and we welcomed in the beginning of Autumn at 11:09 PM last night, according to local meteorologist-and-general-know-it-all Glenn Burns.  

Although this so called "Autumn" hasn't really put a damper on the ridiculous Georgia heat, we have a feeling a cool breeze will be blowing soon!

Was anybody else hyped up on sinus medications - and unable to sleep-  so you decided to go outside on Wednesday night at midnight to look at the Harvest Moon?
Yeah, I didn't think so.

Shaaaaaaa - ZAM!!!
And that's the Harvest Moon with Momma Peach's new zoom lens.
You can thank Canon, along with Tylenol Cold, Flu and Sinus Relief for this picture.

THE MOST INTERESTING MAN IN THE WORLD

The game camera mounted on a tree in the woods of Mountville, Georgia finally caught a picture of the elusive paternal figure interacting with his offspring.  The Sinottus Christopherus Pygmaeus is one of the most difficult animals to capture and is quite enigmatic and surreptitious in his behavior patterns, mainly in order to dodge still photography being taken of him.  

  

Although the camera says 4:06 AM, this was obviously taken midday.
He has been known to make time stop simply by looking at it.

 

Native to Rhode Island, the Sinottus Christopherus Pygmaeus was first discovered in California during the late 1970’s. He is a dynamic figure, often seen scaling walls and crushing ice. He doesn’t perspire. He is a private citizen, yet he receives fan mail. Last summer he toured New Jersey with a traveling centrifugal force demonstration. His batting average is over .400. His quarterback passing rating is 158. His deft floral arrangements have earned him fame in international botany circles. 

Children trust him, especially twins.  He can pilot bicycles up severe inclines with unflagging speed, and he cooks Thirty-Minute Meals in twenty minutes. On Wednesdays, he repairs electrical appliances free of charge. He is an abstract artist, a concrete analyst, and a ruthless bookie. Critics worldwide swoon over his original line of corduroy evening wear. 

He once read Paradise Lost, Moby Dick, and David Copperfield in one day and still had time to refurbish an entire dining room that evening. He knows the exact location of every food item in the supermarket. He has performed covert operations for the CIA.

He has been known to remodel train stations on his lunch breaks, making them more efficient in the area of heat retention. He translates ethnic slurs for Cuban refugees and he writes award-winning operas. Occasionally, he treads water for three days in a row. He woos women with his sensuous and godlike harmonica playing.

Using only a hoe and a large glass of water he once single-handedly defended a small village in the Amazon Basin from a horde of ferocious army ants. He plays bluegrass cello, and he was scouted by both the Braves and Cowboys. He is the subject of numerous documentaries. When he’s bored, he builds large suspension bridges in his yard. He enjoys urban hang gliding.

He sleeps once a week; when he does sleep, it’s in a chair. While on vacation in Canada, he successfully negotiated with a group of terrorists who had seized a small bakery. The laws of physics do not apply to him. A full tank of gasoline costs him one dollar. Years ago he discovered the meaning of life but forgot to write it down. He breeds prize winning clams. He has won bullfights in San Juan, cliff-diving competitions in Sri Lanka, and spelling bees at the Kremlin. He has played Hamlet, performed open heart surgery, and he has spoken with Elvis.

His charm is so contagious vaccines have been created for it. Years ago, he built a city out of Lego blocks. Today, over six hundred thousand people live and work there. He is the only man to ever ace a Rorschach test. Every time he goes for a swim dolphins appear. Alien abductors have asked him to probe them. If he were to give you directions, you'd never get lost and you'd arrive at least five minutes early. His legend precedes him the way lightning precedes thunder.

Even his parrot's advice is insightful. If there were an interesting gland, his would be larger than most men's entire lower intestines. His shirts never wrinkle. He is ambidextrous. You can see his charisma from outer space. His beard alone has experienced more than a lesser man's entire body. His blood smells like cologne. On every continent in the world, there is a sandwich named after him. In every known galaxy, there is a planet named for him. 

He doesn’t don't believe in using oven mitts, nor potholders. His cereal never gets soggy. It sits there, staying crispy, just for him. His pillow talk is years ahead of its time. He taught a horse to read his e-mail for him. Respected archaeologists fight over his discarded apple cores.

He once had an awkward moment, just to see how it felt. His organ card even lists his beard. He’s been known to cure narcolepsy by just walking into a room. He’s so magnetic, he can't carry credit cards. His reputation is expanding faster than the universe. He lives vicariously through himself. He says nothing tastes like chicken...not even chicken. He once lowered the sea level by throwing sponges into the ocean.

He can burp-speak in multiple languages. He has worked as a construction worker, commercial fisherman, newspaper writer and attorney all in the same day. He once let three men punch him in the face to see if he could feel pain. He’s won three consecutive disco dance contests.

The police often question him, just because they find him interesting. When he orders a salad, he gets the dressing right there on top of the salad, where it belongs.   If a monument was built in his honor, Mt. Rushmore would close due to poor attendance.  People hang onto his every word, even the prepositions. He could disarm you with his looks, or his hands, either way. He can speak French in Russian. It is said the sun comes up later on the 6th of May, in case his Cinco parties run long. The Mayans prophesied his birth. Even lucha libres remove their masks in his presence. He once taught a German shepherd to bark in Spanish.

He once buried a time capsule full of things that haven't happened yet.  He has been pronounced dead 7 times...make that 8. His bear hugs are actually hugs he give to bears. He can't be bought, but his beard clippings have been known to show up at auction. He has never lost a sock. If he disagrees with you, it is because you are wrong. He was once 100% certain about being uncertain.

Most songs about love are written for him, about him, or by him. He’d never initiate a conversation about the weather, even in a typhoon. He’s against cruelty to animals, but he’s not afraid to issue a stern warning. Whatever side of the tracks he’s currently on is the right side. If he crossed them, he would still be the right side. He won the same lifetime achievement award twice. When he goes to a restaurant waiters tip him.

His toe-nail clipping are considered legal tender in some third world countries. He was going to become a god, but felt it was a lateral move. When he was born, the doctors thought that he was such a beautiful baby that they smoked Cuban cigars with him in the delivery room to congratulate him on a job well done.

He voted for Obama, just to see the chaos. When he wakes up the roses smell him. He sleeps with a night light, not because he’s afraid of the dark but because the dark is afraid of him. He holds a Doctorate in Originality-  which he teaches at Stanford where no one ever passes. When he goes skydiving, Peregrine Falcons always trail behind him. When he looks in the mirror there's never a reflection, not because of vampirism, but because he’s only one of a kind. He can defeat anyone in a game of chess without making any moves. A leader of a country once took a bullet for him on a failed assassination attempt.

He has written proof that the Bermuda triangle is actually a parallelogram. He once put himself up as collateral. He is so respected, even his enemies list him as their emergency contact number. He once licked a poisonous frog just to see what would happen. He once snapped his wife's bra strap just to see what it felt like to get slapped in the face. He has stopped chickens from crossing the road and he knows which came first. He saves seals from drowning. He knows who killed JFK. He won the arms race. He can see the Northern Lights from South America.  He counsels the Dalai Lama on matters of spirituality. The Pope once requested an audience with him.

He invented string theory from discarded dental floss. He holds the world record for holding the most world records. He knows exactly how many blondes it takes to change a light bulb. If your GPS is slow, it's because it's waiting for his response. He watched as Neil Armstrong landed on the moon... from the moon. He can play Mozart and Beethoven on the piano at the same time. He is smarter than a fifth grader. 

We’ll miss you, Dadda. Have a good trip!

PARTY HARD

We're celebrating Tech's win over UNC today - so we're partying too hard at the moment to post a lengthy amount...

Hey, it's 5 o'clock somewhere, right?

This is how you do it, right?

Hhmmm..  this Born On Date is the same as mine!

Cheers, guys!

We'll post again soon!

(Disclaimer: Yes, the bottle was empty. What do you think we do around here? Just drink all day?)  ....

                                         Don't actually answer that!




GO JACKETS!

DO IT MYSELF!

Little Miss Priss has been feeding herself finger foods by picking them up for a while now. However, we've recently introduced utensils as a regular part of her dinner time ... all the more fun!

Just scoop it and slurp it. Right, mom?!

I've got it under control!

Scoop, scoop, scoop. Here it goes, down in my belly.
(Ron Burgundy would be proud.)

It goes down much faster if I
just gulp it straight out of the jar.

Mmmmm... yum yum.

PPppfffffffft!

More, please!

Okay, this is getting to be a bit too much
like a Linda-Blair-in-the-Exorcist moment

Fine, I'll try the spoon again!

Num num num nuuuuuuummm

I like doing it myself, Mom!

IN CASE YOU WERE WONDERING...

Prepare yourself for a little bit of potty talk. In case you were wondering, this is what we like to call Evie's POOP FACE...

When this face combos with some "gremlin" like grunts, we know there is business being done.

$75 for adoption fee at pound.
$29.99 for 50 lb bag of dog food.
Poop detectors that never fail: priceless.

PHEW!! That one burned even Trot's nose. 
Dang, Evie, whacha been eating??

All cleaned up and rehydrating!

Yup, that's our little stinker.

PROJECT MAYHEM - COMPLETE!

The Mission:   Finish the Yankee & Peach basement before Evie's Dadda gets home from his trip.  This means a whole lotta work was to be done in 7 days, 17 hours, and 45 minutes, give or take time for a layover in Amsterdam, the wait at the ATL baggage claim, US customs delays, and Dadda's drive home from the airport.

The History: In September 2009, the city of Atlanta (actually the entire state of Georgia) experienced incredibly heavy rains. So much rain that portions of ALL the major highways were closed around Atlanta at one time or another. Homes were ruined, business were closed, roads were flooded - even the Ego waffle maker facility was shut down! Catastrophe!

The Yankee & Peach household, although located on top of a decent sized hill, experienced basement flooding due to the unbelievable ground swell of rainwater. Momma Peach was actually squeegeeing, pumping, and bailing out water in the basement on the day she was originally slated to give birth to Evie. (Luckily, the little Peach decided to wait another THREE weeks to make her appearance.)  

We demolished everything in the basement.  We pulled up all the old wet carpet, the linoleum (well, it actually floated away with the rain water...), the baseboards, and ripped out the insulation, the wet drywall... everything. The flooding was actually a good thing because we had been wanting to renovate for a while, but we didn't want to spend the money on something that was "fine and usable," however hideous to look at. (The original carpet was what we called "Bad Vegas airport style."  Momma Peach almost had a seizure every time she stared at the hot pink, green, and teal lightning bolt print on the floor for too long.)

There was no ceiling in the smaller room, and in the bigger room the ceiling was suspended tile that tried to guillotine anyone over six feet tall who walked into it.  It truly was a Man Cave, since you felt like you really were in a cave. It was 'usable' space, but not really functional or inviting.

Fast forward to approximately a year later. After the flood, Evie's Dadda stripped the entire area down to the cinder blocks in order for us to waterproof it and start all over with the finishing process.  Once the waterproofing was done, Evie's Dadda started the painfully slow process of re-framing the whole area himself.  Momma Peach helped where she could, but with a new baby, it wasn't a priority anymore. 

So... how did Project Mayhem come about? Well, Dadda mentioned to Momma Peach that he was going to embark on a world-wind trip for his job that would have him absent for much of the month of August. In less than three weeks, he went to Philadelphia, Argentina, Australia, China, Thailand, and India. 

So, never one to sit and twiddle her thumbs, Momma Peach strategically planned for contractors to come give her estimates on the basement project on days that she knew Dadda wouldn't be around prior to these trips. Dadda almost blew the surprise twice by coming home early from work on a few days... although it would have made for a classic story had he actually caught Momma Peach, since it would have been incredibly awkward for her to explain what two strange guys were doing roaming around the house with her without his knowledge. 

Well, awkwardness and neighborhood gossip aside, Momma Peach scheduled for many strange men to come help her in this project.  After just a few days, the strange men were strangers no more:

Meet Vyk. (Actually Vykintas Genys.)
Although this picture makes it look like he should be a Russian mobster holding an AK-47 and smoking a cigarette (ha!), he's actually a very nice man who truly cares about his work and his clients. Vyk worked very hard to stay within Momma Peach's budget and to make sure everything was completed to her specifications.
Vyk was basically Momma Peach's Ty Pennington for the week -- well, if Ty Pennington was a little less hyper, quieter and also happened to be Lithuanian.  Although basketball is the king of sports in Lithuania, Vyk is a rebel by declaring himself a huge soccer fan instead. He has two young sons - one of whom would LOVE to have a baby sister. Vyk has no plans for a little sister, but we may let him borrow Evie on occasion for his sons to play with. 

Meet Justin. He's not actually named "Justin."
His real name is about 12 syllables long and starts with an "A." Momma Peach can't pronounce it, so he quickly told her to call him Justin, since everyone else does. Justin has the uncanny ability to nap with techno music at full blast from his car speakers, while waiting on the drywall team to finish their work.

Meet Fernando. (And check out how high the ceiling is now!)
Fernando is the King of Drywall.
Fernando has six kids, ranging in ages from 11 to 19. That's a busy household. Momma Peach and Evie got to meet and feed two of his kids some chocolate chip cookies and talk about their summer reading lists while they waited for their Dad to finish skimming/mudding the drywall.

There are basically three "rooms" in the basement:  a smaller square room you first walk down the stairs into, a larger rectangular room off to the side, and a L-shaped room that houses the furnace, water heater, and shop area behind the staircase. We wanted to finish two of the three rooms, and leave the shop and furnace area alone. Hopefully, you can follow the progression of the pictures below.

This is Uncle Battle and Dadda in the
bigger room about a year ago, when we first started ripping everything out after the flooding. Battle is 6'3'' tall and he had about 1" of clearance with the old ceiling.  Dadda has no shoes on in this picture, but his hair could usually brush the ceiling on days when he mohawked his hair. (or forgot to apply product after his shower)
Momma Peach was enormously pregnant with Evie at this time.

About 4 months ago.
Down to the bare bones, ready to start the waterproofing. 

Another shot of the bigger room, pre-waterproofing.

And then Momma Peach went crazy and hired contractors. She had her co-conspirator and partner in crime, Uncle Battle, come help clear out the basement the minute she heard Dadda's car crank up to leave for the airport....

We had to reroute a TON of ductwork and electrical.
Quite a few interesting electrical debacles were found.
How our house hadn't burn down was a mystery to me.

The frame is up and the insulation added!
Please notice the ductwork - it's routed around the edges of the room and not hanging inches above your head anymore!

This was about the time Momma Peach got giddy with excitement. The drywall is up - there is some semblance of a real room!
We also decided to add a closet for extra storage space to the back of the room. (ie. WINE CLOSET!)

95% DONE!

Here's a few shots of the smaller entrance room:

Bare walls, pre-waterproofing.

Water proofing done and frame added.

Drywall is up!  Almost done!

 

Look, Momma! I painted a picture for the basement.
It's like a bunch of blocks - my favorite!!

Um, Momma...
you said that Dadda was coming home today, but who is this bearded guy hugging me?

So, Momma Peach considers Project Mayhem a success. Although the walls weren't primed before Dadda got home (we just did that last night) and they don't have their final coat of paint, the floor has not been finished, and the furniture has not been moved back in - nevertheless, the construction job is done. The pipes/ducts/electrical that needed rerouting has been done. The insulation is added and the dry wall is up, mudded, and dried. We have a ceiling (holy moly, a real ceiling?!) and the electricity is in all the right places, panels have been added for access to the areas we need access to, and everything works so far. Hallelujah!

And before you think Momma Peach has completely taken over the "Man Cave" project -- she kept Chris in mind for (almost) every decision she made in the process.  Ultimately, the only thing that Momma Peach is adamant about is that this space has transformed into something entirely too nice to be referred to as a Man Cave. Since Momma Peach added a wine closet (a suggestion of Dadda's!), maybe we can call it the "cellar" now? Or recreation room? It's no longer the "cave!"  Doesn't  "Man Cave" sounds like a term someone would come up with if they have a problem sharing a space with a woman and/or couldn't cope with a mixed environment? Turns out men and women like each other and can share space. Who'dathunk it?

We'll post more pictures as the painting progresses -- but in the meantime, this is a HUGE step in the right direction!