Cory and daughter, Emma
Look Alikes? Charlie, Dani, Maddie (Cory's daughter)
Aamodt's Apple Orchard11/26/2010
Fall Fun
My brother "convinced" us to go halvsies on a pair of Vikings season tickets. It wasn't a hard sell but it went something like this, "this way we will see you guys at least once a month. We'll have to come up." And so it began. A sad season for our Vikes but a ton of fun for the Nicholson and Beauchamp families.
Cory and daughter, Emma
Look Alikes? Charlie, Dani, Maddie (Cory's daughter)
Aamodt's Apple Orchard
Cory and daughter, EmmaLook Alikes? Charlie, Dani, Maddie (Cory's daughter)Aamodt's Apple Orchard
10/31/2010
The Making of a Winner
It all started with a trip through Target's clearance rack and the Charlie Brown Onesie for $4.88! The idea was planted and so I started searching for how Mark and I would transform into Peanuts characters. Two dollar stores, two Goodwills, another trip to Target, a stop at Joann Fabric, and a few evenings of paper mache and viola! Peppermint Patty and Linus to go with Charlie Brown to Boofest XII (our friend, Dan Fine's super fun yearly Halloween party. Not only are there costumes, but also games, prizes, and wonderful treats)!I have to admit that I don't consider myself very creative. I loved this idea and hounded Mark for his artistic expertise. We had a couple of setbacks including Mark's first attempt exploding after I went to bed (and thus covering the dining room with paste similar to what you'd use to hang wallpaper). His second attempt the balloon shrank some but he was able to salvage that by blowing up another balloon inside the paper mache! His artistic rendering and confidence made this a contender for best costume. But it was truly our adorable Charlie Brown that won over the crowd. We won by 1 vote over an amazing couple that came as "Shark Week" (she dressed as a shark and he dressed as a scuba diver including protective cage!). And third place went to the characters of Clue (Prof. Plum, Col. Mustard, Mrs. White, Mrs. Peacock, Mr. Green, and an almost 4 week old Miss Scarlet).
Happy Halloween!
10/28/2010
Electricity and toilets
My latest endeavors with the house have involved our "never ending" problematic toilet - and some electrical wiring (luckily not together).
The toilet started months ago when we noticed the mounting screws were lose and the toilet was wobbly. I pondered this problem for quite some time and finally decided (months later) to do something about it. I knew nothing of toilets, so I solicited my good friend Josh to swing by and lend a hand. We had no idea what we would find - but figured we'd need some time after taking the toilet off to diagnose and run to get parts. After the removal we found a plastic ring that was mounted to the waste line - except whoever mounted it didn't line up the holes correctly for the toilet to mount to -- plus, the ring sat lower than the surface of the floor. To compensate for both of these things, someone has installed another ring, adding the needed space, and offering two holes to put the mounting bolts through. The piece was made out of cheap plastic and had thus cracked on both sides where the bolts were held. I headed to the store, found a much better plastic ring, and we proceeded to attach and make it work. As we positioned the toilet back over the ring we made sure the wax ring sat correctly. After sealing the ring, I stood there and asked Josh if we removed the rag out of the waste line... and he stared at me wondering how he was responsible for this situation? We removed the toilet and found the rag neatly in place. We were hoping to reuse the wax ring, however, it completely fell apart upon removal of the toilet, and we didn't have more. They run about $1.50 - so Josh was kind enough to run over to the hardware store and pick up two more. I finished the job which ended with a sturdy toilet.
A few weeks later our niece was visiting and not aware of her strength broke the flush handle arm. No problem - I went to a little plumbing store (that carries it all) and they found me a simple brass arm handle that you bend to fit. A few bucks and back I went to install. The arm didn't fit right and I had to make some serious bends to get it working - I mean a 90 to start, then a good 75 to even it out. It wasn't pretty, but seemed to do the trick.
A few days later, we noticed the flap wasn't sticking and there was a slow leak - it appeared the flush handle replacement wasn't working so well. I never new finding a flush handle & arm was so complex. I tried some adjustments to see if we could make it work. It didn't always leak, and if you didn't press down too hard it worked OK.
Oh, have I mentioned the seat (this was all here when we moved in) is a thin plastic. Cheap and pathetic.
Several weeks later Dani noticed a few drops of water from our kitchen ceiling - just below where the toilet is located. I was furious. I figured that dumb wax seal didn't catch perfectly - and with all the non-standard things below the toilet, I couldn't blame it. The following weekend, I gave myself a good 3/4 of the day to work on this problem. After removal, I found the wax ring wasn't really even compressed - the mild movement of the waste line and the way it offset below the floor just didn't allow for a good fit. I headed to the hardware store and located a WAXLESS ring. Priceless - it seals to the toilet and then pops into the line. This was my answer. I also found a metal ring that I just liked better than the plastic one we had (plus, metal wouldn't ever break - just bend a little). I purchased two bins of plumbers putty to seal up really good - and used some concrete crack filler to seal up a few grooves someone missed between the tile. Popped the toilet back on, leveled it both directions, caulked the bottom (leaving a small opening in the back just in case any water leaked - so we'd see it), and we were back in business. For good measure I found a new handle (it actually matched the bathroom better), and a slow close wooden seat, so I gave it a little upgrade. All worked perfectly.
For about 3 weeks - then the seat broke off at the mounting screws. Seemed rare to me - took it back to said store and they just gave me a new one. We'll see how it goes.
Two days ago two electrical sockets went out in our living room. I checked the breakers - nothing. I tested each breaker - all good. So, I started at one outlet and started working my way back. I used an electrical sniffer to test lines as I worked my way back (thanks for the idea Dad!). Found a box with power in, but no power out. Shut down the breaker to that circuit and popped the top. One ground wire wasn't in the wire nut - fixed that. Removed another wire nut to the neutral wires, and one of the wires wasn't even stripped! Fixed that. I figured that would surely fix something. As I was putting it back together I noticed one of the hot wires had some tape around it. I pulled it back to inspect and noticed a nick in the insulation. Nice. I went to put the tape back and do some testing when I noticed the wire seemed rather limp after the nick. Hmm.. it appeared the wire had completely broke off! There was enough room to ditch the broken piece, re-strip the end, and wire it into the bunch. All is now well on the electrical front.
I've surmised that if you want to continue using your brain - get an old house (pre 1930's? - ours is 1917). When you have something to fix - nothing is ever straight forward and always requires some creativity. I also Charlie-ized the kitchen cabinets (except for one - w/ the plastic ware), raked about 13 bags of leaves, added doorstops upstairs, hung a mirror inside the linen closet, and did some ceiling touch ups. Until the next project... Cheers, -Mark.
The toilet started months ago when we noticed the mounting screws were lose and the toilet was wobbly. I pondered this problem for quite some time and finally decided (months later) to do something about it. I knew nothing of toilets, so I solicited my good friend Josh to swing by and lend a hand. We had no idea what we would find - but figured we'd need some time after taking the toilet off to diagnose and run to get parts. After the removal we found a plastic ring that was mounted to the waste line - except whoever mounted it didn't line up the holes correctly for the toilet to mount to -- plus, the ring sat lower than the surface of the floor. To compensate for both of these things, someone has installed another ring, adding the needed space, and offering two holes to put the mounting bolts through. The piece was made out of cheap plastic and had thus cracked on both sides where the bolts were held. I headed to the store, found a much better plastic ring, and we proceeded to attach and make it work. As we positioned the toilet back over the ring we made sure the wax ring sat correctly. After sealing the ring, I stood there and asked Josh if we removed the rag out of the waste line... and he stared at me wondering how he was responsible for this situation? We removed the toilet and found the rag neatly in place. We were hoping to reuse the wax ring, however, it completely fell apart upon removal of the toilet, and we didn't have more. They run about $1.50 - so Josh was kind enough to run over to the hardware store and pick up two more. I finished the job which ended with a sturdy toilet.
A few weeks later our niece was visiting and not aware of her strength broke the flush handle arm. No problem - I went to a little plumbing store (that carries it all) and they found me a simple brass arm handle that you bend to fit. A few bucks and back I went to install. The arm didn't fit right and I had to make some serious bends to get it working - I mean a 90 to start, then a good 75 to even it out. It wasn't pretty, but seemed to do the trick.
A few days later, we noticed the flap wasn't sticking and there was a slow leak - it appeared the flush handle replacement wasn't working so well. I never new finding a flush handle & arm was so complex. I tried some adjustments to see if we could make it work. It didn't always leak, and if you didn't press down too hard it worked OK.
Oh, have I mentioned the seat (this was all here when we moved in) is a thin plastic. Cheap and pathetic.
Several weeks later Dani noticed a few drops of water from our kitchen ceiling - just below where the toilet is located. I was furious. I figured that dumb wax seal didn't catch perfectly - and with all the non-standard things below the toilet, I couldn't blame it. The following weekend, I gave myself a good 3/4 of the day to work on this problem. After removal, I found the wax ring wasn't really even compressed - the mild movement of the waste line and the way it offset below the floor just didn't allow for a good fit. I headed to the hardware store and located a WAXLESS ring. Priceless - it seals to the toilet and then pops into the line. This was my answer. I also found a metal ring that I just liked better than the plastic one we had (plus, metal wouldn't ever break - just bend a little). I purchased two bins of plumbers putty to seal up really good - and used some concrete crack filler to seal up a few grooves someone missed between the tile. Popped the toilet back on, leveled it both directions, caulked the bottom (leaving a small opening in the back just in case any water leaked - so we'd see it), and we were back in business. For good measure I found a new handle (it actually matched the bathroom better), and a slow close wooden seat, so I gave it a little upgrade. All worked perfectly.
For about 3 weeks - then the seat broke off at the mounting screws. Seemed rare to me - took it back to said store and they just gave me a new one. We'll see how it goes.
Two days ago two electrical sockets went out in our living room. I checked the breakers - nothing. I tested each breaker - all good. So, I started at one outlet and started working my way back. I used an electrical sniffer to test lines as I worked my way back (thanks for the idea Dad!). Found a box with power in, but no power out. Shut down the breaker to that circuit and popped the top. One ground wire wasn't in the wire nut - fixed that. Removed another wire nut to the neutral wires, and one of the wires wasn't even stripped! Fixed that. I figured that would surely fix something. As I was putting it back together I noticed one of the hot wires had some tape around it. I pulled it back to inspect and noticed a nick in the insulation. Nice. I went to put the tape back and do some testing when I noticed the wire seemed rather limp after the nick. Hmm.. it appeared the wire had completely broke off! There was enough room to ditch the broken piece, re-strip the end, and wire it into the bunch. All is now well on the electrical front.
I've surmised that if you want to continue using your brain - get an old house (pre 1930's? - ours is 1917). When you have something to fix - nothing is ever straight forward and always requires some creativity. I also Charlie-ized the kitchen cabinets (except for one - w/ the plastic ware), raked about 13 bags of leaves, added doorstops upstairs, hung a mirror inside the linen closet, and did some ceiling touch ups. Until the next project... Cheers, -Mark.
10/04/2010
First Camping Trip
Our first camping trip with Charlie was amazing! We headed to Wisconsin, just across the river from Taylors Falls and camped at the Interstate State Park (in St. Croix Falls, WI). Beautiful weekend and fall colors! The only downside was that it also coincided with the first night below freezing. But, we were all bundled and enjoyed the cuddling.
Charlie, 9 months
Father and son
We even took the opportunity to stop at an Apple Orchard/Pumpkin Patch on our way home! We picked some apples off the trees and let Charlie play with the gourds!
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