Summer Lovin'

Yup...Summer Lovin' on this guy and lovin' summer!  Well, trying to survive summer, more like.  This summer's average temperature is about 20 degrees higher than my ideal zone, but we're surviving.  Here's a little overview of what we've been up to (besides finding out which toys make the most noise, changing dirty diapers and shoveling food toward Ben's face)...
Basement
We're slowing plodding along in our quest toward a completed basement. The walls are all painted and as of today the trim and doors are hung (sadly, not yet painted). We went out to Home Depot tonight and bought a $24 piece on vinyl floor for the bathroom (not much to write home about, but the price was right for a tiny basement bathroom). A couple of weeks ago we got a vanity/counter top/faucet combo (for $210!!) at the Williams Outlet, so the bathroom just needs to be assembled and it will be finished. After I get around to painting the trim, the next step will be carpet and then we can move the stuff back down!! I'm so ready to have my dining room back and not have drywall dust tracked everywhere! We'll finish the drop ceiling later this fall when the finances bounce back from the carpet purchase.
Here are some pics of the progress (Sorry for the water spots!  Guess the camera lens could use a cleaning :)

 

 Here's Ben's little workbench all ready to go in the play area!  Found this on a garage sale for $5 :)

This is the cubby under the stairs that I painted with chalkboard paint for Ben.  So easy!!

This is the bathroom.  All but one wall are painted this bright blue.  The other wall is white and will host a piece of accent art.

Craft Room!!  This area will be my scrapbook zone.

This area will be my sewing zone.  The walls are yellow & grey - my new favorite color combo :)

This is the great room - standing in the play area, looking toward the TV area

We (dad) trimmed away the wall at the bottom of the stairs to make the hallway area feel more open (and make it easier to move furniture in & out)

And these dusty footprints are EVERYWHERE ELSE!  Yeah for dark wood floors :(

Backyard
AKA Weed Field.  The good news is it hasn't flooded this year (not like we've had any rain), but the bad news is the newly planted grass from this spring hasn't exactly flourished (not like we've had any rain).  Oh well.  Baby steps.  Baby Steps.  We haven't done any painting back there yet (neither the fence nor the shed) because it is just too darn hot!  Someday. 

This picture on the left is looking from the house into the yard - you can see where the drain tile was installed.  I'm told that grass will eventually grow over the gravel.  The picture on the right is looking from the yard back to the house - you can see the shed, deck and patio, which we've been enjoying this year when it's not a million degrees outside!

There are a couple of bright spots.  The first is the garden.  It's doing pretty well considering the hot, dry weather.  We're just starting to get some tasty goodies.

Our little garden!!  This year we're experimenting with what we want and how much, etc.  It will be refined next year. :)

Here's the garden bounty I picked one day last week!!  Yum!

The other bright spot is the newly installed clothesline.  Man, do I love me some line-dried sheets.  Nothing better.  Except maybe homegrown tomatoes, which we also have. :)

Today I felt like a pioneer woman living off the land (well, the land and the Target store a quarter mile away - which I walked to, so that's kind of pioneery, right?) 
After I hung my washin' on the line, I commenced to puttin' up some homemade pickles with zucchini from my garden.  Hopefully they're edible!

My Zucchini Pickles - (potential) yum!

Hopefully my next update will contain finished basement pics!!