Happy 3X Birthday Daddy :*:*:*

Good Morning,good morning..May the Birthday morning brings you great joys and excitements:*:*
 Mommy and Belle with Daddy a very Happy and Healthy Birthday.We miss You very berry much :*
So we decide to get you a cake .it was supposed to be a Strawberry but it was 2 sizes bigger so we pick this smaller one still will Strawberry powder on top :*..ANd we light up 3 candles for our small family and Belle sang you a Happy Birthday song ...Hope that you can feel it :*.We miss you very much ...She was thinking that we can bring the cake to daddy's house for daddy...So she imagines what will we do then...oh we will sleep together...then after sleep, what will we do? :D..we will play with the frog and the Chicken ^^ :P
 Hope this helps celebrate your 3xxx Birthday :D...We hope to see you so so so soon..
PS: SHOUT OUT TO GRANMA AND AUNTY JENNY:* we miss u too

Cayce's short trip to Viet nam:)

We're testing the internet right now, so this is a quick post:* hope everyone can see it.

   

here is some pictures from our trip.we went to Sapa.Up in the north and much cooler than Hanoi:).Here is Belle with a Hmong girl.They're cute in different ways :P
 COs Cayce wants some pictures with me in too..so here is some of my pictures:D

 Belle and Mommy r sending big hugs to Granny and Auntie Jenny...:X:X:XHope to see u all soon ..mwahhhhh

More pictures from the beach trip ^^

 As I promised:D i finally got those photos at the beach. Im watching Vietnam's got talents at the same time so its abit distracted :"> :P:D...SO. I'll let the pictures do the talking ^^

  Getting ready with suncream

  This is actually a before picture when she was packing herself, she puts all of her closet in the suitcase:D and said: that's enough:)):))

  aBOUT to jump into the water, she's abit grumpy and want to stay warm and dry in the sand:D

 Once she get in the water, totally enjoy it^^

 this is the cute sand car u made ^^

 How cheeky her face is :X:X:X
hope everyone like it^^

We're back from a short trip to the beach:)

HI everyone, last weekend was the long holiday in viet nam.We had 4 days weekend so my family decided to go to the beach house about 3,4h drive from Hanoi. Belle is the most excited one, of course:P All she's been talking about is "going to the beach", "building sand castle". My dad was too busy with a project, so only me ,Belle, my mom and my younger brother go together:) it was short but fun.
It was 2.5 days and she had 3 times in the water.we had the routine of: swim , breakfast, go out, lunch, nap, swim again, dinner and go to the beach terrace cafe at night:).
 Normally in the morning the sea is calmer, she felt bigger since no wave can attack her :D. we would all jump over the waves:P. But in the afternoon, esp the second day,there r very strong waves, they beat me and her up several times:"> she did drink some salt water:P... And we even had to rest for awhile, so she could get her nerve away and back to the water again...just to be pressed down again:"> After the second time, she gave up and turned to building sand stuffs.She had the car and the aeroplane shape which u can fill up with wet sand, the put it up side down, tap..and there u go, a sand car ...That's a fun thing to do, wish I could find more shapes.
 On a day out, we went to see the crocodiles, to the seafood market. I bet the crocodiles weren't as cute as in the book, they were also camouflaged with the stone floor and moss, so she wasn't impressed. On the other hand, she was excited with all the live seafood: the crab, the squid, shrimp and everything  :).
  A note to her love for animals: she refused to pee in the water ( which all of us did:p) to wait till we were back to the hotel, since she didn't want to kill the fish ( its her words) :) I was very impressed with how she's growing :) about her personality :)its cute to watch , as Cayce said: very happy-go-lucky^^
  It was 4h drive each way, after we're back home, both my mom and brother were sick, I was tired..only her is back to her playing, and cheerful mood :)) it saved me a lot of time :P SOmehow, I feel like the name Aurora was a bit too soft and feminine for her:D she's a bit tougher;)
 Anyway,is it a too detailed trip report:D? I'll show proofs in pictures now. I still have many more in other cam ( pictures that she was playing the water,) but I'll update soon, i hope:">

  Eventho we left in early morning(6am) she was already dresses up the night before:D rat ready:)

  The actual morning that we left:D purse, cap, shoe and bucket:*

  We arrived and ready for lunch, this is sun protection:D

  She enjoys painting after lunch :) she is so into the dark color like green, brown

  Daddy knows she just love hiding in the closet:x:x

  Inside her purse: sunscreen: checked. sunglass: Checked, candy bar: checked:D

 Mommy and me ready for swimming^^

 BBQ dinner:) she was a bit sleepy

 The whole clan:)
 pls, enjoy it.I'll try to post more after i dl them from other cam:)
 Love
Avi

April 26 Construction Update - Framing Started and New Sinks

Hello everyone, it's Cayce.  Here's a brief update on construction.  I've started framing in the hallway for the Unit 2 staircase.  It's an odd space, since I've converted an internal staircase and am going to make the old mid-point landing a storage shelf.  This might seem a bit confusing now, but will make sense a little later!

The house itself is 101 years old, and has settled.  As such, making framing plumb and square can be a bit tricky at times.  In this case the floor slopes downwards slightly as we move inwards from the exterior foundation wall.

This double header will be tied back into the landing / "new storage platform" using a 2x6 and several new 2x4s and hangers.  That's one of my next steps and I'll post a new entry about it when completed.

Also, this week I had a stroke of luck.  I was dropped by large plumbing supply store, just 10 minutes before they closed.  I told them that I was going to be redoing 3 bathrooms in a rental house.  One of the managers there asked if I needed any vanities.  I replied somewhat indifferently, then she pointed over at a display of 4 of them and said take any of those for $100.    Two of them had integrated seamless sinks and tops, one with a Delta faucet and the other a Moen.  Just the Delta faucet was more than $100 retail, not to mention the cabinet or sink.  The Oak cabinet is solid hardwood.  I new a deal when I saw one and immediately shook her hand to seal the deal.  

 

Next she went to go ring it up, and she swore.  She asked a sales associate if the cabinet was some-model-or-another, as well as the sink top.  The sales clerk said yes, and that she thought that the manager knew that.  Apparently, they normally sell just the cabinet for $450! She'd mistakenly thought that it was a particle board or plywood laminate model cabinet.  Ha!  We'd just shaken hands on the deal so they were stuck with selling the whole deal to me, Delta faucet and all for $100. 

2008

A blast from the past!  Remember this Avi?

And recently Belle and Avi sent me more flowers!  Very nice work, thanks Belle!

Sistering a Joist

After cutting away the floor, I had a hand from a worker of mine to sister a joist.  Four of the old joists had been cut away in large part by what I imagine was a very thoughtless plumber. 

Here's a look at the joists and floor underneath what used to be the 2nd floor bathroom.  Many years ago, a plumber cut away the top areas of these joists to make room for pipes.  Over time, there was also extensive water damage.  As such, these joists are weak and need to be jacked-up and sistered.  I've got a 2 1/2 ton floor jack and a 4x6 beam that I'll use for that purpose.

Here's another view. Note the white marks and notches in the joists.  I've already sistered several of them, and you can see the structural connectors that were used.

Here's a view from the other direction.

That electrical wire is in the way and needs to be moved tomorrow before I can sister that corresponding joist.

I had to notch the joist in 2 areas -- at the far end  next to the wall, and also to accept the original structural beam.

First we test-fitted the beam.  Next we took it down to apply construction adhesive.  Also, I used an angle grinder to cut away several nails that would have been in the way.

After ***MUCH***  pounding with a 3-lb hammer and 5-lb sledge hammer, we finally got the board into place.

The last step was to jack up the paired joists with the 2.5 ton floor jack, and then when it was level, to use structural connectors to affix the new joist to the old one.  Tomorrow I'll move the electrical wire and get this part of the job done.

Construction Update - Cutting Back 2nd Floor For Staircase Header

Hello everyone! Here's an update on construction at my house.  It's been a loooooong time and a cold winter, so quite a lot has changed since my last update of this sort.  Yesterday I worked on two significant tasks on the house.  The first was to cut back the second level floor and joists so that there is enough "run" or space to be able to construct building-code compliant stairs down to a new landing and exterior door.   The second project is to sister a number of cut-away joists that hold up the main second unit bathroom.  These joists are long... about 16 feet each, so inserting them and jacking them up is a bit tricky.  More on that in a second post.  For now, take a look at the work to prepare for building the staircase.

Here is a view of the area on the second floor that needs to be cut back.  If it's not cut back and I build the stairs, then the stairway will be too steep, and it will fail the building inspection.

Here's a view from the bottom.  Actually I have already cut away the new double header that I'd originally built.  This was added primarily to strengthen the structure at the bottom of the old staircase that leads up to the third floor.

Another angle.

Here are my initial measurements and cuts.  I used a laser on the bottom side to ensure that everything was straight and square, and drilled small pilot holes up through the floor (which is about 2.5" thick).  I used my circular saw to make the bulk of the cut.  I set the initial depth to be shallow, then increased the depth by ~1/2" until it was fully extended.  Next, I used my sawzall to cut the joists

 

The last cut was along the right side, and ... "voila!" the whole floor section dropped down the the first floor.

...like so!

Here's a closer look at the piece.

....and another.

Here's a close-up of the cut itself.

The view from the top-down.

The view from the opposite side.

Next, it's time to sister the joists that run underneath this floor.   Stay tuned for my next post.