All My Children

Taken on September 5, 2007, Lauren Anne's birthday.

Stair Remodel

The "before". Perfectly good, right? Well, not for long.

First, we removed the carpet, and then the handrail and drywall.


Here is what it looked like with no drywall.

Then the removal of the framing (that was fun) and the treads and risers. Please note the little children playing all around the worksite.

I ruined the bottom step of the stringer when trying to get the tread off. After despairing for a while, I patched it with plywood.



Then, installation of the custom newel posts I'd build out of cherry




I'm particularly proud of the newel at the top of the stairs. I had attached the anchor post slightly off-square, but wanted the column to be perfectly square. So I attached some spacers to the four corners of the anchor post. That's the light wood you see in the picture. The spacers rotated the newel slightly so that it became perfectly square. Cool!



Next, we installed the trim board against the wall, a surprisingly difficult task.



More to come!

Norm Abram Has Good Hair

As you probably know, I'm rebuilding the staircase at our home. As a part of that project, Kerry and I were installing the handrail, which is a very expensive, sixteen-foot-long piece of solid cherry. I was to cut it to fit between the two newel posts I'd made previously.

We carefully measured the distance between the newels and marked directly on the handrail. I then made the fateful cut, exactly on the line. It came out beautifully. We eagerly clamped it in place to see how it looked. That's when Kerry mentioned that the top end looked a little low. I thought, "Huh, now that you mention it, it does look a little low." But what I said was,

"No, it's fine. It's right."

But she was right, it was low. I'd somehow measured incorrectly up the newel post, marking where the rail should hit far too low. Which means, of course, that when the rail is raised into position, it is far too short.

This is bad. The handrail was ruined; it was completely useless. It was very discouraging. I started to feel like I was out of my league, an amateur attempting a professional's job, and I said to Kerry,

"You get what you pay for, I guess."

Fast forward several days. I badly needed a haircut, something Kerry has always done for me. So I sit down, she grabs the clippers, and with one confident stroke, cuts the front of my hair so I look exactly like that guy from Dumb & Dumber.

So, like any good husband, I begin yelling. Although I'm difficult to take seriously with the ridiculous haircut, I guess, because she found the situation hilarious. When she finally mustered her wits about her enough to speak, she said,

"You get what you pay for."

papa started to redo our stairs. We started by hammering out the drywall, then we took off the carpet. It just so happened that all of the kids were upstairs at the same time that papa was taking of the carpet! What's worse it took him a long time to rip it all off plus we were all starving! Anyway, then we took off the studs which was a scary job at the top. Then came the treads and risers papa pried them all off and put new ones on. Then came the columns we screwed them all on , and put the baseboard thing on. After that came the railing we cut, sanded, and screwed it on and thats where we left off so whats after that, so I have no clue whats next.

Camerons Creations

Today Cameron made some things out of legos and shapes that look like this, I think there really neat and so does Cameron.

My seed selling business

My name is Addison . I started a seed business. First I planted a lot of grape, cherry, peach, pepper, and tomato, seeds. Then I put them in large buckets with fresh soil and water and made sure that they were getting lots of sun. I watered them every day and soon had to move them to Elliot Road, plant, water, and weed them. After a couple of years everything was ripe it was time to harvest the apples, peaches, and cherries from the trees, the tomatoes and peppers from some bushes, and the grapes from the vines. Then I brought them inside the house and arranged them in some big baskets with tags saying what they were. The next day, I got a stand ready and drove downtown to sell them for about 50 cents each. Because it was a sunny day and there was a river nearby there was a ton of people so business was booming! I kept business open for a couple of years so I got over a hundred dollars! I love the seed business.

And that’s how I plant, grow, and sell my seeds.

Leif Erickson Looks For The People Of Greenland

by Evan Markwell, age 7

“Run! Put up the sails!”

His men put up the sails. Then Leif Erickson told his men to get in the boat. His men got in the boat. Leif told his men to row the boat. His men rowed the boat. His men accidentally rowed the wrong way!

So they went the wrong way. Suddenly, they hit land! Leif said, “We will camp here for the night, and then we will look for the people of Greenland.”

Leif Erickson told his men to set up camp. When it was night, Leif set out to find the people of Greenland, but he did not find the people of Greenland. Instead, he found the Indians. When he thought the Indians were the people of Greenland when it was night, he knew that they weren't the people of Greenland. He woke the Indians and the Indians shot their bow and arrows, and Leif got down and rolled on the ground. And rolled around and the Indians ran away. and Leif got up off the ground, and got in the tent.

And then he told his men to go after the Indians. When they found the Indians, they fought and fought, and Leif Erickson was there. After the war was over, he set out to find the people of Greenland, but he did not find the people of Greenland, and he realized that he was not in Greenland. He was in Vinland. So he told his men to take down camp and he told his men to get in the boat and sail away. When they were there, Leif Erickson set out again to find the people of Greenland.

When he found them, he was very happy.

The end.

That is the story as Evan dictated it to me. What follows is a transcription of his notes.

run pet up the suls his min put up the suls then lief ericson told his min to git in the bot his min got in the boat lief told his min to row the boat his min rew the boat his min accidently rew the roing waie soe tha winte the roing wae suddenly tha hit land lief siad we wil camp hier fre the nite and then we wil look for the pepl of Greenlend lief ericson told his min to setep up camp win it was nit lief set et to find the pepl of Greenlend bet he bib not find the pepl of Greenlend insded he fond the indians win he fot the indians were the pepl of Greelend win it wes nit he noo the wrnt the pepl of Greenland so he wocup the insded and the insded sot thu bownawos and lief got don and he wold on the grand and rold arande and the insded ran awae and lief got off the grarnd he got in the tent and then he told his min to go after the insded win tha fond the insded tha fot and fot and lief wes thar and aftr the war was over he set out t find the pepl of Greenland pet he did not find the pepl of Greenland and he relist that he ruthin in Greenland he was in vinland so he told his min to tak dane camp and he told his min to get in the boat and sal awae win they wer ther lief set art agan too find the pepl of Greenland win he fond them he wes vare hape the end

pumkin patch

Yesterday my family went to a pumpkin patch.
First we went to look at the animals, then mom led us to the flowers
we took lots of pictures.
Then we went to the play ground and went inside a tepee, played on the swings, and jumped
from tire to tire.
When it was time to go we all piled in the car
and drove to Elliot Road, looked around then drove home.

And thats my trip to the pumpkin patch.

Lauren Anne

...didn't get her cookie.

Hi, Sweetie

Cool blog, Addison!

Our First Post

Welcome to our blog! I'll use this to keep you updated about what is happening with the Markwell family. Please visit often, and leave comments!

God bless,
Addison