Owner: The Building Brows URL:http://www.thebuildingbrows.com Join Date: Tue, 13 Mar 2007 23:17:35 -0500 Rating:0 Site Description: 800 people in 800 square feet--DIY house construction of a large Vermont family living small. Site statistics:Click here
RECALL: "Elite Operations" Toy Sets sold at Toys R Us 2007-03-14 01:32:00 On March 13, 2007, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission announced the "Elite
Operations" Toy Sets voluntary recall by Toys "R" Us for lead and laceration hazards.This is a light and sound military-style play set with vehicles, action figures, and accessories. These sets were sold at Toys "R" Us between January 2006 and early February 2007.According to the CPSC, "These toys contain high levels of lead in the paint, which is toxic if ingested by young children and can cause adverse health effects. Also, the toys have sharp points, posing a laceration hazard. Consumers should immediately take the toys away from children and return the product to the nearest Toys "R" Us store for full credit."Models affected by this recall:Super Rigs Transport Vehicle (Item # 087286)Command Patrol Center Item # 920625)Troop Carrier (Item # 773967)Consumer Information:www.toysrus.com1-800-TOYSRUS (869-7787)"Elite Operations" Toy Sets CPSC recall notice
Leaky Roof Patch 2007-03-12 19:07:00 Jim went into the addition the other night and stepped on a soaking wet floor.Yup. Again.I checked the cups to catch drips I had put up a few days before and the two held by the wire were full. The other two taped to the wall had fallen. I guess my solution wasn't better than Jim's sock fix after all--unless they fell after a small amount of water in them had dried. Stains in the cup gave good evidence.Unlike the first time we found a wet floor and leaking roof seams, this time it was raining outside, and water was dripping steadily on the left side like water was pouring in along the seam underneath the insulation. A small push on the insulation was like squeezing a wet sponge.Jim remembered the problems before constructing the addition with leaking around the front door, so he decided to coat the roof with roofing tar along the seam. We should know soon if that stopped the leaks.Sigh.At least the floor is dry today. I'm glad we installed a low-pile, high-traffic carpet in the boys Read more:Leaky
, Patch
Publication Date Change for our NY Times Appearance 2007-03-12 16:28:00 I learned after I picked up the New York Times
yesterday that Key magazine isn't coming until next Saturday, March 18. I'm sorry about the mix up. I relayed what the Times had told me, so they either changed the release date or someone goofed.So hang on for another week, folks. The photo essay on The Building Brows in Key magazine will be in newsstands next Sunday.
Read more:Change
Our New York Times Appearance--Tomorrow! 2007-03-10 21:21:00 If all goes as I was told by the New York Times
writer and fact checker, tomorrow is the day the photo essay on our family appears in Key magazine in the New York Times
. Check it out for an inside look at how our family of eight lives day-to-day in this 832-square foot mobile home.
Coping with a leaky roof 2007-03-10 16:38:00 This is Jim's solution for a leaky roof.This is Brandy's solution for a leaky roof.Which do you think worked better? I found soaked carpet in the boys' room. Of course, I thought the dog emptied his bladder in there, so I scolded Diesel, but when I started hauling wet toys out from under the bed where he couldn't possibly have peed, I realized it wasn't him. (At least he's not alone--last year I yelled at the cat for the same thing thinking she had peed outside litter box.) I recalled IJ saying a few days before that the roof was leaking, so I looked up. Sure enough. Drip drip drip in three places along the ceiling from underneath the insulation. The entire carpet behind and under the dresser was soaked along with several toys and dirty clothes. I fetched a cup and tucked it behind the wire. If it was going to leak anywhere in the room, it had at least done it in a convenient spot.The next day I checked the carpet and found to my dismay that it was still sopping wet. I looked up Read more:Coping
RECALL: Ryobi Router Table Throat Plate 2007-03-09 16:44:00 On March 6, 2007, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission announced the Ryobi RouterTable
Throat Plate
s voluntary recall by One World Technologies Inc. due to laceration hazard.According to the CPSC, "The throat plates do not securely snap into the router's able top bit opening. The throat plate can come loose during operation and be ejected from the table top, posing a laceration hazard to consumers.This recall affects about 100,000 units sold exclusively at Home Depot between May 2004 and January 2007.Visit the CPSC for more Ryobi Router Table Throat Plate recall details: http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml07/07120.html
Review: Radiant Floor Heating 2007-03-07 15:19:00 We're coming out of a third winter in this mobile home, and it is bitter cold outside despite the March calendar. I get cold easily, and the floors in this trailer are brutal. As I sit at my computer, cold breeze blows on my feet from underneath the cart on wheels next to my computer desk, and it makes me cold all over. The thermostat says it's 73 degrees Fahrenheit, but it's sitting on the hallway wall, not at my feet. I hate cold feet.In times like these, I think to the future when we'll move into our house next door and to the radiant floor heating we installed. We'll have the typical features of radiant heating: warm feet and cool head, no radiators, and no heating elements. I soooo look forward to that.My friend has radiant floor heating and my mom worked in a home with it, and both say the floors are nice and warm on the feet and the room temperature feels even. Their experiences were some of the reasons we decided to go with radiant heating. And the system makes sense--warm Read more:Radiant
, Floor
, Heating
Quick Kitchen Floor Cleanup 2007-03-07 13:24:00 Welcome to Works for Me Wednesday, sponsored by Rocks In My Dryer.When we got a Saint Bernard puppy nine years ago (has it really been that long?), her jowls weren't so droopy so she drooled little. Maybe they'd stay that way, I thought.Yeah, right. She was a Saint Bernard.Once she grew to full size, the drool factory was in full swing. True to the movie Turner and Hooch, she would drink water, shake her head, and strings of drool would slap against walls and puddle on the floor. You think banana peels are slippery? Try major dog drool.I got in the habit of wiping her mouth with paper towel after she drank, and she let me, but I couldn't be there every waking minute. I'd find dried hair splatters on the floor and walls which made me shudder every time I saw them.I needed a quick and easy cleaning solution. It wasn't long before I found my answer.I mixed a small part of Spic and Span or Mr. Clean with a large part of water in a spray bottle. Point, shoot, and wipe. No fights with a Read more:Floor
, Quick
, Kitchen
, Cleanup
Discipline System: Daydo List 2007-03-06 17:27:00 The last major component of The Building Brows's discipline system is the Daydo List. It's a daily check-off list for an entire month and is the springboard for the Chore Board and Privilege Ladder.Kids start at the Daydo List with the goal of checking off each task for the day. Since chores are listed on the Daydo List, it reminds them to look at the chore board to complete what's expected of them.I make the Daydo List on graph paper, but it could easily be done on a computer spread sheet.At the top left, I write the name of the childAt the center I write "Daydo List -- [month] [year]"I skip a row, and at the eleventh square from the left (depending upon your size graph paper), I start numbering to the right for each day in the month. On the next row to the left of the numbers, I label the daily tasks down the side. These should only be ones they are supposed to do most days of the week.Make sure you include "chores" in the list. Some of our tasks include:brush teethmake bedput awa Read more:Discipline
, System
Recycling to Earn: For nonprofits and schools 2007-03-06 17:08:00 Here's a little fundraiser for nonprofit and educational organizations that might be worth your time. There's no selling candy or magazines, and you get to save the earth's landfills.FundingFactory exchanges used printer cartridges and cell phones for cash to qualifying organizations. It costs you nothing to ship the recycled phones and cartridges and FundingFactory supplies promotional materials to help you get out the word. It's worth looking into.
Read more:Recycling
Zookoda No, Feedblitz Yes 2007-03-05 21:00:00 In my recent Zookoda blog broadcasting services post I talked about features they offered and that I planned to offer it to my readers.I signed up and was pleased to discover they abide by anti-spam laws. This way, all e-mail sent with Zookoda services is legitimate and they develop a good reputation. To accomplish this, they require registrants to submit their mailing addresses before being allowed to broadcast e-mail announcements.I've determined this is excellent for businesses, but not so excellent for a single family wanting to broadcast blog updates. I'm not ready for everyone in the blogosphere to know my family's personal mailing address. I have kids to think about. Since I'm not for forging postal addresses, I've decided to pass on offering Zookoda to our readers.If any of you were looking forward to getting website updates by e-mail from The Building Brows, not to worry. We do already offer this service from Feedblitz. It's a great alternative where you can read our ful
BYB Sunday: Hot Showers and Flushing Toilets 2007-03-04 06:35:00 My mom and brother went to Africa for a few weeks with a team of people several years ago. Their African hosts welcomed them with open arms, feeding them every place they went whether or not they had just eaten. They came back with many stories--particularly bathroom stories.Toilets consisted of holes in the ground where they had to strategically place their footing and balance while doing their business. Discreetness was minimal.At first chance to bathe, their hosts offered hot showers--the royal treatment which they reserved for guests. Thrilled about a hot shower, they accepted. Their leader shook his head and headed for a cold shower. The rest of the team waited for a pot of cold water to heat over an open fire which they discovered made a very long wait for barely tepid water. They quickly learned to take fast, cold showers if they wanted to be clean.The first thing my mom wanted to do when she returned home was take a hot shower. It was no surprise that she rejoiced for the next Read more:Sunday
, Showers
, Flushing
Busted Mud Van Update 2007-03-04 03:32:00 It looks like I'm the one with mud on my face.Jim looked at the "broken" van and couldn't find a thing wrong with it. All my trouble the other morning has apparently turned out to be nothing more than frozen mud in the wheel well.The van drove fine today.
Read more:Busted
, Update
RECALL: ThinkPad Notebook PC Extended-Life Batteries 2007-03-02 20:46:00 On March 1, 2007, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission announced the ThinkPad Notebook
PC Extended
-Life Battery voluntary recall by Lenovo due to fire hazard.According to the recall notice, "If the battery in the laptop is struck forcefully on the corner, such as from a direct fall to the ground, the battery pack can overheat and pose a fire hazard to users. This is not an internal battery cell defect. Note: In September 2006, Lenovo conducted a recall of batteries manufactured by another firm for a different problem."This recall affects 100,000 ThinkPads plus 105,000 extra batteries sold November 2005 and February 2007.Consumers should stop using affected products immediately and follow instructions as found in the CPSC ThinkPad battery recall notice.Affected models:R Series (R60 and R60e)T Series (T60 andT60p) Z Series (Z60m, Z61e, Z61m, and Z61p)The recalled 9-cell batteries have the following part number, which can be found on the battery label: FRU P/N 92P1131.Important rec
Batman 2007-03-01 20:15:00 Batman must have been here when I wasn't looking. What was he doing drinking my coffee?Or is this a wake up sign because someone needs my help?
Read more:Batman
75% Off Luxury Carpets 2007-03-01 19:52:00 If you're into luxury rugs, you'll love this special semi-annual New York City rug sale of Tufenkian carpets. You can save up to 75% on designer, one-of-a-kind carpets (and save an additional 10% if you register with Tufenkian online.)Not in New York? Not to worry. Their sale event also takes place in Scottsdale, Arizona and Los Angeles California. If you've been looking to spruce up your home with a special feel, this may be the perfect way to do it while keeping your expenses low.BTW, Tufenkian does not use child labor, which makes their products all the more worth considering.I wish our house was at the stage where we could put nice rugs down. Good thing this is a semi-annual sale. I might still be able to make a trip if they keep doing these sales for the next decade.
Read more:Luxury
Mud Season Again 2007-03-01 16:37:00 My least favorite time of year has arrived. (Again
.) Mud, mud, mud. With this lovely oceanless beachfront property, the mud is really bad. It's almost like quick sand. It sucks up your shoe the moment you step on it and slides easily. I'm glad most of our land is flat. No wonder the Bible says the foolish man built his house upon the sand.Jim has insisted from the start that I be careful not to dug up the driveway trying to park. I have been quite careful, and will park on the flat instead of our usual spots on the hill if the ground is too wet, but lately, Jim has been, well, different.The other day, he chided me for not parking in the normal spot and proceeded to put the car there anyway. I was glad he did, for had I, the ruts the car made would normally have irritated him.And then Jim and I went out for lunch yesterday. When we came home, he had trouble backing the van into it's parking spot on the hill. So Jim did what he always tells me not to do--dig up the driveway.Back and f Read more:Season
Discipline System: Privilege Ladder 2007-02-28 15:09:00 Welcome to Works for Me Wednesday, sponsored by Rocks In My Dryer. My post this week is the privilege ladder portion of our discipline system that I talked about last week in my Chore Board post.On the right side of the Chore Board, you probably noticed a ladder with pegs on it. That's the working part of the ladder.If you made a chore board for your family, add this working ladder part to the open side of your cork board by drawing a simple ladder in permanent marker. My ladder is two inches wide and the rungs are two inches apart.The privilege ladder has seven rungs. Each rung has different privileges the children earn which we list on a separate ladder you see in this picture. (I made it out of cardboard and "laminated" it with packing tape.)If a kid is on level five, he kid gets all the privileges up to that rung including the one he's on. The bottom of the ladder before rung one is, of course, grounded. This has base privileges like reading and playing with bucket toys, plus ext Read more:Discipline
, System
, Ladder
Regular Dishes vs Paper Plates 2007-02-27 20:36:00 The amount of dishes we use often presents a problem. We have warm-blooded dishwashers as opposed to a machine dishwasher, and spend a lot of time hand washing dishes. Hand washing dishes has it's benefits, though. When we're cold, all we have to do is wash dishes to warm up, and by the time the kids reach working age, they will be ready to pick up a dish washer job.The time spent, though, is a huge consideration. Using regular dishes saves money over disposable dishes and utensils, but hand washing takes a considerable amount of time for a large family. And while money can be hard to come by, you can never get more time. So we split the cost on both time and money by using paper plates at half our meals.This system works fairly well, except when the kids doesn't do the dishes chore. There are so many by the time we catch up that we have to stack dishes to the moon.Do you suppose there is a world record for the highest piled dish drainer?
Read more:Plates
Update on Family in House Fire 2007-02-27 00:03:00 I learned this afternoon that the family in the house fire I wrote about in yesterday's Blog Your Blessings Sunday post, along with a man in an attached apartment, lost everything in the fire. The family has, I believe, three children. Fortunately, no one was injured.Our kids' school is collecting donations for the family through Friday, March 9th. All donations The Building Brows receive through Monday March 5th will go to the school which will then be given to this family.If you would like to help this family rebuild their lives after the fire, please use the donation buttons in the sidebar.Many thanks ~
Read more:Update
, Family
, House
SM's Dentist Visit 2007-02-26 20:04:00 As we drove home from the dentist office today, our eight-year old, SM, saw protesters walking along the road. He asked why they carried signs, so I explained how some Americans were fighting in another country for the people who lived there, and that some people in our country didn't agree with it.He thought for a moment and said, "I saw an American at the dentist's office.""Yup, there are lots of them there," I replied. "You are an American.""No I'm not," he protested. "Americans are brown. I'm not brown."This was after he informed me that to keep his chapped, split lip from splitting more when getting sealants, the dentist had put "gasoline" on it.
Free The Building Brows Buttons 2007-02-26 06:56:00 Want to link to us? Here are some free buttons and a banner to use on your website or blog.Right click and save these free images to your computer and then upload them to your website or online photo storage service like Photobucket or Flickr. Or upload by URL. (Please host these images yourself instead of linking to them. Hotlinking is an Internet no-no. )
Read more:Building
, Buttons
BYB Sunday: Appreciation Anew 2007-02-25 21:45:00 On my way to church, this morning, I came upon bottlenecked traffic at an underpass about a mile down the road. As I approached, I saw fire trucks. The car in front of me was trying to turn onto the road, so I drove around. On the way by, I saw more fire trucks surrounding the first house on the right.I recognized that house. It was the one I had admired as I grew up for it's size, modern country design, and natural wood exterior. More important, it was the one my son SM identified last year as "A's house," the girl he felt constantly irritated by for the entire first grade.My heart sunk as I thought of her and how she looked sad in SM's class photo. I prayed for the family for the rest of the morning and knew that as soon as I got home, I would tell SM to pray, too. I hoped it would soften his heart toward A even though he'd said nothing about her irritating him this year now that she was in a different second grade.This Blog Your Blessings Sunday
I am suddenly grateful anew for m
Labeling the Chore Board, Chore List 2007-02-24 20:02:00 In my How to make the chore board post, I forgot to include in the labeling section that I group similar chores within the same slice. For instance, I put animal-related chores in one slice, meal-related chores in another, and school tasks in another.Here are some of the chores we include on our board:HomeworkInstrument practiceSchool projectsFeed the cat (and now dog)Clean the litter box (and dog mess)Clean the llama penPut away groceriesSet the tableClear the tableHelp make dinnerSweepVacuumWash the floorStraighten the entry wayPick up toysPut away clean clothes (everyone's)Do laundryFold laundryTake out the garbageClick to see a larger view of the chore board photo to see how I drew the above chores. (I love stick figures!)Now that I know this system really works, I bought a self-healing cork board to replace our current one shown above. It did really well, lasting over a year with daily assigned chores for six kids, but it's time for a new one. The DONE bull's-eye is down to pap Read more:Chore
, Board
Discipline System: How to make the chore board 2007-02-22 18:41:00 Finally, what you've been waiting for: directions for how to make the Chore Board part of The Building Brows DisciplineSystem
. It takes a little time to make the board (just like it took to write these directions), but it is well worth it.The Building Brows Chore BoardWhat you will need:A cork board at least 16" high x 20" wide usable space. (See also the cardboard option below.)Long pencilCompass with the long pencil (see picture below)12" rulerBlack permanent markerColored pushpinsOptional materials:Cardboard boxes thick enough for pushpins as a cork board alternative.Instead of a compass, four circular containers of varying sizes. Be sure the sizes are each about a half inch apart and that they will fit on your cork board.Unlined paper or sticker paper (available in the computer printer specialty paper section)Directions:At about half-way up the left (or right) side of the cork board, measure 8" into the cork. Try to level it with the bottom and top of the board.From 7.5" to 8.5"
Discipline System: Chore Board 2007-02-21 15:08:00 Welcome to Works for Me Wednesday, sponsored by Rocks In My Dryer. My tip this week is something every family could use--The Building Brows ChoreBoard
. It's part of a larger, comprehensive discipline system I've devised to keep my family in line.Conventional chore and discipline systems didn't work for our family because we have so many kids and most of them are resistant, stubborn types who balk at doing nearly anything they are told to do. I needed something to take chore responsibility off me and put chore responsibility on my kids. I came up with this system after I saw the Dugger Family on the Discovery Channel. I was desperate and I saw potential for our family in their buddy, chore, and ladder system. (Smockity Frocks wrote about the buddy system in her Works for Me Wednesday post.)I'll elaborate more on the full discipline system throughout the week, but I'll start with our chore board.This picture shows our first chore board (not self-healing cork) designed after a dart Read more:Discipline
, System
New York Times Photo Shoot 2007-01-30 19:22:00 It took a week to recover from our photo shoot with The New YorkTimes
, but I'm back in the saddle, ready to finish posting pictures of our addition.What? Hold on--The New York Times
?Yep. You read correctly.It seems The Times was interested in profiling a large family living in a small residence for their real estate publication Key Magazine. Freelance writer Edward Lewine found us through this blog. (Hi Edward, Leonor, Doug, Dave, and Jeff, if you're reading today!) The photographers came the weekend of the 20-22. If everything continues as scheduled, the photo essay on our family will appear in the March issue.So, I guess I'll take a break with the addition photos to post about the photo shoot.Lighting was a huge challenge because the space is small. Doug brought in hot lights to get enough lighting inside for him to take pictures of us in the windows from the outside. Here you see one in the foreground on the right, and another one beside our stand-up lamps on the left.And they d Read more:Photo
, Shoot
Warning: Ortho Evra Birth Control Patch 2007-03-15 13:13:00 The Ortho Evra Birth ControlPatch
CBS News report revealed one of two studies on the contraceptive indicated serious risk for women who use the patch--they are two times as likely over pill users to develop blood clots in the legs and lungs. Other possible complications include strokes, heart attacks, and pulmonary embolism.The FDA saw enough risk to urge women to discuss complications with their physicians, but did not require action from the company.If you have experienced any of these symptoms while using Ortho Evra Birth Control
Patch, I urge you to talk with your physician. You may also want to contact a personal injury lawyer. Paglialunga & Harris, Seattle personal injury lawyer, has more information on their website about health risks from Ortho Evra Birth Control Patch.Ice Rocket Tags: health ^ birth_control ^ warning ^ pregnancy
BYB Sunday: Brow family featured in Key Magazine of The New York Times 2007-03-18 05:16:00 Welcome to Blog Your Blessings Sunday
. This Sunday, we have a blessing indeed. After all the waiting, The Building Brows are finally in Key Magazine
in today's issue of The New York Times
.If you can't get to a newsstand, not to worry. You can read Eight is More Than Enough online, pictures and all. (There is a free 14-day trial for unregistered readers.) It doesn't show our house under construction, but you can see lots of them here by browsing.If you're visiting after reading the article and want to learn more about our Chore Board and Privilege Ladder including how to make them, please click on the Discipline System category in the sidebar. You may also enjoy reading my NY Times photo shoot behind-the-scenes post and seeing ten-year-old CJ's slide show of our NY Times photo shoot.In case you are wondering, the pictures in this photo essay were taken this winter--proof that the first part of Vermont's winter was pretty snowless. The 2006-2007 winter season has been all holiday s Read more:York Times
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