Jeff's First Retirement Project

Even before Jeff entered retirement, he has always had a strong interest in real estate investments. When we moved to Dubai we had to sell our rental property in northwest Houston, and Jeff has been anxious to purchase another one since returning to Texas. Once his retirement began, finding and fixing up a rental home was top on his list. After months of pouring over property listings, he purchased a nice 4-bedroom home in Cinco Ranch that needed some cosmetic TLC. For the next month, he spent every single day over there managing contractors and doing back-breaking work to get the house back to its former glory as a nice family home. Looking back, we are both so thankful that he had this project to work on as the Covid-19 quarantine situation grew from days to weeks to months.

The list of Jeff's projects at the house seemed endless at first - replacing appliances, replacing and installing all new kitchen and bathroom plumbing and lighting fixtures, repainting every exterior and interior surface, replacing cabinet doors/drawers, framing bathroom mirrors, acid-washing the floor tile grout, replacing exterior and interior hardware, repairing and replacing the exterior fencing, trimming the overgrown trees and replacing all front landscaping, replacing all light bulbs and smoke detector batteries, and most of all, deep cleaning every surface throughout the house. Whew, I'm exhausted just typing all of that!

In the end, Jeff's hard work was well worth it. When he brought our realtor over to view the house after he had completed his projects, she said that she almost drove by because she didn't recognize it anymore. When she toured the interior, she was floored and said that it looked like a brand new home. It was so gratifying for Jeff to hear that his hard work had paid off. Here are some before and after photos.

The biggest difference in the house transformation to me was the front exterior yard and elevation. Jeff and Kevin worked so hard on the landscaping to clear out the front yard and clean it all up. It went from hidden and overgrown to a bright and fresh exterior with great curb appeal. The exterior and interior paint was also a big improvement as was the interior tile/grout cleaning. It's amazing what a different tile grout makes! Here are some additional photos of the work along the way.

So proud of Jeff and his hard work! The house looks amazing and no doubt it will be snatched up by a new tenant or home buyer very soon.

Pool Update

As the Covid-19 situation changed daily, we stuck close to home and did the best we could to follow our local quarantine guidelines. We were in the middle of our big backyard project, and I wondered how that might be impacted. Although we did experience a delay or two, the workers continued to show up and the pool progressed slowly but surely. Being that we were all confined to home, it was a nice distraction to watch the development day by day.

After the pool tiles were installed, our contractor for the outdoor kitchen and patio was able to get started. It quickly transformed the backyard and became a fun addition to the backyard.

While we waited for the finishing touches, we made sure to snap a photo of the kids in the shell of the pool. It gave me flashbacks of when we did this at our former pool in Katy. The kids were patiently awaiting the day when they could jump in!

Watch DOG Dad - At Home

As the enormity of the Covid-19 situation began to sink in and school moved to online learning, the kids seemed to adjust fairly well. They were mostly excited at the thought of "home school" and working on their curriculum at their own pace on their own schedule. However, when Kaitlynn realized that she would miss her Watch Dog Dad day with Jeff, that was when some strong emotions set in for her. Watch Dog Dad is a nationwide program promoting fathers' involvement with their kids at school, and it has always been a treasured memory for the kids to share with their Dad. When Jeff has participated in the past, he would spend a lot of time in the classroom, enjoy lunch and recess with the kids' classes, and conduct various other school activities like perimeter checks and errands. After missing this event for 2 years while we were in Dubai, Kaitlynn was super excited for her upcoming Watch Dog Dad day on March 25. But then Covid-19 hit.

When we broke the news to Kaitlynn that she would sadly miss this special day at school, we made sure to tell her that we had a backup plan. Her Watch DOG Dad day would indeed go on; we would simply change it to the "at home" edition. She was disappointed but made the most of it by making a checklist of all the activities she could do with Jeff throughout the day at home. She planned out their entire day and was ready to spend quality time with her Watch Dog Dad.

When the morning arrived, Jeff made sure to wear his all important Watch Dog Dad t-shirt. We have really gotten our $20 out of that shirt, which has seen year after year of elementary school enjoyment for both kids! To kick off their school day, Kaitlynn and Jeff watched the online morning announcements and then jumped right into their checklist for the day. They welcomed fellow students "arriving" at school (Connor, haha), participated in schoolwork, worked on a craft project, conducted perimeter checks and errands, and had lunch together. I made sure to capture pictures along the way. Even though it wasn't exactly the day that Kaitlynn had been anticipating, she and her Sweet Daddy made the most of her very last elementary school Watch Dog Dad day - at home.

Online Learning

When the kids left school on March 6 for Spring Break, we couldn't possibly have imagined what was to come. Although I had been following the Covid-19 situation happening overseas, it still caught me off-guard when the situation here at home progressed as rapidly as it did. As our Texas schools began postponing the students' return to campuses followed by the implementation of distance/online learning, we all began navigating our new "normal" at home. For us, that meant schedules and reminders and an occasional Zoom call for the kids in their classes. Compared to some horror stories of technology struggles and learning confusion, I'd say that our family fared pretty well and didn't really struggle much with the adjustment. Of course, I was also caught in the middle of a super busy time with my own work schedule. We all just did the best we could to adapt to the unprecedented time we found ourselves in.

Random Spring Pics

Here are a few random spring photos. When getting ready for church one Sunday morning, Jeff and Kaitlynn noticed that they were dressed in coordinating outfits. This is always a great excuse for some quick photos!

During one random evening, the kids and Jeff had an impromptu wrestling session. It occurred to me that maybe these types of things might happen less now that the kids are getting older, so I grabbed my phone and snapped away.

Spring Break Playdates

While Connor was enjoying his Spring Break at the beach, Kaitlynn was really loving being the "only child" for a few days. Since we didn't have any big plans, we tried to line up some little things and long overdue play dates with some of her favorite people.

First up, a trip to a local animal safari. Jeff and Kaitlynn waited in a long line of cars for over an hour, but they really enjoyed the drive-through adventure where Kaitlynn was able to get up close and personal with the animals. Her favorite? The zebras, of course!

On another occasion, Kaitlynn and her great friend (and former neighbor) Lauren were so happy to have an afternoon to spend together. They hung out at the house followed by a trip to their favorite trampoline park, Altitude.

One of Kaitlynn's basketball teammates held a birthday party and invited several of their Bears teammates for a party and sleepover. They had an absolute BLAST!

In fact, it was so much fun that Kaitlynn organized her own version of a sleepover with a select few of her teammates. They had a group chat and called themselves the Champions (because of their recent basketball championship). Unbeknownst to Jeff or me, Kaitlynn managed to invite her friends and organize and entire "Champions Sleepover" before we had a chance to shoot down her idea. Libby and Callie were the only ones who could make it, and boy did they all have a blast! They managed to check off most of the activities on Kaitlynn's checklist. I'm exhausted just remembering everything that they packed in a 24-hour period!