Wednesday, May 29, 2013

House project {Week 8}

Sorry to have made you wait for this post, especially since so many of you have commented about how much you enjoy them.  Believe me when I say I miss blogging.  We seem to be using up every single one of our 24 hours and still its not enough.

We are losing touch with the "real world" and slipping into our own reality.  Its for a set amount of time and the gratification of hard work and the unity of a common purpose, watching a dream unfold is rewarding.

Even though we're not doing what most would consider to be fun, it is.  We both like to work hard, and we are definitely doing that.  :)  We spend much of our days in the same breathing space and sometimes we get minutes here and there of uninterrupted time to talk.  A little flirting may or may not be going on throughout the days as well.

STILL the electrician is doing wire stuff.  It makes things seem like they are going slow, but its a perfect time to be dealing with it, while we can easily open up walls and floors and ceilings.

I felt awful doing it, but I asked Shaun to move a wall he had just built, in the spot I had asked him to put it.  See the two skylights?  When the room was open it made sense to me to put the wall right between the two.  But when the wall was up, the window to the right (in the girls' bedroom) was too close to the new wall (duh!) and our master closet was too big.  Without much grumbling, he moved the wall over to the left eight-ish inches.  Much better!


 Aiden continues to be amazing.  While the older kids are at school he just bops around, finding projects to help with and the guys are able to send him on lots of missions.  His little legs do the one to three flights of stairs like its nothing.
 This was the first full week for our summer employee.  We hired a poor bible school student from our church who is a hard worker.  The extra hands have been a blessing.
 De-briefing time with the fam.
 First go-around with the wallpaper steamer.  When I type that word "wallpaper" I can smell the glue and feel it on my hands.
 The electrician and Shaun have been working side-by-side.
 Hardest worker around.  Always has to wear this particular shirt backwards because he likes to see the number.


 Thomas (the summer help) is also great with kids.  He was here helping Aiden get his parachute out of the tree that he'd dropped from the third floor.

 The black is almost all gone.  So much brighter already.
 Underneath the plaster had been stenciled.

 A mighty warrior or superhero can oft be found throughout the house.
 Z nd Avery were helping with electrical stuff in the boys bathroom....
...and basement.
 More dump runs with my boys.
 Lots of work being done up here....canisters for recessed lighting being removed, old wire taken out, and new wire being strung.  Soon it will be ready to insulate.
 Sometimes you've got to break out in dance.
 Nathan was buried in the master bath, prepping for the vanity.
 You don't see Amanda in too many of these.  She's around for boosting morale and kind of flits and floats around.  I have the funniest story about her, which I have to tell soon.

I guess I've spent some time thinking about the dining room this week on Pinterest.

We have to do something different with the mantel in that room.  Thinking I might like to have a non-painted wood mantel, doesn't need to be too fancy, but bulkier than whats there.

 I love this idea for one of the walls.  Its pretty crafty, but I bet I could sucker someone into doing it for me.
 There's a nice built in bookcase, which I'll need to get creative for, cause I can't fill a bookcase with books in the dining room.  :)


Sunday, May 26, 2013

Project 365, Week 21

As I was thinking about putting this post together, I was wondering if I had any non-house renovation pictures....and I do, though they mostly highlight my Aiden-guy.  He and I are together a LOT, which we're both pretty happy about.  Three is awesome!

May 19
One of the side effects of having two older sisters. (Not pictured are his Spiderman underwear sticking out of the bottom of the tutu.)

 My cousin stopped by for several quick hours and we were on a mission to come up with and start implementing a plan to compile the information we have gathered on the grandparents we never knew.
It is a fascinating story...a tragic love story.
 May 20
Enjoying watermelon (a good one!) on the porch.
 May 21
It was Earth Day at the girls' school, so Aiden and I went to take pictures of all the hard workers.


 May 22
Sweet, sweet boy after a hard day's work, going to watch his brother play baseball.

 May 23
My buddy.  He was such good company as we drove quite a ways to pick up the dishwasher and go to the window store and then he fell asleep.
 May 24
I had quite a few hours alone to work on packing.  I was sorting through baby clothes and it was kind of sad.  Each outfit brings up a different memory (the happy part) but Aiden will never wear those clothes again or be that small again (the sad part).  Sigh.

 That it will never come again is what makes this life so sweet. ~ Emily Dickenson



May 25
We are doing respite this weekend for T.  The kids showed him his room and the bathroom and then they were on the basketball court.  He's 16 but gets along really well with Amanda and Aiden.

Hope you have a great Memorial Day weekend.  I'm so very grateful to live in and be a citizen of this country.  God bless America!!

Thursday, May 23, 2013

I'm Amazed

God's theme for me this week...He's used the scraps of time I've given Him to be so real to me, reminding me of his unending, deep love.



You dance over me 
While I am unaware 
You sing all around 
But I never hear the sound 

You paint the morning sky 
With miracles in mind 
My hope will always stand 
For You hold me in Your hand 

Lord, I'm amazed by You 
Lord, I'm amazed by You 
Lord, I'm amazed by You 
How You love me 

How wide, how deep 
How great is Your love for me 
How wide, how deep 
How great is Your love for me 

Lord, I'm amazed by You 
Lord, I'm amazed by You 
Lord, I'm amazed by You 
How You love me 
Lord, You love me, oh 

Monday, May 20, 2013

House Project {Week 7}

The house project continues to move.  This week, walls came down and new walls were built.  We traded the plumber for the electrician.

I've been down this renovation road enough times to know not to worry when things start getting messy and it looks like we're moving backwards.  Things have to look worse before they can get better...its progress!

Shaun and the electrician discovered and took care of about five major fire hazards throughout the wiring system.  They are also working on getting us overhead lights in rooms...and a switch to go with them!  I have the luxury of being able to name where I want more outlets, though the house is surprisingly well equipped with them already.

We closed on the construction piece of our financing, so now we can do better planning with that uncertainty taken out of the equation.

New wall for the closet in the girls room, since we are taking over the existing one.

The water heater works!
 This is our bedroom and I was happy to see this vanity monstrosity go.


Shaun's sawsall has been getting a good workout, trying to unearth plumbing and electrical lines.
 We found this behind one of the drawers, a paystub from 1994.  $50/hour.  That year I was working a full and part time job, making $7.25/hr.  Oh well, at least he put quite a bit of that money into my house.  :)
 Aiden and I pick at the yardwork here and there.
 Our poor Robin is hanging in there.  The eggs are about to hatch and she's not about to leave them, though she's surrounded by SO much activity next to the driveway.
 Back in our bedroom, taking down walls.
If you look at the floor you can kind of tell what's what.




Shaun's brother Nathan has been a huge help.  I'm always happy to see him come around because that means Shaun won't be asking me to help him move the dryer or some other heavy thing.  :)


 I'm stripping all the popcorn ceilings.  Thankfully, its coming off without a fight...just a huge mess!

 Aiden is ecstatic now that he gets to get out of the truck at the dump.  He's big stuff!
 The boys bathroom.  The light switches are currently outside the room in the hallway.  I thought it might be better to have them in the bathroom.  What could be more fun that turning off the light on your brother while he's trying to take a shower??

 However, that meant cutting through tile, which isn't the easiet thing to do.

We got a new fridge for the basement and Shaun promptly filled it up with all the necessities.
 The body of the garage got primed and painted.
 And my peonies have bloomed!
Highlights from this week's Pinterest:
 Lots to love here, but I especially like the ceiling.
 Pretty wood floor.
 Possible dining room and/or master bedroom colors.  Though I like color, I think in the long run it may be better to do neutral-ish walls and accent with color.
 SO romantic!