Water here, water there, water everywhere!

I have been blessed with a nephew born on my birthday!  What an exciting day!  I was also given a surprise 30th birthday party by my husband and family.  All of those awesome things happened in the span of four days!  Between these huge events I am still trying to unpack and get my Christmas on...it has been interesting.

In between all the wonderful craziness going on in life we are trying to remodel the master bathroom.  Of course this is not without drama.  I worked late yesterday evening and noticed my husband running around grumbling (grumpy mumbling).  While cleaning up in the bathroom he noticed a little puddle of water...  Fast forward a couple hours and we had no working shower or bath.  Hubby had to shower hillbilly style with me handing him pots of water!  I am not as brave but ventured to dear 'ol mom and dad's facilities!  Something went awry with the hot water heater, pipe? and valves.  Andy took a personal day today to fix our issues.

At this point the bathroom is all about bathroom "design".  Not so much design as redesign with fixtures stuck in there places.  We are tiling the floor and around the tub but Andy has been on me about picking out a vanity.  Easier said than done.  We have always wanted a double vanity because we always get ready for bed at the same time.  Unfortunately our options are pretty slim because the opening for the vanity is 58 and half inches and double vanities are around 60 to 72 inches standard.  Yuck!  I have seriously been thinking about doing a his and hers style bath with two separate vanities.  Opinions please! 

 

I am actually saw these exact vanities and am considering them.  I want to go with a dark finish. BUT I am not wild about the white cabinet in the middle...I think nothing between them would be a much cleaner look.

Welcome Home

Well we are finally in and I have a computer!  Thanks to many friends and family the house is clean and safe for my babies.  I learned a lot of things in this move but the most useful tip was how to wash walls.  I thought I knew how to wash a wall, just scrub it down and done...boy was I wrong.  Thanks to Kate's clean wall technique my ugly kitchen is sparkling clean.

Unfortunately even the clean wall technique couldn't help the fact that the cabinets are rotting at the bottom!  I thought the dated fridge and dishwasher would drive me nuts.  The fridge is a side-by-side and I HATE it with a passion but a happy surprise is the dishwasher works great...even better than my newer one at our old house.

The best part of moving was showing the boys their new home, rooms and playroom.  The first time they saw the house was Saturday, moving day.  It was a huge hit!

Boys in the playroom! & Toby's bedroom below.

I have so much to unpack.  We packed in stages, first there was bins in my parent's crawl space (that are now in my basement), then there was the items in the storage unit (that are now in my basement) and last the items in the old house (that have been put away for the most part).  My goal is to decorate the Christmas tree we put up this evening and then tackle the other bins as time allows.  I hope to be completely unpacked by new year's.  Cross your fingers...

Special thanks to all of our many friends and family who helped us so very much!  We are very blessed!

A Blessed Day

Day 3 was supposed to be washer and dryer delivery day but Home Depot doesn't deliver to our new zip code on Thursdays so the washer and dryer are coming tomorrow.  Other than that we are right on track with everything.  Our main goal was to finish up painting so it wouldn't interfere with the carpet install (today was day 1 of installation and tomorrow it will be finished).


My day started out early (left the house around 6:30, Hubby had to meet the pool table moving people so he watched the kids until Mom came).  I went to Walmart and got contact paper to line the cabinets and a few other things we needed including some goodies for the guys.  While I was in the quick check out line I was chatting with a lady about the goodies in my cart and how I was making the guys chicken potpie for lunch (yummy!) and while I was leaving she said to have a blessed day.  Boy was it!

It was a day of opportunities.  After the unfortunate news that our planned "addition" could not easily happen I had an epiphany on the drive from Walmart to the house about how we could accomplish our goals of having a bigger family room.  I figured out how we could do it and my father in-law thought it was a brilliant idea.  When Hubby arrived he was not as excited but later in the day tweaked my plan to make it truly brilliant and a lot less expensive!  The kicker is I get my new kitchen too!  Stay tuned this spring (fingers crossed)...


Another blessing was having enough carpet left over to carpet the small area between the playroom and kitchen!  The warehouse the carpet guy uses was busy and instead of cutting the amount we needed off the roll they gave him the whole roll!  It is going to be the same carpet as in the bedrooms but who cares...new carpet that I didn't have to pay any extra for.  He laid the carpet in the playroom, office and has it ready to lay in the master bed room and one of the boys rooms.

 

Office & Playroom

 

 Master Bedroom & Boys room

 Hall area that will get the free carpet!  The doorway where the tool boxes are will be blocked off for demolition.

Also, I believe I overheard talk that the roof can wait until the spring!  Very happy about that winter roofs are no good.  The blessing kept rolling all day.

I met a neighbor!  He works at the Ace Hardware where we bought the paint.  He and his wife may stop by after we are all moved in to take a look at the carpet because they need some too!

I also found another house like ours on a different nearby road - this one had the center front door too.  They had the breezeway clubbed in as well and in the same sort of fashion as the other house (the cosmetics were different).  Seriously thinking about knocking on some doors bearing Christmas goodies for a glimpse at their interiors to see what the house originally looked like.  We think our home's previous owners added a wall because it is completely out of square and makes for an awkward entrance.

To wrap things up...we painted the other boys room The Big Chill (color)...well we painted what we could.

Hopefully tomorrow I will get most of my kitchen unpacked (including lining the cabinets) and get to that hall and stairway carpet (it is one of the only things in the house that still smells like dog).


Special thanks to father in-law, AJ and Mom for watching those boys!

Not quite what I expected...

This was supposed to be today's agenda:


 Day 2: Pool Table Day

Pool Table is being moved (one solid piece of slate)
Carpet man coming to measure rooms
Paint ceilings
Paint playroom, bedrooms, office


Apparently no one told Mother Nature this.  Throughout last night to mid-day today we got a ton of rain dumped on us (mud, mud, mud).  Day 2 was all about painting.  The pool table was not moved because of the rain...they are trying again tomorrow.

Carpet man arrived and measured the rooms and a few hours later dropped off the carpet and pad.  Unfortunately the carpet we selected for 4 of the 5 rooms was discontinued!  We had to get a lighter color...scary with the boys but I really didn't want brown carpet so tan/off white it is  (aka Almond Bark or Basketweave).  Luckily the price was within very close to our original quote.  Installation is set for Thursday and Friday.

Father in-law painted all the ceilings while my Mom cleaned like a freak.  I must say that kitchen was foul!  The rain did give us one gift: Dad's time as he couldn't work in the rain and came to help us paint.  We used all Ace Paint and LOVED it.  The playroom is Banana Smoothie (and the office since we had a lot left over), one of the boy's bedrooms in Greenwich (that will need a second coat), Master Bedroom in Maple Sugar (that will need a second coat too).  Unfortunately we didn't get to the other bedroom that will be in a blue shade but there is a lovely hole that needed to be patched.

Horrible surprises included:
(1) Cleaning up the disgusting mold in the walk-in closet from a LEAKY shower!  The shower cannot be used as it leaks under the tile floor.  Hubby thinks the floor needs to be ripped up and subfloor replaced as well as the shower stall...ugh!  (2) Mom found a bubble in the middle of the dining room wall...what caused that?  (3) It was raining inside of our house...yes the chimney to the stove leaks.  Hubby thinks a chimney cap will take care of that.  (4) The icing on the cake is learning that the addition we wanted to extend the living/family room is going to be close to impossible because it is a load bearing wall and the height differential.  Ummm...why didn't anyone mention this sooner.  Poor Hubby is so aggravated and I don't blame him that family room is smaller than our existing one!  We could still club it in but the biggest opening we could easily have is a double doorway (great for conversations don't you think?).  However on a bright note I found a house on a nearby road that is our exact house (except the front door is on the side instead of the middle) and they have a clubbed in breezeway...nice to see what it could look like.

   

Maybe tomorrow I will get to clean those stairs and Hubby will get to go in the attic to see how our roof is faring in this yucky weather.

Special thanks to Father in-law, Mom, Dad, AJ, and Aunt Cathy & GG for watching those boys...boy did I miss them!

Day 1: Settlement Day

Tasks completed today (right on schedule):

Settle on both homes (selling and buying) 
Cleaned main bath
Buy paint
Rip up carpets (all except hall and stairs)
Wash subfloors
Wash walls that are to be painted


Happy news, didn't cry at settlement and was actually happy for the kid who bought our house.  Kid because he was under 21!  He had a freakin' vertical license still!  He seemed like a nice guy.


Settlement on the new house was a bit crazy but it all worked out.  Closing costs were right where I expected them to be.  The sellers had to get a dumpster to clean out the detached garage so we made use of it with the carpet we tore out of the house!  That worked out awesome, thank you Lord.  No need to bother my brother with going to the dump tomorrow.

This is a picture of the kids playroom (den on first level)...I tore up all the carpet and pad myself.  I kept right up with Dad and Hubby.  I actually kicked Hubby's butt!  (Yes, Dad kicked mine...surprised?)

Surprises so far are limited to the Master Bedroom and closet.  They include (1) a built in gun rack in the walk-in closet complete with 80's style carpet, (2) two ghetto access panels, one of which is to the back of the shower and is covered with mold, (3) evidence of an old leak but luckily no rotten subfloor, and (4) a possibly leaky window in the Master Bedroom.  Also Hubby is not too happy with a lot of the windows throughout the house...he says they are drafty.

This is my big project for tomorrow.  The upstairs hall and steps are the only carpeted areas we kept...the rest was ripped out.  I get to clean this...I am armed with Dyson Orbs, my Oreck vacuum, Aunt Cathy's carpet cleaner, Woolite Pet and Odor Steam Cleaner solution, Nature's Miracle (don't laugh Diane)...wish me luck!  We tracked in so much mud since it was raining they are in even worse shape than here...yikes!

Special thank you to both Dads (Hubby's for spackling and tearing down the border in the playroom and mine for ripping up the carpet), Mom for watching the boys, and AJ who did a little bit of everything.

Crunch time!

With only a few days to settlement I created a time line of things we need to get done before the great move!


Day 1: Settlement Day

Settle on both homes (selling and buying) 
Buy paint
Rip up carpets (all except hall and stairs)
Wash subfloors
Wash walls that are to be painted


Day 2: Pool Table Day

Pool Table is being moved (one solid piece of slate)
Carpet man coming to measure rooms
Paint ceilings
Paint playroom, bedrooms, office


Day 3: Washer and Dryer Day

Washer and Dryer are being delivered
Day 1 of carpet installation
Re-grout 2 upstairs bathrooms
Clean carpet in hall and steps (we are planning to replace this in the spring)
Scrub Dining Room walls (this will be our Living Room until that room is repaired)
Wash Dining Room floor (hardwood!)


Day 4: Carpet Day

Final day of carpet installation
Scrub down kitchen walls, cabinets, floor
Line cabinets
Unpack kitchen     


Day 5: Moving Day

Get a final picture of the whole family in front of the house we sold
Move the rest of our stuff!  




Yikes...this sounds like a lot.  I am actually hoping this is a worst case schedule!

Shopping!

Every Fall my Mom and I have a fun-fall day.  It is like the kick-off to the Christmas season.  It usually starts with a stop at Borders for a cider or hot chocolate.  This year it actually started at Christmastime in Loganville, a local craft fair that is spread throughout churches and businesses in Loganville, PA and included my grandmother! 

My to-get list included: a gift for one of my gals at work (possibly a Ravens purple and black scarf), crochet washcloths (both my grandma and I love these), a Christmas outfit for my 3 year old and a book for my 22 month old since he tagged along.

After a 9 to 4 shopping expedition I walked away with: a Raven's themed gift for my gal at work, an AWESOME Christmas outfit for my 3 year old, a Cars book with sound for my 22 month old, stocking stuffers, a book full of worksheets for my 3 year old, and a cute fall sweater for me (been looking forever for one of these).

I am just going to take a minute and express my love for Gymboree...wow!  We walked away with a bag FULL of clothes (including a winter coat) for under $85.  Almost all of the items we got were already on sale (excluding the vest), plus the whole store was 25% off, plus I had a 20% off coupon, plus I used my Gymboree Visa for another 5% off!  WOW!  And I got Gymbucks...  And this is one of the only stores with decent looking clothes for boys.

Check it out...



Cowboy Themed Playroom

I have been wanting to decorate in a cowboy theme since my first son was born.  I finally get to in our new home! 

My inspiration...

I love the Michael Miller fabric and want to incorporate that somehow.  I have always wanted to make the bandannas into curtains.  They will look something like below...but the pic is actually wallpaper at Home Depot!  Should be a cheap window treatment since the bandannas are only $1 at Walmart!

In search for playroom ideas I came across...

http://deckthehalls-christmas.blogspot.com/2009/01/creative-creations-from-under-stairs.html

I love the idea of using the doorway as a door to a house!  Using this in my cowboy theme I think the doorway inside the playroom will be a general store front!

http://www.thedaltongangofnh.org/

My secret hope is that hubby will be agreeable to installing the half-swing doors on the doorway...how fun would that be!  We also have a changing table now that my father made that is being used in our current Noah's Ark themed nursery but I'd like to turn it into a stage coach toy box/changing table.



The other inexpensive idea I found that I think my boys will love are these "book racks" from minimalistmommy.com's blog!  I can definitely see my boys using these and being able to put away the books neatly...which is a BIG problem now!

Excited to get started on this project...but first we have some hard-core rehabing to do to the new home!



Going home...

Today I received confirmation that all of the loose ends are falling into place for our move back to Maryland!

It is bittersweet to move from our first home.  We are excited to be closer to family and begin our new adventure in fixing up our new home (as it is in need of TLC).

I will always remember our first days rehabing our little ranch in September of 2003 and how excited I was that we became homeowners.  How we with the help of family and friends over the years remodeled the entire house!

I will remember the way my husband made our house the scariest one in the neighborhood for Halloween and how most of the kids were too afraid to walk to the front door.  The brave ones would be so enthusiastic about our haunted house I'd be smiling for days!

I will remember cooking my first (and last so far) Thanksgiving meal in my kitchen for my husband's family. 

I will remember how excited I was to put up our Christmas tree on black friday each year and helping stringing the twinkling lights around the outside.  Hubby transformed our little ranch into a gingerbread house and had the lights on a timer so that every day I drove home from work I would be greeted by our cheery holiday house.

I will remember sitting in my backyard relaxing by the small pond hubby put in, reading books, studying for my securities and insurance licenses.  The after-work cookouts the two of us would have enjoying the summer nights and each other's company.

I will remember the tons of parties we had over 7 years, every 4th of July and Halloween, Christmas Eves, Birthdays...  Always surrounded by our many friends and family.

I will remember finding out about both of my pregancies and bring both of my sons home from the hospital to our little ranch that was growing quite tight.  Learning how to be a mother with my first son in his little nursery with his many accessories strewn over the house.  Giving him his first bath with Daddy and Aunt Megs looking on.  Then bringing my second son home from the hospital so he could meet his big brother (of 17 months!) and see his grandparents again.  I think Pop Pop was on cloud 9 that day sitting on the sofa with a look like a kid at Christmas morning...he could hardly sit still!

I will remember first birthdays, first hair cuts, playing in the leaves, taking the boys for stroller and wagon rides around the neighborhood, walking to the nearby farm, taking the boys for a dip in the pool, playing in the sandbox under the big trees in the backyard.

I will remember a lot of things about our little ranch, our first home, but the thing I will remember the most is that the love we filled that house up with is what made it a home.

30 is middle aged?!?

A couple weeks ago we went to Gettysburg to celebrate my brother's 24th birthday.  He is a huge civil war enthusiast and spent the day roaming the battlefields, posing for a tintype and eating at the Springhouse Tavern.  http://www.dobbinhouse.com/

The Springhouse Tavern is a very cool, historically accurate restaurant in the bottom of the Dobbin House.  Unfortunately our sitter could not come early so we were only able to make the meal.  We (hubby and I) got there early and put our party's name on the waiting list and took drinks out to the new garden patio.  I got a hot cider (with spirits) that was very good!

The Springhouse Tavern has mainly sandwiches but they did offer steak (which hubby and I jumped on).  Hey, it isn't every day we get to go out to eat without the boys!  We were not about to waste that opportunity on sandwiches!

During our meal my family was replaying their day which included a gal flirting with my brother in his civil war uniform.  Brother was horrified that parents mentioned this and stated gal was middle aged...she looked like she was 30!  FYI, my 30th b-day is December...ugh!

Brother and his almost "middle-aged" sister, me!

Dutch Wonderland

Sunday we went to Dutch Wonderland!  What fun!  It was the end of the season and we started our adventure as the park opened...great timing...no crowds!

Our view from the monorail

Toby liked the off-road trucks best and rode them a few times. 

It was nice to enjoy many of the rides as a family.  Andy and I laughed at both of our boys on Duke's Dozers!  They were in awe as it was one of the first rides we put them on. 

My 'lil Sister's Baby Shower

On Saturday we had a baby shower for my sister, Megan.

On my last post I shared a .jpeg file for a Advice, Predictions & Wishes baby book.  Here is a picture of my completed book.  You can see I used my shower invitation for inspiration and changed some of the wording.  The pictures are all from my sister's collection; she is a lovely natural light photographer.  The apple is because she is a teacher.  She has 2 St. Bernards!  and I used a pic from a special camping spot her and her husband will always remember.  The flowers and toile helped support our french country decor.

Here are some of the highlights from our decorations, including cookie lollypop favors my mom made!  I love useful favors...  Unfortunately the hall we rented had horrible red gothic curtains...yuck but funny considering my mom has close to the same ones in her family room and my sister hates them!  Mom swears they are for keeping out the sun's glare and not a homage to her new favorite genre of book, tv and movie...vampire-mania!  They looked quite out of place at a baby shower but what can you do-???