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.