week 3 progresss

It's hard to believe that we've only been working on the house for 3 weeks...until you see how much has been done. I've done more painting than I ever have before. I hope I'm getting better... I'm a little sloppy.

So, Terry's dad stayed til last Wednesday and was a big help. Terry started working on the wood floor last Tuesday and didn't get back to it til yesterday and today. Good news? He finished it today! More good news: I'm painting the last big thing, the kitchen. We move this Friday and Saturday unless something drastic happens.

So on to the photos of progress...

Here is Kevin texturizing the kitchen and dining room ceiling. It had previously been flat so he did this to match the rest of the house. Terry also painted it once it was dry.

Here's Jerry hooking up the new toilet. He also installed 2 new faucets and a water softener! He will be returning this weekend to help us move, as will Shari and Jesse. Yay!

We got the bedroom carpets cleaned

Terry tore out the carpet to the downstairs, stairs and landing. Here he is pulling out staples but you can see the carpet behind him.

How many men does it take to put a switch in the wall? Hehe

I worked on the bathroom once Jerry was done. I painted it gray and LOVE it. I also painted the drawers to the vanity to match, which had been off-white.

And check out what is outside our bathroom window =) She's got 2 little blue eggs!

Here is the gray bathroom drawers in JoAnn and Herb's garage. Actually, this room is the "man cave" =)

Here is the main part of the garage. Now you can see all the work she has done for me and why I made her a pie!!! Pictured are cabinet doors and drawers from both the kitchen and downstairs built-in shelving! Jo Jo is awesome!

Here is that downstairs built-in shelving after I painted it. But it's a little changed since this photo was taken... Take not of the bottom left and the middle shelves b/c they're gone now.

Here are the kids more comfortably watching a movie on their little table and chairs in Evie's room. We brought more toys over since the rooms are clean now. I've also started packing! So far I have cleaned out our bedroom closets and the guest room closet.

Here is the downstairs floor after Terry tore the carpet out and I swept and vacuumed it clean

Back to the bathroom - here is our new light! And Herbie and Jo Jo observing the drawers.

Kevin has been awesome too. He installed these 4 can lights and fan where there had previously been nothing. Let there be light!

He installed a fan in the hall as well! And before I forget, he patched under this fan with drywall (b/c there had been a large square hole there from the previous light) and he texturized it and Terry painted it. Kevin did the same thing in our bedroom too - just a light though =) SO much better!

Here is the kitchen after Brenda and I completed painting it this morning. It's so much brighter than it was before. Also, Kevin patched, texturized and installed that new light! The countertops unfortunately cannot be installed until after we move in, and therefore, the backsplash cannot be started until then either. But we'll get there!

Here is the dining room post painting. Still needing another coat tomorrow, but you get the idea. And those scallops on the top of the hutch will be covered up with a new piece of wood which I will stain to match the doors that still have to be done.

Terry completely completed the wood floor today! Even in the closet and in the corners! YAY!!!

That's right, you're the man...with the drill...and the Terry hat

Here is my friend Becky who watched our kids this morning so I could get more done. Noah LOVES going to their place in the country. Becky even said there were some tears when it was time to leave!

Here is the new carpet on the lower stairs. We have a guy doing this for us. He is very good, very particular but he'll have it done by moving day.

Oh yeah. And this is the new shot of the built-in shelving. Herbie did some demo work for me. He took out the awkward diagonal boxes that had been to the lower left. He also took out the 2 shelves from the middle section - we're planning on putting a big TV there =) I will have to paint those areas once they're cleaned up a bit.

And here are the completed drawers and doors for the built in shelving. They're in the basement just waiting to go in!

the end ;(

Have I mentioned how much I love LOST? Oh yeah, I guess I have. But I'll say it again. I LOVE LOST. It's my favorite show. Ever. I think that's fair to say. I really love this show. And it's ending this Sunday night. I was feeling fine about this until after Tuesday night's episode when I realized that I only have one night of LOST left.

Terry will think me silly and I probably am, b/c I get strangely attached to stuff like this. It was like this with Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter. Just call me weird. I'm okay with that. I remember when I first watched the show - Terry and I were just first married and living in the trailer house back on the ranch while I was in school. I can recall seeing the previews for the show and was interested so I tuned in. I was absolutely riveted and hooked from show one, way back in 2004. And then I remember wishing Terry would hurry home from youth group Wednesday nights after I put baby Noah to bed so we could watch LOST together. Then the show went to the winter and spring and we moved. I had to record the show so we could watch it the next night.

So much has happened since I started watching this show, as if the show is a calendar by which I am reminded of the past. It just makes me sentimental.

So it makes me sad that it's all ending. I saw this video online today and it exactly presented my feelings about the end, all except for b-word =) So if you care about the show at all, you'll enjoy this too...

Taun Taun girl

Before I get to my point, here is a cute photo of Evie from a couple days ago - she colored all those steps with sidewalk chalk. This girl could play outside for hours, even by herself. Noah prefers to watch tv...

And now, my point. Though our little girl is quite cute and squeezable, even squish-able, she makes some interesting noises. Lately she has been doing all this grunting. And I guess it's not necessarily grunting. It's hard to explain. The closest thing we can compare it to is a Taun Taun. As in Luke Skywalker on his Taun Taun. As in Han slicing open the Taun Taun to keep Luke warm. As in these famous Star Wars lines: "Your Taun Taun will freeze before you reach the first marker. " "Then I guess I'll see you in he_ _!). Oh Harrison, you know I love you. No, not you Mark Hamill.

Yes, Evie grunts like a Taun Taun. If you care to hear what this sounds like, watch this clip =)

how to build an "I" revisited

We've been spending everyday, most afternoons, at the new house working on stuff while Evie naps. So when we get to the "old" house, the kids are more than ready to play. Lately Noah has been into the game Blokus. He doesn't know how to play by the rules and when Terry suggested he learn, he freaked out. So Noah likes to race us to see who can put all their pieces on the fastest. It's quite fun actually.

Noah made another "I" made of Blokus pieces. Remember when he did that with the legos? I thought it was cute that he got just the right pieces to make the "I."

Oh, and when I asked what he was going with his face, he said he was smiling...HA!

Here's another smile for you

week 2 progress

Wow, a whole lotta work has been done since last week, though it seemed slow going at first. Terry's dad Jerry came on Tuesday to help us. What a blessing he has been! But the first two days were mostly spent at Menard's picking up necessary items like lights, etc. We made THREE trips this week alone! Terry and I even had to drive an hour to pick up more tile! I'm so tired of that place, I have to say.

Things accomplished, as far as I can remember:

1. Shop til we dropped

2. Pull up carpet and pad

3. Paint the hall, main floor, paneling and doors

4. Paint lower level and guest room

5. Remove soffet

6. Patch drywall

7. Install main can lights

8. Remove bathroom tile and put new up

9. Prime bathroom

10. Raise cupboards for microwave and fridge

11. Begin installing wood flooring

12. Remove painting tape =) Hey, that took me a long time to do. Don't worry, I used a razor...

First off, the carpet and pad came up and went out of the house. Here are Bobby, Levi and Terry either pounding in nails or pulling out staples. The two boys stayed with us for a few days so we put them to work!

Here is Herbie taking out the wood from the soffet and you'd never believe what we found in there. It was a time capsule with a paper from the day Mr. Fickenscher sealed it up, in 1969! I think we'll frame it and keep it with the house, always =)

Here is Noah and Evie being silly, as always, while watching Up on the laptop. They have to have something to do on rainy days after all!

Dr. Dave is working on taking out that little shelf thing the other stove had been on. It was a short stove... We'll be putting a full size one there. He also raised those cupboards.

Here are the boys scraping off paint in the bathroom. Take note of the old tile as well b/c that comes out later!

After I was done painting the main floor living room, I went to the lower level and guest room. But first Terry had to scrape this bubbly stuff off the walls above the heat registers. We are pretty sure it was not mold but maybe something to do with the heat on the painted bricks...

Jerry scraped off all the old tiles in the upstairs bathroom. What a project this bathroom turned out to be for him. He also had taken out the toilet right here.

Notice the completed painted walls first. But more importantly, the wood floor arrived! Terry received a lesson from Todd about how to install it on Friday but didn't start working on it until today, Monday (he did have to preach on Sunday, as well as graduation and receptions!)

Terry's lifting partner Kevin has been helping with some drywall patchwork, here in the kitchen, bathroom, hallway and main floor. Here he's patched the light in the kitchen, the soffet and the dining room light. We'll be putting can lights in the kitchen and moving the dining room light over.

Here is the lower level. It had been white and now it is the same color as the upstairs. I think we'll be putting some more touches here... That doorway leads into the guest room.

Here is the guest room. It's the same color as the guest room in our current house. I love it...and wanted to use the old paint up =)

Here is another view of the main floor. You can see upstairs into our room and down to the lower level. See the paneling? I painted it a shade darker than what's on the walls.

I love it

I also painted the doors. And then we had to take the front door out due to the wood floor needing a new threshold.

Terry worked from 10am to 830pm on this floor today. He was so tired! I love the color of the wood and walls.

Jerry is taking the old door to the garage. He had to replace the door jam before he could get the new door in.

"December 5 1969

Tim Fickenscher"

This is what the was the builder's son had inscribed on the main floor. I thought I better take a photo since who knows when this floor will be visible again. Though I can't imagine why anyone would ever want to take our wood up =)

I primed the bathroom once Jerry had completed the new tiling.

A closer look at that tile. It's just simple glossy white from Menard's.

Noah is sitting next to the pile of wallpaper shreds from when Terry had scraped it off two weeks ago. Evie had just got up from a nap and was still a little cranky.

See? Cranky girl.

In goes the new door!

This is how far Terry had got when I left the house at 5pm. He stopped for the night when he had reached the stairs!