I'm a Lumberjack and I'm OK...

We have had this tree that we both hate for TOO LONG now. I think its a cedar tree?? I'm not smart on tree stuff. We've been talking about getting rid of it for a long time now. It blocks our favorite side of the house so you can't see it when you drive by. It blocks out a lot of sun, and we would sure like some grass to grow eventually. We plan on cutting down several more in the next few years, but this was a good start. The boys were terrific helpers, logging limb after limb to the backyard. There was only one unfortunate event which involved a robin's nest with two baby robins. Brent checked it out before he cut it down, but this nest must have been hidden. He put it in another one of our trees and I'm happy to report that we saw the mommy Robin eventually go back in the nest. Here is a before and after picture.

And here is a picture of the ONLY plant I have outside. I don't think it would be wise to have plants for a few more years, as the kid's love picking anything resembling a flower. I decided to play it safe with a hanging basket and I really like having it around.
Oh, and I put the hook to hang it on in by myself...after calling Brent to ask him how and looking like an idiot.

Look what was put on my house today....

Weeks progress.

There was some progress done this week. I must admit I thought more would get done, but I think a lot of it was putzy work, so it took more time. Here are some pictures:


There is still more trim to be put up, and Brent ran the plumbing out to the addition, so it is ready to be finished off. I demolished the dining room yesterday and Brent and I put on a couple sheets of sheetrock in the dining room last night:

It's beginning to feel more like spring around here. I've gone on a couple walks with the kids, and they are happy to be outside. Callie really likes being outside. I feel like this is the first time she's been outside, b/c she was so little last year. She loves stepping on the snow and exploring around the yard. The only problem I've encountered so far is that she wants to be splashing in the puddles with her big brothers, so I am on the lookout for rain boots for her(do they even make them that small???).


Callie is such a big "help" with the laundry. She loves to grab clean clothes and throw them on the floor while I'm trying to fold them. I spend half the time picking the clothes back up off the floor, and while I'm doing that she's pulling more off:


We're heading off to the cities in a few hours, so I better go pack. Happy Easter!

Door and window are IN!

Here's what the guys got done this afternoon.

House Pictures

Well, siding should be on next week! The addition is coming along nicely, with our friend coming over tomorrow to rough in the electrical. Brent and I got a couple of samples of tile yesterday to get that figured out. We also have to paint all the trim for around the house by Monday, this will prove to be interesting since we can't take the kids where the wood is, there's just too much for them to get into. I might attempt it after naps and take the pack and play and the portable dvd player since Brent will be gone till later. We'll see how daring and ambitious I feel. Here are some pictures!








Oh, and P.S. we went with color number one for siding colors. I hope it looks nice!

The PantRy is done!

Well, I put the finishing touches of poly on today, so the pantry is done, except for trimming it out. I even started moving some of my groceries into it. I'm going to take my time and figure out how to get the most out of my new space. I love it already, though! Take a look:
It's still looking a bit rough in there, though!

We're going somewhere!

So, stuff on the house has really taken off the last few days(only to probably be put on hold AGAIN tomorrow when we are expected to get 8-12 inches of stupid snow! GRR!) Brent was able to put in the window to our new dining room and we installed and put the first stain on our pantry. I LOVE the way the pantry is going to look and it will be SO NICE to have the extra storage. So, here are some pictures. They're out framing up the mudroom/laundry room addition as I type this! YAY!
The nice hole in our wall before the window was in:

Here is what they found as insulation around the window in our bedroom when they went to replace it on Friday. I think I'll wash it up and wear it to church;)
A pretty recent pic of the outside, except now all the siding is off and its all tar papered.
Temporary look of dining space:
Pre-pantry:
Installed:
After a coat of stain: We've got one more coat of stain to do and then some poly.

We had a birthday party for Matty and Callie this weekend, since Callie's was postponed earlier due to us having the flu. It was really neat to get all the cousins together. Here are some pictures from that:

I thought it was cute that Matty pushed Callie on the car:
And Gma Debbie and her grandkids:
I must brag some about my awesome and wonderful husband. There is NO ONE I'd rather be remodeling with than him. He is so patient and level headed, not to mention very talented and handy. I really appreciate all the hard work he has put into the house, not only now but since we've bought this place. He is so hardworking and I appreciate him very much!!! Thanks, baby!

Destruction

We decided to get started tearing into our entry closet to make that area our new dining area now that our back steps are unusable. The boys had a LOT of fun hammering the sheet rock. Tate broke his little hammer he was going at it so hard. I was sure to state the fact that this was the only time they are to ever hit the walls with hammers. Hunter enjoyed it so much that when we got back from Kid Stuff tonight he immediately asked Brent what they should start tearing apart next. Here are some pictures of the mess:

I'm baaaack!

Whew. That is the only word to describe the last few days. I had an overall good time in Iowa, but it was showered with a few disappointments, one of which was that I got the flu on Saturday and spent the day throwing up instead of having fun with my parents. Luckily, they were able to watch the kids while I rested, so that was SO NICE. I couldn't have handled them on my own. But handle them I did as I drove home yesterday. I hadn't kept but a couple things down Saturday night, so needless to say I was pretty weak going into the trip home, but I felt the prayers of those praying for me! The kids did great, we only stopped one time for ten minutes(I was going to stop another time, but they had all just fallen asleep, so I kept on going). I hit all the green lights and had no delays, so it just worked out great. I made it in a record time of just under 6 1/2 hours also! And I wasn't speeding(well, I went five over, but almost everyone goes five over.) I enjoyed meeting wonderful Zane, he's such a good baby. I hardly took any pictures, but I did take this one:
And here is a picture of Callie on the boys chair, something she likes to climb on now:

They were able to get, in my opinion, a lot done on the house. All but one of the new windows are in, the door(although there is a flaw that a rep is coming to look at this week) is in, and, as it turns out, we decided to add a little bump out where the chimney had been so that when we go to get a new fireplace we can get one of any depth. I think this will add a nice visual look to the side of the house. We've changed around the layout of the mudroom addition to be symmetrical to the roof lines of the bump out and the house. I really can see a visual in my head of how its going to look and I think we'll like it a lot!! They also got a lot, I think most, of the electrical upgrade done. It'll be nice not to blow breakers every other day anymore! I feel like I'm in a fishbowl since we have no blinds or curtains on the front windows, but that is just fine for now. I will hopefully be getting a couple pantry's this week to start staining. I can't wait for that(esp since I stopped and stocked up at Aldi in Iowa!). Here are some pictures of the work done so far:





And now, I'm going to go rest b/c I AM EXHAUSTED!!!