Merry Christmas!

Well, we made it through Christmas.
The flooring was put in the week before Christmas so we did not get our tree up until then. SO I put the tree up the week before and put the few ornaments we had been given/the kids had made on it. Then the kids (on their own) found random hangable items around the house and placed them on the tree. We were probably the only people with a belt, random plastic bracelets, Mardigras beads, and mini-flashlights handing on their tree. It looked festive and so I left it.
We left a small assortment of cookies, cheese puffs, and eggnog for Santa, and a carrot for the reindeer. We also left notes for Santa...who did write back. When we tucked Josie in, she instructed us to go to bed as soon as possible so that Santa could come.
Since Christmas was on Sunday we were those mean parents who let the kids do their stockings and Santa gift in the morning, and then we had breakfast, getting dressed, church, and then lunch prior to actually opening any of the gifts under the tree. We got lots of games and interactive toys so we have had a lot of fun playing. One of the best gifts is having Jim at home during the school break.
I will try and share pictures soon.

Just details left

We had laminate and vinyl installed on Friday. We still have to finish up painting trim and baseboards and the like, but I am so glad to pretty much be done. I will not be rushing to get ready for an installer. I don't want to slack off and leave something unfinished, but at least I will not be staying up until 1am so that I can paint a ceiling prior to new flooring going in.

Will break for workman....

The flooring installers will come sometime this week (not quite sure when). We got the old carpet up and out.The kids have become adept at prying up tack strip and pulling our staples. I don't know that I am going to get all of the painting done prior to the flooring going in, but I am going to get as much done as possible.
My real thing right now is that I do actually have a life outside of remodeling. Saturday Jim and I treated ourselves to massages, we went to a kid's birthday party, and we went to a holiday concert... and those things were on top of trying to get house stuff done. I don't know whether the flooring guy will come on Tuesday or Wednesday, but I will just get done what I can and go from there. Just one more coat of paint on the living room walls and then it is on to trim. If they come to work on the floors I might actually take a nap....

Functional!

My goodness I have been busy! We actually had appliances installed the Tuesday prior to Thanksgiving. So here they are.
We have been working on painting the other room where we had already taken out the carpet. It was paneling too so good bye to dark wood.
We picked out a sheet vinyl for the kitchen. We had already purchased some laminate flooring for other areas of the house so we are trying to get it all ready for the installer.

I am realizing how much of major redecorating is a sort of a domino effect...we have to get the old carpet up (and paint prior to new flooring going down) so the areas have to be clear, and we have to have places to put things so we are going to use the kitchen to put the heavy furniture in (moving them short distances) which means that we cannot put the vinyl down (don't want to put a piano on new vinyl or move a piano over stairs or down a hallway).
I'm basically madly painting and packing up to clear the living room to get ready for the next step.

Looking more like a kitchen

On Friday afternoon, after much sweating it out to try and get people to the house and coordinated (it's like a domino effect...one thing has to happen before the rest can happen) there was a flurry of work after 2pm. The rest of the cabinetry was installed and finished to the ceiling. The counter tops were brought in and installed. The microwave was installed (he had to work a bit because the venting didn't quite line up with the old vent, but he worked it out.





Josie was thrilled because the microwave guy had his daughter with him and she had a playmate for awhile (the boys were a bit jealous).

On Saturday we looked at flooring options (no decision yet), looked at a light for above the sink, and we bought and installed knobs on the cabinets. I got all of the cabinets vacuumed out, wiped out, and I am in the process of putting down shelf paper.

Hopefully the rest of the appliances will go in easily.

Soooooo much brighter!

The above is a really old picture of the kitchen when we first moved in (none of my kids have been in high chairs for quite awhile now....)

Below is a picture of what the kitchen currently looks like.

It's not done, but this is definitely progress.

Jim took some time off (and had Veterans day) and his parents came up to help. We tore out all of the original cabinets. Took up the flooring. Threw out the old appliances. Then we sanded the walls and started painting. The Shaker saying, "Many hands make light work" is definitely true!
Monday morning the electrician came and did some work (including dealing with some things in the next room...but that is another story. Just consider if you get progressively blind as you age, that another option to adding additional light fixtures to your dark wood paneled room is to actually paint the paneling to a lighter color. The room was up to three separate and distinct light fixtures.)
Monday the guys came and put cabinets in.
Today the oven and dishwasher arrived.
We are sort of in a holding pattern until the counter tops (and a couple things that somehow did not get ordered with the cabinets) arrive.
I AM very excited because the microwave is supposed to be installed tomorrow morning. It will infinitely expand our food options because right now I am choosing between cooking with an electric skillet, an indoor grill, a toaster, and a coffee pot. There is a lot you can do with those items, but a microwave will allow so many more options until the range is installed.

Converting....

When we moved into the house about 4 years ago, we swapped out a mostly not working electric stove-top for a gas stove-top. Now with the kitchen remodel, we are ditching the sketchy double wall ovens for an entirely gas range (and don't give me a hard time about going from two ovens to one...once, when I spent 13 hours cooking every single piece of meat in our freezer after accidentally leaving it ajar for a 3-day weekend did I use both ovens- so I can easily get by with just one oven).
Since the gas was plumbed straight through the built-in cabinet, we decided it was time to have it placed in the wall. I talked to the guy at 7am this morning. I thought they might come and look at the job and then come back to do the job...

First he double checked that all cabinetry was disappearing and then he started knocking shelves out of the way and sawing out the front so he could get at the wall. Several times the slightly smaller helper was actually in the cupboard.
He double checked several times about whether we had any other things powered by gas (no) and turned off the gas at the meter.
He briefly asked what I was going to cook on (electric skillet, microwave, crockpot, toaster, etc.).

...and in about 90 minutes (including them running out to get materials) we had a pipe in the wall (and Jim has wall repair to do....)

Almost everything...including the kitchen sink!

Progress this weekend includes...

• mostly clearing the kitchen


• most of the dining room is sanded (my arms may fall off....I will finish it up on Monday)


• between the husband, the kids, and a bunch of screwdrivers all handles (which I wanted to save) are off and the drawers and cabinet fronts are on the curb waiting for trash day


• we have ordered appliances


• we have a kitchen sink and a faucet purchased and in boxes in the house

I am progressing on and trying to remind myself to take it one step at a time.

We survived....

I have to start this with a little story about the first time that Jim and I went tent camping. It was at a place that was very appropriately named "Cape Foul Weather." It rained the entire time we were there except for about 5 minutes in the middle, and then for the amount of time it took us to pack up and leave. We later found out that it was the location where the Coast Guard does their high seas training....

So flashforward to this weekend and the first time we went tent camping with the kids.
The tents and cots were provided because we were at a boy scout camp. This was the fall campout for the cub scouts. It had been running to about 80 degrees during the day and only dipping into the upper 40s at night. However, there was a cold snap in the Southeast and the low point happened to coincide with this weekend...

I was worried about the temperture and I did go get the coldest weather sleeping bags I could find for the kids.....

It wasn't too bad in the evening, but with all of the activities the council planned by the time we got back to the tents we had loopy tired cub scouts. The tents were on platforms and had raised cots. I am sure that they are delightful in the summer, but in the winter that is a lot of cold air coming up from the bottom.
We could only have up to three cots in a tent so for our family we had Daddy's tent and Mommy's tent.
Josie and Doug decided to be in Daddy's tent. Doug snuggled down in his bag and only had a little bit of chilliness in the middle of the night. Jim threw a couple of towels over him and he was then fine. Josie got chilly but Jim pulled out every trick he knew and she made it through the night. He had his big coat on top of her. He gave her a heat strip in her bag. He put something under her to help.

In mommy's tent for all but about 2 hours I had Andy in my sleeping bag with me. We unzipped his bag and threw it over the top of us with our heads underneath. I didn't sleep much, but I was very glad when I saw that it was light out and time to get up.

After the morning activities and check out we headed home for warm showers and a nap.

Fortunately someone found that during the night in a nearby town there was recorded a temperature of 32 degrees so that means that every boy who slept outside (no going into the cars) during the campout gets their Polar Bear badge. It is small consolation for such a chilly night and I now REALLY appreciate my warm house and especially my electric blanket.

Halloween Costumes

Our Halloween costumes take a bit of

explaining... We are (thanks to Everquest) a barbarian shaman, a fairy princess, and a drakkin paladin.