What's in a Number

My older daughter was in town this weekend so, I did nothing productive. However, my husband got our new address numbers up:

It's been since November and no one could find our house. With the numbers up, there hasn't been a stampede but now, if people want, there could be one:-) Playing along with Tackle It Tuesday with 5 Minutes for Mom .

New Family Room

Well, it is finally done. Starting this summer with this:

Has ended with this:

Doesn't that look like a cozy spot?

Playing along with Tackle It Tuesday with 5 Minutes for Mom .

Funky New Rug

This weekend, we invested some time into finishing our basement. Look at the fun new rug I found for our rec room space.

Tonight, we are going shopping for a sofa which is the last item we need before completing our room. Wish me luck:-) Playing along with Tackle It Tuesday with 5 Minutes for Mom .

It Is DONE!

Remember this mess?

How do you like me now?

I got a new alcove and...

...a new porch:-)

YAHOO!! Now, we get to pay for it:-)

Playing along with Wordless Wednesday at 5 Minutes for Mom and Wordful Wednesday on parenting By dummies:-)

Color Selection

This is what the house looks like now:

This is what we are planning on doing:

We chose the darker color so I could do a light shingle-type siding on the top of the side of the house (Pictures to come on this).

We are also planning on builiding a porch where my big garden used to be in front of that picture window. I never liked how the house wasn't square and that garden was always a challenge. I am still going to plant in front of the porch but will be much more manageable!

Playing along with Wordless Wednesday at 5 Minutes for Mom and Wordful Wednesday on parenting By dummies:-)

This Weekend

We tackled a lot of sutff this weekend. Lot's of planning for our siding and porch.

AND...

Daddy was helping my youngest learn how to ride her bike without training-wheels. I was going to post video however, my husband is camera-shy and vetoed that submission:-(

Playing along with Tackle It Tuesday with 5 Minutes for Mom .

Our Finished Basement?

Well, the basement repair guys left yesterday and here are the results:

Yikes!!! Now THAT is a nightmare!

On a positive note, I have straight walls AND, the hubby is even considering really finishing the basement now! That IS a silver lining:-)

Playing along with Wordless Wednesday at 5 Minutes for Mom and Wordful Wednesday on parenting By dummies:-)

The Remodel

It has been quite a ride already. We started before the 4th of July looking for a contractor to put siding on our house because the brick was pulling away:

Since then, we have met with 8 contractors, 2 banks, 1 mason, 1 engineer, 1 plumber and 1 basement specialist. We have had to dig up gardens, move a retaining wall, move electric, move plumbing and we lost a door. Now, the basement guys are digging a giant hole in my yard to see if we have to replace drain tiles.

Keep your fingers crossed...that's a $5000 difference!

I feel tackled already! Playing along with Tackle It Tuesday with 5 Minutes for Mom .

She Was a Brick House

Wow! I sure have been gone a long time! On top of preparing for my new positions as PTO President and Girl Scout School Organizer, we are in the position where we HAVE to repair our house. Here is the story:

This beautiful Roman brick...


...was pulling down our front stoop and poking a whole in our basement wall:-( If you think it sounds expensive, you would be right! We have found ways to keep the cost down. For example, our contractor wanted to charge us $1000 to take down the brick. We found a brick reclaimer who came took down the brick for free AND pay us a nickle a brick! Now, that is smart!!! But, here is what it looks like:




Quite the mess, right? Oh AND, they didn't take the mortar away. So, we had to haul 3 trailer loads of cement to the dump. No THAT is sweat equity!

And, the fun will continue. As a result of this, I have plenty to write about. Like how to menu plan when your plate runneth over. Not to mention, how are we going to put our palace back together. And finally, I get to redesign a bunch of my gardens. So stay tuned for all the mad-cap fun.

Playing along with Tackle It Tuesday with 5 Minutes for Mom .