Photo update of the house

We've been here for 2 months now and we've made pretty good progress.



-Knocked down two walls

-moved plumbing

-MANY wallpaper boarders removed

-3 weeks were devoted to electrical work...yawn

-drywall is the worst invention know to man and my greatest nemeses (plural NE-ME-SES: a formidable and usually victorious rival or opponent)

-the kitchen was dismantled then reassembled one room over

-an island was built and painted

-farm sink installed

-granite slab counters installed, all by Alan's big bad self

-cabinets (beadboard added,primed, painted, glazed, knobs and pulls)

-fireplace moved and framed

-flooring is a story of it's own (see below)

-24 knew light fixtures installed

-kitchen and family room painted

-my beloved hutch moved in, armoir and couches also moved in (we stopped working for a week after the couches were moved in, I'm not kidding, we couldn't get up)

-backsplash going in as I type

-undercabinet lighting going in also as I type








Ok, so the floors are a story. The flooring we wanted was going to cost $3,000 for the downstairs alone. We don't have said $3,000. What do we do? We convince our handy dandy husband to build us some floors. I have had this idea rolling around in my head for like 10 years. I never thought he would do it for me. It took some convincing and a few books checked out from the library but I won. I've always dreamt of having reclaimed pine floors like you would see in an old farm house. So we faked it! Alan and I ripped 1/2" pine plywood into 8'X8" boards. Alan then routered all 4 edges of each board. Alan picked black as the paint color and I agreed. So I painted the installed boards then took a sander and sanded over every sqaure inch to give it an old worn and weathered look. Final cost to do the entire downstairs $200...can't beat that!



Things left to do:

-stacked stone the fireplace and install mantle
-wood wrap all windows and doors
-baseboard trim
-kitchen cabinet crown & trim
-paint, paint, paint
-install the rest of the floors
-tear down hall closet
-new doors
-a super duper cool suprise involing barn doors
-powder room/total remodel
-upstairs bathroom/total remodel
-total makeover of the stairway and railing
-Build walk in closet in Master
-Build master bath (that'll be a few years away, unless someone would like to donate $)
-yard work, yard work, yard work
-paint porch and outside trim
-build a treehouse!

Are you tired, because I am?!

I love it here.

I was out scouting locations today for a photo shoot I have coming up and I just need to say that I love it here! We only moved 10 minutes away from Puyallup but it's like a whole nother world. Living in "the country" as everyone calls it is such a blessing. Every time I leave my home I have the most incredible views of Mount Rainier and sweeping farm land. I feel like the trees are hugging me as I drive down the windy roads out here. Sometimes it reminds me of driving around the back roads between Canton and Cumming in Georgia, which strangely makes me feel at home. After 3 months it hasn't gotten old, the sense of gratitude hasn't even begun to wear off. I hope that in 10 years I'll still be driving home from somewhere and feel that overwhelming sense that this is where I belong. I have lived in many homes and in many cities but I have never felt so at home and at peace before. It's good to know that this is where we have landed and we're staying for good.

These spots are only 5 to 10 minutes from my home. What you can't see in the shot below is Mt. Rainier, big and beautiful, hiding behind the clouds. I snapped these with my Iphone so I could remember these spots for future photoshoots.

Do The Puyallup!

It's that time of year again! I can start to smell the elephant ears and roasted corn a month early. I love the Washington State Fair! I've been going to it for as long as I can remember and it's a tradition I'm passing down to my kids. Last year we discovered Monday Madness, all the rides were $1. This year the price went up to $1.50 but it was still a great deal. We played hooky from school and work and spent 8 hours at the fair.
We filled up on scones, corn, BBQ and our favorite elephant ears. We rode ride after ride. Alan has finally turned "old" like the rest of us and got a bit sick this year. It was a first for him, I don't think he was so happy about it. Tanner on the other hand had his own first. He was brave enough to ride the BIG rides. Taylor was thrilled to have someone to go with since Dad was looking a little green!
I took Tate on all the little guy rides. As you can see from his expressions he was in HEAVEN! He is so fun to watch, full of pure joy. I made a slide show of the pics from my phone but I can't get the HTML off my phone so you'll have to check it out on my facebook page instead. Below is the slideshow of Tate, pics from my camera.

I'm already itchen to go again!!!

KINDERGARTEN

Well it wasn't officially the first day but Tate thinks it was. That's all that really matters! He did testing and I went with him to orientation. His official first day is Thursday...can't wait! This little man belongs in school, he loves it. He's been riding the bus to pre-school since he turned 3 so it's no new business around here but still, it's totally exciting.

P.S. Don't be judging me by my teal trim and my bird house doorbell. I'll get to it.

FINALLY...the first day of school!

This was the LONGEST summer of all time! For both the kids and I, school starting is a blessed event. Taylor and Tanner had to watch as all their friends from Puyallup went off to school last week, it was painful. They both love school and would be happy with 2 weeks off for summer break! With the craziness of moving into a vacant home and not having any video games, TV, or even any of their toys or books it was truly a tough summer. Things are slowly coming together and we can see a normal life on the horizon. First step, we've got the kitchen complete. 2nd step, kids back to school. Next step, drywall and paint. Then, oh glorious day...we can move our "things" in!!! I have never been so excited to hang a picture on the wall in my life.

Thank you first day of school for making life a little more "normal".




Stay tuned for Tate's first day of Kindergarten. He has testing and orientation today. He has asked me every five minutes "how many more minutes 'til we go". Only 2 hours to go which means I only have to hear that about 24 more times!

It's a miracle...

Tate has made it to age 5 without major injury or death. We've been saying since he could walk that we'd be surprised if he made to his next birthday alive. He's alive and kicking! He's my bundle of energy that just doesn't stop and is sooo fearless. He plays hard, fights dirty, loves easy, teases relentlessly and every night after all that he sleeps like a rock.
We celebrated his birthday all weekend but he insisted that he would not be 5 until he blew the candles out. Funny thing was, we couldn't find anything to light the candles with! The one lighter we had decided to give out on us and the rest are still packed. Between Alan, Uncle Scott and Uncle Nick they tried everything, finally after 20 minutes Nick's boy scout days paid off. He was able to light toilet paper on fire with nearly burnt out ashes from the grill. We had already dished the cake out to angry, hungry children but Tate was able to blow a candle out and turn 5! He was so relieved.
Today we picked up the registration papers at the kids new school and I'm starting to really freak out about sending Tate to Kindergarten. I don't think I've blogged about this yet. Tate has been in pre-school since he was 3 through the school district. He gets special services for his speech delay and sensory disorder. He looses services at age 5 unless we put him in school. So we had to decided whether to take a year off or to send him to school earlier than we feel he's ready. After counseling with his teacher we decided to send him. He will probably need to repeat Kindergarten but he just function better when he is in school. We don't want him to regress so off to Kindergarten he goes. I'm soooo nervous!

I apologize to all of you out there who think his insanely long hair is an outrage. I've heard it all before. I know he can't see. I've just been a bit pre occupied lately and he's SLIGHTLY overdue for a haircut! You will be happy to know that I cut it this afternoon and his eye's are once again visible.

I'M BAAAAACK!!!!!

I'm back and I'm no longer homeless/trespassing/squatting...whatever you want to call it. We are full fledged home owners once again. It was a looooong 7 month process of buying a short sale home (pre-foreclosure) and I will NEVER do it again. After moving 12 times in 12 years we have landed. Our grandkids will be visiting us here!
I will have to write out the full story of the MANY miracles that came about to get us here but for now, I'm just checking in to let you all know I'm back. My Internet got hooked up today and I can now rejoin the syberworld I so love.
Here are some pictures from my iPhone that show the first few days of demo. The main floor has been gutted and we are in the process of putting it back together. We've got the kitchen moved over, walls torn down, plumbing redone, electrical almost finished. All in one week. That's with Alan going to work then coming home and working. Ya, he's a stud muffin! Wait till you see what we can do, I know your excited!

4th of July...2 weeks late!!!

I think you can all forgive me for being so behind on my blogging...right!? I'm currently at the library because having no electricity means no Internet. Here's a million random pics of the 4th at Natalie's house.
I didn't neglect to take pictures of the rest of my kids, I just didn't have them with me. Taylor was with Grandma and Grandpa Rigtrup boating and watching the big bad fireworks. Tanner and Tate were with Grandma and Grandpa Dille swimming at the lake, playing with cousin Landon and sweet talking Grandma into buying them $40 worth of tanks, smoke bombs and pop its!
The 4th of July with only one child and a dog...GOOD TIMES!

Hanging in...

UPDATE:
Still homeless (trespassing)
USDA approving loans - 2 weeks behind
Closing date?????July 31????
Kids - bored
Mom - crazy
Dad - stressed
Easting out every day is NOT fun!
No hot water
No electricity

Moving responsibilities...

So if you didn't know we've moved 11 times...this makes the 12th and final move. So I'm pretty much a pro packer. Not that I enjoy it, because I can assure you I DO NOT. So when people want to help I kinda cringe inside and respectfully decline. Not because of pride but because I have a method and there's no rhyme to my rhythm. I just like to pack at my own pace. Anyway there's a lot more to moving than just packing (cleaning, organizing, de-junking, etc). One of the things I needed to get done before moving was pressure washing. We have this big play structure that I want to sell so I needed to clean the YEARS of grim off of it. So I finally got around to it today and the kids thought it was the coolest thing ever. Except Lula who hid just behind the sliding glass door. Oh, and the dog, who darted around not knowing what to do. Life can't be all stress and work, I couldn't stop giggling thinking about pressure washing my children clean...



I did actually get my work done...If you know anyone who needs this, email me.