Week 4 - We've been busy!

Our renovation is really starting to get close to completion!  This week, we painted and the trim & doors were put up, along with most of the remaining electrical getting done.  It sure looks amazing as it comes together & we are so excited that we are close to being ready to move the rest of our stuff in!

 Let there be light!  It's not really easy to paint without light, especially when trying to carefully paint the top or at corners where 2 different colors meet.  I really hate that job, but really like how it looks when it's done.  Thankfully we had a lot of daylight from the windows.

 This view is from in the boys' room looking out.  The set on the left are closet doors.

 Not as easy to see, but the window frames are in & the recessed lighting.

 The kids are excited for their new bathroom.  They said they get the "nice" bathroom.  I think it's because they like the shower.  It reminds them of our last home.

 Laundry, closet, bathroom & storage area doors.  Our contractor saved us a bunch of money since he was able to give us a bunch of trim & doors he salvaged from another renovation.  We are more than happy with the results and even more excited with the cost!  (I must say though, doorknobs are not cheap when you need to buy 10 of them, and I can't say I've ever had to buy that many!)  For the most part, we are right on our budget, even after a few additions, but we saved money in other places.

(Much needed) Vacation

Last week, we spent time at a lake cabin with Jason's parents, his siblings and their families.  There were about 30 of us there for about 5 days of sun, fun, family & food.  It was a much needed break from the construction for us and time for the kids to spend with their cousins, swimming, fishing & tubing.  The weather couldn't have been better and even with all of the sun, we managed to prevent nasty sunburns.  The week went by way too fast, but we have memories to treasure as these kiddos grow & now the oldest cousin, Brooke, heads off to college in a couple weeks.  We had to pull a few of them out of the lake to get a picture.

Here is a much overdue updated family picture.  I am 7 months pregnant, mind you, and yes, 2 of our kids are now officially as tall or taller than me as this picture points out!

 

 We surprised Jason on his 42nd birthday with an ice cream cake.  It was also our last day, so we were busy packing up and then had yummy cake just before leaving.

Ready to paint!

It is the end of Week 3 and we are ready to start painting!

Weeks 2-3

We are over halfway to having our basement project finished!  We went on a little vacation last week, and while we were gone, this happened...

WALLS!!

Do you hear anything??

Neither do I thanks to this new addition!  Well, at least for the morning it was quiet.  The kids have been busy playing school, having picnics and of course, pretending to be on "American Ninja Warrior" and running it's timed obstacle course.  It took 3 nights putting it together and each night we just plain ran out of daylight and the mosquitoes show up extremely aggressive around that time as well, so we flee to the indoors itching & waving our arms wildly.  Despite the heat, the kids wanted to be in their fort, and we covered many areas with sheets & blankets to keep the sun out of the sitting areas so they could keep a little cooler.  Thank you, Nana Thuy for your gift for the kids and helping to gain a little sanity for this Mommy while we are transitioning during construction.  This will definitely get it's money's worth!!

(In case you are wondering, we are not completely finished anchoring the slide, so that's why it's a foot off the ground, but that will be taken care of this evening.)

Days 1-4 of the basement finishing process

The process began this week to make our new 2 bedroom/1 bath home into twice that size.  The pictures below ultimately give you a 360 degree view, but sometimes it can be hard to imagine where things are, especially when some of our stuff moves to different places, but I will try to explain each one.

 This is the bathroom space to the left and the under-the-stairs storage area to the right.

 Laundry/utility room and part of what was going to be Bedroom #4.

 I mention "was going to be Bedroom #4" because after Day 1 of framing, we realized the bedrooms were going to be way too small, so this will now be the living room area.

 Previous Bedroom #3, now living room/office space

 Part of Bedroom #3's new location and the office space

 Previous living room/office space, now Bedroom #3

 Previous living room space, now Bedroom #4

And now for Day 4's progress!
Walls framed in & ready for inspection & sheetrock!

 Bathroom shower is in
(they put the insulation in it to get it out of the way...)

 Small storage closet and laundry/utility room

 Living room area

 Living room/office space

 Wall (to BR closet) where piano will most likely go & door to BR #3.  

This bedroom seems small, but the space is way more usable than what we previously had planned.  The other plan had no way of fitting 2 beds and and desk in them, unless they were both separately lofted!

 Doorways to both bedrooms & door to go upstairs.

Closet begins where the framing angles a bit.

Bedroom #4

We are so happy with the decision to change the layout.  We felt bad wasting a day of labor, but in the long run, it was definitely worth it.  Our contractor has been wonderful & was more than happy to accommodate our change.  Next week, the walls start going up and we will be gone on vacation for the process, so when we come home, we look forward to seeing the progress made & without having to live in the noise and dust.

It hasn't been too disrupting, since we don't really need to go down there anyways, except on laundry day.  But with the weather being really hot or storming, this pregnant lady is more reluctant to venture outdoors with the kids.  I get lots more tired too than I did years ago when I was pregnant with kids to chase around.  The kids aren't quite comfortable with riding around too far yet, and since we are on the outer edge of town, our concern is that they might not find their way back until they learn the town a little better.  It's twice the size of Minneota, which is all they've ever known, so we are still a little protective of letting them venture too far for too long.  I'm sure it will be better by the time school starts.  For now, we are enjoying our new place & can't wait to share the next progress report!  God is good!

Where the wind blows

*Disclaimer:  This post is about flatulence, so if you find that sort of subject offending rather than funny, you might care to pass on reading this one...

This story begins many, many years ago.  Back to the days that I rode around with Jason & his brother, Ricky, when we were young, carefree & ran around the Midwest chasing rodeos.  Most of those trips involved a single cab truck and the three of us.  So what does this have to do with gas?  Well, you can imagine that riding with 2 guys for hours in a small cab isn't always a pleasant experience on the senses.  Enter the term "fart sucker".  If you haven't heard of it, it was the term used for that little triangular window that was in older trucks.  If you had a back sliding window, it was also functional.  Sometimes, if one was lucky, the owner from which the stink came, would not wait until everyone smelled it, but knowing that they passed gas (and who doesn't?!), would just reach over and open their little window before it permeated the entire cab.  It was quite efficient at sucking the "bad air" right out.



 Now, fast forward many years...no longer am I trapped in a small truck with 2 guys, but a large family vehicle filled with 5 little bodies.  In the girls defense, they usually are not a source of raunchiness, but needless to say, that still leaves us with 3 boys, who are quite potent most of the time.  So what's a sensitive nose to do?  These days, the newer vans have passenger door windows that open.  We do not have that luxury.  Luckily, we do have windows in the way back that "tilt" open just enough that when you open the front windows just a tad, will create a vacuum right out the back.  Now, we've tried just opening the front windows, but all that does is swirl the smell around from the back all the way to the front and seems to submit everyone to it's putrid terror.  So, we've gotten it down to a science that if you open the back windows first and then the front ones, it's a much quicker air detox process. 

Some of the problems...if the stench is not detected until it reaches the front, then all passengers are still subject to having to breathe through their mouth or cover their nose.  Also, if the driver, (who has sole control of those fart sucker windows), is less sensitive or is less aware of the commotion going on in the back until all are subject to it, (or his wife tells him to open the windows!), can make for long, stinky trips.

So last week, on one of our family rides to somewhere, one of our kids was particularly struggling with keeping it to himself.  (I won't mention his name, but he just turned 14 this month.)  So, even though we had the fart sucker going in full force, I hear Ian in the back yell (as he's waving his arms around), "Ewww!  That one's fighting back!" meaning, it wouldn't leave. 

Ah, the joys of parenthood!  Thank goodness for fart suckers and for those of you who dared to read about it!  I hope you can take something away from this, or at least utilize those little windows on your future trips.