Home Improvements...Before and...Middles. Family Room/School Room

We've been working like CRAZY this summer.

• We ripped off the large portion of the deck
• hauled away the debris
• dug a patio
• poured 5,665lbs of sand for patio
• laid 35 patio pavers (still have 30+ to go- but waiting for the weather to cool a bit!)
• Stripped the 30yo wall paper off the kitchen walls, spackled, sanded (removing and sheet rocking 2 areas that had built in speakers that the last owner had installed in the 80's)
• Painted the kitchen a lovely yellow
• Ripped up the carpet in the basement and the carpet tacking
• removed the ceiling tiles
• emoved the carpet from the basement steps (still in progress- TEDIOUS work!)
• primed and painted the doors, trim and painted the walls and drop ceiling frame
• We power washed the remaining portion of the back deck (as well as the front porch)
• We sealed the back deck (in progress)

Our Remaining To Do List

• Finish the deck (tomorrow!)
• put new "Luxery" (oh la la) Vinyl Tile in the kitchen (this Thursday and Friday!)
• paint the doors and trim in the basement as well as the stair case (once carpet is removed)
• install laminate flooring (ready and waiting! We start laying Monday!)
• Install built in shelving unit against stairs to make it an enclosed (and safer!) space, it will add storage and enable us to gate the bottom of the steps if necessary!)
• Put in new decking on the front porch (it's a gazillion years old and causing leaks into the basement storage area underneath [not finished portion of the basement]
• Replace windows in attic (old as the house and very leaky and unstable) and 2 of the windows in the girls room (almost as old, but they are not energy efficient)
• paint the back bedroom that will be the girls room (in "Napa Dawn" which is a soft grey and "Fancy Pansy" - which is a medium purple  and will just be on ONE wall- it's intense but the girls insisted they need a purple room- easy to fix!).
• Possibly replace the flooring in that room.
• paint the attic and build in "closets" along the eaves of the (finished) attic (I came up with a super cool inexpensive way to do this- I can't wait to show the finished product. 

 For the fall...

• Finish laying the patio 
• Even out the dirt and the back yard
• move garden beds to make the rest of the yard open and inviting (and make use of that shady area for what it's good for- enjoying the outdoors in the summer heat!)

Oh and then there is the bathroom renovation that we are looking at contractors and getting quotes for. I am so excited about all these changes...But is your head spinning yet? You're not alone. Mom and I ROCK- we are a force to be reckoned with but BOY has this been crazy busy!

 Because I can I will share a couple of the "middle" pictures- these aren't exactly AFTER pictures... We are all in progress right now!

Living area: main family room

Turn to the right and you are looking straight back into what will be our "school room"

Walk all the way back to that (was) green wall and turn to the left and here is the "offic nook"

The stairs

Looking from the back of the "school room" into the other half of the family room area

 And the "Middles"

 Standing in school room looking toward family room" In process of removing the carpet from the stairs

School room -like our chalk board? it is BROWN  chalkboard paint

school room and office nook on left

from family room

silly faces

My little helpr helping me tape off walls this morning

trying to show how I painted the drop ceiling frame our accent color "pale butter"

Around Home...School...

Summer is quickly coming to an end- and I cannot wait to start our first "official" year of home schooling!

The past few years we have loosely "unschooled', which means we very much followed the girls interest and lead and did what we could when we could.

Friendly wrote her entire name for the very first time ever- all by herself!!

I didn't feel like either of the girls was ready to begin a real curriculum this time last year - and I felt the pressure to "stick to it" would be too much with an infant in the house. But as last spring wore on I was seeing clearly that it was time to pick out a curriculum and find some thing that would 1) give structure to our days and 2) push the girls into new aspects and areas of learning. While I *like* routine, I like to have structure and I definitely like every thing to be organized. I have a hard time putting ALL THE THINGS together to make school happen. I have tried to make free-online curriculum work- and while they have fun stuff to offer- it is hard for me to round up all the things necessary to stick with it long-term. So I decided a boxed curriculum that is ALL right there "open and go" kind of deal would be very helpful.

After researching all the options (even looking into public charter schools) we decided home schooling really was the best fit for us at this time and I narrowed it down to two different curriculums, Our Fathers World or Heart of Dakota. I opted for Heart of Dakota. The format is truly "open and  go" and I liked (and I hope it will work well for the girls) how light of a work load it is for the younger ages. Each day is broken up in to 6-10 boxes (subjects) with each box only taking 5-10 minutes.

Roo wrote a letter to a friend- all by herself!

Friendly will be doing the preschool curriculum and Roo will be embarking on the 1st grade package. After looking at kindergarten I realize she was well past that because of all the stuff we've played at the past 2 school years. While I don't want to push her into some thing she isn't ready for- I worried that she would be VERY BORED if we tried to do the Kindergarten stuff. And VERY BORED = not wanting to do it. I am hopeful she will enjoy this school year and the challenges it brings. I am also hoping that the "scholastic stimulation" will help some of the bad habits (fighting) the girls have fallen into due to not enough structure, and simply: not enough stuff to do!

Sand Table fun- still quite entertaining!

Home updates!

The summer is flying by. And what a crazy busy summer it has been!

Things are moving right a long at Mom's (AKA our new home!).

The deck Demo debris is all cleaned up and almost all of it is gone- one more load for the trash (we had 2 small dumpster loads picked up right after- but the rest we've been putting out in contractor bags)

The patio is sloowly (tediously) coming along!

Our family room is really really coming together! (more on that in a minute!)

 As I shared in the other post- we learned a lot in our years of living together previously. We all agreed that 2 things needed to happen before we combined our households again:

1.) we needed another bathroom (I mean really- our family size has more than doubled since we moved in with her- and soon there will be 5 of us using a bathroom! For every ones sanity we need another on the second floor. Also for my Mom to have her own private bathroom- really! She shared a bathroom with 5 messy kids all those years- she has put in her time of living with fingers under the door and yelling from the other side!

2.) Laundry room by bedrooms. While this isn't an "absolute" we decided it would make all of our lives simpler. The current laundry situation is down in the basement- which means every one would have to drag laundry through down 2-3 flights of steps (Ryan and I will be in the attic), and the stair way to the basement is narrow. It will make all the things so much better and more organized to have the laundry room built in by the bathrooms on the second floor. Thanks to Mom's large walk in closet and being able to move a wall in the girls room (at the back of the house) we will be able to do this.

3) Seperate Living Spaces. My Mom has good taste. She has a really nice "grown up" living room that is very cozy and comfortable. She should get to keep it. When we lived with her before we tried to keep the toys downstairs but it was always a trail of "stuff" everywhere from two busy toddlers. I have learned to lock up as much as I can to limit the trail-making craziness...But still, little kids make messes. So we are turning the finished portion (384 sqft) of the basement into our family room and school area. Her living room and dining room will be HERS. And we are making the eat-in kitchen fully functional for ALL the food messiness (kids are MESSY) to stay in the kitchen!

It is turning out amazing!!! In the last 2 weeks we got rid of 2 pick up truck loads of stuff that had congregated in the basement...I cleaned out and organized the back (unfinished) area of the basement. And then this past week I ripped up all the carpet and carpet tacking (oiye!) and primed the walls and painted them. We will be laying down laminate "wood" floors to give it a very finished feel. We will be installing a light fixture over the school area (where our dining table and chairs will be) and installing some new shelving and a desk/office area in the back nook.

I have some before pictures - but I think I will save to show you with the "after" for the full effect.

This week I will be painting the doors/trim and stairs, painting the drop ceiling in a contrasting color, and installing the new ceiling tile.

Mom will be pouring the "self leveling" concrete to prep the floors for the laminate install.

We are also going to install new flooring in the kitchen (I think?) this week. As well as resealing the deck (as soon as we can get 3 consecutive sunny days).

We are working really really hard to get all the "big" projects done before the school year starts. Our lease isn't up until the end of March but as soon as our family room is finished we will start moving some of our furniture in to make that area useful for when we are over working at Mom's to prep for moving in.

We are in talks with property management about moving sooner than March- we are kind of hoping to have every thing done by Thanksgiving. But if we will lose our deposit or some thing we will stay put until our lease ends.

I am still trying to figure out hiring a contractor for the bathroom remodel. We will be doing a lot of the "finishing" stuff ourselves- but we need some one to gut the bathroom and do all the plumbing, ventilation, and electrical work for us. That project has to be complete before we can move.

So there is the update! Before and after pics of the kitchen and new family room to come soon!

18 Months....

It is hard to believe our baby is 18 months old already. It seems so unfair how quickly time seems to go.

Napping on the 26th- 18 months old!

I cannot express what a little light Pip has been in our family. She is just the sunshinest little person I have ever met. I love what she has added to our family.

It has been over a month since she had her laser surgery to release her lip tie. Her smile is showing no more signs of tooth decay (actually looks better than ever!), and she went from only occasionally making/practicing actual sounds (she loved to hum, but rarely made actual "ba/ga/ma/na/da" sounds) to talking up a storm!!!

A favorite activity: taking any bowl/cup or combo therein and transferring food/water  back and forth.

Such a little scientist!

New words this month:
"ma ma!!" Yes, finally this past month "mama" became more than a once a week thing to hear- she says it all the time. Some time's it means she is calling me. Some times it means she wants Mama's Milk. She is still nursing at least 3 times during the day -  usually when she is tired or hurting- it has been very helpful (did you know there are actually properties in breastmilk similar to tylonol/motrin? it actually physically numbs/eases pain!) when she wakes up with teething pain at night. The World Health Organization now recommends nursing to age 2 - Friendly weaned at 24mos- we'll see what Pip decides to do...Very happy to have some thing to help with the teething- she is cutting those four giant 1 year molars and has been quite a mess. :(

Another favorite word:  "baba" (Barnabas, my Mom's Westie)- this one is the most adorable! She loves to boss him around. She stands by the back door and yells "BA BA!!! BAAAAA BAAAA!!" and when he comes up to the door and tries to come inside with her she screams "na!!! Naaaaaaaa!!!!"  ("no") because she didn't want him to come INSIDE- she wanted him to go back out so she could do it again. She loves him and follows him all over the place trying to catch hold of him and pet him gently. Barny is such a good sport...I think some times all the attention the older two dole out on him makes him feel a bit anxious/overwhelmed (he still takes it in, in his placid way). But he does SO well with Pip and seems to enjoy (yet ignore) all her firm bossing.
The other day the girls were with my Mom when it was Barny's bath time. They shrieked with laughter as he was washed in the kitchen sink. And then it was time for his hair cut. Piper didn't like this part. Barny whines and yips through the whole process (he doesn't like the grooming stand). Piper whined with him and then started running from one side of the room to the other yelling "Ar ar ar ar ar ar!" in a high squeaky bark.

Playing puppy is another hilarious new thing.  She will walk over to me with a ball hanging out of her mouth. I throw it and she runs after it gets down on her belly- puts the ball back in her mouth (with her hands) and trots back over to me to do it again. She also like to be a puppy at the park. She will get down on all 4's and crawl (oooh so slowly) along the way.

She can reach the tap now! and she LOVES to play with the water at the sink- she brushes her teeth and washes her hands, her face and her hair...Endless entertainment!

Other words that have been heard: "amdee" (friendly), i-wee (Roo), Da-da/da-dee/ Nana (my Mom), "hun hun hun" (hungry/thirsty) "udge ja!" (love ya!), hi, yeah, na (no)

Her memory amazes me. The neighbors across the street from my Mom are friends of ours (true story: I met her online! I knew her for a few YEARS (not well, but we interacted) online and then we went to meet up and I realized she had moved into a house ACROSS THE STREET from my Mom- they home school and have a bunch of kids around our kids ages so it's really awesome!). The other day we were outside playing alone as the older two had gone to the park with my Mom...It had been a few weeks since we saw our friends because I have been *insanely* busy trying to get projects done at Mom's. Pip kept pointing across the street at N's house going "eh eh eh!" saying she wanted to go over and play. I couldn't believe she remembered.

A Sunday afternoon cat nap with Daddy

What a beauty!

She loves to hum and sing and she hums "ABC's" very clearly (and has even started to kind of differentiate letter sounds a very tiny bit- like it's nut just "um um um um um umm ummm.." it's more "aaaa aaa uuum um a a ummmm" and she'll throw in a few consonant sounds some times too)

From this morning. I realize there are a lot of pictures of her sleeping in this post. - it is just such a sweet sight. The one above she had her leg slung up over Daddy right before I snapped the picture. She and Ryan were sleeping in. She is such a snugga bug!

Changes around the bend...

Hard to believe we've been in this apartment 2.5 years! It's been a good season, a very very growing season...The girls ages have nearly doubled in this time (if you think about it since Roo was newly 3 and Friendly 18mos). We added the Pip to our family. It's been a good season.

Our Paper chain 2013! I love a good paperchain!

This spring we seemed to be doing a lot of reflecting, we knew changes were in the air and there have been MANY MANY things we've been praying about in regards to the future. We were reflecting on our time living with my Mom...The things we learned in our years living together. That busy crazy time learning to parent the babies that Roo and Friendly used to be.
We learned some things that we liked about living in a communal (if you will) setting. We learned some things that didn't work.  But the most important thing we learned was that we are a family.

Living apart the last few years we realized how much we love having my Mom as part of our family unit. How we would like to be her home base, no matter where she goes or what she does...We want to be a bit of a tether for her.

We had that on our hearts increasingly over the spring, and I guess she did too when she approached us with her idea.


 The idea?  To combine our household again.
But a bit differently this time. Taking what we learned before and implementing what will make the arrangement really great for all concerned.

Nana and Friendly 2009

So that's what all the work at my Mom's has been about. The plan right now is to make her current house work for us all. But we are also trying to think "resale value" and fix some things up so that we leave our options open to possibly sell her home and buy one together with a "In-law suite" if we find that that would be a better fit for us.

So we tore down the deck and are installing a patio....we're painting and fixing galore! We're moving the garden beds around and making the big back yard the best it can be.

A work in progress...

 We are also...

• We are repainting the kitchen (DONE! wohoo!)
• re-tiling the kitchen floor
• fixing/replacing windows
• repainting the attic and extra bedroom (will be our families bedrooms)
• We are looking into renovating the upstairs bathroom, putting another bathroom up there (so my Mom has her own bathroom)AND a laundry closet next to the already existing linen closet so all our laundry needs are on the second floor.
• We are refinishing the finished basement (redoing the flooring and adding more lighting and bright fresh paints). We are also considering adding (eventually) another 3/4 bath down there and a guest room for when we have family visiting. The basement will be our Family Room and school room - we will have our living area and dinning room set up down there so our stuff will be completely separate from my Mom's area on the first floor. 

There are a few smaller projects/improvements we hope to add as well to bring up the house to the best it can be regardless of what is decided. We've been putting a LOT of hours into these projects this summer and we're really making a lot of headway! It's really exciting! 

We have no idea when we will move in. The basement MUST be move-in ready before we make steps to move in - as that will be our living area and we want every thing to be as nice and stable for the girls as possible. We also need to have the bathroom/laundry room area all set as well. Our lease is up in March - so that is kind of the idea is that we will wait until then. But there is the possibility we will move things closer, it really depends on projects getting done.

The front garden- last year? Some thing checked off the list already- giant monster arborvitae taken out and new fencing put in! yay!

So there is the exciting announcement! My Mom has hopes to travel extensively (like leave the country) in the next few years and the hope is to have us all set up and taking care of the house and property for her to have the freedom to do that- but also for her to have a home to come back to.

Roo on the front porch circ 2009

Here's to bends in the road, making changes, and HOME! :)

Folk Festival

Don't miss the last 3 posts HERE HERE and HERE

Onwards to the FOLK FESTIVAL!!! This tradition started back when Roo was 2...my Mom took Roo all alone on a date and bought her a special mug for cocoa.

Roo at the folk festival circ 2010

2010

2010

I'm not sure what happened in 2011- I couldn't find any pictures- I am guessing we might have skipped that year, or not had a camera.

Then in 2012 Friendly went along too!

circ. 2012

2012

And she got a mug...

Well this year, Ryan was working on Saturday and Pip "needed a mug" and Roo's mug from her very first year got all cracked, so Nana offered to get her a new one. And while I trust my Mom to take all three girls on field trips, it isn't some thing I'd wish on her on a hot July day! So I tagged along too- and good fun was had by all!

Bounce fun!

Petting zoo!

 

checking out the hammock stand

Riding the "train". It was kind of funny, we searched the entire fair for the "train" only to realize we'd been standing right by it when we first got to the festival!

The train was a HIT!

It was a HOT day- a heat advisory and all- but there was a lovely breeze and the shade felt great! We hung out in the shade for quite a bit...Nana taught the girls how to make sling shoots with weeds. She's good like that.

The Pip and I hung out in the grass alone for a bit- she doesn't handle heat well, and since we were snuggled up in the carrier (after she tired of the stroller) the break in the shade was especially nice.  Here she is laying in the grass next to me. Classic Pip face when she can't decide if she likes some thing or not.

Another classic expression..Very thoughtful person.

and then she played in the grass for a while

Trying to make a "weed shot"

And then she almost fell asleep...

All in all a lovely morning well spent...

And every one has a mug now. <3