...and it ain't gonna happen. At least not a permanent one.
We're in the process of remodeling. (For those of you who know us, I'm sure you're rolling your eyes and wondering when we have ever not been in the process of remodeling!) We needed to replace the floors in our house due to water damage. Before we bought it as a foreclosure, the house was vacant and someone had come in and ripped out the copper pipes, leading to a lot of water damage all over the old wooden floors. The damage was so bad that even companies who specialize in refinishing old floors had told us there was nothing we could do; we needed new floors. Several months went by in which we debated carpet versus hardwood and the implications of both. Carpet would be easier to lay around the radiators but was an issue with the pocket doors. Hardwood was our preference and would be easier with the doors, but would require removal and reinstallation of the hot water radiators.
We finally decided to go with our preference and put in new hardwood floors. The upstairs flooring is done and the radiators reinstalled (yay for heat!) and we've been working towards the downstairs. The problem became the kitchen.
Our kitchen layout was atrocious. Whoever had the house previously had put a 4'x5' peninsula against one wall. They installed one set of cabinets underneath and the rest was just open space. In addition, the counter was tiled with rough tile so although it was great for setting hot pots on, it was useless for a lot of kitchen prep. Our plan to replace the flooring extended into the kitchen, so we either had to floor around the current cabinets (which wouldn't have worked as it turned out) and live with the layout for a long time, or replace the cabinets now with a more functional layout but have the added cost of new cabinets.
Yep, new cabinets.
We ordered new cabinets and Mark began the process of taking out the flooring in the kitchen. This involved taking out the tile, backerboard, linoleum, OSB, and original hardwood flooring--all of which was UNDER the old cabinets. So in order to remove all of this, everything in the kitchen had to come out...including the stove, dishwasher, and sink. We switched the layout of the kitchen to move the stove to the other side, so we had a company come out to move the gas line and were able to reconnect the stove the same day on the opposite side of the kitchen. Now Mark's taken out the other side, meaning we've lost the sink and dishwasher.
Unfortunately, the plumbers can't attach the sink or dishwasher until the new countertops are in and we're waiting for the countertop people to come measure for the template. While waiting, Mark is going to cut a piece off of the old countertop and set it on the new sink base so we can temporarily attach the sink to the new plumbing. In the meantime we're washing dishes in the bathtub.
At least we have indoor plumbing and hot water!
Showing posts with label renovations. Show all posts
Showing posts with label renovations. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 18, 2013
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Everyone can tie their shoes!
...and there was much rejoicing! ;)
In other news, the offer for our house finally went through. We went through about a week where we thought the contract was going to fall apart. They wanted some things done that we refused to do. They finally caved and we are set to close in mid-May. That will be a wonderful day. :)
Danielle got her first set of serial casts yesterday...and we have already broken BOTH plastic foot plates that are in the bottom of her casts. Thus, we go back in tomorrow for new casts, without foot plates. So tomorrow we have speech x1, physical therapy x1, and casting x1. Better than yesterday which was supposed to be speech x3 and casting x1. We switched our schedule around so we weren't spending all day at SLCH and did speech x1 and casting x1. Part of the difficulty with the casts is that Danielle can't be weight-bearing for four hours after the casts are put on. Yesterday we went down to the cafeteria and did schoolwork while they dried, and then Mark came by after work and got Danielle in the van. I'm thinking we'll run the same plan tomorrow. During speech and PT the rest of us will play in the rooftop garden, and then when we're waiting for the casts to dry we'll do schoolwork.
I must confess to loving the flexibility of homeschooling. Since we have so many different therapies going on right now, taking people in and out of school would be a nightmare. This way we just take school with us. :)
In other news, the offer for our house finally went through. We went through about a week where we thought the contract was going to fall apart. They wanted some things done that we refused to do. They finally caved and we are set to close in mid-May. That will be a wonderful day. :)
Danielle got her first set of serial casts yesterday...and we have already broken BOTH plastic foot plates that are in the bottom of her casts. Thus, we go back in tomorrow for new casts, without foot plates. So tomorrow we have speech x1, physical therapy x1, and casting x1. Better than yesterday which was supposed to be speech x3 and casting x1. We switched our schedule around so we weren't spending all day at SLCH and did speech x1 and casting x1. Part of the difficulty with the casts is that Danielle can't be weight-bearing for four hours after the casts are put on. Yesterday we went down to the cafeteria and did schoolwork while they dried, and then Mark came by after work and got Danielle in the van. I'm thinking we'll run the same plan tomorrow. During speech and PT the rest of us will play in the rooftop garden, and then when we're waiting for the casts to dry we'll do schoolwork.
I must confess to loving the flexibility of homeschooling. Since we have so many different therapies going on right now, taking people in and out of school would be a nightmare. This way we just take school with us. :)
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Accepted!
They accepted our counteroffer so I believe the dirty house is now officially under contract! Closing is tentatively set for mid-May. The buyers have some kind of special FHA loan with an additional state program and there are some long timelines regarding financing for that kind of loan which is why closing is so far out. And...we had another showing tonight. :) I think we've doubled our number of showings just in the last few days. I guess it's good we have more interest, just in case something falls through with this one (way to be pessimistic, I know!).
In the meantime we have a few little things we need to finish up over there so it's just as well we have a little time.
Only two more months!!! :) :)
In the meantime we have a few little things we need to finish up over there so it's just as well we have a little time.
Only two more months!!! :) :)
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
We have an OFFER!
It's been a LOOOONNNNGGG wait. We have not had very many showings of the "dirty house"...in fact, I think I can count them on one hand. And that's since it's been on the market last November. Finally, today, we received an offer.
It was a little surprising because we've been expecting an offer all week, but this came not from the people who saw the house three times last week, but from a couple who only saw it last night. They made a good offer and we made one small counter (not regarding price) so now we wait and see. It would be SO NICE to have that house gone. I love it. I think it's beautiful. But now it's time to move on and get some things done where we actually live!
It was a little surprising because we've been expecting an offer all week, but this came not from the people who saw the house three times last week, but from a couple who only saw it last night. They made a good offer and we made one small counter (not regarding price) so now we wait and see. It would be SO NICE to have that house gone. I love it. I think it's beautiful. But now it's time to move on and get some things done where we actually live!
Friday, November 18, 2011
If you know of anyone wanting to buy a house...
...send them our way. ;)
http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/3129-Oregon-Ave_Saint-Louis_MO_63118_M78873-01944
http://amyp.stlgoldhomes.net/viewhome.asp?HomeID=11054931&MLSArea=StLouis
The dirty house is finally CLEAN!
http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/3129-Oregon-Ave_Saint-Louis_MO_63118_M78873-01944
http://amyp.stlgoldhomes.net/viewhome.asp?HomeID=11054931&MLSArea=StLouis
The dirty house is finally CLEAN!
Thursday, October 20, 2011
A busy week
We've had a few of those. :)
Monday was pretty quiet. School and all of that.
Tuesday was speech for Emily, then R came to visit for a few hours. The kids love playing with her and she's 2 now and so much fun to have around. Tim has just recently gotten into the "big brother" groove with her and it's hilarious to listen to him. "No, no, R...don't touch that. Here, play with this."
Wednesday was new ear tubes for Emily. She did great with the surgery but decided she didn't like her doctor AT ALL when she threw up 9 times after anesthesia. Yes, 9. Thankfully they sent us home with a small bucket and I only had to stop three times on the way home to dump it. Ick. ;) She tried to eat when she got home (she was so hungry!) but it didn't work out so well. After a little rest time she was fully recovered and, in true Emily style, decided she had to eat eggs first since she had missed them at breakfast. I did NOT give her eggs first but after I was convinced her stomach had settled she did get her eggs.
Today was shots for Julia and Bianca. Neither one cried and the nurse was so impressed with how the other kids did in the room (I had all 6 of them with me) that she gave all of the kids a pencil.
You could have heard a pin drop in the awed silence when she said they would all get one. Pencils are like gold in our house!
The dirty house is almost done. We have it scheduled to be listed on November 1. We'll see if we can hold to it, but I think we can make it. NOTE: That last "we" should really read "Mark", who is going to nearly kill himself trying to get this house finished alone.
Oh, and did I mention (no, I did not) that he has a new job? Mark is now a therapy manager. YAY for my awesome hubby!!! :)
It's been a little crazy busy around here.
Just the way I like it. :) :)
Monday was pretty quiet. School and all of that.
Tuesday was speech for Emily, then R came to visit for a few hours. The kids love playing with her and she's 2 now and so much fun to have around. Tim has just recently gotten into the "big brother" groove with her and it's hilarious to listen to him. "No, no, R...don't touch that. Here, play with this."
Wednesday was new ear tubes for Emily. She did great with the surgery but decided she didn't like her doctor AT ALL when she threw up 9 times after anesthesia. Yes, 9. Thankfully they sent us home with a small bucket and I only had to stop three times on the way home to dump it. Ick. ;) She tried to eat when she got home (she was so hungry!) but it didn't work out so well. After a little rest time she was fully recovered and, in true Emily style, decided she had to eat eggs first since she had missed them at breakfast. I did NOT give her eggs first but after I was convinced her stomach had settled she did get her eggs.
Today was shots for Julia and Bianca. Neither one cried and the nurse was so impressed with how the other kids did in the room (I had all 6 of them with me) that she gave all of the kids a pencil.
You could have heard a pin drop in the awed silence when she said they would all get one. Pencils are like gold in our house!
The dirty house is almost done. We have it scheduled to be listed on November 1. We'll see if we can hold to it, but I think we can make it. NOTE: That last "we" should really read "Mark", who is going to nearly kill himself trying to get this house finished alone.
Oh, and did I mention (no, I did not) that he has a new job? Mark is now a therapy manager. YAY for my awesome hubby!!! :)
It's been a little crazy busy around here.
Just the way I like it. :) :)
Thursday, August 12, 2010
The painting
I'm going to try to contain myself, but I really need to vent a little bit about this. We paid our drywaller to have his team come in to paint the dirty house. Come to find out, his team is his uncle and a few other guys. Here's the list of current complaints:
Painted master bathroom the wrong color
Didn't paint a few areas of the house (that were supposed to be painted)
Did not clean the windows where they oversprayed (and were supposed to clean per the contract)
Got wall paint on the ceilings
Got random dark paint in the hallway (drips, but from a bathroom color that somehow ended up in the hallway)
Left us a bucket that said "DN'T OPEN" (typed exactly as written)
Okay, the bucket is what put us over the edge. All of the excess paint buckets, including the one marked as above, were left at the house which was great because we definitely have to do some touch-up. However, we weren't sure what to do with this bucket. Clearly, we should dispose of it but we didn't know what was in it so didn't want to just throw it in the trash. Our thought was that it must contain some paint thinner or cleaner, and that we would probably need to dispose of it separately. But in order to know how to dispose of it we needed to know what it was.
So we opened it.
Can you guess where this is going??
Someone had used the bucket as a portable toilet, and the resulting deposits had been sitting in a closed bucket in a 90+ degree house for about a week.
And they left it there.
Never, never again will I hire someone to paint for us.
Painted master bathroom the wrong color
Didn't paint a few areas of the house (that were supposed to be painted)
Did not clean the windows where they oversprayed (and were supposed to clean per the contract)
Got wall paint on the ceilings
Got random dark paint in the hallway (drips, but from a bathroom color that somehow ended up in the hallway)
Left us a bucket that said "DN'T OPEN" (typed exactly as written)
Okay, the bucket is what put us over the edge. All of the excess paint buckets, including the one marked as above, were left at the house which was great because we definitely have to do some touch-up. However, we weren't sure what to do with this bucket. Clearly, we should dispose of it but we didn't know what was in it so didn't want to just throw it in the trash. Our thought was that it must contain some paint thinner or cleaner, and that we would probably need to dispose of it separately. But in order to know how to dispose of it we needed to know what it was.
So we opened it.
Can you guess where this is going??
Someone had used the bucket as a portable toilet, and the resulting deposits had been sitting in a closed bucket in a 90+ degree house for about a week.
And they left it there.
Never, never again will I hire someone to paint for us.
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
A picture's worth a thousand words...
...especially when your drywaller covers up outlets in the bathroom and you have pictures of where the boxes actually are underneath the drywall.
And this after he decided painting is going to take too long and he wants to charge us an hourly rate ($35/hour!).
Grrr...contractors....
And this after he decided painting is going to take too long and he wants to charge us an hourly rate ($35/hour!).
Grrr...contractors....
Monday, July 12, 2010
What HAVE we been up to?
I go back and forth with not posting because we're too busy or it seems too boring. ;)
In the past week...for the fourth of July we didn't do anything really special. We took the kids to watch the downtown fireworks from a parking garage again this year but we're thinking next year they may be ready to handle actually being downtown in the crowds and the noise. We'll see. ;)
Mark had to work on the 5th but the kids and I were off so we hung out around the house. The weeks stay busy with the kids in summer camp and preschool, plus speech once a week for Emily. So far we've been able to work things out so that the boys are not going to watch the movies that we don't feel are appropriate for them. Since Mark worked last Monday he had a day off to use so he used it to keep the boys on their movie day. They had a good time hanging out with him and still got to watch part of a movie at home, then went back to camp at lunchtime.
Mark and I have seen two shows at the Muny--Beauty and the Beast and Titanic. Beauty and the Beast was--I'm sad to say--very disappointing for me. I love the music from the Broadway version but this did not live up to it at all. There seemed to be whole parts missing from the score and it made things very weird. Usually the Muny puts on top-notch shows but this was a definite disappointment. That was somewhat made up for with Titanic. Mark and I first saw this musical in Michigan and I loved it! Here at the Muny I enjoyed it so much again. For those not familiar with the broadway version of Titanic, it is nothing like the movie...which is a good thing. :) It is such a romantic musical and knowing that it is based on history makes it a very powerful story.
This past weekend we did lots of running around. An old friend from TCU was in town for a wedding so we caught up with her and her family for a couple of hours at a local playground. It was great to get to see them again and to meet their adorable daughter.
This weekend was also Tim's birthday! He is now 7 and was very happy about his birthday. He somehow seemed to believe that everyone he met should tell him happy birthday. ;) For his birthday dinner we went to Hometown Buffet and the kids LOVED it. All they could eat and so many choices! We had some close calls, but no one got sick from overeating. LOL
I made Tim his choice of cake--a church cake that looked like our church...are my kids weird or what?--and it was dry but the icing was fantastic. I haven't liked either of the two cake recipes I've used for the boys' birthdays but this icing was a keeper. I've been eating the leftover icing by the spoonful (makes up for not eating dessert at the buffet! ;)).
Tim liked his cake but told me at church that I left off the statue (our church used to be a Catholic church and there is a statue of a saint in the front towards the top of the building). He was still happy though, because he got to eat the steeple. Weird, I tell you...just weird.
And we've been over to the dirty house a couple of times cleaning out drywall. The kids love to help carry the drywall to the dumpster. Danielle was actually begging to get to go again so she could carry more drywall to the dumpster. Silly girl. They like being able to point out how strong they are, and they try to see how many pieces they can carry at a time.
In dirty house news...all of the drywall is done! Taping and mudding starts this week and the electrician will be out next week. We should have AC in the next couple of weeks which will be great!
In the past week...for the fourth of July we didn't do anything really special. We took the kids to watch the downtown fireworks from a parking garage again this year but we're thinking next year they may be ready to handle actually being downtown in the crowds and the noise. We'll see. ;)
Mark had to work on the 5th but the kids and I were off so we hung out around the house. The weeks stay busy with the kids in summer camp and preschool, plus speech once a week for Emily. So far we've been able to work things out so that the boys are not going to watch the movies that we don't feel are appropriate for them. Since Mark worked last Monday he had a day off to use so he used it to keep the boys on their movie day. They had a good time hanging out with him and still got to watch part of a movie at home, then went back to camp at lunchtime.
Mark and I have seen two shows at the Muny--Beauty and the Beast and Titanic. Beauty and the Beast was--I'm sad to say--very disappointing for me. I love the music from the Broadway version but this did not live up to it at all. There seemed to be whole parts missing from the score and it made things very weird. Usually the Muny puts on top-notch shows but this was a definite disappointment. That was somewhat made up for with Titanic. Mark and I first saw this musical in Michigan and I loved it! Here at the Muny I enjoyed it so much again. For those not familiar with the broadway version of Titanic, it is nothing like the movie...which is a good thing. :) It is such a romantic musical and knowing that it is based on history makes it a very powerful story.
This past weekend we did lots of running around. An old friend from TCU was in town for a wedding so we caught up with her and her family for a couple of hours at a local playground. It was great to get to see them again and to meet their adorable daughter.
This weekend was also Tim's birthday! He is now 7 and was very happy about his birthday. He somehow seemed to believe that everyone he met should tell him happy birthday. ;) For his birthday dinner we went to Hometown Buffet and the kids LOVED it. All they could eat and so many choices! We had some close calls, but no one got sick from overeating. LOL
I made Tim his choice of cake--a church cake that looked like our church...are my kids weird or what?--and it was dry but the icing was fantastic. I haven't liked either of the two cake recipes I've used for the boys' birthdays but this icing was a keeper. I've been eating the leftover icing by the spoonful (makes up for not eating dessert at the buffet! ;)).
Tim liked his cake but told me at church that I left off the statue (our church used to be a Catholic church and there is a statue of a saint in the front towards the top of the building). He was still happy though, because he got to eat the steeple. Weird, I tell you...just weird.
And we've been over to the dirty house a couple of times cleaning out drywall. The kids love to help carry the drywall to the dumpster. Danielle was actually begging to get to go again so she could carry more drywall to the dumpster. Silly girl. They like being able to point out how strong they are, and they try to see how many pieces they can carry at a time.
In dirty house news...all of the drywall is done! Taping and mudding starts this week and the electrician will be out next week. We should have AC in the next couple of weeks which will be great!
Thursday, July 01, 2010
Progressing fast
In the span of a couple of days, the dirty house went from this...
to this...
and from this...
to this...
It's amazing what a difference a little drywall can make!
to this...
and from this...
to this...
It's amazing what a difference a little drywall can make!
Wednesday, June 09, 2010
Dirty house update
Things are moving right along on the dirty house. Mark is in the process of putting insulation in which is a miserable job to have to do by yourself, but he's plugging away at it. After insulation is drywall (we're hiring someone for that) and then it will really start to feel like a house, although I will miss the new lumber smell of all the walls being open. :)
We've picked out lighting and are planning colors for painting so it feels (to me) like it's really getting closer to being done. I know for Mark it feels like it is neverending insulation!
We've picked out lighting and are planning colors for painting so it feels (to me) like it's really getting closer to being done. I know for Mark it feels like it is neverending insulation!
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Loving the weather!
Saturday was a base ball game for Mark and it was a gorgeous day for it! The kids played all day and were so wiped out by the end.
Sunday was church and then Mark's work picnic. I completely forgot to take the camera (the kids actually reminded us after we were already there because they wanted pictures of their balloon animals) but it's probably just as well. There was a bounce house, balloon animals, sno-cones, and way too much barbecue to eat. :) The kids had a great time as did Mark and I. The bigger kids loved the bounce house but Emily was less-than-enthralled. She decided it was way more fun to watch from the outside than to be bumped into by her siblings (who, by the way, thought it was great that they could knock each other down and not get in trouble for it!).
I've been selling some of the kids' old clothes on Craigslist and finally got rid of the second tuxedo on Sunday. It feels so nice to get things out of the house, especially when it can bring some extra money in.
Thinking of money always makes me think of the dirty house. Mark is being way too modest in the pictures.
Every single piece of new wood you see in those pictures he has put in. By himself. In addition, several of the contractors have come through and praised him on his framing. I am so proud of him and how hard he has worked on this. Rough-in of all of the systems is now almost done (waiting on a couple of small things) and we expect to be able to start insulating this week. That tuxedo I just sold should provide enough to pay for all of the insulation supports for the ceilings! :)
Sunday was church and then Mark's work picnic. I completely forgot to take the camera (the kids actually reminded us after we were already there because they wanted pictures of their balloon animals) but it's probably just as well. There was a bounce house, balloon animals, sno-cones, and way too much barbecue to eat. :) The kids had a great time as did Mark and I. The bigger kids loved the bounce house but Emily was less-than-enthralled. She decided it was way more fun to watch from the outside than to be bumped into by her siblings (who, by the way, thought it was great that they could knock each other down and not get in trouble for it!).
I've been selling some of the kids' old clothes on Craigslist and finally got rid of the second tuxedo on Sunday. It feels so nice to get things out of the house, especially when it can bring some extra money in.
Thinking of money always makes me think of the dirty house. Mark is being way too modest in the pictures.
Every single piece of new wood you see in those pictures he has put in. By himself. In addition, several of the contractors have come through and praised him on his framing. I am so proud of him and how hard he has worked on this. Rough-in of all of the systems is now almost done (waiting on a couple of small things) and we expect to be able to start insulating this week. That tuxedo I just sold should provide enough to pay for all of the insulation supports for the ceilings! :)
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Mother's Day weekend
I had a post to write last week (about Alex specifically) but after some thought on my part I've decided I'm not ready to put it out there yet, which is why you haven't seen anything from me. :)
This weekend we split the kids and had a girls' weekend and a boys' weekend! I had a family baby shower to go to for a cousin and Mark had base ball so couldn't watch all of the kids, so we thought this would be a fun way to do the weekend. The girls and I drove down to my mom's house for the baby shower--which never happened. As it turned out, the mom-to-be had a car accident the morning of the shower. She and the baby are both fine, but they were in the hospital for the day for monitoring. So instead of a baby shower we had something more like a family reunion--with lots of girls. LOL
I did some special things with the girls this weekend that they hadn't yet experienced--their first blow-dry, their first happy meals, and their second nail-paintings. They loved getting to spend lots of time with me without having to compete with their brothers. In addition, they LOVED spending time with my youngest sister Brianna who is 13.
Mark and the boys...well, let's see if I can list it. Over to a base ball park to repair some holes--involved dirt, digging, and jumping on the newly placed dirt. To a second base ball park for the actual game--lots of playing with trucks, reading to friends, and all-around hanging out. To Cici's Pizza for dinner--chosen (by the boys) over White Castle because "it has more food and dessert." To Lowes and Home Depot for all kinds of building supplies for both houses. Sams--grocery shopping for the family. Church--where I didn't hear any reports of bad behavior, but they might have all been sleeping in the balcony. ;) I think they also added in some trips to the dirty house as well as doing some things around our house. Saturday night the boys were so excited because they got to stay up until 8pm. "Mama, it was past 8 o'clock!"
And Sunday we put everyone to bed at 6:30 and Mark had to wake them up at 7 the next morning. :) :)
Some highlights from my weekend: Sharing a morning snack with my girls at McDs--yogurt parfait for them and a Mocha Frappe for me. Emily headbanging to AM country-western music on the drive. Danielle falling in love with a little mirror she got in her Happy Meal, and trying to show it to every person in the restaurant before we left because she was so proud (we really did only stop at McDs twice). Talking to my mom for hours without interruption while Brianna and the girls played. Coming home to all of my boys (big and little) and the beautiful roses they got me for Mother's Day...
...realizing I've only been a mom for not even two and a half years. How incredibly blessed I am to celebrate this third Mother's Day when for many years I doubted I would celebrate one. I don't always feel like I'm meeting everyone's needs, but I'm trying and trusting God that He will keep molding me into the wife and mother He wants me to be! :)
This weekend we split the kids and had a girls' weekend and a boys' weekend! I had a family baby shower to go to for a cousin and Mark had base ball so couldn't watch all of the kids, so we thought this would be a fun way to do the weekend. The girls and I drove down to my mom's house for the baby shower--which never happened. As it turned out, the mom-to-be had a car accident the morning of the shower. She and the baby are both fine, but they were in the hospital for the day for monitoring. So instead of a baby shower we had something more like a family reunion--with lots of girls. LOL
I did some special things with the girls this weekend that they hadn't yet experienced--their first blow-dry, their first happy meals, and their second nail-paintings. They loved getting to spend lots of time with me without having to compete with their brothers. In addition, they LOVED spending time with my youngest sister Brianna who is 13.
Mark and the boys...well, let's see if I can list it. Over to a base ball park to repair some holes--involved dirt, digging, and jumping on the newly placed dirt. To a second base ball park for the actual game--lots of playing with trucks, reading to friends, and all-around hanging out. To Cici's Pizza for dinner--chosen (by the boys) over White Castle because "it has more food and dessert." To Lowes and Home Depot for all kinds of building supplies for both houses. Sams--grocery shopping for the family. Church--where I didn't hear any reports of bad behavior, but they might have all been sleeping in the balcony. ;) I think they also added in some trips to the dirty house as well as doing some things around our house. Saturday night the boys were so excited because they got to stay up until 8pm. "Mama, it was past 8 o'clock!"
And Sunday we put everyone to bed at 6:30 and Mark had to wake them up at 7 the next morning. :) :)
Some highlights from my weekend: Sharing a morning snack with my girls at McDs--yogurt parfait for them and a Mocha Frappe for me. Emily headbanging to AM country-western music on the drive. Danielle falling in love with a little mirror she got in her Happy Meal, and trying to show it to every person in the restaurant before we left because she was so proud (we really did only stop at McDs twice). Talking to my mom for hours without interruption while Brianna and the girls played. Coming home to all of my boys (big and little) and the beautiful roses they got me for Mother's Day...
...realizing I've only been a mom for not even two and a half years. How incredibly blessed I am to celebrate this third Mother's Day when for many years I doubted I would celebrate one. I don't always feel like I'm meeting everyone's needs, but I'm trying and trusting God that He will keep molding me into the wife and mother He wants me to be! :)
Tuesday, May 04, 2010
I love being at home
Yesterday, due to forces out of my control, I had a day off of work. All of the big kids went to school and I went ahead and sent Emily to preschool as I knew she'd be very bored at home by herself. She loves her preschool classroom and is a friend to all. :)
Consequently, I got lots done. :) :) I painted the bathroom, went to Sams, painted the front fence (well, half of it), did laundry, went to the bank...and lots of little things that take about 10 times longer with "small" interruptions. ;)
It was very refreshing to be at home and we had a good evening at home, too. During dinner we were talking about Ukraine (actually a common topic for us--the boys never talked about it before we brought the girls home, but now they seem to understand that it's okay to talk about it) and Tim was asking me if I'd always live with him. In the middle of our discussion about how old he was going to be (and still living with me), Alex pipes up with "I'm going to get a pickup truck. A big one." Then proceeded to keep eating. I was giggling as I said "Oh, really?" "Yep, for $18." "Oh, you'll definitely still be living with me then!"
Today I'll be back at work. I still need to get the other half of the fence painted--I'm hopeful that can happen this evening!
Consequently, I got lots done. :) :) I painted the bathroom, went to Sams, painted the front fence (well, half of it), did laundry, went to the bank...and lots of little things that take about 10 times longer with "small" interruptions. ;)
It was very refreshing to be at home and we had a good evening at home, too. During dinner we were talking about Ukraine (actually a common topic for us--the boys never talked about it before we brought the girls home, but now they seem to understand that it's okay to talk about it) and Tim was asking me if I'd always live with him. In the middle of our discussion about how old he was going to be (and still living with me), Alex pipes up with "I'm going to get a pickup truck. A big one." Then proceeded to keep eating. I was giggling as I said "Oh, really?" "Yep, for $18." "Oh, you'll definitely still be living with me then!"
Today I'll be back at work. I still need to get the other half of the fence painted--I'm hopeful that can happen this evening!
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Sleepy
Yesterday I worked the normal 8 hours, came home, walked to school to pick up the kids, walked home, went through everyone's papers, dealt with a meltdown from Danielle, got Alex started on his homework, and then left at 5pm to drive 45 minutes. I interpreted a local commencement last night so I worked another 3 hours there. Got home (after an hour drive due to construction!) and Mark went over to the dirty house to take care of a few things before the plumbers come this morning. I used the time to do laundry, catch up on Reece's Rainbow emails, and make sure the kids had everything they needed for school today (they were, of course, already in bed sound asleep).
I crashed at midnight a few minutes after Mark got home and then was up again a couple of hours later for our BW. When Mark rolled over this morning and asked if I was getting up, the first word out of my mouth was "No." I then groaned as I realized it was lighter than it should be in our bedroom which meant I had overslept (not by much, but more than I would have wanted). :)
On the positive side, I earned a good chunk of money to go towards the dirty house, and the plumbing will hopefully be done by this weekend!
I crashed at midnight a few minutes after Mark got home and then was up again a couple of hours later for our BW. When Mark rolled over this morning and asked if I was getting up, the first word out of my mouth was "No." I then groaned as I realized it was lighter than it should be in our bedroom which meant I had overslept (not by much, but more than I would have wanted). :)
On the positive side, I earned a good chunk of money to go towards the dirty house, and the plumbing will hopefully be done by this weekend!
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Update on the alarm (and other random news)
Tuesday night...alarm at 5am. Mark got up with the BW and he was already headed towards the bathroom.
Wednesday night...NO ALARM!!! The BW woke up at 5:30am (he might have been woken up by my alarm, thinking it was his alarm LOL), got up and went to the bathroom, and went back to bed. I consider that progress!
In other news, we just found out that insurance decided to stop covering Alex's speech therapy.
Last NOVEMBER.
We now have a pending $3500(!!) bill for speech. I am working on getting this straightened out but I am a little irritated that it takes them 3 months to let me know that we are no longer covered.
In more other news, we got a bid for the HVAC system at the "dirty house". We had been planning on about $10K for all of it and hoping (praying!) it wouldn't be much higher than that.
$6700. Wonderful, wonderful news. Balances out that $3500 from speech. ;)
Wednesday night...NO ALARM!!! The BW woke up at 5:30am (he might have been woken up by my alarm, thinking it was his alarm LOL), got up and went to the bathroom, and went back to bed. I consider that progress!
In other news, we just found out that insurance decided to stop covering Alex's speech therapy.
Last NOVEMBER.
We now have a pending $3500(!!) bill for speech. I am working on getting this straightened out but I am a little irritated that it takes them 3 months to let me know that we are no longer covered.
In more other news, we got a bid for the HVAC system at the "dirty house". We had been planning on about $10K for all of it and hoping (praying!) it wouldn't be much higher than that.
$6700. Wonderful, wonderful news. Balances out that $3500 from speech. ;)
Thursday, December 03, 2009
Upgrades
Mark recently replaced the thermostat upstairs with a digital one. After making sure it would work with the radiators and that we still had heat, we decided to swap out the downstairs one too. After getting it all hooked up, we needed two AA batteries to run the thermostat. Since our extra batteries were upstairs and the kids were all sleeping, I asked Mark what I could take batteries out of to use until we could put new ones in.
"Why don't you take them out of the TV remote?"
Yeah, that was the first place he thought to take them out of. Can you tell we don't use the TV much?
Unfortunately, the new thermostat is not working and we have no heat downstairs. Good thing we have therapy, dinner, and bed tonight and not much time to play downstairs!
Edited to add: We came home to heat! Mark was able to fix the thermostat before the kids and I got home from therapy. :)
"Why don't you take them out of the TV remote?"
Yeah, that was the first place he thought to take them out of. Can you tell we don't use the TV much?
Unfortunately, the new thermostat is not working and we have no heat downstairs. Good thing we have therapy, dinner, and bed tonight and not much time to play downstairs!
Edited to add: We came home to heat! Mark was able to fix the thermostat before the kids and I got home from therapy. :)
Monday, October 12, 2009
We bled it out of him
No nosebleeds or puking today and...
Alex did ALL of his work at school today!!!
I was so proud of him and gave him lots and lots of praise! I hope he can see the benefits of doing his work at school. He still had work to do at home (from work he didn't get done last week), but not much and it was done quickly and without complaining. I don't know how long this will last, but if he can keep this up we'll be doing some serious celebrating.
In other news, this weekend we moved our bedroom. When we first got set up in this house, we put our bedroom next to the girls' room. I wanted it that way so we'd be able to hear them and get up with them at night right after they came home. Unfortunately, our room is only separated from the girls' room by a set of pocket doors. When we go to bed at night, the light from our room shines into the girls' room and wakes them up and we can't talk at all without waking them.
Yesterday we swapped our bedroom and the kids' playroom. They now have a slightly smaller room but still a good space for play and we now have a bedroom that doesn't border anyone else's bedroom. I am loving it! We've only had one night there and I'm already so glad that we switched. We can still hear all of the kids, but this way we're also not walking by the girls' room as much at night and in the morning on our squeaky hardwood floors. I think this is going to be a much better arrangement for all of us!
Alex did ALL of his work at school today!!!
I was so proud of him and gave him lots and lots of praise! I hope he can see the benefits of doing his work at school. He still had work to do at home (from work he didn't get done last week), but not much and it was done quickly and without complaining. I don't know how long this will last, but if he can keep this up we'll be doing some serious celebrating.
In other news, this weekend we moved our bedroom. When we first got set up in this house, we put our bedroom next to the girls' room. I wanted it that way so we'd be able to hear them and get up with them at night right after they came home. Unfortunately, our room is only separated from the girls' room by a set of pocket doors. When we go to bed at night, the light from our room shines into the girls' room and wakes them up and we can't talk at all without waking them.
Yesterday we swapped our bedroom and the kids' playroom. They now have a slightly smaller room but still a good space for play and we now have a bedroom that doesn't border anyone else's bedroom. I am loving it! We've only had one night there and I'm already so glad that we switched. We can still hear all of the kids, but this way we're also not walking by the girls' room as much at night and in the morning on our squeaky hardwood floors. I think this is going to be a much better arrangement for all of us!
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Fall cleaning
This weekend we were able to get some much needed cleaning done in addition to the usual weekend activities.
The boys had a soccer game on Saturday but it was probably one of the shortest games on record as they called the game shortly after the first quarter (each quarter is 12 minutes). It was a rainy, stormy day and as soon as there was some lightning and thunder the referee called the game. Good thing he did as about 5 minutes later it was downpouring! Alex was disappointed that he didn't score a goal. ;)
Danielle and I went shopping at Walgreens on Saturday. I wanted to pick up some more eye patches for her but the one we went to didn't have any. So instead we picked up $25 worth of stuff for $0.90. I love shopping trips like that. :) Danielle had a great time helping hold things and knocking things over (she's still pretty uncoordinated and bumps into a lot of things). She was super excited to go shopping with me, and I think even more so that she was the only one that went with me. Emily was not happy that she did not get to go.
Today I started switching all of the kids' clothes over to fall/winter clothing. In school they aren't allowed to wear shorts from Oct 1-April 1 and since I realized that Oct 1 is this week(!) I figured I better get a move on making sure everyone has pants. I had Danielle try on some pants (which she said she "really liked" :)) that have a button in front but elastic in the back. Since she can pull them on and off without using the button I stitched the button flap together so it wouldn't pull on the button when she pulls them on and off. Her teacher has a lot more kids than usual this year and several with various degrees of neediness (including mine), so I'm trying to minimize sending Danielle with anything that she needs help with. While she can do buttons, it takes a lot of time and work and I know her teacher would just end up doing it for her. Plus it empowers Danielle as she can do everything "by 'self" (by herself) which she loves.
Mark organized and cleaned our office as well. Unfortunately we moved into our new house right before we went to get the girls (literally a few weeks) and we've never had a good chance to get everything cleaned and organized. We got the necessity painting done before we moved in and that was it. We've still got boxes packed and lots of things we want to get done to the house that are just going to have to wait. Hopefully we'll be able to continue to clean over the next few weeks and really start getting settled. Mark also took out all of the window air conditioners upstairs. It's supposed to get in the 40's a night this week so I think we're about done with air conditioning!
The boys had a soccer game on Saturday but it was probably one of the shortest games on record as they called the game shortly after the first quarter (each quarter is 12 minutes). It was a rainy, stormy day and as soon as there was some lightning and thunder the referee called the game. Good thing he did as about 5 minutes later it was downpouring! Alex was disappointed that he didn't score a goal. ;)
Danielle and I went shopping at Walgreens on Saturday. I wanted to pick up some more eye patches for her but the one we went to didn't have any. So instead we picked up $25 worth of stuff for $0.90. I love shopping trips like that. :) Danielle had a great time helping hold things and knocking things over (she's still pretty uncoordinated and bumps into a lot of things). She was super excited to go shopping with me, and I think even more so that she was the only one that went with me. Emily was not happy that she did not get to go.
Today I started switching all of the kids' clothes over to fall/winter clothing. In school they aren't allowed to wear shorts from Oct 1-April 1 and since I realized that Oct 1 is this week(!) I figured I better get a move on making sure everyone has pants. I had Danielle try on some pants (which she said she "really liked" :)) that have a button in front but elastic in the back. Since she can pull them on and off without using the button I stitched the button flap together so it wouldn't pull on the button when she pulls them on and off. Her teacher has a lot more kids than usual this year and several with various degrees of neediness (including mine), so I'm trying to minimize sending Danielle with anything that she needs help with. While she can do buttons, it takes a lot of time and work and I know her teacher would just end up doing it for her. Plus it empowers Danielle as she can do everything "by 'self" (by herself) which she loves.
Mark organized and cleaned our office as well. Unfortunately we moved into our new house right before we went to get the girls (literally a few weeks) and we've never had a good chance to get everything cleaned and organized. We got the necessity painting done before we moved in and that was it. We've still got boxes packed and lots of things we want to get done to the house that are just going to have to wait. Hopefully we'll be able to continue to clean over the next few weeks and really start getting settled. Mark also took out all of the window air conditioners upstairs. It's supposed to get in the 40's a night this week so I think we're about done with air conditioning!
Thursday, August 06, 2009
My amazing husband
I haven't posted about our job situations because it's really not relevant to the blog, but Mark and I managed to arrange things so that one of us is home with the kids until they start school (at which point Emily will start preschool and the three big kids will be in school).
Since being home with 4 children ages 7 and under for the past couple of weeks, Mark has:
Finished the downstairs bathroom (way more involved than it sounds)
Made a square foot garden (4x4) for me
Completed nearly a month's worth of meals from Once-a-month Cooking
He's been staying really busy at home and I know the kids are enjoying their time with him. Zhenya's been helping him cook and Emily likes to follow him around and close everything (cupboards, drawers, the dishwasher). :)
I finally got things planted in my new garden (way late, I know!) so we'll see if anything grows. I planted one tomato plant, one red pepper, carrots, broccoli, sweet basil, and cilantro. The herbs are already doing really well so at least those will be useful. The tomatoes may not have a chance to ripen before our first frost--it will just depend on when our first frost is. So far I really like the square foot garden since I can reach everything and everything is separated out nicely.
Since being home with 4 children ages 7 and under for the past couple of weeks, Mark has:
Finished the downstairs bathroom (way more involved than it sounds)
Made a square foot garden (4x4) for me
Completed nearly a month's worth of meals from Once-a-month Cooking
He's been staying really busy at home and I know the kids are enjoying their time with him. Zhenya's been helping him cook and Emily likes to follow him around and close everything (cupboards, drawers, the dishwasher). :)
I finally got things planted in my new garden (way late, I know!) so we'll see if anything grows. I planted one tomato plant, one red pepper, carrots, broccoli, sweet basil, and cilantro. The herbs are already doing really well so at least those will be useful. The tomatoes may not have a chance to ripen before our first frost--it will just depend on when our first frost is. So far I really like the square foot garden since I can reach everything and everything is separated out nicely.
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