Renovations!!!

Okay, so I admit it's been a bit too long since my last post. In my defense, we have been very busy with all of the renovations to our new house. I am going to use the next few posts to recap our progress thus far... with photos (for those of you who have been waiting so patiently to see them) :)

We closed on the house on March 13th. And I am sure that this will be a complete shock to all of you (total sarcasm used there) but we started our demo that night! With my mother-in-law helping with the kiddos and my father-in-law helping with the demolition, we were able to tear out about 60% of the drywall throughout the house, tear out two walls, completely gut the kitchen and trash out the vanities in both bathrooms and gut every closet in the house. All of this was accomplished in three days! :) Now that three days consisted of starting around 6:00 am and going until 1:00 am, but we did it and we saved a nice chunk of change by doing it ourselves.

I will start the renovation tour with the kitchen...

Kitchen (View #1 - Before)

(The wall in this photo will be removed during demolition)

Kitchen (View #1 - Before)

(The drop down ceiling in the kitchen will be removed during demolition)

Sidenote: Drop down ceilings and tall husbands are not a good combination

Kitchen (View #3 - Before)

(The golden yellow shag carpet, drapery and lighting will be removed during demolition)

I am sure that you are asking yourself what happened to view #2... Well, no worries... I have labeled the different views of the kitchen (1 - 4) and unfortuately view #2 did not have "Before" photos because of the wall that divided the kitchen and dining area.  You will see photos from all of the views throughout the renovation process.  Each view will be consistently numbered so you can get the "lay of the land" so to speak.  It will also make more sense when I put together a final slideshow from beginning to end, but we have to get to the end first. ;)

Okay, so if you are still with me, I am going to take you through the photos of the demolition of the kitchen....

Kitchen (View #1 - Demo)

(The wall has been removed and the flooring is in the process of being torn out)

Kitchen (View #2 - Demo)

(Wall down, drywall removed, flooring ripped out, electrical is being sorted and it is just a few hours into our first full day!)

Kitchen (View #2 - Demo)

(This is the former stove location and where the new refrigerator will be placed)

Kitchen (View #3 - Demo)

(It's the end of Day 1 and we are off to a great start!)

Kitchen (View #3 - Demo)

(They said "Vintage" was back, but Harvest Gold vs. Stainless Steel - not much of a contest!)

Kitchen (View #2 - Drywall)

(So, this is Day 5 and the new drywall is in and we are waiting for the texture to be added)

Kitchen (View #3 - Drywall)

(New electrical is in place - outlets, lighting, etc)

Kitchen (View #1 - Paint)

(So we have the walls textured and painted - Believable Buff)

Sidenote: One should be careful when explaining things to young children.

This is how the conversation about the paint color with Audrey went...

Mom: So do you like the paint color?

Audrey: Yeah, it's cool. What's the name of this one?

Mom: Believable Buff

Audrey:  (Laughing) So our house is "in the buff" (still laughing)

Kitchen (View #2 - Paint)

(We will paint all of the trim throughout the house white)

Kitchen (View #3 - Floors)

(So this is Day 12 and floors are in!)

Kitchen (View #1 - Floors)

(We found a great wood flooring to go throughout the main living areas)

So, now you are almost up to the end of Week 2.  We accomplished a lot more work in other areas of the house, but that work will be showcased in other posts.  I will finish the kitchen tour in another post as well. 

Our Music Lover

Last night, we discovered a new weekly family outing - Thursdays @ Beef's! Beef O'Brady's is a local family sports bar. On Thursday nights, they have live music on the patio and we really enjoyed it last night. The girls love a lot of different types of music and the band played lots cover songs from a variety of genres.

When Audrey asked for some paper and a pen, I thought she was going to draw and doodle like she usually does while we wait for our food. But this time, she surprised me. She drew a "You Rock" sign for the band. Of course the band, which is two guys - Chris and Dave, loved it and they talked about it off and on throughout the night.

Chris (from the band) and Audrey (their newest fan!)

Her Own Style

They say a picture is worth a thousand words and this one proves that to be true. Claire, a child with her own sense of style - decided that the matching pants to her polka dot top simply would not work with the style she was going for (a style I still haven't quite figured out, but I digress...). So she replaced those pants with knit stockings that have roses down the sides and her new cowgirl boots. Talk about a statement! Now, the best part is that while I had been at the school with Audrey, Claire decided to make all of theses changes. I came home and found her in the backyard with Brock - fishing! Yes, fishing with style! I love the clothing choices that she makes - they are definitely original! :)

I know... I know...

I have been a very bad blogger lately.... but in my defense, we have been renovating our new house (quite a bit more than we originally thought we would attempt), packing all of our belongings (it's amazing how much you accumulate over five years... I couldn't imagine trying to pack up everything after living somewhere 25-30+ years), also getting everything moved to the new house (we decided to to that all by ourselves - we did have the help of our friends one weekend), getting our old house ready for our new tenants (I will post about the experience of becoming landlords in another post)... oh and did I mention that my computer decided that during all of this craziness would be the perfect time to die on me... oh yeah... this very digital girl was without a computer for about two weeks... Not good! Thank God for my BlackBerry! I now have my new computer and I am loving it... :) So as everything begins to come together (we still have lots of work on the house to get accomplished) I will try to be a better blogger... I hope to have some before, during and after photos up soon...

-Amy

It never fails...

Next week is FCAT testing for all students in Florida. Next week is also when we close on our new house. So next week is going to be crazy. But I feel that it's my job as a mom to make sure that life in our house runs smoothly through it all without incident. Right? Right! So, when Audrey tells me that she lost her glasses and hasn't had them at school for over a week, I do what any mom would do - search the house high and low for them. Okay, did that and no glasses! Yes, the thought that they may have found their way into any of the umpteen boxes that I have packed all over the house crosses my mind, but I am definitely not unpacking any of them to find out. So, I check my car in and around Audrey's seat. No glasses! I have Audrey check her desk at school and the lost and found just in case. No glasses! So, again like any mom would do, we go to the eyeglass store to get a new pair. Well, we are in luck, the store is running a special for kids' glasses - buy two for a great price. Deal! Audrey selects two really cute frames and her prescription is in stock so the lady at the store told us they would be ready in about two hours. Great! We get in the car, run to Target and then stop to grab some dinner. I get a phonecall from our agent. While I am on the phone with her, Audrey and Claire climb in to the back of my car where the third row seating is folded down. They are having a great time playing so I let them have at it while I finish my conversation. What happened next is why I say "It never fails..." Audrey says, "Uh... Mom... Guess what I just found?" Oh yeah, it's what you are thinking - her glasses! The ones that were lost... the ones that we looked everywhere for... the ones that we just replaced! Yes, those glasses! This is where the adage "you will always find what you lost as soon as you replace it" rings quite true! Darn Murphy's law! Well, I learned my lesson - check everywhere in the car! In my defense, the reason I didn't even think to look in the third row seating cupholders was because the third row has been folded down for a while - for the loading and unloading of packing boxes I have been getting for our move. So, now Audrey has three pairs of glasses, but the new ones are really cute, so I will just smile and laugh as Murphy's law wins again!

Tackling the To Do List

Today was one of those days that felt very productive in respect to tackling my ever-growing to do list. After dropping Audrey and Claire off at their schools, Brock and I headed to our new city to take care of some of those moving checklist tasks. First stop - Audrey and Claire's new school. We toured the elementary school and really liked it. It has about half of the student population of Audrey's current school, which is something that we really liked. Brock and I agreed that it had the feel of a private school in regards to the class size and facilities. The school also offers a VPK (voluntary pre-kindergarten) program for Claire next year. But the demand to get into one of the ten slots available is really high. The school secretary said that parents "camp out" in the parking lot the night before to ensure that their child gets a spot in the program. I guess I will be one of those crazy parents because I think the idea of Audrey and Claire going to the same school is great. I think it will also be a nice transition for Claire to attend the same school in which she will enter Kindergarten. Another plus from our tour today was that we discovered a shorter walking path to the school so that will shave about two-tenths of a mile off of our walk each way! :)

Next on the checklist was to open our new P.O. box (Brock uses it for work stuff). The goal was to open a box and with luck get one that wasn't on the very bottom like our current box is. The bottom is not cool when you are 6'4" or even when you are 5'6" and dump out the contents of your handbag every time you bend over to check the box. Well, luck was on our side today - We got a box that's waist high! (Note: Waist height is the highest that the size we needed goes) So, we have checked off two things on our to do list and it is only 10:30. Not bad!

After leaving the post office, we drive by our new house or, as we have come to call it, we stalked our new house. You know, driving by just to look at it. I am sure the neighbors probably think we are crazy or obsessed, or maybe both. Maybe we are, but I like to think of it as just being really excited! LOL!

So after a bit of house stalking, we decide to grab some lunch. We are on our way down A1A and we pass what will be our new Publix. For those of you who don't know this about me, let me tell you - I love my current grocery store! I am in there almost every day. The managers all know me by name and I like that because my store not only has a great selection, I receive great customer service from everyone too. So, I have been apprehensive about moving grocery stores. I know that sounds absurd to many of you, but it is just a fact of my life. :) I made a comment to Brock about how I wondered what the store was like and if it would compare to our current Publix. Brock suggested that we stop in and look around - he knows me all too well! So as we are walking in, I am talking to Brock - "House stalking to grocery store stalking... this could be a sign of a problem... Oh, Hi Mr. Manager, let me introduce myself... I am your new best customer... I'm sure that John P. and the other managers/staff at my current Publix will give me glowing recommendations..." We enter the store and it is love at first sight! The store is bigger and newer and is very organized. While the layout is quite different from my store, I know that I will adapt to the new one very easily. My only complaint is that the store was very cold. But I will keep a sweater in my car... next to my green bags... and all will be good!

So we accomplished three things from our to do list! And yes, checking out the grocery store was on the list, although I expected to do that one by myself. But it was very nice to have the company of my wonderful husband on that task. Not to mention we enjoyed a lovely lunch together... just the two of us... that doesn't happen very often but when it does it's always nice!

Claire's V-Day Party

Claire was very excited about her Valentine's Day party at school. "We're having a Valentime's birthday party!" she said over and over. And yes, it was "Valentime's" with an "m"... I tried to correct her, but it was too cute... and she will say it correctly soon enough and I know that I will miss it. So for now, she can call it Valentime's all she wants.

Claire and Aaron, a friend at her school, have a preschool crush going on. He likes to stand really close to her or sit really close to her (all of the time) which she doesn't like. So she tells him to move. He does... for a minute and then he is right back next to her. This has gone on for a while. He doesn't touch her - he just sits/stands really close. But his efforts have paid off. At home she talks about him quite a bit. Not so much about how he annoys her, but about how silly or funny he is. I caught her looking at him during their party... It looks like she may think he is a great friend too...

At the party, Claire gave out her Valentine cards... Here are some photos...

~ Getting her cards organized ~

~ Front ~


~ Inside ~

~ With Candy ~

Audrey took the same cards to her friends at school. Her class did not have a big party - just a card exchange.