My Contractor Says I Should Just Stay Away From the Reno Until It's Done. He's Probably Right.

I had to start with a cute picture of baby Jo, because the rest of this series makes my stomach turn.  Renovations are going as renovations go.  Over.  Budget.  Thanks primarily in part to a shady electrician.  Awe. Some.  But it is what it is, and things will get done.  

If you can believe it, the house is actually even MORE deconstructed than shown here.  I totally forgot to grab my camera today.  Wallpaper is down and there are more (MORE!!!) holes in the drywall from the replumb.  Yay.

On the plus side, we *finally* closed on our old house this afternoon.  Not without some drama, but it's done.  And I think the buyers are happy.  At least I hope so.

If you're just tuning in follow these steps: 1. the house we left, 2. the house we bought, and this post is number 3. the house we destroyed.

Foyer

Formal Living

Formal Dining Room (soon to be Playroom)

Family Room & Kitchen

Patio

Laundry

Boys Room

Office

Josie's Room

Bathroom

Master Bedroom & Bathroom

----------
{Can you stand it? Join the family for even MORE bonding time!
Check us out on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, StumbleUpon, and Flickr!}

Whoever Decided 24 Hours in a Day Was Enough? Was WRONG.

Life is absolutely insane right now.  Between staging our house and selling it, getting situated in my parents' place, getting all the staged stuff out of the house and into storage at the new place, starting renovations on the next place, Casey starting school, adopting another dog (yeh, did I forget to mention that?) and, oh, work.  I just don't even have time to breath anymore.  But.  We're (supposed to be) closing on the old (but actually newer than our new) house Thursday.  And our (tentative) move-in date for the new (but really old) house is October first.  So there is (finally) a light at the end of the tunnel.  I figure by Thanksgiving (or possibly New Year's?) we should (sort of) have our shit together. (Hopefully).

----------
{Can you stand it? Join the family for even MORE bonding time!
Check us out on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, StumbleUpon, and Flickr!}

First Day of School. But Not the Second.

Casey started kindergarten Monday.  And I am still terribly conflicted.  It was a wonderful day, complete with finagled pizza at lunch time and a box full of plastic zoo animals he was allowed to play with not once, but twice.  He made friends and liked his teacher.  It was so great that he faked being well today.  Wesley got him all the way to the classroom door before realizing Casey was actually pretty darn sick and starting to run a fever. 

When he jumped into the car yesterday at pick up, Casey was flush with excitement.  He "forgot" his lunch box at class, but he bought pizza from the cafeteria line!  There were toys! And coloring! Tomorrow he may get to go on the playground! 

I am beyond thrilled that Casey enjoyed himself.  Beyond.  I won't lie, I was worried he would be shy and awkward and that maybe I screwed things up by not putting him in preschool or daycare.  That his extreme anxiety during our 'Meet the Teacher' event meant he would be rendered incapacitated with fear when I left him all alone.  But no, it was great.  The school is great.  The teacher is great.  He is great.

So, why am I so off kilter? 

Possibly because it was so great.  Proof positive that my kid is socialized.  He can function in the world without me.  We have done a good job.  So good, in fact that this bubble boy of mine heard what was offered for lunch in the cafeteria, decided he liked that better than his packed lunch, and he went and got it. So good, in fact that I couldn't find one thing on the curriculum that he doesn't already know.

And there it is.  There's my issue.

I convinced myself to enroll him in kindergarten with the mindset that it would teach him things outside the purview of book knowledge.  Things I couldn't expose him to myself. He would learn to function in the world beyond his little family.  But I don't think I gave us enough credit.  Because we do push him.  We do teach our kids how to function in the real world. And I don't keep him holed up in our kitchen writing lessons hour after hour.

Today Casey stayed home.  Not because he wanted to, or even because I wanted him to.  He slept off his fever in the morning and we fell right back into our routine this afternoon.  It was nice.  He's working on penmanship and punctuation.  We've started learning multiplication tables.  He reads and tells time.  He knows his days and months and can decipher a map. On Sunday, Casey wrote a short story about being chased by a polar bear.  I worried the polar bear was a subconscious analogy for starting school.  But I'm thinking now, that maybe he just likes bears.

And before anyone sends an irate email chastising me for not giving school nearly enough time (duh), rest assured Casey is going back as soon as he feels better.  Probably tomorrow morning.  Of course one day isn't enough to get a full picture.  We're giving it at least a week.  (KIDDING).  In reality, there's no timeline.  I will know when I know.  Or maybe I'll never know and you'll be listening to this angsty tirade for the next umpteen years.  At least he'll have a written narrative to bring to his therapist.

----------
{Can you stand it? Join the family for even MORE bonding time!
Check us out on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, StumbleUpon, and Flickr!}

House Tour! The One That Will Be.

The first thing people inevitably say to me when I tell them we are moving is, "Oh, finally realized you needed more house?"  and then I get to say, "No, moving into a smaller house, actually."  To which I get the funny look and I know they're thinking something along the lines of, "Huh, downsizing, I knew they couldn't afford all those kids."

So, in answer.  No, we are not downsizing.  Or upsizing.  We are moving to a home that fits our family better.  The house we are leaving behind is beautiful.  I love it and it will always hold a special place in my heart.  But we purchased it before we had kids.  Before we knew our family dynamic. And it just doesn't work for us anymore.  This home is older, more quaint and more us.  No huge vaulted ceilings to echo screaming children.  No giant master with oversized bathroom wasting what could be perfectly good living space.  And no running across the length of the house to check on a sniffling kiddo in the middle of the night.

Instead we have a huge yard, a huge patio, and plenty of living area. The bedrooms are on one side and the family space is on another.  Separation of church and state may be my favorite part.  The neighborhood is big and rambling and old.  Well, old for this part of the country anyway.  The trees are plentiful and the traffic is minimal.

It's no McMansion, but it is my dream home.

Front Yard

(i cannot believe i forgot to take a picture of the front door.  i'll fix that asap!  i'm so excited about cleaning all this up.  bushes are getting trimmed, scrubby plants pulled, tree beds weeded.  new roof, painted shutters, painted door, maybe even rockers on the front porch?! hallelujah!)

Foyer

(floors are staying.  light fixture is staying. wall paper is going. popcorn ceiling is being retextured. no, i don't give a hoot that  you think the light fixture is awful, just wait until you see the ones i'm keeping in the bathroom.)

Formal Living

(on your immediate right as you walk into the house.  carpet is going, popcorn ceiling is going.  it's getting a coat of paint and a new fan.)

Formal Dining

(just beyond the formal living to the right - and connected to the kitchen. this will be our playroom again because for now we need it more than we need a formal dining room.  and i'm not sure it would even fit my gigundo table.  carpet and wallpaper are going.  popcorn is going. fan will be updated. and seriously, how much do you love this note the previous home owners left on the wall.  it kills me that we're going to cover it up.)

Hallway to Bedrooms

(on your left as you walk into the house.  all the bedrooms are together.  we love this.  love. carpet is toast.  probably a new light fixture too.)

Office

(first room on the right as you enter the hallway. wesley has decided to work from home for the foreseeable future.  in retaliation i have decided to put my desk in his office. hah. in your face, wesley.  definitely new paint and ceiling fan.  beyond that will depend on how badly we screw up our reno budget.)

Boys Room

(first bedroom on the left. people are always incredulous when i tell them all three boys share a room.  first of all, they want to.  second of all, get over it.  new paint, new fan.  see above re: budget mayhem.)

Josie's Room

(all the way down the hall on the left. she totally has the biggest bedroom.  seriously, even bigger than the master.  just works out that way because the bunkbeds wouldn't fit well in this room.  i suspect we will eventually be doing some bed shuffling.  and/or having more babies.  hopefully the latter. see above re: paint, fan, budget. the completely awesome desk is going into the office.)

Bathroom

(second door on the right.  for now it's just getting a new toilet.  i'm hoping to reface the cabinets with some elbow grease and spray paint.  also, the wallpaper has GOT to go.  light fixtures are staying though.  because i heart them.)

Master Bedroom

(all the way down the hall on the right.  yes, it's a tiny master. no, we don't care.  we're not bedroom or bathroom people.  we're chill in the kitchen and on the patio people.  the tiny closet wall is coming down and getting framed in completely to make a walk-in closet.  bathroom door is scootching over to the other wall.  new carpet, possibly doors out to the patio. hopefully.)

Family Room

(directly in front of you if you are walking through the front door.  paneling is getting painted, updated fan, skylights, recessed lighting.  wall on the right between family room and kitchen is getting obliterated.  smash, boom, bang, open concept baby. also, new flooring and no more popcorn.)

Kitchen

(just beyond the family room.  also connected to the formal dining-soon-to-be-playroom.  gutted. happy birthday to me. okay, i did salvage the leaded glass from the cabinet.  because, cute. right?)

Patio

(this is staying as is for now, but hopefully some time in the not-toooooo-distant future it will get a facelift.  however.  HOWEVER. beyond the screened room there will be a pool.  it's zeroing out over a third of the entire budget, but, yay.  pool.  beyond that.  yard.  as is.  came with a riding mower.  thank goodness.)

----------
{Can you stand it? Join the family for even MORE bonding time!
Check us out on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, StumbleUpon, and Flickr!}