The Fence Post

It is way past time to write about our BIG summer project -- biggest in time and expense.  Our new privacy fence!  Now that summer is over, we can officially say that we've enjoyed the new fence and it was worth every penny. 

First, Jason had the awful task of digging 43 post holes.  The "Call Before You Dig" crew came out and marked all the electrical, phone and cable lines.  Our backyard had flags everywhere, especially since the electrical boxes for four neighboring houses come together in our back yard.  Those flags were not a good sight when you're wanting a fence and digging the holes yourself. Jason and Alex carefully started digging around all the wires.  They dug 8 holes in two part-time days.  Not fast enough for us -- and we even had an auger. 

So we called in the big dogs -- a contractor with an awesome pull behind auger.  He dug the remaining 35 holes in 45 minutes.  That was money well spent in our minds!  See all the tree roots and electrical lines we had to dodge?  I wish I had a better picture, but the whole perimeter of our yard was either a wire or a root that had to be dodged.

After the holes were all dug, it was time to set the posts.  We took advantage of Alex's muscles to help carry the posts.  He placed a post at each hole for us, which was so helpful according to Jason and Don!  After mixing 50 bags of concrete, the posts were finally set.

Jaycie was even glad to see that part was over.  Here's a pic of her doing the happy dance.

It was time for the guys to put up the 2x4 stringers. 

Next was picket time.  Jason and Don only had 750+ pickets to hang.   

Jacob and Jaycie were good helpers.  They loved the huge box of nails.  This kept them entertained for about an hour, even if I did have to pick up 20 or so nails out of the grass.

Jaycie did her usual job of supervising and giving orders.  She's good at that! 

Here is a picture of the guys admiring their work.

It was a wonderful feeling to get all the pickets hung.  The yard finally felt enclosed and closer to being finished.  Now it was time for the trim boards.  The outside view only has 2 trim boards visible.

The inside has 3 visible boards.

Now we just need to trim the posts and finalize the post cap decision.  Final pictures coming up as soon as we choose a post cap.

Egg Dilemma

I needed some hard-boiled eggs.  I'd never made hard-boiled eggs before, but I figured it couldn't be too hard.  I mean you just boil them, right?  I found a recipe for "The Best Boiled Eggs Ever" on my favorite recipe site (http://www.allrecipes.com/) and followed it to a "T."  Everything went smoothly and easily until it was time to drain the hot water off the eggs.  As I'm pouring the hot water into the sink, I hear several loud CRACKS.  I'm panicking because I think I've cracked all my eggs and then I realize what just cracked.

The loud crack would be my kitchen sink bursting into a hundred pieces.  Nice!

The sink is porcelain and has been in this house since the late 70's, so I think it's held up pretty well for over 30 years.  Once we started cleaning up the broken porcelain pieces, we realized this side of the sink would be out of commission.  At least I still had the other side to use until we could get a replacement.

Do you see those brown spots in the picture above?  Well, they're rust spots.  I started noticing the "spots" a couple weeks ago and just thought they were stains.  I believed a good scrubbing would get rid of them.  They were actually signs that my sink was about to crack open.  Little did I know.

I was in no hurry to replace the sink.  However, after three weeks of only having one side when I was used to two, I quickly realized that I needed a new sink.  We spent an entire weekend comparing sinks and prices and finally decided on a sink from Home Depot.

Look at this beauty!  I have a stainless steel sink again.  I'm in love!

  












I couldn't wait to for Jason to install it.  But first we had to remove the old, heavy, broken porcelain sink.  This was not an easy task.  The sink was glued down very well to our laminate countertop.  After several attempts of prying it loose, Jason had to lift that heavy boy pretty much all by himself.  It was very heavy.  I was basically no help at all. 

We had a minor setback during the removal process.  I mentioned above that the sink had been glued to the countertop for over 30 years.  Well some of the countertop came up with the sink, as seen in the pics below.

This is the back of the sink, so it won't be as visible.

This is the front of the sink.  It's just a small "rip" but we're worried about moisture and water getting into the cracks.  So we'll eventually need to replace or repair the countertop.  More on that when we get there.

The new sink was a breeze to install, and I was ready to wash dishes in no time.

You can bet I won't be boiling eggs again anytime soon.  Now I really need the hard-boiled egg thingie that Kathi has.

The Great Window Debate

Okay, so we've been debating on whether or not we need to replace the windows in our house.  They look really old and black metal-ly and have been in the house since the late 70's.  However, we just didn't want to spend any money on windows right now.  We have higher priorities on our house's to-do list, you know.  So we decided last fall that we'd hold out through winter and see how the heating situation was before making a decision.  We were actually surprised.  The windows did a great job and weren't too drafty.  So the window replacement project moved down to the bottom of our house's to-do list -- it was no longer a priority. 

That is until a certain someone decided to practice his mad putting skills in his bedroom. 

Yes, that's a hole in one of our windows and that certain someone is my 3-year old son.  Yes, it's perfectly golf ball sized.  I guess that's what we get for 1) letting him have a golf ball in the house; and 2) bragging about his good aim and mad throwing skills.  Fortunately, he only broke through one of the panes and not both, so his room still stays cool on the many 90 + degree days we've had these past two weeks.

We've temporarily covered the break and all the "spider web" cracks with tape to keep it from cracking even more.  Basically, the entire lower half of the window is now blue and very visible from the street. 

We've been busy getting quotes and trying to decide what kind of windows we want -- double hung or casement.  I'm so thankful that I have two handy brothers to install them for us.  They will be saving us so much money and we know they'll be installed correctly.  Love you, guys!

Okay, it's been awhile since my last post.  We've obviously been busy with the house.  First I want to share the after pics of the dining room paint project.  Remember the dark floor, dark trim, dark paint picture from before?  Unfortunately, I can't find a true "before" picture to show the extreme darkness -- must be on the other computer.  In this picture I've already started painting the chair rail, but here's a reminder:

Here's the final product: 

I made my hubby move the furniture back in there pronto!  I was ready to sit down for a meal -- no more TV dinners for me!  The kids were even excited to sit in their chairs again.  Here's the new furniture arrangement: 

For picture purposes I positioned the chairs like this -- with two chairs on one side.  Our original plan was to purchase two more matching chairs to make six total.  However, after pondering the setup, we're now looking for a 48+ inch bench for the other side.  I'm looking specifically for a flip-up bench that will also double as extra storage space for table cloths, placemats, etc. 

The kids thoroughly enjoyed how I placed their two chairs for these pictures.  When I tried moving them back, they begged me to leave them so they could sit side-by-side at mealtime.  I thought, "why not?"  Big mistake!  Mealtime is just playtime when they're only 12 inches away from each other.  Oh well, at least they enjoy being close to one another, which may not happen when they're teenagers. 

We haven't had our new dining room furniture (hutch, table, 4 chairs and 2 leafs that we scored on the Sell-n-Swap Shop for only $350) for very long, but I've always felt that the original hutch placement looked like we shoved it in this corner.  

Yes, I know this picture is deceiving to the eyes but the hutch really did fit in that cubby hole -- barely!!  I wanted the hutch to be the main focus, so we did just that by placing it on the main wall.  I think it worked out perfectly.  My plan is to fill the hutch with my Grandma Marianne's old glassware.  I can't wait to pull those boxes out of the attic. 

This room is definitely still a work in progress.  I need to hang my new curtains, hang wall decor, dig out my table runner and centerpiece, and I have a plan for that lonely corner where the hutch used to reside.  The jury is still out on whether or not we'll buy another area rug for under the table. 

First, we'll need to replenish the ol' bank account after purchasing our new sofa.  Pics on that when it actually arrives -- in 8-10 weeks!  What??  How does a sofa take that long to be delivered?  Well, we didn't order the stock color (Red,) and the color we wanted (Coffee) was a special order.  I sure hope it's worth the wait!

Easter Family Fun

The most important lesson I learned this weekend:  Never take a nap at any of my family gatherings!  Why do you ask?  The pictures below speak for themselves.  I am still amazed (not sure why after 30+ years) that my brother can sleep through ANYTHING.  He's fallen asleep at the movie theater BEFORE the movie has even started.  I'm not amazed; actually I'm impressed.  Sometimes I wish I could sleep that deeply-- that is until I look back at these pictures.

It was a group decision to draw on a mustache with Jaycie's handy dandy markers.  He slept through it like a champ.  We even had time to pose for pictures with the new 'stache.

The pictures didn't stir his sleep one bit, so we felt he needed a goatee to accompany the 'stache.  Here's the subtle, orange goatee.

For the record I didn't do any of the face painting; it wasn't even my idea.  I was just the innocent by-stander who happened to have a camera in hand; hence, that's why I'm the target for the official payback.  I later received a text message that mentioned something about an upcoming payback. 

Sadly, I wasn't there when he woke up to see the discovery unfold, but I hear it was a good one.  I love you, Gregg! 

More Easter weekend pictures for your viewing pleasure below.

The kids favorite gift of the weekend was their battery-operated fart machines/whoopie cushions.  This is just double proof of how crazy my family is.  Crazy but lovely!

Hope everyone had a wonderful Easter weekend!

Thank Goodness for Naptime

What do I do when my husband takes a nap after working the night shift?  Why I decide to paint the dining room, of course.

Let me back up a little.  We both made the decision last month to paint all the dark wood trim in our house a bright and cheery white.  Big chore, I know, which is why I was the one opposed to it when we first moved in.  I absolutely love the warmth of the wood, but after living here for a year, I felt the rooms were way too dark and needed some brightening up.  Plus 3 out of the 7 main rooms in our house already had painted trim (by the previous owners).  I’m all about cohesion and consistency in a house, and this house didn’t have it.  So I finally agreed to let my honey paint the trim in the rest of the rooms. 

Let me back up even further.  Before we moved in last year, we decided to paint the walls in the WHOLE house while it was completely empty and minus the new carpet.  Sounds like a brilliant plan right?  We thought so.  Well, we were wrong!  We picked all of our wall colors before we had actually lived in each room, and some of the rooms were way off.  My advice is to definitely get a feel for each room with your own “stuff” in there before you choose a paint color.  Also, rooms that I thought would get a ton of light didn’t get much light after all and vice versa.

Okay, we know that painting trim and doors is like the worst painting project in the world, so we’ve decided to take our time and do one room at a time.  If we’re still painting trim and doors at Christmas time, that’s okay with us.  No hurry here.  The dining room was first up on our chopping block. 

Here’s an in progress picture of the trim.

Jason and I spent 2 different days painting the trim (it still needs 1 more coat, which will make 4 coats total).  That sounds like a lot of coats but since we’ve decided to tackle one room at a time, it hasn’t been that bad at all. 

Here’s a picture with the first 3 coats on the trim.

 

Jason had mentioned that the main color would need two coats.  I was dying to see some color on the walls, so I figured I couldn’t really mess up a first coat and I didn’t have to trim anything in.  So while he was snoring away I grabbed the roller and went to town.  It was actually kind of fun (except for the tiny blister I now have on my right hand).  And with the trim already having a couple coats of paint on her, my accidental smears were easily wiped clean with a damp cloth.  Even better!

Here’s the picture I snapped right before I woke Jason up from his little siesta. 

Granted that's only one coat so far (and probably not the best coverage by yours truly) but you get the idea - it's nice and bright! 

Jason was pleasantly surprised when he woke up.  He praised my painting technique and admitted that he didn't know I was quite the professional.  I really think he was secretly glad he had one less coat to paint.  Now he just needs to do the cutting in for me. 

The dining room is already so much brighter and is exactly what we were looking for!  I can’t wait to get the final coat on there and get my table back.  The kids are enjoying our “picnic meals” in the family room way too much.  I’m afraid they’ll forget their table manners if we’re in the family room much longer.  Stay tuned for the after pics!

A New View

Jaycie had her first visit to the eye doctor last week who said she was significantly farsighted.  The eye doc had me look through a lens to see what she is seeing, and it was very blurry up close.  What?  This girl can find teeny tiny Waldo in all the Where's Waldo puzzle books.  She's the look and find queen.  But I'm trusting the doctor here (especially since I've noticed a slight lazy eye since she was about 6 months old) and we ordered some glasses for my baby girl. 

She was so excited to pick out her glasses at the optical shop and wanted to take home the sample pair.  She picked out some purple Disney princess glasses and they were HOLLYWOOD HUGE, so I admit (and feel horrible now) that I changed up the order for a slightly smaller purple pair.  We had to wait a week and we finally got the call that her new glasses were ready for pickup. 

She knew her glasses were ready and I told her we'd go pick them up after breakfast.  I was still eating my breakfast when she came into the dining room fully dressed and ready to go.  She dressed herself in her purple ballerina tutu, her purple shirt, purple socks, purple crocks, 8 necklaces, 4 bracelets, a purple headband, purple barrette, and a purple ponytail holder.  She had also already brushed her teeth.  She was ready for her new purple glasses!

So we headed to the optical shop.  She even brought along a flower (a.k.a.  a dandelion) to give to the optical lady.  My little girl seems so grown up now.  This is her all smiles in the optical shop.

She was still smiling when we got home.

Now I mentioned earlier that I felt bad for secretly changing up the order for the smaller purple pair.  Well little did I know that the "other" pair was light purple.  The pair I ordered was dark purple.  She was looking in the mirror admiring herself when she said, "Mommy, where's the light purple?  The lady didn't give me light purple on here."  I said, "Hmm, I think those ones have both dark and light purple on them."  Jaycie said, "Oh, they do!"  Lucky for me that seemed to satisfy her.

Well, at least I thought she was satisfied until she said, "Now I need a red pair like Eman."  I didn't think this was supposed to start until the teenage years??  I may be on a search for a cheaper red pair or maybe some sunglasses. :)



Yes, that's our dining room table and chairs in the middle of the family room.  Stay tuned for a new house project that involves a lot of paint.