Wow! It's Been Almost A Month!

We are getting lots done around the houses, but that obviously keeps me off the blog. I have a feeling I won't be on here much until the Galema house sells or until winter sets in, so be prepared.....

Now that the grass needs to be mowed, that is keeping us busy, as well as all the mulching at the new house. Um, I think I overlooked that small detail last fall....but, I'm glad to say we are almost all done laying mulch-if it would only stop raining!!



This is another project that has been taking some time, although it hasn't been as bad as I thought assembling. Again, if it would only STOP raining, maybe we could finish this project. The kids can't wait to start playing on the new swingset!



Of course, this weekend is Easter, so I have been busy preparing for that. Three of the kids are in the Passion Play that our church puts on at the Long Center and there are always family get togethers to prepare food and clean the house in anticipation of guests.

So, as I am not quite finished yet, I'm signing off....so have a blessed Easter weekend! He is Risen!

Well, I Think the Train Has Slowed For a Bit

So today is our first day of spring break and that's exactly what we are doing.....taking a break! We have been no where today and are enjoying just chilling out (literally) and catching up on some items of business we have not had time for the last few months.

I know that several of you enjoy my posts about my good deals and I just haven't had time to take pictures and post my bargains for you, so I thought that I would share a few from the past few weeks that were my favorites:

Below is a picture of the yummy jello we bought at Meijer. I only paid 13 cents a piece, so I spent just over a dollar for all this fun! The kids have never had these (they are normally too expensive for this household)and have enjoyed eating something different.




The next picture has all the cleaning supplies I got at Meijer last week. When it was all said and done, I spend about $1.50 for each item! For pledge and swiffer refills, that's a deal!! I am now stocked up for awhile.....



And last, but not least, our fun activity for the day was making hot chocolate for our afternoon break. I know, it's spring, but it is so cold outside and it seemed to fit perfectly with the chili in the crockpot and the cornbread that will be going in the oven for dinner tonight.

I don't know, maybe we will take in a movie tonight with some popcorn on the couch. Daddy has symphony rehearsal, so a lazy night is at hand. It's a nice change to have the train slow down a bit!

We're Gettin' There

Well, it looks like we are stepping closer to the end of the tunnel, and that's a good thing! This week, my dining room wallpaper came in....



....and I can't wait to get it on the walls! I already painted the bottom of the wall under the chair rail and the wallpaper goes above. I hope to have this done by next weekend.



Here is the remainder of my paint pile. This really isn't bad compared to all the paint we have gone through. I think I have opened over 20 gallons so far. I will be glad when that pile is completely gone!



Here is my next project....the office. I already have started trimming and painting the ceiling and part of the walls. I hope to be done with this on Monday.



I finished the music room a few weeks ago and am really excited with how it turned out. I must admit, I wasn't sure what it was going to look like when I first started, but I LOVE it now!



Of course, we have been pretty busy always having a project on going and keeping up with all the kids and their schedules, but like I said earlier, we are beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel and it is a very welcomed light!

Movin' On

Before....



So this week we have been busy in our free time painting, painting, painting, and painting....in every free minute!! We started Evan's room last weekend and finished the dining room, kitchen, Evan's room, and living room. I have posted pictures of everything but the dining room since I am still waiting for wallpaper to go up. The kitchen is almost done, with just the border to go up, hopefully next week!

After...











This week, I hope to work on the music room and maybe the hall coat closet, but since we are getting a lot done, I am hoping we can slow down just a bit. Right now, I'm actually caught up with everything, so tonight, we are going to enjoy some friends and chill out. Have a great weekend and I will post more as I prgress through the rest of the house.

Well, Now....It's Been a LONG Time

Hi everyone! I seriously can't believe that I thought I could keep this blog updated in the middle of moving seven people into a house in one day! Wow! We have had lots of fun, but have been extremely busy, especially once the kids went back to school and life resumed as "normal"!

We really like our new home, but we knew when we left our home on Galema Dr. that there would never be a home as nice. We have had several issues to deal with, just in the short amount of time that we have lived in the bigger house! This has also added to time spent dealing with the warranty company, choosing carpet, etc. We know that over time, this house will be super awesome for us, but our Galema house was consructed so well, and quite honestly....we are spoiled!

Our first unexpected project was our basement bedroom. The more I walked in and out of it, the more I noticed a lingering smell....Uh,oh! After doing a little research, we discovered that the bedroom had been wet through a leak in the bathroom that caused the carpet to get moldy underneath....so out with the carpet, and in with the new! Of course, since we put new carpet in, I got the job of painting the room, bathroom, and walk in closet with the added bonus of all the white trim and doors! Now, that was a project....but like any project - it was well worth it in the end. I don't have a good picture though since it's just a bed sitting in there. My hope is to eventually find a few pieces of furniture this summer while I'm out garage saling and a nice picture to go above the bed.

Once we were done with that project, we had the pleasant surprise of frozen pipes! Now, that alone is unsettling, but God was good and allowed us to get them unfrozen before they burst and we have been able to keep them from freezing again. Sean will have an added job this summer trying to figure out, where on the outside of the house, the pipes are and to wrap them or fix where the air is getting in. Not a bad deal....just very mind taxing as we wondered if our ceiling would start leaking!

A few days later we heard an alarm going off in the basement, and guess what....the septic pump alarm was going off. So, we contacted the warranty people and they sent someone out who said the pump was original and dead. Oh my.....but this is such a blessing because we got a new pump and only had to pay the $60 deductible instead of $850.00 for a new pump and labor. Thank you, God!

So when we thought this is it....the dryer quit drying!!! Argh! But, Sean was able to fix that, so no sweating on that one...yet!

Overall, it hasn't been a bad move, and we knew there would be some bumps in the road while adjusting to a new house. We just never thought that we would have our first visit from the sheriff and I would be pulled over for the first time for speeding in a school zone (as my mind was thinking about how blessed my family is right after the dryer quit). I think the officer could just tell I didn't have it in me to even offer an excuse....he let me off without a warning or ticket. Thank you!

I know several of you have requested to see some pics of the house. I can't get outside to get a good picture now (Evan and I are home with nasty colds we have been sporting for a week) but I took a few pictures of our favorite rooms and hope to update more, now that we are settled in. Right now we are just painting room after room, in hopes of being done before the kid's are out of school. I'm happy to report that we are ahead of schedule.

Here is a picture of my favorite room in the house. I love my new kitchen! We hope someday, to have a bigger kitchen table and my hopes are that I can start stripping the border and painting this week. I think I have found a new border that I like, so....it should look even better when I'm done.



This is the kitchen bath that we just finished this week. It's hard to get a picture because it is a small half bath, but it looks 100% better after we sanded the previous paint runs off and got rid of the purplish color and bad paint job!



This is the living room and I am hoping to get it painted in the next few weeks. We like that it is cozy and is a little more cut off from the upstairs bedrooms making it nice to watch movies without bothering whoever is sleeping.



The music room...I havent quite decided which way to go on the deorating route with this one yet, but it should be done soon as well!



This is the job that Sean and I tackled while we were snowed in this week. We were able to paint the entry and upstairs hall....what a job - but it looks great now and the job is done.



And here is who I am spending my morning with today. We have had this nasty cold and while it hasn't kept me from working, we both have felt relatively icky. I do think we are on the mend though and would appreciate your prayers for us!



Until next time.....