I love Melissa & Doug!

I have to say that I remember enjoying Melissa & Doug toys when I was little. They were great then, and nothing has changed. Colten already has several Melissa & Doug toys and puzzles in his arsenal. So, I was really excited to find out that they are having a contest through 12/2 to win their activity and one of my all-time favorites of their toys, a train set. Go on over and submit your entries. There are lots of chances to win an EXCELLENT toy for your kids!

http://blog.melissaanddoug.com/2010/11/20/giveaway-multi-activity-table-train-set-closes-12210/

So we moved and...

I really desperately wanted to post pictures of the new house and our getting settled in. Unfortunately, after leaving the rent house, I was without internet access for almost four weeks while the phone company had to lay over 900 feet of phone line to get to the house and then get it installed. We also spent a little over two weeks without TV of any kind. It was nice in a frontier style sort of way, but it was nice to get connected to the real world again.

We are definitely moved in although we still need to get a bed for the spare bedroom and a bigger table for the kitchen (for family nights and holidays and such). Unfortunately, we aren't officially settled into our mortgage. We had an appraiser who provided an estimated value that we (and the bank) thought was too low. We spent almost three weeks attempting to get a new appraisal. Everytime they would call out, somehow this same guy was getting our job although it is supposed to be random. Turns out that there is a database that you get loaded into and then appraisers self assign jobs as they need work. This guy kept pulling ours to...annoy us? upset us? mess with us? Who knows. We finally got a new appraiser who gave us a better value (although still not really what we thought or need), so we should finally close our mortgage the week after Thanksgiving.

Enough with the drama, here is what I know that you all came here to see. Enjoy pics of our new abode! Oh, and maybe one gratuitous one of Colten.



Our (almost) 2 year old boy


kitchen


living area


spare bath


office


spare bedroom


Colten's room


laundry room


looking down the hall from the master


master closet


master tub



master bathroom


master bedroom


from another angle

One week away?

So, baring any kind of major disaster (or slow up in the process), one week from today we will be moved into the new house. I can't believe how much has been done in the last week. There is still a fair amount to go, but with everything that has gotten done, I have confidence that we will be in there. So exciting for our dream to finally come to fruition.

For now, enjoy some picks of the recent work.


fan up in Colten's room


master bath counter and lights


master shower is almost done


dishwasher installed


back porch light and fan


kitchen backsplash


front door waiting to be installed


cabinet hardware


kitchen countertop

Porches, propane and cleanup

This past week has brought a lot of changes. The porches are now poured (the posts will go in tomorrow), the propane tank is set and hooked up, and my husband and a coworker of his spent all day yesterday cleaning up the job site around the house so that they can start the dirt work this week in preparation for laying down sod.

This upcoming week, our master shower will be tiled, the granite countertops and kitchen backsplash will be installed, the exterior doors will be put on, door and cabinet hardware will be in, lights and sinks. By the end of this week, it should mostly look like a house that needs to be cleaned up in order to move in to. The shower glass won't be in until the next week, and then, October 16th, we will move in. It is so exciting! For now, enjoy some more pics.



propane tank


front porch


master bath tile waiting to be installed


floor tile in the master shower


master shower


south side yard after cleanup


back porch and pad for the a/c unit


front porch the day it was poured


And just because he's so DARN cute, a gratuitous pic of the bear

Love, Kevin, Summer and Colten

Closer and closer...

So, every day we are getting closer and closer to realizing our dream. Progress is really coming along on the house. The walls are now painted, cabinets are in, interior doors are hung. This week brings countertop installation, the front and back porches being poured, the master shower and kitchen backsplash being tiled. It's really coming together. If everything stays on track, we should close and move in the weekend of October 15th. Keep your fingers crossed for us! We really want to hit that deadline. For now, enjoy some recent pics.


kitchen


spare bathroom


master bathroom


spare bedroom


Colten's room

Exterior paint and brick is on!

So, we finally are seeing the outside of the house starting to be completed. The siding and trim paint went on yesterday (Gleaming Tan trimmed in Fields of Green), and the brick was well on its way to being done when we went out to take a peek earlier. The trim is on around the doors and floors inside the house. They have to put shelves up in the master closet and the laundry room on Monday along with the cabinets, and then it will be ready for interior paint. We went out today and settled on granite for all the countertops as well as tile for the kitchen backsplash and master shower. Things are really coming along, and it is so exciting! It's hard to believe that if things stay on pace, we will be moving in right about a month for now. God has truly blessed us beyond measure. :)


exterior paint


Brick


Trim going up!


looking down the hall towards the master


front of the house

Floors are done and painting begins!

So, if you read my last post, you know that we were a little concerned about being able to save our floors for staining after the drywallers had put up the walls. However, after three 10+ hour days over Labor Day weekend, we were ready to give it a go. I am delighted to say that my husband did an amazing job applying the stain, and, after three coats, it turned out beautifully. It will really be something to see when we polish it, but we aren't going to do that until right before we move in. All in all, I'm happy we did it, but if I ever decide to do it again, I will pay someone. :)

This week, our contractor is actually putting all the trim in the house (baseboards, door trim, etc.) and then the painters will do their thing. The brick guy will show up somewhere late this week or early next week to put the brick on the house. SO EXCITED!!! I will post pictures when I have them. Until then, enjoy the staining!


Master bedroom after the first coat of stain


My handsome boy checking out the floors


After three coats and sealer


Looking good!


A ton of work - but worth the effort!

WALLS!

It's been a while since I have written anything here. Progress is certainly being made. You can see below that plumbing is in the works and the spare bath has been installed. Most importantly though, last week we got insulation and WALLS! Yes, it looks like a real house. The downside is that, we have this week for cleaning the floors and staining them. When I left the house last weekend, that seemed like it would be a fairly simple task. That was until the drywallers made NO effort to protect the floors at all. If you look closely in the pictures below of the walls, you may notice that our floors are now COVERED in drywall mud and texture. So, we are having to scrape the floors with a scraper to get the worst of it up before we can start scrubbing the floors. Good thing we have a whole week to get this done. Of course, I'll post new pictures once the stain is down. Stay tuned...



Spare bath


Drywall is here!


the living room


master bedroom