A Dirty Mess

One of the big things we had to do before we closed on the old house was fill in dirt around the foundation.  We checked with several landscape companies and found out it would be around 300-500 dollars.  When we found out we could just have a company drop cubic yards of dirt off on our driveway for $100 we wend ahead with that.  That meant we had to do the labor, but I found a beautiful day to do and I even had some help from the kids.

my little shovel helpers

they really worked hard.  they filled the wheelbarrow while I was smoothing out the dirt around the house.  I was very impressed with their hard work

I told them they could play in the dirt after they helped for a little bit

The front west and back west side of the house were the worst.  

but after 2 cubic yards of dirt were distributed it looked pretty good

we just pulled back all the mulch that was already there and then put it back on top

Here is two videos of the kids helping and messing around

What we do when we are not doing house stuff

It is kind of hard to believe we do anything but house stuff lately but life keeps on going and the kids have been just as busy as before.  We have had quite a few birthday parties for the kids along with Camden being star of the week. ( I thought doing it in March would be a less stressful time, so I signed him up for that week.  but I had already packed away pictures and other stuff needed for him to take.)  Callan was also a Wysong WOW winner in March.  The weather was unusually nice, but would change really quick. So we enjoyed all the time outside we could.  Camden got sick with a 24 hour bug and spent a good 12 hours on the bathroom floor.  It was such a weird sickness because it came on quick and really knocked him out but by the next day he was completely better. We have been starting to pack up things and finish up projects. We haven't had use of our garage for over a month with all the painting and projects going on.

we wanted to take pictures of all the kids by the sold signs

we did it both ways

the scribner and thober kids playing on the thober dirt pile 

I found this on camden's desk. he has been really into writing his own book and comics based on books he has read. He is even collaborating with kids in his class.  It has kept him pretty busy

Camden at a birthday party at the zoo. the sweet girl who had the party said no gifts and asked for donations for the zoo which i thought was so nice

camden (left) making masks at the b-day party

camden filled out his star of the week "all about me" paper

she woke up as I was taking her picture. she is going to miss her napping spot when we move

I found this one morning when I woke up.  I think it was camden that did it.

we took the bunk beds apart so that is would be one less thing to do the night before we moved. we set them up in callans room with the bedding from the loft beds. he thought is was so awesome

callan (front right) was the kindergarten wow winner of the week

i took a picture of the boys in the laundry hamper and then just had to show what is was like 6 years ago. they have grown way to much

hanging out at Carter's annual peanut allergy appointment. we got carter's blood test done again he his IGE went from 16 down to 4. The doctor was very impressed and felt like things were going great for carter. he even told us we could go down to 8 peanuts a day instead of 12. carter was happy about that and so were we.

the test results

showing off his bracket

tomfoolery happening in the living room

you know they all have to get in on it  it apparently involves taking shirts off as well

our poor camden sleeping by the toilet. i felt so bad for him. he threw up every 5-7 minutes for several hours straight. then it tapered off

callan at a defy gravity birthdyay party

the last popsicle party with the neighbors

House update - trim, cabinets, stone and doors

Trim, cabinets, stone and doors! They started trim work along with putting in cabinets this week.  It is amazing how you come one day and they have made a ton of progress, then 3 days go by and it seems like they have done nothing. Home building is such a weird process. We have enjoyed seeing the cabinets come in and get installed.  We did mocha stained cabinets throughout the house except the kitchen. We painted the exterior cabinets white and have a mocha stained island. We also got to see the handles on the doors. They randomly put handles on (including putting them on backwards) because apparently they take them all off when they paint so they just need something temporary.

trim waiting to be installed in the main areas. we got high baseboards for all the main living areas. i wanted it everywhere but that was not in the budget.

all the cabinets in boxes

we noticed that they covered up one of our can lights in the basement with dry wall.  we were afraid that it might be permanent but we were assured it happens all the time and that they would uncover it later. 

french closet doors with the handles on

what a mess

trim work starting

some kitchen cabinets in

basement bar cabinets are in

basement bathroom 

master bath cabinets

laundry cabinets. we added an extra cabinet and sink in the laundry room. we just got a new washer and dryer and realized we couldn't open the washer lid without hitting the cabinets at our old house so we were able to catch them before they were installed to move them up a bit.

a picture of the switchback stairs going to the basement

tatze visited the house for one of the first times. she is not a huge fan

installing the shiplap wall on the hallway leading to the master.  i am SO excited to see it all finished

all the cabinets are installed

stone on front of the house is in. we didn't like it as much as we did in the store but our house isn't painted yet either so we are hoping we like it better with they grey paint.

a more close up picture of the stone

New King Bed

I really wanted a farm house king bed that I found online on Ana Whites blog. I had a friend on facebook who made her own and said it was more than just a beginner project so I didn't think I could tackle it alone. I ask my friend Curt to make the bed for me and then I would finish it.  I was so excited when he brought it over finished.  It looked so good and just like the picture from the page. I got started right away with priming, painting, sanding and staining.  The weather wasn't really cooperative so it took longer than I wanted. I didn't get all the progress, but here is what I have.

primed and ready to paint

first coat of white paint on head board

white paint on the foot board

after I sanded it I filled in the sanded areas with stain and then wiped it off

after all the stain has been applied on the foot board

finished product on the headboard

my finished product on top and the copied version on the bottom. my lighting wasn't that great for my finished product

i also refinished this table by making my own chalk paint and distressing this table

finished product. it just needs a top coat ( or several)

I also painted this old night stand for callan's room.  It matches his bedding. I also made my own red chalk paint for this.