With your house torn up, you sometimes have to find things to keep the kids sane. We built some ramps for the wiggle cars and purchased some LEGOs to keep them happy and out from under our feet while we tore up carpet and moved furniture. Worked like a charm.
I must go see the LEGO movie a second time to catch all that I missed. Worth 1.5 of your time.
Great movie.
Great entertainment.
Thursday, February 27, 2014
Tuesday, February 25, 2014
Operation Barn Wood
We're just in our little collecting phase right now. Collecting sinks, chairs, lights, materials for various projects. This past Saturday we currently were collected barnwood. We plan to cover a couple of walls with it off of our kitchen. Pretty exciting. The history of the barnwood is pretty awesome too. Mat's great grandpa owned the southern Utah farm and his son, Mat's Grandpa Roy, bought it from him just after the war. This barnwood is over 70 years old. The barn was falling down when it was clipped by a tractor last summer and it started to crumble. We just happened to be in the market for barnwood, and Mat's uncles were gracious enough to give it to us. Thank you.
It was fun to be down on the farm in the fresh air. The kids explored and quickly claimed their land as a castle. Funny how we stake our claim and start planning out our imaginary life. It's human nature.
Sally the dog also just had 6 week old puppies. They were a lot of fun to watch. They would wrestle and play in the straw, it was like watching a busy toddler. "Can we keep one?" came up many times and no was always enforced. This blue heeler and collie mix needs a lot of room to run I'm afraid.
Now we have a lovely pile of barnwood on our back porch, along with the kitchen table, buffet etc....
It was fun to be down on the farm in the fresh air. The kids explored and quickly claimed their land as a castle. Funny how we stake our claim and start planning out our imaginary life. It's human nature.
Sally the dog also just had 6 week old puppies. They were a lot of fun to watch. They would wrestle and play in the straw, it was like watching a busy toddler. "Can we keep one?" came up many times and no was always enforced. This blue heeler and collie mix needs a lot of room to run I'm afraid.
Now we have a lovely pile of barnwood on our back porch, along with the kitchen table, buffet etc....
Monday, February 24, 2014
Happy birthday Andrea and Grandma Elaine
February is a month chock full of birthdays for the Harris family. It is a party all month. Mat's mom's birthday was on Friday and sadly we spent most of her special day traveling to get to her Mom's 95th party the following day. We did manage to stop at the red barn in Santaquin for a ice cream treat! The kids thought the Red Barn was the stuff.
That night we decorated cakes and had a night out to dinner at the Parowan Cafe.
Aunt Ava (Andrea's youngest sister), Grandma Elaine, and Mat pictured above.
We celebrated at the church because the family is so big. Lots of singing and laughing.
Happy Birthday Elaine! I believe everyone can say they want to be you when they grow up.
on to Dannielle's and Ruby's birthdays towards the end of the week. Oh, we're not done folks.
That night we decorated cakes and had a night out to dinner at the Parowan Cafe.
Aunt Ava (Andrea's youngest sister), Grandma Elaine, and Mat pictured above.
We celebrated at the church because the family is so big. Lots of singing and laughing.
Happy Birthday Elaine! I believe everyone can say they want to be you when they grow up.
on to Dannielle's and Ruby's birthdays towards the end of the week. Oh, we're not done folks.
Sunday, February 23, 2014
38 Smackaroos!
Mat's birthday weekend celebration! Lindsay was so kind to take the kiddos so I could take Mat cross country skiing. She is ----she is---there are no words for Lindsay. She is absolutely phenomenal. I want to be her.
We ventured up Millcreek Canyon. It is 4 miles up hill and you turn around and it is 4 miles down hill. The uphill was a fantastic workout, which I'm still sore from and it is 4 days later. The downhill, not so much when it is icy. The only way to stop is to carefully fall down when you feel your speed is getting out of control. You can imagine that was going really well for me. We clipped off our skis and walked down. Oh! But the outdoors smelled wonderful.
Tuesday night (actual birthday) we celebrated with shakes. The man loves a good Reese's Peanut Butter shake.
I must say, Mat ages well. Hope he doesn't mind his wrinkled wife in a wheelchair when he's out mountain biking when he's eighty. Maybe I could just get a sled/wheelchair and he can take me with him. I'll wear a mask for the dust.
Picture down in St. George.
We ventured up Millcreek Canyon. It is 4 miles up hill and you turn around and it is 4 miles down hill. The uphill was a fantastic workout, which I'm still sore from and it is 4 days later. The downhill, not so much when it is icy. The only way to stop is to carefully fall down when you feel your speed is getting out of control. You can imagine that was going really well for me. We clipped off our skis and walked down. Oh! But the outdoors smelled wonderful.
Tuesday night (actual birthday) we celebrated with shakes. The man loves a good Reese's Peanut Butter shake.
I must say, Mat ages well. Hope he doesn't mind his wrinkled wife in a wheelchair when he's out mountain biking when he's eighty. Maybe I could just get a sled/wheelchair and he can take me with him. I'll wear a mask for the dust.
Picture down in St. George.
Saturday, February 22, 2014
Homeshow Weekend!
Tradition! Tradition! Every Presidents Day we head to St. George for the home show with just the 18 and older girls of the family. It's aunts, cousins, and friends and it's fun! We try to focus on food, shoe sales, and movies, oh! and new home features. Right! Here are some pictures from the weekend!
Morning planning meeting bottom picture below. Yes, we don't waste our time!
The team cheer and the group shot to be recorded by historian (me)
Treat bags distributed by Aunt Trisha. She includes treats to keep our energy levels up, highlighter, post it notes, pens, chocolate, water bottle with our initials on the cap.....
Here are some features in the homes and our shoe shopping sale we hit.
Morning planning meeting bottom picture below. Yes, we don't waste our time!
The team cheer and the group shot to be recorded by historian (me)
Treat bags distributed by Aunt Trisha. She includes treats to keep our energy levels up, highlighter, post it notes, pens, chocolate, water bottle with our initials on the cap.....
Here are some features in the homes and our shoe shopping sale we hit.
Friday, February 21, 2014
Doin' our Homework
It is important when remodeling a house that you take as many trips as possible to gather the information needed to make your house successful. Right? So, I booked a plane ticket to LA so we could go see some furniture we've had our eye on for a while and test it out. Part of it was Mat's birthday too--just justifying it more. I owe a big shout out thank you to my Mom and Dannielle for taking my kids.
I have to say, it was nice to actually try out the furniture before you bought it. The couch we were looking out was way too stiff. I feel like a couch is right up there with trying on jeans. You have to try out a lot before you find the right fit. We also were able to pin down some barstools. I can not show pictures of our barstools at this time because I also liken them to baby names. You tell people your baby's name and they will shoot it down before they even meet him. So the barstools may be a little "whoa!" for some people, but it screams my kitchen. Pictures to come, after you met them and the whole kitchen.
Furniture MANY rows in Beverly Hills.
We also had the chance to have lunch with Cousin Lee and his family--Alix and baby Adam
Wow! Must have caught Lee in mid sentence. Serious ptosis going on.
Wednesday, February 19, 2014
Asbestos Removal= Cray Cray
Well- it looks like a nuclear bomb went off in our house and hazmat has come to clean up the job. It took one full day to prep the walls with double lined plastic on all floors, walls, and windows.Yep, it felt like we entered our 7th move. Every piece of everything had to be cleared.
They have a special shower they rinse off in as they come and go. They also wear white suits and masks and sound like space aliens when they talk. Many curious neighbors wondered what was going on at our house.
Our cute little neighbor up the street even called the office to make sure it wasn't a staging for a robbery. I assure you it was not robbers, but there happened to be some recent thieves in SLC that got away with doing just that---making it look like there was work getting done on the house and managed to load up their truck and steal everything.
We were fortunate enough to stay with Mat's parents just down the street. They are so easy going and welcoming. We stayed there about 3 nights watching the olympics and prepping our Valentines. We could slip in and out of our back sliding door. But, the heater was overworking, so much that you started sweating in a hurry. It was so hot that my butter liquified.
And so it begins. I'm happy something is beginning. I thought we'd be torn into this mid January, so I'm excited to see something go.
They have a special shower they rinse off in as they come and go. They also wear white suits and masks and sound like space aliens when they talk. Many curious neighbors wondered what was going on at our house.
Our cute little neighbor up the street even called the office to make sure it wasn't a staging for a robbery. I assure you it was not robbers, but there happened to be some recent thieves in SLC that got away with doing just that---making it look like there was work getting done on the house and managed to load up their truck and steal everything.
We were fortunate enough to stay with Mat's parents just down the street. They are so easy going and welcoming. We stayed there about 3 nights watching the olympics and prepping our Valentines. We could slip in and out of our back sliding door. But, the heater was overworking, so much that you started sweating in a hurry. It was so hot that my butter liquified.
And so it begins. I'm happy something is beginning. I thought we'd be torn into this mid January, so I'm excited to see something go.
Wednesday, February 12, 2014
Homeless
We are currently evacuated from our house at the moment due to asbestos removal. This is one of those remodeling unforeseen expenses everyone tells you about. Plan to be way over budget. And I knew we would be. We also needed to get new house plans created and pay an engineer to determine which supports we needed before we knocked out and adjusted some walls.
Mat's parent were kind enough to give us a place to stay. Our house right now has double layers of plastic covering everything.- walls, carpeting, light fixtures. It looks like it is a nuclear war zone. Our living spaces are completely free of furniture and wall hangings. It looks like we moved until you open up the guest room. We do have limited access to the back door and our bedroom , but we have to crawl through our window. They prepped all day Tuesday and they'll scrap all day Wednesday and Thursday.
Mat's parent were kind enough to give us a place to stay. Our house right now has double layers of plastic covering everything.- walls, carpeting, light fixtures. It looks like it is a nuclear war zone. Our living spaces are completely free of furniture and wall hangings. It looks like we moved until you open up the guest room. We do have limited access to the back door and our bedroom , but we have to crawl through our window. They prepped all day Tuesday and they'll scrap all day Wednesday and Thursday.
Sunday, February 2, 2014
Something that is coming to pass!
I feel like finally we have all of our ducks lined up and we are ready to start......................
We've been working on this over a year and I can't believe we are finally going to demo some walls. We are all excited to fist punch some holes around here. We debated just moving with this extensive remodel, but the land, new house, and planting our feet somewhere else just didn't seem necessary. So it begins
General Contractor--Myself and I
Sub Contractor
Drywall Guy
Carpet Guy
Wood Floor Guy
Countertop Guy
Cabinet Guy
Electrician
Plumber
Window Guy
Engineer
Architect
Door Guy
City Permit
Tile Guy
Appliance Guy
Furniture Store
Light Fixtures
Lot and Lots of Materials
I'm so excited to see it come together. In April it will be 2yrs living in this house. It's a great house, but we're going to make it better and more efficient. Here are some before photos of our kitchen we're selling. I'll keep you posted on the journey, if you care to join us. Demo will start in about 1 1/2-2wks.
OUR REMODEL!
We've been working on this over a year and I can't believe we are finally going to demo some walls. We are all excited to fist punch some holes around here. We debated just moving with this extensive remodel, but the land, new house, and planting our feet somewhere else just didn't seem necessary. So it begins
General Contractor--Myself and I
Sub Contractor
Drywall Guy
Carpet Guy
Wood Floor Guy
Countertop Guy
Cabinet Guy
Electrician
Plumber
Window Guy
Engineer
Architect
Door Guy
City Permit
Tile Guy
Appliance Guy
Furniture Store
Light Fixtures
Lot and Lots of Materials
I'm so excited to see it come together. In April it will be 2yrs living in this house. It's a great house, but we're going to make it better and more efficient. Here are some before photos of our kitchen we're selling. I'll keep you posted on the journey, if you care to join us. Demo will start in about 1 1/2-2wks.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
