Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to all the Dad's!

These are some pictures I took to make Allan's present with. I got stickers (Skins) made to put on his ipod. Crazy that these came out of a film camera (so don't diss the film Erin j/k)

And since it's film there's no point in wasting the rest so I played around with the camera and got these on another day.

Running with Angels

Allan's sisters (Ann & Becca), his mom & I walked (well his sisters ran) in the Running with Angels 5k. It was actually fun and was for a good cause. A lot of people were running in memory of their Angels (their children who now live in heaven). Allan said he wants to do it next year. We'll see I'd like to do it again too :)

Down goes the wall

I wanted to open up the kitchen and dining area so we decided to take down part of the wall. This is after we took the plaster down.

This is Allan holding the wall up because the roof started to come down...... oh just kidding it came down with no problems. I love that the kitchen is so much brighter now. The only down side is that people will be able to see the kitchen sink when they walk in. Guess I better get Allan used to washing dishes :)

And of course I had to throw some excitement into our day and backed up into a drill that was standing up and put a puncture hole in the back of my leg. It's crazy how much a little hole can bleed. Luckily Allan was there with me and he was able to get the bleeding stopped, washed out with alcohol (that hurt worse I think) and then bandaid put on. I was good and didn't even pass out. I think I had a tetnus shot when I had Allie so for now we'll just watch it and make sure it doesn't get infected. The other good thing is that it was a new drill bit so there wasn't any rust.

Progress?

I have to keep telling myself that we are making progress and the things that are being done may take a lot of time but will make our house safe to live in and when we are finally able to move in it will all be worth it.

So what progress has been made?

* Electrical

The panel in the basement has been updated. The main box has been updated and ground rods installed. Marcus helped Allan get started with the electrical and now Allan has most of the outlets completed (Allie wasn't happy that he was making holes in her wall) and is working on the lights. This is a picture of the old wiring that was in the wall. Also that wiring is run all through out the attic covered by old insulation. Now that it's all disconnected Allan is also working on taking out all the old wiring while he runs the new stuff.

* The Plumbing

Allan's cousin Kellan was able to come up and re plumb the whole house with PEX. I guess it's a good thing that was done because when they went to move the drain under the sink the pipe just crumbled. Apparently it was only being held on there with caulking. Thank you Kellan for coming and doing that for us and Suzy for allowing him to come on a busy weekend. He also got it hooked up in the basement for us to have a washing machine yippee. I really think the previous owner still used a wash basin. Since the only way to drain was the french drain in the middle of the floor. Kellan also got our new toilet hooked up on the other side of the bathroom so there is more room. Before there was literally an inch on both sides of toilet that you had to squeeze in to go to the bathroom. They found out that the sub floor that was under the toilet was no good so they had to replace that too. I had to leave before they finished doing the plumbing for the shower so when Allan showed me the picture I think he forgot that I'm not 5' 11" (He told Allie's Dr. that's how tall I was at one of her first few checkups because the charts said Allie was tall and that would make sense if both her parents were tall. 5' 5" .....5"11" ......same thing right?) He said he was going to put the shower head higher but then thought he better lower it a little.

*Demo

I think this has been Allan's favorite part. He knocked out the archway over the shower so he can stand up in shower. We're going to tile it once the inspector comes and gives us the okay to close up the wall. James, a guy from Allan's work, came and helped tear down part of the wall between the kitchen and what's going to be the dining room. It really brightened up the kitchen and makes it look bigger.

*Wallpaper

I have finished scraping wallpaper for the time being. I couldn't get the last layer off the walls in the front/dining room I think they put it up while the plaster was still drying and the only way to get it off is to tear out the plaster. So we are just puttying and then going to paint over it. Ann and I washed the walls and that was disgusting the wall paper was pink and I had thought it was a brown color. GROSS!! We're just trying to get the rooms done that we will be in so we can move in faster and then work on the others later. There's still some paper in the little room. Allie calls it the baby room. I think just because it's so small but then again she does keep asking if we can get a baby to put in there. The other day she told me it was after 10 o'clock so I could have a baby. If only it were that simple. Not yet, but maybe someday.

So I guess you can say we are making progress. Allan's mom has been a huge help with watching Allie while we work and so has Erin so thank you guys for doing that. We get so much more work done without a 3 year old there. Allan has been working really hard. He goes to the house on his lunch break and then again after work until it's dark and then he comes home eats showers goes to bed and does it again the next day. He seems to like doing that. I think because he gets to go to Home Depot a lot and has been able to get some new "toys" to help with the projects. I on the other hand start to get anxiety every time we go into Home Depot now because I know when we go in a lot of money stays with them.

Again, It will all be worth it when it's done!

Homeownership = a never ending to do list

So now that we are proud homeowners we've started updating some things in the house. The biggest concern was the electrical and the simple task of changing out a box has turned into needing to rewire the entire house. There goes our budget. Luckily Allan is a really good handyman and while talking to the electrician they decided that Allan could run all the wire through the house and add outlets since there is a total of 6 upstairs and none are in the bedrooms. So off to home depot we went. Of course we didn't bring the shopping list the electrician gave us. I hope we got everything and everything we got is what was needed.

This is what's been giving the house power. Like those nice wires that are exposed at the bottom. We're amazed that the house hasn't burnt down.

I've also been working on peeling wallpaper and lots of wallpaper there is to peel. This was in the kitchen where there is a total of 7 layers of paint and paper not only on the walls but also on the ceiling. Let's just say I'm never putting wallpaper up in my house ever.


And here is my little helper. When it was time to go home I put her in the car ran inside to grab something and came out to find her like this. Seriously it was less than 2 minutes.

Noxious Weed or God's Greatest Creation

I guess it depends on who you ask? To the adult trying to maintain a lawn I would guess they would choose the first however if you are 3 then definitely the best creation ever. I can remember in elementary school running out to the school's field and trying to find the biggest "puff ball" and then making a wish and blowing as hard as I could to get all the little seeds off in one breath. That's how your wish came true. Right? As I was watching Allie, I think she inhaled more of the little seeds than blowing them away at first. She quickly got the hang of it and now the massive amounts that are already there will be tripled in a few weeks.

CHOPPED!

Allie: You guys can be the judgers and I'll be the cook (stir, stir, stir) Ta da
Me: The judgers?
Allie: Ya like on Chopped.
Me: Chopped?
Allie: When the people make dinner they see the judges and one gets chopped. When the judges are done eating their dinner they get some fresh lunch and they go home that's when they get chopped.

Apparently Allie likes watching this show with Grandma. So last night there was some left over pesto and it became a masterpiece. Doesn't it look so appetizing now? It looked much better on the pasta but tasted really good with the crackers.

My little chef also loves to bake cookies. Uncle Greggy has made cookies with her almost every weekend so when she kept asking if we could make them and with me saying in a minute she came and got me to say she had everything ready. This is what I found.

Not bad since the only thing she was missing was the Oatmeal that was in a cupboard she couldn't reach and we also got fresh butter out of the fridge. She even got the spoon out for measuring and the knife to smooth out the flour when you measure it. Maybe I should just start letting her make dinner. Okay maybe not today but someday.