Smores Fun

Im having issues with blogger so forgive the backwards order and half my pics didn't upload as the pc died while upload so this is the best I have. Yes day 2 of owning the house we went into high gear and started project number 1 or 2. Extremely tall ugly bushes tear down. With a saw and a mini chainsaw and lots of muscle and man powder Mike, his dad, and Anthony cut back the way over grown hemlock bushes and the crazy Rhododendron bushes. They are going to work on getting the stumps out today. The Rhododendron bushes they just cut way back so they are blocking the windows. We will see if they come back. Anyways we will replace the hemlock bushes with something just not sure what yet. This is the after pic... ( but pre mulch)


Can't stand bushes blocking windows! Not to mention the window sills are all rotted out because the bushes didn't allow that part of the house to get any sun.




The way to small moving truck






The kids playhouse arriving on the flatbed truck

The very ugly wall paper in the family room. ( plastic is on the floor for the movers)

( dining room with white carpet)

Pre bush removal. There are a few other bushes we are going to take out and a bunch we are going to trim down.

Will post a bunch more exciting pics once we get unpacked and the house is more livable.

The new money pit!!

Yay new house!!! So moving day went okay. We hired a big company and the movers themselves did a great job but the estimater had grossly underestimated the amount of stuff we have so he sent a too small truck and only 3 guys to get the job done. He had also forgot about the kids playhouse. He told Mike he didn't have to take it apart so we didn't. The truck was so full there was no way it was going in there. Mikes dad and cousin made 3 pick up truckloads and the movers made 2 trips and sent a special flatbed truck for the kids playhouse. All in all the job got done. Big THANKS to our awesome friends and family who have spent hours here ( and continue to do so) helping unpack, clean, put things together. The kids seem to have adjusted fairly well and are loving all the new space. We got the AC fixed yesterday thank goodness because we went straight from 50 degree temps to mid 80's and very high humidity. Its been a sweaty few days. And the comcast guy was here yesterday so we now have phone ( same #) and internet again.

Just a cute random popsicle pic. Emily, Keira and Israel

Finally a date!

Thursday is offically closing and moving day. And so the madness moves into high gear.

Moving madness

Yeah thats us right now. Everythng is dragging.... at first it was the buyers of our current house. Not having all their paperwork squared away. Then they were all set and the lawyer for the house we are buying is dragging his heels claiming he needs time to review all 8, yes 8 pages of paperwork he has. GRRRRR
To make matters more annoying as we sit around and do more of my favorite - WAITTING. Its been raining nonstop all week. Yes for a full week we have not seen the sun. Its been gloomy and dreary and depressing and cold and not so nice. I would love to see some sun!
Still waiting on offical word for closing and moving day. Hoping for Monday now but Friday the 27 at the latest. Mike and I went over to our soon to be new house last night and cleaned the bathrooms and kitchen and got rid of any residant spiders. We also had all the carpets professionally cleaned. And yeah we forgot the camera. Maybe we will go take pics tonight or tomorrow.
Meanwhile Nairi is growing and changing everyday. She smiles all the time now and is "talking aka cooing" up a storm.
Ohh and in case anyone wonders why I can't seem to spell check my posts. Spell check on blogger isn't working. Anyone know a computer guy?

Nairi 6 weeks old

Project number 1 of new house/ plant some perennials

My lavendar and chives- at the new house


Keira digging the hole for the chives




Mike laying out where the fence is going to go




Our new backyard

Lavender, chives, phlox, tulips and a bunch of other stuff in the back of the car ready to go to the new house. Keira helped me dig up slips from a few of my favorite perennials and we drove to the new house ( which yes we technically don't own yet) and replanted them. I am happy to save the money it would cost to buy the perennials and even happier to bring the same plants that I planted at our first house to our new house. Feels like I am bringing part of our yard with us ( I guess that is technically what I am doing).

5 years ago today

2 jobs, 2 houses and 3 kids later. Couldn't be happier!

Before/After Pictures of Israel's Room

Similar to Keira's room. New flooring, new walls, new insulation, new window. Built-in bed, built-in dressers.

Before/After Pictures of Keira's Room

Keira's Bedroom Before. Hideous floor, paneling and wallpaper. Small window. Smart idea with the built-ins that we reused.

We changed the floor. Added a cave. Added a built-in bed. 2 built-in dressers. Larger double mullion window.

Before/After Pictures of the Upstairs

This is the 2nd floor landing. This became the entrance for the bathroom. We tore out the closet in the bedroom and put in a bathroom. Much improved!!



This is the upstairs landing as well. We took out the shelves and put in custom shelving and a built-in filing cabinet.


This is a during construction picture. The wallpaper was attached directly to unfinished drywall and thus took off the drywall paper as the same time. It had to be taken down. It allowed us to better insulate as well as modify the floor plan.

Before/After Pictures of the Living Room