Bubble Bath

X-mas Pics

This is what I get when I ask them to smile for the camera... oh well.

Mud Room Entry

Jim put in an arched entry into the mudroom. Now all we need is some plaster, paint and some tile...

Come and Get it Santa!!

We're ready...I think.

Local Wildlife

The turkeys that survived thanksgiving were seen hanging out in the backyard. You can't tell from this picture but they are huge!

Air Handler

We spent the weekend installing our air-handler in the attic. I've neve seen so much foil in my life. We almost have heat. Now we just have to insulate. Nora even helped, or at least acted the part.

Children under the Stairs

The kids played and found some new hiding spots while Jim put in the closet under the stairs and patched the hole where we had a built-in shelf.

It's beginning to look a lot like christmas!!

I decorated the mantel and we put up the tree this past weekend. The decorations this year are pretty minimal because the house is a mess due to the construction. Jim wanted to put lights on the dumpster but I refused. My living room is packed with all the stuff in the attic so I can't decorate in there. I figure we spend most of our time in our family room and it's the one room that hasn't been affected by the addition so I decorated there.
I'm really into silver this year. I picked up these tassles at homegoods not knowing what I would do with them but I loved them so much I couldn't pass them up. I think they look perfect flanking the mantel.

Irish Soda Bread

I don't think that I've had this since one of my roommates used to make it in college. I forgot how easy and delicious it is! I prefer no caraway seeds and just plain old raisins. The kids loved it warm from the oven with butter. I think that I spoil them with baking because they don't bat an eye anymore at fresh bread. Maybe I need to remind them that not all kids are so lucky!

Messy

Unfortunately this is one of the most exciting parts of our remodel yet the most difficult to share. The walls have been going up and the guys will be done plastering by next weekend. It is so exciting to see the rooms that we will actually be living in soon but it is really difficult to take pictures of them. One thing for sure is that plaster is messy! But at least it's not as dusty as dry wall would have been. I'm working on picking out tile, flooring and paint colors so hopefully I'll be able to share soon!

Sheet-Rock Delivery

Another nail-biter...

Destruction

I guess part of construction is destruction when you are adding onto an existing space. The plumbing and electrical are done and we passed both inspections! I wasn't prepared however for the amount of cutting and holes that would be made by the plumber and for the electrical. I feel like we live in a house of Swiss cheese at the moment. We had the rough-in and framing inspection today and we passed that as well. We will start dry walling and insulating tomorrow! I'm exciting to be able to actually see some walls go up. Stay tuned...

Halloween Crew

Here are the costumes that I made for the kids (minus Benny's). Jack was the Joker. I feel the need to explain because some people thought he was Eddy Munster when we were out trick or treating. I'll blame that on the poor lighting. Nora was a "wedding bride" as she put it. Benny had to do a last minute change because he was a sheep which was a costume I had made for my nephew many years ago. I had to change because it was such a warm night that I thought he would melt in such a warm costume. They had a fun night. Benny was especially happy that so many people were willing to just give him candy!!

Mummy Family by Nora

A picture that Nora drew at school recently. I am constantly amazed at her attention to detail...

Mischief

This is how I see Benny a lot lately. He will pull anything over to the counter to stand on, including books, boxes, and pillows. There's nothing really that fascinating on the counters but he seems to think there is.

Tubs Go In!

Above is a picture of the master bathtub set in place. The plumber is going to come this week to install the drain and set it permanently in place. We're going to do a Grecian Marble deck and my talented husband is going to do some fancy trim across the front. This is the walk-in shower to the left of the tub. We are going to install a glass, frame less door and some glass transoms.

Here's the kids tub in place. Nothing fancy but nice and deep to keep the splashing inside the tub!!

Golden Years

Our cat, Fried Rice (yes, that is his name), turned 12 this year. This is pretty much all that you see him doing these days, sleeping, or looking for warm spots. We had a warm fall day recently so he was lucky enough to do both. He's a great cat. Unlike a lot of Siamese cats, he is great with the kids. Never once has he scratched or bitten them even when they would lay on top of him or pull his tail.

Chopped

Benny got a new haircut. I took him to a real barber shop and they chopped it!!

Apt B

This is the view into the mudroom from the kitchen. This is where Jim took down the wall. I posted about it before but I thought I'd give you another view from a different angle.

Above is the view from our converted porch through the kitchen and into the mudroom.

Jim took our old door and put it at the bottom of the stairs along with some vapor barrier to help seal off the upstairs. It really helps keep the downstairs warmer and to keep out some of the dust and noise when work is going on upstairs. We've started to call it "apartment B" because it's so weird to have this exterior door sitting in the middle of our house...

House Update

I've been wanting to post some pictures of the progress of the addition but everytime I go to take some pictures of the framing that Jim has been doing I realize that it doesn't translate to photographs at all. It just looks like a bunch of studs. I don't think that I'll be able to post anything until the walls go up. The plumbers have started. They have to start from the basement and move their way up which means our old half bathroom is ripped up so they can run the pipes up the wall as seen above.
This is what it used to look like:

Hopefully it will look like that again someday...

Fun with Face Paints

Benny joins the Gang

Benny 2.0

Benny's birthday isn't until next tuesday but we celebrated yesterday.

Benny in Balloon Heaven