My Favorite Room

 

This is what I saw when I walked into this room. Isn't it amazing? The space measures over 350 sq ft so it's a big room. Can't you see Home Teachers in here?! :) There was wallpaper glue and wallpaper still on the walls and Drew was enjoying ripping it down each time we came to look at the house.

Our plan for this room includes:

New Floors

Texture walls

Knock out opening on wall sharing the hallway

Fireplace makeover

Get rid of spindles

Baseboards

Paint

Replace big window with 3 smaller windows

Enjoy!

This room ended up being one of the first things along with the kitchen because I was having the McClintock clan to my house for Thanksgiving.  The inspiration came from the curtains. I had bought that fabric and was using it in my old house for curtains. They felt a little "granny" at first but I figured my taste was EVOLVING if you will. :) Anyways- one thing leads to another and a vision was born!

I am in love with this room. You can hate it, I will think you are crazy because this room is a very tranquil space that you can't help but want to hang out in. (Even though you aren't allowed in there!)

My kids and myself have deemed it the "come apart" room. When you're having a bad day. Go sit in there. You will feel better.

It's amazing the transformation that can happen when you remove old spindles or throw a little paint on the wall. The fireplace doesn't stick out as being so ugly anymore.

And to my favorite thing ever... the china. When I was growing up my best friend was my Great Grandma Dimp. She lived in Iowa and I loved her more than anything. When she passed away she wanted me to have her china. My mom would never give it to me because she was afraid I would break it because I didn't have the space for it. When we moved I was so excited to finally have the china and a hutch to put it in. The best part was it matches my room! It's as if the colors, fabric and style were all meant to be.

 

I feel a real connection to her in that room and have been slowly turning it into a room all about my ancestors. I have old photos on a "family tree" on the table and there is a collage of pictures going above the couch. (one day) I especially love that room because I have a place where I can honor our family whom we love so much!

 

Before

After

 

BEFORE

 

AFTER

                            This room has more work to be done. However, it is still a great space!

Our house!

This house has been a project times 10 million. I knew when we bought it that we had a lot of work ahead of us. Everyone who saw the house secretly felt sorry for us... I'm sure! There were lots of laughs about the "black wading pool" and Drew is still trying to get me to use it. I REFUSE. I have to draw the line somewhere people!

We bought our house as a foreclosure. It had not been taken care of and had not been updated since the flood. That's a long time. There was mold growing down walls, on floors, in sinks. The hobo's had made this their mansion. There were no floors in the bathrooms, just rotted sub floor. We had no appliances except a dishwasher with mold growing inside it. The lawn was completely dead. The list goes on and on and on and on. Doesn't it seem like a house you couldn't pass up?! HA

 It was in April 2011 that Drew and I took a drive and decided that we wanted to be out in the country. That was our dream. Acres. Horses. Land. Pigs. The whole shebang. So we listed our house and a few short weeks later it SOLD! We were shocked! I started packing everything up and we started shopping. We went to houses. We looked online. I was open to pretty much anything. One day when driving my kids to school I had my GPS take me to a house that was listed as a foreclosure. I wasn't sure of the address but I knew it was close. When I realized the house I laughed out loud. It was about 2 blocks from our other house BUT was still further North (that was Drew's one requirement). I came home and told Drew about it and he said HECK NO! There was no way. Well the next day we drove by and there were workers here putting a brand new roof on! That definitely sparked Drew's curiosity. A new roof costs a lot of money!

So we called up our Realtor and we met at the house later that day. When we walked inside WE WERE SHOCKED!!!!!!!! The house was so bad. So so so bad. SO bad. REALLY BAD. Get the hint?! It was bad.  Mold. No floors. Pink tile. Blue tile. Mold. Mold. Mold. More blue tile. Earwigs EVERYWHERE.  It was dark. Lots of closed off rooms. We took one look in here and Drew said... UM... NO LADY. This is not happening. So, I let it go. We had a good laugh. Wondered how long it would be on the market for the asking price and left.

Later that night, I started thinking about all the space. I started dreaming about the CENTRAL AIR and the possibilities of the dining room. It had beautiful crown molding and wainscoting already done and it needed a little TLC but I started to envision it. I actually dreamt that night about the main bath and having a "toilet room" just like I have always wanted. Oh, it was old and stinky though. It wasn't anything to brag about... that's for sure. The other "meant to be" was the lockers in the mud room. 7 of them. How perfect for our family of 7. :)

Long story short, we moved out of our house and then made an offer on this beauty. The bank rejected it. SERIOUSLY! So we made another offer and went back and forth a few times and finally they had accepted our offer.  On August 1, 2011 we closed on our house and that night we slept on the floor! It was so fun! I was deathly afraid of hobo's or earwigs crawling on me. After a long summer of living in boxes and working with the bank and dump appraisers we finally had our place.


There is lots and lots of work to do. Most rooms have phases because there is just so very much. The first thing to get worked on was putting in a new bathtub and then the kitchen get phase 1 done. Lots of work. Lots of arguing with Drew. Lots of learning and growing. Lots of dust. Lots of vacuuming. Lots and lots of help. Lots of enjoying and lots and lots of love going into this home! I sure do love my house. Even if it isn't a beautiful new home, we are loving making it our own and feeling awesome about all we have accomplished.

                                                Dark scary kitchen!

Built ins on both sides of a door to the left

 

 

I tore out this built in while Drew was at work! Kenzie called him to tattle on me! :)

 

 
                   Tore out the door and 3 ft of wall

            

  Phase 1 of kitchen complete... cabinets, ceiling, tearing  out wall and door. Got new appliances. Found a lots of spiders and the skeletal remains of a mouse.

                                                                   BEFORE




                                                                   AFTER

 

Back to School 2012

It's been a long summer. In fact, it's been a long year.  There have been many changes going on around our place! The most obvious (besides the dust from constant remodeling) is the growth of these 3 beauties. It's hard to believe that my baby is now 11 and going into 6th grade. The time goes so fast!!

                                                      Kenzie (11), Tate (6), Logan (9)
 On Monday, I decided that we should have a "FAMILY FUN DAY" and boy was it fun! :) It began with a few kids crying and a few kids having to go to their room with the threat of FAMILY FUN DAY being cancelled. After some tears, apologies and some good heart to hearts we were back on to the day of fun. So what comes next... mowing the lawn of course! Logan was not sure this day would be fun at all! In all seriousness we did do whatever they wanted. They chose McDonalds for lunch and then we spent a few hours at the pool and we even got slide passes! Next was shooting our new guns up by the dam. Logan and Tate enjoyed this the most, but Kenzie is enjoying her new gun that she got for her birthday. Not every girl whose favorite color is lime green gets a lime green gun! After shooting guns we enjoyed some dinner at "Little Mexico". The kids love it when we bring leftovers home but haven't actually been there themselves so that was a nice surprise.  The day was very long but I think overall we all had a good time and were able to make some good memories.

                                                                                         

There aren't enough words that I can come up with to say how much I love my kiddos. They are crazy, wild, naughty, spoiled, special, silly, cute, funny, stinky, smart, loving, adventurous, obnoxious, talented, independent, healthy, happy, curious, devilish, awesome, brave, handy little things and most importantly they are mine! It's going to be a good year and we've all committed to trying new things, making new friends, pushing ourselves to be better than we were before. As happy as I am that my kids go to school during the day, I can't help but be a little sad today as I see them grow up a little more. I get so caught up in my everyday routine that I don't always take a time out to enjoy them right here and now and before I know it, they will be gone and all I will be left with is DREW! :) (Even though I tease, I love that guy so much that that thought isn't half bad either!)

Here is to a new school year!