Renovation Update and a Little Bit of Cuteness

Before:

And now, although not yet completed….

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In other unrelated news….

Frog filled our Sunday with two year old tantrums just about all day long.

However, he had at least one shining moment when he said,

“Mom…Mom!  Take cheese please!”

Then he looked this cute:

which only made me kinda enjoy him despite his fit throwing.

After the picture was taken, he stated,

“I see?  I see?

Oh…dat’s cool, Mommy!”

Ok.

He’s cool again.

Renovation Realities

The Money Pit is in full renovation swing.  Again.

For those who don’t know our DIY history, I seem to have a knack for timing pregnancy and renovations.

Ha.

Unfortunately, this time I am not pregnant and was put straight to work.

Enter:  The deck renovations.

Before:

BP has a 4 day weekend to turn the above into a DIY paradise with a covered walkway from our detached garage.

Sa-weet.

And here’s the proof that I am not pregnant:

The boys were helping, too.

After all, that’s why we keep having kids.

More hands to help.

Keep watching for our renovation updates.

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For past house renovation links, click the “renovation” tag under the post title.

Spring Spruce Up: Round One

Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of this week will be dedicated to sprucing up our playroom.  Be sure to visit the links listed at the bottom of this post for spruce ups of other rooms.

 

Our playroom is currently a disaster.

Too many toys, not enough space.

Each time I walk in there, I realize the boys just don’t need ALL of those toys.

It’s obscene.  And I’m kinda embarrassed.

We’ve done a lot of overhauling here at The Money Pit since 2008.

Now it’s the playroom’s turn.

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Background info:

The playroom is a room that, we believe, was part of the wrap around front porch of our 109 year old house.  At one point in the history of the house, someone needed more space and created another room and closet.  We originally used this room as the home office where BP made a desk/storage area out of old kitchen cabinets and mounted them on the wall.  When Frog came along, we moved the office to the back of the house, the original playroom became Frog’s room, and the old office became the playroom.  The big move also included moving the cabinets and desk from the old room and mount to another wall in the new room, leaving some damage to the sheet rock in the original room–the current playroom.

Sheesh.  Did ya get all that?

The closet in the playroom is currently a rather large disaster area.  It’s home to our games and craft supplies. The main room holds the toys, an art easel, train/play table, several cubbies for storage, and a kitchen set.

I’ve had plans in my head and artwork to go on the walls when we decided to overhaul this room 2 years ago.

*snicker*

Life just gets in the way sometimes and projects like these get put on the back burner.

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The first step to our spruce up turned into a three step process.  We needed to go through the toys and:

1. Throw away the broken ones.

2.  Make a pile of toys that aren’t played with to give to our local charity.

3.  Organize the toys we are keeping.

 

I took an afternoon while Frog napped and made Frick and Frack help me sort through all of the toys.

We bagged the toys not played with anymore, keeping in mind that Frog may play with them one day.

But who in the world needs three different sets of Thomas the Train tracks?

We have been so very blessed through the years.  80% of the toys have come from people other than us.

It’s time to bless someone else.

Now our playroom looks like this:

 

You can actually see the floor!!

See the sheet rock that needs to be repaired?

We had these glorious plans of having this done before this week’s spruce up bonanza.

But then life got in the way.  Again.

*sigh*

Tomorrow we’ll be talking about that smashing train/play table BP built (see first picture above).

Don’t forget to check out my friends and their spruce ups:

Sprucing Up the Laundry Room | Mama’s Laundry Talk
Sprucing Up the School Room | Homegrown Mom
Sprucing Up the Craft Room | Many Little Blessings
Sprucing Up the Bathroom | Feels Like Home
Sprucing Up the Playroom | …Life’s About a Dream
Sprucing Up the Garage/Storage Space | A Slob Comes Clean
Sprucing Up the Master Bedroom | Raising Arrows
Sprucing Up Your Homeschool | Jimmie’s Collage
Sprucing Up the Kitchen | So Happy Together
Sprucing Up the Garden | An Oregon Cottage
Sprucing Up the Backyard | Successful Homeschooling

 

Almost Done…

The Kitchen:

Before:

Like totally late 80s, dude.  Those blue countertops were RAD.

But with a little wainscoting, paint over the nasty floral wallpaper, new hardware, new fixtures, and granite…

it looks like this:

I’ll be revealing more of the kitchen renovations as we BP caulks, paints, trims, and slaves away while I, once again, pull the pregnancy card.

My family and friends will agree that I have a knack for getting pregnant when we start planning/completing renovations that involve painting, heavy lifting,or general WORK.

‘Cause that’s how I roll.

While We Were Out

The boys and I arrived home Thursday night, sick and exhausted (more on that later).

Boy did we perk up when we saw what BP did while we were gone!!

Our to-do list of renovations INSIDE the house has been growing since Baby #3 is on the way.

I knew he was going to paint.

I knew he had some other things on his list he wanted to accomplish while we were gone.  It’s just easier to get things done when a nagging, pregnant wife and her 2 wild offspring aren’t around.

But I was amazed.  Simply amazed.

While we were out, he:

updated and painted my pantry with my closet friend.

How ’bout the Bud Light box?  Are we the only people who go to liquor stores for their boxes when moving?

While we were out, he:

enhanced the nursery by painting the walls blue around the mural he created when Frick was born.

While we were out, he:

totally finished our bedroom by painting it the same blue as the nursery.  He picked out a new comforter at a bargain price with the help of his sister and mom.  The furniture was moved around for a new look and a flat screen TV was placed above the mantel (that TV was a bargain price as well).

While we were out, he:

painted the breakfast room and kitchen the green I picked out and put up wainscoting around the walls.

The green looks different at night (the first picture) than it does during the day (the second picture).

To say I am thrilled with the changes is an understatement.  To say that my husband is talented is not doing him justice.

I.AM.THE.LUCKIEST.GIRL.AROUND.

I thank God for this man every day.

Oh…

While we were out, he:

had his sister, a graphic artist, design this for the wall above the back door in the breakfast room.  When we walk out that door, we will be reminded that our life is IN FACT a dream.

Argh, Matey!

BP has been busy finishing the boys’ playset.

Most of the materials came from a former student of mine who is now in (GASP) high school and, go figure, not really in need of it anymore.

The set of stairs you see in the picture was actually the stairs that used to lead up to our back door.  They had to be rebuilt during our renovation process.

BP built a ramp on the other side of the slide so the boys have something else to climb on and basically created the pirate ship that you see.  There is a sand box underneath and lots of space for imaginative play.

This process started last summer, before our renovations to the outside of the house began.  But once those were underway, we would not allow the children to play outside among the metal, nails, and other construction debris around the yard.

This spring, he finished the actual structure.

Yesterday, he made it look cool.

WHEW!

The aftermath of the Closet Explosion was not a pretty sight:

Yeah.

That fiasco created a major vacuum.

Many of my friends are directed to this blog from my Facebook account and one of them commented on the post:

I can’t believe you didn’t call a professional to fix your closet mess. What were you thinking???  :)
Hope it all holds well – if not, please call me next time to take care of it.

You see, my friend is a designer for Closetcraft.

She turned that mess above into this:

and this in the boys room:

and this in the nursery:

Nothing like being organized.

This kicked nesting into high gear.

**If you live in my area (and you know who you are) and would like more information about the closets, leave a comment or email me at

lifesaboutadream@gmail.com

and I will send you the contact information of my friend!!**

Before and After

I have the hardest working husband around.  When you see these before and after photos, you will see why.

Here are the kitchen floors before BP sanded, stained, clear-coated, sanded again, clear-coated again:

 

 

Scratches courtesy of Sophie (our dog, may she rest in peace), Frick and Frack.

 

And after:

 

This picture does not do the floors justice (just ignore the footprints on them).  They are beautiful.  Next to go in this room…the nasty floral wallpaper and gag-me-with-a-spoon blue counter tops.

 

Unfortunately,I don’t have any before pictures of the former office.  This room will now be the playroom and the current playroom will become the nursery:

 

 

and

 

To jog your memory…the window in this room is the one Frick used for his final project in his Climbing 201 class.  :)

 

And finally, the room that once was our dog’s “room” with gross berber carpet (gross because of the plethora of dog hair and dog funk):

 

 

*sigh*

That’s our Sophie, who was hit by a car in December, and the berber carpet that was removed to make it look like this:

 

 

and

 

 

and

 

 

Didn’t BP do a beautiful job??  

AND he saved us a TON of money.

I think I’ll keep him.

Friday Fragments

Don’t forget to visit Mrs. 4444 and Half-Past Kissin’ Time for more Friday Fragments!

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Frack:  Mama!  Look at the popcorns!

He was looking at pumpkins.

 

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Clemson fired their head coach this week.

Still not sure if I am happy or sad.

Alas,

Go Tigers!

Beat Tech!

 

 

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Frick has a crush on a girl I’ll call Tinkerbell*. 

She is precious.  Frick has excellent taste.

I take Tinkerbell to school some days.

The following was an overheard conversation in the car:

 

Frick:  Tinkerbell, I have FOUR girlfriends.

Tinkerbell:  Who are they?

Frick:  They are Tinkerbell, Cinderella*, Snow White*, and Sleeping Beauty*.

Tinkerbell:  I’m not your girlfriend!  I am in love with Peter Pan*!

Frick:  Tinkerbell, YES!  You are my girlfriend!

Tinkerbell:  Frick, I told you I am in love with Peter Pan!!

Frick:  You are making me ANGRY!

Tinkerbell:  Ok, you’re one of my boyfriends.

 

Young love.  Truly precious.

**Names have been changed to protect those wrapped up in the love triangle–or is it a hexagon???**

 

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Be sure to check out The Big Reveal and the Before and After pictures of the house!  

We are almost at the finish line!!

Before and After

I realized that several of you have not seen the house prior to the renovations.  

This is what the house looked like in February 2003:

 

Now:

 

(Full Moon = Kooky Kids)

 

Here is a side view after the vinyl siding was removed:

You can see the original wood planks.

 

 

And now:

 

 

I can’t believe we are almost done.  

Can I get an ‘Amen’?!