More than sweat equity

this is blood, sweat and tears equity!!!

So much work has been done but the to-do list is still miles long!

3 generations of painters!

We have painted, literally, every square inch of the house. Including the ceilings and inside of the kitchen cabinets.

This may not look like much but those copper pipes have consumed Drew's every thought for last month!

But the good news . . . we now have running water!!!! Yeah, Drewby and Jon!

p.s. I re-posted Ellie's singing video, hopefully, you will get to hear her pretty voice ;)

Tra la la

Ellie is just bursting with song lately.

And it's amazing to me how she remembers so many lyrics.

Here is a little sample . . .

Demolition 1.0

What a weekend!!!!

We got the keys on Saturday morning and it took only minutes to start pulling the hideous laminate floor from the kitchen and bathroom and the awful carpet from the family room.

After we dug into the bathroom we decided to do a major remodel and made the hall closet smaller to allow room for a gorgeous new freestanding bathtub.

Here are some demo pics . . . before and after's will come later . . .

Notice the huge pile of rubble behind Drew Goodbye pink bathtub, hello smiles!

Happy me with my crowbar!

Our friends (who now live so close) stopped by for a visit.

Ellie and Olin played in the puddles in the culd-a-sac.

Lots of work still to do but a great start so far!!!

Oops

Dialogue from yesterday:

Drew: Do you know what your daughter said this morning?

Me: Oh-no, what did she say?

Drew: She was mad at the cat and said "What the hell"

Me: We never say that! Where could she have learned it?

Drew: Ellie come over here and tell mommy what you said earlier

Me: Drew don't ask her to say it again! What the hell!

Me: Oops

Quote of the day

Picture this . . .

Ellie walked out of my room this morning with

one shoe on

no clothes

and said

"I'm headed to the water bug habitat. Byeeeeeee"

Belated!

Wow! I think this is the longest I've ever gone without posting!!

I must say, I have a very good reason for my absence.

Our house is a done deal and we close on January 29th.

It's been quite a process with a few road bumps but thankfully it all worked out.

Today, we took a break from thinking about interest rates and mortgage payments to go to the zoo.

It turned out to be a beautiful day and Ellie loved it.

She has been talking about seeing the gorilla's all week.

But I think she liked the kind she could climb on better than the real thing.

Posting may be scant in the next few weeks as we start a major remodeling project.

Here is our to do list before we move in March 1st:

1) Refinish existing hardwood floors, new hardwoods in kitchen and family room.

2) Tile floor in bathroom and powder room

3) New tub, toilet and sinks in both bathrooms

4) New paint throughout

5) Refinish kitchen countertops

6) New hardware on kitchen cabinets

7) New kitchen appliances

8) New light fixtures

9) Landscape!

Whew! That is just a start ;)

I wanna be a monkey

Ellie has watched a few episodes of Curious George lately and now she contantly this asking to "be a monkey."

This entails pulling out her old sling and strapping her to my hip just like a monkey.

It's actually really fun.

p.s. House update . . . we're currently waiting to hear from the seller to see if she will pay for a few problems that were discovered during the inspection. Keep your finger crossed!