Make Your House Fair

...as you are able, trim the hearth and set the table.  (Name that tune- People Look East)

We got a new tree and put it downstairs this year!  I miss seeing it in the living room everyday but it sure is less crowded!  We had a nice time decorating it and even found a Sunday evening when everyone was home to do it!

We put up a few outside lights this year too.

I did say a few!

Around the House

We got new windows on the ground level.  Siding is next.

We also bought two love seats for down stairs

 And due to Samuel and my desire to drive home from vacation without stopping for the night, Jeremy got this ginormous TV with the money we saved by not staying at a hotel.

Why yes, we have spent A LOT of money this summer...

Looking Good

Jeremy put in the floor in the basement a couple weekends ago!

Last week Jeremy spied a pop up rug sale he thought I should go to.  I recruited Becca to come with me since the whole thing seemed slightly sketchy and I don't make big purchases well by myself.  I scored this rug pretty cheap as far as rugs go.  It's a Costco reject.  There's two poop brown threads sewn into it.  I'll either cut them out or put them under the couch.

Fireplace and mantle, trim, bar, furniture and wall hangings left to go!

On Target

Philip's new GINORMOUS nerf gun inspired some creative targets.  Nicholas did all this on his own.  I'm not sure he was allowed to touch the gun long enough to shoot all of the cans down but Philip did eventually let him have a turn.  (The gun was a Christmas present from Grandma Raleen and Grandpa Steve.)

 Also, can you see the purplish red color we painted the basement?  It's finished.  I'll have to take a picture...

Coming along

Amidst Christmas preparations, things have been moving along in the basement too!  It looks like a real room!  Ralph (of Mr. Ralph fame, he was Philip's favorite person when Philip was 4 and Ralph let him check on the main floor bathroom progress every couple hours while he was working in there) came spent a week mudding the family room and various other cracks around the house.  He also installed the doors in the basement and textured the ceiling down there.  Jeremy and the big boys are priming the walls now.  Turns out Jeremy and I had different color visions so we have some samples to try out.  One is red with a coordinating tan color and one is blue with a coordinating grey.  We'll paint a little of both and then figure out which direction we'll go.  After that is flooring.  Carpet or a wood looking laminate with an area rug?  There will be a path that gets walked by everyone from the steps to the furniture, bedrooms and bathroom.  That makes me feel like laminate and an area rug, but it's a basement.  Carpet would be warmer. And what do we do with the steps if we don't carpet the basement?  I don't think I want laminate steps.  Would it look weird to carpet the steps but not the family room?  Decisions, decisions.  

 

Helping Daddy

Working on the basement bedroom.  It's now two shades of green and looks really nice.  Next step, trim and flooring.  Don't hold your breath.

Hard at Work

They made a new dresser with minimal help.

 These guys made a shelving unit.

 He's working on basement framework things.

Cold Snap

Anyone else got too much energy for inside?

Yay for the basement!

 

Basement Campout

After a Major Cleanup Day around the house the kids got to camp out in the basement.  Jeremy built them a insulation castle.  Only Samuel and Thomas made it all night.  Philip ended up not feeling well and camping out in the bathroom instead and Julia got cold so she switched to her nice warm bed.

See the new framing?  Jeremy had a framing party a few weekends back and many wonderful wives donated their husbands for the morning.  Thanks everyone!  Hopefully soon the insulation castle will be depleted and the insulation will be on the walls instead.
Also if you could please say a prayer for Jeremy.  He has a test next week to see if maybe we've finally found what is causing his sinus trouble.  Thanks!

Family Picture

in the (soon to be) laundry/bathroom. Is is stranger that we're in the bathroom or that this may be our first family picture since Easter? ;)

Inside the Basement

Here's the old basement.  Funny, it didn't seem that small with the house on top of it...

And here's the new one!
Samuel is supposed to be sweeping the floor... he's standing facing south by the egress bay window that will be in one of the bedrooms.

Philip is clearing out leaves in the corner of the family room.  (Julia and Thomas were at Grandma Susan and Grandpa Mike's but I'm sure they'll put in plenty of work before we're done!)

Here's where the old stairs came down.  Don't worry, that door locks with a key from in the kitchen so no one will absent mindedly try to go downstairs.  These were very steep but they hit the outside wall so we would have had to have put in a 90 degree turn to make them less steep, which wouldn't have been fun for bringing furniture down!  The new ones will come down where our enclosed porch was, on the west side of the house going down to the north. I know, it's hard to picture from just this explanation, you'll just have to take my word on it for now.

Right now you have to come in one of the egress windows.  A portion of the old stairs conveniently fits just about right so you don't have to jump in.

It's about 1000 square feet, the same as our main floor.  We'll have two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a family room and a utility room when it's all done.  Woo-hoo!