Welcome to Whonannyville...

Vintage sign

2010-08-10T15:51:00.000-05:00

So lately, I'm using stretched canvas for a lot of art. I like it because its cheap to buy, it gives me a creative outlet, and I can customize it to the size and colors I want. I loved how the ones for Ty's room came out, so I decided to do a big one for our room.

I found one on Etsy that I really liked, but I wanted to have it finished before my housewarming party and there was no way I could get it in time, so I decided to make it. Here's a picture of my inspiration:

I bought a standard stretched canvas at Hobby Lobby (around $15 for a 24' x 48") and painted it the same color as our bathroom for a base color (free). Then, I made a template for what I wanted it to look like in Microsoft Publisher and made a transparency of it. I borrowed an overhead projector from the library and set my canvas on top of a chair and taped it there so it wouldn't move. I set up my projector so it would project the image on the canvas and started tracing. The image wound up being stretched and kinda weird, so I just got the basic shapes and then took it down and finished drawing it so it looked just right.

Here's what it looked like after I traced the shapes and letters and painted my first letter.

Here's another shot:

I used the paint from my bedroom to paint the letters and design with: (free)

But it just looked too plain. So, I thought I'd antique it a bit with some "Minwax Provential 211 stain". After all, I want it to look like I lucked into finding this old sign somewhere.

So, I got out my trusty brush and stain and rubbed it in until it looked good and dirty and worn. (again...I already had this on hand, so it was free)

But...it still didn't look right. It needed to pop...and it just kinda blended in. So, I asked Mrs. Connely what I should do (she's a teacher at my school who's way into art and very talented). She suggested that I make the Watkins & Co. stand out some more by making it darker. So, I added some black to my brown paint and this is what I came up with:

I still think it needs something more, but I can't put my finger on it so I'm leaving it until I figure it out. I think I should have done the whole thing in black instead of brown like the inspiration picture, but I don't know if I want to repaint the whole thing or not. Plus, it still looks pretty darn good with my bedding and wall colors. I should show a picture of what the room looks like, but Ty is asleep in my bed right now and I don't want to wake him up to take a picture. I'll post some pics later...

Ty's room...art project

2010-07-22T23:41:00.001-05:00

Ty's Spiderman room needed a little something to dress it up a little. He has a new big boy bed, and to make him want to sleep in it, I agreed to buy Spiderman sheets. I bought them from Pottery Barn and added a red and gray comforter from Kohls.

We put up a Fathead Spiderman on his wall...but it still wasn't enough.

So, I searched the web looking for something not too tacky and I found these...

...but they were the wrong color, and the wrong price ($350 for the set of 4 large ones).
So, I decided to make them. I went to Hobby Lobby and bought 4 stretched artist canvas for around $12 (30% off!), some more paintbrushes, and a few bottles of paint. My total cost for the project is less than $20.
So here's how I did it:
Step 1: Paint the base colors

Step 2: Draw the background shape

Step 3: Paint the background shape

Step 4: Draw the words

Step 5: Paint the words

Step 6: Outline everything in black and shade the letters

Step 7: Put 'em up!

After we had all of this put up, we had a blank wall in between the windows. So, we moved Spiderman there and ordered a Batman to go where Spiderman used to be. I figured that Spiderman deserved to be seen first when you walk in the room since Ty has Spiderman sheets. I'm sure it didn't matter where I put them, but I like the colors of him better than the Batman colors. I didn't take a picture of him in Ty's room, but here's what he looks like from a pic I found on the web.

Ty's room....dresser project

2010-07-15T22:12:00.001-05:00

I have had this dresser for a long time....since I was a teenager, and maybe before that. My uncle Joe built it for me, so I'd like to keep it. Anyway, when Ty was born, Mom asked me if I wanted it and I snatched it up. After moving a couple of times and after some crayons attacked it, it needed some love.

Here's a before picture with gold hardware:

A little sandpaper, new handles, and the same "Dover White" trim paint we used in our house...

...and a LOT of help from Ty....

...and we've got a lovely little dresser for Ty's big boy room.

...

Before:After:

July 2nd...It's been a while...but I've been doing yardwork!

2010-07-02T22:55:00.003-05:00

So, the pictures I'm going to show you today span a month or two. Starting out, we have our messy yard after the house construction was finished. No topsoil and a bunch of trash and building stuff everywhere.

So we had some topsoil delivered and someone come in and spread it with a dozer.

We have a lot of tree stumps with their roots left from doing the pad for the house, and since we don't have a tractor, Doyle strapped the stumps to his jeep and hauled a bunch of them away from the house to a clear spot so we can burn them later. We didn't get them all hauled away...but he did a bunch.

We also burned a bunch of brush (and poison ivy....ugh!).

I don't have any pictures of the mega-ditch that we dug, but after a bunch of rain we discovered that we needed a drain in the front of the house. So we spent a LOT of time diggin' a LONG ditch so that we could put in a drain to funnel all of the rain out of the yard. That took us several weekends.

And we found a turtle in our driveway...

So after our dirt was all smooth, we seeded the yard but it washed after several hard rains. So we are now in the process of putting down sod a couple of pallets at a time. 4 down ~15 to go.
Here's a picture of the front yard before sod (and with Ty's new pool. I know, great spot right in front of the house..but at least he likes it.)

...and a picture after some sod. Flower beds and landscaping to come later. Much later...

May 3rd...iRobot

2010-05-03T21:06:00.004-05:00

So...we were really unhappy with how dirty our floors kept getting so we bought a robot to clean it for us. Best money we've spent in a while. It kinda sounds a little like the Jetsons (maybe I'm showing my age here), but it is so nice to have something do my work for me! We got the Pet Series Roomba and now we let him clean for us every day. Ty named him Curious George...which is pretty good because he wanders around the house looking for stuff (dirt, hair, junk...) all of the time. Here's a picture of George in action.

Here he is nestled in his dock charging up for the next cleaning.

I'm just telling ya...if you are the least bit interested in not vacuuming all of the time, you've at least gotta look at this link to see how it works. By the way, they even have one that will mop for you. No kidding.

Here's a link to a video to show you how it works.

April 20th...Anyone want a dog?

2010-04-20T20:46:00.006-05:00

Let me start out by saying that after a lot of prayer and tons of self control, we have decided that Emmy can ~~live~~ stay.

At first it started out mild. A missing glove here, a toy there. Then it progressed to rocking chairs...

...and padded footstools...

...and then one day I didn't get the back door shut all of the way before I left for school. I don't have pictures (I was too upset), but Emmy opened the door and got in the house. She got one of Doyle's house shoes and hat, and my eyeglasses. She didn't hurt the shoe or hat really, but let me tell ya she must have been mad at me for something because she chewed up my glasses so bad that we couldn't even find all of the pieces.

A few days later, Doyle called me on my way home and told me that Emmy tore up the window screen on the front porch. Crap! Then...then next day he called me again and said that she had gotten the other six on the back deck. AUGH! What are we going to do with her? Send her to a therapist for separation anxiety?

I mean really...what did the screens ever do to her? They were really just baby screens after all. Not even a year old yet. They've only been up for a couple of months actually. They couldn't even defend themselves.
So, after much prayer and talk with Ty ("I don't want Emmy to go away forever..."), we decided to keep the loyal, loving, patient dog that lets Ty do flying jumps off of the couch onto her. We'd be pretty cruel not to. He loves that dog. And in a disgruntled sort of way, we do to.

April 7th...The Great Room

2010-04-07T19:59:00.005-05:00

I took some pictures after dinner tonight of the dining area, kitchen, and living room. The sun was coming in through the windows pretty bright, so the pictures aren't that great. But they'll have to do for now.

I'm standing in the living room taking this shot of the kitchen.

I thought I'd throw in a closer one of my stove, hood, and cabinets. I haven't bought pulls or knobs for the cabinet doors yet. That'll be another project for another time.

This is the dining room just to the right of the kitchen. The sun really messed up this picture.

I'm standing in the kitchen for this pic of the living room. We went shopping over spring break and got this sectional, entertainment center, and ottoman. It made it look so much better because we have something to hide all of the wires, DVR, and Wii stuff. Plus, the sectional is very comfy and lots of people can sit on it. The ottoman has a hidden drawer that holds my blankets...sa-weet!

Here's another picture that shows the rest of the living room toward the front door (and a picture that I have yet to hang...Again, that's another project for another time.)

And the last pic of the night is taken from the the doorway by the TV looking into the living room, kitchen and dining room.

April 6th...I'm back!

2010-04-05T20:30:00.002-05:00

We are moved in! We actually moved in March 6th, but I haven't been able to post in a month because we've been trying to get Internet to our house and it has been a mess. First we tried using one of those wireless cards where you can use the Internet anywhere you go. But apparently the material that was used to deck the roof is super-insulated and has a layer of metal in it that blocks Internet (and phone) reception. So, I sent that back and called the phone company to come and install it. We had to wait for them to dig a new line and bring it up to our house and then connect it. After that was hooked up we had to wait on someone to come and hook it up in our house. That only took a few tries because they kept showing up before the line was dug. Anyway...I finally have Internet and I'm going to start posting again. I don't really know what I'm going to start with, but I'm thinking about doing it room by room. But first I have to go back and figure out what I have and haven't posted about.

Feb 23rd...Cabinets

2010-02-24T20:34:00.005-06:00

I'm sorry I haven't posted much lately. And I'm sorry that those posts aren't full of explanations and details...but I'm tired. We work on the house after we get off of work until late and I just haven't had time. My house is a mess (the rent house and the one we're building), we barely have clean clothes to wear and those are really wrinkled because we don't have time to fold them. I've eaten out so much that I can't bare the thought of eating out again so I've scoured the Internet for crock-pot recipes and have had pretty good success so far. Did you know that you can make lasagna in a slow-cooker? Yup. I did it today. And it was pretty darn good, too. If you have a good recipe you'd like to tell me about, leave me a comment and tell me what it is. Please? Or call me. Please? I. Can't. Eat. Out. Any. More! Maybe I should have labeled this post "Grumbling...Ranting...and Raving..." instead of "Cabinets".

So, about the cabinets....When we got them from the guy who made them, I expected to see a finished product. Nope...we get to do the finish. Spray stain. Wipe it off. Dry. Lacquer. Dry. Sand. Clean the doors. Brush on Glaze. Dry. Wipe it off. Lacquer. Dry. Put up the doors and fronts.

The first step was spraying them with the stain. Our contractor (David) sprayed while Doyle and I wiped the stain off. Then we let them dry for a day. The next day David sprayed lacquer while Doyle and I stacked them to dry. (I may have forgotten a step...I'm trying to remember but I think I've breathed in too many fumes...)
Left Picture: After staining / Right Picture: After lacquer

Next was the sanding. We've got over 80+ cabinet doors and drawer fronts and I've sanded almost every single one. Both sides. My contractor had pity on my and did some so I can't say that I did them all. But saying that me and sanding pads are good friends is the understatement of the year. We go way back. Anyway, here's a picture of a door being sanded. Oh...when you come to my house, make sure you rub your hand across a cabinet and tell me how silky smooth they feel. I worked hard and I need to hear how good they feel. Really ;)
Left Picture: A door I'm working on / Right Picture: Finished stacks

So after they were all sanded, they were cleaned off and we formed an assembly line. Jimmy brushed on the glaze. David wiped off the bulk of it. Mark did the final glaze wipe. Then I wiped off finger prints from the back and stacked them. Then we let them dry for a day.

After that, they were sprayed with lacquer a final time and left to dry. Doyle put on the doors and drawer fronts and did a great job. They look wonderful. They still need crown molding on the tops, but other than that, they are pretty much done. Here's some pictures of the final product. By the way...counter tops are on and sinks are in. Yeah! The plumber is supposed to come this week and install faucets, toilets, hot water heater, and hook up our water.
Left picture: upstairs bath / Right picture: Ty's bath (Emmy wanted in the picture)

Left picture: laundry / Right picture: laundry where the washer and dryer will go

Feb 18th...the shower

2010-02-18T20:36:00.004-06:00

Let me just start off by saying that $1500 is a lot of money. It's a lot of money to pay someone to install tile in our shower. It's a lot of money that we can certainly use for other things. So, we decided that we can lay the tile and save some cash. Now I don't know if any of you have ever put up tile before, but if you have, then you will fully understand our first experience with tiling. One of the guys that's been working for us worked on the tile last Thursday (I think...) and got most of the ceiling done and a few tiles on the wall. Friday we were out of school and started tiling that afternoon. We helped lacquer cabinets Friday morning, but that's another post entirely. Here's a picture of what it looked like when we started.

We knew that the natural slate tile that we bought was ungauged (very uneven...some parts very thin, some thick, and not perfectly square either) and would be difficult to get it to look right. Our contractor has a wet-saw set up in our bedroom and when he didn't have me sanding cabinets doors, I was cutting tile for Doyle.

Here's a picture of Doyle starting on one of the benches.

We didn't mind that all of the grout lines would be slightly different due to the irregularity of the tile and we really like the rustic look, so we kept on tiling. Hours of tiling...days of tiling. Doyle tiled until late Friday night, all day Saturday and Saturday night, Sunday afternoon until late...

...all day Monday (out of school for President's day), after school Tuesday, after school Wednesday, and after school Thursday! Why did it take so long? Maybe the type of tile, maybe the fact that it was our first tile job, maybe it was because Doyle worked by himself most of the time (dang cabinets), or maybe it was just because the shower is freaking huge! (It's at least 250 square feet of tile!) It's so big that the guys at the bank asked if we were going to have rotating car wash brushes installed so that we can walk in one side dirty and come out the other side clean. I wonder where we can order those...

We finally put up the last tile today and cleaned all of the grout lines. Now we just have to clean the tile, seal it, grout it (which I've heard it pretty difficult) and then seal it again several times. We're beginning to think that $1500 was a bargain.
I just want to tell you that my wonderful, sweet, loving husband, who didn't want to do anything with building the house "Just hand me the keys, please" has earned so many brownie points that I won't ever be able to repay him. He has done such a great job and the shower looks so good!
Here's two more pictures. The one on the left is our bathroom (obviously not finished, but getting much closer. This isn't a picture from today because I forgot to take one.) and on the right is the inspiration bathroom. I can't wait until ours is finished.

Feb 5th...floors, rock, lights, fans, cabinets

2010-02-05T20:45:00.002-06:00

The floors are mostly done. Only our bedroom and bathroom to go. Here's a couple of pictures of the finished floor.

Garage lights are up and exterior lights are up around the front door. Most of the lights are up in the house.

Ceiling fans are up. Here's a picture of the one in the living room.

Rock is finished on the smaller gable.

Cabinets are in throughout the house. The doors should be done next week.

Jan 29th...Snow! And more concrete stain...

2010-01-29T20:05:00.008-06:00

The snow was so beautiful today that I had to take some pictures and share them.

We worked on the floors again today and decided that they need some more color. So, we applied another coat of stain after we cleaned the residue from the first layer off. Here's some progression pictures:
Just sprayed / Dried with residue / Scrubbing residue

Jan 29th...Rock, Concrete Stain, and Cabinets

2010-01-29T06:17:00.007-06:00

Rock progress...

Here's a picture of the front porch. It's hard to tell what it looks like with all of the tools and rock scattered around. The pillars have Durock on them but no rock yet.

I tried to cut out all of the junk in this picture.

Here's the gable on the garage.

I finally remembered to take a picture of the garage door. We kinda guessed on the color when we ordered it, but I think it worked out great. What do you think?

Cabinet bases are built and ready to be stained in this picture...sorry about the quality. It was at night and I had my headlights on trying to get a picture.

Here's another picture of them after they have been stained. They still have to be sanded, puttied, and a bunch of other stuff that I don't know about yet. But I'm sure I will...

So...lets talk about concrete again. I know...I said I quit and I did. However, David and Mark (our contractor and his son) have taken over the project and we're just here for the little jobs. They tried out a little closet the other day and it looks great so far. It makes me just a little sick because all they did was sweep the closet and wipe it down with a wet sponge. They also tried a different acid stain. They used Quickrete instead of H&C that we used the other day. And they didn't dilute it with water. Maybe that had something to do with it. Anyway, I took one picture of our closet after they sprayed it. This is not what it will look like finished. Just what it looks like after it was just sprayed. You can actually see the bubbling from the acid reacting with the concrete. Oh...and just so ya know, it does burn your skin if you get it on you. Just ask Mark and Doyle!

I'll try to do a post later on the concrete stain progress with pictures so you can see what it looks like during each step. Wish us luck!

Jan 24th...

2010-01-24T19:31:00.008-06:00

We have heat and air installed. Yeah! Now we don't have to freeze our booties off when we go to the house. They are still working on the upstairs unit, but for now I'm so happy with heat that we don't have to add kerosene to and yell to be heard over (portable work heaters...). And mom, if you are thinking that you don't like the big, white PVC pipe that's coming out of the brick, yes, they will be painted so they'll be camouflaged. ;)

We have a few lights installed. Here's the lights in our bathroom. It's odd how the same paint color in the same room looks so different from different angles.

We have several plug-ins, light switches, and fire alarms installed. Here's a picture of a space that WOULD have been perfect for a pretty picture, but due to weird placement of the thermostat and fire alarm, I don't see how that's gonna work. Electric guys just don't think about important stuff like where to put pictures...hehe.

And last, but certainly not least, I need to post about concrete. Stained concrete. "Yeah, sure, anyone can stain concrete. It's easy!" PTHHHHBBBBBBB!!!!!!! Yeah, if you have done your own floor, feel free to come do mine because I QUIT! Let me explain. We got a sample from Sherwin Williams of "Black Coffee" acid etching stain and got after it yesterday. We chose Ty's bedroom and closet as our first attempt.
Step 1: Clean the floors so that they pass the "white glove" test. Okay. That took a lot of time. More time and agony than I wanted, but I'm still optimistic.
Step 2: Tape off the walls. Not bad, but doing a walking squat all the way around the room is getting old fast. Especially since I ran (I'm using the term ran loosely here...) bleachers yesterday and worked legs after that.
Step 3: Mix the stain 2 parts water: 1 part stain. Easy.
Step 4: Spray it on the floor with an ordinary garden sprayer. Easy.
Step 5: Wait for it to dry. So, we wait...and wait...and wait some more. Still not dry. We go eat because we are starving. We come back. Still not dry. We put the big box fan on it and wait some more...6 hours of waiting for it to dry. We give up and start cleaning the floor. (I guess we put it on a bit thick because it was only supposed to take 2-4 hours to dry.)
Step 6: We clean the floors again. And again. And again. And again. Until we can't clean any more. Again...walking squats have claimed my legs because I can hardly move.
Step 7: We QUIT! 10 hours is way too long to only get a bedroom and closet halfway finished. We still have to clean the floor some more and then seal it and wax it.
Step 8: We go to get Ty because Aunt Amanda and Uncle Michael have, again, graciously kept Ty while we worked today.
Want some pics? These were taken today after it had a chance to dry all night. We threw some water on it to get a better idea of what it would look like after the sealer and wax is on. Not bad. there are a few spots that didn't take the stain very good (not sure why because they soaked in the stuff for 6 hours...) but I really think the color and uneven texture is great. Exactly what I wanted.

Jan 19th...Still painting

2010-01-19T20:30:00.009-06:00

We've got some painting projects finished...

The hall from the garage to the great room.

The workout room.

The upstairs is primed and the ceiling is painted. We only have to cut in and paint the walls.

The master bedroom is painted. This may look like a bathroom because of the boxes of tile and the bathtub, but really our bedroom has become a storage area for all of the bathroom stuff until it can be installed.

The plumbing is kinda in...the plumber messed up on the height of one of our shower heads so he has to come back and raise it up about 2 feet. Right now the shower head hits Doyle in the chin!!!
The tub base has been built and is patiently waiting the tub installation. This picture doesn't show the bathroom painted...
but let me assure you, it is.

Ty's room has the gray paint done. All it needs now is the big red stripe. We tested the red on the wall to see if we liked it.

The half bath, laundry room, guest bedroom, Ty's bath, the hall by Ty's room, the tiny hall by our room, and all of the closets have been painted but I didn't take pictures of them.

Door knobs are mostly in. We have two pocket door latches to put in. Speaking of pocket doors...they are finally installed with the trim puttied, sanded, caulked, primed, sanded, painted, sanded, and finally...painted a second time. Sounds like a lot of work, huh? Yeah, it took us forever to do every single window and door plus trim in the house. If I never see a sanding pad again, it will be too soon! Here's the picture of the door knobs.

Outside, the soffits are getting their clear coat of stain and one set of stairs is finished off of the deck. The bigger set of stairs is being put on hold for now...dang budget!

Also, the pillars are getting boxes built for the rock bases. (Don't worry...I know they look little now, but I've been assured that they'll look more substantial when the durok and rock goes on.)

And...here's the best picture yet! ROCK!!!! Yep...the rock I fought so hard for finally made its first appearance today. And I love it!

Jan 10th...Paint and Tile

2010-01-10T20:07:00.003-06:00

There have been lots of things happen since my last post, but I haven't taken many pictures. Sorry...I'll try to take more later. Here's what I do have...

We painted the kitchen and dining room the red. Love it!
We also painted our bedroom (jute brown) and closet (bagel) and the living room and foyer (smokey topaz).

We picked up our tub from Home Depot (finally!). It was a huge ordeal that should have never happened. Basically the tub was supposed to be a stock item...it wasn't and we had to wait on it to be shipped in and deal with people who told us what we wanted to hear instead of the truth. That's the nicest way I can put it and I'll leave it at that. To their credit, though, they did give us $50 off for our trouble and then I asked them to match a 10% off coupon that I had from Lowe's...and they did.

We also picked up our tile!!! Lowe's had this great slate that will look great in our shower. The large tile will go on the walls and the small tile will go on the ceiling. There are also some small accent tiles (no pic) that will go around the shower about eye level. Oh, I also got to use my 10% off coupon!

Jan 1st...Happy New Year!

2010-01-02T06:04:00.008-06:00

Happy New Year!

Happy 10th Anniversary! December 28th marked 10 amazing years for us.
Surprise ceremony to renew our vows...check. Friends and family there to support us and show their love...check. Babysitter...check (Thanks Amanda!). Getaway to the Lodge...check. Covenant marriage...check. My wonderful husband...priceless.

Window boxes were built and primed and ready to put in. I forgot to rotate the picture before I uploaded it...sorry.

Stairs on the back deck are getting worked on.

Lots of shopping. Tons of shopping. So much shopping that I am, in fact, sick of shopping. And for those of you who know me well, that is almost impossible. Over the break, many people have shopped with me and without them, let me say that I wouldn't have made it. So, thanks, Laura, Stephanie, and Doyle. I have been waiting so long for the days that I could shop for lights and faucets and door knobs. And now that its time, I am so overwhelmed that I can't make decisions. Thank goodness for the massage chairs at National Home Center because they gave us a good break from the shopping and let us relax (that is until the guy came and bought one and only left us one!).

Here's some lights I found at Home Depot for our bathroom. There will be 2 sconces on one vanity and the light bar over the other one.

I really want a nice whirlpool tub in my bathroom so I can take long relaxing baths in a huge tub and watch some television (yes, there will be a flat screen mounted to the wall above the tub!) or read and have an adult time out. So, I was worried about going over budget with the one I picked out at Lowe's and I noticed Home Depot had a tub I really liked. So, I started looking at the measurements to see if it was narrow enough. Yep. Then I looked to see if it was 6 foot and it was! (Hardly anyone carries a 6 foot tub in stock...special order $$$.) So I asked the salesman why the great price ($749 vs. $1200 at Lowe's) and he said that because it is a stock item and ALL Home Depot stores carry them, they can buy it in bulk and sell it at a much better price. If we had to special order this tub, it would be over $1000. Woo Hoo! Tub decision made. I was with Laura and Stephanie on this shopping trip in Fayetteville/Rogers/Springdale, so Doyle and I could just go pick this baby up in Ft. Smith. So Monday, Doyle and I go to Ft. Smith to do some more shopping and guess what? Not ALL Home Depot stores carry this tub in stock. Talk about upset!!!!!! But, the sales manager made it up to us by transferring the tub to Ft. Smith and selling it to us for $699. It will be here Monday.

Drywall is hung and waiting for more mud upstairs.
Playroom.

Bathroom

Man-nest

Did you know that every door and window have to be puttied, sanded, and caulked before they can be painted? You did? Okay...well, have you ever done it? Have you ever taken those little sanding pads and sanded every square inch of all 17 doors and their frames? How about 19 windows? How about caulking? Sounds simple, right? Sure, no big deal. You just take the gun and squirt some caulk around the edges. Nope! You gotta wet your finger (remember it is 23 degrees outside) and smooth it out so it looks really good. Not only that, but you've gotta do every crack and miter. Talk about some sore and chapped fingers...but man does it look good!

Ty was such a big help sanding...

The weather has slowed down the brick progress, but the brick layers have been working despite the cold the last couple of days. The gable on the left is awaiting rock (and so is the porch and other gable). The peak above the garage is finally complete.

December 21st...Ceiling paint, shower, drywall...

2009-12-22T18:46:00.006-06:00

We are finally out for Christmas Break. Yeah! We've been going out to the house to cut wood and burn brush. Yesterday we went to Lowe's and picked up some CWF for the soffits. Then we went to Morrilton to pick up our rock. Of course, I forgot to take pictures of the rock, so I'll have to post pictures of that later. Doyle swung a hammer today and put up the lath where the rock will go on the gables. Now for the latest pictures...

The ceiling in the living room and foyer is painted the same color that the walls will be. Sorry for the blurry pictures. Ceiling in the living room.Another shower/tub came in and is now installed upstairs.Drywall is ready to be hung upstairs. This is the playroom. This is the room that Doyle has claimed as his man-nest. The doors came in and most of them are installed. The only ones left are two pocket doors downstairs and the ones upstairs, but the drywall needs to go up first before they can go in. Some of the soffits were stained a color that matched the brick really well, but we didn't really like how they just blended in. So, our wonderful contractor ripped them out and replaced them for us. We decided that clear CFW was the way to go. Here's a picture of the darker stain. (In the back you can see a soffit that is the natural color)
In this picture, you can see the soffits in the natural wood color. It hasn't been sprayed yet, but it brings out the natural color of the wood and is a great contrast to the brick and roof. You can see the progress that the brick-layers have made in the above picture. At the end of the day today, they were almost to the very top of the garage gable. (I think you can see that in the very last pic.) They still have to brick around the windows on the deck, part of the north side of the house, and some on the front of the house. Oh, and a couple of spots below the covered porch. After they finish with the brick they are also going to lay our rock for us. Doyle and I thought about trying to do it ourselves, but decided that we wanted it to look good...so we're going to let them do it.

My last picture today is a front view of the house from a different viewpoint. If you look over the top of the front porch, you can see Lake Ludwig in the distance.

December 11th...Appliances and playing hooky

2009-12-13T07:08:00.009-06:00

Doyle and I played hooky from work today and went appliance shopping. I've been wanting to go to this scratch and dent place called "Nino's" in Tontitown, so we took off of work and went. But first we stopped at Cracker Barrel in Alma to have a yummy breakfast to start our day off right. We were on our way to a table when we saw my mom and dad sitting there! So, of course, we sat down and had breakfast with them and chatted for a bit before we headed to Tontitown. We got to Nino's and found a refrigerator, dishwasher, and washer dryer set.

Here's our refrigerator. LG stainless steel with bottom mount freezer. Regular price...$1299. Our price...$530. I can't see anything wrong with it. Whatever scratch is on it must be in the back or side where you can't see it. LG stainless steel dishwasher with stainless tub. Regular price...$850. Our price...$315. There is a scuff on the inside of the dishwasher, but it is very minor. Samsung front-load washer. Regular price...$899. Our price...$371. There is a small dent on the top where it looks like something was dropped on it. There's going to be laundry baskets on top of it anyway, so you won't be able tell. Samsung front-load dryer. Regular price...$899. Our price...$371. The dryer must have been sitting next to the washer, because it has the same little dent on top where something must have been dropped. Again...laundry basket on top covers it. After leaving Nino's, we were very happy with what we found and decided to go to Sears at the Fayetteville mall to check out their appliances and then on to Lowe's. They didn't have any great deals, so I decided to call the Fort Smith Sears to see if they still had the wall oven on clearance that I saw there on Black Friday. They did, so we decided to go get it. I'm glad we went because we found all of our cooking appliances there on clearance! No scratches or dents...just new appliances. Check out these deals...

Kenmore Elite 5 burner cooktop. Black and stainless steel smooth top. It is a much better cooktop than I thought I could afford. I got a warming burner and a rapid boil burner with the extra large surface. Yeah! Regular price...$1050. Our price...$630.KitchenAid microwave/hood. Regular price...$530. Our price...$397.And for my favorite deal of the day!!!! Jenn-Air convection wall oven. Regular price...$2210. Our price...$441. That's right....80% off! The salesman didn't even know it was over there in the corner because he said he could have sold it a long time ago for that price. In fact, when I saw it on Black Friday, it was $500-$600. So, the price had come down from 2 weeks ago! Yeah for me. Plus, it is a convection oven! Yes...I wanted one but knew I couldn't afford one, so when I found out that I could get this oven for such a steal, I was ecstatic!

Here's our truck and trailer at the end of the day. And if you are looking in the back of the truck and thinking that we shouldn't have put the fridge in that way and to make sure we stand it up for at least 24 hours before we plug it in, (just like the lady in the parking lot wanted to make sure we knew) yes, we know. We had it sitting up for a while, but it kept wanting to tip over, even strapped down. So, we stopped and fixed it by putting it on its back and moving the dishwasher to the trailer. So rest assured...it will be standing up for a month before we plug it in.
So, you ask, how did we do overall today? We got a refrigerator, dishwasher, wall oven, cooktop, microwave/hood, washer, and dryer all for $3063. Retail price? Around $8000!!! Pretty good huh?I also have to give a huge thank you to Stephanie for picking up Ty from daycare and letting him play at her house since we didn't make it back in time. She told us to take our time so we were able to eat a meal all by ourselves at Red Lobster. Wow. We tried to remember the last time that we had a meal out by ourselves and couldn't remember. Thanks, Stephanie! I owe you.

December 10th...Paint

2009-12-10T18:55:00.004-06:00

We have a little bit of paint up! One of the kitchen walls and one of the walls in our bedroom has some paint on it and I really like it!
Here's the "Fired Brick" in the kitchen.Here's the "Jute Brown" in our bedroom.

December 9th...Paint Colors, Ceiling Paint and More Brick

2009-12-09T20:28:00.013-06:00

The texture is on the walls, they are primed, and now most of the ceiling is painted. I chose the color "Bagel" for the majority of the ceilings. Let me give credit where credit is due, though. My wonderful friend RaeLynn listened to what I had in mind and helped me pick out colors since I'm totally and completely colorblind. Here's some actual pictures from today. The lighting isn't great, but you can see the difference in color because of the over-spray on the walls.

Our room:Kitchen looking towards the hall that leads to Ty's room:This is the master bath. It was getting pretty dark, so you can't tell a lot with this picture. Since the pictures aren't great, I decided to post photo's of the colors we chose from Sherwin William's website. Here's "Bagel SW6114". It is the ceiling color everywhere except for the living room and entry. It will also be on the walls of the master bath, laundry, 1/2 bath, and upstairs.

Here's "Smokey Topaz SW 6117". It will be on the walls of the entry and living room. It will also be on the ceiling, but in a flat paint.This is "Fired Brick SW6335" and it will be in the kitchen and dining room."Jute Brown SW6096" will go in the master bedroom."Dover White SW6385" is the trim color. It is a creamy color that will go excellent with the warm colors in the house.I'm having trouble deciding on a color for Ty's bedroom. I'd like to paint it a grey to match the bedding I bought for him. I know...grey doesn't sound exciting by itself (there's also red and charcoal black in his bedding, so I'll have red accents here and there...), but I'd like to do a fun wall sticker with the white jeep as inspiration. There's a company that will take the photo you send them and make a wall transfer as big as you want. Here's a couple of examples of their work. Keep in mind that we will do a JEEP...not a VW or airplane. So, whatta ya think?

Here's the latest progress on the brick. They have completed two walls and are getting higher on the others. They are almost to the covered porch. The weather has not been cooperating, so they've only been able to lay brick 2 days. Too cold....raining...yucky weather.

December 2nd and 3rd...Brick, Framing, Insulation

2009-12-03T18:32:00.005-06:00

Tuesday's progress on the upstairs. We've got some insulation and some extra wood installed so we can hang drywall and have room for more insulation. This is the bonus room over the garage (what we are now calling the play room). This is the other room upstairs (what we are now calling Doyle's man-cave...except that it is upstairs instead of down, so does that make it a man-nest?)Wednesday's progress on the upstairs. The bathroom is on the left and Doyle's man-nest (hehe) is on the right. I don't know what all of the spots are...I even cleaned my camera lens. I know...maybe they are orbs! Think we have EVP's???? Should we call in the ghost hunters? I know...too much TV Mandy. This is the playroom. All ready for some drywall here boss!
Tuesday's delivery of more bricks. It looks like the delivery guy didn't want to chance getting stuck in the back yard again. I think all of the brick is in the front yard, even though almost none of it is going on the front of the house. I guess there will be lots of carrying bricks, huh? Wait for it...

Wait for it...

Okay, here's what we've been waiting on for a LONG time.
Wednesday's first day of brick installation. Isn't it pretty?????
I'm just lovin' the dark mortar. I think it will lighten up a little because it is still wet...but that's okay!!!! I'm thrilled to see it going up!

November 28th...Trees, Bricks, Electricity, and Concrete Stain

2009-11-28T19:41:00.007-06:00

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!

Let me start off by saying how thankful I am for everything that God has blessed me with...my family, friends, health, and my home. We had a relaxing Thanksgiving and I had a great Black Friday shopping with family and friends. We found some great deals and had a lot of fun.

Now for house updates. The day before Thanksgiving we went out to the house and cut trees. We have lots that were bulldozed and needed cut up and stacked for firewood. We also piled up the brush so that we can burn it. We went back out to the house today and cut some more and burned some brush. I think we'll be doing this for years. The area that we worked on looks so much better than it did before, though. Here's some pictures that I took today to show what we are working on.
Wood we cut and piled up.At the end of the day today! There's still some brush to burn and a lot more to do, but this area is really looking good!
While we were there on Wednesday, one of the brick trucks showed up! Yeah!!!!!Forklift unloading the bricks. The forklift driver had a little trouble getting stuck in the mud, but they eventually got the brick close to where it needed to be. Here's a closer look at the brick. We chose "St. Augustine" as our brick. This is a queen size brick as opposed to a king size brick. Before we started building the house, I had no idea they came in different sizes, but apparently they do. Queen bricks are a little smaller than king bricks, so it takes a few more bricks to cover the same area.There should be about 2 more trucks coming. 15,000 bricks total!

Our electrician was at the house working on the upstairs wiring on Wednesday and Friday. After the wiring is done, a little bit of framing needs to be done and then the drywall can be delivered, hung, and mudded. We didn't do this initially because we weren't planning on finishing it until Ty is older. But...things change. Many times. Plan on it. But it will be worth it. Right? Ask me in 60 days. That's our goal. 60 days. Can't come quick enough. The rent house is getting mighty tiny. By the way of comparison, our rent house is around 900 sq. ft total. In comparison, the upstairs that we are now finishing is 800 sq. ft. Hmmm.....

Our contractor taped off an area where the cabinets will be so that he could try the concrete stain to see what the color will look like. This is what it looks like after the first application. There's still some other steps, but I think it will look great once we spray it on instead of wiping it on.

November 23rd...Today's post is brought to you by the letter "S"

2009-11-23T21:13:00.005-06:00

Since "S"tephanie is the only one who regularly leaves comments on my blog, I'm dedicating today's work picture totally to her....this one's for you Stephanie!Yep...that's what we got accomplished at the house today. A stake was driven in the ground so that the sand-man would know where to deliver the sand. Sorry Stephanie. I wish it could have been a better post for you.

November 22nd....mud

2009-11-22T15:05:00.003-06:00

Not much more here. We've been working on budget stuff (yuk....I don't think I'll get my fireplaces or rock) and waiting, waiting, and a little more waiting. Oh...we did finally get the outside corners of the drywall mudded (we, as in the guys we hired to do it). They still have to do more coats of mud and sand. Plus, we I think we decided to go ahead and finish the upstairs so that we can remain under 80% of our loan. Huh? Yeah, apparently we can finish the upstairs for around $18,000, but it will add a LOT to the appraisal of the house because we'll be adding like 800 sq. ft. (which keeps the loan to appraisal value below 80%). So now, we'll have a 3000+ sq. ft. house, but it won't have rock on the front or fireplaces. The good news is that we can add the fireplaces at a later date. The bad news is we can't go back and add the rock to the front of our house without shelling out major cash, which we won't do.
I hate to end with a bad vibe, so I'm going to brag on my husband for a bit. Our 10 year anniversary is coming up December 28th. Yeah! Saturday, he took me to a bunch of jewelry stores and let me pick out exactly what I wanted. Not only did I get to pick it out, but he went ahead and bought it for me and I get to keep my diamond out of my original set so that we can have it made into something else later. Here's a picture!

November 16th...drywall mud

2009-11-16T20:44:00.003-06:00

No pictures today...but I thought I'd write a sentence or two to keep up with what is going on and when. The drywall guys mudded the inside corners today. All that is left is to do the outside corners and start putting layers of mud over the first layers.

November 7th & 10th....drywall, bridge, and covering the floor

2009-11-10T17:27:00.008-06:00

Hangin' a little drywall here boss! And boy does it change the look of things.

The kitchen looks much brighter and bigger.

The great room looks bigger than I thought it would!(Yeah! I was secretly worried about that...)
And for now...that's all I'm writing. I posted the pics (which takes a long time on here...) and I'll come back and (maybe) write more later.
Off for some family time!

Garage
Laundry
More laundry
Garage is straight ahead with 1/2 bath on my immediate left (can't see it in the picture). The doorway on the left is a closet and the open space to the left is for cubbies. The wall on my right is the laundry.
Living room view from kitchen. The kitchen ceiling is flat, no the living room. (Bad angle from the camera...)
Better picture of the living room ceiling.
Standing in the dining room looking at the front door.
Dining room that leads out to the covered porch and deck.
Standing in the dining room looking at the kitchen. The doorway to the left leads to the garage. If you go to the right, you go to Ty's bedroom, playroom, bath, and the stairs.
Stairs to the future game-room, bath, and bedroom.
One of Ty's rooms.
Our new bridge.
Taping the floors off so the drywall mud won't get on them.

November 4th...Septic and a little drywall! (and a late Happy Halloween)

2009-11-07T06:00:00.006-06:00

HAPPY LATE HALLOWEEN!

Boo! Happy late Halloween. I know this is a house blog, but I can't keep from bragging on our teachers for a minute. For the past 5 weeks, we have been learning the Michael Jackson "Thriller" dance so that we could surprise the kids with it at the talent show on the Friday before Halloween. It was soooo great! Here's the link to the video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvEtfGKyuJQ
As you can see, we went all out on our makeup and costume. The picture above is of me (zombie bride) and Stephanie (zombie football player).
Here's one of Ms. Baskin (Michael Jackson), Mrs. Gould (aka rock star zombie) and Mrs. Wyatt (zombie nurse)A group pic: Starting on the back row from left to right: Mrs. Houston, Mrs. Sosebee, Mrs. Phillips, Mrs. Wyatt, Mrs. Newman, Mrs. Gould, Ms. Terrill, Mrs. Watkins, Mrs. Koch. Bottom row: Mrs. Lynch, Ms Baskin and Mrs. Mori. Shelly (track zombie) and StephanieMe and my "groom" Anna JoTonya was trying to avoid having her picture made (she's a cowgirl zombie)And the best makeup award goes to Mrs. Lynch! Wow....
Now to house stuff...
I'll just tell ya right now....it is a pretty good feeling to know that you will have a place for your sewer to go! I'm pretty sure that we have a septic tank installed and the lateral line ditches are dug with pipes by them. I didn't know that they were going to be working on this today, but the big mounds of dirt on the north side of the yard kinda gave it away...along with the big backhoe sitting there. They must have been testing the drainage in the ditches because there sure was a lot of water soaked into the ground. I wonder what my water bill will be...Since the bridge has been under construction, I wasn't sure that any work could be done, but apparently that didn't matter because we walked into the house and...(imagine the bright lights of heaven shining down on us and the heavenly choir singing here...) we had some drywall up! I know, it seems silly to put the whole heaven scene with this, but it just seems like that has been my goal since May. Drywall. It really makes it feel like a house. And it makes it shrink. In a hurry. I'm sure it didn't shrink...but not being able to see the garage from our bedroom anymore makes it feel so enclosed. (Yeah, I'm stating the obvious here, but give me a break! It is 5 am on Saturday morning and I can't sleep.) Anyway, here's some pics of the drywall up so far:

Our bedroomOur bath (The two door openings are actually entrances to the shower. The tub will be placed kinda in the middle of the room, but attached to the small wall between the shower entrances. Since this is a little difficult to picture, here's a picture of the inspiration bath taken from garrellassociates.com (just to give credit where credit is due.) There will be a few differences like the ceiling shape and the window, but the rest is pretty close to this.One of the vanity areas is to the left, and our toilet is to the right.ClosetWorkout roomCeiling in Ty's roomCeiling with the air intakeTy loved playing on this pile of gravel. I don't know what the plan is for the gravel, but I'm sure it involves the driveway.

November 2nd..the doors are in

2009-11-02T20:51:00.004-06:00

Well, the bridge breaking kinda did a number on our work schedule this week. On Wednesday, the new concrete form will be built and the concrete will be poured on Thursday, so no one can really cross to go to work. Our insulation has been blown in and the drywall guys were supposed to be there today to start hanging drywall...but they weren't. So, they said they could come on Wednesday, but the bridge may not be passable...and Thursday is more of the same with wet concrete. So, our blown in insulation has an increased chance of falling out of the walls because it will be totally dry by then. So....who knows what will happen. Hopefully they will find a way to park a vehicle on both sides of the bridge and walk across to the other vehicle and drive up to our house. I know...wishful thinking, but maybe it will happen!
So, for the good news...
The front doors are in and they are exactly what I wanted!
Here's an inside shot:
Here's a couple of outside pics before the siding was completed:Here's an outside shot after the siding was completed:The back door is also in.The guys started the railing for the back porch and I really like the fact that they used the large 6x6 posts that match the 6x6 support posts.In between these posts will be a bench with a back that will act as a railing on the deck. Here's my guys just hanging out.

October 30th...Ooops, there goes the bridge!

2009-11-02T20:19:00.007-06:00

Combine lots of rain, an old low-water bridge, and a loaded delivery truck, and what do you get?
Yep....a collapsed bridge. Not only is it a collapsed bridge, but a private collapsed bridge...which means that the county doesn't pay for it. UGH!! Thankfully, we have a wonderful neighbor that took care of getting it demolished and temporarily fixed so that they and the few other neighbors could get back to their houses. We'll have more concrete poured over it on Wednesday of this week and it'll be better than it was. Plus, I think most of the other neighbors are going to chip in so that we won't have to pay for the repair all by ourselves. Oh...and the delivery guy was on his game that day because he was able to get the truck loaded with drywall off the bridge before it fell off of the truck and into the creek. Unfortunately, the second truck wasn't able to deliver the drywall. Anway, here's some pics of the whole ordeal.
A view of the road with the backhoe sitting on a remnant of the bridge. If you look really close, you can see the delivery truck sitting off to the right past the bridge...
Here's the dozer with some sort of attachment that breaks up the concrete.
After the fallen slabs are broken up...Putting 2 new 36" culverts in...

October 28th...Porch posts, trim, and doors

2009-11-02T19:57:00.004-06:00

The front and back porch posts were put up and they feel and smell so good.There's some more trim work, too. The window frame is repaired and you can't even tell unless you look really hard.The doors came in...but the front doors are still in the crate, so you can't see them. Here's some pics anyway 'cause I'm so excited about them! The back porch door came in too.

Oct. 21st...central vac, insulation, and water line

2009-10-22T17:37:00.006-05:00

I haven't posted in a while....but we've now got the central vacuum system roughed in . There is an attachment place in our bedroom... by the half bath (you can also see the hose in the kitchen that will attach to a kick plate under the cabinets)... and in the hall by Ty's bedroom. I don't have a picture of that, but here's a picture of the pipes in the garage where the canister will go. Some of the insulation is in. The rest is supposed to get blown in this week. This is a closeup of some in the garage. This is in the great room. You can get a better idea of the ceiling height and shape here. This shows the stairs that lead up to the second floor. (Or maybe I'm upstairs taking this picture looking down the stairs....I don't remember!) We've also got our water line dug and the pipe is laid. But, it rained a lot today, so I don't know what that did to the ditch. I guess we'll see this weekend when we get to go check out this week's progress! This is where the water line comes in to the house by Ty's bedroom. And this is a pic of it going down the hill... ...leading to the water meter. And this is the water meter covered in water before the rain started today. I can't imagine the amount of water in that ditch today!

I went shopping....

2009-10-11T12:16:00.005-05:00

I was looking forward to spending the day with Ty and getting a little house shopping done last Saturday while Doyle went to see the Razorbacks play with his dad in the new Cowboys stadium in Texas. So, we headed to Ft. Smith and went to the plumbing shop that I had heard was good (J&B) and was disappointed to find it closed on weekends. Dang! So, I headed over to Home Depot (I usually don't shop there because of the whole "they put a dent in my truck and told me they were going to fix it and then lied about it and didn't" thing....) to see if they had anything different than Lowe's. So we walk in and they are having one of those kids clinics and they are building fire station banks. Obviously, we stopped and built one...here's some pictures. I also found some rustic lights that I like. Here's some pics of that. I also found the heating mat that goes under the tile in the bath. I'm not sure we are going to do that (especially since I didn't tell the electrician about it) because I'm not sure if we are going to tile the bathroom floor or just go with the stained concrete. I'm sure the shower will have to be tiled, but I haven't figured that part out yet.

October 10th...siding, porch ceiling, front door, and some oops...

2009-10-11T11:24:00.003-05:00

We now have cedar siding up above the porch and it looks so good. It makes it feel so homey and like a cabin, and I love that! I can't wait to see it with the rock and front door. Speaking of the front door....do you see the huge hole in the front of the house with nothing in it? Well, I picked out a door that I absolutely loved, but wasn't sure I could find one for the right price. Well, I never did, but my wonderful builder, David, did! Yeah! So, here's a picture of it....and yes, it will have the clear glass. It is so simple and beautiful with the clear glass. Plus, it isn't like we have to worry much about privacy where we are! Oops! We've only had a couple of minor things happen so far. The first was the nick in the bathtub that I've already discussed. I tried taking a picture of it today, but it didn't even show up in the picture. The second one is this little accident on a window. I'm hoping that the tube of superglue sitting on the window isn't going to be the fix! I'm sure it won't be. Maybe they can replace the bottom part of the window or something like that.
The porches are now getting the decorative stripping to cover the seams of the wood. We are going to pick a stain for the wood soon. I looked at a book and pointed out what I liked and the guys are going to make some samples for us to look at. I may have found a couple of the samples while we were out there yesterday cleaning up. I really liked one of them and I think it was the one that was done with transmission fluid. I've heard about using this before and that it has great benefits. Have any of you used this or heard of this before? If so, leave me a comment! In fact, I'd love to get a comment from anyone!
I have also taken the brick sample that I like to David so that we can order our brick that we picked out. I'm still undecided on a rock. I thought I knew what I wanted, but then he showed me a picture of another company and I like it better than what I had picked out.
As for the inside...I think the plumbers, electricians, and heat/air subcontractors are finished for now. We are waiting on the central vacuum guy to come and rough in the vacuum system so that drywall can start. At least I think that is the only thing we are waiting on before drywall can start.

Oct. 6th...siding, heat and air, electric

2009-10-06T20:11:00.004-05:00

So...the latest updates includes getting the electric finished, the heat and air is going in, and the siding is going up under the porches. Here's a picture of the siding going up on the front of the house under the porch. Right below the cedar siding will be rock. Here's a closer picture of the front porch:Here's a picture of the back porch:The materials for the heating and air was delivered on Friday. I don't know if you can see it very well in the picture, but the heat/air unit is in place and they have started putting in duct work and vents. I was happy to see that they put a vent in our master closet so that our clothes won't get stinky from lack of air circulation. They still have to install the vents/duct work in a few areas. Here's a random picture of a vent in the ceiling by a can light.

Sept. 23rd...Wiring, can lights, attic fan

2009-09-26T20:24:00.004-05:00

Our plumber has finished his work for now and has everything "stubbed up". (aka...he's finished until we get drywall and cabinets). Ty's tub/shower unit is in place and ready to have a minor blemish fixed. There's a guy in Russellville who does this and we'll never be able to tell it was there. I'll try to remember to take a before and after picture to show how good of a job he does. Now it is the electrician's turn. He started installing can lights and running all of the wiring throughout the house for future lights, plug-ins, and fans. Our attic fan is also in place. Our trim and soffits around the house are now finished and look great. They started putting up the ceiling of the front porch, but I forgot to take a picture of it. Here's a picture of the soffit and trim work. The picture doesn't really show off the details...it looks better in person. I know I took these pictures on Wednesday, and I'm posting them several days later (It is now Saturday...) but I just haven't had the time to post due to football season. I'll try to better next week, but I can't promise. Anyway, we went out to the house today to clean up and check progress and the electrician was there working on a Saturday. I was glad he was there because I had a few extra plug-ins that I wanted that he was able to add while he was there.

Sept. 15th...plumbing and porch ceiling stuff(?)

2009-09-16T19:37:00.005-05:00

We met with our contractor this weekend and walked through the house to decide where we want lights and what kind we want. It was soooo exciting! I get to have accent lights on the outside of the house to make it light up pretty at night! The plumber came and installed a couple of outside faucets and started some inside things. I know that these things are not going to excite anyone like it did me, but part of the reason I'm doing this blog is to document when things happen. So, if you don't particularly find this fascinating, (I can't imagine!) then just come back another time to see if something else tickles your fancy.
Anway...pic of an outside faucet:One of the vanities in our bath:Plumbing for the shower and for the tub: The shower is the area behind the studs and the tub will be on this side of the wall.More exciting plumbing stuff...COFFEE!!!! Doyle and I really enjoy coffee, so we decided to get a plumbed coffee maker that is installed in the wall in the kitchen. Here's a picture of what it looks like:I know I called this ceiling stuff, but for the life of me I can't think of the real name. So, ceiling stuff it stays. Anyway, this is a picture of the front porch ceiling, or the bracing that the ceiling will attach to. I only took a picture of the front porch, but the back porch looks the same. Oh, the soffits around the house are coming along nicely and it was really nice to have the roof completely on this week because of all of the rain. We didn't have to worry about sweeping water out! I think that the electrician is getting his bid in after a walk-through with our contractor, so I guess he'll start working sometime soon. I need to decide where I want brick, rock, and the cedar on the exterior. By the way, I picked out my brick (with the help of my very patient sister-in-law...thanks Amanda!). Here's a picture of the brick, but we'll be using a chocolate mortar instead of this gray.

Sept. 7...Windows, Tyvek, Pocket Doors....

2009-09-07T20:18:00.004-05:00

I have lots of stuff to write about and I am soooooo excited about it. Last week we went out to the house and took some pictures, but I never posted them, so I'm going to today. Okay, first of all can you say "windows"? YES!!! They are installed and look great. I really like the cream color. You can also see the Tyvek house wrap in these pics, too.Ty got his bathtub/shower unit in and it is exactly what I wanted. Easy to clean and one piece.
Soffits are next on the list. Approximately 1/4 of the house has them, and we went up there today (Labor Day) and we found Mr. Price and his son working on them! Wow...I was pretty impressed with that. It was also really nice to see them again. We talked about doors and rock and how good the house is looking. Man I like him! Anyway...soffit pictures:Next we have pocket doors. We have two pocket doors in our house and the frames for those are up. I really think I will like the way they work. I have one in the workout room so that I won't have to save room for the door swinging open and shut. I can have equipment right next to the door which lets me squeeze in more exercise stuff! The other door connects our bathroom with our bedroom. Same type of idea there...I didn't want to have to worry about swinging doors getting in the way.Shingles! Okay, I didn't take pictures of shingles, but we now have more shingles in so that the roofers can come and finish the roof sometime this week (hopefully!). Totally excited about that....

Cleanup, cleanup, everybody do your share...we cleaned up a lot last weekend and some more tonight. I just wish it would have been a little cooler 'cause I'm a sucker for a bonfire. I couldn't resist putting a cute picture of Ty up. For some reason he loves to play in the sawdust and put it on top of his head.

August 26th...shingles, upstairs ceiling, water meter

2009-08-30T18:45:00.003-05:00

Well, we are only going out to the house a couple of times a week now that football season has started, so my updates will be once or twice a week. Our builder has started a second home (which we knew could happen going in to this) and has taken one of his guys to that house to work on it with him. That leaves two guys at our house to work. So, work has slowed down a little. The guys doing the roof don't seem to be making our house a priority, probably because they have other jobs they can knock out in a day. I'm sure people living in their homes get priority over us...but it still stinks to have to wait for it to be done. I'm mean, really, we got tar paper on the house August 1st and we only have the back part of the house shingled. Really? Come on. Maybe I shouldn't be frustrated, but that seems a bit long, doesn't it? Anyway, I don't mean to gripe because the house looks great. It's just that I really hoped to be in the house by Christmas, and the way things are going, I don't think we'll make it.
Anyway, here's some pics of the progress made this week:

The ceiling joists are up in the stairway.
Here's the final wall that went up upstairs. Now the ceiling joists can be put up and the additional roof bracing can be put in.
Here's the shingles that were done....now the back side of the house is covered. I guess the crew isn't working on it every day. I'm hoping to get the shingles finished this week.
Our water meter was put in and the area surrounding it was leveled.

August 22nd...Vaulted ceilings and shingles

2009-08-22T11:07:00.003-05:00

This week we had some rain, but we now have vaulted ceilings in the living room, entry, and master bath. We also have some shingles on the roof. We really like the color we picked out (charcoal architectural). I hope they go well with the brick, rock and wood. I think I've almost decided on which rock I want, but I'm not ready to say "That's it!" just yet.

Here's a couple of pictures of the shingles on the roof:This is the ceiling in the living room:Entry:Bath:

August 14...Blandex and shingle delivery

2009-08-15T10:40:00.006-05:00

This picture was supposed to show the stacks of shingles on the roof, but the picture was a little too far away to show. Anyway, the white things on top of the garage are the packs of shingles...ready to go for the guys to shingle on ....?The rest of the house (except for the bumpouts in the master bath) has blandex on it. This picture is of the back of the house showing the side that didn't have blandex yesterday. Woo hoo!!!! It looks great. More cedar soffit went up and some random corners and other things were finished so that the shingles can go up.

August 12...Blandex started and windows came in

2009-08-13T21:05:00.006-05:00

Our windows were delivered today and they look great. Here's what they look like...I don't know if you can tell in this picture or not, but they are a cream/tan color. We also have some blandex up on the sides of the house. It is amazing what a difference that stuff makes!
Under the covered deck: Side view from the back: Side view from the front:
Since I'm doing this post a day late, I'll tell you that we also have the cedar soffit started around the edge of the roof (sorry no pics) and I think that the shingles will be here tomorrow. We may have a complete roof before we know it!

August 7th...Roof

2009-08-08T19:33:00.004-05:00

Here's a picture of the house when you drive up the driveway. I really like it!!!!Lots of new stuff! The rest of the roof is built and decked. Here's a picture of my vanity in the bathroom.Here's a picture of the deck. Ty's room and deck in background... Yeah for more help! Mr. Price recruited some more help so here's a big thanks to them!

August 4th...Brick decisions

2009-08-05T14:36:00.003-05:00

No pictures of work today, but the guys worked on finishing the trusses on the back deck and Ty's room. They also worked on bracing a bunch of stuff.

We met with the brick guy today to decide on a brick and we found a couple that we like. But, we decided to e-mail him some pictures of bricks on homes that we found on the net so that he could look for something like the bricks in the pics. We want a really rustic look...like the brick has been around for ages. We also like dark mortar. We went and looked at a house that has a brick on it that we picked today and really liked it, but want to look at some darker samples to make sure that's what we want. We were supposed to pick out some shingles but didn't because we wanted to pick out the brick and rock first. Oh yeah, I need to pick out the rock I want, but I need to get the brick first so that I'll know what will look good. So....brick first, rock/shingles next, and I also want there to be a bit of wood but we'll leave that until later. Who knew that picking this stuff out would be that difficult? Oh well, at least its fun. I'm going to post the pictures of brick that we liked. Let me know which one(s) you like! (They are in no particular order...)

#1: (Ignore the stucco...just look at the brick)#2#3#4#5 (We will have cream/tan windows, not white, so keep that in mind)#6 (This color of window...)#7 (This is our wooden beam shape we are using)#8

August 1st...Tar Paper

2009-08-02T13:19:00.004-05:00

We have the rafters on the back porch and Ty's bedroom. I think the only ones left are the bump outs on the garage and master bath. We also have some tar paper down on the roof. Pretty cool stuff!

Back porch:Back panoramic pic:

Front/Side View:

Front panoramic pic:

July 28th...roof decking

2009-07-29T13:04:00.003-05:00

I figured out something pretty cool on my camera...the panoramic picture! I knew that it was there, but for some silly reason I never thought to use it so that I could get a complete shot of the house. The only bad thing about it is that the house looks a little warped in some places. I'll try to do better next time.
This is a front view of the house. There is still a gable that needs to be added to the garage and another smaller one on the front porch, but this shot gives a much better idea of what it will look like.
They also put up some decking on the back of the house. Here's a picture of that:

July 24th...Roof decking

2009-07-24T20:42:00.007-05:00

We have roof decking down. I'd say about 1/3rd of it is done. Here's part of the back of the house.
Here's the other part that they did on the back.
And here's the north side of the house by the master bedroom/bath.

This is what it looks like in the game room upstairs.
This is what it looks like across the great room and over the master bed/bath.

Ty relaxing upstairs and blowing some bubbles.

July 23rd...strapping (?)

2009-07-24T10:31:00.003-05:00

I'm not sure if I'm using the right word (strapping) for what they did today or not, but they put the boards around the outside of the house and reinforced the roof/rafters on the eves of the house. I didn't think it was very exciting, so I only took one sad picture. Here ya go...

July 22nd...more framing upstairs

2009-07-24T10:17:00.006-05:00

The room above the garage is framed.
Here's the southern end wall...

Here's the door leading out of that room into the game room. The bathroom and stairs are to the left.

Looking from the game room back into the room above the garage.

Upstairs bath.

July 20th...upstairs framing

2009-07-24T09:56:00.003-05:00

Framing upstairs: on the left is the stairs...to the right of that will be a bath (not framed yet) and to the far right is the gameroom.

July 18th...pictures

2009-07-18T09:11:00.006-05:00

I got a new cord for my camera so I'm posting some new pictures of the roof progress.

This is Ty's playroom on the back side of the house.

New rafters on the front of the house where the porch and great room meet.

I also looked at the plan and noticed that there is more to be done than I thought. I'm hoping that by the end of the week next week, the roof will be ready to put decking on. Areas left to put rafters on: The garage bump-out, Ty's bedroom, the back porch, and a little bit on the front porch. Yesterday we went to the house and noticed that bracing went up. It kinda looked temporary to me, but what do I know? I'm not even sure what is going to happen next!

July 16th...more roof

2009-07-17T07:13:00.003-05:00

The guys didn't work Monday and Tuesday at the house, but on Wednesday and Thursday, they put up more rafters on the roof. I have some pictures to show, but our new puppy, Emmy, decided that chewing on my camera cord would be a good idea. After I get a new cord, I'll post the pics. The new rafters are on the north side of the porch/exercise room and over Ty's playroom. I think the guys only have Ty's bedroom, and the front and back porch left. I can't remember if the dining room has rafters or if that roof is part of the back porch roof. Anyway...it looks great. I'm sure there's all kinds of bracing and stuff to be done before the decking can be put on the roof, but what do I know? That's why we are paying someone else to do this! That brings me to a good point. Before we started building, I looked for blogs that dealt with home builds and came up with a couple. But to my surprise, there weren't very many. Since I have never built a house before, I wanted to know what I was getting into from someones personal experience. I've talked to a lot of people about their experiences, but time frames blur and memories fade...that is one of the reasons I decided to write this blog. I know there are a few other people out there that might want to know what they are getting into before they start. We've heard so many people say that if our marriage can survive building a house, it can survive anything! Well...it hasn't been bad so far. But that may be because our contractor, Mr. Price is so wonderful. The other reason I am writing this blog is so that I could have a memory of the house build and share it with my family that lives out of town.

July 10th...an even taller roof!

2009-07-11T07:35:00.022-05:00

I was amazed when we looked at the work done in the last couple of days. I thought the roof was incredible on Wednesday...but oh my gosh! It was even better today! Another dimension was added to the middle of the house, making it even higher. Plus, the porch gable (I think that is the correct term) was started. But when we started looking at it, we couldn't figure out why the gable wasn't centered over the front door, so we got home and looked at the plans and noticed that there is yet another smaller gable that hasn't been built yet that will be centered over the front door. Wow...we couldn't believe that the roof looked so complicated. And to think that Rae (the wonderful friend who did our plans for us) helped us simplify the original plans to make it more affordable! She did such a great job. Anyway, here's some pics:

I haven't shown any pictures of the back of the house (which may be my favorite because of the porch/deck) so here we go! This series of pictures starts at the garage on the right and works its way to the left where the master suite is.

This first picture is showing Ty's bedroom and playroom. The garage is behind these.

Covered porch with the great room behind it.

This shows a different angle of the deck/covered porch. You can also see the great room/dining room/kitchen.

Master bedroom and closet with the bath on the other side.

Front view of the house with the main porch gable.

Here's another view of the porch roof from upstairs.

I couldn't resist putting this picture up. Ty and Paige had a great time building their own houses out of the blocks they found laying around.

July 8th...More roof and porch framing

2009-07-08T22:08:00.006-05:00

There were more rafters added to the great room and the front porch framing was started today.

On a special side note...we learned that "Special Agent Oso" lives right above our new house! For those of you who don't have a 3 year old, Special Agent Oso is a cartoon of a bear that helps little kids solve problems. Well...our "Oso" (ironically "oso" is Spanish for bear) is of the young black variety and apparently has made its home in our area. I guess that means we can't leave our trash cans outside! haha

July 7th...Rafters and a front porch!

2009-07-08T21:34:00.012-05:00

Went up to the house after not having been for a couple of days and saw that they started on the rafters and poured the front porch. The house looks so much bigger with the rafters up there! I can't believe we are finally getting to do this!

Looking at the front of the house...this is the garage on the left

This is the entrance in the middle. (Notice the newly poured front porch.)

This is the master bed/bath and exercise room on the right.

This is a picture I took while standing in the game room upstairs. I was trying to get a picture of the new rafters and get an idea how tall the ceiling is going to be in the great room.

This picture was taken with me in the game room facing the other way. This room over the garage is labeled a bedroom, but I doubt that it will be used for that at first.

July 1st...more 2nd story decking

2009-07-08T21:20:00.003-05:00

Here's more pictures of the second story with decking.

The raised floor is the game room and bathroom.

This is the room over the garage. You can see the stairs to the right. I'm standing in the game room taking this picture.

June 30th...stairs, decking, and more joists

2009-07-01T15:18:00.005-05:00

Here's a few pics of the work done while we were gone on vacation.

The decking over the garage for the 2nd story floor is started. You can see Doyle standing up there.

Here's what it looks like from up top. You can also see Ty's bedroom and playroom from up here.

Here's a picture of the stairway to get up to the second floor.

June 30th...Back from vacation

2009-07-01T14:12:00.015-05:00

We've been gone on vacation driving NASCAR cars at Talladega and sitting on our behinds on the beach all week. What a great vacation! Since this blog is supposed to be about the house build, I'll spare you too many vacation pics, but I have to post a few!

Doyle is getting ready to drive his 12 laps! He was able to drive 174 mph on the track and he managed to do really well.

After Doyle drove his laps, I was pretty envious that he did this, so I ponied up some $$$ to ride with an instructor for 6 laps and do 180+ mph while racing another car and bump-drafting and passing. It was so fun!

Us....well most of us (the camera cut part of Ty out) at Orange Beach.

Here's a pic of Ty since he was partially cut out of the last picture. He loves the sand!

June 25th...ceiling joists

2009-07-01T13:55:00.002-05:00

This picture shows the joists on Ty's room from the deck.

Dining room...

Some big supports in the great room (I have no idea what these are called...)

June 24th...more deck

2009-06-24T11:42:00.006-05:00

We went out to the house today and took some Gatorade and snacks for the guys working. It has been so hot that they can only work during the morning. Anything after that and they just bake! The deck is looking great and it was pretty cool to stand on it and imagine what it is going to look like.

Looking out from the kitchen through the dining room to the covered porch area.

This is a view from the great room out onto the uncovered deck.

Standing on the uncovered part of the deck looking at the place where the outdoor fireplace will be.

June 22...start of a deck

2009-06-24T11:31:00.004-05:00

They started framing out the covered porch and deck today so they can use it to put the scaffolding on it to be safer.

June 18th...framing

2009-06-18T20:59:00.003-05:00

Standing in the foyer looking through the great room into the dining room and kitchen.

Standing in the foyer looking through the great room at the massive windows and deck.

The HUGE master closet. Seriously...it is bigger than the bedroom that Ty is in right now.

View from the driveway looking into the garage.

June 18th...electric company

2009-06-18T20:45:00.004-05:00

While we were gone to a technology conference this week, the electric company prepared for the power to come to the house. I knew that they had a right to clear trees if they were in the way and would affect the line, but I had no idea that they would just clear a huge path and cut down every tree in the way! Here's a picture of a view from the top. Keep in mind that you could barely see the road near the house, much less the whole field below and the entire road! I was upset at first because that was a LOT of trees that were cut, but then I did sign the piece of paper giving them permission, and after looking at the view, decided that it wouldn't be such a bad thing. We were planning on cutting down a lot of the trees anyway...okay maybe not as many as they cut...but I'm trying to take a surprise and turn it into something good. Anyway, the picture doesn't really do it justice because I wasn't standing right by the road when I took the picture, which is where you can really see the cut path. But hey...at least we'll have electricity!

June 12th...Framing begins

2009-06-12T19:35:00.006-05:00

The 2x6 north walls went up today before the storm came through. This is part of the master bedroom, closet, and bath.

6 foot windows in the master bedroom

Another view of the framing...and of course Ty had to get in another picture.

June 11th...Chalk and Materials

2009-06-12T19:28:00.003-05:00

Materials were delivered today for framing and they chalked lines for the walls. It rained last night, and you can see how muddy it is.

June 10th...we have a slab!

2009-06-10T20:10:00.008-05:00

These two guys are hand troweling and working their butts off!

This guy was running a huge machine to make the concrete really smooth since we are going to have stained concrete floors.

Most of the slab and the guys working on it.
It looks kinda small, huh?

June 8th...plumbing is finished

2009-06-09T19:18:00.004-05:00

This is a picture from the north end of the house looking south. The nearest wall will be the master bathroom and master closet. You can see that the plumbing has been installed and the dirt and rock dust filled back in where the trenches were.

This picture just shows a closer view of plumbing lines and pipes. This view is looking north into the master bath area.

June 5th...more plumbing

2009-06-05T21:18:00.003-05:00

We have pipes in the ground. I have no idea if it is finished or not, but I'm assuming not because the supply rig is still there! We were able to talk to the plumbers yesterday and they were super nice!

June 4th...Start of plumbing

2009-06-05T20:53:00.008-05:00

They finished filling and now they are starting the plumbing. Here's some pictures of a small backhoe in Ty's room and some plumbing supplies.

Pictures of the covered back porch...and Ty playing in the dirt.

More pics of beginning plumbing work...and a pretty cute little boy who loves to get in pictures.

June 3rd...there's a dump truck in my house!

2009-06-03T18:37:00.002-05:00

Went up to the house today and they were busy back filling. Here's a picture of the little dump truck in our house! They also put some smaller gravel on our road. The road looks better and better each time we go out there!

June 2nd

2009-06-02T21:18:00.002-05:00

No new pictures today. We talked to our builder yesterday about preparation for concrete floors and how/who will stain them. He has been working on getting the septic system and electricity started. Apparently, it would cost us $5 a linear foot to have the electricity buried coming up to our house, and since that could be around $5000 extra, we decided that it would be okay to have poles coming up the side of our road and then the wire would be buried going to our house. Not ideal...but way too expensive to justify. Plus, we would lose a lot of trees if we buried it. The electric company will still cut some of our trees, but they will save as many as they can.

May 29th

2009-05-29T17:22:00.003-05:00

The blocks are done and it was fun to walk around inside and imagine where the rooms will be.

May 28th

2009-05-29T17:01:00.005-05:00

Most of the blocks have been laid and as predicted (by my builder and lots of other people), I freaked out a little because it looked too little.

May 27th

2009-05-27T18:05:00.006-05:00

The prep work for blocks is done. I'm not sure if you can see the strings attached to the boards in the pics, but they show how high the floor will be. It's a little farther off the ground at the back of the house than we originally thought it would be, but that's fine with me...better view! These pictures are taken from different angles. The top one is taken from the south and the bottom one is taken from the north. I couldn't back up far enough to get the whole house in one picture because I didn't want to walk in the weeds and chance getting poison ivy or bug-bites. Maybe after we spray and clear out some of the grown up stuff, I'll get a view from farther away.

May 22nd

2009-05-24T15:14:00.004-05:00

We have footings!!!! AUGH! I didn't expect to have those until next week. Mr. Price wanted to get them dug and poured before Memorial Day weekend and all the rain that is coming this week. Sure enough...we had concrete trucks galore coming and going while we were there Friday afternoon. It looks fabulous! (Well...it really looks like a bunch of ditches with concrete poured in them with piles of dirt everywhere, but I think it looks great!)

May 21st

2009-05-24T15:08:00.006-05:00

We went out after work to see what was done today and noticed that the big gravel was put down all the way to the top of our road and that we had stakes with orange string outlining the footers of the house. You can't really see the string or stakes in the picture, but I promise they're there.

May 20th

2009-05-24T14:53:00.004-05:00

We knew our road was getting worked on today, so we went out to look at it and our builder (Mr. Price...he's wonderful!) told us to go up top and see what they did today. We drove up our new and improved road (which now has a base layer of gravel) and we have a cleared piece of land!!!!! We actually have a spot for our house... Yeah! In one of the pictures you can see a dump truck coming up our road and putting more gravel out. You can see what the land looked like before they cleared it by looking at where the dozer stopped.

May 15th...first day of work

2009-05-24T14:42:00.002-05:00

We went out to the land today and saw that some work was done on our road. I don't think I've ever been so excited to see ditches and a culvert in my life! You can tell that the road splits, but our road goes off to the right. The road that goes off to the left is an old road that we won't use and we'll let the hay grow over it. We wanted the driveway to go along the boundary of our property instead of cutting straight through it.

May 2nd...Lot and lots of rain

2009-05-24T14:24:00.007-05:00

We are ready to start building, but it decided to rain 10 inches in the last two weeks. Here's a picture of the low water bridge that we cross to get to our land. Obviously, we didn't cross it today. I figured there's no reason to have to call the rescue team out today.

First Post

2009-05-24T10:38:00.001-05:00

For the past year, we (honestly, mostly me...) have been looking for a house plan that we both liked. I found one on the Internet that Doyle's friend, RaeLynn, was able to modify for us. She did a great job changing things around for us and made it just what we wanted.

We put our house up for sale and sold it in seven weeks. We moved into a little rent house (and I mean little....about 900 sq. ft.) and we are finally on our way to building!

Our land....we have 10 beautiful acres that are about half wooded and half pasture and we plan to put the house on the hillside across from the lake so that we can eventually have a bit of a lake view (there will be several trees that need to be cleared in order for the lake to be more visible). Don't get me wrong...I am a tree-hugger at heart, so I'll save as many trees as possible. Anyway, I plan to post pictures as things are done to improve the land. Then I'll post pictures as the house is being built.

By the way, it has taken us a year to get started because the whole process of finding a house plan, modifying it, finalizing it, getting it printed, getting bids from builders (after trying to get recommendations from people for good builders), selling our house, closing on the house, working with the bank, getting appraisals, and then making sure the builder we wanted is able to do it when our bank was ready is a LONG process. Then, when we were finally ready to start...the rain came and delayed us for a couple of weeks. Don't get me wrong...by no means am I bashing anyone here. I am very happy with everyone that we have worked with, and they have all been terrific. It's just that I am totally new to this and had no idea how long all of this beginning stuff would take. But now that the initial stuff is over....let's build this house!