Tool Belts & Babies

One night working in the house I saw the tape measure and binky sitting here and had to snap a picture. Not trying to be artsy and all that but it made me laugh. I thought it was a pretty good summary of working on a flip house for the last 3 months. Tool belts and babies. LOL!!

I am not going to get wordy in this post. I'm too tired and I am just praying that the internet connection holds long enough to publish this! So without further ado................here is the completed project:

Exterior Before...

Exterior After.............

Living Room Before......

Living Room after...

Entry side of Living Room Before...........

Entry side of Living Room After...

Living Room looking into Kitchen through new pass thru..................

One Bedroom Before............

One Bedroom After.....................

3rd Bedroom before..........

3rd bedroom after. This room was completely open and you had to walk through this room to get to the master. We built a hallway to divide the room and built a new closet in the new "proper" 3rd bedroom.

Master Bedroom Before.........

Master Bedroom After............

Family Room Before.......

Family Room After.........

Middle Section of basement before. ..

Middle section after we added some walls and a full bath. The basement is now completely finished.............

Upstairs Bathroom Bedroom.............

Upstairs Bathroom After........

Kitchen Before.............

Kitchen After.....

So.................what do you think?? Now that the house is done and on the market it is almost bittersweet. Thanking God that we survived this project and wondering how in the world we actually DID do it with three kids there with us every. single.day. Wow. I still have not wrapped my head around the complexity of what we just did. Maybe it's better that I can't! LOL!!

That is it for today. I will do more soon and give more detail about what it was like doing a major renovation in three months. Picket- I still have not forgotten about your tile post! I also can not wait to post about little moments and everyday lazy life again. I don't want the blog to be all about house flips..............but for the last three months that has BEEN our ENTIRE life. Boy I have missed our normal, boring, lazy life. And MAN! Have I missed blogging!?!?! I can not wait to catch up!!

~Heather:)

A Birthday & Uncertain Times

On April 14th our little "Stinkerbell" turned three! I still can not believe it. Our precious little girl has been with us for three whole years.

She is ornery (hence the nickname "Stinkerbell), full of energy and full of fun.

She has a serious side too. She likes to have her "me" time and go off and play by herself. She is stingy with hugs and kisses but loves to be tickled. When she does give out hugs they last long enough to make up for the ones you've missed out on.

Her giggle is infectious. She loves to dance, dress up, and have tea parties- adorned with pearls and a designer handbag. She is also the first to jump in the puddle or sit in the mud with trains and bulldozers. She loves her big brother and her baby sister and is the little mother hen around our roost. "Bear" has the best mommy of all!

She is spunky, feisty, strong-willed, and very independent. Her famous catch-phrase is "NO! I do it!"

Bella has had a lot of health issues for her young age but has been a strong little trooper- always surprising the doctors and nurses, and mommy and daddy too. Recently, God gave us the answers to her problems and we finally feel like we can breath a little more freely and squeeze her a little tighter.

There are so many things about Bella that I adore. So many reasons I love her. So many days that have been filled with sunshine and giggles. I am ever so grateful that God decided that I was good enough to raise her as my own. I am blessed!

Mommy loves you Bella. Even though you are getting bigger you will always be that little peanut I used to rock to sleep. Thank You for three wonderful and whimsical years Stinkerbell. I am so glad you were born. Boop!

Even in the midst of such a joyous occasion, our minds were burdened with feelings of uncertainty. With the terrible economic crisis that is blanketing the country, my husband and I have always felt a sense of security and confidence in his job. That was, until this past Monday. The more we hear, the more the news seems to be discouraging. My husband does not make what most consider big money but he works hard and he provides for our family. We are happy and I am happy because he loves what he does. The very thought of investing thirteen years in to a company and suddenly being without makes me sick to my stomach. The worst part is- if my husband were to lose his job, we would also lose our home. As I have mentioned before, our apartment is included in his pay. If for any reason he is let go, we would have to move from our home within seven days. Seven days. It would definitely turn our world upside down.

Surprisingly enough though, I don't really feel stress or worry about the situation. I know in my heart that God will take care of us- and He will provide for us, come what may. I continue to pray that God give me the Faith to trust Him, that no matter what happens, we will be alright.

A friend told me the other day that his false sense of security was coming from his job- and not from God. That gave me an AHA! moment and I realized then that I needed to shift where my faith was directed.

For now we are cutting back every where we can and trying to pay off things as much as possible. I actually shut my cable and internet off over a month ago. I assumed that as long as I had a laptop I could go wireless.............needless to say that is part to blame on the erratic posting. I have learned that my technological knowledge is not as vast as I once thought!! Thank you to my neighbors for unsecured networks that made this post possible!! hee hee

It is definitely a scary time right now in the country as far as the economy goes. But as I sat watching my children climbing on and dancing around with my husband the other night, I made a promise to myself. I will NOT allow fear of the unknown to take the joy away from the right now.

~Heather:)

I Baked Cookies

I baked cookies today. For most of you this may seem like a small feat. And for me it used to be. Lately, however, it is truly a treat to bake cookies..........or keep the laundry caught up....... or run the vacuum more than once every two weeks. The house renovation has completely consumed our lives. I know it will be worth it in the end when we sell it but for now- I am feeling a little overwhelmed. I think I am just tired. Physically and mentally. As the project grows closer to completion I am bombarded with several decisions. Small things that now seem like huge deals. Paint color, trim finish, counter top style, carpet color, style, weight.............the list goes on and on. Not only do we make these decisions but we do the work too. We have been working on this flip house since early February and we are trying to have it completed by the end of April. It is down to the detail work now which always seems to take the longest amounts of time.

There are some nights when I feel we have been doing this forever and yet other nights it seems like we just started. The nights get longer and our time at home seems shorter. I don't even want to total up the hours we have put into this project. Right now I stay busy totaling up receipts and balancing the budget. I will say though- I am glad I am not the one writing the checks for all of the renovation. It makes me sick to my stomach looking at the pile of receipts quite frankly. Maybe it is worse knowing it isn't my money. I don't know. With all the budgeting and working on the house life keeps moving. It is hard to find a balance..........and enough sleep.........but we keep going with or without either.

Cali is changing and growing so much! She learns something new everyday it seems. She is trying to crawl right now but enjoys scooting and wiggling and rolling to get to where she wants to go. She also has something to show you..................


New teeth!! She now has 4 teeth! Two on top and two on bottom!! She does this thing where she wrinkles up her nose and wiggles it and she looks like a little bunny. It is the cutest thing.

Kyle can now tell anyone, in detail, exactly how a furnace or hot water tank works. Really. And he has a new love for broccoli! Yeah!!

Bella now has to have a mountain of friends in bed with her. I love this picture- it reminds me of ET when he is hiding amongst all of the stuffed animals. We did receive a diagnosis for Bella a couple of weeks ago. She has what is called PFAPA. I will do a post about it soon (hopefully) but if you type PFAPA into a search it will come up with a ton of information. She still has to go back to her Ear Nose and Throat Specialist to see about her hearing loss and what is causing it.

Here is what we have been up to at the house. I really loved these ceilings from the first moment we saw this house...............

But while I was painting them I decided I didn't like them so much anymore.

You see that ladder?? Yeah, it's like a 10 foot ladder. See how high above the ladder the ceilings still are?? Have I mentioned how TERRIFIED I am of heights??? Yeah.

I don't know what we were thinking. We painted the entire first and second floor in less than 4 days. Two days and two evenings after work to be exact. Are we nuts or what?!?!?!? When I say paint I mean: paint every ceiling, prime every wall-two coats, paint every wall-two coats. 4 bedrooms, two hallways, living room, kitchen, bathroom, stairs. NUTS!!!! It looks good though!

The crown moulding is now installed on the cabinets...................

My Dad came up last Saturday and helped hang the doors and trim (Thanks Dad! You are the trim King!)

We used 5 inch baseboards which look amazing! All white trim, six panel doors, baseboards, etc. The only problem here?? Well, we had planned on spraying all of the trim and doors before installing them. Needless to say the sprayer did not work, it was SO cold in the garage we could not paint...................so now I am left with painting all of this now that it is installed. EEEEKK!!

Bella is an amazing little helper- especially when there is a broom involved!!

What is that hole in the basement floor you ask????

We are adding a bathroom in the basement where there was not a bathroom before. A full bathroom.

Yes, we have a ditch running through the basement. Let me tell ya- the kids are having a ball with this! We have to strip them as soon as we get home at night because they are covered in dirt!!! LOL!! Poor little Thomas trains though- they are working very hard in those ditches!!! :)

How in the heck am I supposed to clean up that mess?!?!

Well, that's it for now. I would like to promise that it won't be this long between posts next time, but honestly.......... that is a call I just can't make. I miss posting every day. I miss visiting my blogger friends. I miss getting all of your comments in my inbox every morning. I feel like a part of me is missing right now and I think that is it- I have fallen from the blogging world............. a temporary hiatus I guess. Maybe in May I will be back on top of my game!

Miss you all!!

~Heather:)

PS: IF YOU HAVEN'T Checked out my Sister's new blog you have GOT TO go see her! She is so much fun! Super Talented! And not quite as long winded as me!! hee hee Whimsical Ways

Things Are Moving Along

Oh my goodness! I can not believe it has been so long since my last post! Oopsie!! Needless to say we have been very busy working at the house. It has really absorbed our lives........but we are all enjoying it so much still!

Check out our progress!!

The bathroom is actually further along than it was in this picture. In fact it is ready for the ceiling to be painted and the walls to be primed and then- on to my tile!! Wohoo!! I can not wait to tackle that tile because I am so anxious to see what it looks like. And yes -Picket- I will be doing step by step pictures so that I can do a special post just for you!!

Here is the bathroom. New drywall, new stomped ceiling, new plumbing and the concrete backer board is being installed.............

We built double closets in the master bedroom. His and Hers!! There were no closets in this room before! These frames are now covered in drywall. I guess I need to start snapping more pictures!!

We built a wall and a closet to make the house have 4 actual bedrooms. Before you had to walk through this room to get to the master bedroom.

So, there is now an actual hallway that leads you to this new bedroom and the master. We left the closet that you see off to the right there (and no- the bright yellow paint is not staying) That should make a very nice large linen closet!

Here is a picture from inside the new bedroom, complete with a nice new closet of it's own!

Remember this weird nook here to the left of the stairs? It looked as though the wall was just hanging in space and there was a gaping hole down into the basement......

Well, we framed it in......................

Added drywall.................and VOILA! We now have an entry closet!!

Drywall was hung and finished......................

My perfectionist husband is still putting finishing touches on the drywall but we are almost there.

And my favorite project so far???? Here is a picture of what the kitchen looked like when we started work on this house..................

Nice, huh?? NOT! Well, here is the kitchen now..........

It's not even done and it's a million times better!!

I love the white cabinets................especially with the amazing light that this house has.

I even found a cute little dishwasher!

And then we have my husband's least favorite project thus far (other than the drywall) I cam up with this fantastic idea to add overhead lighting in all of the bedrooms. Because these weren't there before.................

My husband had to go here..............

The attic. The master bedroom was an addition to the house and it has it's own attic above it. Where the two attics join together is a very tight squeeze. You see that tiny little hold by my husband's feet in the picture above??? Yeah, it was like..........umm........maybe 18" at it's widest point.................

My husband- turned- origami- contortionist was most certainly swearing at me in his head. The things I put him through. He had a little more wiggle room once in but still not ideal working conditions.

In my opinion all of his squeezing and hard work was worth it to see these.......

But I'm sure if you ask my poor husband he will have an opinion of his own!!! LOL!!!

They do look good though! He even picked these out himself. Good job Baby!

We still have a lot to do but we are getting to the fun part- paint, trim, flooring...............the finishing touches. The time where we will get to really see our accomplishments!

The kids are still having a ball and love the house. Kyle and Bella call it their house. I guess we'll see what happens! In the meantime, I have already been on the search with our realtor during the day looking for our next flip. We would like to have another one lined up when this house is finished.

Hope you are all doing well!! See ya soon!

~Heather:)


ALSO: My Sister now has her very own blog!!!! PLEASE go welcome her to blogland at Whimsical Ways and tell her I sent you!!

Gertie Has a New Hat!

The roofers finished the roof yesterday!!! Gertie has a brand new hat and she is looking spiffy! Yes, I named the house. Gertie is a woman that was a good friend of the family who passed away. She was a petite woman and she was feisty! The other night when I was pulling away from the house Gertie popped into my mind. This house is feisty! She is worn down from years of abuse and neglect but she is strong and with everything we have been doing, and plan to do, she is going to be like brand new. Maybe it is crazy to name a house. Not that I think houses have feelings but just like people- family- they have a past, a future, and a story to tell. They keep us warm and protected from the elements and the outside world. They hold our loved ones, our treasures, our memories. I think they deserve a name. Besides, calling it Gertie sounds so much better than just saying "The House" all of the time. And yes, I think I am getting attached to the house.

Anyway, Back to Gertie's new roof! I failed to take a picture of the front view in all of my excitement but I did get some side views. Although there is not as much color variation as I had hoped, the new black roof looks fantastic!! We had them use the dimensional shingles and they give such a nice touch!

I am planning on painting all of the shutters when the weather warms up. The black shutters are so faded that they actually look blue!

We have started hanging drywall in the kitchen and it is coming along nicely. Drywall is heavy and not my favorite thing to do but when you see the room starting to look like a room you kind of forget about how much hanging drywall really sucks.

Marc had to buy a new toy...........er...........I mean new tool. He picked up a spiral saw and it has come in sooooo handy already! He has been very clingy with his new toy though and hasn't let me play with it yet. Hmph!

Kyle and Bella had a ball creating an amazing masterpiece with painter's tape. These kids can entertain themselves for hours with the simplest of things.

They are so creative! Now, this isn't the type of things we would allow hem to do at home but they have a little more leeway at the house. It is, after all, a construction site and, well- they gotta have some fun!!

I met with the roofers yesterday as they finished, met with the investor, and met with the carpet person who came to measure rooms and give us an estimate. Marc will be installing the carpet but we found a wholesale carpet place where we can get nice carpet for dirt cheap! Less than half price of what you would paid retail. So, carpet man Brad came to get measurements and called today with an exact figure. I was SO excited to know that we will be coming in almost $500 UNDER budget on flooring!! WooHoo!!!

Well, that's it for today. We are going to try and get more drywall hung in the kitchen tonight and if we finish that we are going to start hanging drywall in the bathroom.

Have a great day!

~Heather:)