Lots of Progress

We have made a lot of progress this weekend!  Everything is looking so good!  We are so thankful that the McCollum's were able to come for the long weekend to share their expertise, tools, hands, and old cabinets with us.  Dustin's parents renovated their kitchen a few years ago and still had the cabinets and asked if we would like them for our mud room... sure!  It looks (or will look as soon as they get finished) perfect!

I know, not a huge deal, but the closet doors being up makes a huge difference in the look of the study.

The bathroom is looking great too!  We love the color of the grout!

I am so glad that Dustin's dad is here helping with the lifting!  

Here are the cabinets without the countertops on them.  The dryer will go in the space to the left of the window and the washing machine will be on the right.  

Dustin is doing great working with all of the tools that he has never used before.

The formica is on all of the countertops, they just have to be trimmed around the sides.  Would you believe we painted the walls, then found the countertops that look so good with the color?

Woo Hoo!

We have made some visible progress again!  Dustin's parents are visiting and have helped with some projects.  Hopefully we will get a lot more done during this long weekend.

We are finally able to walk on the floor so I didn't waste any time filling my pantry!  Hopefully the door will be put on tomorrow.  

The tile is looking so good!  It is all put down and tomorrow is grout day!  Oh yeah, we have one coat of paint on the wall too, just one more to go.  

1 down, 179 to go!

The first day of school actually went really well for both of us!  Dustin's students have seen him for the past few weeks during band practice so their first day was just the reminders of how to act inside and all of the paperwork that high-schoolers have to do.  

14 students came to me this morning and 14 went home (only 1 on a wrong bus, but we got wrong information from the transportation department and the boy did get to where he was going!).  I have a few students that will make me earn my paycheck, but they are all very sweet and excited to be in school.  

We both have students with special needs which can make challenges for us, but they are all funny and will keep us on our toes.

Happy 1st Birthday!

We don't know exactly what day Zoe was born, so we figured today was a good day to give her her present... a huge rawhide bone and a little stuffed something that looks like a tooth (just like cousin Millie got for her birthday)!

Here are a few funny pictures from her 1st year... I know it's pathetic, but she is our baby.

Some Progress...

We have spent the last few days working on the floors in the mud room/study.  They are looking really good.  (we think anyway)  We have put plastic over the doorway and it has actually kept most of the dust and smell from the rest of the house.  We had to put 3 coats of stain on the floor, which we finished tonight.  Tomorrow night we can begin the polyurethane process!  Then it's only a few more days until it's ready to move things (back) in!

I am very proud of how well Dustin is learning all of the new things that he has had to during this project.  

This is a view of the floors completely stripped down and the first coat of stain on them.  

The third and final coat of stain is now drying!

Back in business

Since band camp is over we are back working on the house full time again (minus new teacher inservices and band practices a few hours here and there).  Our amazing neighbor, Clyde, (a true God-send) came over today while I was at an inservice and helped Dustin hang drywall.  

We still have a lot to do, but it looks so much closer to being done now!

The mud room!  All we have left to do is paint the walls and baseboards... and of course redo the floors.

This is from the corner of our room looking in towards the bathroom in the very back.  The closet is right before it on the left.  (I tried to take a picture, but it didn't turn out very well)

Our bathroom!  Lots to do in here... the toilet will be where the ladder is now and the tub is to the left of the ladder.  

"Aren't you done yet?"

Slowing Down...

... or should I say speeding up?  The housework is taking a bit of a back seat right now since we are about to start school.  Dustin is going full swing into band camp which means he is not here to do all of the major stuff.  It's a little hard for me to hang drywall by myself :)  I am also getting ready for school... inservices, workdays, picnics (I love pre-k!) and back to school nights are all coming up in the next 2 weeks!

Hopefully we will still be able to get a lot accomplished even with the hectic schedules.