Thursday, December 8, 2011

It's Official

We are HOME OWNERS! This has been an exhausting couple of months but I am proud to say we did it! Now we are going to have a different kind of stress but for some reason this kind doesn't bother me as much. So anyway here is our house....


We like so many things about this house. It has a lot of character- old houses are like that. It's not perfect. I look around and see projects. I have to remember we can only take it one step at a time! Our first project that we decided to tackle was removing the carpet from the downstairs. Having the opportunity of no furniture to worry about really doesn't happen after you move in so now is the time! The rug is not a color we would choose and more importantly was really gross (trust me on this one!)- so it had to go!! We knew that there were hardwood floors underneath but had no idea what kind of shape they were in. Here is a before picture.

and the same corner after the carpet was removed....


I feel like there should be sounds effects here. Something not good. Because the original carpet padding, from who knows when, is stuck to the floor. Looks like it melted. Which means it's not coming up in our time frame or budget which means we are putting carpet back in. I have to say I am bummed! The other disappointing thing is that is also stuck to the original fireplace hearth so we can't use that either. Bummer again. The good news?  The foyer- ('scuse the vacuum cleaner handle)



...was not as bad as the living room and dining room! 


So I may get some hardwood after all!! While this would be a project that I would love to tackle, it's one of the ones that having 3 small kids and not a lot of time doesn't really allow me to do so we are waiting on estimates so see what the plan is.  So that is where we stand right now. We have only owned the house for almost 2 days so I think we are making progress at least. It's exciting :)

I did want to share a cute kid story with you since I am already typing. As you already know Aleena is stinkin' adorable and smart. But she learns so much everyday it's fantastic. Last week she started to pretend she is a puppy. She pants and barks and it's adorable. Today out of the blue she came over and licked my face. I was a little freaked out I mean really??? Why is my kid licking my face?! Until I realized she was being a puppy and she was just doing what all cute puppies do when they love you. See?? adorable and smart. Love that girl!

Monday, November 21, 2011

Don't Rain on My Parade

I took the kids to their first parade this weekend. Our good friends TJ and Amanda were kind enough to let us crash their parade watching spot. They also have 3 girls who are a little older and are so good with our 3. They have truly been a blessing to us! We are going to miss having them close by SOO much! Amanda got some cuddle time with Lily. Lily actually slept through at least part of the parade. Maggie sat with me part of the time and with Aleena in the wagon for the rest. Her favorite part were all the dogs in the parade. She would see them and point and say, "Dog!" Totally adorable.  Aleena was not sure what to make of it. She sat in the wagon taking it all in. There were a lot of people but since a lot of them kept giving her candy she was totally ok with it. Her favorite part was the replica Train Engine that someone made.

They also had their first wagon ride- Grandma and Grandpa were kind enough to let us borrow theirs. We will have to get a wagon someday since they LOVED it!


It was a great day. It was good weather and we had fun. The best part for me was watching my kids enjoy it and remembering when I was a kid at the same parade. It made me miss my grandmother because we always ended up at her house afterwards for hot chocolate. Good memories and now I get to make some with my own kids. Nothing better than that!

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Moving Mountains

I am re-starting our family blog with a more appropriate name and giving us a fresh start- since we are going to be moving in a month! Since the house is not officially ours just yet, I am not going to post a bunch of stuff about it but come December 7th be prepared for a tidal wave of pictures and information... well probably not ON the 7th but soon after!   
Our little family of five is so excited about the move! Mostly we are excited to finally have a place to settle after a few crazy years. In addition to giving you house updates as we do work on the house I will try and keep up the cute kid updates.We will be trying to tackle as much of the work as we can ourselves but there will be things I will be happy to have help with or have others do since being a  full-time Mom to 3 small kids is not conducive to getting some projects done. (nap times only last so long!!)
I just wanted to prepare for what was coming but we are so excited and look forward to sharing "The Best of Our Five" with you!