Finishing Touches

We are down to just a couple of minor details. One more coat of paint on the front door...
The carpet is laid out in all the rooms and will be installed tomorrow MY DISHWASHER!!!
Stove and Microwave.

The toilets flush, the lights turn on, disposal runs. Tuesday the rest of the appliances go in, and on Wednesday we have our final walk through. All that is pending then is the "occupancy inspection", and hopefully we will pass and move on Saturday. The movers ( I mean, Jeramiah) are all lined up. Wish us a quick week!

How Tall this Fall?

A more appropriate title may be "My life, flashing before my eyes.." Every year since Mwas born we have gone out to Fleitz's Pumpking farm near my parents house. They have a big pumpkin sign, seen below, with with the words "How Tall this Fall?", and a place to measure. Literally, it has become such a tradition that last year we ran all the way out there right before they closed just to snap a picture. Below are the results from the last 4 years. Notice this year is the first I didn't have to herd all three like cattle and bribe them to get a good shot. The pics before E was born are on good old fashion film, so I couldn't download those. 2004

2005

2006

TODAY!

Pumpkins, Chandeliers and Dishwashers

E and M at pumpkin decorating night at E's preschool, which used to be M's preschool, so M's old teachers got to hug him and embarrass the heck out of him.
Dining room.
Foyer.
Lights on the outside that were on this morning, looks like someone actually lives there.



I know you are all waiting anxiously to see my dishwasher, as I have stressed its major importance in the house ; ), but I couldn't get any pics this morning without really annoying the electrician who was in the middle of putting it in. I will try hard this afternoon, and with any luck I can get some of the microwave as well!!

Lighting and More Paint

Ah hah !... things are beginning to happen at warp speed now. After weeks of waiting for paint finally we are seeing major results. Here is lighting in the kitchen and over the fireplace....

Pendant lighting over the sink and dishwasher...

My chandelier in the "powder room" ( Howie thinks I am crazy for this.. no more so than his TV in the master bath. )
Howie's blue room. The color is called "refuge". ... we'll see if it feels that way when all of the kids want to watch TV in there.

Stay tuned.. tomorrow I may have outdoor lighting and my dishwasher!

Go Bucks!

Officially Friday our house has been on the market for 6 months. We've had a few prospective bites, but so far no offers. However this week a couple came through and was interested in a potential "rent to own" situation. We aren't opposed to a lease to purchase, but it was quite obvious after a little research that this particular couple was not qualified, and we politely turned down their offer.

However, Friday evening the same couple stopped in front of the house as Howie was outside playing football with the boys. Their purpose was to explain their situation, I'm sure thinking that if we could put a face to a name we might reconsider their offer. We had no intention of changing our minds, but the woman made an amusing remark that pretty much solidified our decision. She told Howie that they told all of their friends that we must be pretty cool people to have a "bumper sticker like ours" on the back of our car. As die hard Buckeye fans, our Buckeye leaf magnet looked to this non-Ohio State fan like a giant Marijuana leaf!

I don't think we'll be renting to them any time soon.....

More new pics

E's 2 minute tap recital Friday. This is her looking at the other girls in the class like they were crazy because they were actually dancing. She, however, thought it was a great chance to stand there and look pretty.
These were taken about 2 hours apart. Before and after the bannister went up.

New Pictures

PAINT!!!

Paint is going on the walls as we speak.... We have no pictures, however, because they sprayed enamel on the trim the past two days and we are not allowed in the house. I am going to try and get out there this afternoon and get some pics if they take all of the tape off.

Tomorrow or Monday the electricians start. Today the carpenter puts the stairs together, and next week things start coming together.

"M" STORIES:

* I am publishing these stories with a few disclaimers :

1. I live with my husband. You all know him and knew it was going to rub off on at least one of my children.

2. I have no control over what M hears on the school bus.

3. He was properly admonished after I stopped laughing hysterically in the kitchen and/or front seat of the car where he couldn't see me.


Story One:

Sitting in the parking lot at Giant Eagle sorting coupons... I hear in the backseat in a sing-songy voice from M ...." E is a HO (!) ....E is a HO"

I whipped around as quickly as I comprehended what was actually coming out of his mouth.
Me....."M Jack Brown... what did you call your sister!?!"

M... "a HO."

Me..."We don't talk that way...ever!! Who did you hear that from? ( getting ready to wring the necks of the 5th grade boys he rides the bus with ).

M..."From Dad"

Me... From Dad? Dad doesn't say words like that. ( at least not within earshot of the kids. )

M....( in tears ) well, we were playing basketball outside and we were playing "HORSE" and I got an H and I got an O, so Dad was calling me a HO.(!).



At least it wasn't H.....O.....R.



Story #2

M at H's flag football game last Saturday sitting on my Dad's lap....staring at my Dad's 56 year old hands.."Papa? Did you just get out of the bathtub?" ( in reference to the wrinkles HE gets when he's been in the bathtub too long.)


Story # 3....again no judgement on my parenting skills, please.


M and H in the living room where they couldn't see me in the kitchen. One of those infomercials for OxyClean came on TV.

M ...whispers to H "H, what if it was called FoxyClean ?"

M..giggle..."do you know what Foxy means?" ...

M ..." it means sex"...giggle...giggle

H at this point is oblivious to those words, ( remember H is 9 and M is 6 ) comes to tattle on M. M points out that whatever H is telling me is a lie, not knowing I heard the whole thing.


What will I do when he is 10 or 13 or 16 if I am dealing with this now?

Winding Down

Sorry for the delayed posting. Our computer was in the shop for some wacky virus, back now, healthy, and I can finally get this site updated. We are coming into the homestretch after some very tedious weeks of waiting for trimwork and paint. However, paint STILL to come. Tomorrow all the trim gets sprayed with primer, then sanded then two coats of enamel. Then next week all the walls get a final coat. ( If I said it was taking so long it was like watching paint dry is that redundant? ). Below is our newly minted baby grass. Just in time as the weather turned into October today.
Here's the backsplash before all the grouting.
The newel posts. There is trim work yet to go on the bottom, hence the lack of stain towards that end.
Here is the fireplace mostly done. That is cardboard over the glass holding the tile in place, not poorly cut wood or tile as I first thought (!). Since this pic, more trim has gone up and the tile has been grouted.
After paint, the electricians and plumbers come back to install lighting and, well, toilets. Carpet and appliances go in last.