Takes a lickin', keeps on tickin.

Yes, we are still here and still alive. Barely! Sorry I haven't written lately, but things have been extremely hectic. 

Drum roll, please...

We are officially moved into our new house!

But things are far from settled. We weren't willing to sacrifice refrigerator space so Jesse cut out part of a wall to fit our new, big fridge into the space. This has led to the discovery that neither one of could make a living doing sheet rock work. Three coats of compound later, we give up. It'll have to do. Now I have to sand one more time, primer and paint. And when I sand, it get everywhere in the house. I mean everywhere- like inside the kitchen cabinets. The entire house needs cleaned again, from top to bottom. Ugh! But as soon as that's done, we can get the kitchen 100% done!

The babies' bathroom is pretty much done. All that's left is a new counter top and since our sink is rusted, we have to replace that. Our bathroom will have to wait for a while. No biggie. Just disappointed because I had our vanity and faucet and everything planned and picked out.

...drip...Now comes the super duper exciting part of organizing everything! ...drip...In case you didn't catch that, that last sentence is dripping with sarcasm. Although having an organized pantry and craft area will be a first in my life so that should feel good for a while. OOH! Jesse took the doors off one of the cabinets in the laudry closet and cut the bottom out. Then our friend painted the inside of the cabinet the same color as the wall. Jesse hung me a closet rod so that I can pull clothes right out of the dryer and put them on hangers. How cool is that? So cool that is makes me old! It's the little things in life. I bought the wood to make a shelf above the rod. It's gonna look good after it's all done. 

Colton and Ava are loving the new house and are adjusting well. We found out that Colton is actually too big for his toddler bed. His little feet hang over the edge. *Sigh* He's not a little baby anymore. So now I'm on the hunt for bunk beds. Of course I suggested to Jesse that we could just make some and he replied that his list was long enough already! Oh well. 

The day after we moved into the house, I started a new job. I love it! You're looking at the new designer for Specialists of the South. I get to pick out fabric for window treatments and upholstery and look at old furniture and antiques all day. It's a lot of fun and everyone I work with is super nice. Our family has been very blessed this year and I'm extremely grateful for all our blessings and the wonderful things happening in our lives. 

I'll try to update more often now that we're semi-settled. Maybe we'll get our computer out and actually use it this weekend. We'll see. :)

Love,

Sunshine

I've got pictures!!!!

SO, in all this mess, I have somehow misplaced my nifty Canon camera. I was actually going to go around and snap a few pictures of our progress on the house, but had to resort to my cell phone. So that's all ya get! 

I can happily say the 99.9% of the painting is DONE!!! I did have a slight mishap with a wet door frame and a mass of hair last night. (If anyone knows of a safe way to get paint out of hair, let me know!) 

We managed to get some curtains put up and they are beautiful. I went to put the second pair up and silly me bought one that was the wrong size. It was on clearance too, so no hope of finding a replacement. Guess I've got some fabric for new pillows and projects around the house! That set of curtains just happens to match the accent wall perfectly, too! While I am very frustrated with myself for making such a silly mistake, it will all turn out good.

I got so excited after I put the curtains up, that I grabbed some other accessories lying around and made a little vignette. This is going to be such a cozy place to sit and read by the fire...

 

Don't mind the mess...

Our beautiful painting looks absolutely perfect with it's new light. Kinds like it was meant to be;)

The details of lasts night conversation are a little fuzzy, but I think Jesse's level head prevailed and we decided to move in next weekend instead of this weekend. Phooey! But we don't have a refrigerator yet. It won't be delivered until sometime next week. No point in moving in if we don't have any food. One of us has to be the adult, and I vote Jesse! He does such  a good job. 

Our yard needs mowing and a lot of trimming. It's quite overgrown, but I did snap a few pictures of our beautiful flowers. I'm in love with the hydrangea! Ava has the perfect view of it from her bedroom. It starts out blue and then turns purplish and fades to a dusty rose. We're excited about our limes, too. Colton keeps picking them and informing us that he thinks they're ripe now.

Enjoy! 

Love,

Sunshine

Coming or going....

I'm not sure which I'm doing these days. Most mornings, I wake up not knowing what day it is. I have to look at my phone to tell me. We were insane to think we could do all this in 2 weeks! It's now going on it's 4th week. Jesse and I are both ready for this whole move to be over. It won't really be over then. We'll just get to take it slower.

Tonight is vacation night though!!! My wonderful step-mom is in town and we're all going to get together this evening and relax. Mimi and David are out of town so we have to go over and make sure they're pool doesn't get lonely;-) Jesse even gave in and is taking the night off! 

Funny story time...I was painting the accent wall (that Jesse insisted we have!), but the light switches didn't have a cover plate yet. They're hanging out of the wall by their wires. Well, I needed to paint around them, so I just moved one over and got a real surprise. Sparks went flying everywhere and then the living room and dining room went dark! Oops! Yeah, I fried a switch or two. Jesse just shook his head at me. I've been moving switches with now problems in the past, but Jesse's been smart enough to turn off the breakers for me! I am a walking catastrophe.

Other news...

The babies had an absolute blast on their vacation to Grandma and Grandpa Menefee's! Colton is officially a big boy now and has lost his first tooth! We were so surprised. It's his bottom front tooth and he looks so cute now! For months, he's been saying that he thinks this tooth or that tooth is loose. Some kids in his class last year were loosing teeth and that started the worrying. Poor boy takes after Momma on that aspect. He wanted to wash Bear last night and I had just started a load. So he through him in the washer and about had a hysterical fit. He was all worried that the agitator in the machine would cut Bear's head off. It took me over 20 minutes to calm him down enough to go to sleep. But all is well this morning. 

Well, that's all I have time for this morning. More exciting news to come in the next few weeks....!

Love,

Sunshine

Still going...

So...

This weekend was all about the house. We got a lot accomplished with the help of our friend, Daryl. When it comes to painting, he prefers to cut in, and is very talented at it. Which is perfect, but I was in such a hurry that I only wanted to roll. I am pleased to say that I absolutely love every color we chose! There was so much painting to do that I almost gave in and decided to not paint the living room/dining room/ hall/ library/kitchen. But I already bought all the paint, so I started in the living and dining rooms and was ecstatic as soon as the roller hit the wall. I also have to paint almost all the trim. It's a perfect white now, but I want a softer look. Plus the fireplace is already a cream color. It's just a little difference that makes a big impact. It's going to be a very calming space. 

Jesse was a little perplexed that I decided to paint everything one color. I have officially turned that boy! He talked me into painting one wall in the living an accent color. We'll have paint leftover from the kid's bath, so the accent wall will be a bright cyan color. 

We also got the new lock installed. It's awesome! It has an electronic keypad so we don't even have to have a key. You just punch in your code and open the door. You just push a button, and it locks. Jesse and I had a bet going. He didn't think changing the locks was important, but I was dead set on it. So I said that I would do it. He bet me it would take over 2 hours. I said, no way. I'll get it done in an hour. Guess who won? It was kinda a draw, but I'm saying I won. It took me an hour and half, but we got interrupted and I had to talk to the plumber, so I'm still saying I won! 

Jesse got lots of electrical work done, I think! Most of his work is stuff that doesn't have an immediate result. He was in the attic for a long time, and had to re-wire switches and replace boxes and what-not. We're adding a few fans so he has to replace and add some boxes to hold all the weight. The whole house wiring didn't make much sense to us, so he's basically rewiring the whole thing. Just moving switches so that they make more sense. 

All three of us worked really hard this weekend, and there's more to come. Thankfully, we can stay in our rental house until August, so that give us a lot more time. It would be impossible to move everything out and repaint the rental buy this weekend. I'm pretty sure we would both drop dead from exhaustion! 

I would post pictures, but I'm too busy to download them! Maybe I'll get some posted this week. All in all, we're both extremely happy and very tired. But, I am renewed this morning and am busy finding more things to buy! All these details! We're going to gut our bath and redo the entire thing, so tile is my next big to-do item. Oh yeah, we're getting new dual-flush toilets also. So I'm researching those along with refrigerators. 

We were going to wait the do anything to the kid's bath, but the half of their light fixture doesn't work, so if I'm replacing that, I might as well replace the rest of the fixtures. The last owners mounted the towel bars with only adhesive. STRONG adhesive. I had to knock them both off and of course, rip the sheetrock in the process. More putty and sanding. So repainting is also now necessary. But we decided to hold off on painting the kitchen cabinets until after we move in, so that will save us the time we didn't plan for in the bath.

Well, I've about talked your eyes off, so I'll let ya go. I just want to say that Jesse and I are both very thankful for all the blessings we have and the ability to do all this work. 

Love,

Sunshine

More shennanigans!

Last night we were at the new house working on things- actually working this time, not running around getting supplies. Ava "helped" me paint while Colton was entertained with coloring books and the t.v. we brought over. She was also the d.j. But she only plays one song: Mary Had a Little Lamb. All this while running around in nothing but her  underwear! 

The AC isn't working for some reason. We bought a new thermostat and Jesse spent most of the evening installing it. He's done a few of these before and we've talked with a few people who that the thermostat was the most likely problem. This one was a pain in the butt though. For some reason, it's only powered by batteries. This isn't normally the case. And when we turned it to cool, the heat came on. Or at least it felt like heat, but we were already sticky and hot, so who knows! 

On a good note, the "chair rail" came down quite easily. The previous owners put chair rail in the living and dining rooms. Only they used crown molding for some reason. So the top wasn't flat. It angled back down the wall. It looked funny. We were worried that they had glued it on, but thankfully they nailed it up. There were a few places that were glued and that the wall paint stuck to the molding and ripped the sheetrock, but nothing major. Plus, we'll be able to re-use the trim as actual crown molding in the bedroom. 

That about it for now. More later, I'm sure!

Love, 

Sunshine

We have a house!

It was official as of 4:30 yesterday afternoon! We are super excited and have already started moving boxes in. The next few weeks will be busy ones, for sure.

Jesse has made a list of all the electrical supplies we need and plans on starting on that this afternoon. He's replacing all the outlet and switches, plus adding several new switches and a few can lights. All the fans and light fixtures are getting changed out also. I'm in charge of painting- both houses! I have to paint the rental house back to white when we leave. There are only 2 rooms we're not painting in the new house. Oh! I'm also painting the kitchen cabinets. May even get new counter tops! It's going to be so cute when we're done. We had to order the paint and it should be here Friday...hint, hint. It's a brand called Yolo Colorhouse. It's Green Seal Certified, no VOC and just good paint. Plus it isn't as expensive as the other brands that are locally available and not as healthy. Air pollutants are the number one health concern in homes, and being environmentally friendly is extremely important to both Jesse and I.

Colton and Ava are excited. They've picked out their rooms Colton is getting yellow with blue and red stripes and Ava is going all purple, of course! They both have good sized rooms and big closets. Both rooms look out at the back yard and there's a Hydrangea bush next to Ava's window. We discovered we also have  lemon tree in the back yard! Super excited about that! There are probably over 200 fruits on there ripening right now. 

Guess I'd better tell you a little about the house, not just what we're going to do to it. It's a cute little ranch style, brick home just five roads down from where I grew up as a teenager. We loved that area when we lived there and are glad to be back. It's 1500 square feet with 3 bedrooms and 2 baths. The bedroom closets are all at least 6' long. There are lots of windows, too. The living room has a fireplace! In the kitchen, there's a flat-top cooktop, which we both love and a separate oven. Even it's a little smaller than an oven in a range, I like that the oven is at chest height. It'll make it easier to get things out and I won't have to worry about the babies so much running into the oven door when I have it open. 

Jesse has his own "man cave." The last owner's converted the garage to a bonus room and outside storage on the front. We can use his man cave for storage and he gets a room all to himself. I don't know exactly what his plans are for that room. That's one he can all to himself. I'm hoping to get one all to myself, too. We have a dining room off the kitchen and another one off the living room with french doors that open onto the deck. I'm *hoping* we'll have enough room for our dining room set to get in the room next to the living room so that I can have the room next to the kitchen. There's a closet in that room that I'm claiming as my craft center, regardless of what the room gets used as. But, plans are right now to let the bigger room be my "library." We'll have my bookcases and the computer desk in there. Plus, I'll have to get some new seating and maybe make a coffee table. I've already got it all picked out ;-)

Jesse was insistent that we get a new dishwasher. The one we have now is atrocious. The racks don't come all the way out, it's only 18" wide and you can never get it clean. We looked at the one in the new house last night and were both surprised at how new it is. So we decided we don't have to buy a new one. That's good news. I know it works too because someone's little hands couldn't keep from turning the dial last night!

I've probably worn your eyes out now, so I'll sign off. We're very thankful to everyone who has helped, listened and guided us through this process. The people we worked with at Trustmark and Carroll Realty, Melissa Ingle and Catrina Raevens, were wonderful and extremely understanding. I would recommend them in a heartbeat if anyone out there is looking for a home. 

We love you all!

Love,

Sunshine

It's summer!

Today is the first day of summer break for the babies. They are so excited. We have a busy summer planned, too.

Colton had a great first year at school. We got his report card yesterday and, once again, he made all S's! He's starting his scholastic career extremely well and we couldn't be more proud of him! His teacher gave everyone in the class awards and he received "Most Imagination." He also told me this morning that he was the smartest kid in the class! Confidence obviously isn't a problem for him. 

Our summer is going to be action packed. We close on the house hopefully next week. We have our rental house until July so every extra day we get in June will be a great help in getting our to do list done before we move in. The babies are super excited to move to a new house, even though they haven't seen the inside yet. Colton wants a yellow room and Ava wants purple, of course! Every room in the house is going to be painted except the bathrooms. The kitchen cabinets are in good shape, but they will also get a few coats of paint and new hardware. Jesse is adding can lights galore (thank you, Baby :-)) and replacing all the outlet and switches. Plus, changing out the heating element in the hot water heater, replacing the HVAC thermostat and all the hose bibbs. 

At the end of June, the babies are taking a vacation with their daddy to go see Grandma and Grandpa Menefee. They both love playing on the little farm my parents have. Every morning, they get to go on an egg hunt to find the fresh eggs the hens have laid. Plus, there's a pond in the front yard! It's full of catfish they try to catch. No trip to the farm would be complete without lots of rides on the neigh-neighs, either!

As soon as the get back from Grandpa's, we're loading up Mimi and Mr. David's car and all of us are setting out on a road trip to see Aunt Brenda up near Chicago. There will be lots of exciting things going on up there including a free zoo, an aquarium, the Taste of Chicago and Navy Pier. 

Then Grandma Menefee is coming down for a few weeks at the end of July. Colton also wants to go see his cousins, Hannah and Parker. This will be the summer of the family! 

I know I said it before, but I'm just so excited! I imagine there will also be lots of caffeine involved! My dreams are large, my stamina small. 

We hope everyone has a great summer and hope to see ya soon!

Love,

Sunshine