Jenna's 4th Birthday

Since she talked about this birthday for the past two months, I figured we should get these pictures up promptly.  Thanks to everyone for the cards, gifts and for making it for the party.  She had a great time if you didn't notice.

Here's just a few of the pictures.

Jackpot!

Here's a small taste of the enjoyment the girls had at Dave and Busters.  Nora hit a 1000 and Jenna hit a 750 ticket jackpot, they loved it.  This is the payoff for getting 3 book reports done last month.  Good times...

Pumpkin Fest!

We couldn't have asked for a better weekend to end the year in Door County.  Crisp mornings and warm days made this weekend perfect.  We've got a few pictures that we've added from the dairy farm, corn maze and walking around Egg Harbor.  Thanks as always to both sets of parents for the help with our chili dump on Friday.

First day of school....about a month ago.

I guess there hasn't been a post in a while so here are some of the pictures that have been piling up on the computer.

Elsa, Nora and now Jenna are all going to St. John's.  Jenna is in the K3 program two days a week, which is a pretty big deal around here.  She's happy to see her sisters at lunch time and occasionally during recess.   Elsa and Nora have quickly gotten used to the increase in homework and are doing very well.

As for the farmhouse, we haven't been doing much up there last month, but were trying to keep it that way for once.  We did manage to finish the fireplace hearth just in time for the cooler fall weather.  We re-tiled and installed new stove pipe and we've been getting our use out of it already.  This weekend is Pumpkin Fest in Egg Harbor and after that we'll slowly wind things down and close it up for the winter.

Putting a roof over our head

Here's the final tally:

1lb coffee
36 Advil
5 gallons lemonade
just a few beers
3600 nails (after removing 10,800)
45 bundles of shingles
2 pairs of shoes
2 pairs of pants
and 1 broken ankle

A huge thanks to everyone who pitched in; it would still be under construction without you.  And to those who couldn't make it up...wise decision.

Before

After

Gregory Palooza Pictures

In case you haven't had enough pictures of the Gregory Palooza, or you didn't get to see them while you were there, there are about 50 more in the slideshow.  Thanks again to Justin for the food, Mom and Dad for the accommodations and everyone else for being there.

Melissa's Good-Bye to Elwood

Jason usually does all the posting, but today is my turn. It was a hard decision to make, but we had to let Elwood go. Last summer's back injury was catching up to him again. He was also struggling to breath. I could not bear to watch him. A few rolls of the tennis ball, a walk to the corner, a trip down the stairs were all out of the question anymore. For a dog dedicated to running, retrieving, and goofing, this was clearly no fun. I realized it was time to say goodbye to the lipcurl, the licks to my hand, the water dripping from those lips two sizes to big, the socks in the yard, and the everyday goofiness that was Elwood. From the day we thought we were going to pick a puppy but instead he walked over and licked my hand as if to say he picked me; he never strayed from my side, he always jumped on the bed next to me, laid at my feet at the fire, and watched and waited at the back door for me to come home. He may have hunted with Jason, but he was my companion, and I will miss him terribly. Hug your dog for me tonight. Give them that extra toss of the tennis ball and remember that they picked you as much as you picked them. You owe it to them to do the right thing no matter how it makes you feel.

Floors and Furniture

We've been too busy and/or tired to post lately but I thought we should update the progress here.  The last trip was a big one, getting paint and flooring all done.  We were then able to put some real furniture in the house, like our new old floor table provided by Mom and Dad.  We even got some of the seed bag decorations on the wall.  These were the bags that we found in the attic of the garage covered with 3" of dirt and other dirt.

The plan from here forward is to slowly get to a few things every trip but also to give ourselves some time to enjoy the summer.  The roofing party is planned for Aug 6-8, but after that it should be on cruise control for the rest of the summer.

Windows done, on to drywall

Last weekend was a good 5 day run at the farm.  All of the front windows were installed except for the one late entry that we decided on after the work was done.

The picture above is the original look, and below the new windows plus the hidden window that was covered up with siding.

For the inside we got a lot of the drywall hung, just not mudded yet.  The next couple weekends will be hanging the remaining walls and finishing the drywall.

Here's the mud room from the first weekend (above) and with some new walls up (below).

As we left last weekend the new well was being finished up and that should make last weekend the last trip without showers.  There are a few more pictures in the slide show and we'll keep posting them as we keep making progress.  

Weekend update

We got some crucial items out of the way this weekend.  The biggest being the electrical.  We pulled all of the wires back and ran them through the wall instead of inside the cold air return for the furnace.  With that out of the way we were able to install our beam to widen the doorway from 3' to 6'.  It really opens it up nicely.

After the beam was in we were able to put down sub-flooring in the living room.  It stiffened up the floor quite a bit and will give us a nice flat surface for the laminate flooring.

We also got most of the work done on the counter top.  It's not permanently installed yet, but it's ready to go once we get water running.  It also makes at least one room look like it's getting somewhere.

Thanks for all the helping hands this weekend as always.

With sub-floor down

BEFORE

AFTER

Lipstick on a pig...

Here's how we left the kitchen last weekend.  It's going to look good someday soon.  We installed the door between the mudroom and the kitchen (far right on the pictures) and got the window above the sink removed to be painted down in Milwaukee.  With some new back splash and a new upper cabinet it will be quite the cheap transformation.

Start of the day:

End of the day:

Some more of the demo pictures

Just a couple more pictures from last weekend.  On a funny note, while showing these at work I had more than one person ask who the construction crew was working with us.... They noticed the hard hats and figured no DIYer would be in such OSHA approved gear.

Flippin' Jacksonport

We've been trying to get some pictures posted of our place in Door County for a while, but we're finally getting to it.

First off, a huge thanks to both sets of parents for all the help so far with childcare and grunt work.  We'd be stuck without them, so Thank You!

So if you haven't seen the place yet (Matt & Robin, and James & Morgan, come on out and bring some tools) it's a farmhouse with a pole barn and a barn and silos. The house itself is going to be a nice spot once we get some work done.  We signed all the papers on it the weekend of March 7th and we've already filled one dumpster with our demolition.  We're going to be putting in new flooring, new drywall and new windows in the front two rooms.  The back entrance is going to get the same treatment along with some new plumbing lines.  After this initial rush of work we'll slow down a little bit....after a new roof and siding gets done as well.  We'll try to keep posting progress and I'll get the other pictures up soon.

This is my new work crew...

We're almost finished with our re-insulation project in the meat locker, otherwise known as the first floor bedroom.  When it was time for the breaking of the walls there were plenty of helpers...not so many for the insulation or drywall sanding parts.  It's now the warmest room in the house; funny how that happens when you actually have fully insulated walls.

This is also the official notice that the Fold out Bed and Breakfast is temporarily closed. The girls will take over the second floor of the house and Melissa and I will now permanently lease the B&B room.  Don't worry though, we're working on finding a fold out couch with a therapeutic bar right in the middle of your back...or something similar.

I highly recommend this crew:

And a Happy New Year

We've got some new pictures up from the Real O.C.  James and Morgan got to spend a lot of time entertaining the girls while everyone else just tried to stay warm.  There was one small snow fort built, but it needed a fire right next to it for it to be comfortable.  Other than that, most of the time was spend inside by the fireplace.  Enjoy the rest of the pictures in the slideshow.