Fall Photos

Yesterday I forced the kids to let me take some fall pics of them.  After much complaining and a near software disaster, we actually got a few good shots!

COUNTERTOPS... YIPEE!!

Goodbye 3/4 inch plywood, hello real countertops!  I have been living with plywood countertops and no dishwasher for a month now... BRUTAL!!  After a fiasco with Sutherlands we finally have countertops!  I had to get them in ASAP so had to take what was in stock, but I have to say that I probably couldn't have picked better ones, they look great! I absolutely LOVE. LOVE, LOVE my sink!  Bj picked it out from the same company we bought our claw foot tub from.  I almost cheaped out and re-used my stainless steel sink but I am so glad that I didn't because the drainboard sink looks awesome!  BJ also got my dishwasher hooked up and beadboard put on my staircase today.  Now I just have to caulk the cracks and nail holes then I can paint.  Tomorrow will be spent moving a vent from the middle of the dining room floor to the perimeter so we can install laminate flooring.   For those of you who don't recall... here are before and after pics...

Kitchen: Date of Purchase - March 2011

October 2011

Dining Room: Date of purchase - March 2011

Dining Room: October 2011

Farmhouse Update...

Well, since we are back from vacation I guess it's time to get back to reality and get back to remodeling.  We have been hanging light fixtures, getting appliances hooked and just generally tying up loose ends to get ready for winter such as windows and insulation.  Thought I would post some recent pics.  Please keep in mind that the house is nowhere near finished and refer back to older pics to appreciate just how far we have come in just a couple of months!

Finally ordered a chandelier for the bathroom.  When I told BJ I was hanging a chandelier in the bathroom he said I was crazy but after he got it hung he really likes it.  Now, if we could just get the sink hooked up so I can stop brushing my teeth in the kitchen sink!

I think the dining room is going to turn out to be my favorite room.  I just love the tin lighting and I can't wait to get the stairway painted and get the wainscoting jung!

This is one of the girls 3 rooms.  Sam picked out the paint and carpet and I have to admit, it turned out pretty cute!

Colorado Trip

We had the most amazing time in Colorado!  It was about a 12 hour drive so we arrived in Denver Friday evening.  We hung out at the hotel, which was nice enough to upgrade us t a suite free throughout our vacation!   The next day we headed out to the mountains to go panning for gold and see the ghost town of St. Elmo.  It was really cool to see an original gold mine.  Unfortunately we didn't strike it rich but I was amazed to see how much gold dust there is in the mountain stream where they have mined for gold.  The town of St. Elmo is one of the best preserved ghost towns in the U.S. and it is located on the most beautiful mountain!  It was fun just to hike and explore and the kids had a blast hand feeding the thousands of chipmunks that live in the mountains!

We spend the next few days in Colorado Springs.  The first day there we visited the Royal Gorge which was one of the highlights of the trip.  This place is so super cool!  If you ever get the chance to visit, it is really worth your while.  It is a 1400 foot deep gorge in the mountains carved from the Colorado River and SCARY AS HECK!!!  There is a suspension bridge over the gorge that you can either walk or drive across.  I opted to run like hell with my eyes closed to the other side!  We rode a vertical rail to the bottom (SCARY) and rode an air tram across. (SCARY)  Sam and BJ, being the daredevils that they are, rode Skycoaster.  It is a bungee swing type ride that is 100 foot high above the gorge and swings you out over the gorge.  They also went on an hour and a half trail ride that took them to the edge of the gorge.... yes, they are insane!  (I will post a video later)

We took the drive to the top of Pike's Peak.  There was a lake about half way up.  This is probably the most beautiful view I saw in the entire state and is where the family picture is taken.  As we continued our ascent up the curvy mountain road, I descended to the floorboard to lay in fetal position and cry.  This was the scariest thing I've ever done!  The road is super narrow with straight drop offs down the mountain.  At about 12,000 feet we stopped in a parking lot where I begged BJ to leave me until they returned from the top but he swore I would freeze to death waiting on them.  I don't think I have ever been so mad at him but now I am glad he made me do it because the view from the top is breathtaking!  You can see for miles and miles an are actually so high up that you look down on the clouds!  It's crazy how it can be 80 degrees at the bottom of the mountain but by the time we reached the summit it was 30 degrees and snowing!

Some of the other activities that we did was see the ancient cliff dwellings, go to Garden of the Gods and Seven Falls.  We also visited the coolest little town I have ever stepped foot in called Manitou Springs.  Its their super cool little hippie town with a European flare.  It has natural carbonated springs and there are fountains all over the town to drink from.  (tastes like crap, but cool.)

This was by far the best vacation yet!

Family Pic at the Lake on Pike's Peak

At the summit of Pike's Peak

The view from the summit of Pike's Peak

Sam hugging the "Lucky Bucket" at the Gold Mine!

Alex and BJ trying to strike it rich!

The mountains are covered in these chipmunks that will eat from your hand!

Sam and BJ coming back fro their trail ride on the rim of the gorge!

Sam nearly peed her pants when the mules took them to the rim of the gorge!

Skycoaster... going up!

100 feet above the 1400 foot deep gorge... waiting to free fall!

In flight... Sam screaming like someone is trying to kill her!

Tram ride over the gorge

Vertical rail ride to the bottom of the gorge.

This was pure luck! As we were walking through Garden of the Gods, I overheard some photographers talking about how they have a computer program that tracks the phases of the moon and have been waiting until the timing was perfect to get this shot.  Apparently photographers travel from all over for this shot and we were lucky enough to capture it.  Too bad I don't have better photography skills, this might be worth something!

2nd day in the farmhouse

 We officially moved into the farmhouse Saturday.  I have managed to unpack everything and condense from 2000 square feet down to about 1200 square feet!   We only had 30 days to get the house somewhat livable so it is definitely a work in progress but I wanted to post pics of a couple of rooms.

This is the what the living room looked like the day that we purchased the home.  We tore out the drop ceiling, panelling, plaster and lathes.  We had the room drywalled and had new carpet installed.  I primed and painted the walls and ceilings.

This is the living room now.  I still have to install new windows and trim and find a light fixture.

This is what the bathroom looked like the day we purchased the home.  We completely gutted this room.  We installed a new floor and reinforced the joists.  Put insulation in the wall and installed new fixtures.  

This is the bathroom now.  We still have to install the shower rod on the claw foot tub, put trim on the top of the wainscoting and install a new window and trim.  I also plan to install a tin ceiling.

Farmhouse Renovation... Day 12

We are slowly putting the house back together now.  The dry wallers have FINALLY finished the drywall and I should be able to paint this weekend.  I have painted the girls room upstairs and ordered carpet.  We have an electrician coming this weekend to hook the house up to 200 amp service so that the HVAC installer can finish hooking up the new heating and cooling system.  My pics aren't that great because I always forget to take my camera so I end up with phone pics... oh well, at least I am remembering to even take pictures!

Girls upstairs room... aka: "hangout room" as they call it.  

Bathroom.  We had our contractors completely tear out the old floor, re-enforce all of the floor joists and install new plywood floor and subfloor so it can support the claw foot tub that I have ordered.

Kitchen.  I know it doesn't look like much, but I promos it is progress!  We have ripped out all of the plaster and lathes throughout the house and have had drywall hung.  It should be ready for paint this weekend!  

Farmhouse Renovation... Day 7

Bj took a week off of work and we dedicated it to working on the house.  We really got a lot accomplished!  BJ got the new roof and siding on the barn.  The house is gutted and the drywall crew is starting to put it back together.  We removed the old chimney, which was one major task!  I think I chucked like 100 bricks out the upstairs window.  I decided to put the 100 year old bricks to good use and build a fire pit.  I ordered my new claw foot tub and it should be here next week.

Ok, I realize that my kitchen cabinets are in the middle of the living room floor, but really... this is progress!  I actually have drywall now! 

Kitchen - When the drop ceiling and plaster was torn out, we uncovered a gravity vent.  This should help to heat the upstairs.  We also had the lighting re-ran to change the placement.

My new back porch light!  BJ hates it.

House Rehab!

We began gutting the interior of the house this week.  I have ripped out walls, flooring, cabinets, and ceilings!  One of the bedroom floors had 2 layers of carpeting and 3 layers of linoleum!  It took me 5 hours to get out of there!  The kitchen floor had the laminate that I put in 4 months ago and 3 layers of linoleum.  So far, the treasures that I have found are a 1966 "Monkees" trading card and a circa 1960 condom wrapper.

Living Room

When we removed the oh-so-lovely paneling from the walls, I found plaster and insulation... aka: 1976 newspapers. 

Kitchen

I cannot believe that paneling and drop ceilings were EVER a good idea!

Bathroom

If anyone would like this gorgeous pink tile for their home just let me know, but you better hurry, I'm sure they will be lining up to get their hands on it!

Living Room

New Do's!

Both girls decided to donate their hair to "Locks of Love."  We went to Artistic Hair in Monroe City and thanks to Chrissy Doolin, they have stylish new do's just in time for school!  They both donated 11 inches a piece.  Their dad won't be thrilled, he hates it when they cut their hair.

Barn Demolition

We have sold our house and are going to renovate the house on the 10 acres that we own.  We worked on the barn this weekend.  Since we don't really use the barn for the horses, BJ decided to rip our 4 of the 6 stalls it had and convert them to garage space.  When we ripped off the siding we discovered powder post beetles, so we had a pest control company come treat.  This weekend we will be putting new siding on and a new roof.

Sam and BJ's Zip-line adventure!

Sam and BJ went to New Florence, MO to ECO Zip-line.  The beginner line is 15 feet in the air and they go up from there for a total of 10 lines ending in 225 feet!  Sam had a blast!

Blizzard 2011!

I was just telling my kids how we never get a lot of snow anymore.  I was telling them how when I was a kid (I know... I sound like my mother) we used to get snow up to my knees.  Well, they finally got to see it!  We got hammered with 18.5 inches of snow last night!  

 BJ helped the girls build a snow fort out of one of the snow drifts in our yard.

Our poor little pony was up to his belly in snow!  We couldn't find their bowls so they had to eat their grain off of 2 feet of snow!

This is the water spigot that we use to water the horses.  It usually sticks up 2 feet from the ground and today we had to dig it out to water!

With 40 mile an hour winds, the garage was no match for the blizzard!

View of the front of our house... keep in mind that it sits up about 3 feet off of the ground!

The foundation in the back of the house is barely even visible!