Timeout!

We decided we needed a break so day trip to Bluemont to meet up with Aunt CiCi, Uncle David, Molly and Scarlett.  Bluemont is a tiny town west of Leesburg about an hour from Falls church.  There is a farm/pumpkin patch and a vineyard across the street.  What could be better?  Okay . . .Jace or Abby as a driver could . . . couple years for that :)

 The girls bundled up

Farm animals 

 The DeHavens

The veins on this cow were a little much 

Bouncy thing 

 A dinosaur that ate pumpkins . . . WTF?  But surprisingly entertaining.  

Than we headed over to the vineyard  . . . 

A good day.  Kids are exhausted, NC State on TV (okay not worth watching), and heading to a neighborhood party when everyone gets up.  This may be more exhausting than working on the house :)

We brought some "South" up "North" for the nursery . . .

Our focus this week was to get Abby's room mostly finished.  It is chandeliers and Lily Pulitzer for this "little southern belle".  All the furniture and decorations came from Raleigh except for the chandelier.  There was a crystal chandelier original to the house.  Jay removed it from the dining room and replaced it with a chandelier we brought from Raleigh.  

It was pretty dirty . . . .. 

but after some cleaning.  It looks great.  

Nursery Before

Nursery After

Abby is pretty happy about it!  

The plan is still focus on the upstairs and the stairs.  The bedrooms need window treatments, some little details like outlets, Jace's room needs some painting, Jace's room needs a light fixture, hmmm probably something else.  The bathroom (reminder this house has one full bath) needs some sprucing up.  We do not want to put much money in it because one day we will renovate it but for now I just want it to look a little nicer.  Also - we are working on the stairs.  We are having a the flooring company come by (that we used for the hardwoods) to give us a price on a runner.  They are the creakiest stairs but also slippery.  More to come . . . . .

Microwave Oven

So this is the microwave that came with the house.  I looked on the back label.  It was made in 1982.  

It takes about 2 minutes to heat a hot dog.  Just to put that in perspective, only 25% of households owned microwave ovens in 1986.  The first "Saved by the Bell" was in 1989 which means Zach Morris's phone was modern technology.

And yes . . .we will replace this but would like to wait until we buy the microwave we will use in the new renovated kitchen.  Now I wish I kept the one from my dorm room.  Anyone have an extra?

BTW - For those that were trying to post comments, post away.  I think I fixed what was blocking you from posting comments.  

We have a permanent residence . . . . FINALLY!

So we have officially moved.  On Wednesday, the movers dropped off all of our furniture and "stuff" that has been in storage the past 2 months.  

There were about 8 people.  They would open these pods and bring boxes and furniture out so fast.  You had to make decisions really quickly.  I do not remember there being this many boxes.  But after 5 days of constantly unpacking, we have unpacked probably 70% of the stuff.  We also had to pack up and clean our rental house.  My mother in law Jean came into town to help.  She was such a big help.  She helped us not feel so overwhelmed and she is so good at setting up rooms and decorating.  And to add to the exhaustion, the kids (especially Abby) decided to not sleep well during most of this.  Jay and I feel beaten down but here is what we have accomplished . . . . .

Master Before

Master After

Jace's room before

Jace's room after

Formal Living Room Before

Formal Living Room After

Dining Room Before

Dining Room After

Don't be deceived it is not all pretty.  Here are some pics that of rooms that are really suffering . . . 

 

Our only  bathroom with a shower has a towel as a curtain.  The shower curtain falls almost every time we have a shower.  

The back family room is our "catch all" room.  The kids love it.  Toys are everywhere.

We will be unpacking probably for the next few weeks.  We have a plumber and an electrican coming over to fix some issues that we need to address now.  After we get settled, we will start figuring out the renovation.  Jay and I are still talking about what all we want to do and who will do it.  

But all of this work, has caused us all to "tip the bottle".

Moving day eve

Moving day eve and I am excited but also dreading the morning.  If the elves could show up and unpack everything and make our house look cozy and comfortable, I would appreciate it. 

On a side note, I went to clean last night and pulled the door shut and locked myself out while taking the trash out. This is the window, I climbed through to get back in.  And it is a good 6+ feet off the ground.  And you ask, "how did I get in"?  The determination that jay did not have to wake the kids to come save me. 

On a brighter note, Jean (my mother in law) is in town. She is a huge help on many different levels.  Hoping for a good day!  

You win some, you loose some

So our trip to Charleston continued to not go our way.  Long story short . . . . We got to the airport for our 10:00 pm flight.  It was delayed an hour and a half.  At about 11:30 they decided to cancel because there was "no crew" - Thanks United.  So after 30-45 minutes at the help desk (along with the plane full of tired and irritated people), they paid for our cab ride home and we were on another flight the next morning at 8:00.  As you can imagine this was tough with two kids . . . we got home at 1:00 and back up at 6:30.  All in all, the kids were troopers.  We made it and Mimi and Pop-pop were happy to see us.  

We had a fun time.  Went to a pumpkin patch, out to lunch with Pop-pop on the water, played with their dog, bought some winter clothes, I got to get some exercise, and overall everyone slept okay.  

We than headed to Raleigh for the NC State game on Saturday morning.  Abby's first game.  She did great  Wish it would have been better weather and the pack would have won but as a pack fun we should be used to this.   But great to see friends and family.  

The houses progress . . . . we are down to the wire.  The moving company comes on Wednesday.  We have been more than happy with our floors.  Turned out great, professional company, and great price.  

The shed has been a different story.  We hired a guy "that does dirty jobs for cheap" who was recommended to us.  Well . . . I think we are getting what we paid for.  We felt a bit of a rush to get the shed into decent shape.  We have alot that has to be moved in there on Wednesday (jay's tools, outdoor junk, you know "shed stuff").  As you remember it had mold and leaks in the roof.  Well we paid for him to remove the old drywall, insulation  spray mold killer, paint interior, and patch the roof.  

Before 

After

Well lesson learned, we should not have rushed it and paid someone to come out and completely remove the roof and interior walls.  It rained last week and water is still coming in. We probably will be redoing his work one day.  Expensive lesson.  Do it the first time right.  I guess you win some, you loose some.