Friday, October 30, 2009

House Preview

Here is your first preview of the work we have done on the house. It is not terribly exciting, but I like the way it turned out. It is the hallway leading to the boys room, bathroom, and nursery. I found an example of this on the internet this summer and talked Travis into doing it in our house. Anyway, here are the pictures:

Before picture of the hallway.


During our renovations. The walls hadn't been painted yet and you can see we broke out the tile and tore the carpet out.

Installing the beadboard.


Travis did all of the work himself. He built a shelf and attached it to the beadboard. I wanted a ledge to put family pictures on.


Final product! I used picture frames I already had and filled them with my favorite family photos.


Align Center
Looking towards the bathroom. You can see the wood floors we installed through most of the house. We still need to change out the hallway light fixture.


More pictures


You can see the new doors we installed. You can also see that we painted all the wood trim in the entire house.


I really like how it turned out. Good job, Travis!

Catching Up...

Get ready, because this post is going to catch you up from the last 4 months! We have finally moved into our house and are trying to find our things among hundreds of boxes. The boys have loved finding some of their favorite toys and have been entertained by helping us unpack boxes. Moving is definitely harder when you have two busy little boys trying to "help". We have gotten a lot done, but have so much to do to get the house the way we want it. The master bathroom isn't functional right now, so Travis and I find ourselves roaming across the house to use the restroom or shower. It is such a mess! I will post pictures of the house as soon as things are settled a bit more. I do have to brag about my husband a little bit, because he has done ALL of the work on the house except for painting the cabinets and trim and installing the wood floors. He has done AMAZING work and has worked very hard. He has been working after his day job and on weekends. Travis' Mom and Dad also helped out quite a bit by helping on the house or watching the boys so we could work. I did help before I got pregnant, but after we found out I was pregnant I didn't help much because a lot of the materials that we were using could be harmful to the baby and we didn't want to take any chances!

So back to the last 4 months...


The first week we were here we headed out to the farm because they were cutting grain and Tyler wanted to ride the combine and tractor. He absolutely loves being out there and I'm pretty sure he threw a fit when we had to go home.

Uncle Lynn, Travis, Tyler, and Cooper riding the tractor and emptying the buggy into the truck.

Grandpa and Cooper out at the farm.


Grandpa, Travis, Sarah, and Cooper going for a ride on the Combine.


We have made several trips to the beach since we moved. The boys absolutely love going and driving their dump trucks in the sand. The first trip we took to the beach they weren't real big fans of the water, but since then they have become more brave and they love to play in the water too! I think there will be many more trips to the beach in our future.

Tyler and Cooper driving their trucks in the sand.


Tyler digging holes in the sand.


Tyler and Keith feeding the birds at the beach.


The week after we moved we celebrated Cooper's 2nd birthday. Travis and I took the boys to the circus one Saturday for his birthday. They had fun, but they are probably still a little young for the full experience. It wasn't very crowded and after intermission we moved up to the very top row because Cooper was tired of sitting down. We ended up leaving early, but overall had fun. The boys really liked the animal parts of the show, but the goofy stuff they do between the animal acts bored the boys!

Before we left Grandma gave the boys some money for a treat. Tyler picked out a snowcone (that he ate one bite of!) and Cooper picked out Cotton Candy that came with a crazy hat.


Cooper and Daddy watching the show.


Mama and Tyler


Cooper in his crazy hat eating his cotton candy!


On Cooper's actual birthday we had a little party with family. We cooked out and had cake and homemade ice cream.

Thomas the Train was a big hit!


Family picture.


Cooper digging in head first.


Sugar high!


Getting ready to open presents. So serious!


The boys still love playing outside, although the flies, gnats, and mosquitoes seem to be worse down here. It is quite annoying and the boys get mad and demand to go inside. We finally have had some cooler weather down here so hopefully the bugs will go away for awhile.

The boys riding through Grandpa's fruit trees.


Tyler's truck is sporting some new paraphernalia.


Both Cooper and Tyler are going to school this year! It has been really nice for all of us. The boys love it (although I'm not sure Cooper would admit it!) and have been learning so much. The other day Cooper busted out singing the ABC's and I was shocked! Tyler doesn't even know the ABC's! They are doing great at school and have made some new friends. Tyler walks in like an old pro and doesn't look back. Cooper on the other hand, clings to me until the very last second. Once I leave he is completely fine and loves every minute of it!

Cooper on his first day of school!


Cooper's school had a pumpkin patch fundraiser so I took the boys recently to pick out some pumpkins.
Cooper showing off his unique pumpkin.

Sweet Cooper!

When we moved into the house we decided we were going to go ahead and move Cooper to his big boy bed. He has done great with it and hasn't gotten out of bed except at naptime. The boys are sharing a room and loving it. I know they are going to have so much fun together. They really do love each other and have fun together.

Cooper getting ready for his first night in his big boy bed!


Tyler helping Daddy screw in the new drain for the tub.


Well, that is all for now! I have a small preview of some of the work we have done on the house that I will post soon. I promise I will be blogging more now that we are in our house.

2012

It's time for our recap of 2012!  This year has brought some major answer to prayers and we have seen the hand of God move in incredible...