Faking our Foundation

Jason has hated our foundation since we moved into our house. It's never really bothered me but apparently, every time Jason went outside his OCD kicked in and he found himself staring at all of the imperfections.

We never really addressed our curb appeal. So far, nearly all of the work we've done in this little Cape has been interior work, except for the landscaping around our pool, which isn't looking too shabby if I do say so myself.

Anyway, you might remember that the front of our house looks like this

 

 

 

 

 

We have been stuck on what to do about those awful steps.

So we've done nothing.

I'd like a porch -   not really so I could sit out there because we have some very unsightly apartments across the street from us  -- but because:

A.) I think it would look nice

And

B.). I want to decorate a porch for all of the holidays.

 

I've got visions of pumpkins and hay for Halloween,

 

 

Source: google.com via Stephenie on Pinterest

 

 

white lights, a sled, and buckets of pine cones for Christmas

 

Source: blog.styleestate.com via Stephenie on Pinterest

 

 

Source: authentichomeblog.com via Stephenie on Pinterest

 

And rocking chairs for anytime

Source: flickr.com via Stephenie on Pinterest

 

But it's unlikely to happen because

A.) Jason doesn't want anymore building projects anytime soon. He values having the rest of his teeth

And


B.)  We just dropped a bunch of money on improving the unsightly foundation. To build a porch would be to cover Jason's beautiful foundation work.

 

So the steps remain.
 

But the foundation is getting a face lift. At the beginning of the summer we had a quote from some masons on how much it would cost to do stone veneer on our foundation.

 

After getting the quote, Jason decided to do it himself, even though he's never done stone veneer before.

 

So we placed our order at Lowes and a few weeks later, pallets of fake stone were dropped in our driveway.

And they sat there all summer while Jason finished the deck and we enjoyed ourselves doing all kinds of summery things.

 

Now that Fall is here, the pressure is on to get those fake stones up before the cold weather hits.

So Jason is busy at work. I've wanted to help, but having a one and a half year old running around doesn't exactly make helping easy.

 

 

The other added pressure is that Imani completed her summer reading challenge. (I'll explain in another post, but let's just say we have our part of the bargain to uphold).

We were worried it might look cheesy, but I'm loving the new look of the house. I can't wait to show it to you!

 

 

 

 

Most Expensive Deck Ever

In the Spring I posted about Jason's freak accident with the deck. If you missed it, you can read about it here.

Believe it or not, his tooth could not be saved. That's right, the dentist had to extract Jason's front tooth because the nail shattered the tooth all the way up under Jason's gum line. Since the accident, J has had to wear what is called a 'flipper.' It's a temporary front tooth that pops in and out (kind of like dentures but with just one tooth on it.)

He is in the process of getting a dental implant, but it takes a long time because you have to wait for the bone to heal before the oral surgeon can drill into the gum line. It will be almost a year before the implant is complete.

Yup, it sucks but what can we do? I have a beautiful deck and a beautiful husband minus one front tooth.

For those of you who have ever had a dental implant, you know how costly they can be. . . So our DIY deck ended up costing us the same as it would have if we hired out for labor. . . And Jason would still have his front tooth!

Anyway, the old deck was small and we didn't like that the railing ran horizontally and wasn't very child-proof.  In an attempt to make the deck safer in case Noah ever got out of the house into the pool area, we wanted to install vertical rails. We also wanted more space on the deck since we like to entertain.

 

Here is the deck just before Jason was about to start working on it.
 

 

 

 

 

Here it is from another angle . . . equally ugly and unimpressive.

 

 

 

 

 

Jason never built a deck before and everyone told us it was really easy. Jason says it was as easy as everyone reports, but the freak accident(s) made it one of his least favorite projects. Not only did he lose his tooth to the deck, but he also had a drill bit break and he drilled through his finger.

 

I was starting to think the deck was cursed. 

Yeah, I'm glad the deck project is over. To be honest, it was over at the beginning of the summer but my home computer is ancient and is running extremely slowly. Now that I figured out some iPad and iPhone apps, blogging just got easier!

Anyway, our go-to guy Kelby explained everything to Jason to get the deck built.

 

To make life easier, Jason used the existing framework of our old deck for what would become half of the new deck.  First, he removed all of the old deck boards, which were in pretty rough shape.

 

 

 

 

 

 

After J removed all the old deck boards, he dug post holes 42 inches deep for the new deck addition. The town building inspector had to come out to check every step before Jason could go on to the next step. After approval from the building inspector, the post holes were filled with concrete.

 

 

 

 

Kelby and Jason framed up the new 12x12 section and the new deck boards were run over the entire 24x24 frame.

 

Once the deck boards were on, Jason installed the vinyl railing.   

 

 

 

 

And here is the final deck (you can see our building permit still hanging on our sliding glass door because we have yet to have the building inspector come out and give us the final approval).

 

 

 

We still have to stain it, but you're supposed to wait a year before applying the stain to the deck boards.  I'm already stressed about the color! 

 

 

And we need to buy a larger table so that we can enjoy having meals on the deck.  Currently, we only have a small bistro table.  I enjoy having my breakfast out there each morning but if we want to entertain or have dinner out there as a family, we will need a bigger table.

 

If you can suggest where we might be able to find a nice table online at a reasonable price, do share!

Sidetracked by Mold

For the past month, every time Jason and I go to bed, he sneezes uncontrollably.

 I was convinced he was allergic to Maggie, since she sleeps in bed with us.

Maybe I thought it would just  help my argument to get her out of the bed before the baby arrives,
but no luck.

A couple of weekends ago, my sister and her friend Lauren visited because my sister was throwing a baby shower for me.  Lauren was sleeping in our sitting room downstairs, just below our bedroom.  She commented that she had to move into our family room because the sneezing was keeping her awake.

It was THAT bad.

I started thinking maybe we had down throw pillows on our bed, since Jason is allergic to feathers, but that wasn't it either.

Jason insisted he smelled a mold every time he went to bed.

But I didn't smell it and I insisted again that Maggie be moved out of the bed.

But she remained . . . and the sneezing continued.

Friday was a beautiful day. It was unseasonably warm and sunny -- a welcome break from all of the cold and snow we've had this winter.

I was exhausted so I turned into bed especially early Friday night.  And the warmth of the day made the stench that much more noticeable.  When I climbed into bed, I smelled it.

Jason wasn't crazy after all.

The moldy smell was seeping out from our bedroom wall above our bed.

I called Jason upstairs immediately.  I couldn't sleep in that room, so I move into Imani's room for a little sleepover (and of course, she was thrilled!)

There was only one way to fix the problem . . . and even though Saturday, we had big plans to address the nursery closet, Jason spent Saturday night tearing down the sheetrock behind our bed.

All of the insulation was damp so it all got bagged up and removed from the house.  

Apparently, when we had our windows replaced last year, the company that installed the window didn't seal it properly, so Jason went back through and re-caulked the whole window and then sprayed it with spray foam to prevent future leaks.  

The foam was huge and bulging out of the cracks when it dried so Jason had to cut it.

Imani and I had another sleepover in her room and I think she secretly hoped the wall would never get fixed.

Of course I figured that while the wall is ripped apart, we might as well make a few changes to it. You'll have to wait and see what we come up with.

We spent a good chunk of our Sunday afternoon wandering around Lowes buying everything we'd need to replace the wall, along with materials to address the baby's closet . . . if we ever get to it. 

I almost fell over when I saw the grand total at checkout.

This wasn't in the budget, but it's a good thing the Coupon Cowboy has been saving us so much money week after week.

I'm happy to report that although the wall isn't finished, I am back to sleeping in my own bed, much to Imani's disappointment.

AND  I'm getting a full night's sleep, since my husband isn't up sneezing all night!! :-)

And Maggie remains comfortable in bed with us, despite my desire to kick her out before the baby arrives.

My Favorite Room Renovation of 2010

I started blogging in February of this year and, looking back, I'd say it was quite a year.  I started the blog to share all of our home renovations because I was finding myself pulling out renovation pictures every time someone came over to our house.  I wish I would've started blogging sooner because some of the transformations were so amazing.  It's been great to look back on the year in review and see all that we've accomplished.

Perhaps the most impressive room renovation this year was our upstairs bathroom.  It was a tiling extravaganza as Jason set out to complete my vision of a bathroom much like the tiled ones I am fortunate enough to stay in when I travel for work.

It was probably one of the most drastic room transformations in all of our house.  Let me refresh your memory.

It started off pretty dumpy.  It was dingy with old dirty sheet rock and nasty green tiles.  The stand up shower was tiny and had a plastic shower surround and a plastic base  We used this room as a "crate" for our dog, Maggie when we first got her . . . and we felt badly for leaving her in such a nasty space!

But let's fast forward to earlier this year, when Jason completed my vision and we tiled from floor to ceiling.

You might recall that this was a family project and Jason agreed to tile the whole bathroom, but it would be my job to seal all grout lines . . . and spray sealing was NOT allowed!  So I set to work with a little paint brush and a cup of grout sealer while Jason and Imani watched a movie downstairs.

I thought those grout lines would never end . . . and I started to question why in the world I had this idea of all this tile!

But thankfully, my wonderful husband and daughter took pity on me and joined in the fun.

And Ta-Da!  Finally, the room was complete!

The shower has custom-cut glass with oil-rubbed bronze fixtures and a stone-pebbled floor.

This was, by far, my favorite room renovation of the year because it is my own little pretend spa space, where I get ready for work each day.  It's amazing to think that a room so hideous could be turned into something so beautiful.  Here are the before and after one more time.

Before (YUCK . . . I know, I know, you want me to stop showing it to you because it's so gross!)

And AFTER . . .

Imani's New Room

Well friends, by now I am in Dallas for work until late Thursday night, but lucky you that I planned enough in advance to write a few posts and schedule them to post in advance (God I love that feature!)

So the story of Imani's new room . . .

Imani's room should have never been painted pink.  Imani is not a "pink" girl.  She's not a frilly, girly girl.  She's never liked princesses or barbies or anything else stereotypically marketed for girls.

She likes digging in dirt and finding fossils.  She likes treasure hunts, baseball, basketball and skateboarding. 

And most of all, she loves music.  While most kids her age save their money to buy toys or candy, Imani saves her money and asks us to take her to a local music store to buy her instruments.

She lays awake in bed at night and writes lyrics for rock songs.  We hear her whisper-singing for hours in bed.

So it seemed appropriate when she said she wanted a music-themed bedroom.  At first, since Imani plays the violin quite well (she's been playing since the age of 5 and she's nine now), I thought I'd do her room in soft browns and pinks.

And then I remembered: Imani is not PINK!  I am pink.  I needed to let that go. And, although she is most fluent in violin, her favorite instrument is guitar.  She has an acoustic and a cherry red electric guitar.

So I asked her what color she wanted her room and she said she didn't care -- that we could keep it pink if we wanted.   She is very much eager to please me.

I explained that it was her room, so she could pick whatever color she wanted but she wouldn't budge.

"Pink's fine Mom, just as long as it's a music room" she said.

A few days later, we were in Target and her big brown eyes locked onto something down one of the aisles and I saw the excitement in her face.

She reached for the red electric guitar wall hanging.  "Mom, this would be PERFECT in my music bedroom!"

My response?  "Yeah, but it's not pink . . . and it's $29.99 so you can forget it."

"What about this? This is sooooooo cooooool!!!" she said, pointing to a piece of canvas wall art in red, white, and black that said "I am Rock."

Price tag: $39.99

"Nope; this DEFINITELY doesn't go with a pink room," I told her.

I waited and waited and waited for the guitar and wall art to go on clearance at Target, as all of their trendy items always do, but finally I caved and bought them at full price.  I couldn't believe I was spending $70 on two pieces of wall art made in China.

Imani has no idea, of course.   I asked the nice cashier at check out if the items went on clearance if I'd be able to bring in my receipt and be refunded the difference.   She assured me that as long as it's within seven days, I would be refunded the difference and all I would need was my receipt.


TWO days later . . .

I'm strolling through the aisles at Target and I peer down the aisle where the music decor was and I see a bunch of red clearance tags!  50% off!  I was so psyched and Imani wasn't with me, so I marched my proud little self up to the service desk to get my refund.  The lady informed me that price adjustment refunds are not allowed on clearance items, only on sale items.

What?!  Was she really telling me "No?!"

"I need to speak to a manager,"   I said in my calmest voice.

Sure enough, Mrs. Manager came up and told me the same thing.  No price adjustments if something goes on clearance.

Me (in my longest run on ever . . . ):  "So, what you're saying is that I can go home and get these two items and bring them back and return them and watch your stock guys put them back on the shelves and then pick them back up and buy them for the clearance price?" 

Mrs. Manager: "Yep."

Time: 9:35 pm and Target closes at 10 pm

Apparently, Mrs. Manager didn't know that I live less than a block from Target.  I was back in less than five minutes with my two items.  I returned them and re-purchased them and saved $35.

I hate nothing more than policies that don't make sense.

And to anyone who reads this who regularly sees Imani . . . shhhhhhhhhhhhhh.  This is a secret!  Imani loves surprises, so we hope to complete her room while she is at a friend's and then reveal it to her.

Maybe I'll even videotape it and attempt to post a video here on my blog.

Anyway . . . since she chose the red electric guitar and the black and white wall art, I figured that would be a good color scheme.  I'll show you the inspiration pictures next!

Wood Floors? Check.

As of Thursday night, we officially have hard wood floors throughout our house (except for our kitchen and our two bathrooms, which are tiled).  We finished the hard wood in Imani's room in just five evenings!

I can say "we" because I did learn how to use the new nail gun the other night.  I was wandering around the house picking up and Jason asked me if I wanted to try out the nail gun.    I was a little intimidated at first but then I decided to try it.  I normally don't do home improvement projects in sun dresses, I swear.

But I wasn't about to go change my clothes just to shoot a few nails into the floor.

Jason did the majority of the work though, and he busted his butt every night getting it done.

And of course, his biggest fan was right by his side.  Maggie didn't care that the nail gun makes a very loud noise.  She'll face any sort of danger just to be next to her dad.

The room looks great with the new floors.  Here is the before:

And here is the after (we still have to put the baseboard back up).

Next post?  We are losing the pink in Imani's room and giving it a whole new look. Stay tuned.

An Injured Finger and a Room Renovation

What in the world possessed us to listen to a five year old four years ago when we were renovating our upstairs?  At the time, Imani insisted she wanted carpet in her bedroom, despite the fact that we were installing hardwood floors throughout the rest of the upstairs.

Three years later, Imani came to the realization that, as always, her parents were right and she should have opted for hard wood.  But Jason and I were firm in our decision NOT to change Imani's carpeting to hard wood, since we were planning to move.

A year later and confident in our decision to keep our Cape, we decided it was time to tear our the carpeting and install hard wood.  In fact, our plans are to renovate Imani's room entirely.

Here is her room with the carpet and all of the toys, which I am determined to hide.

First, we cleared everything out of the room and put all of Imani's stuff in my room and in the upstairs bathroom.

Next, Jason carefully removed the baseboard.

And we began ripping up all of the carpet.

Underneath, we found the laminate tile of choice from the 1950s. 

Jason laid down the special flooring paper and did all of his mathematical calculations to square up the room. 

He headed off to buy a nail gun and air compressor.  I think he feels all grown up and powerful now that we own one of these:

Finally (and on Father's Day), Jason began to lay the hard wood. 

But not before a trip to the emergency room.

This trip was not because I was helping and accidentally shot a nail through my finger with the new nail gun (thank God, because that sounds quite painful).

Instead, it was due to something much more beautiful, but apparently equally as dangerous.  Perhaps you remember this:

I really liked this vase and had changed out the Easter theme with a simple candle display.  I was cleaning up the dining room after Imani and I made Jason a Father's Day breakfast.  I accidentally bumped the big vase that was on the table and grabbed for it as it began to fall.

I caught it, but the glass literally broke off in my hand and continued to fall, taking a chunk of the pad of my finger along with it.

I hate to admit that in the split second the vase broke, my thought was, "Darn it; I love that vase!"

I resisted the urge to cry and snagged a dish towel to wrap around my bleeding finger.  Whenever I get hurt, Imani FREAKS out and becomes hysterical, so I was determined to remain calm, even though it felt as if there was a hole in my finger.

"I'm fine, I promise" I assured her.  "It's okay; it's just a small cut."

Meanwhile, I walked to the kitchen and whispered to Jason in my tiniest voice, "I think it cut out a chunk of my finger."

He assured me, it didn't.

And then . . . we heard Imani's voice from the dining room.

"Mom, there is a piece of your finger on the ground!!! I swear.  Hurry up and get it."

Jason came to the rescue and picked up the piece of my finger so that we could go to the ER.

I assure you, dear reader, I am fine.  After a tetanus shot and lots of bandages, I am okay.  It took me a couple of days to be able to type, but all is good.  I was a little sad that I couldn't help Jason start the floor on Father's Day.

But, it's looking great!

And my daughter always makes me smile.