Best. Campaign. Video. Ever.

The kids were running for president of our house today, so they each made a short campaign video. After watching them, I was torn.

Hers is really cute, right?
But his, his is a work of art. It's like a paranoid conspiracy theorist's campaign video/Blair Witch redo. I mean, I'm in love with this.
Voting was a tough decision. Even though I loved the little guy's video, I support the little girl's anti-fussing platform. Luckily, I was allowed to vote for both of them! Hooray Democracy?

Pokemon

The little dude has gotten really into Pokemon recently. It's super confusing, but he loves it. The one cool part is that he's started making his own Pokemon cards and games. We played one tonight!

I'm not entirely sure what the rules are, except that he seemed to win most of the time.

FOUR!!

She's four!! Can you believe it? She had a great birthday. We took donuts to school this morning and had her favorite dinner, cake, and presents this evening.

How did time go by so quickly!??

Kite!

Well, we went to the playground to fly a kite yesterday, and I think the weather may have set a record for least wind ever. The kids still had a great time!

Eric had a great time, too!

The reason we have a kite now is that the little one earned it as a prize at school for being a good friend. We, of course, are very proud, and she, of course, wanted to fly it immediately. 

Semi-Monthly Update

Hi again! We have paint, trim, light fixtures, and doorknobs!! It's all very exciting.

We forgot to get a light fixture for the family room, so the electrician put up this 'temporary' one to pass inspection. How many years do you think it'll be before we replace it?

We're heading to a park this afternoon to fly a kite, so I'll have kid pictures to post again at some point.

Updates!

The little guy turned 7 last week-- we're still not sure how that happened.

And, we have sinks and toilets and some paint upstairs! We should have glass around our shower by the end of the week. It's all very exciting.

The one design thing that I really kind of insisted on (and I felt like a total diva) was having two pedestal sinks in the master bathroom. Isn't it amazing?? I'm in love.

Everything Is Blue

Ever since they started painting the house, I've had the song Blue stuck in my head. Anyway, look!

Also, we have doors!

Next step: door installation.

Busy, busy

Hello! We have been really busy with church, baseball, and work. Plus, I was out of town this weekend for a conference. Anyway, here are some progress pictures of the house! We're kind of entering the home stretch...

Our giant dirt pile is gone! We'll have to do something with all this dirt-- grass? I don't know. Also, the addition is primed and the whole thing should be painted tomorrow.

 You can see our french doors leaning against the front porch, too.

 The progress is amazing! They should be done in six weeks or so. The thing we're most looking forward to, though, is having a door back on the bathroom.

The sheet gives limited privacy, but it'll be nice to have a solid door.

Trim and Stairs and Stuff

I spent the weekend visiting friends (and running a half marathon! Woot!) while Eric and the kids enjoyed a visit from Nana and Pops. I'm not sure that there are many pictures of any of that. We did have a relaxing evening after dinner tonight.

The other thing we have now is real stairs to the basement! No more scary small boards! Look at these beauties!

They are so pretty! We also have a lot of baseboards AND a bathroom door that opens the right direction.

Shelves!

The workers built shelves for our laundry room/pantry AND for the family room closet. It's so exciting!! Here are the shelves for over the washer and dryer:

 These are the pantry shelves:

 And these are the brackets for the shelves in the family room closet:

No kid pictures today, sorry.

Hardest Week?

Sorry for the lack of updates-- we had all the drywall installed, mudded, and sanded, and the house is still kind of a disaster zone. Every time I finish dusting, more dust settles. That's why I haven't been taking any pictures. We also got hit with Hurricane Matthew. Luckily, our only branches fell *between* the cars. Phew! We spent a nice evening playing games by candlelight, but a lot of our neighbors weren't so lucky.

Anyway, hopefully we're back and working through the dustiest part of this addition. We got tile floors and cabinets since my last update! Ignoring the toilet in the bathtub, look how amazing the kids' bathroom is:

Our bathroom is going to pretty sweet, too:

Frankly, any bathroom would be amazing right now. Our only toilet is in the room behind the sheet. To get into that bathroom, you have to climb over the pile of trim and shelf boards. That pile should shrink this week, but it'll be nice to have more than one toilet again AND doors.

Working Hard

The baby (not really a baby, I mean, she's almost 4) and I washed the stairs this weekend. The sheetrock is very exciting, but also quite messy.

She did a fabulous job!

Sheet Rock!

The sheet rock guys came to the house today, and WOW did they do a lot of work. It is so exciting to see it all take shape.

The thing we are most excited about is the kids' bathroom. It's going to be so nice with that alcove.

The only downside is that I think we'll be living in about an inch of dust for the next month. C'est la vie. Anyway, here's a bonus picture of couch snuggle time this weekend:

Hotel Night

We had spray foam insulation added to the house today, so we've cleared out for the night. I think the kids are loving hotel life.

A little tv before bed never hurt anyone.

Absurd

The little guy came downstairs after dinner and announced that he'd eaten too much.

Can't you tell from his fat back? We were crying we were laughing so hard!!

Floors and Electrical Happenings

Just a warning: no kid pictures today, sorry! In house news, the floor guys finished the wood floors-- look at that detail around the stairs!

We both think it makes the rooms feel so much bigger and more finished, even though there is a lot of work left to do.

In other news, the electricians have been working on things and our kitchen light stopped working. We've both been a little worried about the wiring, but it turns out that the lightbulbs had burned out. Whoops!

Look at that light, working and everything.

Floors and Robots

The guys started working on the roof and floors today. The outside of our house is looking a little, um, sad.

 But the inside is looking finished! (I mean, comparatively speaking.)

I went for a run with some friends tonight, and Eric helped the kids build a tin can robot! Isn't it cute?
The reason it only has one eye is because I threw the other eye away. To be fair, I didn't realize it was part of this kit, since the pieces have been strewn around for more than a week.

Vents and Wires and Stairs (Oh My!)

I'm a little loopy with that title, but the HVAC guys AND the electricians AND the masons have all been hard at work this week. We have vents:

And we also have wiring:

And look at these snazzy outside stairs!

It's exciting to see all the progress going forward. Next up, inspection. Then, insulation and sheetrock!

Homework!

The little guy has daily homework now that he's in first grade. It's been an adjustment for all of us! 

The baby also wants homework, so we let her write on a "worksheet" because it keeps her happy.

Hiking!

I like being outside, so today I dragged the whole family on a 2.7 mile hike. They did really well! The kids had a good time for most of it, and I only carried the baby for about half a mile!

The best part of the whole morning was seeing a dung beetle rolling a giant ball of dung across the trail.

 Here's a close-up:

That's a HUGE ball of dung!

Absurdity

Our builder and his workers created another 'entrance' to the bathroom so that using it at night doesn't involve shoes and a flashlight. It's pretty ridiculous.
Living through this renovation is hilariously bizarre!

New School and No Sink

The baby started a new preschool today and had a great time! 

And our sink was removed while we were at work today. If you're keeping track, we are down to just the kitchen sink at this point.

The kids thoroughly enjoyed using the bath tap to brush their teeth tonight.

Hole in the Wall

The workers knocked a bunch of holes in our walls today! It's very exciting. Here's the new back wall of the living room... it will be french doors eventually.

Here's what the bathroom door in the kitchen looks like now:

And here's the door to the bathroom! You can lift it up on the right side and it's kind of like a tent flap. Very private.

The baby was amazed that the workers built an entire bathroom today. Eric had to explain that it's the same bathroom we've always had, just with doors in a different place.