Not in Kansas any More!

Before

During
Today the flooring is going down which is very exciting, except that we had to move all the movable furniture upstairs and all the stuff (toys) that was in the furniture, etc. upstairs as well. I am going crazy because we are trying to stay upstairs out of their way and there is so much work to do but not anything I can do right now even though it looks like someone has taken my house and put it in a blender!!!

And it is very difficult to keep a 4 year old boy occupied in his room when there are men with power tools downstairs! Yesterday Fletcher and I went to a movie just to get out of the house and today went to MegArt, Target, and the library which wasted about 3 hours, but we still spent about 5 other hours of the day in his or my bedroom which are crammed full of furniture! Aaarrgh!

After the floors are complete we can move stuff back, except that next comes paint, which means that the furniture can go back into the rooms where is belongs but that the furniture in all rooms must be away from the walls.

It will all look so nice when it's done and I will be so happy to get things back to where they belong so we can begin enjoying the changes!

Progress?

They say it gets worse before it gets better, right? Well that is the case at our home right now. Yesterday I took down the sconces in what we pretended was the dining room for a long time, as well as the chandelier. I put up a new light fixture that Ed can not conk his head on every time he gets up from the desk. Today I removed another wall paper border, this time from the laundry "room." I also removed the old caulk and re-caulked the downstairs toilet. I removed all the shoe molding from the kitchen and entry area to prep for new flooring. I am pooped, the house looks like a disaster, and I can't wait for the new stuff!

Magazine

Fletcher is in print again! Charlotte Baby and Child is a local publication that my friend Danielle is the art director for. She put Super Fletcher in it again this time. Take a look!

Shiner

Fletcher got into a altercation with a piece of furniture last week and got his first black eye. He had a cut and a bruise the first day and a blue eye the following day, with varying shades throughout the weekend.

Fletcher's "New" Room

Fletcher's got a new bed! He has wanted a bunk bed for sooo long and now he has one and he loves it! With the addition of the new bed and a "space" theme we have done some decorating in his room also: new bedding, hanging photos, hanging planets, moving furniture, etc. He said yesterday "I may have the coolest room, EVER!" It is so good to have a place of your own that you really enjoy being in.

Obama Rally

Most of you probably know how involved Ed has been in this election year: volunteering at the local Democratic headquarters, canvasing, handing out materials at polling places, etc. He has had the opportunity to see Obama in Charlotte 2 different times, but something came up each time so that he was unable to go. But last Monday, Obama was at UNC Charlotte and Ed stood in the rain for the opportunity to hear him speak. It was a wonderful experience for the day before the election. We are thrilled with outcome of the election and our President Elect. We are hopeful for the future and excited for our country!

Halloween

Fletcher created his own costume for Halloween from a cardboard box and household items. He was a Robot complete with lights, antenna, and buttons. We had so much fun putting the costume together and Fletcher enjoyed trick-or-treating with Daddy around the neighborhood.

Household Projects:UPDATE

Update: Ok, so we've have sunk our teeth into projects and we're off! While we do need new furniture also, we've decided to invest in improvements that will add value to the house.

1. We have chosen new granite counter tops with under mounted sink and extended island to be installed on 11/18 (as it turns out, granite is cheaper than other solid surfaces! Who knew?)
2. Removed wallpaper boarder in the kitchen today while kids rested (bye, bye fruity boarder!)
3. Got Fletcher the bunk bed he has wanted for about 2 years over the weekend and got it put together on Saturday. Fletcher is lovin' it and his room is now his favorite place! He didn't want to leave the house on Sunday.
4. Have gotten rid of at least 6 pieces of furniture that we had been saving for "our next home" (that in the mean time was taking up valuable space in our current one!).
5. Having upstairs carpet cleaned on Friday.
6. Collecting estimates on flooring installation (downstairs), painting (entire interior), and lighting (2 new pendants over the kitchen island).

To save $$ we will be doing a lot of research on the internet and as much of the work that we can ourselves like tearing out the old counter tops and tearing up the old carpet and vinyl downstairs. I'll keep you all posted and will add photos of progress when we have some. Wish us luck!


I have wanted a new home for a while now, but to no avail. So my latest scheme is to do some stuff to our current house to make it more livable. We've been here 8 years and things are ready for repair/replacement but we've continuously said that we'd wait and do all the fixing-up when we were ready to sell, but now I think we should go ahead and make plans for projects so that we can enjoy the new stuff, too. So here is my wish list of things to do around the house:
New floors entire downstairs: laminate hardwoods
New carpet on stairs and upstairs: frieze or berber
New paint in entire house: neutral golden shade and white trim
New kitchen countertops: solid surface with integrated sink and larger island surface
Fletcher needs a real bed (sleeping on a futon and has wanted a bunk bed for a long time) and Ed and I need new bedroom furniture as well (same stuff I got when I moved to Charlotte in 1994)

Ed says we will not take out any kind of loan to do any of this which means it will happen very slowly. I'll keep you posted. Who knows what order things should be done in? Should the floors be before the paint, etc.?