Oh Mister Sun, Sun, Mister Golden Sun

The sun was shining AND it was 47 degrees today! Emphasis on the AND because on Friday it was warm too, but super windy and cloudy, so it didn't feel nearly as good as today. I took the opportunity to rope Oma into watching the kids so I could helped Nate clean up in preparation for our insulation team, set to start on Monday! Insulation feels like a big step because after that comes drywall, and then finishes, like paint, tile, and trim. Crazy!

My job today was to clean out the spaces between the studs at the floor level and also above the window headers on all outside walls. I was surprised by how much old insulation, wasp nests and plaster was still hanging around. But the spring clean made me think back to August/September/October when we were hauling dumpsters full of this stuff. Today it was less than a shop-vac's worth. To celebrate this milestone, a tour from behind the lens of a Nikon:

The guest room. After Nate hauled the trim bundles out, I gave it the clean it deserved

This beast (cast iron tub) is currently on Craigslist, if you're in the market

The girls' room, soon to be purple and pink?

Our bedroom

Line up of doors. The front, back and basement doors were the only ones we replaced

We plan to put frosted or textured glass on this one and use it for the bathroom

Good thing this is our room, otherwise we might have to deal with some stargazing teenagers someday

Super happy with the new metal roof

My amazing GC

Can't wait to cuddle up by the new fireplace

The mailman told me today, "Compared to what it was, it's looking really good"

Coca-Cola (not pictured, but frequently consumed on the job site) and Nutty Bars will not be stocked come June

Approximately 40 minutes after finishing up the house for the day, we were cleaned up and ready to see Good Night Moon

Moving Along

Today is Peter's birthday. In some ways, the year has flown by, but mostly, when we reflect on all that has changed, it seems like Peter should be at least eight or nine by now. It's also hard to remember life before him, so I could be easily convinced that he's actually two or three today. However old he actually is, we love him so much and can't get over how sweet and happy he is.

I keep waiting to have some non-iPhone pictures of the house before I write an update, but I haven't had time to take photos when it's warm enough to remove my hands from my mittens. Yes, I'm whining about how cold it is here in Wisconsin. Last night I had a dream that I traveled to California for work, and really really wanted to stay. The temperature high is ten tomorrow, but I will cling to the hope that winter won't last forever. How did I get on this weather tangent? Oh right, the mittens...the photos...

Maybe if my mittens were like Lou's, my hands would stay warmer?

So without great photos, here is the update: all but three windows are in! The front door is in! The back door and door to the screen porch are in! And, drumroll....the roof is 99 percent done. I'm very thankful for the roofers and Nate, who have all braved hours of cold to keep the progress rolling.

These photos were taken last week

It takes a special person to be a roofer

And one more photo to wrap it up. These kids would totally agree to some daily "hop on pop" fun.

I Can (almost) See Clearly Now

We have 14 new windows at the house! It's extremely exciting, since they've been in boxes in the house since before Thanksgiving.

The pictures below show how a mama and her cubs came out from hibernation when the temperature hit 13 degrees today. We couldn't walk too far because Louisa's bus was to arrive soon, so we walked over to surprise Nate at the new house. I love how, in the first picture, you can just barely see Cora's owl hat and Nate looks genuinely surprised. It also looks like he's dancing. Sounds like the contractor should be back to install the rest of the windows and a few exterior doors (including the front door, which Nate is framing up now). Thank goodness for a heat wave!

Surprise!

Bundled up and ready to walk

My new favorite photo of these two

The dormer at the top has two windows coming

The east side and back of the house are eager for their windows

Oh Ries, you look so proper, not to mention cute

7 new windows on the west (driveway) side

Dessert Resolutions

Tonight Louisa asked if we could have dessert. Between my two verbal children, the question is asked about 75% of the time. I wonder if this statistic is inversely related with the frequency of me serving dessert. I suppose there would be a definite correlation if I served dessert every night, because then they wouldn't have to ask at all. But I don't do that. Gasp, I know. I bet we have dessert about two to three days per week.

If I have a new year's food-related goal for my family it would be to serve dessert more frequently, but still without pattern, to help Louisa and Cora be less dessert-centric. Although I don't know...it's not like they throw fits when I say no, so maybe what we're doing is just fine. Maybe I should give each person a night to be in charge of dessert. That might help burn up some of the extra dessert-thought-energy. But then I might find myself baking extravagant British pastries, since Nate and the girls love to watch The Great British Baking Show together.

So back to tonight. Louisa asked Can we have dessert? and I said No, not tonight. She asked why not so I explained that she had a special chocolate bar (Krackle) in her lunch at school. But that fell on the ground, she said. I looked at her as she spoke and noticed a slight smile on her face. I asked her if she was telling the truth. Yes, I'm telling the truth, she said, still smiling. I reminded her that it's not okay to lie. A few minutes passed while we brushed teeth. Mom, I was telling a lie. I hope I thanked her for telling the truth, but I actually don't remember what I said because I had an immediate flashback to this same situation a few months ago when I believed her and gave her another chocolate after she explained that when food falls on the floor at school, they have to throw it in the garbage. I remember believing her because she told me immediately after getting of the bus, whereas today she didn't mention it until bedtime. Regardless of whether she was telling the truth the first time, I guess I not surprised that she used this angle to get dessert tonight. 

It's worth mentioning that when Cora asks about dessert, she says, We have little zert? Oh man, we're going to miss her Cora-isms when she refines her speaking skills! She uses "at" when she should say "to," as in, We going at Oma's, we going at Oma's, a song she likes to sing on our drive to Marcia's. Today she made me laugh when she complained that Peter took her water bottle. They were in carseats next to each other, but with at least 1 foot of space between, so it didn't seem plausible that he could have taken it. I asked her if she gave Peter her water bottle, and she said yes. Maybe she was surprised that he actually took it when she teased him with it? I don't know, but I laughed. And on Saturday I took her grocery shopping and as we were parking at Hy-vee, she said, this not grocery store, this mail store! Who knew that she would recognize the U.S. Postal Service logo. She also recognizes Menards and likes to remind us that she calls it Yards.

Are you sure it's not Monday?

What a morning! It's only 10:12 am and it's already been a crazy day. Thankfully we had nowhere we needed to be. Well, I suppose Nate needed to go to work, but other than that...

• Nate discovers that the tires on our van can't handle the snow
• Nate kindly puts all the carseats into the Saab, so the kids and I can go to a gymnastics open gym at 9:30
• I find Peter with my wedding ring in his mouth
• Cora teases Louisa, saying, "I'm going to turn you into a prince" which is apparently very upsetting to Lou, because she yells at Cora, squeezes her and shakes her
• Louisa and Cora have time outs and we talk about what happened
• Everyone is bundled up, but Cora doesn't want to wear mittens and falls into a snowbank, making her very sad and cold
• We're in the car at 9:25, but the car won't start
• Cora, Peter and I come inside. Peter is thankful for the fiasco because he gets his morning nap
• Louisa stays outside, happily playing in the snow
• Nate comes back and turns the truck 180 degrees in a very tiny space between the Saab and the garage, so that he can jump the Saab
• Nate takes the Saab to buy a new battery, saying he will be back soon to take the van to get new tires
• Posting this now, hoping maybe it will end the craziness of this morning

Seldom Calm, Always Bright

It's Christmas Eve and the sun is shining! Such strange weather at this most wonderful time of the year. Every stage of this renovation will be so quickly forgotten, so we've been trying to pause and take photos as often as possible, and the sun offered great lighting for an outdoor photo shoot. I also took a bunch of photos inside, but most are too dark to be interesting because of the one inch foam board that's now hugging the house. Nate took out the windows on the west side of the house (as well as most of the front and back) and nailed on the foam. Then next week, fingers crossed, Tim will come and start putting in the new windows.

Merry Christmas to you. May your days be merry and bright!

No longer neglected, instead feeling loved

 

The west side, all buttoned up

New Eaves!

The east side will be warmed with foam next week

The new dormer, which is temporarily water-proofed while we wait for our new roof

View from the garage

Blue skies!

Enjoy the ship lap while it lasts, Chip and JoAnna!

An outlet for Christmas lights in the roof of the front porch

Taking advantage of the mirrored door

The glow of electricity

Our first working light switch

Just love that sunshine

Like most of the house, a little TLC will make a big difference

Sweet Three

There are some sweet faces that haven't received enough air time on this blog lately. I love you all dearly, Lou Bear, Bean and Buster Brown! 

This was only the second time they've all been in the bath together, so I called Nate downstairs to snap some photos.

The Advent season has been tons of kid-fun. Louisa and Cora love hearing and talking about the Christmas story, doing Christmas-crafts...gingerbread houses, paper chains, Christmas cards, ornaments, sugar cookies, and chewing whole candy canes in mere seconds.

Nate is not interested in playing Santa with our kids, which is fine, but until a few days ago, he had not yet broken the news to Lou and I was getting all sorts of questions about how he fits down the chimney and how he knows when we're awake. When the two of them went Christmas shopping earlier this week, she asked about Santa, so Nate said something like, "Lou, is Santa real?" "No," she answered. I'm sure there was some pleasant follow-up conversation, but I can't remember. Tonight she asked how he knows when we're sleeping and when we're awake, so I asked again if he was real. Again she said no, then went on to explain that "it's pretend magic, that's how he knows." Help! How do you answer these questions in way that lets a child believe in "magic" without letting them think that Santa actually brings presents to kids? Maybe the answer lies in Louisa's statement about pretend magic. Perhaps analogies might help? But if you explain that Santa is like the tooth fairy, what if your child believes in the tooth fairy? And then there is the whole issue of making sure Louisa doesn't spoil her friends' Santa belief, right? I guess there a bigger parenting problems, so maybe I'll just let Lou lead the next conversation.

In this last photo, Cora is trying egg nog for the first time (ever? or at least since last Christmas). She was surprised to learn that she likes it. Although a few nights later, Nate gave the girls more, and to stretch it for himself, he diluted it with milk and forgot to stir it, so the milk was sitting on top. Cora took a drink and said, "me no like. me have only milk" which is funny because she loves milk. Goes to show that what you expect to taste plays a big role in how it tastes. Cora's language is finally blossoming, and it's pretty entertaining at times. 

A Bit More Castle-ness, Please

Last night after dinner I was finally able to visualize the final heightened dormer in the attic. Seeing the work in progress (and the stars in the sky through it) was encouraging. Today I wanted to see how things were coming, so Peter and Cora and I walked over. Cora usually needs some convincing to change out of dress-up clothes and into cold-weather-gear, so I told her that we needed to go see the new house because it was looking more like a castle. She was not only convinced, but also excited.

Before

Before

Half-way to after?

One of the princesses in the castle

Doesn't it look so much better already? I'm thankful we hired Tim (the contractor installing our windows) because without his suggestion, I don't think we would have thought to open this up so much. It will look much better on the outside too and should be done just in time for our new roof in early January.

Before

Half-way to after

Our Front Door

It is cool to think that Nate is going to know every square inch of our new house. I, on the other hand, have been less intimate with the house since Thanksgiving or so. I think this has to do with the colder weather. I'm less interested in spending time at the new house because the few times I've tried lately, I've lost feeling in my fingers and toes. Luckily Nate is a bit more hardy than I, and also more dedicated. Nevertheless, I've enjoyed the presence of our new front door in the living room for the past 3 weeks. But the end is near. By Christmas, the door will have been properly sealed and ready for the temperature swings we can expect in Wisconsin. More importantly, it will be out of our living room! Thank you, Nate, as always, for your hard work.

In other news, we've paid our downpayment for our new metal roof (to be installed the first week of January!) and Tim and his crew are hard at work fixing the eaves, installing windows and hanging foam insulation board on the outside of the house. Nate is 95% done with the electrical work too!

Applying coat #7 of 8

Such focus!

Due Today: An Update

I've been dragging my feet on this post for two reasons. The first is that life is busy. (Like most people, I can't believe that it's already December.) The second reason is that progress seems to have slowed and I don't want to be negative or whiny. I don't think it actually has slowed, I think it's more that we hired a contractor to install windows, the windows arrived, Nate prepped the outside of the house for the window and installation work....THEN....nothing. I guess in my head, I was thinking that once we hired a contractor, progress would triple or quadruple instead of remain the same. The contractor comes highly recommended and I trust that he's awesome at what he does, but he found a few things to add to his list AND we're apparently not his only project?!? WHAT? Kidding, of course. I know he is busy with other projects.

With my whinning out the way, here's what's really happening. Nate has been framing in the HVAC ducting to prepare for drywall. He's also nearly finished with the electrical install, which has required designing our lighting plan. Yesterday he texted me:

The first bubble was in response to my concern that one wall was letting quite a bit of rain in and wondering whether the attic was ready to be cleaned up. How could I resist the urge to sweep this?

But the reason for sharing this text exchange was to help explain my excitement when I realized Nate was asking me to pick something that seemed like such a "finishing touch." I might have had a moment of fantasy - thinking we were father along than we actually are. My second thought was that Nate wanted to make the powder room functional ASAP so he no longer has to walk home to use the bathroom. It turns out that a fan/light combo is similar to the blue outlet boxes in the picture above (and already placed in abundance throughout the entire house). It needs to be wired up now, but won't be functional until way later. Oh well.

Experience my excitement for a sweet second. Here is the fan/light combo I chose. Okay, it's not nearly as fun as picking countertops or a refrigerator, but it's something.

I'm resisting the urge to be negative again, but I should admit that part of the delay in getting the new windows installed was our first surprise of the renovation, i.e. something we didn't anticipate having to repair or replace. That something is the eaves and a new dormer in the attic. And because the dormer has to be roofed, we've been encouraged to re-roof this winter instead of waiting until next year. So I called four roofing experts in - 3 regular and 1 metal roofing company - and we're in the process of gathering estimates and hoping to have a new roof before Christmas. Merry Christmas Nate! Did you know that's what you wanted this year?

Progress! That's what we both want for Christmas and I'm sure we'll get it since we already have made tons of it since the first Center Ave Demo Day. That was back on August 1, only 4 short months ago.