Days 12 - 22: The Highlights

I've decided to put the past ten days together in one blog post of daily highlights for a few reasons. One, I thought it was in my readers' best interests to save them from the short, boring posts I would be publishing just to keep up. Two, having two kids, working on a construction site everyday, and keeping everyone fed and happy means I really don't have time to post daily, let alone catch up on all the posts I'm behind on. Finally, lets face it, while most of us enjoy a good before and afters, the work in between is a big mundane. I'll break the pictures up into two categories and show you the progress we've made on each: addition and original house.

Addition:

Day 12 - Almost done setting up the forms.

 - Caleb got some new work boots and he's super proud to be "just like Grampy."

Day 13 - Caleb with "the boys"

Day 14 - Foundation walls poured!

The addition looks really small from the outside, especially when they only had the footing poured, but it is going to almost double our living space. The dimensions of the addition are 26' x 21' with a full basement. SO excited!

...and so is Caleb (but that might have more to do with the cement mixer)

Day 15 - Errands

Day 16 - Scored three awesome wood doors on Kijiji for $500 and had to take a little road trip to pick them up. We stopped at the house on the way home to check out the progress, so please excuse the horrible quality of the following picture.

Day 17 - Market for some yummy food, no progress made :(

Day 18 - Bowling and Thanksgiving dinner with the Booker clan which just happens to fall on my sister's birthday. Happy Birthday Auntie Sash!

Day 19 - We took the next few days off and didn't make much progress. I expected this to happen because we had been going full-tilt for so long and the projects were in reno-limbo (reno-limbo; state of being: big demolition jobs completed but not ready to start building). I spent day nineteen Gruffalo hunting, at a play-date, and eating more turkey. 

Day 20 - The boys smoothed out the foundation walls and filled in that awkward space between the old foundation and the new foundation. I was uneasy about how this would be dealt with, but was really impressed with how they handled it. They're going to pour a slab on top of all that dirt and I gained an extra hundred-forty feet of living space.

Day 21 - Rain...no progress on the foundation

Day 22 - Still raining

So that is where we left things with the foundation. Here's a few highlights from the work going on inside the little cape cod on the ridge.

Day 12 - Dad finished taking down the ceiling in the kitchen and future pantry/laundry room and I ripped the walls off in Caleb's future bedroom. I'm so excited for when we actually start putting things back together. I love all the demo, but designing and decorating is what I live for. The walls will be replaced up to the slanted ceilings with horizontal wood paneling, painted white for that airy/beachy look and the tops will either be painted or have fun wallpaper. I'll give you a sneak-peek for that later. It's one of the reasons I wanted to do this highlight post; so I can start sharing my plans for all the fun stuff. I also took all the trim I had removed from the rooms out to the carport and neatly stacked it...put it in a pile. 

  

Day 13 - Keith came out to the house on his day off and we finished the other two bedrooms in the old part of the little cape cod on the ridge. 

Day 14 - We didn't get too much done inside the house, but it was a beautiful day so we just enjoyed it. Dad chopped down another tree that was in the way and we all helped carry the branches to the burn pile. Caleb became king of the mountain, Dad had a nap on the grass, and I took lots of pictures of my babies.

Day 15 - Errands

Day 16 - Here are some poor quality pictures of the awesome quality doors I scored on Kijiji.

Day 17 - Market

Day 18 - Thanksgiving

Day 19 - Gruffalo Hunting

Day 20 - Dad and I finished removing all the plaster upstairs (including in the hall) and cleaned up.

Day 21 - Rain

Day 22 - Still raining

Day 10 & 11: Rain, Rain, Go Away!

It rained all weekend, so we didn't get any work done on the house. The little cape cod on the ridge has been taking over all of our lives lately, so it was nice to just take a couple of days and rest. Nana is home for a little while, and Caleb can not get enough of her. He's really missed his Nana! Her presence also helps our relationship heaps (poor guy went from one-on-one time with Mama 24/7 to sharing me with Charlotte 24/7) because she can cuddle Charlotte while Caleb and I snuggle and play, just the two of us ♥

Day 9: IBT

When I was younger, I had this friend who just seemed to know everything I was thinking and think it at the exact same time. We would often blurt out identical sentences and then proceed to laugh giggle. This happened so often that we eventually started calling ourselves IBT's: Identical Brain Twins. Today, that friend I had is a big shot artist in a big city (or at least she will be once my blog goes viral and she's discovered by some big art dealer), and I'm lucky she still gives me the time of day! Seriously, my best friend, Laura, is very talented and shares my love of older homes and design. I value her opinion and have so much fun sharing my ideas for the little cape cod on the ridge with her because she understands my vision and has lots of great ideas and suggestions.

After a great morning of making waffles and letting my girls take care of my kids (I always find myself running around the house frantically trying to take advantage of the help whenever they come to visit...what are best friends for?), Laura and I headed out to the little cape cod on the ridge.

Caleb's buddy "Wonnie" (a.k.a. Ronnie) came along and Caleb showed him the fields. We are so lucky to have so much space!

Although I didn't get any work done on day nine, the boys continued to work on the getting the foundation forms set up.

Showed off our hard work on the inside of the little cape cod on the ridge.

Goal for Day 10: Finish removing the plaster and boards downstairs and clean up the mess.

My little man is already set to be a country boy, climbing trees already. I hope he's not like me! When I was little, I could climb up no problem...it was getting down that terrified me!

Could you resist this view?

Day 8: Breathe, Baby! Breathe!

Tip of the day: If you plan on removing plaster walls, get a mask and some protective glasses. After the first couple days of breathing in whatever it is that they used for insulation one hundred-thirty years ago (mostly wood chips mixed with mouse poop), we decided it was time to get the proper protective wear. I have to say, not only do they look HOT, you can actually breathe at the end of the day!

Charlotte wanted to be held a on day eight, and we were a little off her nap times, so I didn't get much work done. I can't complain, she IS so easy 99% of the time...and I have to get my daytime cuddles in too.

Caleb didn't really like the new "mask or outside" rule, but it is necessary.

Progress. The wall to the left of the window and including the window is coming out to be open to the new addition.

Best Dad in the world, right there!

Day 7: Welcome to "Jeneva"

Day seven was a very exciting day at the little cape cod on the ridge for a few reasons. First and foremost, one of my best friends was in town and she lovingly spent her two vacation days slaving away at my house. Eva planned to come keep me company and "watch the youngings" so I could get some uninterrupted work done, but she ended up swinging a pinch bar most of the time. We had so much fun together!

The day started with me showing off the new door for my mudroom, which I am very proud of because I got in on sale for $200. 

After we carried the new door in, I took Eva into the half-gutted kitchen to show her our progress and there was a little surprise waiting for us...What better way to insulate your home than with feathers (still attached to their owner)? Yum!

 So far: old friends, new doors, and dead birds. Time to get to work! As I bashed this wall in, I was having a conversation with Eva and Tyler (our foundation guy). It went something like this:

Jenny: "I bet carpenters don't fight with their wives very often; they probably get all their aggression out at work."
Tyler: "Ha, ha. I don't think so."
Jenny: "I should be a carpenter. Well, maybe just a demolition girl."
Eva: (in the background) I'm videotaping you...
*Picture me hitting/missing that one skinny board about six or seven time
Jenny: "Don't videotape me right now! I'm going to look weak! Wait until I break something! This is going on my blog."

As we worked, our dumpster pile (notice the non-existent dumpster) grew and grew. I'm a country girl now, so I'm burning anything that'll burn!

It starts like this...

And with a little help from Dad (and his gas), it turns into this!

Things to do: Bring marshmallows!

When we were little girls, Eva and I thought it would be a great idea to cook her parents dinner. We invented our own restaurant and even made menus. We called our restaurant Jeneva and we were actually shocked to learn that there was really a place out there called Geneva. Oh, the things we had yet to experience! I've known Eva for more than twenty years. We went to kindergarten together, lived down the street from eachother, and never once stopped being best friends (even when I killed her caterpillar...maybe that's where Caleb gets it???) Now, our lives are very different. Eva is working on her Ph. D., and I have two children. No matter how much time passes between visits, we always pick up right where we left off. We grew up together; we grew together. I love you, Eva!

A perfect ending to a perfect day: driving practice for my little man.