Home Sweet Home Reno: Month Five

Welp, kids, believe it or not- as of January 21st another month passed of us flexing our renovating muscle.  With the holidays, and where we are in progress, we don't have as many bullet points to pepper you with this month.  Hopefully this means that next month this post will be a big confetti mess o' bullet points.  RIGHT?!

Accomplishments:

• Installation of steel beam by dining room
• Paint color selection finalization (for real this time)
• Re-framing of wall under steel beam by dining room
• Plumbing rough-ins completed
• Window removed in Master Bath
• Glass block installed in Master Bath
• Fireplace brick cleaned
• Fireplace hearth installed
• Fireplace soldier course installed
• Replacement vanities received
• Selected counter top installation/fabrication subcontractor
• Selected painting/drywall subcontractor
• Solicited 587 electrical bids (ok, I might have exaggerated)
• Solicited 4 stair bids
• LOTS of packing

Purchases:

• Kitchen Faucet
• Kitchen Pot Filler 
• Master Bath Vanity Lights
• Guest Room Bedding

In the Pipeline:

• More fireplace work
• Counter top material purchase research

We will call this primarily an administrative month.  Our poor GC is a do-er and all the running around and setting up appointments really got his goat, I think.  If he can't cross an item off his to do list, he doesn't quite feel like he's accomplished anything.  We try to remind him that all this behind the scenes work is part of the whole gig.  I think he prefers playing with sledge hammers though.

The biggest "story" of the month was the fireplace.  You know, that brick treasure we un-earthed a while back.  So, we were super pumped to find the brick as, first and foremost, we love brick (totally used the royal we there). Secondly, we thought it would translate to time and dollar savings.  It's turning out that we may not be 100% accurate on either front, but, we do still love brick.  And our GC.  

After conducting quite a few interviews and soliciting a number of bids, GC found a guy who agreed to do the work needed to get our fireplace ready for her close up.  Said work entailed adding a soldier course to cover up the exposed firebrick, adding a hearth and just generally cleaning up the brick from it's years of being covered up by sheet rock.  I believe it was January 12th-13th that this work took place.

Friday January 15th on my way into work, I called to check in on our fearless leader and got an earful of expletives as he discovered that the hearth was laid incorrectly.  Fast forward to Monday January 18th when the subcontractor came out to discuss and decided that he would not do any re-work nor would he refund us any money.  Jose the bricklayer earned no good karma from the universe that day. I think he did earn a complaint to the BBB from a GC who shall remain nameless though.

Le sigh.  If you want something done right you do it yourself let Jimmy James do it.  So that's precisely what we agreed to.  At the time of my writing this we are 1 fruitless trip to Beaumont in search of our discontinued brick deep into this re-work.  Fingers and toes crossed that our fireplace has a more successful month in February.

Beautiful beam #2!  Steel is the new black in our house.  See the square on the floor?  that used to be a column.

You might wonder what the heck I do towards this reno (you aren't the only one).  I paint a lot of samples.  Like a lot.  I believe on this particular day I painted nearly an entire sample can of SW Colonnade Gray in various places around the house (see it on the right side of the door frame).  There's a cameo in Emery's room of SW Denim.

Framing for the new dining room entrance.

View of the dining room from the living room.  (Are you playing Where's Waldo with the Colonnade Gray like I am right now?)

The plumbers misunderstood GC's instructions for the height of the pot filler.  This is a liiiiiiittle high.

Jenny from the (Glass) Block.  (I've spent 2 weeks packing.  Don't judge my cheesiness.)

I'll get better pictures later, but this is the one window in the master.  It previously had plantation shutters.  We opted to remove them because we have them in our current bathroom and we never open them which turns the bathroom into a bat cave.

One evening I called GC on the way home from work and he told me he was laying out the fireplace brick for Jose.  I did not realize how detailed he was.

Let's see how geometrically gifted you are.  Can you spot the mistakes?  There are 20 bricks laid incorrectly.

Current state of our living room.  New brick (which hopefully matches better) in a pile to the right.  Stay tuned, my friends!

Because...

... I'm at work and missing these two.  And my Mama and Pawpaw Brady.  And because I wish I could bottle up their little voices and laughs.

We love you and are thinking of you Nurses Neenie, Nonnie J & Nonnie K and patient (Great) Pawpaw Brady!  XOXOXO.

Hello Father Time(liness)!

Well, well, well.  Look at me posting about an event within 1 month of it's occurrence!  I wouldn't get too amped up- it's happening courtesy of a momentary lull at work before year-end madness begins.  Let's celebrate the small stuff though, huh?

This year we rung in the New Year with a mix of family and friends, similar to the years P.K. (pre kid).  The only difference was that this year you had to elbow your way through crowds of children to get to the bar and the chugging was generally from a sippy cup.  Don't you fret though- it still included some weaponry just to keep things exciting.

Let's walk through how old mature people celebrate, shall we?  This year U of H had a bowl game at 11 am, so Shawna & Austin invited some folks over to watch it at their house.  Noon is the new midnight anyway.  We arrived approximately 1.5 hours late because- well- kids.  Luckily there was still plenty of food, bevs and fun company on hand.  I think that U of H won, but don't quote me on that.  I was busy watching kids in the romper room cheering for Minions.

While Ryan and I thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, as always, I am firmly convinced that Em had the best time.  From the moment she got in the car when we decided we needed to book it home for plans part 2 at 6 pm until her sleepy eyes closed she kept saying, "I want to do it again!"  I guess Chick Fil A nuggets, her boyfran, and Minions are the recipe for a perfect day in Kid World.  (Thank you for having us!  We love y'all!)

Who gave my kid a red Solo cup?

Don't let the hair fool you.  He's a kid at heart.

I'm going to go out on a limb and say that this is the best picture in 2015.

Jen was clearly concerned that Brendan was being beat up by tots.

Mama Mel trying to herd the ninjas.

Because we were having way too much fun, we overshot the landing and barely made it home in time to put the dumplings in the crock pot for din.  (Have I ever spoken publicly about my love of crock pots?  I should more often.  Maybe I'll get a tattoo.  Seriously heart those things.)  My parents and brother came over to play with the girls a bit and to watch the clock strike midnight.

We spent a little time chatting.  A little time answering to tiny dictators.  A little time toasting.  A lot of time yawning and encouraging one another to make it to midnight.  And a little time enduring a lesson in butter churning from Ryan (don't ask.)  Overall, it was perfect.  Have I ever mentioned how overwhelmingly grateful I am for my family?  I truly am.  Thank you for coming to play with us Nonnie, Pawpaw & Uncle Matt!

Clothes and animals strewn about on the floor.  Beverage in hand.  This is how we roll in the Martin home.

Evidence that falling asleep during parties is in my DNA.  He did wake up for midnight, don't worry.  (Ignore the remnants of Christmas gifts that were not suitably cleaned up.)

Emery talked Pawpaw into taking her outside to watch our neighbors and their fireworks.

Her interest lasted approximately 7 minutes.

How cute are these two?

The finest in store-purchased cakes for our resident New Years Baby, Pawpaw B!  Happy Birthday, Daddio!

On New Years Day we headed over to Ryan's parents' house to celebrate his Grandpa's birthday (another New Years Baby).  The girls were so excited to get in some QT with cousin Kylie, Aunt Tiffy, Grandma, Great Grandpa Workman & Nancy.  

In fact, Em was having so much fun that we got talked into an impromptu cousin sleepover at Grandma's.  We were, of course, happy to oblige because it takes Em a bit to warm up to people.  Try as he did, it took her nearly the entire time we were there that evening before she would make eye contact with Great Grandpa Workman.  I'm told that evening she was climbing up in his lap- which I know he just ate up with a spoon.  Between that and the cousin time I know she adores so much- it was totally worth the crank-a-platpus that returned to us the next day.  Happy, happy Birthday Great Grandpa Workman!  

I love this picture.  Typically Brynn likes to be off exploring while the bigger girls play but I happened to capture her trying to get in on the action.

Necessitating an outfit change for Em is becoming a staple of a trip to Grandma & Pawpaw's house.

All our girls.  Heaven help us in about 10 years.

Christmas 2015

Ohhhh man did we have an awesome Christmas this year!  We were spoiled and got not 1, not 2, but THREE separate family togetherness events.  Let's walk through them, huh?

"I woke up like this." - Other TV Room  (Santa came!)

First off, on Christmas morning, Grandma, Pawpaw, Aunt Tiffany and Joseph came over to exchange adults gifts and to watch the girls uncover what Santa dropped off the previous night.  Kylie was at her Dad's house, unfortunately, but that just meant we got to have another celebration later.  Silver linings.

Having the Martin clan over also meant that we got to have- wait for it- biscuits and chocolate gravy for breakfast!  Biscuits and chocolate gravy are a long-standing Martin family tradition.  Ryan's Dad and his sisters fight over who makes it the best.  I'm not going to get in the middle of that but I will say that Mike whipped up a might good batch for us on Christmas morning.

Aunt Tiffy reading to the Boo Boo.

Emery trying to take all the candy without being noticed.  Fail.

Pawpaw B, you'll be pleased to see that Bella got some clothes for Christmas.

Ugh- be still my heart.  How are they getting so big?!

This round of biscuits and chocolate gravy was most definitely kid-approved.

After stuffing ourselves silly, Ryan and I hurriedly packed up the car and we went with his family over to look at the progress on the new house.  We left straight from there to go to Conroe for Christmas Part 2 with the Boarman crew.

The girls were pretty well practiced at present opening at this point and it was nearly impossible to hold them off.  So we pretty immediately got down to the business of opening gifts.

Dad!  There's an alien in this box.  Get him out!!!

Em checking out the alien.

I actually did a pretty horrific job of documenting the present opening.  (Raise your hand if you're shocked?) So I'm including all that I took here.  Quantity over quality?

Nothing says biker babe like a good thumb in the mouth.  (Side note: I think she was teething because she had that thumb in there a ton over this break.)

After the serious presents were opened and Brynn was down for a nap, we adults held our first annual white elephant.  I have to say that for only 7 participants, it was fairly lively.  Ryan and I procured ourselves to go plates and an actual white elephant.  If that isn't winning, I am just not sure what is.

Wine Loving Willie was a hot ticket item. 

The remainder of the weekend was spent doing what we all do best- napping, watching football (gross), going on walks, playing a spirited game of Cards Against Humanity, eating way too many cookies and just generally enjoying getting to relax and hang out together.

I was going to caption this- "Oh to sleep like a child," but I'm pretty sure I still do.

Nonnie finally has another elf to help decorate cut out cookies.  I think Julie is more than pleased to pass off that torch.

It was serious business, guys.

When it's raining outside, what else is there to do but have drone wars in the house?  (Matt's is the bigger one, Dad's is the littler one.)

It's hard to say who dug this game the most between Emery, the pilots and the dogs.  Notice Dallas at the bottom right hand corner.

Aunt Julie caught this picture of Nonnie, Emery & Pawpaw all catching a snooze as Ryan and I packed up to get ready to head back.

And last, but definitely not least, on our way back home on Sunday we swung by Ryan's parents' house to celebrate Christmas with Kylie.  We heard that Santa had left her a few things there while she was at her Dad's and that was not just a rumor.  

In addition to checking out Kylie's loot from Santa, the girls exchanged presents and got presents from Grandma & Pawpaw.  As you'll see below- there was no shortage of presents!

Emery giving the Barbie House that Santa brought a test drive before Kylie got there.

Can you guys believe how big my sweet niece is getting?!

Brynn assumes everything is food until proven otherwise.  This was a Snoopy ornament.

Emery opening a few books.

Emery, Elsa & Kylie playing Barbie house...

...While Brynn catches up on her reading.

To make life easy, and to maximize playing time for the girls, Grandma and Pawpaw ordered pizza.  This is Emery's absolute favorite food and getting to eat it sitting right next to Kylie made her laugh the. entire. meal.  Brynn didn't know what was so funny but she wanted in so she would randomly laugh.  Which made all of us laugh.  I'm sure if anyone had been filming us they would have assumed we were drunk.

Post pizza party we decided to give Kylie's new game, Pie Face, a test drive.  I'll let the videos speak for themselves.

No, she absolutely had no idea what was coming.  Yes, there were tears.  Don't worry- Ryan and I each did it afterwards so she wouldn't feel alone.  No, you won't see those videos.

Kylie handled it a little better.

Soon after being pelted with whipped cream, we Martins had to pack up and hit the road before our princesses turned into pumpkins.  We had so, so much fun!  As Em would say, we are "SO sad" it's over.  Thank you to all who participated and helped to make it such a wonderful memory.  We love you all!

Christmas Eve 2015

This Christmas Eve we didn't have any plans other than to hang out as a little family, which was exactly what the doctor ordered.  We have been constantly on the go and many weekends Ryan spends at least one day over at the new house working.  So it felt like it had been forever since the 4 of us had been able to just relax and hang out together.

Due to the aforementioned chaos of life at the moment, we didn't do many holiday related things.  Hopefully next year that will resume.  You know someone who listens to Sunny 99.1 as diligently as I do during the season needs to get her holiday tradition fix.

Even Christmas Eve wasn't overly Christmas-y but I'm giving the day it's own blog post anyway.  Because it's my blog and I'll document if I want to, doooocument if I want to!

We started the morning with a trip to HEB to grab all the makings for biscuits and chocolate gravy the next morning.

After we all took cat naps, we hit up the park mid afternoon.  Kid in a sleeveless outfit on Christmas Day?  Must be Houston.  (Seriously the weather was disgusting.  So so muggy.)

Love that genuine smile.  She's checking out her sister a few swings down.

Em chooses this slide nearly every time.  I am pretty certain it's because it goes the slowest.  She's for sure my baby.

Brynnie-zilla on the move.

Ohhhh, how I adore her.

I'm not sure what's going on with your hand there Dad, but can we go, please?

After a delicious dinner of roast, potatoes, carrots and onions, we gave the girls baths and got them in their jammies and I attempted to bake.  I'm not sure why I continue to try to do this because it's been made clear on more than one occasion that the kitchen is not where I belong.  

This year I decided we were going to tackle some gingerbread cookies.  I remembered getting some awesome cookie cutters from Ryan's Granny when she passed away and thought this would make the perfect event to use them.  Flash forward 3 minutes into this endeavor and I couldn't find the cookie cutters.  After a solid 15 minutes of Ryan and I pulling open every drawer and cabinet in our kitchen and dining room, I did eventually locate some round ones.  I decided for the sake of our marriage and sanity that these would have to do. I kept calling them "ornaments".  Em wasn't really falling for it.

Then I took another 5 minutes to locate the rolling pin.  Shortly thereafter I discovered we didn't quite have as many butter sticks as I thought and I had to improvise.  So... things were all in all going well.

Cookies?!

Wait, wait, we have to do what now?!

Em's interest in rolling out the dough and using the cookie cutters to make the "ornaments" lasted only about 2 minutes less than my own.  Y'all.  Rolling out dough and using cookie cutters is hard work.  Mad props to all you ladies who do it.  Next year I believe we Boarman women are going to institute a baking day.  I will somehow work to have the responsibility of pouring wine because this whole domestic thing is not my forte.

Since it was taking me forever to do this, we started to encroach on Em's bedtime.  I called Ryan up from the minors to help Emery do some decorating.  Luckily for him, she was far more interested in that.

What if I just eat this icing straight out of here?  Will Mom flip out?  What if she isn't looking?

Proud of her first creation.

I adore this picture.  It embodies my Em.  Bella, naked, watching while Emery tells Ryan what to do.  Managerial skills in spades that one.

Admiring her handiwork.

Cookies to all and to all a good cookie.

So, maybe the weather wasn't perfect.  Maybe the cookies weren't perfect.  But, the time spent as a little unit sure was.  I love these people so much more than I could ever hope to convey.  I hope you all had an equally love and memory filled Christmas Eve!