Memorial Day Weekend 2k16

Hello from the other side.... of summer.  I suppose now that it's nearly O-V-E-R I should get to documenting it, huh?  You know my M.O. when it comes to the summer holidays.  I spend too much time relaxing, gorging and chatting which inevitably leads to horrendous documentation and a random smattering of photos.  I regret to inform you that summer 2016 I did not turn over any new leaves.  Let's get to it, shall we?

Right before the holiday weekend, Conroe and its neighboring suburbs were hit hard with rain.  The lake level got up higher than it's been since my parents have owned their house there and it was breathing down the neck of historic levels.  This was very unfortunate but led to this awesome picture of my Mom rescuing Matt's canoe (kayak?).  I have no doubt she'll be SUPER pumped I put this in.  (Love you, Mom!)

This was the view from my parents' walkway down to the dock on Saturday.  You can tell by all the mud that the water came all the way up to the edge of the walkway.

My tribe*

Cheese?  Nah, I'm good.  Cupcakes?  Gimme, gimme.  That's my GIRL.

Clearly we had offended Emery.  Probably by refusing to let her play on the iPad.  As any good sister would, Brynn supported Emery's cause by laughing.

Probably talking Pawpaw into downloading the YouTube kids app.  These two are trouble.

Brynn's love for da-dawgs knows no bounds.

I hope you all had equally family-, fun-, and food-filled weekends.  The sincerest of thanks to all those who have, do, or will serve.  Nothing would be possible without you!

* The use of this term is in no way meant to imply my agreement to Ryan's self proclaimed Native American heritage.

Home Sweet Home Reno: Month Nine

On May 21st we reached the length of child gestation 9 months of home ownership!  This was SUCH A BUSY MONTH.  I would say it was largely the month o' paint but as you'll see in the pics below we accomplished so much more than that.  It was like Christmas every time I went by.  I'll let the pictures do most of the talking because there are a lot.  :c)

Accomplishments:

• All trim work completed (crown moulding, chair rail, baseboards, door jambs)
• Shiplap on kitchen bar completed
• All air vents taken town and cleaned
• Bead board installed in half bath
• Entire interior of house primed
• Entire interior of house painted
• Garage floor cracks repaired
• Garage floor painted
• Last piece of granite (for master bath & laundry sink) selected
• Brynn's shower tiled
• Brynn's bathroom floor tiled
• Emery's bath tiled
• Emery's bathroom floor tiled
• Master bath shower tiled
• Master bath cabinetry installed
• Kitchen cabinetry install started
• Fireplace distressing started

Purchases:

• All new fans
• Granite slab
• Silestone slabs

In the Pipeline:

• Finishing cabinets
• Installing appliances
• Selecting a stair subcontractor
• Selecting a shower enclosure subcontractor

Trim-iny Christmas.

Ship lap on the bar into the kitchen from the living room.  This was, of course, a GC special.  He did such an awesome job!

The purpose of this photo was, I believe, to show the woodwork in the dining room as opposed to capture how many ladders there are in our foyer.  Who knows though.  Could have been the second one.

Caddy & I washed all the air vents in the house.  Somehow I thought this was photo-worthy.

Of all the photos I have this month, this is my favorite.  It encapsulates what I'll remember best about this project- our little Saturday schedule.  I would take the girls to swim lessons (usually with Nonnie), pick up lunch and bring it to the boys.  Then we would all eat together at this card table which migrated throughout the house based on what was getting done.  In this photo it's right where our fridge will go.

Bead board!

Thanks to less drop than anticipated in the crown, we had enough left to add some in the half bath.

This is Em's room with a coat of primer.  It was so surreal to walk into the house and see the colors we had been staring at for 9 months wiped away.

In hindsight these pictures look a little Dexter-y, but at the time I was blinded by love.  View of the playroom/foyer after getting primed.

Built ins with a coat of primer.

Garage floor before, with cracks filled in.

Garage floor after.  GC did this all by himself and did such a stellar job!

After much granite yard walking, this bad boy was the slab we decided on for our bathroom and the laundry room.

First view of real paint going on the walls.  I don't think it had even dried yet fully.  This is SW Colonnade Gray with SW Extra White built-ins and trim.

More SW Colonnade Gray.  Thankfully I love it because it's err'where.

My Emmy's room into her bathroom.  Her bedroom is SW Denim and her bathroom is SW Naive Peach.

Brynnie's room into her bathroom.  Her bedroom is SW Glad Yellow and her bathroom is SW Sea Salt.

The dining room.  The top part is SW Pavestone.  The bottom part is SW Colonnade Gray at 25% (I told you I had it everywhere).

This is the Guest Room, affectionately referred to as the Nonnie/Pawpaw room.  The color is SW Accessible Beige.

This was the last room the guys painted- the study.  It was previously wood paneling in the yellow-y oak color that was the hallmark of late 80's/early 90's building.

I don't think it's shown anywhere, but this door was previously stained a dark-ish color and in need of some lovin'.

The paint guys finished the study and I LOVE it.  The built ins are SW Pavestone at 125%.  The backs of them are SW Colonnade Gray at 25% (to match dining room).  The walls and trim are all SW Extra White.

The tile guys came!  This is a WIP photo of Brynn's bathroom.  It wasn't grouted yet.

My first look at the tile (Daltile Hexagon & Dot) on Brynn's floor.  Also not grouted.

My first look at the Hexagon & Dot tile on Em's floor.  Not grouted. :c)

The cabinet installers handiwork.  This 2 day install turned into like... maybe a 7 day install?  Said install may have included drilling into a water line.  Or maybe that was just a bad dream?  Thank Heavens for my GC's ability to think creatively.

Action photo of the shower in the master bathroom.

This was the "before" of the fireplace.  I decided, after MUCH research, to limewash it.

This is what we'll call the interim "after".  I spent an entire Saturday limewashing this bad boy.  I left feeling defeated as it looks like I did absolutely nothing.  When I arrived to check on it Sunday, there were tears.  But that's a story for the 10 month post, isn't it?  :c)  Stay tuned.

S is for Sister: Installment 6

With another quarter of Brynn in our world's also came another 3 months worth of sisterly bonding.  The entire length of which was spent sharing a room together in the apartment, so bonding was their middle name.  "Cause space is just a a word made up by someone who's afraid to get CLOSE, ohh ohhhhhh."  Oh, pardon me.  I got carried away.  Let's skip to the pictures before this turns into karaoke hour, huh?

The cutest patrons I've ever seen at Sherwin Williams.  I wouldn't ask them about Repose Gray vs Colonnade Gray though.  They weren't so helpful.

I caught the very tail end of these two plotting to get some snacks Daddy and I had hidden on a shelf we believed they could not reach.  That step stool wasn't our best purchase.

Emery Tip #1,097:  Nothing makes you look more like a professional firefighter than an absurdly low center of gravity.

I can't even.  How cute are these two?!

I dunnooooooo.

Dance party.  (If this picture were 0.2 second later, it would have been a Flash Dance party).

Teaching sister the delicate art of jumping on furniture.  Important part of the lesson is making sure to choose an evening late in the week, after dinner and bathtime, when Mom and Dad are too tired to really argue you on it.

Running around like hooligans in Em's room.

In case you are worried it's all butterflies and rainbows.

"See Brynn, this is where you press the button to purchase something without Mom and Dad knowing til they get their next ATT statement."

We loooooove us some Great Harvest.

I know it's dark.  I know Daddy's beer ruins this picture.  But those sweet, sweet profiles.  I never, ever want to forget them.

Checking out the animals at Clay's. 

Chim chimeny, chim chimeny, chim chim charooooo!  Emmy Poppins at your service.

Nothing makes you feel comfortable when you're out and about solo like receiving this picture from your hubs at home.  Parenting like a boss.

Probably not the last time these two conspire to break into my purse.  Thankfully I don't think they can forge my signature.... yet.

Take my hand and follow me to the Promiseland, weary birthday party goer.  A land filled with red, white and BBQ sauce.  A land where people say, "my pleasure," to your every request.  A land called Chick-Fil-A.

I can't decide if I should be more confused as to how our toy coffee pot made it into HEB or alarmed that my children look so jazzed up about coffee.

Brynn demolished this.  Neither the ice cream, nor the spoon, stood a chance.

I would bet an all expenses paid trip to Target that the last word before this picture was "MY!" (mine)

Babies having babies.  Welcome to the fam, Bebe/Twinkle!

Em: Do you think they know we lined our pockets with peanut butter crackers before they finished getting ready?  Brynn:  No.  Gah, we're good.  Hope they don't check the car seats after we get out at school.