Where did July go? And Home Remodeling Overload...

July just flew right by. I gravely underestimated the amount of activities I would need to invent to keep the little lady content while at the same time appeasing the little man. Aside from our family vacay to the beach we had lots of days and hours to fill.

We were inspired by the Olympics and went to open gym at a local gymnastics place. Here is little lady showing off her balance beam skills.

We also made a few trips to Monkey Joe's to bounce out some energy.

Fortunately the neighbors granddaughter has been available for lots of play dates.

We have also been slightly overwhelmed by the amount of random but exciting house and remodeling projects we have had going on.

One morning hubby calls and tells me that he is on his way with a few framers to build a playhouse. What playhouse? I did not remember that being on our immediate to do list.

5 hours later we have a large playhouse framed and covered with roofing paper and house wrap. just what I never knew I needed. :)

Now we just have to find the time to finish it...

The front outdoor planter got a make over. When we arrived home from our vacay the weeds had overtaken all the plants and it was a total mess. We decided that this space would be better utilized as a patio.

Little lady was so excited about the cement mixer.

For some reason walking in the deep wet cement seemed like so much fun to me. To the guys actually doing the work, not so much especially since it was literally hotter than hell that day.

Little lady supervised from the shade of the tree.

About a week after it was poured our friendly concrete finisher came back and did a really cool acid finish. I think it works really well with the color of the brick. 

I also decided on a color for the front door and the shutters. It is naval from Sherwin Williams. I'm sure the neighbors are thrilled that we have only gotten around to painting the front door and one shutter...

We removed the age old flimsy storm door and unearthed an ugly brown color which may be the original house color. Now we need to decide what would be the perfect thing to put on our new patio.

For a good portion of the month we had all the furniture out of the den moved into the living room. It was quite the disaster area. Why were we living like hoarders you may ask?

Because I had the bright idea to start sanding walls in the den. My initial thinking was it would take me a few days from start to finish...

As with most of bright ideas, hubby stepped in to get the job done. After I did not manage to get it done after 2 weeks.

It was definitely time to rid the wall of this antique. Anyone in need of a 1961 Nutone intercom? 

Halfway through the prepping of the den we realized that the sun room roof had sprung a leak. So for several days of rain this was the scene, mixing bowls and mop bucket catching the drips. A new rubber roof has now been installed so I am now back to using the mixing bowls in the kitchen only. The joys of a 50 year old house. Nice.

Back to the den project, we removed a door that was between the front foyer and the den. It surprisingly lets in quite a bit of light.

Den with new trim installed ~ pre paint.

Fireplace and built in entertainment center before paint.

Hubby replaced all of the brown outlets and switches, updated with pure white ones.

At the last minute we decided to remove the gigantic sliding glass door between the den and the sun room. It had gotten to the point where I could barely open it. It was so heavy and really quite a hazard to have that much glass with two small children. It was most definitely not tempered glass. 

Den~ After

I love, love, love it! The color is Oatmeal by Ralph Lauren. It is so bright and cheery now. What a difference.

We are also making good progress on the master bath downstairs. Here little lady does a dance of joy that sheet rock has been hung and the finishing is well under way.

This is the current state of the master bedroom...

who wouldn't just love having 2 toilets in the bedroom?! Not to mention piles of tile and sheet rock. We have company coming in 2 weekends so the goal for this weekend is to get this mess cleaned up so we can move our bed in. Keep your fingers crossed for us!

Last but most certainly not the least little man has hit a major milestone. He can now sit in seat of the grocery buggy! So much easier than the heavy car seat, now I can actually fit the groceries in the cart.

He will go for his 6 month well check the beginning of Sept. I can't wait to see how much he has grown.

Little lady is now back in school so hopefully I can get around to posting more often.

:)