So I realize the last time I posted was back in April while I was still on maternity leave. That feels like a lifetime ago. I'm going to try my best to recap some of the Farmhouse happenings from these past few months before I forget completely.
Once the office was done, we started pretty much immediately on porch projects, like hanging the tongue and groove ceiling. We had a bunch of wood left over from our upstairs addition and wanted to use that up. It seemed like a lot more when it was stacked in the barn, and in reality only covered about a sixth of the ceiling. Oh well, Ben ordered more and drove out to Marne with all three kids and his dad's trailer on his first daddy daycare day when I went back to work. Ben is home with the boys either Tuesday or Thursday each week, which are coined "daddy days" by our boys. Love. He unloaded all of the wood into the garage and it wasn't long before all we could smell was donuts. I don't know why, but that wood smelled amazing. Ben, Colt and I all called it "donut wood" and would often walk into the garage and take deeeeeep breaths. It's the little things.
We chipped away at the ceiling, which went much better when Ben bought a new double-bevel miter box. It still took several hours over the course of several weeks to finish the ceiling. It's hard to find dedicated time for house projects these days. Oh, but before we hung the ceiling, Ben added can lights around the porch, which also took a significant amount of time. He does a lot of things that amaze me, but I think his ability to do electrical work takes the cake.
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| this was the ceiling of the original front porch which we covered with the new wood. |
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| We love when "Grandpa Harold" stops by! We bought the Farmhouse from him and try to keep him up on our progress. |
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| Ellis...a lover of "whole apples" and mismatched fashion. |
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| Last board! 11:00 pm! Yikes. Sorry neighbors. |
Meanwhile, I twiddled my thumbs deciding on a paint color for the ceiling. We originally thought white, then I thought grey, then I thought blue, then I went back to white, then I liked the original pine, but ultimately landed on a light blue/gray called Kentucky Haze. The ceiling in the original porch was close to this color which is what took us down that path in the first place. And when we were on our honeymoon in Savannah, GA the majority of porches had blue ceilings and that detail has stuck with us over the years. Blue ceilings are common in the South for a few reasons. 1) it keeps birds from nesting there 2) it makes the porch feel more open, like its the sky and 3) to keep evil spirits (haints) away. #3 is really our biggest concern, so blue it is.
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| accidental selfie. love him. also, I married him for his dimples. |
Something that didn't require us to do any work other than write a check was getting the driveway paved. This was kind of a hasty decision quite honestly. It was always part of the longer term plan to pave the driveway, but it wasn't highest priority. But as soon as the snow melted and we had mud puddles everywhere, we both independently came to the conclusion we needed to pave this year. Then I happened to sit next to a guy at the DMV one day who just happens to spend his summers working for a blacktop company, so he gave me some details and a contact and the rest is history. And we are SO GLAD we bit the bullet and did this now. So much more space for the kids to ride bikes and play with chalk, and we no longer have a garage and kitchen full of dirt.
In addition to a huge driveway to play on, Ben also hung swings from a tall tree branch this spring so the kids can FLY.
We were also able to squeeze a few other projects in these last few months, like staining the deck, hanging skirt board around the porch, and painting the garage walls. I'm very much over doing inside projects for now, so I'm happy that all of the mess is outside for the world to see.
Our cousin Chris came and washed all of the windows one windy afternoon. That was incredible...some of them still had the factory film on them so we finally got all of that off, Chris washed them and WOW what a difference!! He and Ben did get stranded on the roof at one point when the wind took the ladder away. Somehow they were able to get Colter to open a window so Ben could climb back in. It's typically best that I don't know what goes on when I'm at work.
In all of my spare time (full time working mom + full time mom mom + marginal wife) I've found a few gems to fill the house and furnish the porch. This is where it's at for me...I love finally being able to envision our spaces and figure out how to make them work for us, then fill them with items we already have or randomly find. I look exclusively on Craigslist, antique store Facebook pages and at Hobby Lobby.
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| Facebook find at an antique store in Allegan. |
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| Farmgirl Flea Market find...it barely fit in my friend Jen's vehicle. |
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| This actually came from the house Ben's dad grew up in! Our friends Cody and Kaycie live there now and did some remodeling, so we got this hand-me-down which I love, mostly because of the story that goes with it. |
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| church pew. why not? This was a funny story...I found it on Craigslist when I was 8 months pregnant and when we went to pick it up found out the guy's wife, Dawn, is a labor and delivery nurse at Holland Hospital. She (along with Aunt Gina) ended up delivering Jameson! Such a small world. |
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| Ben actually commended my patience on this one. I almost pulled the trigger on a few other similar pieces but never did. Then found this one at a great price, and I love that it's not painted yet. It fits perfect in our dining room, and I can eventually customize it to fit our style. I did have to enlist my dad to help me get this beast home! |
And to cap it off with a few reminders of why we are putting ourselves through this crazy mess...thank you Jesus for these moments!
