Ordinary.

Oops, been a while again. I fell into a little rut, thinking there wasn't much to update on because nothing “big” has been happening. Then our message today in church was about David and Goliath, and how God can use our ordinary life for an extraordinary purpose. Which made me realize that there might not be a single person who cares about the ordinary past two months, but I certainly don't want to forget them, either. And maybe there is one person who can be encouraged by us. And so I write.

We've been in the Farmhouse now for a little over two months. It took a while to sift through all of the boxes and clutter. And to be honest there's still quite a bit of that to go around, but it's mostly isolated to one area in the house that we don't really ever go in. This space will eventually likely be “formal” (we are not formal people) dining and living room. And also we have three large living spaces in this house so having one out of commission is not a problem. Ergo, stacks of unpacked boxes.

Some of the projects we've tackled since the last post are:

1. We re-papered the back of an original built-in cabinet in the kitchen. For the cost of one roll of craft wrapping paper from Hobby Lobby we gave a pretty instant update to what was kind of an eyesore before, compared to the rest of the freshly refinished kitchen. I considered painting the shelves and doors, but just changing the backdrop updated it enough for me to leave the rest alone for now. I also changed out the knobs with something I found in the garage.
   
   
   

   
   

   

   
   

   

   
   

   
   

   

   
   
   
   
2. The guys had originally framed the laundry space in the mudroom to be more of a laundry closet with bi-fold doors, which I painted white a few months ago thinking “it's a closet, I'll use cheap left-over white paint.” But after thinking about it, we decided we really didn't want doors as this space is pretty much used constantly, and it's just one more thing to get in the way. So I visioned up a cute solution to make the laundry area feel more like the mudroom it's in, rather than just a closet that got forgotten. I re-painted the inside a few weeks ago to match the mudroom (technically it matches the upstairs family room, but you can't tell. Leftover paint strikes again). This immediately made it feel warmer and more like it wasn't supposed to be a closet. Then we hung some stock cabinets from Menards which I chalk-painted green so we have some storage in there. All we need now is a counter top, which Ben is going to make out of wall studs that come out of Colt's bedroom closet when we renovated the upstairs. So it will have a reclaimed wood, rustic style countertop that should make this space even more functional and HOPEFULLY not just a place to unload junk. We struggle with that.
   
   
   

   
   

   

   
   

   

   
   
   

   
   

   

   
   
   
3. Ben finally got the garage organized close to his liking and we can now get both vehicles in with room to spare. I have to take some blame for the previous state of the garage, because at one point when we were getting down to the wire before final inspections, I moved EVERYTHING that was in the house that didn't belong in the house (aka Ben's tools, wood scraps, stray nails and screws, paint supplies, dust masks...) into the garage to deal with another day. Since then Ben hasn't been able to find anything in under 10 minutes so he's been understandably frustrated. He also owns the fact that I didn't really have a choice, as the house needed to get cleaned out, and he didn't have time to sort through stuff then either. Regardless, he finally feels better about his garage and I don't live in guilt for that fateful Saturday in March anymore either. It also helps my case that Ben's mom helped me with that chore, and he can't be mad at his mom, so really he can't be mad at me, either.
   
   
   

   
   
4. The basement is safe again and is fitted with a sump pump and some new blocking and drainage. A few weeks before we moved in we realized that some of the original, very very old stone and mortar foundation was crumbling. Like big stones just fell down and into a nice pile on the floor. I about threw in the towel at that point, but Corey and AJ came quickly and secured the basement with temporary braces. Greg got right on it and got quotes to fix it permanently, and we are now in a good spot. Nobody was ever concerned that the house was going to collapse. But if you ever come over, I would suggest staying away from the South-West corner of the house. Between you and me.
5. Straightline Lawn Care (Ben's employer during his college years) came and power raked the yard and sprayed hydro-seed a few weeks ago, and we have a thin lawn now. Kind of looks like a 4 month old who started out with a lot of hair and is now losing it. I'm sure it will come in thick again. Some of the original grass is starting to come back too. It all took a huge toll with all of the heavy machinery, re-grading, etc. that took place during the fall/winter/spring. We'll be very thankful with a full yard full of grass, as boys and a dog in clay alone are enough to make me pull my hair out.
   
   
   

   
   
   

   
   

   

   
   
   
6. We found a cool old baker's hutch at the Youth for Christ donation center last month and it fits perfectly in the kitchen. Actually, Ben found it in January and said it would be perfect, but I wasn't ready to commit and we didn't really have a good place to store it anyways. So I said no, and life went on. Then six weeks ago or so I started getting serious about actually finding a vintage hutch or something else to fill a 4+ foot space in the kitchen. My friend Melissa was getting rid of a hutch that would have been PERFECT if it was 3 inches smaller. It was already painted a lovely blueish/teal, and had all of the nooks and compartments I wanted. Alas. It was not meant to be. The baker's hutch turned out to still be available in May, so we took it home. It looks great in the kitchen and helps bring a touch of old into the space that is now brand new, except for the floors. And the built-in.
   
   
   

   
   
7. We just this weekend hung some shelves and closet rods in my closet. I'm getting anxious to organize this room, so this should help a lot. It's a big closet with a lot of potential. It also doubles as my “dressing room” since Ben is often asleep when I need to get ready. Can't wake up my sleeping beauty now, can I? Third shift wife problems.
   
   

In between all of this, we have just been playing and puttering a lot. Figuring out how to live and function in this new and old house. Ben and I have gone on a few dates which have been great again. We went 7 or 8 months or so with about one date total, and not much quality time at all. Our dates usually end up being on a Monday or Thursday or something a-typical, but it works for us. And more importantly, our sitter, Jaycee.

The boys just love it here. They love digging in the dirt and throwing rocks in a little drainage ditch we have in the backyard. They love riding their bikes around the driveway which is quite flat. I often find myself missing Huizenga; the sidewalks, walking to parks or to Captain Sundae, being able to run up the hill to Dollar General when we forgot something, playing in the backyard with luscious grass, living in a smaller house with everything on the main level. I also love the Farmhouse, it just takes getting used to the differences. While the boys do quite well, bike rides down the road are terrifying, and I don't think I'd attempt it by myself yet. It takes man to man coverage. The sunsets are stunning here. The breeze is amazing. And I love being upstairs and looking out the windows, feeling like I can see forever. These are things we didn't get to experience living in town. We also didn't have to experience manure spreading season, which one day was so terrible we had to leave the house. Even Ben, and he “loves manure”. We did get a surprise last week when Ben realized that the crops coming up in the farmland surrounding our house were soy beans and not corn. Which means my fear that the boys would get lost in a cornfield this summer will NOT come to fruition, at least by our house.

They recruited their friend Cooper to dig with them. This is seriously a thing here. "Hey Ellis, let's go dig!" "Okay, Colter!" and off they go.

My coworker, Aimee, told me a few weeks ago about a contest Joanna Gaines from Fixer Upper is doing, where she'll choose someone NOT IN WACO, TX, to do a remote design job for. So, I entered, because why not? The winner will get a living room makeover complete with a design plan, a rug, a hand selected furniture item, paint, and $1,000 spending allowance at her store, Magnolia Market. And since Joanna is big into farmhouses, I think I might win! Just kidding, there are so many entries. But the winner will be announced on June 15, so I'm just crossing my fingers because you know what? Somebody has to win. Maybe it will be me. I did win a Kindle Fire one time, which only lasted 8 months before Colt/Ben dropped it on the driveway. Joanna, if I win, I promise to not let anyone drop anything.

I occasionally (or often) have a hard time focusing on the blessings right in front of me, because I'm looking ahead to something else that needs to be done or crossed off the list. I'm working on it. I want to enjoy the here and now and just be THANKFUL with what we have and how far we've come. In the last month we've watched friends say “good-bye” to a dear friend with cancer who left behind a wife and young baby. We've heard about (and seen, if you're Ben) too many tragic car accidents. We've heard about yet another mass shooting in our own country, possibly the worst one yet. There is so much to grieve. There is also so much to be thankful for. We never know when our number is up, when God calls us home, or just calls us to walk through some hard times. I choose to be happy and thankful and live life to the fullest right here and now. And to pray for those who are too weak to muster up the strength for themselves right now.

So, if you hear me complain about something that I don't have or some project that is left 90% and not 100% complete, give me a kick in the pants and remind me to be thankful and to go be a blessing to someone else. But if I win the contest, just give me a high five and let me be happy about that.  

In.

So. We moved in. We are slowly coming out of a fog. Life since July 3, 2015 has been a blur and these last three weeks are no exception. The last week of March was full of inspections; bank, mechanical and building. Most everything went fine. We went back and forth with the bank, because the on-the-ground inspector signed off on everything, but somehow the report the bank received only gave us 80% complete on HVAC and 95% complete on paint, trim and labor. Something got lost in translation, clearly. Ben called as soon as we received these documents and ended up being on the phone for about an hour with the bank and the inspector. His favorite thing is talking on the phone so this was not a big deal. So totally kidding. The story he got from the lady at the bank was that we could be in default of our loan because it was a six month loan and if the project wasn't complete, well, bad news bears. So we went into panic mode, naturally. We are hard working people with good credit and auto-payment on everything, so we basically never miss a bill. We pay off loans (cars, student loans) early. We live within our means and give to our church and local charities. So the word "default" hit like a dagger, to me anyways. Well, this went back and forth for about two days then I finally talked to a different person at the bank who assured me that we would be fine and it was probably just a miscommunication with the documents, and worst case scenario there was a 30 day grace period to get all of the renovations completed. Then suddenly, unexpectedly, we heard from the bank that they were ordering the final FINAL inspection (which is a good thing) and hopefully we would be all set. The inspection took place, he signed off, bank sent the last draw documents to us this past Wednesday, we all signed and I sent them back. Then I found out late Friday afternoon that they won't release the final funds because there's one permit missing from our file. Oh my word, seriously?! Hopefully this will be resolved quickly and it doesn't seem like a big deal, but we are just ready to be done with all of this back-and-forth nonsense. Trying to remain positive and grateful because without the bank, there wouldn't be a Farmhouse.

After we got everything ready for the end-of-March inspections, the next thing was to get moved in, get everything out of the rental, and get everything out of the PODS. Done, done and done. Our first night in the house was Monday, April 4. The PODS was emptied that week and picked up on Thursday, April 7. We chipped away at the rental that whole week but were officially out on Saturday, April 9. In between all of this we had to say "goodbye for now" to my Grandma Stob. She passed away into glory after 98 years here on, ironically, April 4. This was such a bittersweet day. It was also incredibly gross and rainy, until that evening when it suddenly got sunny. My dad called shortly after I noticed this to tell me Grandma had passed. I think the sun started shining when Grandma saw Jesus face to face and got to hug my Grandpa for the first time in 23 years. That whole week was peppered with happy moments and sad moments; memories made and memories recalled. The funeral brought in family from all over, and it was amazing to see all of my aunts and uncles, nearly all of my 15 Stob cousins, many of their spouses and lots of their kids that week. Grandma was so excited about the Farmhouse, and I'm sad that she didn't get to see it quite finished.

We obviously moved in gradually over the course of about a week and a half. Our moms both helped a lot, getting the house clean and livable. It's a good thing we have kids because that's where their real concern lies. Kidding, I know they love us too. We also got the pre-existing carpets cleaned in the living rooms downstairs and the three bedrooms upstairs. We took help when it was offered and asked for help in pretty specific windows...we do have day (night, weekend) jobs after all. At first it went well...getting furniture set up, packing up one room and bringing it over and unpacking it at the Farmhouse...and then everything went crazy and it was a free-for-all. And that's still pretty much where we are at. Most of what we need to be functional is in place, but we can't walk through the garage and we can barely pass through the family room upstairs. Boxes everywhere. As odd as it might sound, even to me, I am the most at peace about this whole thing than I have been in months. We may be living in chaos surrounded by boxes, but at least we are all together and everything is in one place! That alone adds some semblance of "normal" that we have all been missing.

Not everything in the house is fully complete, even from our standards. When we moved in the kitchen floor still needed one coat of poly. The mudroom and pantry needed to be stained and finished, which meant three more coats of poly. The chimney hole upstairs was still only covered with a piece of plywood and needed to have a better, safer patch. The only appliance that was fully functional was the fridge. But we didn't care. We had been there before; that's what normal renovations are like. We picked away at the floors the first weekend we were there, which has now allowed us to get some stuff into place. The island we took from our old house fits nicely in the kitchen and has been really nice to eat around again. Hank came over one day to put blocks under the stove and got it all leveled and working properly. I've mentioned before that the floor has a significant slope and the kitchen cabinets needed to be shimmed a lot. The stove sat too low, even with the little leveling mechanisms on the feet fully extended. So blocks and extra trim pieces it is. He also came to install the microwave which is so much nicer than the little college dorm room type micro we bought for the rental. Ben got the washer and dryer working, so we are up and running with all of the appliances. We have temporary rods in our closets until we decide how we want to organize them for real. I personally got so tired of making decisions that I think I might live with my temporary rod for a year. It works just fine. Well, it did fall down once, but Ben reinforced it so I'm back in business.

The entry doors we want are not in yet so we still have temporary ones. Sounds like the person who took the order initially has since quit and something got lost in the shuffle. There's no record of the order so they placed a new one last week. The high cost of turnover, I tell ya. The list of to-do's is slowly growing again now that we're coming out of the haze of actually moving. But nothing seems overwhelming, and nothing will require us to get a sitter in order to work together, or spend evenings and weekends in separate houses, or prevent us from dropping everything to go play outside with the boys, now that it's finally so nice out. So we are very thankful and relieved to be as far as we are.

My dad and brother Matt helping Ben move this beast upstairs to Colt's room.

Guys from our small group at church helped get some big stuff in one night. Bed, couches, etc. There was also a lot of downtime.

Deep in thought...

View of the Farmhouse from the rental on our last night there. Beauty.

My grandma packing up my kitchen stuff.

My grandpa helping Ben unload the PODS.

Playing with cars and trucks the first morning they woke up at the Farmhouse. No different from anywhere else they have ever lived!

This is so common it's barely notable. Yes, someone is on the toilet.

Why wouldn't you wear your Colombian cowboy hat to poly a floor at 11:00 pm on a Saturday?

Our dog is no longer allowed inside the house. In case it's not clear, she's a yellow lab.

Boys playing atop of the clay with their cousin Brett.

Ben and my dad hanging plywood in the garage. More durable than drywall in Ben's opinion. I don't know and I don't care. 

Yellow

Another holiday has come and gone and we are still chillin in limbo. But we are in the home stretch. We had a bank inspection on Monday and everything that was on the original budget/bank loan needed to be complete. We were nervous about this. Me especially. I've been nervous about all things bank related since July. But the inspector signed off on everything, so we are just praying that everything gets processed okay. It's at least a step in the right direction! We still have one final bank inspection/appraisal and then the final building inspection. We hope to have closure by the end of this week! Once the work to get the house ready for inspections is done, the work will begin to move in. That's a whole different animal I'm not quite ready to deal with. Didn't we JUST move?!

Things have been coming together quite well, I would have to say. It's scary waiting to see how things you picked out in October actually look in the house. I feel like my tastes have changed a little even in the past six months. Overall I think everything is working out and not displeasing to the eye. But there have also been some definite hiccups these past few weeks. Full disclosure: it's not all fun and games in the renovation business. 

- I previously mentioned that Ben and my dad had painted all of the new drywall/addition areas back in February. Then we had someone come in and paint the trim. He did, and it looks great, but he over-sprayed a lot in the process, not realizing that the walls were done. He assumed they needed the second coat yet. When we walked in one evening and saw this, our hearts just sank. We felt like we were in a good spot, and then it felt like we took two steps backwards. He made it right and fixed all of the walls over the course of the next few days, though there are still some spots where it looks like the wrong sheen or maybe even color was used. Not noticeable enough for us to address right now. In general, the walls, doors, trim, etc. all look great.

- Lighting fixtures turned out to be one of the bigger headaches to date in my opinion. I completely stressed over this. Anything I loved came at a steep price. We finally got to the point where I had waited too long to pull the trigger and the electricians needed fixtures. So we went to Home Depot one rainy Sunday on the way to a birthday party and got what we needed. We ended up just getting inexpensive fixtures that we didn't hate, knowing it was nothing a can of spray paint couldn't fix. My sister-in-law actually once called me the spray paint queen, so I'm always good for a project. Sometimes I just walk down that aisle at Menards to imagine what I can re-fresh next. Did I just say that out loud? Spoiler alert...I actually really like the lighting fixtures now that everything is in place. My favorite fixture might be the one over the kitchen sink that cost $13. Winning. 

- There was some major miscommunication around plumbing fixtures. I had picked everything out back in October for the downstairs bathroom, December for the master bath and January for the kitchen. I didn't give anything a second thought. Then Greg called last Friday morning when I was at a conference in Grand Rapids. Apparently about half of the fixtures were missing at the house and the plumbers were there waiting. I called the showroom and they only had part of the order. They were going to look into it. I never heard back, so when I was finally back in Holland I drove right there to see what was going on. I ended up taking several things back to the house with me and they ordered everything else to be delivered on Monday. Everything is now installed and looks great, but that was frustrating. When I filled Ben in he said "wow, bet you're mad huh?" and I said "yes, but I don't know at who! Seems like there's an unnecessary middle man here and I don't know who dropped the ball. I might actually just be mad at you." And Ben will concur that most of the anger and frustration does end up directed at him. Poor guy.

-I mentioned before that the boys wanted yellow bedrooms. They were also, for a time, arguing with each other and with me over who was getting which room. So my genius plan was to pick one "yellow that's not really yellow" and paint all three original bedrooms the same so that which boy ends up in which room could be a game time move-in decision and all would be happy (except Mom. Because yellow). I hemmed and hawed over swatches and narrowed it down to three. I took those along with three boys (I had our nephew Gavin, Colt's age, as well that day) back to Repcolite to make a decision. I told the lady there what my plan was and she said, "Let me show you 'Straw'..." and it seemed fine to me so I bought three gallons. No sample. Just three gallons. No risk no reward. In this case, minor risk, zero reward. I started painting that night and HATED it. Just hated it. Ben tried to make me feel better about it but I was not happy. I looked again the next morning and still hated it. It has now kind of grown on me. I wouldn't say I love it, but the boys do, so I guess I just need to get over it. They've also come to an agreement on who gets what room, but I give it about three nights before they want to share a room again anyways. Whatever. They've been sharing at the rental and it goes really well. In fact, the past few nights I've had to put Ellis back in his crib because he keeps trying to sleep in Colter's bed. Who am I kidding, it's kind of adorable.

- Most of the windows were replaced in December and January. There was one window that came in wrong, so we needed a new one. The new one was also wrong apparently, so there has just been this one window that hasn't been replaced. The opening was framed and covered with foam board and they were able to side around it. They were FINALLY able to get the last window in a few days ago! Yesssss...check that off the list. Only bummer is that the painter is done and gone and we don't have time to wait, so I just painted the trim myself. It doesn't look near as good as the professionally painted trim, but good enough for Ellis' room I guess. It's just going to end up covered with cars and Fruit Loops anyways. 

Most everything else has gone very smoothly. Plumbers are done, siding is done, electricians are done, HVAC is done, driveway/garage approach is poured...we are pretty much down to some interior things that need to be addressed before the inspections. One thing not covered by the bank but that we wanted done before we moved were the original bedrooms. My dad took charge of these, patching and repairing all of the water damage, crumbling plaster, etc. Then, they needed to be primed with oil-based primer, since we found remnants of wall paper and if there is any glue, it would just smear around if you tried to paint. The stuff you learn when you listen to your dad. My dad and I primed the rooms, including ceilings, one Friday morning. We were a little wobbly by the end. That stuff is nasty. At one point, Corey (Countryside) was on the roof right outside the bedroom window and he popped his head in to check on us to make sure we weren't going to pass out. Thankfully it was a nice day and we could open all the windows without freezing. 

Ben installed the yellow pine flooring upstairs this weekend, which was really the biggest thing left on the list. He got as far as he could before he ran out of wood. Somebody mis-measured. And it wasn't me. We still need a railing/banister at the top of the new staircase, which is built and just needs to be installed. A few door knobs need to be installed, a little painting needs to be done. Other than that, we should be in good shape for the bank. Then, before we move in, we need to clean. I've been tackling this a little the past week, with the help of our moms. It's amazing what a difference a few hours can make. So so good for my mental health. In one of these cleaning sessions, The Moms successfully talked me into trashing the monstrous sectional sofa we had been storing at the Farmhouse. We got it out of our basement in Zeeland and brought it right to the Farmhouse. There wasn't room in the PODS or at the rental, so this seemed logical. Maybe it would have been, if we had somehow covered and protected it. Instead, it ended up with months worth of drywall dust, insulation, maybe asbestos, maybe lead paint, embedded in the fibers. I was still planning to get it cleaned. Well, The Moms talked me out of it, I convinced Ben, and we tossed it in the dumpster. We bought it used from Ben's coworker about six years ago, and it was several years old by then already, so it had lived a good life. But old schmold, that thing was comfy. Oh well. Bye bye big guy

Biscuit jointing the downstairs bathroom vanity top. This was about 11:30pm on a Saturday. 

Dad patching the walls

He was on ceiling paint duty...what a guy.

Finishing up the siding. Looks safe.

Grouting the shower

Ready to make fast decisions on lighting

Luckily for me, the trip to Repcolite with three little buys included a stalled train across the street. Kept them occupied for minutes.

Ellis' legit reaction to the yellow rooms. Jumping for joy. This picture actually seems okay now that I look at it. Much different in person.

My poor Acadia has some hard miles on it from the past 8 months.

Concrete guys prepping for steps and driveway

The last window...I was so excited. Hank told me they charge extra for photos, so if this blog ever makes money I hereby promise to give him five dollars.

My man...working hard to give me the floor I never wanted. I actually do really like it a lot now that it's in. One might call it a leap of faith, since all of the professionals warned us against it and we never even saw a sample of the stuff we actually ordered. I do love those knots though...

Big helpers. Uncle Mike happened to bring over a bunch of hand-me-down toys that morning, including new tools. 

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Do Nothing Small

Ben came down with something last weekend, so I suggested he have some Thieves Tea. I drank this many nights this winter and generally stayed pretty healthy. If you know anything about essential oils, you probably know more than I do. But I do buy into the health benefits of Thieves. So anyways, the tea is hot water, a drop or two of Thieves oil, some lemon oil or fresh lemon, and honey. Ben knows this. I've made it for him before. I reminded him this was the recipe. What he did instead was to fill a glass with cold water, add four drops of Thieves (which is A LOT), lemon juice, and honey. I went crazy bug eyes on him when he told me four drops, and he replied, very seriously, “do nothing small”. Ain't that the truth. 

The plan is to be done by the end of March. In fact, the bank says we HAVE to be done by the end of March. “Done” means Phase I plus the kitchen will be complete. This doesn't include updates we want to do to the original rooms, the front porch, the barn, the landscaping...but done enough that the bank will sign off and give us the rest of our money, and we can move in. The way this loan has worked is that 10% of every draw is held back until final inspections, when the inspector, the contractor, and Ben and I all agree that the project is complete. So the 10% differential between what the bank gives us and what we owe the contractor is out of pocket for now. So move in day will technically be kind of lucrative, even if just replenishing the savings account. But four-ish weeks!! This is both incredibly exciting and daunting. In four weeks we might be living at the Farmhouse. But that also means that for four weeks there will be no sleep.

The bathroom floors are tiled, grouted and sealed. This was kind of a bummer for Ben, because it was very time consuming and he was very critical of his work. Apparently cute little hexagon tiles are kind of unforgiving when laid without spacers. Snobs. I still really like the floors and will probably spend the next 15 years convincing Ben of the same.

brand new master bath

downstairs remodel

The ceilings in the new family room upstairs and our bedroom are finished with tongue and groove pine paneling. There were a few reasons for this. First, Ben likes wood and didn't think he already had enough on his plate. But more seriously, installing these ourselves would save enough in drywalling costs to cover all of the new drywall in the kitchen which was an unanticipated expense right now. So, it seemed like a good idea. Ben's mom also pointed out that we still have an old house that will continue to settle, and wood ceilings won't crack like drywall will. Seems reasonable. We are going to paint these white, ultimately, but there was no space to do that right now before we hung them. We did prime all of the tongues and grooves so that once they are hung we can quickly (hopefully) run over them with a roller. Funny thing about the partially primed boards is that when up on the ceiling, they kind of look white washed and somewhat cool. Like...we might be so sick of projects that we might just leave them. We had a lot of help with these. My brother Matt helped paint one evening, my dad helped a lot with hanging, Ben's cousin Chris helped hang, and I helped hang. I asked Ben if I was the worst assistant and he said I definitely was. I think it's just because I panic sometimes when I'm afraid he's going to tumble down the stairs to serious injury. He did also say that I was the hottest. I will take it. 

Oh yeah, and Ellis helped too.

The tub/shower surround in the main floor bathroom is tiled and just needs to be grouted and sealed. This was a solid day's work and really, REALLY, displays the slope in the charming edifice. Old house problems. The bottom row and the top row are both pretty janky but the REST of the rows are perfectly level. I promise. This sloping issue is why Greg talked me out of kitchen cabinets going all the way up to the ceiling like I wanted. I should have applied the same reasoning here, but oh well. Guess I better keep my day job.

Speaking of kitchen cabinets, the uppers are in and look great even though they stop six inches below the ceiling. I'm over it, really. They need some crown molding and hardware yet, which we need to re-think a little. Ben was set on getting cup pulls, or half moon pulls, like a good old farmhouse should have. However, the top drawers don't have much space on them due to the shaker faces so I don't think those will work. It's alright, we'll (I'll) figure something out. It's about time I get to make a decision. I've started keeping track and right now, I think I've only won on the garage door. He has somehow weaseled agreement out of me on things I still think are a mistake. Like wood floors in the mudroom/laundry room and MORE pine flooring than we already have upstairs. Not only that, he talked me into natural yellow pine floors. I don't even know who I am anymore. I digress. The kitchen counters are also in and I love them. I guess I technically chose these too...at least going with polished side over the honed side. I'm so glad we were able to get past our little miss-communication on those and that the guys didn't strike us from their schedule. 

Delivering the counters. Nice bird's eye shot, Ben.

Countryside has been back the past few weeks and most of the interior doors and trim work is finished. We're having someone paint all of the doors, windows, and other new trim. This will save us a ton of time and will look a ton better, likely. They should also be finishing up siding next week. Things are really starting to wrap up! There's a bunch to do yet this month, including a ton of cleaning. Aside from the new stuff, we'd also really like to get the boys bedrooms painted, but they need a significant amount of patching first. Recall that Ben took the old radiator runs out so there are several inches of walls that haven't seen the light of day in maybe forever, and a bunch of plaster also came off with the runs. There's also water damage and other cracks in the plaster throughout. My dad has been working on patching the bedrooms this week, which we are so thankful for. He knows what he's doing, and it's one less thing to worry about. He's retired now, which works out pretty great for us.

Both of the bathrooms need some vanity work. Like any good dutch people, we can't pass up a good retro-fit project. For the downstairs we found some cool black cabinets at the Habitat for Humanity restore, and Ben is making a counter top out of reclaimed wall studs pulled from the house. For the upstairs bathroom, oh wow, I found a gem. I had wanted to find a dresser or buffet, something vintage to paint and drop a sink in for a unique and old feel. I found a few pieces at local thrift stores that I thought could work, but needed some color inspiration. So I went to R. Lucas Scott one day, a fine retailer of Annie Sloan chalk paint. And what to my wondering eyes should appear but a fabulous piece of Victorian gold. Sold. It was of course a nasty snowy day in December and Ben was too busy working on the house to help me. Normally something like that should fit in my Acadia, but not with car seats in the middle row and it was time to pick up the boys. So my dad came back with me and the boys and a trailer (I was too chicken to maneuver the trailer myself on an icy day) and we hauled it home, but not before the boys spent 15 minutes chasing around the shop dog. This thing is the perfect size, already painted and sealed, and adds a pop of color to the otherwise white and gray bathroom. Don't worry, Ben has watched the “This Old House” video of how to make a vanity out of a dresser about 8 times.

I don't know where the middle drawers are. If you've been in the house since we took over you understand why.

A few weekends ago the boys and I made work of cleaning out one of the bedrooms upstairs so that I could vacuum and they could have a safe space to play and hang. I put them to work collecting nails and screws and they were actually quite helpful. Also, they have their own Mickey Mouse work gloves thanks to Lowes and Ben. Having this space has worked out well for weekend afternoon rest time. We set up our laptop with DVDs, bring blankets and pillows and tons of snacks. They are happy to be at the house and we are happy to both be there getting work done.

Acid washed jeans went out of style in the 80s, right?  I don't know, I was only 5 at the turn of that decade.

We've got some sitters lined up for the weekend so we can keep working, thanks to nieces who live nearby and Grandpa and Grandma Reuschel. Last weekend they went to Tim and Tiff's. A few afternoons they've been by Grandma Stob. They've spent extra time at daycare. We've been trying to keep things as stable for the boys as we can, but we're kind of at the point where we just need to push through and finish. At least when we offload them on someone else they have lots of fun!

Ellis loves to pretend he's "working". But he has to look like Ben to do so.

We may or may not let the boys "drive" between the Farmhouse and the rental sometimes. Maybe. But don't tell the cops.

Now's the point in the HGTV show where everybody scrambles to get everything done in the last 5 minutes. But to us, 5 minutes will feel like 30 days. I think maybe we will be able to relax a little in April. That is after we take care of a diabetic dog for a neighbor/friend/co-worker that needs insulin shots twice a day. Why not.