It Is Finished!

There are still little things I keep seeing that need to be touched up, but I'm done.  I'm finished.  The End!  

Here are pictures of the rest of the house.

Jaelyn has been instructred that she cannot climb the columns anymore.  I cleaned the hand prints off the ceiling and I'm not doing it again.

So, maybe the wall and not the flowers should have been the focus, but aren't they pretty.  Dan and the kids gave them to me for my birthday.

I rearranged.  I'm still not happy with the bookcase above the TV.  It needs rearranging and accessories, but I'm not digging anymore out.

Our basement bathroom...This used to be my most disliked room in the house.  It was a blue (the color of the curtain) dungeon.  I hated it.  It's beautiful now and I'd gladly take showers in it, but no one is going to touch it because I don't want to have to clean it again.

I didn't do too much in our room.  I just took down kid pictures and moved the rocking chair out.

I found a bunch of springy daffodils on sale at Joanns.  They are the perfect finishing touch.

I had to paint over my kitty cat paw prints, but I got to keep up my puppy dog tail towel hooks.

The girls rool is still very busy.  I might remove their flower stickers from the walls.

The realtors come tomorrow to take pictures.  I'm not sure when it'll actually be listed.  We have to decide if we want to show it before we finish the deck.  It's been pressure washed, but three days of sunshine are proving to be elusive!

Almost Ready for Listing

I needed a break so I took some pictures.  I had to move stuff around so it doesn't look quite this good yet, but it's almost there.  It's just the details now...

Anyone want to buy a house in Abingdon, MD???  Just let me know!

To Do List Update

We have been working like crazy around here.  I thought I'd redo my check list with only what needs to be done now.  You'll notice it's much shorter!

Caden's room -

• paint trim

The girls' room -

• paint trim

Hall Bathroom -

• paint trim
• CLEAN

Hallways -

•  paint trim

Master bedroom and bath -

• paint trim

Living room -  

• touch up moldings

Kitchen/dining room -

• paint trim
• clean bugs out of light fixture

Foyer bathroom -

• paint trim
• get rid of pee smell - little boys standing and non-glued together hardwood floors don't match

Craft/Computer Room -

• paint trim

Deck -

• Stain deck - the weather is not cooperating.  We've cleaned it.  We just need 3 days of sunshine for it to dry out before we can stain it.

Yard 

• buy fern
• finish edging

Basement guest room -

Basement family room - 

• stage  
• paint molding (especially bathroom door)

Basement bathroom - 

• paint trim

Basement storage closets -

Misc Stuff

• clean, clean, clean!!!!
• buy light bulbs for basement

Williamsburg - Spring 2011

We had a great trip to Williamsburg last weekend.  We drove down on Thursday night, froze for 4 hours on Friday at Busch Garden, and then spent the rest of the weekend at Wolf Lodge.  We got into Busch Gardens for free with their Salute to the Heroes program so we didn't mind leaving before the day was out.  The kids all got to ride roller coasters so they were happy.  At Wolf Lodge, we stayed in a "Kid's Cabin" room which made me very happy.  The kids had their own room with a twin bed, bunk beds and a TV.  Dan and I had our own area with a fire place.  I loved it. 

I'm skipping the little details and opting for a bunch of pictures instead.  As soon as the for sale sign goes up, I'll have time to blog again, but there's too much work to do now.

It was sooo cold.

Allie danced the polka in the beer garden in Germany.

Side Lined for a Few Days

I've been going full speed ahead for a week now.  I'm exhausted, but I've stocked up on Cokes.  I had two twenty ounce cokes the other day and I still slept wonderfully.  Unfortunately, I pulled a muscle in my shoulder this morning moving something into storage.  Oh did it ever hurt.  Well, it still does, but I've been taking advil and have a heating pad on it.  I shopped today instead of putting the final coat of paint on the basement bathroom.  It's going to be beautiful when I'm done.  I wish I had painted it a long time ago so we could have enjoyed it.

For dinner, I did some thing that totally took my mind off of my shoulder.  I pulled the grill pan out of the oven to put cheese on our dinner and then I grabbed the handle to put the pan back into the oven.  I forgot the pot holder.  I had the pan in the air before my brain registered the burning hot handle.  I'm left handed and off course I now have a nasty blister on my left palm.  It might be a few days before I get back to painting or moving boxes to storage.  It's okay though, because if you check out my to do list, I've gotten a lot of things checked off of it.  I'm going to work on cleaning (with my right hand) tomorrow!  Oh and I think we have decided on a realtor.  That was a huge decision.  I feel much better about everything! 

Happy Birthday, Allie

Today is Allie's 8th birthday!  Can you believe it?  I can't.  It seems like just yesterday she was a crazy toddler who went full speed ahead without ever looking back.  Funny that her personality hasn't changed a single bit. : )  She chose a day at Busch Gardens for her birthday this year instead of a party.  I love that the kids will pick family trips over big parties with friends.  Anyway, tonight, Allie chose home-made pizza for dinner followed by chocolate cake with vanilla frosting.  She was having a fit to open her presents so we did that before dinner and cake.

 I totally scored on this little wooden doll house.  It was normally $50 at Walmart (which I never would have paid), but I found it clearanced for $15.  Allie LOVED it.

Jaelyn and Allie have amassed quite the critter collection.

There's still one more present hiding somewhere in our house and for the life of me, I can't find.  I accidentally pulled it out and stuck it somewhere so Allie wouldn't see it.  I guess I'll find it when I unpack in Missouri!

Caden's Field Trip

Caden had a field trip to Broom's Bloom Dairy today.  I was one of the lucky mom's to get picked out of the lottery system to chaperone.  I love this field trip.  I've been on it a couple of time.  They take you through the dairy farm and through the back of their restaurant to show you where they make the ice cream.  Then, after lunch, you get a scoop.  Today, I learned why their ice cream is so good.  She said Edy's and Briar's good ice cream is 13% fat.  Broom's Bloom is 17% fat from fresh milk!  Yum.

LOVE the wind vane

Caden was not shy about petting the cows

Oink

Our To Do List

I've met with two realtors and the news is not good.  While they think the house will show wonderfully and will sell quickly (which is a true praise), we are going to have to pay a ton of money to sell it.  At this point, we really can't afford to rent it and lose money month after month when the housing forecast is not expected to improve for a sale at a later date.  We are blessed that we had the foresight and ability to prepare and we do have the money to be able to walk away.

We have a ton of things to do in the next two weeks.  It's a little overwhelming really.  I'm a list person so I thought I'd make a list on my bloggie and check it off as I go.  Anyone who wants to come help, just give me a call!

I'm going to organize by room:

Caden's room -

• finish clearing out his closet
• patch nail holes
• touch up walls and trim
• pack extra toys

The girls' room -

• touch up paint and trim
• clear one more box out of closet
• clear off and organize top of bookcases
• replace blinds

Hall Bathroom -

• prime and paint kitty paw prints
• paint trim
• CLEAN

Hallways -

• touch up paint and trim

Master bedroom and bath -

• hang a picture
• stage night stands and dresser tops
• touch up paint and trim
• move rocking chair to living room
• organize closet
• scrape out and recaulk shower
• clear off countertop
• clean grout
• fix blinds

Living room -

• touch up walls and moldings
• clear foyer nook
• move recliner and sewing machine to basement
• clear out kitty/kiddie corner
• move ottoman to storage

Kitchen/dining room -

• touch up paint and trim
• clear off countertops
• take apart bench and move to storage
• organize pantry

Foyer bathroom -

• touch up paint and trim
• get rid of pee smell - little boys standing and non-glued together hardwood floors don't match

Craft/Computer Room -

• move kids craft table to basement
• organize/sort/clean out book case
• touch up paint and trim

Deck -

• cut off or hammer in that one pesky nail on the railing :p
• clean and stain!!!  We need 3 days of sunshine for this project

Yard -

• find lantana or pretty flower for walkway flower bed
• buy fern
• put down lava rocks
• clean patio
• paint storage shed inserts
• put down now mulch if we have time in front and back
• take apart and get rid of swing

Basement guest room -

• clear out all the extra stuff to storage
• hang picture

Basement family room -

• buy and put together TV stand
• stage
• box and and move toys to storage
• touch up paint and molding (especially bathroom door)

Basement bathroom -

• finish painting walls and trim
• stage

Basement storage closets -

• organize

Misc Stuff

• replace A/C filter
• wash all windows
• clean sliding door tracks
• clean, clean, clean!!!!
• hang valance in basement
• clean all mini-blinds

Are you tired yet???  I am and we have a long way to go in TWO WEEKS!!!!  Would you pray as we decide on a realtor?  It's a hard choice.  Would you also pray we get it all done and get a buyer with a quick closing date and for good weather because we need 3 days of sunshine to get the deck refinished.  The faster we sell it, the more money we can recoup in BAH.  The plan is for the kids and I to stay with my parents in Florida for the first few months of summer while Dan stays here and camps out in the tent somewhere or maybe his office or on a friend's basement couch???  He will leave here the beginning of July for a 3 week school in New Mexico and we'd like to be able to move straight to FLW once he finishes.