Cleaning out !

My stash that is!

My new home has a new office for me..... however this new office is not very large. It is 9 x 9. I on the other hand have colllected WAY too many things over the years.

Fabric
Tote Bags
Onesies
Bibs
Ribbons
You name it.... I've probably got it.

I've posted a starting list on my G.R.I.T.S. Embroidery Facebook page. You can view it and make comments, requests here.

Cleaning Out Sale List
GRITS Embroidery's Etsy Shop

So it's time to clean out! If your interested in anything particular let me know. I'll see if I've got it. We'll work out a price and it can be yours! I am listing some items on Etsy. There is so much and I don't have a truly working computer to list pictures with so I'll do my best with what I can.

Happy, happy, joy, joy!

Stacie

Hooray for Mail!

Not the fluffy kind either :) The hard, flat, readable, teachable kind!

I purchased most all my curriculum last Monday on line and slowly but surely it is making it's way to our home.
Yesterday we had five packages to open and the kids were so excited! It was almost as good as Christmas they said :)
So far we have gotten quite a few of the reading books that will go along with our Learning Language Arts Through Literature Program. This program has curriculum for most all grades so Lily will have a workbook and I'll have a teacher's book for 1st grade and we'll have the same for Caleb in 3rd grade.
We've also received our Mystery of History book! So very excited about it and I found out that there are Lapbooks that I can get to go along with it! Hooray!!!!!
Caleb's Singapore Math books 3A workbook and text book came yesterday. We started it today. Although we started almost at the back of the book with the multiplication and division. I knew this was probably going to be the case but they hadn't really covered division yet in public school and they hadn't finished multiplication yet. I'm sure we'll be done with it within a couple of weeks and ready for the 3B books. He LOVES math and is so talented at it! He definitely got that from his Daddy!
Our Apologia science, Flying Creatures of the Fifth Day hasn't arrived yet but I hope it does soon as I have also discovered there are lapbooks for it as well!

Can you tell I'm excited???? We've having fun and the kids are adjusting much better than I ever could have hoped.

Well my little man woke up at 10pm Monday night, 2 hours after we put him to bed, with a terrible dry, yucky cough. We gave him tylenol and a breathing treatment. He and I stayed up on the sofa bed watching Quest for Camelot (I love that movie and it's become his favorite) until a little after 11. Then we slept on the sofa bed together. Needless to say I didn't get much sleep. He slept pretty well considering but he still has the cough Tuesday morning though not as bad sounding as it was. I gave him three more breathing treatments on Tuesday and although he is still coughing he is sounding much better and not coughing near as much. I will continue with the treatment regimen again today.

This is a picture of our front porch taken Monday night after the snow. Derek took it from the boys window. Not bad huh? :) God's mighty power and the natural beauty he bestows upon this earth. Although I must say I've had enough of the cold and snow.



Have a wonderful day and stay warm!
Love,
The Boss Lady

Anyone give back rubs?

I'm sure that's not what you expected to read but that's what I could really use right now. Let's recap the past two weeks:

New Year's Eve/ New Year's Day: My brother and his family come up that morning so that we can finish the electrical on the house. We finish on Friday and take Saturday to have some fun, despite the cold and the rain. Spend some time eating lunch and walking around The Opryland Hotel. They leave around 5 to head home.

Sunday comes and we have a great worship!

Monday: Our Cabinet Makers deliver the basement vanity that was a last minute decision. We had originally purchased a furniture vanity from Buy Floors Direct only to be incredibly dissappointed in the quality when it arrived. Having already had our custom cabinets installed in the house we just couldn't stomach paying $775 for a piece of junk. So we called our cabinet maker and believe it or not we got a much larger vanity with a beautiful wood top (waterproof). Including the cost of the drop in sink and faucet we saved $100 than if we had used the furniture vanity from BFD.

Tuesday evening: Derek digs the hole and buries the post for the mailbox, including pouring the concrete.

Wednesday: Electrical Inspector comes. We fail. 5 items. Not happy, at all. Could have cried. We decide we will just have our builders Electrician come and fix the issues so that we don't have to bother Jared and he doesn't have to make another trip up. Jared calls that afternoon to find out how the inspection has gone and offers to come up and fix everything.

Thursday: Our builders finish the small touch up work around the house.

Friday evening: Jared comes

Saturday: We spend the day tracing circuits and taking down a few light fixtures to make the inspector happy. We leave believing all is well.

Saturday evening/Sunday morning: I've eaten something that hates me, I am very, very sick. I stay home all day. Derek teaches the kids class for me since I'm sick.

Monday: The inspector is supposed to come but won't get out because of the weather.
I spend the day with the kids getting things for the new and old house. Items such as drapes and showers rods as well as staging items for our old house.

Tuesday: The kids are out of school again. The appraiser is supposed to come but can't because of the weather. The kids and I go out again to exchange and purchase some more items. My mom comes to town!!!

Wednesday: The electrical inspector finally comes. We have failed yet again! All because the Master bedroom Lights and the plug that is for a TV (if we ever have one in our room again) are on separate breakers and those breakers are not ARC Fault breakers. Let me just say that if he was sticking to code all breakers in the house that were not dedicated to specific items i.e. Wall oven, cooktop, etc. OR that had to be GFI such as Bathrooms and kitchens. ALL WOULD HAVE TO BE ARC FAULT BREAKERS. HOWEVER! HE ONLY INSISTED THAT BEDROOMS HAVE ARC FAULT BREAKERS and he was not specific!

(sorry, soapbox for a minute there)

The appraiser comes as well and I give her a tour of the house.

I don't leave the house until 3 and my quick stop at Kroger is lengthened since I stopped to jump some guys off whose car had broken down.

I teach Caleb and Lily's Bible Class that night because their Wednesday night teacher is out of town.

We talk with our builders and they have their Electrician come out on Thursday to fix the ARC fault breakers and just make sure there is nothing else the inspector is going to fail us on.

Thursday: Mom and I spend all day packing. Literally all day. We go to the house that night and hang the curtain rods and drapes in the Master Bedroom and the one for the Great Room

Friday: We pack all day long again. Around 12, text from my builder: We passed!!! The Electrical Inspector has finally passed us! Yeah! The building inspector is supposed to come at 4. If we don't get our Certificate of Occupancy we can't move in this weekend.

5:00 our builder calls. We have our Certificate of Occupancy!!!! Yeah we can move!!!! We leave around 6:30 and go hand the rest of the upstairs curtain rods and finally hit the sack around 10:30.

We were up at 7:30 this morning and going full throttle by the time everyone showed up to help around 9:30 and so on. We got all the packed boxes and small furniture items moved including the kids dressers, my sewing room and Derek's office.

The movers come on Monday to move our sofas, Fridge, Washer, Dryer, Buffet, Beds, TV and our Dresser. The rest of the furniture will stay for staging purposes until the house sells.

We are so very, very grateful for all the help we received today. It's been a very long process. Very rewarding yet very stressful at times. It's still not over, we still have to sell this house and sign the mortgage on the new home but the hardest part is behind us. We have tried our very best and will continue to try our very best to do what the Lord wants us to with what he has blessed us with. We pray you will all have the opportunity to praise Him and edify one another in our home.

If you've hung in there long enough to read all of this I applaud you.

Love to you all out there! You're great friends and I love and cherish each and every one of you very much!
Stacie

Painting,Lights and Cabinets!!!!

Stairwell Sconces

Cabinet with Pantry pull-outs and bookshelves. The Fridge goes in the opening. Farmhouse sink Love it!

Kids Desk area with Natural Hickory top. It's gorgeous! I'll have to get a picture of it tomorrow!

Slide in Cabinet. For the catch-alls, purse, bills etc. as well as extra storage. In the future this cabinet is designed to come straight out and we will put in stairs to the attic area that will be finished. Great view of the finished Natural Hickory Floors :)

Another view of the kitchen with the stainless steel farmhouse sink.

Kitchen Island and most of the cabinets as well as pantry door and stairwell door.

Corner Curio Cabinet, still needs a couple of knobs.

Dining Room light, Hung up high to keep it protected.

Foyer Light

Great room ceiling fan and cans along with my blurry hubby :)

Master bedroom trey ceiling with ceiling fan and can lighting.

Laundry room cabinets above the washer and dryer.

Other end of the Laundry Room cabinets with counter tops and laundry sink ( plus main electrical panel)

Just pictures and captions for now, I'll try and right later. Just going to rest after a long day of painting. These pictures are for you Dad. I hope they cheer you up during your recovery. Love you!

Anniversary and house progress!

Well today Derek and I are celebrating our 10th wedding anniversary. For those of you who shared that special day with us you will remember the crazy weather we had as well as the major Alabama vs.Auburn football game that was going on. Sorry about all that but then again not really :) I was ready to get married and that was the only day to do it! We've had a few bumps in the road but most of it's been pretty smooth and wonderful. We've made many lasting friendships along the way and grown not only physically ( I don't think I could quite fit into my wedding dress right now) but spiritually and emotionally as well. We've lost loved ones and welcomes babies into this world. Left a beloved home and made a new one. And now we have almost finished what some say is the biggest way to get a divorce: building a house. Well let me answer what everyone seems to ask us. No we really haven't fought over the house stuff. We've had a couple of disagreements but nothing earth shattering or even that we raised our voices over. We really don't fight much ever. Thank goodness. I think we got all that done the first year we were married.

Now onto other things. I could talk about marriage all day long! :)

The house is really coming along and we MIGHT be in it before the end of the year. Say a prayer for us!
They've finally gotten all the stone and cedar DONE! Here is the finished product. First up stone fireplace with cedar mantel:

Next up:
Interior of Front Door, Stained and 1 Dining Room Cedar Column with Stone Base


Third but definitely my favorite!
Finished front Porch with Stone and Cedar! (sorry about the scaffolding they had just finished the big v shaped design.)



Fourth:
Finished exterior, Front of the house.




We've been very busy painting in the basement. We've had many helpers here including my in-laws and my brother Jared as well as my cousin-n-law Rob. My FIL did a great deal of paining for us as well as our preacher/friend Shawn Bain. We've got then entire finished part of the basement primed. The garage, workshop and my sewing room are finished except for the final coat on the trim ( there is no trim in the garage). We've gotten some lights hung and all the tile is finished except for the tub suround and bench. They were working on that today. As well as the kitchen backsplash. That won't go in until the cabinets , fixtures and granite are in.

Here is a picture of the tile in the Master Shower before it was grouted. It looks phenomenal! We went with pale blue walls to pull out the blue in the glass tile. I can't wait to see it with the walls painted and all the cabinetry in, etc!



The painters have been there some this week and have gotten almost all the poplar stained thatis in the great room, dining room area. Most of the upstairs is primed and the ceilings are totally finished. My kitchen is black for the time being. I went with a deep red so they primed it with black. It looks cool! The HVAC guys have been installing and hooking up the units. The hot water heater is supposed to get put in any day and the garage door and opener were installed yesterday.

Well I guess that's it for now. I'm so glad that I don't have to pick anything else out! My picker is so finished! I had such a hard time picking paint colors!

Well I hope you've enjoyed the update. Leave me a note and let me know you read it. It'll make it worth the hour I spent working on it.

Love to all!
Stacie

Guest Blogger this week/month is me again the project financier. DWB

Since last Wednesday the changes made are: tile, trim, decks stairs, the tub was delivered and a lot of dirt has been moved. We've been out of town, so it was interesting to see the progress from last week.

As you will see it poured the night before and of course we couldn't keep Mr. Bluejeans out of it while we filled nail holes, prepped trim, and calked for hopefully painting this weekend. He had about 2 inches of mud caked on his shoes, which caused a negative parental reaction. Does anyone make an 18' kids gate for our garage?


A moment of silence was taken for the remains of the giant dirt pile which was the kids favorite feature of the house.

Remains of the front door we thought had been stolen.

Master bath w/ tub framed and the tile just laid.
(Love the barrel ceiling)

The bubble free tub for 2.
Mechanical bubbles add a $1000. Swimming lessons = free

Slate tile around gas logs. (Awesome job Tony) We wanted a wood burning fp, but they require a massive 24" outlet pipe to provide the proper draft. We settled for vented gas, since the gas fumes stink and give me headaches.

Our simple trim. Stained in the great rm and dining rm but painted everywhere else. This picture also shows the electrical crews oops, where a post was supposed to be. I blame it on the littlest crew member.

Laundry room tile

Perfect set of stairs for the kids to fall down now.

Time to get dirty painting this weekend.

Guest Blogger this week/month is me the project financier. DWB

Well we have been a little busy working on the house, playing soccer, attending church and taking care of school work, so the blog has suffered. Things on the house have changed just slightly. All the siding is done and they have begun backfilling the front yard. The exterior is mostly done except the stone now and staining the porch, deck and cedar posts. The gas line is in after having to go under the hwy, a fiber optic line, and two water mains. You would think we would have gotten to tap into the gas main in the back yard, but that isn't the case. The water line is also hooked up, so we can at least wash some of the dirt off the kids now. Stacie and I also laid the electrical service entry conduit yesterday, but it was dark when we were done, so no pictures.

Trim is going in and our tile guy has started laying tile. The budget is looking pretty good and we think we will be under budget, but not by a lot the way things "pop-up". Below are the latest pics.

Cedar Shutters and 8x8 cedar posts

The cedar is all done, we just need to finish backfilling and building the steps. (10' wide steps)

The deck with a big first step and the inspection crew.

4" Unfinished Hickory Hardwood. 2' to 8' lengths -final finish will be a clear polyurethane. I was concerned about the wildness of variety of the wood, but since we used the big wide boards that were long it looks good. BTW we love heart hickory. It looks a lot like walnut which we wanted, but costs way to much.

We put the hardwoods in ourselves with Stacie's parents help in 3 days which saved us about $1000. After doing it we recommend good knee pads, a big bertha flooring hammer (Stacie loved), a miter saw with a new blade (I finally replaced the blade dad) and a pnuematic flooring nailer. Thanks to our neighbor Oliver who works for a flooring company who took care of us. We appreciated his help greatly, plus the kids love playing kick ball with him.

Note the 8x8 cedar block. There will actually be a 10x10 post there. :-)

The kitchen was a little more challenging due to all the angles. Luckily all the angles were 45 degrees. Also see all our trim. (4" & 6" MDF)

We would have loved true panel doors but with them being double the $$$, we opted for these molded interior doors.

The drywall guys going to town. They rocked the whole house in 3 days and then mudded/sanded it in 4 days. Most impressive was the guy hanging drywall by himself on the walls. Drywall mudding is most definitely an acquired skill that I don't have and the drywall dust went everywhere when they sanded it. What a mess.

Well that's it for now. Up next is painting, which we hope to do some of ourselves in the basement and maybe getting some grass seed down. Until next time. Later DWB