This is what Mike did today.

Well the heat has moved in. This week we needed to get building permits and i need to take care of the dogs. (rabies certificates and dog license) The certificates we got from the vet that gave them their rabies shots in SC could not be used here. So i had to take the girls to the vet to get shots again. All we have is a walk in clinic, so when we got there the place was packed. Luckily we didn't have to wait long since we were just getting shots. Then the next afternoon i took the new rabies certificates to the town office and got licenses. Now the girls are legal..lol

While at the town office we got all the building permits. Mike was a little uneasy about going there. When the electrical work was approved the inspector was not happy he couldn't get into the house. Well he came by yesterday to get a look inside the house. He said it wasn't the worst he has seen but we have a lot of work and he wants to see everything we do. Then our dumpster arrived. So Mike decided to work on taking off the back upper porch. The first picture is before we bought the house. The second picture is when Mike removed the oil drums & the underside of the porch. The third picture is one of the umteen birds nest in the porch roof. the last picture is Isabelle talking to daddy upstairs. All the kids know not to go on any of the porches or in certain parts of the house while we are working. Well it's back to work now.

TTYL

Kat

The flower beds

Last week when we ordered the upstairs windows & some lumber from Lowe's I picked up some half price plants. One of the evenings last week that we drove back to the house to check on the work the electricians had done i decided to get the plants in the ground before they died. The first picture is where i actually weeded it before i planted. The second picture i didn't weed it. I started planting about 8 in the evening and the sun goes down about 9. I had to ask Mike to get down off the roof to come help me before it got so dark i couldn't see. (remember we have no power so i couldn't turn the porch lights on) I know they don't look so good in the pictures but i think they will take just fine. (possibly the black eyed susans that i got for free off craigs list won't do well but hey they were free)
So i'm waiting for Mike to figure out what happened to the water heater. When we turned the power back on it didn't work. Boy i hope we don't need a new one just yet. I'm finally dragging Mike to lowe's to get plaster patch so i can finsih Isabelle's room. I want to have at least 1(maybe 2) room done when the windows get here next week.
TTYL
Kat

The lights went out

and the coffee pot and the fridge and the computer and the TV. Ok so they cut the power off to the entire house. Not just turning it off. The power company cut the line at the pole. Yes we paid the bill. All 4 of them. It only took the electrician 4 days but the meter got changed.We now are 1 bill from the power company.
Before the electrician started we (mike & i) had to label all the circuits in the box. It wasn't so bad downstairs but up stairs we had to use our cell phones so we could actually talk and figure out what was what.
While we had no electricity we all went to stay with grandma in vabch. Of course the kids were bored. After i tried catching up on some sleep i hit the thrift stores. I got a few good finds a couple crystal candy dishes and another vanity for on of the upstairs bathrooms.
Kat

Last day of school

Today was the last day of school for this year. I can't believe i have a rising 11th grader, a rising 9th grader, a rising 4th grader and a rising first grader. I still can't believe my niece graduated yesterday.

Ok on to house things. Today i decided to take apt A & B's front doors off and the trim around them. I didn't find any before pictures so the one with no trim is apt A and the one with trim is apt B. That way you get an idea. What we want to do is remove the doors and open up the stair well. We are thinking about putting some column in at the bottom of the stairs. This weekend we are going to order windows, ceilings and replacement wood we need. WOW that will be a bill. We need at least 30 windows. TTYL Kat

What a month...

The month started off great and just got better. On june 2 our favorite band was playing at the Patriotic Fest in vabch on the beach. The 1st pic is me, Brandon and Isabelle with Sugar Ray (Mark Mcgrath (in the tie) is Isabelle's future husband, Murph,Stan,Craig & Rodney). At last years concert Isabelle had a sign that asked Mark to marry her and he said yes. So this yr i got him to autograph her sign. I have to say they kicked @$$ like always. It's never a bad show when they perform.

Then was the 8th grade celebration. I went to celebrate with Patrick graduating the 8th grade. Mike got to take Brandon to the ER. He had strep but is fine now.

Then we started this week with Isabelle's celebrations. I got a note from her teacher last week tell me Isabelle was getting the most indrustrious award in her class. There were only 3 awards per class and she got one. It's amazing how well everyone has settled in here. The 3rd pic is Mrs. S her teacher and Mrs. W the principal giving Isabelle her award. I surprised Isabelle that morning because she didn't know i was coming. Then on tuesday was the kindergarten celebration (graduation). After seeing how the girls at the 8th grade celebration were dressed i needed to get Isabelle a different dress. So Sunday we drove back to hampton rds to get a dress and shoes. It was a beautiful celebration. I got the digital camera and Mike had the camcorder. Most of my pics didn't turn out because Isabelle moves so fast.lol
Isabelle wanted to come home with me since they weren't doing anything. I had to pick up Patrick after his exam so i picked up Brandon and drove to chesapeake. I was planning on driving in sometime this week anyways to get the dogs some flea & tick meds. And since it was so early in the day we decided to go surprise some of the kids old teachers. Isabelles teachers and friends and even the principal were so happy to see her. Mrs. S & Mrs. B had so many hugs & kisses to give her. Plus she got her class pic and her yr book and a few reading books. We didn't want to leave but had to so everyone signed her yr book and we gave them the address to our blog. (Hi everyone in chesapeake) When we got to Brandon's old school we went to the office to check in and the secretary called Mrs. W room to tell her an old student was here to see her. We signed in and went right down. She met us in the hall way and gave him a big hug. She said i didn't tell the students who was here to see them. And when he walked in the door they all screamed his name and ran up to him. His teacher had been collecting his things and gave them to him. We also wanted to find out about the pool party that was going to be this summer at Mrs. W's house. Whoever made their AR goal for the entire yr got invited. Well Brandon made his end of the yr goal before we left at the end of march. I knew there was a reason we need to go visit the old teachers, the pool party was today. We got the invitation with directions and time and said we maybe able to come. All afternoon Brandon bugged about it. Telling me he would be very dissapointed if he couldn't go because he earned it. So when daddy got off work he took him for a bit and mommy and Isabelle went home. The rest of this week is exams for the older kids and watching movies for the younger kids. As you can tell i'm trying to past the time posing because i can't start working til after i go pick up patrick from school.
Kat

Another wall comes down...

The other day i decided to work on getting more of the drywall down in the upstairs hallway. I got the trim from around the doors, some of the drywall at the top of the stairs and around the doors. Got both doors off (ya never realize how heavy solid wood doors are until ya need to move them) Lillie & Gracie had to be in the picture. Then i removed all the drywall from the door to the front door on the girls side (or apt c ). When i removed some drywall around a light switch the light came on when the switch was off. I had to wiggle the wire to get it to turn off. I didn't find a before pic of this side so everyone can blame Mike for that. I will take a pic before i start from now on so i have 1. What we are planning on doing is removing all the walls and making the upstairs all open with a railing around the stairs. There will be a tv area for the kids.

Kat

Look what Mike did

While i was taking down the wall on friday Mike was in the very pink bathroom gutting it. The first pic is the bathroom before we bought the house. Then the others are what it looked like after. The last picture is where Mike started to paint on sunday. It's not a day of Mike working unless he far thru a floor or falls off the ladder. He is ok, the ladder slipped out from under him while he was trying to reach to far. He fell on the lower roof and bruised his butt.

We went to an auction on saturday..OMG!! We made out on laminate flooring, tile flooring, a medicine cabinet, air nailer, french door, pine door and a whirl pool tub. So those will be jobs we will be working on in the next few weeks. Kat

Look what I did..

So friday after the 8th grade celebration i came home and need to get something done on the house. So i decided to work on taking the wall down around the stairs and hallway. The first picture is from in the stairwell looking at apt D. I removed all the drywall on the hallway then the solid door and all the trim. I started to remove the drywall in the stairs but Mike said that won't be a good ides with 4 kids and 2 small dogs.

The second picture is the drywall i took off down the hallway.

The last picture is 1 of the um-teen tiny closets

that i took apart.These picture are of apt D (the boys side) for those of ya'll that know the house.

Kat