Our Labor Day Weekend

Labor Day Weekend has come and gone and we had some visitors from Missouri!  Mark's Uncle, and his cousin and his family came for the weekend... We had an awesome visit and it was nice for me to get to know them better!  Jared and Lynn have four children, I might add this is a very sweet family!  Their children are so sweet and sincere and it was a joy to be around them and we certainly look forward to our next visit!  The boys had fun riding our bikes and helping Mark demolish the last wall!  Robert was out and helped get things finished up so we would be ready for the drywall.   We so appreciated all the help he has given us over the last several weeks!  Michelle was here also and she and Amanda had a little fun in the craft room making some flower headbands!  I know Sylvia enjoyed all the company!  By the end of the weekend Amanda had talked her parents into letting her take Bear home!!!  We know he will be happy there with all the attention he will get!!  Now we are down to 3 dogs! 

Amanda with Bear (Bear Loved Amanda!)

Can you tell that Bear was snuggling right in with Amanda???

Amanda is now the proud owner of Bear after pursuading her parents!

Matthew getting a swing with the hammer in the final destruction of the house!

Caleb had his turn with the destruction!

Caleb taking the wall down!

Daniel get his time in on the destruction

Amanda even took a turn!

LABOR DAY WEEKEND

Sometimes things don't always go as planned...... but all in all the house reno is going great!

* Walls removed, support beams put in (CHECK)
* Fireplace and bookshelves framed in (CHECK)
* Plaster and Lathe removed (CHECK)
* Electrical work is finished as far as the wiring (CHECK)
* We still have insulation to get in this weekend
* The drywaller is to come Tuesday....  he forgot to order the drywall so he will do so on Tueday and
start drywalling on Wednesday
* The guy did come and measure for tile today and Lowe's should call tomorrow to give us information and then we need to go in and pick it out (I have already been scoping it out) and the guy said he could start the 20th!) YAY
* The plumber is supposed to come next week

It is all coming together and we are surviving the dust.... we really should of bought stock in the shop vac bags I cannot even begin to count how many packages we have boughten!  We are dumpsterless at the moment, we will probably get another one when we begin to take the carpet out!

Normally on Labor Day Weekend I would be in Palestine, IL they are known for their awesome Rodeo!!!  We lived in Palestine from 1990-1999 and love the town, we spent some of the best years of our life there!   The campground out by the rodeo becomes a little city with ZILLIONS of campers.  Gary LOVED the rodeo and everything about it!   We would start out on Saturday morning and go downtown where they have the Chuckwagon Breakfast, and Street Fair.  They start getting the breakfast going in the wee morning hours and feed a couple of thousand people!  On Saturday there are yard sales EVERYWHERE and the town is packed!  Sometime throughout this weekend we would attend one of the rodeo events which has now become "Bullbash on the Wabash".  Of course when Gary was here he would be in the middle of the stripping shoots helping to unharness the bulls.  He would do anything he could to help out!  Monday will be the Labor Day Parade with most of the county attending and in later years we would go to my son in laws parents house for and awesome Fish Fry! 

While this year I will be working on our house here in New Liberty my heart will be in Palestine and remembering all the good times from years past!  Maybe next year I can initiate Mark into Crawford County's #1 event of the year!!!!

So since I cannot be there this year I thought I would share a couple of pictures from years past!

This was from a few years ago probably 2007 Labor Day Parade when Miss Abigail was Cutest Baby!

Republican Women handing out their beads!

I am telling you they go all out for the floats!  huh Carmen? :)

Fruits of Labor

Second post for the day so you can see what was accomplished .....(you can't quite see what the electrician did!) 

The support has been put in for the far wall beside the fireplace (the pipe needed to go right through a support beam).... a support beam was put in and now the wall is gone that was between the dining room/living room entry.... it has been opened up some!  It is gonna look really different!

the last cut to remove the last stud

ta daaaa it is opened up!!!

Mark looking at the open space leading into what will be our family room

looking from within the new family room

can you see the hearth for the fireplace ???  also bookcases are being built on each side!!!

Today at this Old House

Today at our house the electrician and carpenter are here and Mark is here part of the day.... so things are a happening .....   Here are some pics of what it looks like at the moment!  Lots of things have to happen this week in order for the drywalling to start in one week.

Ron the Carpenter

picture from the family room looking towards the front door

Part of this wall will disapear

Ron putting up a support beam ... see the hearth for the fireplace...

Mark coming through the front door

the electrician (yes the picture is blurred) in what will be the dining room!

Options on Chandeliers

Yes, I know this is my 3rd post for the day.... but our internet was down for 4 days with the rewiring we had going on.... but I no longer have cords going across the floor in the craft/office room!!!  What do you think about this?  I love this chandelier from Lowe's

BUT I could revamp this one for FREE!! Opinions please!  (It is hanging in the basement)  I was thinking if I did redo this to paint it either Black, Silver or Cream color it has all the crystals to it.... possibly need to rewire it but my Handy Dandy husband knows how to do that!  His late mother in law owned a lamp shop many years ago and he used to rewire lamps all the time!

So what do you think ? Should I buy the gorgeous new one or redo this antique????

REMODELING UPDATE

Here is what is a happening at this old house....

Electrician comes back tomorrow to finish wiring.....

The Trusses will be installed tomorrow where the walls are coming out.....

Mark is still working on removing the plaster/lathe and insulation......

The plumber is coming sometime this week to put the plumbing in the "room between"  ( I don't know what to call this room it is between the house and the apartment!) for the washing machine and he also will install a water line for the refrigerator/icemaker with a filter!

The drywallers will come on September 7th

The fireplaces will be installed on September 14th

Then the fun will begin.... painting and new flooring throughout the downstairs.... we are hoping to sand the wood floors in the dining, living and family rooms.... and lay ceramic tile everywhere else!

OH Yeah and the master bedroom is still in a mess..... we have closets that are framed in but the rest is on hold because of the time frame in the downstairs.... when we reach a point that WE cannot do anything else downstairs we will start finishing our room.... who knows maybe I will actually be moved by the end of October?

Oh and Dumpster #2 is full! We still need another one to finish up with the carpet!

What I do when I am bored!

Yes,  we are in the middle yes,the middle of remodeling and what am I doing?  Well when I am bored because there isn't anything I can do.... or if I get aggravated.... like the other day the guy (I have no idea who he was the lumber yard sent him) was here to see what kind of load bearing trusses we needed for our walls we are removing and he asked us if we knew what kind of roof we had, I said it is a "peak roof" he said are you sure it isn't a hip roof? I said no I know what a hip roof is and this is a "peak" he looked at me like yeah right this dumb broad is trying to tell me what kind of roof is on this house so he went and looked for himself..... I was right... I knew what kind of roof it is because my house in Robinson has a hip roof....  I hate it when men think you are stupid just because of your gender!  (I bet he couldn't figure out how to make these!)  So I headed upstairs and made some head bands!  (that was more fun anyway!)   So here is the fruit of my labor!  Won't all of my little girlies look cute in these?  I am now addicted to making them!