Working Hard Getting On the Market

We have been working non-stop getting this place ready to sell. We have also rearranged the kids rooms so that Tanner's life is not threatened every time I put him down. Tanner has not slept a night nor nap in his crib because it was in Nathan's room and Nathan is far too "tough love" for Tanner's safety. Ask Laurel, she knows it is true. I don't know how many times I have been on the phone with her and trying to keep Nathan from climbing in Tanner's carseat, (yes, while he is in it) or out of the swing or from poking him in the eye as I feed him. I put Tanner in his crib the other day to see what would happen. I moved back a step and Nathan took that as an invitation to get him. He reached in between the bars and tried to pull a leg, arm, or anything else he could reach. When he realized he was too far over in the corner (I did that on purpose) he tried climbing into the crib. Nathan has never attempted to climb in or out of a crib until Tanner came along. He was moved out of his crib not because he climbed out repeatedly like most kids but because we needed to transition him so we could use the crib for Tanner. If ever I turn my back on Nathan he heads for Tanner and poor Tanner is a sitting duck. So, to make a long story longer, we moved the crib so we could actually use it. Hopefully this will work.To make room for the crib, and to help with the bedtime brawl, we purchased these beauties for the girls. We are very excited about them. I love bunkbeds. We told Kate we would put them together when Nathan took his nap. Boy was she excited when I put him down. She couldn't wait for us to put together her "bonkbeds". I think it is quite the appropriate name for them she came up with herself.
The front view of the house. We have pulled all of the weeds out front (no, I did not get a picture of the before view. Why would I want everyone to know how bad the weeds were before I got to them?), painted the security screen door from black to white, and painted the fence by the garage. It may not sound like much, but let me tell you, it was very time consuming. We also added plants to the front of the house. The kids have each been in trouble for pulling the flowers...multiple times.
This is the closet that held the furnace when we first moved in. The closet was a piece of work after we replaced the furnace and A/C and now the system is on the roof leaving this empty. My dad came down here and this was a project for him. There was no way I could have done this. My dad said he may have built temples and churches but this was probably his greatest piece of work. It was the most awkward closet with an enevenly rounded back and...well, just look at the upcoming pictures.
Yeah, this is what the top looked like.
And the bottom. Yep, that's the ground you can see through the slats. Nice! Now you can see why dad is proud of the outcome. Boy am I thrilled with it. It holds so much stuff. I just wish I could have had it done 2 years ago. Oh well. I'm enjoying it now.
This is something I am quite proud of. This used to be a doorway from my kitchen into the hall. My father-in-law closed it up before we moved in and we have needed something in front of it ever since. I didn't want to have to hire someone to make a cabinet. Out in the garage there was a cabinet that I decided would work well enough. So, Nathaniel and I fixed it up. We sanded it, filled holes/gaps, pre-stained, stained and added the handles that we took from other drawers somewhere else to match the other cabinet doors in the kitchen. My dad added the sheet metal so it wouldn't be a fire hazard and wallah! Look at it. It almost looks like it was meant to be there and we didn't have to spend an arm and a leg. I actually like to have a project like this that you can see the progress and watch it turn into the vision you had. I was grateful to my dad for teaching me the skills I needed and also the love and appreciation for good, honest, hard work. There's nothing like it.
This is my dad walling up the ugly window that used to be there. What a talented man he is. He can do anything. He inspired me to do more and try more. Since his visit I have done other projects that I wouldn't have attempted before. I realize the only way to learn how to do something is to attempt it. My dad has never said, I can't do that when it comes to fixing something. He just figures it out and gives it a whirl. It always turns out great, too. So, I have tried to do a few new things, and they have turned out okay, not as good as dad's work, but they'll pass.
Dad taking a few minutes to talk to my mom and hold Tanner. I didn't get enough pictures of him while he was here. Nathan loved him. He would try to follow grandpa wherever he was. I had to put up the child gate all of the time to keep Nathan out of his hair so he could get something done. The first night grandpa was here Eliza sat on the couch and they both had a bowl of ice cream and read a story with spanish words in it. Eliza loves one on one attention and time with people so she was in heaven. She thought it was so cool to be with grandpa and eating ice cream on the couch! She also thought grandpa was so cool for knowing spanish. Kate had put herself to bed at 6. Poor thing must have been exhausted. Eliza told Kate all that she had missed out on the next morning.
Nathaniel and Nathan changing out the outlets from tan to white. There was one under out king size bed and here the boys are under the mattress. Nathan LOVED it. What a cool fort.
Doesn't look like much? Just a plain wall you say? Well, take a look at what it looked like before...
The ugly window which I mentioned earlier. It is huge and looks into the garage. Why do you need a window to look into that? The wall looks pretty nice now, huh?
Dad helped us out SO much. He put baseboards in places where there were voids, put in a few light fixtures, put in the beautiful wall, the pegboard of the garage side of the window, changed out the outlets (which was more time consuming than it should have been due to some wiring problems), finished up the cabinet in the kitchen, fixed the hall closet, and a few various other things. I was glad to have his help, but more than that, I was really touched that he traveled all of the way down here to help us out when we were in need. I sure love that man!
Since dad has left, we have done painting in the kitchen, on the ceilings, and touching up. We have packed up a lot of stuff to have more space since our house has 6 of us in less than 1200 sq. ft. We have cleaned, cleaned, and cleaned. I have never had this house so nice. Every time I turn around I find something else to clean...the baseboards, the walls, the desk, the bathroom vents, the laundry room floor, etc. It's exhausting. I do love having a really clean house though. It feels so nice. Now we just need to get it sold...that's going to be the hardest part yet.