Gwyn's Newest Habit and Colin's Awesomeness

Singing. Singing in bed at night. She used to sing occasionally, but it is becoming more and more frequent. I am sitting here in the family room, looking at the work done in the kitchen today (crown molding is up!) and listening to her sing. I can't tell what it is, but two nights ago it was Santa Claus Is Coming To Town. Last night Ruby was over, and Gwyn sang then as well.

It is adorable. I want to remember it forever.

Colin has really stepped up and become a helper lately. He has always been a great kid and so sweet. But he really likes to take care of Ruby. He wants to hold her, and loves to dance and be goofy to get her to smile and laugh. He will push her around in the Ruby Train to entertain her. And last night, when we went out to eat, he got her a high chair, brought it to the table, removed the other chair, and put that chair against the wall. All without me asking anything. After dinner he put everything back on his own.

I love that kid.

The state of our house - the next Sunday night

So a LOT happened this week. We got our floors and cabinets installed. We have a working bathroom on the main floor! The tile in the bath is finished, and the tile is cut and ready for the laundry/mud room. The counter top was templated and the pantry door went in. Most of the light fixtures have been installed as well. It sounds like we are almost done, but there are still plenty of little things left.

We need the crown molding installed, all appliances installed, trim and crown molding to put up, towel bars and toilet paper holders to put in, trim work around the window needs to be done, the counter tops need to be installed, lighting needs to be installed, we need to touch up the paint, grout needs to go in the laundry room, the back splash needs to go in, and we need to move the fridge, washer and dryer back in. I am sure there are more things. And then we get to move everything back into the kitchen, and furniture into the dining room! But it is awesome to come home everyday and see the progress.

Here is some of what we are seeing.

The dining room with floors and paint. (No trim though, and tape still up on the ceiling.)

Living room. The tree now even has a tree skirt.

You can see some of the foyer.

The foyer, with the grey kitchen in the background. I wish you could also see the bathroom blue. The colors look awesome next to each other. At some point the foyer and hall will become the light grey that is in the mud room.

I just love the kitchen grey. Kevin picked out the color. It complements the wood well.

We have a door (but no knob) on the pantry! (We are getting fancy.)

At least the trim is going up on the cabinets. Not so much on the walls.

Light fixture over the peninsula. Another one of Kevin's finds.

The bathroom works! Yea! But we are all used to going upstairs so it isn't getting used much just yet. The mirror, paper holder and towel bars still need to go up.

We made the bathroom small by about 14 inches. Some people were worried it was going to be too small, but I think it is just fine! The shape of the old bathroom was weird and wasted space, and had the toilet by the door so that is all you saw when the door was open. Who wants to see a toilet?

Still no range (it is in the garage)...

... no sink (it is at the counter top place)...

... and no oven (it is in Texas).

The tile is down! Just needs thin set and grout.

Current view from kitchen into the dining room.

It looks like a family room again! We still have the table of tools and stuff behind the couch, but at least we can walk through the room now.

I always hand mistletoe in the house, but haven't this year. So it is sitting in a bowl with the dishes. Gwyn likes to carry it around to make me kiss her, or hand it to people she wants to see kiss. Pretty cute kid.

Gwyn's Preschool Pictures

Gwyn loves the class picture. She keeps carrying it around. She told me she wanted to put it in the frame in her room, but then told me not to. She just lies it on top of the frame, and then carries it back downstairs.

The cool/creepy part is that the class picture was taken on a Tuesday. Gwyn goes to school on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. So they photoshopped her into the group picture! (And two other boys.) And she also got to see (in the picture) the girl who shares her backpack hook on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Anyway, totally adorable. And I love her "Colin smile" in her group picture.

The state of our house - Sunday night

At some point we will add wainscoting that is the light grey, but for now the dining room is one color. (Obviously it needs another coat.)

This is the only room not getting flooring this week! (The kids are watching a Harry Potter marathon so we can work in peace.)

Kitchen, with only one lonely cabinet. Anyone want it?

Kitchen into the dining room. The kitchen is dark grey, the mud room is light grey, and the dining room is a blue/green/greyish color. Ignore the piece of blue tape hanging down.

Dining room into kitchen.

Stairs and entry way. No painting here- yet.

Grout goes in tomorrow and then the rest can be added.

I forgot to take a picture of the living room. It is empty. (Hence the Christmas tree in the family room.)

Last week's progress.

Last week we relaxed. We got a few things done, but it was a lull. For one, we had things planned in the evening (like Zoo Lights!), and the other thing is that we are tired. But here is the update for now. Hopefully the next update will have cabinets and flooring in!

Kevin started tiling the bathroom.

The walls look bluish here, but it really is more of a grey. And here is the color of the floor next to the wall.

I have been really trying to make sure all the colors coordinate. We picked out all the colors for the first floor together, even if the walls don't get painted right away. I don't want a room that clashes. Especially since from the entry you can see the dining room, living room, family room, mud room, bathroom, kitchen, and upstairs. That is a lot of rooms. But I think we have it figured out.

Christmas Decorations

Even though we are in the midst of renovations, we are decorating. Not nearly as much as normal. But enough that our house feels like Christmas and the kids are felling like is it the holidays. We even have a few things in the front yard, but no lights on the house. And of course we have the countdown tree, where the kids get an ornament out each night to put on a little wooden tree. (And candy.)

Tonight, though, I discovered that the kids have a tradition with it. They each take turns on getting out the candy and ornament. Tonight was Gwyn's night, and she asked me for the royal farts. I told her I had no idea what she was talking about. Then the boys walked in and said they would do it. She walked out of the room, and then walked back in. She was smiling and walking like she was so important, and the boys gave her the Royal Farts. Which means that they made fart sounds. Think of trumpets and fanfare, but with farts noises. Kids are weird sometimes.

We got a new tree this year! You can have color lights, or white lights. Which means Kevin and I switch it each time we walk through the room. (I like white lights, he likes color.) No ornaments are on the tree, though, so we can move it when the floor is installed. (Then the ornaments go up.)

The stairs, now with a tree in the corner at the top.

The fire place. The middle stocking has to be moved when we have the fire going. That is why there are two stockings on the right.

Look what else we have!

The cabinets were delivered on Friday!

Look what we have!

Install should be Monday and Tuesday.