Painting Lessons

Bill taught child #1 the art of painting walls. First lesson was priming. Once that was dry she got to really paint. She picked out a lime green color for her room (surprising, I know, for the "pink" girl!). The final product looks great and bright!

Chores and More

Saturday was a busy day. Jewels put in doors. Andy and Keri swept and vacuumed sheet rock dust. And, Bill edged and mowed the yard. Child #1 also helped with the clean up. She developed her own vacuum style.

Doors

Jewels put in all the bedroom, a couple of closet and hall bathroom doors. Some were trickier than others. The experience taught him that he's not a "door guy". They look great, and will look even better with casing.

Jesus Does Great Work

Jesus Sanchez of JS Painting Co. worked at the house last week. He textured all of the walls and ceilings. Then primed and painted all ceilings and closets. The house looks so clean with the ceilings so white. We will prime and paint the walls.

Kiddos

I hadn't posted a picture of child #3 in a while. She is finally walking - so cute sucking her thumb and dragging her blanket around. I added the picture of #1 & 2 to avoid favoritism!

House Plans

Here are the house plans. There are three versions
1) New House
2) Original House
3) Combination New and Original plans overlaid together so you can see where the walls were moved.

If you double click on the plans they get full size so you can see the rooms.

New Plan


Original Plan. The red dashed lines indicated walls, fixtures and cabinets that were demolished and taken out.
Combination New and Original plans overlaid together so you can see where the walls were moved.

Attic Stair

While the kids were playing in the pool, Jewels and Drew were busy installing the hallway attic stair. All of our new found cold air was wasting away in the hot attic. The last picture is for David - Thought the safety manager would love to see Jewels using a skill saw "free hand". All fingers and toes have remained in tact.

Pool Party

The favorite "Fort Worth" cousins came to visit - I haven't seen the two older children all week! Last Sunday, Freida, Sheree and Andy played lifeguard while the kids played in the pool. They gave child #2 his birthday present - a really cool wave runner float with working water gun. I think we may have to find a few more for future jousting competitions.

Pool Gate

Jewels hired two guys (from a local mission) to help rid the back yard of unwanted concrete. He also had one help (and Andy) cut down the oh-so-unattractive pool gate. It still has a ways to go - our plan is to replace the yard's entire perimeter fence, move the pool gate closer to the house on the north side, and paint it black. But, just cutting it down did wonders... Bill spent Saturday spraying all unwanted vegetation with poison. Some of the weeds/rain trees are turning brown. We have so much work to do outside that I'm itching to get to (okay, I'm itching for Jewels to get to), but moving into the house is priority.

Air Conditioning!!!

Miles AC finished (sort of) the installation of the HVAC system. The unit has been hanging out in the attic plus new duct work since February. Now that it is very hot, the outside unit is in place and blowing wonderful cold air. Logo came and turned on electricity for the unit and one plug in the back (they said it would be better if all the painting was finished before the outlets and switches were in). Our AC/Heating system is zoned. We have two thermostats - one outside the kids' rooms and one in the den. The outside fan is super quiet. Miles will come out and put in all the grills once the painting is complete.

Hard Wood Installation - Part 2

Chris Guiterrez and his crew finished installing the floors in three days. They look great. He will come back when the house is "finished" to sand and stain. I think we've decided to use a dark stain - like in the old house. I highly recommend Chris. This is the second time we've used him.

Wood Floors - Installation 101

There are many things the home fix it shows tell you that YOU can do. I've even seen them teach wood flooring. After watching Chris Guiterrez and his crew, I will never attempt to put down a real hard wood floor. It is an art form. The pictures below show the tarring of the kitchen and master bedroom, screed placement and installation.

Master Bath Shower Drain

Communicating with our plumbers has not been easy. For instance, they didn't move the shower drain (originally a bathtub) to the center of the shower. Even though we told them a bench would be built. The tile guys (whom has since fallen off the face of the earth) said the drain should be centered. The plumbers came back and fixed the problem. The last picture shows the half shower wall and orange shower pan.

Sheetrock - taped and floated

We're taped and floated - twice over now. The rooms look bigger now that they have walls. The older kids were happy to see their rooms and closets.

Not all babies are cute

An earlier post showed large birds setting up residence in my parents' oak tree. The heron couple decided it was time to start a family. At least 3 eggs hatched - one little guy was not wanted and was tossed to the sidewalk (not a real pretty site). We have seen 2 large "babies" hanging in the nest. One ventured to the garage roof and deck. They are not great looking birds. And not being a bird person, I would really like them to move on. The mess on the sidewalk is nasty. I can't even describe what they do to the vehicles. Yuck!