"Before" Pics

Living Room/Entrance showing fire place.  It will stay, but a new insert is going in.  New front door, too.

 We closed on our new house in Strafford mid-October.  That weekend, before the work started, I took "before" pictures.  I am sure that after it's all done, I will be so glad I did.  In fact, even though at this point it's only half done, I am glad I did!  We will be removing all wallpaper and painting throughout. 

Kitchen.  We'll be putting in tile, new counter tops, and appliances.

Living Room.  We'll be putting in hardwood. (Elise finds her way into a lot of the "before" pics!)

Hallway will also be hardwood.

Girls bath.  We'll be putting in new tile, vanity top, and light fixture.

Elise's room.  Yes, that is linoleum, in a bedroom.  We'll be putting in a new light fixture and carpet.

Erin's room.  New carpet will be going in and a new light fixture.

Master bedroom.  We'll put in carpet, take down the wallpaper border, and put in a new light fixture.

Master Bath.  Putting in tile, vanity top, new toilet and light fixtures.

Dining room (and laundry room in background, goes out to the garage).  We'll be tiling all and putting in a new light fixture.  New back door, too.

Bonus room was added on later and not done right.  It's going to be converted back to garage space and will house Sean's weight equipment.

Back yard (YAY FOR A FENCE!).  Deck will be redone, and yard will be resowed with seed.  There used to be a pool there.

Front yard.  I am sure Sean has some great landscaping ideas up his sleeves.

If everything goes according to plan, we'll be moved in (with just a few more projects left to do that can be done while we live there) before Christmas!  We are all so excited to officially become Strafford residents!  Miss Erin is even starting her new daycare on Tuesday!

Halloween

 Halloween exhausts me on a good year.  This year, being in a transitional house, it was darn near too much.  Elise insisted on doing pumpkins since she got one at her field trip to the pumpkin patch, so we compromised.  I got Erin a little one also, and we let them paint. 

 Erin was more interested in her paint brush than the actual act of painting.  Of course the child immediately got paint in her mouth, too.  I swear, she keeps me on my toes!

 I think Elise is going to be an artist like her Daddy.  She is very particular about what colors she uses where and always wants you to draw an example for her to mimic.

 I got this bib for a quarter at a garage sale before Erin was born.  Money well spent.  Here, she's actually tasting some of her candy.

 Costumes are another reason that Halloween stresses me out.  I am not crafty.  Though I may pin all these adorable homemade costumes on pinterest, I've never tried them because I know they'll end up on the "pinterest fail" board.  Elise saw this getup at Sam's.  She wore the wig the first time she wore the costume to the Chamber of Commerce event.  She cried to never wear it again, so it didn't get worn at school or trick-or-treating.

 As I mentioned, costumes stress me out.  So why bother if the kid doesn't know she's supposed to be dressing up?  I saw this cute tutu and bow at the Fair Grove Festival and thought, "why not?"  I already had the Halloween onesie that would match, and she looked just as cute as if she'd worn an actual costume--cuter probably!

 Getting these two to pose together is nearly impossible.  It was made even harder by the fact that Elise couldn't get that darned wig where she wanted it.

Happy Friggin' Halloween.