Game and finished work

Marcus and Coach

On Thursday of last week we had a winter storm, so it kind of derailed our plans to have a date in Columbia. We went ahead and just used the whole day and night to finish our kitchen tile project. We laid the last tile just after midnight, and we were SO tired. It was good though, because school was cancelled for snow on Friday so we all got to sleep in and rest the whole next day. On Saturday we went to see Marcus in his last basketball game of the season. He told me that morning he thought he might try to shoot the ball, I told him I felt like that would be a good idea... :) He usually just passes, which is great, but it's ok for a guy to shoot when he wants to. He did attempt two shots and made one! He turned around and had the biggest smile on his face. After the game Levi and I headed out for some time together on our date. It was a fun weekend, and we were able to get the tile grouted last night. Next up is trim, and we are DONE! :)

Starting the tile floor

We were able to get all the cement backer board cut and screwed down on Tuesday, so yesterday we started our first cuts of tile. We were able to get the eating area all cut out and glued down, hoping to do a bit more later tonight...for now, Levi and I are going to Columbia this afternoon to spend the some time together, do a little shopping, eat dinner, then head back home. I'm very much looking forward to our date!

Kitchen Flooring

Last piece for the night...we are tired! :)

Screwing down the backer board

Subflooring all pulled up
Original area of kitchen...these boards were put down in 1928

Taking out the first piece of subflooring

Where we took out the old pantry

Old flooring

Yesterday we started taking out the old kitchen floor. I pulled up the linoleum, while David and Levi started taking the subflooring out. We finished getting the subflooring up today, then chiseled around the cabinets to get the rest out. By this evening we were already putting down the concrete backerboard. Our hope is to finish laying all the backerboard tomorrow and start putting down the tile floor...that is, IF we can get out of bed in the morning. Our knees and backs sure aren't what they used to be. :(

It was kind of neat to see the wood beneath the subflooring. In the old original part of the house the wood that was there is 83 years old...amazing too because there wasn't too much difference in how it looked than in the other area of the kitchen that was added in the 1970's.

Basketball

This coming week will be the last game of the season for Marcus and his Daddy. It has been a very fun time for both of them, and the team made some good improvements from the beginning until now. Marcus always preferred the practices over the games, but still had a good time at the games. Of course for the whole team, the highlight is always the snacks afterward! :)

Sweet Valentine and weekend work

1 coat of paint on island
Door trim

White soffett :)

Sweet boy working on his Valentines

Marcus worked on his Valentines for his class yesterday afternoon. It was funny to watch him, he is very particular and quite the perfectionist...part of his homework was to write one valentine to each student in his class, which certainly was good practice for writing his letters and reading their names off the list. Thankfully there are only 16 in his class, so it didn't take him too long.

On Thursday Levi and I painted the first coat of lime green (Grass Cloth to be exact), then Friday Jim and I did the second coat and painted the island with one coat of white. This weekend Levi, David, and Jim worked on getting all of the door trim and white beadboard put up on the walls. It looks so different, and so much better, and we haven't even painted the beadboard yet. The soffett has been a source of a lot of laughter around here with it's multi colored flowers and million layers of wallpaper...so on Saturday when the first piece of beadboard was hung over it...wow, it was like angels were singing! It looks so much better! We still need to do some caulking in between pieces, and then paint the beadboard. We will do that today and tomorrow, then be done for this week.

Happy Valentines Day! I'm so thankful for the 4 sweet men in my life, who make me smile each and every day! I love you Levi, Marcus, Carson, and Cole.

Busy Week

New granite tile countertop

Primed island with new countertop

Primed island, with new countertop

Ceilings painted --kind of a dark picture though

This past weekend my parents came up to visit us and celebrate my birthday. We really enjoyed their visit, and got quite a bit accomplished too. Dad and Levi made the countertop for our new island in the kitchen, and it turned out really good! We are very happy with it. It's amazing how much you save when you can do somethings yourself. We have also hired someone to come in and mud, tape, and sand our drywall and make a few repairs in our family room. He has finished the kitchen area, so we scraped our kitchen ceiling to get all of the popcorn ceiling down. This week we painted the ceiling, and it is amazing with a new bright white ceiling and the new and extra lights, how much brighter our kitchen is. Today we will put the first coat of color on the walls, and tomorrow Jim (Levi's Dad) will come over and help me put the second coat on. Saturday Levi and David will install the beadboard on the lower half of the wall. We are so thankful for all of the help we've had to get this project done. It is going to be a bright, clean looking kitchen when we are done.

Drywall and Blizzard

Enjoying the warmth of the fire

Like all of Missouri we are under a blizzard warning...kind of a strange thing, but it's been interesting watching the weather all day. I'm thankful we could all be home all afternoon and evening. We have watched movies and snuggled with the kids this afternoon, it's been a good day. Levi is on call tomorrow, and with the drifting that is supposed to take place that could be a tricky situation. The OR closed down at noon today through tomorrow, with the exception of emergency cases. Thankfully we live close enough to the hospital that if he absolutely has to he can walk. We are thankful tonight for a warm home, a hot meal, and family time.
Over the weekend Levi, David, and Jim were able to get all of our drywall hung in the kitchen. Then today we paid someone to come and do the mud and taping. It's looking good. Yesterday I spent the day scraping our popcorn ceiling off in the kitchen.