Its been a while...

I know its been awhile and we've all been in our own rooms doing our own thing for a while now praise God!!!! most of the structural stuff is done at least in doors anyway... of course we are still working on all the decorative stuff... we still don't have any floor boards or molding around the doors... we are still waiting to replace the carpet... and we're not done with the back patio yet. but we did replace the siding on the front part of the garage and took out the Evergreen shoots. the RV driveway is still just dirt but the RV's parked on it so I guess it works for now right? I can't really complain. our closet is finally coming together and we have wood on the bedroom floor. I absolutely love my private patio!!!!! so nice to sip some wine and get away from all the craziness inside this house! and at least the siding on the back side of the house is already painted! we are now in decoration mode and that part's kind of fun :-)! here are some updated pictures... and I don't feel like I'm going crazy anymore... there is an end to this madness in sight! I just keep telling myself this too shall pass...

Heavenly shower!

Slower than M O L A S S E S S!!!!

Wow! This HEAT WAVE thing out here has just KILLED us and any momentum we had regarding the projects!!! I say it again... PRAISE GOD FOR AIR CONDITIONING! During the planning stages, I'll admit all the windows LOOKED so pretty!!!! But HOLY COW them suckers are HOT!  That sun just pours in and there is no way to cool things down... ;( so we had to invest in some pull shades! Even with the AC working ALL DAY we could not seem to cool the place down below 85 degrees! Happy to report the shades are working! The windows are coved but still have no real dressings to them.

We've been doing lots of small projects with the help of my dad whenever we get any extra time. All the TV's have been mounted, shades have been hung, crap cleaned up and shifted out of my driveway (I CAN PARK MY CAR IN THE DRIVEWAY AGAIN!!!!), and the BIGGEST project completed is our private patio!!! My hubby and dad worked on it for a week to prep the land, lay the sand and meticulously lay each paver with a mallet and level!!! They are my heroes!!! I was so nice last night sitting on our patio, with a glass of wine, both French doors flung wide open with our feet propped up on the table watching the football game! God is gooooooood!

The guys are measuring and planning for the main patio off the back of the house today. They are trying to figure sq. footage and how much sand vs how many pavers they will need. Well the small patio was only 104 sq. ft. The main patio is almost 650! I think this project might take a loooooong time! 

ALSO OUR SHOWER IS NOW WORKING!!!!! Yayyyyyyyyy! It is so nice! It has one of those rainfall shower heads from the middle of the ceiling! It feels like heaven! I could stay in there all day! So needless to say... I'm much more encouraged today! This project is moving at a snails pace these days, but we will get thru it! More to come...

Recovering slowly...

So I have NOT been a happy camper lately. Sorry for not posting more, but I have been in a fairly foul mood and didn't think any of you would care to hear it. Since we took a loooonnnggg look at our finances and list of things that STILL needed to be done... Our progress has come to a grinding HAULT!

It has taken me a while to come to terms with how much we are in the hole regarding this addition and try to rejoice in the fact that we do have liveable space now... And PRAISE GOD FOR AIR CONDITIONING!!!!  Talk about a paradigm shift! I'm telling ya... We have some paint on walls, we have air hooked back up, we have the private patio area primed and ready for painting, we have interior doors hung (however, the molding around them is still not done) we have carpet tiles laid in the boys rooms temporarily (still have not cut them to specific size nor used adhesive), the sprinklers are working (basically merely functional. The pvc pipes are still just laying on the dirt), and we have the master sink and toilet working. 

Still waiting for floors in the hall and master, let alone replacing the existing carpet that looks HORRIBLE after the whole endeavor, the master shower is still NOT hooked up, the main bath liner then needs to be yanked out and that dry wall repaired, the majority of the outside of the house still needs caulking, priming and painting, the sprinkler system needs to be burried and fixed, the whole outside of the house needs to be landscaped and finished, the crap in the trailer and front yard needs to be gone through, unpacked and thrown away, all the molding needs to be done, my oldest son's room needs to be painted and we still need to get him a bed, the middle son still needs some painting, our room still needs lots of help, and this is not an exhaustive list ;(!!!!

Anyway, if you ask me if I am "glad" we did this adventure... I'd say it is still a bit to fresh to decide... But if you ask if I am stronger for living through it... I willingly answer YES! ;) there is still a LOT of work to be done, so I should probably quit whining and hop to it!!! Thanks to all our friends who have encouraged us, helped us, picked up a paint brush for us, wired a light socket, helped with plumbing, whatever... You are all greatly appreciated. 

More to come...

In remodel HELL :(

You know that moment when things have gotten really far, I mean like really far in the project and then someone tells you... There is still so much to be done... And you look at you're bank account and think...THERE IS NOOOOOOOO WAYYYYYYYY! This is where I'm at... :(

I wish I had a million dollars ...

Anyway, the house is at least livable now. Everyone is back in their rooms. Paint is going on walls and finishing touches are going on stucco and bathroom tiles...still noooooooo floor...may be a while... Still crap everywhere...

This to shall pass right???!?!

Finally...

Although we are FAR FROM FINISHED we FINALLY got to sleep in our new room last night!!!!!! I came home from running around with a friend and my wonderful hubby had come home early to put our bed back together!!!! I came home to find him lounging on our bed in OUR NEW ROOM!!!!! Still no floors, and haven't been able to agree on a color for our room yet... But I SLEPT IN MY BED !!!! That is definitely a HUGE step in the right direction!

Our "guys" have been working hard to get the siding almost done on the back side of the house. Stucco guys come today to put the "finishing" coat and our "guys" come today to work on our private patio and the finishing touches on the roof.  We have lights and electricity thanks to the awesome guys at RJ Electric! And today we paint!!!!! Hopefully we can get stuff back into rooms today! So exciting! 

Anyway, more to come...

Getting closer...

Lots of things going on this past week! We now have white walls!! It's only primer but they look like real rooms! Our bathroom is in mid- tile process! The tiler should be done by tomorrow or Wednesday. The plumber has been out and hopefully will re connect the irrigation for the flowers and grass (which are all almost dead anyway). The stucco went up on Saturday, first coat. They should be back today to finish that process. The rest of the windows went in, except the garage one, which is gonna be a challenge as there is soooooo much CRAP in there! Now the siding can be finished ;), the roof still needs to be completed, and then a few other small things before we lose our guys at the end of the week. Then the rest is left to me and my awesome hubby! 

The boys have chosen paint colors and we actually moved them into the back room a few nights ago. We just need to go get the paint and do their rooms!  We have one bed in the back with a trundle so they are no longer sleeping in the middle of the living room ;)! Praise God! We are still in the front room though as our room is the workroom for the tile guy's tools and stuff, but hopefully soon. My hubby and I can't seem to agree on a wall color so painting may take a while. I guess I don't really care how long it takes to paint... as long as I can inhabit my room again! Today marks week 15!!!!!! I guess when you think about it, it's not that long... It has just felt like an eternity!  We can do this... We can do this... We CAN do this...

Fast and FURIOUS!!!

So things are moving super duper fast these days... we got a million people at the house doing a million different things... everybody's kind of getting everybody's way but it has to get done :-) so yesterday all of the finishing got done on the drywall they wrapped the house and started the siding, and I'm middle son started cleaning the cement floors. today the stucco guy is putting up the metal meshing which is called lath I think. my husband painted the master bathroom with primer so the tile guy can get in and finish the shower tomorrow. we are all packed up and headed over to look at paint samples... it just seems crazy that this project is almost done. I think we're going to take our sweet time with choosing flooring though... so it may actually be plastic floors till Christmas... but they can sleep on mattresses on plastic floors right? :) more to come soon... here are the latest pics:

The END is in sight... MAYBE?!?!!?

Well we have drywall in now... It has been a LOOOOONNNGGGGG week! This has been a sobering experience but for the most part not more than my family could handle... Until this week ;( 

We started out with drywall going in on Monday. Then the "finishers" were supposed to come Tuesday but we had to wait for an inspection first and of course even after we requested him to come in the morning he didn't get here till 2 ish in the pm. ;(  anyway, we passed the inspection and then Wednesday they couldn't come due to unforeseen circumstances soooooo... Already a couple days behind... So they got here, the same day as the concrete driller guy got here, the same day as our 2 worker guys were here and the same day our 3 tile guys were here... SO NEEDLESS TO SAY IT WAS A ZOO! Everyone was In everyone else's way including me and the boys!

Friday was the day I sorta lost it. Again everyone was here (minus the concrete guy) and we knew the "finishers" had to get into our 16 year old autistic sons room to finish the ceiling, fix some cracks and work in the closet. So I told all the guys that I was going to be leaving with the boys to go bowling and be out till after lunch so that was when they could get into his room because he is very particular about his space! And it has gone sooooo smoothly BECAUSE his room has pretty much been left untouched. I'm not sure what happened with the communication but all of a sudden 4 guys are in his room pulling stuff out, EVERYTHING out!!!! My 16 year old is standing in the hall saying "hey what are you doing?", " where is that going?", "hey don't touch that!" So I packed up the boys and we left. I called my husband and he went to the house to explain to everyone that room needs to be DONE and stuff needs to be put back where it was by the time our son goes to bed that night or else NO ONE in this family will sleep ;(...  When we got home they were done in there but stuff hadn't gone back in yet. I was done!!!!!  Anyway, crisis was averted and things were put back together and all is at peace in our home once again! ;) yayyyyyy God! Nobody messes with MY BUBBA!!!!!

The approx estimated time of completion is by the 4th of August!!!! And that's the structural stuff - I'm sure my hubby and I will be working still for a good 6-8 months to finish all the little things!!! But I'm ready to have my house back! ;) it just feels like there is still so much to be done! We still have the texturing of the drywall, the completion of the master bath, the roof isn't done yet, the electrical box hasn't been moved, the A.C. is still not hooked up, nor is the irrigation, the siding is not up on the outside, the stucco isn't even started, there is no patio, still ALL DIRT, we have no patio cover...  2 weeks and counting...say a prayer!!! I'll keep ya posted!

Lets go CAMPING!!!!!

Last week I took 16 teen and pre teens CAMPING! It was kind of funny because I feel like I have been CAMPING all summer with the house addition! Sheesh! Anyway, before we left I told the guys I really, Really REALLY WANTED THE WINDOWS AND OUTSIDE DOORS IN!!!!! They smiled at me as I left.

So all week I had been dreaming about getting some space back in my house! So Friday as we stopped for lunch on the way home from the lake, I was talking with my hubby... Dreaming about what might have gotten done... Expecting to be surprised and awed with the (imaginary) completion of the house... So I texted the boy that was watching our pets to see what got done... He texted me back 'not much, they have been working on the roof all week'.

I WAS SOOOOOOO MAD!!!! I was spitting tacks! We had been waiting 3 weeks for the doors and windows to go in! URGH!!!!!! So I had about 45 minutes to get a hold of my frustration before I got home... Only to find out they WERE PUNKING ME!!!!!!  ;) my 11 year old blew the surprise as I was walking around the side of the house ;) but I was THRILLED!!!!!! All of the windows and doors had gone in AND the insulation was in AND they had gotten the flashing up for the roof AND a good portion of the roof done!!!!! HALLELUJAH!!!!

There was still a huge piece of plywood at the end of the hallway tho securing the house. Bt it was HUGE progress!!! Here are some pics as of Friday.