I hate sanding...and it has only just begun.

We are getting down to the nitty gritty now. It is about time to start on all the sanding we have to do. All the interior doors, all the kitchen cabinets and the big job...the new wood floors.

I have never sanded anything, so I wanted to give it a try today. Yikes!

First we had to make a run to Lowe's, needed a different sander, and had to return a can of paint that they didn't match right. Xander was on his own fashion trip today LOL.

Next we had a little picnic lunch in the new houses back yard.

Then I got to work. It took me an hour to sand this one part...and it still needs a little more work before it is ready to stain. About half way through I looked up at all we had to do and thought to myself, what ambitious fool thought up this idea...oh yeah, Jason. Though I fully agreed, the kitchen needed it bad, this is going to be a big project, thankfully our house partners will be doing some of it too.

Jason getting some plywood down, granite will be going in soon.

And more sanding. I wonder just how much you have to sand for an espresso gel stain to do its job.

Project start to finish

Walk through.

Day 1 remodel.

Shopping trip.
2 week mark
Painting
Kids get to see house finally
More painting
Adding another project
Fiasco
Sanding start
Bathrooms just about done
Granite installed
1st coat of stain in kitchen
Kitchen cabinet bases done!
Week 7
Hardwood floor sanding round 1
Floor sanding not going so great
Floor finishing started
Floors, floors, floors
8 1/2 weeks in
Trim and doors started
Closets done
Kitchen put back together
Odds and ends
Adding the purple
Kitchen DONE before and afters

Lily found a new friend at the house. A rock, shaped like a turtle, that she named Olive. The kids have a new fave show, The Littlest Pet Shop, and Olive is a character on one of the episodes. We took Olive home and decided to paint her up.

Everyone took turns.

It was a gorgeous day, felt so good to just hang out in the sunshine!

Hahaha goofball.

Jericho did pretty good, though he "messed up" once...Xander said "It's OK Jericho, try again."

We did a base coat of black, top and bottom, the a coat of light green on top of that on the top, and a darker green on the bottom.

As I was painting a couple parts of Olive, Haddie said to me "Where's your smile?" LOL Sorry kid, I was concentrating :)

Lots of waiting and playing while coats of paint dried. Lily brought Olive a snack. She may have a future of summer jobs waiting tables :)

Oops, maybe not. This was just before the whole thing came crashing down and she tried to serve it.

Chalk art...Haddie got very angry at anyone who added to her masterpiece. So of course a pesky little boy must then do it on purpose.

Olive is starting to look like a turtle now.

More drying time was needed so we headed in for dinner and homework. Is it crazy that I now bargain with my kids to eat their dinner or they won't get to do "homework"...so funny! I will probably have to remind them of this one day :)

I also, just for fun, decided to give them the marshmallow test. I told them they could have 1 marshmallow now, or wait until after their homework and then they would get 2. I did have to explain their choices two or three times but the triplets all decided to wait. Jericho was not part of the test, he ate his marshmallow right away, then the little turd grabbed Xander's and ate it too LOL. The trio did all their homework, then enjoyed 2 marshmallow's :)

Xander was kind enough to share some of his homework with Jericho. Jericho colored a bit on Xan's page and then I hear Xander say "Great job Jericho, Xander is so proud of you!" Awww.

The girls do a really great job, there is a bit of a difference between them and Xan right now...I really think waiting one more year for Kindy is going to be the best thing we can do for him.

It is so funny to see the differences in how each child does their work. You have Xander who only follows instructions half the time, and he colors like crazy all over everything. Hayden and Lily follow instructions almost 100%, but while Hayden is very detail oriented, colors darkly and completely, and tries very hard to stay in the lines, Lily gives a faint tiny scribble of the correct colors in the correct areas then moves on. Such smart kids though...I am so proud of them, to think that they were born 9 weeks premature and so tiny, they are amazing!

I put some finishing touches on Olive. The kiddos love her :)