The closest thing to a pet...

If you know me, you know I am not a huge animal lover and I'm pretty sure they don't like me either. This was a affirmed recently when I heard the famous pet owner line "They have never done that before." after my neighbors dog leaped over the wall in between our houses while I was spray painting and bit my foot.  Yeah...  Anyways, there are very few that people's pets that I don't mind while others I quietly tolerate so people don't have the major "You don't like animals!" freak out.  Whatever...either way I could live without all the slobber and licking on me.  Its gross.   

In recent months I have decided that I do enjoy a pet of a certain kind. Birds...the babies though.   Not the mean Mommas who want to peck your head off for even looking at their babies.

A little while back I happened upon these 2 nests on the front and back porch of our house.

Being the dork I am, I anxiously awaited the time for them to hatch!

And they did slowly, one at a time!

I know this looks gross and ugly and it was but at the same time it was really fun to watch.

These were the growing 3 on the back porch...they pooped a lot and destroyed my wreath but oh well.  What can you do?

I'm pretty sure this last one was the runt of the bunch because it came a day or so later...

This is when I started to become really worried about my non-animal loving self.  You see that little fuzzy thing in the front of the out of focus photo above?  Well that was the runt.   It had gotten it's little feet stuck in all the twigs....  So, I watched it carefully all day long and gave the Momma plenty of time to go rescue it.  But she didn't.  What a terrible mother.  So I grabbed some twigs and carefully wedged it out while being careful not to touch it or anything.  And they all lived happily ever after!   I feel like more of a dork after writing that all out...shoot.

And shortly after they were gone...tear. 

So, I have decided for now I am going to stick with birds.  You don't have to feed them and if you don't mind a little poop on the porch then they are great source of free entertainment.   Problem solved...I can now be a "sort of" animal lover liker.  Oh and even better they are one in a matter of weeks and then you get to start watching the fun all over again.

Am I the only one that likes watching baby birds or do I need to own up to my nerdy ways?

House Update: Final Details

We are getting really close to being finished with the house! 
(Yes, you read that correctly...)

There is only a bit more touch up painting and a few other odds and ends but after that we will be good to go!  Crazy, isn't it?!?

Now, on to some big accomplishments lately....

We now have a toilet!!!!  Woohoo!! No more dirty Jackson Street Park potties without locks on the door!!

We started painting the outside of the house---no more ugly siding!!  I was out of town on Saturday & my Mom filled in as the slave driver and was adamant that we would have a painted house before we moved in.  She's a mess but I appreciate her keeping the boys in line for me!!

This I why I love the $3 samples from Lowe's...some things turn out SOOOO much different than they look on the card! We went with the middle one!  The other 2 were too bright & dried way too dark.

I wasn't totally pleased with the rough texture that the floors had so I decided another light sand with the palm sander would do the trick and it did!  I think I will be much more pleased with the result now.

Final coat will go on tonight!

The garage is still in a fairly unfinished/ugly state but the house is looking gorgeous!!  
I love the exterior paint color and we even put the shutters on last night!   It is all really starting to come together which is making me extremely excited and anxious to get moved in!

Moving starts this weekend!!  Woohoo!

(Yes, I am aware that I used a ridiculous amount of exclamation points in this post but at times I thought we would never make it to this point...so I am just a bit excited!)

The Ugly Truth: Moving Edition

A few weeks ago my friend Natalie started a series called "The Ugly Truth" to help call attention to long overdue projects in hopes of turning confessions into motivation.   

To keep her company in her shame about her Christmas decorations that were (or are they still, Natalie?!) up in June, I'm going to share the current state of our bedroom in the midst of getting things ready to move....

The couch has now become my new dresser.   My old dresser is getting a facelift at the moment...

Yep, those are all the dust bunnies that were under my other dresser when I moved it out yesterday...

There are clothes everywhere! 

This dresser will soon get a makeover as well!

I promise we are not lacking in the motivation department so this "Ugly Truth will be taken care of soon! And hopefully this makes you feel better Natalie!

A Welcome Distraction

Little man & his parents came to town last weekend for Haley's 25th Birthday & to celebrate their 4th Anniversary. Colin & Tori headed to a B&B for the weekend & we all got to have some quality time with Little Man!

(I haven't been able to see him since Easter so it was crazy to see how much he has grown and how much more mobile he is since he was here last.)

He loved the swimming pool...maybe by next year G-Pa will build us a real one!

 

Come on Aunt Haley...just one, please?!? 

I better hurry before Mia comes back!!

And we had about all the fun he could stand for one weekend! 

House Update: Paint & Light Fixtures

Ok...we are all going to have to revert back to kindergarten and use our imaginations here. 

Things are not finished by any means and I hate to show this part because we are so close to the end & I would rather you see it completed...

There are still lots of little details left to finish up so for now, just imagine the possibilities!

Living Room is complete for the most part

Kitchen is painted for the most part & fixtures are hung!

This is the baby's room....KIDDING!!  WE ARE NOT PREGNANT!!   It is just more fun for all of us to keep saying this to Nathan because it drives him crazy ;)

Master Bedroom

The bathroom will be the same color as the Master.  The floors came out really well---unfortunately the pictures makes them look a little different than they really are.  I guess you will have to come see them for yourself!   

My favorite little man & his parents are coming to town this weekend so I'm not sure how much progress I will be making ;)

On the To Do List this Week:

• Install/Caulk/Paint Baseboards
• Finish lots of trim paint
• Finish painting the bathroom, hallway, & closets
• Install the kitchen counter tops!!!
• AND hopefully setting some plumbing fixtures...a toilet would be nice to have.

House Update: Floors Part II

First of all I want to say Happy 25th Birthday to my sister, Haley!
AND
Happy Anniversary to my sister, Tori, who is celebrating 4 years with her husband, Colin! 

(Thanks for marrying Colin and making cute babies!)

We have made quite a bit of progress since my last post.   Lots of painting, electrical, floor refinishing, and finish work has taken place!  We were incredibly grateful for the day off on Monday so that we could get some extra work done.  We are even more grateful for the help of my parents, sister, & brother-in-law to be, who gave up their weekend and helped us make tremendous progress.   

 

There is still lots to be done but here is some of the progress from last week.

We have air conditioning!!   It's having a hard time catching up because we are in and out so much but it's still better than the Texas heat!!

Before                                               Living Room                                               After

Master - Before

Before                                       Master Bedroom                                         After

Guest Bedroom After

Before                                     Man Cave                                      After

This is the kitchen floors with the leveler on it before we put the flooring down.   Next post I will hopefully have some after photos from the flooring Nathan installed last night.

I was a little unsure of what to expect when the flooring was complete but I was actually pleasantly surprised how well they turned out.  Fortunately, all of our hard work paid off this time!  I might have sat down and cried if not...just saying.

Check back for a post in the next few days---I will be posting some photos with light fixtures & paint on the walls!