some fun details.....

need to decide where to put the island so we brought a few things from the house over....tom thinks the end table/flowers/and picture were overkill....but it helps me to see things looking like a house. i have decided that the CHAIRS were the mistake since his breaks are much more comfortable now - haha. this allows us to tape off where we want the island so we can run laps around it like the kids will do and make sure we aren't hitting anything =D

included a picture of my bar stools i rethunk for the house....the fabric on the seat and the roll beside it are the fabrics i am using for window treatments in the front rooms of the house. hard to see but the colors are really pretty!

also got some window treatments started in matthews room....(putting roller shades behind them for privacy)....and emma and katie's room.... (they need to be raised to the ceiling and the girls want sheer white curtains behind them....

got another 1/3 of the front of the house painted - more blue gone!!!! and hung two sets of shutters! replaced the front porch light too!

working on getting the floor down for the shop! yee haw!

baby steps.....but we're getting there!

We've got "squatters"!!!

we aren't yet living in woodstock....house is still far from finished....but there IS a family already living there! didn't even ask us! aren't paying any rent at all! but we can't bring ourselves to evict them! haha we watched these little birdies from the time they were just eggs. it has been so fun to see them get bigger/open their eyes/get wee feathers - something we look forward to checking on every time we go!

so what's new in the progress?

working on some exterior painting - emma and megan tackled that job for a bit.....

lindsey is still hard at work on her room - it's looking fabulous!!

matthew taught katie how to mow and she did a great job on the front yard! they were a great team!!

and EVERYONE is excited about the new potties!!!! the kids helped choose and the photo you see is of the flush button! there are two flush options.....as the box says...."one for liquids and a more powerful flush for solids". gross huh? but they are more energy efficient and hey...if the kids will flush more regularly then woooo hoooo!

chair rail is up in matthews room - as are his beloved baseball caps!

not pictured but also done: one and 1/2 bathroom floors. molding in the front room, divider wall in linz and megs room, paint job in one bathroom, lotsa work in tv room.,...so again - sooooo much left to do - but we're working hard!!!

my shop!!!

this look hilarious to be excited about....but we have started on my shop.....laying it out and leveling for the floor. we had six awesome young men from church come help on saturday. (they must have needed the money DESPERATELY!!! haha) they got so much done! the first two photos are before they came -second two are the after photos. huge piles of demolition trash moved and the shop floor almost in place - bigger job than we anticipated! we were grateful for their hard work!!!!

oops!!! the photos actually posted in reverse order - before shots are on the bottom!