Happy Fourth of July...

Celebrated on July 6th. Because the weather was not cooperative the fireworks was postponed until last night. I took my three guys and met my friend with her kids at the park. We lounged on the hill and listen to the symphony and then watched the fireworks. It was a great night!

Joseph "ism"

Joseph told me the other day that "after I am done pooping or peeing I like to sit in the bathroom for some peace and quiet". Geez - I thought I was the only one that enjoyed that hidden secret of the bathroom!

Happy Fourth of July

14 Hours+ 4 Days+5 Trash Bags =

One livingroom that is stripped of wallpaper and the walls scrubbed. Today I finished steaming the paper remnants and then scrubbed the walls to get off all the remaining glue and pieces of paper. Then the basboard and floors were scrubbed too. Every muscle and joint in my right arm and hand ache and a few fingers are actually numb - but I'm so excited about this project and how well it's turning out. Next for this room - Steve need to patch some wall areas, fix the windows and lay down the new flooring. The pictures aren't the best because the sunlight was fading....as was I.

Project - Day 3

Still no pictures of the house project we have started, but take my word for it - it is one big mess! But a good mess - a work in progress mess. The rugs downstairs have been torn up and all the staples removed and trash hauled to the dump. Most of the wallpaper has been scraped in the living room, just a few more spots that will be finished tomorrow. My mother in law came over and helped me today because Steve had to work. We scraped for 4.5 hours and we'll be feeling it tomorrow. Gregory even came over and scrapped a whole wall, I'm not sure if he really wanted to, but we bribed him and said if he helped us out with watching the little boys and doing some work we'll get him a new skateboard with all the accessories (wheels, bearings.....). The little guys were awesome, no one fought, cried or got in our way the whole time.

Now I've got some drinks in the fridge and the pizza piled on platters. As soon as Nona and Tiffany get here with their troops we sit, eat, talk and relax!

Steve is off tomorrow so we'll be back in full swing - all day! Sunday Steve works a double and if the weather is nice I will be spending some time with my sons in Sackets Harbor. I love going and strolling up and down the streets, eating ice cream and sitting by the water. Of course, they'll be in their flag shirts, Greg will be hating every minute of it and I'll be taking pictures!

And So It Begins

July 1st has arrived, which means to us, so have renovations. Miss Bea has officially moved out and the paint buckets have moved in. Today Steve tore up all the carpeting to expose the hardwood floors and I started pulling down wallpaper, stripping windows of their old dusty curtains and mini blinds. We've decided to take out a home equity loan and really do this right; the kitchen is in need of major renovations. There are no appliances, only about 4 cupboards, a small counter, linoleum from 1940ish and one old....very old white porcelain sink.

On the agenda for tomorrow - finish pulling up staples from the carpet and steam some of the wallpaper off. We will be taking a side trip to the park tomorrow night for the Fourth of July festivities!

Flashback Friday

July 2006

Our family of five along with my mother spent the Fourth of July at Disney World. It was the best fireworks celebration that I have ever experienced. I don't have any pictures of the show, I have never been able to perfect night time photos, but here is a picture of the castle, the next best thing to see at Disney! It was probably the hottest day yet of the summer when we went, but it was still awesome!

When I was around 9 years old, I spent the Fourth of July at Disney with my parents. I have the picture of me standing in front of this same castle with my goofy hat on to prove it.