Making a Mess

Avery loves to make a mess. She also loves to take toys out of the bins, put them back, and take them out again. Here she is in the midst of making one of her messes. But as long as she's having fun, that's all that matters!

Avery's First Fireworks/BBQ

We went over to Aunt Sandy's house to watch fireworks. Avery loved them! She sat straight up in her stroller and kept her eyes on them the whole time without saying a word, it was so cute. And Jasper decided he wanted to move his chair away from the adults and enjoy the display himself..he is such a big boy! And before that, we headed over to Auty's house for a BBQ. The kids had so much fun playing in the pool and doing snakes and sparklers!

Happy Late 4th of July!

We've been a little consumed with house stuff this summer, if you didn't notice, and we've neglected our blog a little! But looking back at pictures, here we are enjoying the 4th of July holiday this year! The parade was H-O-T HOT, hence the washcloths that Aunt Sandy brought for people to cool down with. But Jasper stayed true to his love of parades and watched the whole thing. Although, at the very end he did say he was rather hot, so luckily it was almost over! Avery enjoyed most of the parade asleep on grandma debbie's lap :)en

Family Fair Day

We headed out to the Iowa State Fair this year with Grandma Vicki, Jason, Noah, and Great Grandpa Trissel. It was a beautiful Saturday afternoon, despite the rain. We enjoyed the big yellow slide, snakes, food, Little Hands on the Farm,

midway, and just being with each other! Me and Adam went back on Sunday to see the free "Boyz II Men" concert with Ami and Kyl Gillespie - loved it! Always a good time at the fair!

Meet The Teacher Night

Jasper will be starting 4 year old preschool in just a few short days in Bondurant.

Before going to school, we went to "meet the teacher" night so he could meet Ms. Kelli and check out his spot in the classroom. He was pretty excited to unload his school supplies in the right place, loved the reading nook, and got plenty of play time with some of the toys...oh, and he did take a quick second to actually say "hi" to his teacher.

Day 70: Carpet, appliances

Appliances were delivered and installed today, and the crew laid down the carpet over our steps and upstairs level. Looks great!

Day 69: Counters

Counters were installed today in the kitchen and all bathrooms. Toilets and mirrors and the vinyl flooring in our upstairs bathrooms and laundry room were installed, too. One bummer: they installed 'brushed nickel' doorknobs throughout the house instead of the 'oil rubbed bronze' that matches the rest of the fixtures. I assume those will be swapped out soon. Photos, from top to bottom, 1) Master bathroom vanity; 2) Looking over the kitchen island; 3) Looking from the far corner of the living room toward, from left, the kitchen, bathroom and office; 4) Kids' bathroom upstairs; 5) Kids bathroom upstairs, again; 6) Kitchen; 7) Laundry room vinyl flooring; 8) Downstairs bathroom; 9) Kitchen island; 10) Kitchen sink/counter.

Day 68: Main level flooring

Today the flooring crew laid down the flooring on our main level. We love it! Also installed was our chandelier (pictured). Oh, and when I went downstairs to check things out, I noticed one of our vents (pictured) had come apart.

Progress: Front of house

There's quite a few photos in this series, so I hope this post works. Update: that small-scale file wasn't exactly what I had in mind, so I'll work on that and see if I can't come up with something better.

Progress: Steps

Here's what our staircase looked like a week ago, left, and how it looks today after it's been stained. Still needs carpet on the steps, of course.

Day 67: Paint update, floor prep

The flooring (and crew) arrived on Monday and so did an electrician, who wired most of the outlets, light switches, and installed most of the fixtures including the ceiling fans. The flooring crew had the entire subfloor laid down by the time I got there after work and said they'd have the entire main level done in about a day or so. Photos, from top to bottom, 1) Looking down from the second floor; 2) A sample of the flooring; 3) The kitchen, now featuring pendant lights; 4) The upstairs hallway, showing one of its two light fixtures; 5) Our living room ceiling fan; 6) The office, with built-in shelves and French doors; 7) Door/trim/light switch in Avery's bedroom; 8) The stairway; 9) The mantle and fireplace.