House Projects...

Since it's been a few months and we've finally started really feeling "settled" in this new house, we figured it's time to start ripping it apart and changing things-it was only a matter of time, really. Our first project is to rip up the carpet on the steps, take out part of the wood that is currently there (Adam understands this, I'm just the "sous chef" around here!). So, we decided on a red oak for the wood, bought it all at Lowe's and are doing it ourselves...that'll save us about $800 we figure! nice! The carpet is about 8 years old, been through a LOT of kids, the last owners had 4 cats, we have a VERY shedding dog in Gus, so you can see the need for a change! The first step is staining/sanding/varnishing all the steps and the riser pieces, so I'm doing a lot of that work during naptimes so we can make the most progress possible. Elise has been 'helping' sometimes using her new hammer and Home Depot apron that Mimi brought her last weekend. She thinks the hammer is the coolest thing since she's just like Daddy now! We'll put up some before and after shots once we really start making progress. Should be fun. Here's a shot of elise with the new 'gear' on. (Mimi's friend who got the stuff from Home Depot also had another friend paint it all and personalize it! So it's not just a hammer, but a hammer with pink paint and "elise" on it. The apron is covered with little animals and cute 'girly' things. We love it!)