Halloween and more house pictures

Jonathan's office prior to moving in

Jonathan's office now

  As promised, here are some more pictures of our home improvements: the office and backyard. When we moved in, Jonathan's office was bright pink. We joke that he has a pink office curse because his office at our last home was pink when we moved in. We painted it sage green and furnished it with some neutral curtains and mahogeny antiques. Much better.

Backyard before

Backyard after

Before - messy with aging deck

Before - 2 foot high playground area

After

After

After

After - playground leveled, grass seeded, sandbox re-edged

The backyard used to have a large (about 350 square feet), raised playground bed off the patio in the center of the yard. The playground had been removed long ago, so all kinds of weeds had grown up through the landscaping fabric. Since we are within a short walking distance of two playgrounds, we never intended to install a playground. After toying with several ideas, we decided to remove all of the cinder edging blocks and fill dirt and gravel, and create some edged beds in the corners of the yard. It took us a full weekend to pull up all of the weeds and landscaping fabric, and then Jonathan hauled a couple of tons of dirt and gravel (literally). Then we moved over 150 cinder blocks, shaped them to create beds, and filled them in with the playground dirt and rock. Over a couple of months, we filled in the beds with mulch and river rock, planted some evergreen trees, ferns, and hostas, and had the barren area where the playground was seeded for grass.  The entire backyard transformation cost about $200. We are pretty proud of the landscaping transformation because we designed it ourselves, it cost so little, and really changed the yard into something intentional.
 The deck and stairs were in rough shape, as they hadn't been stained for years. Jonathan did a ton of research and bought high-quality stain. We spent most of the summer staining, as we had to do it on days that weren't too hot or too cold and had no precipitation. It was a pain in the butt!! It looks stunning and brand-new now, though, and we did it all ourselves (my mom included).

After, with deck stained

After

Halloween turkey!

For Halloween, Quinn dressed up as a turkey. I found the costume at a thrift store and thought it was too cute. He loves it. I figured that he wouldn't be too keen about taking candy from strangers, so we practiced trick or treating all around the house for two weeks before the holiday. It was super cold on Halloween, but we went out and made it to about 8 or 9 houses before Quinn was done. He didn't get much loot, but he had never had candy before, so he didn't realize that his stash was small (I remember filling up whole pillowcases as a kid!). He tried candy bars for the first time and loved it, of course. I think he enjoyed handing out candy to the trick or treaters who came to our door more than he liked trick or treating himself. That is so Quinn. We also got a nice compliment from the previous owners, who brought their girls trick or treating at our house. They said that they were impressed with all the improvements we had made to the outside, and that it looked very nice. Gold star for us! :)

First bite of candy

Handing out candy to the trick or treaters

We've had tons of stuff going on this month - two out-of-town visits to see family, Jonathan's comps defense (which he rocked!), etc., but I will save all of that for the next post.

Home Improvements

We've been in our new home now for 6 months, and we love it. We've been working on projects all over the house, inside and out. We've stained the deck and porch, painted the door and shutters, done landscaping in the front and back yards, painted three rooms, cleaned the carpets, scrubbed all sorts of things off walls and floors, bronzed fixtures, and more. In this and the next post I will show you some before and after photos of our work in the last months. We still have a lot of painting to do, but we are making good progress, learning a lot, and having fun.

This is how the house looked when we moved in. The plants in the front bed were overgrown and wild, bare spots and dandelions ruled the yard, the shutters were a hideous shade of mauve, and the door was eggplant. Not to mention some general grime in windows, as well as clutter. The picture above was taken from Google Earth, as the house was before we moved in. I have no idea why there is a plastic easel and cooler in the front yard.

Step one was to pull out multiple wheelbarrows full of weeds, and transplant the existing plants to provide balance. We bought and laid down some river rock in the front beds. Next we had the dandelions taken care of and the lawn seeded to fill in the bald spots. This took all summer.

 

 

Step two involved some exterior paint and stain. We painstakingly primed and painted the shutters and front door. They are now "tree branch" rather than "Barney", and they match. We cleaned and stained the porch rails, as they were weathered and worn. This is how the house looks now.

While we were working on the outside, we were also working inside. Both of the spare bedrooms were painted sloppily (paint on trim, carpets, ceiling, and doors) with bright pink and purple paint. The children had colored and written their names everywhere - walls, windows, doors - and put stickers on every surface. All sorts of stains were set in the carpets. Our first task was to paint Jonathan's office, as it was shiny pink. Pictures will come in the next post. Then we primed and painted Quinn's room a pale green, as well as spent many hours scraping and scrubbing the walls and doors. 

Here is Quinn's room before - a cluttered mess with bright purple walls. (This is the furniture and decor of the previous owners.)

Quinn's room now - calm and clean.

The spare bathroom was dirty, off-white, and decorated in a rubber ducky theme when we moved in. Jonathan bronzed the fixtures and we painted the room a light tan.

Bathroom before

Bathroom after

 I will post some pictures of the office, other rooms in the house, and the back landscaping next time.

In non-home improvement news, lots of things have been going on in our lives lately. The weather has been cooler and hot off and on, but we love Fall. Quinn has had several language explosions this month. This week he is using past tense verbs consistently and clearly. He also can hear when he makes mistakes in pronunciation, because he slows down and tries to mimic our speech more accurately. Some of the cutest phrases he says are: "I love you too!", "Are you okay?", "I like to play room!", "I made a big mess!", and "JJ eats Zoie poop." (That last one is true.)

 Big news in terms of Jonathan's life outside of home - he will defend his comprehensive exams in two weeks (a month early than originally planned, but he has been very productive this semester). He will also be starting his dissertation next month and may possibly push through to finish in July - nearly a year early. There would be several benefits of this change, but it will also be intense.

My dissertation is really starting to take off, and I've had renewed motivation to finish sooner than later. Hopefully  my graduation date will also be moved up.

We are preparing for Halloween this week. We carved pumpkins over the weekend (Jonathan carved a Star Trek pumpkin and Quinn and I colored ours with markers). I asked Quinn if he wanted to make a big mess with me, and he was thrilled. I stripped him down, cut open the pumpkin, stuck my arm in, and pulled out the messy stuff inside. I said, "here, you do it too." He leaned over, looked in, looked at my messy hands, and said, "no" while walking away. That is so Quinn. Evaluating the situation first, then likely declining. Later he changed his mind and had a blast making a "big pumpkin mess!". On Friday he is dressing up as a turkey (I know, odd costume, but super cute!) and going trick or treating for the first time.
Here are some Fall pictures I took of Quinn last week.

This is Quinn telling me that JJ eats cat poop. He thinks it is hilarious. We don't.

Making a big pumpkin mess

A lovely Fall morning

Happy Halloween!

"I am two!"

We celebrated Quinn's second birthday Saturday. We pulled him around in the wagon in our neighborhood to go to garage sales, where he got a few books and a dinosaur coloring book. After his nap, we went to MU's South Farm exhibition, where he saw lots of farm animals, tractors, pumpkins, and a fire truck. When we got home, he played "driving" in our cars (his favorite game, one that causes some conflict as we get tired of sitting in the hot garage). When he came in, he had a birthday cake and a pile of presents waiting for him, while we all sang Happy Birthday. 

A Little People Farm cake

The cake was two layers - homemade white and chocolate cake with homemade buttercream frosting. I used the Little People figures from one of his presents for the scene on the cake. He got lots of presents, all Little People. My aunt Gena got him two flap books and the school bus, Mom got him the helicopter, and we got him the firetruck, dump truck, and farm sets. For all but what my aunt got him, we spent a total of $10 (we got them all at garage sales this summer). He loved his new toys so much that he spent the 2.5 hours before bed playing non-stop in his room. It became a problem when he didn't want to go to bed, because he had been up for 10 hours. We had a great day, but it ended in tears when he fought sleep for an hour (over-tired, over-sugared, and over-excited).  

Yummy cake!

I can't believe that my baby is two years old. I started the morning at 5:30, when he woke up and wanted to nurse. I held him close, remembering that at that exact time 2 years ago, they handed him to me and he nursed for the first time. I've never known greater joy in my life. Every day with him has been exciting, tiring, and overwhelming with love. He is one incredible little person.

"Look, Mama, I'm driving dadda's car!"

Blowing out the candles

Licking the "mud" (chocolate) off the pig

A School bus!

On the fire truck at South Farm

Quinn calls this one the Mommy cow

Seeing the cows at South Farm

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Friday Jonathan's mom and grandma came to visit Quinn for his birthday. Nonna got him dinosaur-themed presents, which he loves. Quinn even gave them "night-night" kisses before he took his nap. He is getting much more comfortable with family the past few months, which is so relieving of us. We've felt bad for family who don't see him every day and don't get the sweet, loving side of him that he reserves for the select few.

Playing dinosaurs with Nonna

The weekend before last, we took Quinn to the Heritage Festival. He most enjoyed the fire truck and falling asleep on Daddy afterwards. They were playing a loud Star Wars game, and he was tired that he literally fell asleep in the chair sitting up.

Quinn adores fire trucks

So tired...

This is my thinking face. "Hmmm..."

 School has begun. Jonathan and I are each teaching an evening class. We love to be in the classroom, and so far Quinn is adjusting well to having three evenings a week interrupted. He and Daddy play fun games with airplanes and trucks while I'm gone - he is much better at boy play than I am!

Jonathan had a birthday last Friday, and we celebrated by eating lots of treats (homemade ice cream cake, beef jerky, and dinner on a date). I had a few small gifts for him, and Quinn's present was an extra long nap during which we were able to watch a movie. This was the 11th of his birthdays that we've celebrated together! Jonathan is also a published author now, with an article coming out this month in a highly reputable scholarly journal. Way to go!

I love to swim and jump off the edge of the pool!

 Quinn's favorite things lately include swimming (though it's too cold this week), any play involving vehicles, and fixing things with his new tool set (thank you, Oma!). He is talking so clearly and finishes the end of sentences when we read many different books. He has started using the potty almost full-time, even not going in his diaper once at night and a few times while out playing at friends' houses. His favorite phrases are "This is so cool!", "Oh man/oh my!", and describing objects by their size and color. He knows several colors and understands opposites (day/night, big small, loud/quiet, etc.).

My new fire truck! From Oma and Grandad

 Quinn likes to feed the fish at his grandparents' house - he even knows where the food is kept.

Feeding the fish

 I gave him his first real haircut last Sunday. I hated to cut off the beautiful curls, but he hates having his hair brushed, and the curls tangle so badly. It is still curly and cute, but now he looks like a big boy.

Last pictures before the haircut.

He looks like such a big kid in this picture.

It's hard to believe, but in almost 2 weeks Quinn will turn two years old. It seems like yesterday we were driving to the hospital. I cherish my time at home with him - nothing makes me happier than all of us spending time together. He brings us such joy and is turning into the most amazing child. He nearly always listens and cooperates when something is explained to him (though he loves the word "no" as most two year-olds do). He brushes his own teeth, tries to dress himself, washes his own hands, tries to sing the alphabet and count, and generally loves to help around the house. He has such a sweet nature - I am such a lucky mother!