What Occurred in 2011?

January 2011

The toilet that was in the basement was removed, as Jay's step-dad, Larry Kaszubowski, models here.  This also reminds me....our toilet on the main level (the one that matched the tub and sink) was removed by Larry back when we moved into the home.  It was an anniversary gift given to us back in June 2009 from Larry and Rhonda (Jay's mom).  What is with Larry and toilets?  lol

I wanted to add this picture because it shows the dividing of the rooms on the south side.  Remember when I talked about the pocket door that Donna Kaldunski told us about?  Well, this would be the original opening.  I also added the old picture directly below to compare.

 

We're giving Carter a shot at starting the demolition.  He absolutely LOVED it!

The next group of pictures are of our kitchen paint remodel.  First off, I had the privilege of removing the wallpaper and border in this combined kitchen/dining room.  It was stuck like cement!  Whoever adhered it, did a very good job!  The wallpaper was from chair railing and below.  I wish I would have remembered to take a picture of the wallpaper before I started, but there are the old pictures you could look back on during the First Things First post.


~BEFORE~

The border was along the header of the cabinets.  This was the toughest of all to take off, but I managed.

I wanted to add this picture too, because it shows one of the doors that we removed.  This door, along with the basement door, was the most recent removed which was probably done so around the beginning of this year (2012).

~AFTER~

Chose dark brown under all chair railing and changed the chandelier.  Larry and Jay ended up doing the painting that day.

Looking at this picture, I can still see the hall pantry through the doorway.  That also has been torn out this year with our current project.  We've come a long way, even though it seems that it has taken such a long time.

April 2011

Next on the agenda for the year was getting a dishwasher.

Measuring for the counter top.

With the help from Larry and Rhonda Kazubowski, our dishwasher is now in. 

I had to share this picture because it's just one of the many reasons we LOVE being out in the country.  Take a look at this pair of sand hill cranes that were in the field just west of the house.  It was amazing watching them!

May 2011

These hummingbirds swarm to this feeder and still do.  I hang it just outside the casement windows in our dining area.  The other day I had six of them at the same time.  There is only enough room for 4 of them, but the other two were swarming around waiting for their turns.

But that also comes along with critters you don't want....like this muskrat Elmer Fud had to hunt by the pond.

June 2011

We added onto our play set for the kids.  We had the play set that's on the right, then we found a nice addition with swings, trapeze bar, and an extra slide on Craigslist for only $75.  Not bad....

We finally found a spot for our hammock.

Jay and Carter relaxin'.

Enough relaxing....let's get back to work!  These four pictures below show the demolition of the northeast room/entry way. 

Carter took this picture of me getting ready to start putting holes in the walls.  Check out the wall paper.

Picture taken from the front door. The wall, which is shown in the front of this picture, was completely removed.  Yay!

 

Picture taken from the front door.

December 2011

We decided to paint the bathroom downstairs, and we also added a bathroom fan.  Yay!  I'm a little surprised that we were the first ones to decide on installing a bathroom fan.  It was particularly a little chilly leaving that window open on cool days for a little ventilation, and in the winter it froze shut on you so you couldn't open it if you tried!  It appears that I didn't take any pictures of this process.

The next couple of pictures shows Jay upstairs removing the flooring in the closet of the upstairs southwest room.  For those of you who lived here before or even just remember, when you came up the stairs, you'd see a rounded wall (which happened to be the closet of the southwest room).  That is now gone to make a wider hallway.

I believe that's it for 2011.  Does it feel like anything has changed yet?  Just wait....you haven't seen anything yet!