(Old) Home, Sweet Home

Our old house is officially listed with a Realtor. If you want to see it or know someone who might be interested, here it is along with the information of who to contact. Any help is greatly appreciated!

While my other half doesn't carry the same sentiment as myself, it was hard for me to let go. We bought the house shortly after getting engaged. Since then we have been married, brought two amazing children into the world, and had a couple 1st birthday and baptism celebrations.

Taking down the monkey and tree mural in the kids' room was by far the hardest thing to do. I still get a little teary-eyed thinking about not living where the most important memories so far has taken place.

It's not just about the memories either. The house was very dated and needed some curb appeal. A lot of work was put into landscaping and getting the inside updated. So what do we do? Buy a much larger but same type of house. Both were a blank canvas. We started to put our 'touch' into the McCallsburg house before finding our forever home. Now we get to put our own touches into another home that I hope will be enjoyed for many years to come.

We didn't get all of our dream projects done at the old house but they have been replaced by even more (and more expensive) dream projects. One thing that has helped ease my sadness is that it's hard to believe we've only lived in our new house for approximately a month. It really does seem likes it's been much, much longer. I take that as a very good sign.

 Keep checking back to see how we change our new house into our forever home. I have found some great ideas on Pinterest to keep Mark and myself busy.

Kitten Love

It seems as though we've been on the go a lot since moving a month ago. Wow, it's really only been a month? I thought living closer to our parents and work would have given us more downtime. Unfortunately it has been the opposite. Between us visiting people, people visiting us, football games, working on things inside/outside and getting our old house ready to sell.....I feel like quiet time is a rare commodity. Here are few items going on in our world.

There are still a lot of things in boxes to unpack. This week I worked more in the kitchen. The problem is that I can't decide where I want things so there are piles of items on the counter waiting for a home. I started throwing stuff in cupboards this week because It's getting old to look at everything. It really shouldn't be that hard to unpack because it's not as though things HAVE to stay where they are placed. Items can be moved again.

There is a lot of construction/home renovation type things still sitting around because we are nowhere near finished with projects. There isn't 1 room that is finished but some of that stuff is going to have to start being put in the basement or leave the house. It all gets overwhelming! It keeps reminding me of everything that is left to do.

The past few weekends have been spent at the old house in McCallsburg. Speaking of which it finally has a for sale sign! We had quite a few things to do in order for the house to hopefully sell quicker. My family has been a big help in getting all of that finished. They put in a lot of work this past weekend.

At times I think the kids are starting to settle into a routine. Notice I said 'at times'. There are still items that tend to be a struggle that will hopefully pass as we get through winter.

The kids are loving their kittens! As you can see from the pictures, they're tormented. Poor, poor Meow really has a tough time being Evys pick. I keep reminding Evy that we need to hold the cats under the belly, not around the neck. Meow might have lost consciousness a couple times due to lack of oxygen.

I've set a date for the Housewarming Party. I know many people that have asked when they can come take a look at everything. Keep an eye out for that in the coming days. Mark wasn't sure if he should be on board with a party this close to move in but it might force us to get some more things done.

Last but not least, I threw a half dead mouse outside last night! It might have taken me at least 10 minutes to build up the courage along with a lot of noises & squealing but I did it. It felt like a whole body work out afterwards.

We're in! We're in!

We have officially changed zip codes as of Sunday. We have a lot of stuff. Let me rephrase that....the kids have a lot of stuff.

It seems as though the odds have been against us since we started this journey. Issue after issue has come up. Luckily Mark and I are pretty laid back. I would say Mark is more laid back in most aspects but recently I think that has started to change! Here are a few highlights of things that have happened the last 48+ hours:

-I slept a total of 2 hours the first night because of a screeching owl, a couple well-timed semis, the windmill and general outdoor noises. Living next to train tracks previously, I would have thought other noises wouldn't keep me awake at night. It was worse than having a newborn baby at home!

-Lane woke up the first morning saying 'Mama, I slept good and wasn't scared of anything!' Makes my heart melt.

-Luna (the cat) was found and came home on Monday night. In the last 24+ hours she has caught 3 baby mice and what Mark is thinking is the mama mouse. Mark actually praised and pet the cat this morning! I had to pick my jaw up off the ground.

-Speaking of mice. Luna must be incredibly proud of her catches. She left catch #1 in Lane's bedroom which Lane thought was the neatest thing ever. He was still talking to Luna about it this morning. Catch #2 & #3 were found by my foot on the stairs while letting the dog outside this morning. It's an understatement to say that I hate mice, rats, spiders and snakes. Mark had to go look on the stairs because I was afraid to see what it was. Catch #4 happened this morning and Luna proudly brought it up from the basement. Leaving it in the middle of the entryway....still twitching but not able to move. I tried to pick it up, I really did. If you call taking a paper towel, folding it up, and then dropping the paper towel on the floor while running away when the darn thing started to twitch. What have I gotten myself into by living in an old farmhouse?

-Only a couple boxes have been unpacked since Sunday. At this rate we might have things put away by the time the kids go to college. Then again we moved unopened boxes from the move 6 years ago. Maybe I should have thrown those boxes away?

-We plan on having a housewarming party the end of October. Looking around the house this morning reminded me how much work there is still to do before then.

-The kids have started to calm down.....a little.

-I seem to always snack and Mark's parents house. They always have snacks available. Unfortunately they left all of the pre move-in snacks in the house plus some extras. It is very rare that I have snack food in the house because otherwise that's all we eat.

-Grandma Marj's goulash has been a lifesaver since we moved in. The kitchen still is in boxes (including food).

A large thank you to everyone that has helped out so far. From helping get the house ready, watching kids so we can work, dropping off food and helping move. It's all been a big help!

Lane's Bedroom Transformation

It is very hard to determine which room has changed the most during the last two months. I still am blown away at the fact our new house was purchased less than 2 months ago! So much has changed inside and outside. None of that would be possible without a lot of help. Mark, his parents and my mom have spent a lot of combined hours working on various projects. I have not spent a lot of time helping because we have tried to keep the kids' routine as normal as possible with supper and bedtime. My hours are going to be full of packing, unpacking and outside work in the coming days, weeks and months.

I know it has felt like not much gets accomplished during a few hours each night after work but all we have to do is take a look around at the results so far! It looks great. Far from finished but at least we're almost to the point where it can be habitable.

Lane's bedroom is the focal point today. This was the room that almost had me running scared the day we looked at the house that first day!

There was a LARGE amount of water damage in this room, the kitchen ceiling and the hallway. I would've bet my life that we would have to tear the walls & ceiling down to start over. After a scrub down, latex primer was put on. It didn't stick. Actually it almost bubbled like blisters.

The room at the point was called the 'pink room of hell'. All the latex primer had to be scraped off and a lot of research went into what the problem was. Once again all signs were pointing to slapping up some dry wall. Come to find out all it needed was oil primer!

The oil primer worked great. Really, really thick so it only took 2 coats to cover the water stains. The bad part was that the smell was horrible! I mean about choked us all out of the room on multiple occasions.

I would have never guessed that the room would have turned out like this with just primer!

This color was supposed to be grey but definitely turned out blue. This picture makes it look like a light blue which is not the case! It's actually a darker blue with a grey tint. Oh well, it works. Lane doesn't care what it looks like at this point.

Remember this corner??

It looks normal! Who would have thought. Pictures really don't do this room justice. Really, the pictures don't do before pictures of the house in general any justice. Not many people saw the house in it's before state in entirety. Those who have I hope will be blown away by the final result.

Last picture is my project. I went back and forth about giving Lane a chalkboard wall. Images kept going through my head with Lane playing on it during the middle of the night. In the end I decided to go for it. Some people thought I should do a separate piece of smooth wood but I really do like this! The walls have a good amount of texture so hopefully it works. I might have to run out there during lunch this week to do the 'conditioning' before we move in. Chalk needs to be spread over the entire surface and let sit for awhile. Then wipe clean!

We're moving this weekend but as I stated before, projects are far from finished. Hopefully the electrical will be all finished. Otherwise we might have to strategically use electricity for awhile. There's still painting to do in the hallways, a front porch that needs major attention and multiple little items inside. It is going to be so nice to have us all under one roof again!

Kitchen Progress

As I posted before, the kitchen has transformed a lot and it's not done yet. Thne problem with buying an old farmhouse is that you can only do so much without tearing out walls (if that's even possible). We are not able to expand our kitchen any direction without some MAJOR exterior work so we needed to make do with what we had. Another problem is old farmhouses have small kitchens. I'm not sure if that was because it wasn't the hub of a house like it is now or what. Kitchens in new houses are enormous!

As much as I would love a big, open kitchen...that's not going to happen. Instead we are modernizing while trying to keep as much of the original material as possible. My guess is that this kitchen was custom done back in the 60s? And I mean custom. The cupboards fit perfectly wall-to-wall and floor-to-ceiling. They even matched the old appliances.

The oven/broiler/rotisserie thingy was shorter than normal counters so the original counter top was shorter on that side of the kitchen. Notice how the cupboards fit perfect around it on all sides!

The sink & dishwasher were also one large unit.

These photos are from the day after we got possession. On to what you really want to see...



Everything started by taking out the appliances. I wasn't there but was told that the oven was incredibly heavy. It took 4 people to move outside from what I understand. Dave has been playing carpenter to raise the cupboard to be normal height.

If you look at the previous picture of this side, you see there used to be a window here. At one point in time this used to be an exterior wall and the previous owner enclosed the front porch to use for storage and laundry. No need to look out a window at the washer and dryer!

I posted previously that there were 4 layers of flooring in the kitchen. Here it is down to the original hardwood. You can also see the pretty paneling has been taken off. Underneath was the original plaster walls and the bottom half is plaster that was made to look like subway tile.

The original hardwood floor was going to be pretty difficult to bring back to its original glory. There was a lot of gunk as well as a couple spots where there was just padding...maybe where there were cupboards originally? We decided to go with bamboo flooring. 

There's primer on the walls!

Best for last. Here is my pretty sink! This is my splurge for the house. I was determined to have a farmhouse sink because it's a farmhouse. Duh. After looking around the home improvement sites I fell in love with the hammered copper. Normally out of our price range but we found a great sale! It's going to be so pretty. I've tried to make the sink the primary focus of the kitchen.

Sorry about the blurriness but my phone takes horrible pictures. The plan is to put shelves of some sort above the sink to house my copper teapots.

My not so regular update

My initial goal was to keep everyone in the loop with regular updates. We've had the house for approximately a month now and holy cow, it feels like it's been months! We're not even 'moved in' yet in the typical sense of the word but someone is working or sleeping there most of the time.

**Update..I've only had this written for over a week waiting to upload pictures. I'm horrible at this.

Here's a quick run down of some items so far:

Kitchen/Entry
This is by far getting the most work done out of any other room. Our thinking was that we'll spend the most time, energy, money or any combo there-of getting this room ready because with a 1 & 3 year old at home, this needs to be safe and function easily as soon as we move in. Plus we don't plan on redoing anything in the kitchen for quite a long time. This room has DRAMATICALLY transformed the past week and I can't wait to show you everything. Here's a quick teaser of what it will look like.

New appliances, backsplash & granite countertops

Living/Dining Room

We were very lucky to have only one small wall with wallpaper. Cracks have been filled and wallpaper taken off.

No wallpaper

The wood floors have caused some issues and delays. My dad started to sand the floors with a commercial sander but it kept gumming up. After doing more investigating, we realized that there were multiple layers of wax! I don't think they ever stripped the floors....just kept waxing year after year. The floor is down to the natural wood and all it needs now is the polyurethane finish. Mark and I love the natural look without added coloring.


The sander kept getting plugged so the floors had to be stripped by hand

Pre-stripped/sanded. Look at that shiney wax.

Look at that prettiness after stripping! We're going for the natural finish with no extra coloring.

Kids' Rooms
Evelyn's room is done and just needs a thorough cleaning. Lane's room on the other hand has been a real mess. There were a lot of water damage stains that I would have put money on wouldn't be able to be fixed. I really thought that we'd have to tear the plaster walls down and replace with drywall. Luckily it's almost finished but will need   it's own post to explain everything.

Evelyns color came out much brighter than planned.

The main thing we need now is to get electrical finished so the new central air unit can function! The past few days have been real burners with everyone doing major manual labor and no air conditioning. We really couldn't have used it anyways with all the fumes from stripping and sanding floors.

Our front door that needs installed so we can move in and a lot of paint! Our other door is too narrow to fit furniture.

I'll update you on all the other stuff that has happened as well in the coming days. The kitchen and Lane's bedroom have had the BIGGEST transformations the last week so expect a post dedicated to those rooms very soon.

My version of painting

I recently shared a picture of Facebook...see below. I'm sure you've all really been on pins and needles wondering what could have happened.

 Here's the story. The previous owner was a 90 some year old man who lived by himself for a long, long time. It's safe to assume that not much was changed or updated (or cleaned for that matter) since his wife died in the early 80's. Every surface is being primed/painted, or covered because of the high possibility of lead paint.

I'll be real honest that I haven't spent a huge amount of time working on the new place because of the kids. Having a 1 and 3 year old running around a house being renovated isn't the smartest idea. On Tuesday I asked Patty to watch the kids so I could paint. Everything is prepped and ready to go. Mark brings the tray full of primer upstairs because I'm positive that he didn't trust me walking up stairs with it.

Please keep the next part in mind while knowing how uncoordinated I am! I am moving things around to start a 2nd coat in one of the bedrooms when I slip on the paper covering the floor. Who thought it was a good idea to let the most uncoordinated person walk on unstable flooring?

For a split second I stared at the mess on the floor. Then panicked picking up the paint with my hands. Luckily primer is very thick so majority of it was cleaned up quickly. The rest I used the paint brush and put it on the wall directly! All the while my shoes were completely covered in white and I couldn't leave the room because 95% of the house is hardwood and I couldn't track paint everywhere. So what did I do? Continue to paint until my feet dried.

Here are my feet today, 3 days later....

2 showers later I still can't get all the primer off! It's peeling off some of the walls but it sticks to my toes. Stupid. I might have been banned for painting in the future. At least where the flooring is not secure.

On another note. Home life with the kids have been a struggle the 1-2 weeks. I don't know if it's because things are in the process of changing or that we keep talking about moving to this new house (if that ever happens) but Lane is really struggling right now. Multiple accidents a day and his attitude is piss poor. The quicker we can get moved and try to get back to 'normal', whatever that is...the better. I've heard from multiple parents that this happens but we haven't even moved yet! I'm dreading what will happen in the coming weeks/months between switching day cares and moving into a new house with separate bedrooms.

Widicks...Farmers?

To anyone that knows us well, they know that hubby has been desperately wanting to move for over a year. While I on the other hand have been perfectly content at our current small town location. Mark has consistently been looking at houses online and asking me to go look at ones he thinks would work. Nothing had caught my eye because I will admit it....I was being incredibly picky. I refused to move into another 'transition' house in town when the original end goal was to live in the country. This struggle between Mark and I has been stressful on both of us the past 1-2 years.

I honestly believed that if we were patient, the place we were meant to have would show up. There was talk of building on property that my parents own but that property was currently a corn field so no outbuildings for animals or trees. Adding the extra cost of getting water, electricity, etc. running to the potential property caused us to not pursue that avenue further.

Back to square one again of trying to make both of us happy. Mark wanted a larger house that was preferably in Jewell or Ellsworth. My requirement was a place in the country that fit into our price range. An attached garage and central air would be perks that would just add to my love of that 'perfect' house.

Well Mark found something that I really think both us will be happy with. I'm happy, excited, nervous and scared to tell you that we're moving! It is a 1915 two story farmhouse (no attached garage or central air....yet) on approximately 5 acres by Kamrar. Mark is happy because we are more than tripling square footage when taking the full basement & walk up attic into consideration. I'm happy because there is a lot of space for animals and I'm 10 minutes door-to-door from my parents. Not everyone would like to live that close to parents but I am ecstatic. My mom (and dad too) has been invaluable when it comes to helping watch the kids when they've been sick so Mark and I can work.

There's definitely some outside clean up to do.

Our new venture is going to be a long-haul work in progress. Most of the house is original or very dated. It's a good thing I don't mind messes or unfinished projects because this house will always have something being worked on.

All the excitement comes with a very heavy heart as well. I have come to truly enjoy the people and families I've come to know. I'm hoping we keep in touch and still see each other once and awhile. It'll only be approximately 35 minutes to McCallsburg so social trips back and forth won't kill anyone. The other thing that I'll really miss (kids too) is the daycare facility. Not many places have that type of set-up available...especially in such a small town! Daycare, preschool & school bus drop-off/pick-up 2 blocks from our house with a staff that loves my kids as their own is a tough thing to give up. Lane was supposed to start preschool in September and we've really talked up how exciting it will be. Unfortunately there isn't a 3 yr old preschool in close proximity to the new house so hopefully he won't notice that he's not attending preschool for another year. Maybe a few new animals at the house will help him forget!

Before I forget, Lane has said he will have (in his own words) deers, 2 giraffe, sheeps & kitties. Add to that my horse which will eventually join us plus the fainting goats that Mark just has to have. We'll have a full blown farm in no time! Some day Liz (the horse) will need a friend whether it be her having a baby (which I'd LOVE to do) or a miniature donkey that I've put a bug into Marks ear about.

Enough of my sappy, teary-eyed words. We've had the keys for less than a week and we've already had some changes. Mark and his parents have really put a lot of work in so far. The gem of a stove top/broiler/rotisserie is gone along with the master bedroom and living room/dining room carpet.  As with any renovations it seems to be 1 step forward with 3 steps back. Tearing up remaining carpet showed us the great condition hardwood underneath BUT also showed that there are 4 layers of flooring in the kitchen that need dealt with. We've also had to deal with theft so that has added to our set backs. Everyone involved is ready for pure progress without set backs but what type of moving/renovations have that happen? Uneventful ones obviously.

We were very relieved the hardwood underneath this was in such good condition!

We've also bought new appliances that will be installed in the next couple weeks. Take a look at the amazing stove-top that I told you about earlier. It doesn't scream potential child hazard at all.

One thing the kids have to do every time we go out to the 'farm' is pick mulberries off of the 2 trees that are on the property. Lane has already picked out his room and wasn't afraid to tell Evy to go back to her own room!

We hope to have a few bonfires in the near future as weather gets cooler along with a big house warming party. I'll be keeping you updated on our progress!

Exercise. Fail.

Remember that one time when I vowed to get my act together and start exercising? I failed. Its so easy to find an excuse to not do it!

Last night I decided to act on my insecurities and exercised. You think...great Amber! That's not a fail. I'll now take you through my hour long 'work-out'.
-I did some searching to find some Jillian Michaels videos to stream on the roku. Finally deciding on a total body workout.
-Jelly Belly jelly beans were being eaten so I put the jelly beans in a pile on the bed next to me.
-A couple minutes in I needed to put on a sports bra and change to a tank top.
-Weights are needed? Guh. Guess I better go get those too.
-Those jelly beans sure look good. I'll eat a couple.
-Stupid internet speed is causing about 30 seconds of buffering constantly.
-Better eat another jelly bean.
-Put the weights down. That is way too difficult. I'll add them when I feel more comfortable.
-Another buffer. Another jelly bean.
-You want me to do 'The surrender move' how many times? (Google this crazy thing! It had me almost in tears....after 2.) Yes I'm out of shape. Don't judge.
-Screw this. I need another jelly bean.
-Crap. Same exercise on the other leg. No thanks.
-Ok. I'm back on!
-Buffer again. Jelly bean again.
-Ok. I can do this.
-Stupid buffer.
-Text from Morgyn about her prom dress. I better take care of this....because she goes to bed early and all. It can't wait!
-Jelly bean. Crap! They're gone. I'm thirsty. Need. Water.
-Exercise a while longer with a few more buffers. Until its been an hour.
-Time to quit even though its not done yet. This is supposed to be a 56 min. video.

Time to do it again tonight!

For the Love of Parenting

I love my kids. I mean absolutely love them with everything I have. Time alone or alone with my husband is a rarity with a 1 and 2 (3 next week...**sniff, sniff**) year old in the house. Do we need to have alone time? Of course, but we also need to realize that our kids won't ask to do things with us forever.

Last week my son asked to shower with me for the 1st time. At first I was a tad upset about it because the ability to rack up the water bill by standing underneath scalding hot water is something that I love to do. So what ends up happening? A little boy ends up in the shower with me. See...I told you that there's nothing I wouldn't do for my kids as long as there isn't a possibility of getting hurt.

Seeing Lane play in the shower was so much fun! Normally he hates to get his hair wet but the water spraying everywhere must have made him forget all about it. We have a detachable shower head...which by the way I always thought was such a strange idea but it's AMAZING with dogs or kids. Lane played with the detachable part and got a kick out of 'washing' me!

There were a few questions that arose but he didn't care after an answer and was back to playing. He's been asking a lot of questions lately....the most recent statement was while lying in bed Sunday morning...."Dad, you're dirty. You have hair on your arms (armpit)." Oh dear, the same thing would be said if Lane looked at my legs.

Another time I planned on heading to Ames for some errands and a massage. Lane decided that he wanted to go so I cancelled the appointment for a Mama-Lane date instead. At first, I was very upset. After an hour I had completely forgot about the planned massage because we were having such a good time together. Some chocolate/gelato, lunch at Fazolis, play time at the mall and some grocery shopping made a fun, fun day.

On our date!

I'm asking from one parent to another to fully be present and enjoy your children. Take some time to turn off the cell phones or tablets. Actually BE there in mind and body. We all too often get caught up in the world around us to enjoy that unexpected joint shower or date time.

As I said before, my kids have me wrapped around their fingers to the center of my soul. There is practically nothing that I wouldn't do for them but I wouldn't change it for anything. Some day (too) soon my two little munchkins will no longer want to shower or cuddle, read a book together before bed, or be willing to kiss me at school drop-off. For that reason I plan on taking full advantage of any moment that my kids want to spend time with me.

Who doesn't love chocolate before lunch?

Evelyn's Smash Photo Shoot

I know this is waayyyy too late to share but I can't help it. This post has only been saved for 2 months. Anyone who questions that this might be my daughter will know the answer when she is given anything sugary/dessert-like.

Her sweets will be protected at all cost. Evelyn will.get.angry if it's attempted to be taken away. The photographer had a ball watching her 'enjoy' the smash cake. In the photographers words....'this is the best smash session I've ever had'. Enjoy the following progression of my sugar monster :)

Hmm. This is pretty tasty!

I need another taste to make sure it's good.

Yum. Yup it's deliciousness that is called sugar.

No more hand work. I need my mouth for this.

How far can I bend?

Oh yeah. This is fun!

Wait! I missed a spot.

Sugar!!!

What do you want? This is my cake.

Geez this is a lot of physical work.

Yum-o!

Why the hell would they ask me how big I am while eating cake? Do they not see I'm busy?

Best.Birthday.Ever

Photos Courtesty of D&Orf Photography