Almost there!

Whoo Hoo!! We are finally finished (well, as finished as we're going to get for awhile). Unfortunately, the rain backed us up a little this week, but we've caught up here at the end. This week, we got the ceiling painted, the siding and trim painted, the logs installed, the lights and fans installed and the furniture delivered!! Yeah!

We still have a few pieces of furniture to purchase (mainly tables), as well as some accessories, but we can certainly begin enjoying it now! Then in December the floor will be oiled down, and in January, the wood posts and stairs will be stained.



Our builder told us 4 weeks, and he came in under budget and on schedule...Thank you Billy Beers!

Final Stretch

We are coming to a close on this project, and I am SUPER excited!! This week our fireplace was installed. This was the one thing we were unwilling to budge on, so it was nice to see this thing in the room. With the temperatures beginning to drop, this will be utilized often over the next few months when we enjoy time out there. Since we were able to go 6 feet back off of our old, existing deck, we went with the larger fireplace so we could add more warmth to the room.



Wednesday the floors were installed. With the heat, humidity and rain, we toyed with many options for this. We decided between treated pine (ruled out because it is too soft), tile (ruled out because it is too slippery when wet), composite material used on boat decks, etc. and Ipe, a Brazilian hardwood. We ultimately decided on the latter because it is so hearty and unique. What you see in the photo is not the finished product. In early December, after being rained on a few times, they will come back and put an oil on it to bring out the color. It is a multi-color wood, with about four different colors. The first year we need to apply the oil twice, and then once annually for the first couple of years. After several years, it will be maintenance free (my kind of floor)!




Thursday the plumber came to hook the gas line up to the fireplace and grill. Though we have a working fireplace, we decided to add gas logs so it would be less dirty and more easy to ignite. Had I known how expensive gas logs were, I may have changed my mind. However, we are viewing all of this as an investment, so I guess in the big scheme of things it isn't a big deal. We also had the cap for the fireplace installed (it needed to be measured and built for our fireplace).







Yesterday, the mason came to do the stacked stone around the fireplace. He worked tirelessly Friday, and we couldn't be happier with the end result! Unfortunately our builder installed the screens yesterday morning, so we trapped all of the dust inside the room and now have a nice clean-up project to tackle!



Next week we will tie up loose ends, staining the ceiling, painting the siding, re-attaching the gutters, and installing the ceiling fans. We have not ordered our backdoor yet, but have it all picked out! I think the person who will like that most will be Spencer because it will be a mahogany screen door with a doggie door. Since he loves to be outside, but not for too long, I think he will enjoy the freedom of going in and out as he wishes. Then our furniture will be delivered on Friday!!

Porch is Progressing....

So we're another week into our project, and more was done....


the roof was finished, the siding was put on the inside and outside, the steps were rebuilt and the ceiling was installed.



We also heard that our furniture and cushions are in...YEAH!! We are going to hold off on the delivery since we have some big projects on the horizon for next week: fireplace will be installed, masonry of the chimney done (hopefully), and the floors are getting installed! After that, we only have a few loose ends to tie up, so we're on schedule to finish up by Thanksgiving!

B. A. M. A.!!!

Sadly, we had to refuse tickets to the National Championship game two years ago when Alabama played to WIN in California. However, we were given two tickets to this year's national championship game (which happens to be coming a little early, and is very close to home)...the AL-LSU game this Saturday!! Thanks to Steve's parents, we will get to watch the #1 and #2 college football teams in the nation square up against each other, and I can't wait!! Tickets are going for a ridiculous amount of money, and every hotel in Tuscaloosa is sold out! I know they could have sold their tickets for at least $800/each, but we will get to watch history in person.

Do you know what makes the whole experience even better?? We don't have to leave Birmingham late or rush home early to pay off a babysitter because the kids are having a sleepover with their cousins (thanks Brian & Shannon)!! What a perfect way to enjoy the weekend! To top it all off, the weather is supposed to be wonderful! So we are heading down midday to tailgate with friends, eat some cajun food and show the LSU tigers who really deserves the number one spot!

Check back on Sunday for photos and stories!!

A New Project

Since we purchased our house 4 years ago, Steve and I have been dreaming about all that we could do to make it more enjoyable for our family. The first project was our backyard, which we fenced in, resodded and landscaped. After that we couldn't decide what to tackle next... our front yard and driveway, building out our basement, or screening in our deck.

After living in our house for the past several years, we elected to do the deck. It has taken us months to draw up plans, shop for materials, meet with our builder and finally get the approval from the city, but we started! In fact, we are 1.5 weeks into the project with an estimated completion date just before Thanksgiving.

Things are moving along smoothly, but we are still anxious for it to be over so we can begin enjoying it! Stay tuned for more photos and updates.

Best Purchase!

For those of you looking for a cool Christmas gift for your child, you need to consider magna tiles! We bought Preston a deluxe set of these for his birthday, and the children just love them. They are plastic tiles, in various shapes, with magnets on the sides, so you can build really cool things.






Steve, my engineer, loves to play with them too! Here are a few of the creations (notice in the photo above, how they even have them attached to the frame of the table).