we built a banister

I am tired so I'll just spell it out for you in photos.  Less talk, more pictures.

The second time I fell in love with this house (first being the online info, second being the first time we saw it right before we went under contract...) I thought, "That daggone wall has got to go!!"  I mean, clearly it has no place here.  Hmmph.  The wall came down right when we took down our Christmas tree.  Weird, we had no idea it had grown into the wall...

 

it changed this stairwell soooo much!

Now it might look like Nick is doing all the work, but that's only because I am process-photo crazy.
Knox couldn't let him have all the fun either...

helping get some nails out of what's soon to be the newel post

got my hand saw...

got my jigsaw...

got my sister to help...

We used a piece of our baseboard to finish the top plane, and cut the larger studs off to be the newel post.  We're trimming it out in other pieces of leftover trim from our board and batten walls.  So far we're still pretty positive it wasn't load-bearing.  Also, the stairs stayed like this for far too many weeks.  We all survived the Staircase of Doom!

we doweled the bottoms of the balusters and nailed at the top angle.  Plenty of glue was involved so these suckas aren't moving!

we used this jig to make sure our angles were perfect-ish... It's got a stem that fits into the chuck of your drill.  So easy even a husband can do it ;)

 He spent a lot of time laying this out after we figured out center-to-center of the posts, and then figured the angle and spacing between.  I don't love math so this was his job.  Knox knew his hammer wouldn't help so he even stayed out of it.

Knox took this picture!

 Roo needed a break from all of our nonsense...

But we forged ahead!

If you're about to even THINK that these balusters aren't spaced evenly, stop it right now.  It's the perspective, got it?  They're super freaking even!!  Also my living room is NOT pulled together so judge easy on me.  Glad we talked.

And now our kids can dazedly ascend to our room in the middle of the night without the imminent danger of sleepwalking off of an open staircase.  

We have to install three more balusters but we figured feeding the kids dinner was slightly more important.  THIS time.  We'll do some staining and painting when they're all in.  We'll install the wainscoting under the stairs and up the wall as well, AND we'll even finish off the rises of the stairs! Then we'll try to get the crown molding done in there at some point... And in the meantime hopefully someone will have anonymously left a huge cowhide rug on my porch to really finish off the room.  Perhaps a trip to the storage unit to reclaim our art and photos and such is not such a preposterous idea either.  Hopefully once these steps have been taken I will be able to dazzle you with the finished product!

Happy with it so far, soooo glad we TKO'd that wall!  And now, from our new banister to yours, I good you bid evening.

funny pit.

So, it's funny how one minute you're like ready to take on your new money pit shabby unchic house, and the next you're ready to list it for sale again.

Today my friend Brooke came over with Freedom, her son whose Tulah's age.  We have not seen them in forever.  It was the first time the kiddos hosted friends at their new spot.  I am thankful it was Brooke, who loves people as they are, since there is chaos all around.  Boxes everywhere, and lots of them are partially unpacked and strewn.  Markers everywhere.  Stuff all over any flat surface available for stuff to land upon.  It's precious around here.

I told myself that I would try real hard to not introduce our home to friends as, "This is our new house but it will soon look like this here, that there, and I'm planning on doing this over here."  I want it to be who it is and let our story unfold naturally, not wishing it was what it is not.  And what it is not is DONE.  And I know it never will be, so why show it off as if it's due for a makeover in a week or two.  I am excited about the journey, and after all, we purchased POTENTIAL.

I like potential.  I am comfortable with it.  I get excited when I get a first coat of paint on and I start snapping pictures like it's already complete.  I don't mind a gas leak (as long as it's on Xcel Energy's tab!!!) or dim lighting or a sloping floor.  Those things can change and I can dream as I manage.  So today, as we said goodbye to our friends, I actually patted myself on the back that I really did not mention one thing that we're planning on doing, and talked instead about what we have done and how we did it.  I was glad and she was excited that we were able to purchase the potential we've been wanting.

We've had our kitchen water shut off for a few days now.  We are lucky enough to have odd and weird sections of copper plumbing mixed in with tons of corroded galvanized in the back part of the house.  The worst is under the kitchen sink.  Nick turned off the water the other day and decided tonight after work that the stacks of dishes everywhere were a bit unfit and we should see about repairing the pipes in the crawlspace.  Well, it's a stinking mess.  There is water under there, an arachnid or more that eerily resemble a black widow, and odd pipes and fittings and mains that seem to lead to nowhere.  How is it that there is a main there, but we were able to shut off the water in the back part at the new part of the house?  Did they abandon the old plumbing but fail to at least fit in some new plumbing?  Nick decided he's not fixing it under there.  We have corroded pipe at the laundry room and the kitchen, and a 2' square access hole to a crawlspace that is 3 feet deep to work in under the house.  He'd be soldering piece after piece of copper, lying on his back.  Could we hire someone to do it after we close on the other house?  Would we have a sink to use til then?  Do you know Nick?  Do you know that once he sees this kind of stuff after a day at work, the Nick I know and love is going to be absent for a while til the storm settles?  Do you know that there will be no joy in the bumps in the road?  None??

And all this is at bedtime.  The kids are wanting our attention, though playing SO well and so cute together, and being so patient.  They don't know what's going on with the plumbing or what sometimes feels like everything else in the house.  They're awesome and they play and they laugh and they dress their little brother in tutus and dresses.  Which he looks absolutely lovely in.

I don't know what to do to keep them happy but just... try to make them happy.  I don't know how to make Nick feel okay.  If he's not okay, then nobody's okay.  I was so excited about the potential here, trying to laugh at the weird and unplanned stuff that has happened so far.   It's not that fun or easy to be excited enough for the both of us, for the four of us.  I can't celebrate each accomplishment if half of us are ready to count the place as a loss.  Please pray that we can work out some of these issues so that it can be a fun adventure and not a disaster.  Please God, let us just enjoy the ride and know that you're taking care of us!  Because I know that you are!!!

Tulah is sketching up a storm lately:

Truffula Tree

Dinosaur

Little Mermaid.  Shells included.

Caterpillar Etc.