Family room progress and some fun too

My goodness we had a busy weekend! Then again that's pretty much the norm around these here parts.

Miller snuggling in bed Friday morning

We knew we were going to be spending a lot of time working on the family room so we decided to give Marshall his birthday present early so he had something to occupy himself with.

We got him a play kitchen and he LOVED it. We had looked at all sorts of adorable DIY options, then reigned ourselves in and remembered we aren't really rolling in free time to make one right now so I ordered this one. I liked it because it wasn't plastic crazy colors, was small, but still had a fridge, oven, microwave, and stove. Its just like a little miniature kitchen!

When Marshall first saw it he kept saying "awesome kitchen! wow, cool kitchen! Marshall's awesome kitchen!" but after 10 minutes or so was asking for help with the "broken" faucet that doesn't have actual running water and the "broken" microwave that doesn't beep.

He finally accepted the fact that its a *play* kitchen and its the first thing he talks about when he gets out of bed in the morning or after a nap. He also answers the phone and says "Hello? Working the kitchen. Makin' the food. Bye-bye." Hilarious. It definitely helped keep him occupied while we worked away!

Friday afternoon we went to Pismo to pick up a couch and took the kids to Avila Beach on the way back.

excited about the beach!

The water was freezing but that never stops Marshall. That kid is such a fish. He was completely soaked by the time we left.

Saturday morning we dropped off our old "breakfast nook" table to a craigslist buyer in Los Osos

see ya tiny table, so excited to have room for a "grownup" table now!

After that we went to Morro Bay where they were having an Emergency Vehicles show. Marshall had fun but I think it was really more for Jerad:)

 

After that we stopped at Jerad's grandparents and visited awhile. I had been planning on going to a baby gender reveal party back in Paso at 2 but we lost track of time and missed it. It worked out alright because the kids were exhausted and took an extra long nap and so Jerad and I got some more work done in the family room. His dad came over and primed all the moldings, and all of the brown doors and trim down stairs. Its already looking so much brighter!

fireplace primed

Sunday Jerad was dragging from being up super late working on the built-ins around the family room window, but Miller was charming as per usual.

We spent the morning working in the backyard. The weeds were getting so tall I was scared I'd lose Marshall if he went out there alone. He looooves playing out there with the dogs so he occupied himself while Jerad and I pulled weeds and did some other yard maintenance. Two hours, two green waste containers, and two exhausted kids later we had made enough progress to call it quits.

We are trying to get most of the work inside done while the kids are sleeping because when they're awake Marshall is "helping" and Jerad has to remember to unplug the saws and nail gun each time he sets them down and everything takes 8 times as long. Luckily all that outside "work" tired Marshall out enough that he took a three hour nap. During which we got the half wall between the dining and family room demo'd, cleaned up, and the electrical outlets moved:

the wall comes down! also you can see part of the built-in in the background.

Oh man you guys. The house is such a disaster right now. Thank GOD we have the front living room to hang out in or I don't know how I'd deal. Construction makes such a mess. I'm dusting daily and its a losing battle.  Every surface downstairs is covered in either dust, crap that we don't have a place to put until this project is done, or crap that we have just given up putting away because what's the point. My wallet and keys are currently missing and I think its just cause they're on the counter but I can't see them with all the CRAP. Oh well, one day this part of the process will be a distant memory.

Such a difference!

Now there is space to put the 10 person farmhouse table I've always wanted. Once we put in continuous flooring downstairs it'll really look good. Who knows when that'll be. We were planning on this summer but Jerad and I have very different preferences with very different price tags. I'd be happy with a nice laminate. He keeps talking about... I don't remember what its called because I stopped listening after I calculated the cost which is about 1/2 of what our down payment was.

Just for the downstairs.

With him doing all the labor.

Anyways, someday in the near or far off future we'll have all new flooring and it'll be lovely. 

The next steps are to finish the built-ins and board and batten so we can get things painted. Then hopefully get a table built and chairs ordered. Have I mentioned we're having Marshall's birthday party at our house in under 2 weeks? Oi.

I guess if we're not done we can just hand the guests paint brushes and tools and put them to work.