And the walls come tumbling down...

We have been busy busy at our house this last month.

Somewhere in the middle of January we undertook a project that had a definite timeline.

This wall between my kitchen and living room was coming down.

My only requirement was that if we started it, it HAD to be finished before Ben's mission farewell on February 10th.

Linc promised that this would happen.

He keeps his promises.

We painted the case and base on Saturday, February 9th.

It was a close one.

Here is the wall before

 Benjamin and Brooklyn really enjoyed tearing it down. 

They started with Ben kicking a hole in the wall and then away they went with the hammer.

Sadly the only picture I have of the kicking is on my phone. ;)

 Even at this point I couldn't believe the difference.

Taking out this wall meant moving a lot of electrical and the cold air return.

 All cleaned up, a layer of mud on the ceiling and ready for tile.

 We did live in some sort of construction zone for about 3 weeks.

Make a mess, clean it up, make another mess, clean it up.

This is what I did almost every day.

 When we redid our kitchen many years ago we tiled wall to wall in case we ever wanted to make changes.

So we really didn't want to tear out all of that tile.  It would have required taking out all of the cabinets.

We decided to look for a border that would tie the two tiles together.

I was happy with the outcome.

 Next came the painting.

Have I ever said how much I LOVE to paint walls?...

NOT.

It actually required painting a blend into the ceiling and the walls.

I have loved the color of my living room walls.

Instead of changing the whole upstairs paint, we just took out the dark wall in my living room and painted the kitchen the same color that is throughout the upstairs living area.

I love it.

 Here you can see the one really dark wall that was repainted to the lighter shade.

 Last came the base and case.

We put new base in the hall and re cased the doors.

We also cased in the new windows.

I love the way they turned out as well.

But taping the walls off to paint this casing....Heavy Sigh.

A project.

 It is finished!

We had the existing carpet cut and tucked into the tile.

The next part of this project will be to remove the bar in the kitchen and make a smaller island with granite counter tops and a tile back splash.  Also new carpet throughout the house.

However....

We have other costs this next year...like a mission to name one.

So it might be a project for the homecoming.

When all is said and done, I wish I had done this to my house years ago, during the years when my home was full of teenagers.  It opened up our space and made it feel like a brand  new home.  I absolutely love it.

The Hunger Games

Yesterday I was sitting in the car waiting for the kids to come out. 
I had about 30 minutes to wait.
BOREDOM!!
Then I glance over at the passenger side door and see a book.
???  I think maybe something to take up time.
It was The Hunger Games.  (Brooklyn has been reading it.)
I begin to read...
As I stated on facebook this morning,
I don't think I'm going to be bored for a while.
How many books are there?  Three?
This can keep me busy for five days for sure!!!
Why?!?!  Have I waited so long to read them?

Last night Brooklyn saw me reading and said,
"Hey I am reading that."
I of course replied...
"Not anymore!"
I told her she could wait for me to finish then I would give it back.
It will only take me a day or two depending on my other duties to finish it.
She has been reading for weeks. I am so not waiting for her to finish.
I'm thinking she will have it back in her possession by morning.
Happy Reading...