Category Archives: Our Humble Abode

Weekend Projects: House Update

Over the weekend, we finally had the chance to get some backyard projects completed. The first project was to create something that our little Alexander desperately needed, a sandbox. On Saturday afternoon, Pa the Great showed up with the needed materials to craft the sandbox, including Alexander’s hammer and together (with some extra help from Daddy too) a sandbox was built!

After all of his hard work, we found the perfect spot in the yard for the sandbox. Now we just wait for the sand to be delivered and we can fill it up and he will be able to spend hours in it!
I cannot wait!

Once the sandbox project was complete, the Alex finally had the time to dig our (much needed) fire pit! When we lived in the rental home, our landlord put a stop to our backyard fires because she feared a hot ash would land on the roof and burn the house down. We had so much fun when we were able to have fires. It is something the whole family enjoys and is also something we enjoyed doing with our friends. So, a fire pit in our new (huge) backyard was definitely a top priority.

Here it is a few minutes after he was done digging it out and putting the bricks in place. The great thing is, we didn’t have to spend anything on this project! We took the bricks from some landscaping in the front yard that we are going to be pulling out.

Of course, once it was done, the kids couldn’t wait to start burning stuff so we found ourselves sitting around the fire about 10pm getting ready to light up the neighborhood and have some fun. I just wish we would have had the makings for S’mores!

We spent just over an hour snuggled up around our new fire pit, minus one sleeping Alexander. Little Miss Ellie was snuggled up on me under a blanket fast asleep. It was great to see the kids have so much fun! We are already looking forward to having a fire again this coming weekend, but I will be sure that we have everything we need for S’mores and other snacks!

I am also hoping that over this coming weekend, we can move a swingset that a family friend is giving us, and get it set up!

Hope you and yours had a great weekend as well!

Our Humble Abode

Settling In

Anne Younger Leave a comment

Since we moved into our new home at the beginning of this month, we have been busy settling in.
I know I haven’t been here as much and that is mainly because we are working so hard to get unpacked before school starts next Tuesday.
Not only do we need to get unpacked, we also need to get our garage cleared out and ready to store our new kitchen cabinetry when it arrives until we get the demo done and are ready to install.
I have to admit, moving 5 years ago with 2 less people was A LOT easier.
Moving 6 people, unpacking them, and getting them all settled is exhausting.
Having an infant in that mix who is still nursing, rarely naps, and just learned how to crawl also tends to slow things down.
So, I apologize for the lack of updates and hope you will continue to stop by and read my reviews, enter my giveaways, leave comments on the cute and awesome pictures I post of my kids, and just leave a message every now and then.
I am keeping my fingers crossed that next week when the kids (3 of them!!!!) head off to school, I will be able to have more time to blog while enjoying some 1 on 1 time with little Ellie.
Until then…..please bear with me.

Our Humble Abode

Goodbye E.A.R.L!

Anne Younger Leave a comment

It’s official….after just over 5 years, we have said goodbye and moved from the place that kept a roof over our heads and have finally escaped the E.A.R.L. Just after midnight, on the morning of August 5th, Alex, the kids and I met my parents at our new home to finally show it to the kids.

Since we moved, we have been busy making the house beautiful. The first night we came in, we immediately pulled out the filthy white carpet to find this:

After some serious TLC of removing staples and tack strip, sweeping, vacuuming, AND oiling, the final result was wonderful!

Once we were finished with the living room floor, we moved on to removing carpet in the hallways and in Libby’s bedroom. Under one hallway we found a pretty decent 1970’s poured floor. In the other hallway, we uncovered peel and stick tile on top of another 1970’s poured floor. After removing the tiles, adhesive and years of dirt, we ended up with a pretty decent floor that will suffice until we lay the new floor.

Now that those few projects are done, we are busy unpacking the rest of the house and getting settled in before the next project begins.
The next project is taking our 1973 kitchen that currently looks like this (no, that is not our stuff, that is the previous owners).

And we are turning it into this!

It is going to look beautiful and I cannot wait to get it done and share pictures! I will be blogging through the whole process of demoing the current kitchen and installing the new one!
Until then, I have A LOT of unpacking to do! The cabinets have been ordered and now we just wait.

Our Humble Abode

Preparing for the BIG move

Anne Younger Leave a comment

We’re moving.
Just a few blocks from where we are currently living.
The house isn’t getting bigger but we are losing the den/office area we currently have and gaining a 4th bedroom.
Oh, and no more E.A.R.L. (for you newbies, E.A.R.L. is short for Evil Anal Retentive Landlord).
Not only are we finally going to be free of E.A.R.L. but we will also have the freedom to do as we please.
We get to paint, decorate, have a dog, a sandbox, a garden and really….anything else we want to do.
We aren’t moving until mid-August but we have been busy preparing for the BIG move for the last 2 weeks.
Winter clothes are packed along with a majority of our other clothing to help reduce the laundry that needs to be done until we move and to ensure I am not packing boxes and boxes of clothes at the last minute.
All of our pictures and knick-knacks are packed away.
The basement is organized and ready to go.
We have been clearing out the clutter and sending things off to Goodwill.
Everyone in the family is excited to move.
Our new house is lovely!

It is just perfect for our family of 6!
4 bedrooms, 1.5 bathrooms and a very inviting living space that is open to the kitchen. There is also a full basement that gives us plenty of options and that is where our new office will be located and hopefully a 5th bedroom at some point as well. We are also on a huge lot so our new backyard offers a ton of space for some fun and it includes 2 apple trees and a garden I can’t wait to get my hands on.
We are also very excited to have a HUGE 2.5 stall extra deep garage that will finally give us the space to store all of the kids toys, the van and other items we currently have crammed in there. The garage also have a built in work bench and I will finally have somewhere to keep my tools and I can get a toolbox!!! (Yes, I WANT A TOOLBOX OF MY OWN!!!)
Did I mention that the house is also right across the street from a park??
It also happens to be right in the area I grew up in as a kid.
Across the street in one direction is the townhouse my parents and sister lived in while my mom was pregnant with me.
Down the rode in the cul-de-sac is the duplex I lived in with my parents and sister until I was 4 and my parents bought their first home.
Directly across the street and out our new front window in the townhouse I lived in with Zack and Libby when I met the Alex.
This is MY neighborhood!
We are all looking forward to the move and cannot wait to be in our new home!