First Days of School - no lookbacks!

Well, the kids just started the first day of school back up the other day from 2 months off due to Covid-19 mess.  But they actually did get to start school in the fall and so we tried to make it as normal of a First Day of School as possible! The only difference is MASKS! I was worried about how the kids would do having to wear masks all day, but they have never batted an eye about it. 

Finley! Now in 2nd Grade with Mrs. Stephanie Ives

Keagan - now in 4th Grade with Mrs. Erica Williamson

Maclyn - first session of 4-year old Preschool with Mrs. Stacey Lutz

Finley is 8!

This post is a long time coming....I actually didn't realize I hadn't documented this until just today. Finn's birthday party was the first weekend that our home was "completed" and we didn't have people coming for work and Josh and I didn't have work to do. It was the first weekend we could use our new kitchen! So what did we do? We invited 4 extra kiddos into our home to spend the night and enjoy our "new" home! Finn had a great time and enjoyed turning 8 with all his buddies!

Actual Birth Day! As requested: chocolate chip pancakes on the special birthday plate

And Finn's last birthday celebration: Shogun Japanese Steakhouse with the whole birthday shenanigan

Our (dream) Basement

When we bought our home in 2008, the unfinished basement was a bonus. We had no children, we barely had any furniture, we had no "stuff" because we had no more money after we bought this house. (ha!) For years we dreamt of all the possibilities held in this nearly 1200 square foot plumbed basement. It took 12 years, 4 kids, lots of student loans being paid off, and a whole lot of brain work to come up with what we wanted. We always said that if we stayed in this house when we renovated, we would do it all. Including the basement. So we did! We adore the basement, the kids adore the basement. It is used now like any other part of the house, all day every day.  Here are the before, during, and after pictures!!

Pretty sure this shower was the first thing in the house, and then the house was built around it!

Frame up!

And Drywall!!

What happens when 14 slabs of sheet rock fall on you. This doesn't show the knot of my head, the bruise on my back, or my foot that I thought was broken! Luckily I was ok.

Josh and I loved the shiplap so much in the livingroom that we decided to do it down the stairwell to the basement. And when I saw "we," I really mean WE! We put it up!

We have cabinets!

The beginning of a ceiling!

Built-in and barnwood backdrop for the TV area

Barnwood Stairs and railing (from a barn in Lexington, KY)