First day of preschool

Tristan started 3 year old preschool yesterday.  He's pretty indifferent to this....since his preschool room is right next to his daycare room.  We've been trying to make it a big deal for him so he doesn't feel left out.  He even got a surprise new backpack the night before.  I had to work yesterday so Karsten was in charge of the picture taking.

Here he is beside his cubby at preschool.  His teacher will be Mrs Gray.  He will  go Wednesday and Friday mornings.

First day of kindergarten

I survived! ....so far.  Jackson starts kindergarten today.  He was ready, me....not so much.  Can't believe my little boy is going to school.  He was just born right?!

 Here he is!  My little kindergartner!  Such a handsome young man.

 Part of the reason we moved when we did was because Jackson will be riding the school bus this year.  We wanted to be out here so we could start this routine in one place instead of changing it up later on.  Here he is at the end of our driveway, waiting for bus #2!  It's been a LONG time since the bus picked kids up here!

Rowland (the bus driver) says "turn around so your mom can get a picture".  So proud of my little man!

As I said, I survived!  Tristan and I will keep busy today to pass the time.  Can't wait to hear all the stories about his first day!

At the carwash...

Karsten asked the boys to wash his car...

I'm not sure if it looked much better when they were done with it.  I think his ulterior motive was to keep them busy so they wouldn't "help" him.  They enjoyed themselves!

State Fair

I hadn't been to the Iowa State Fair in ages and my boys have never been.  So when Mom and Dad mentioned they might go for a day we kinda invited ourselves.  Karsten couldn't go but I don't think he was too heartbroken to have the house to himself for a night.  We left on a Wednesday and took our time getting to Des Moines.  We stayed at Hotel Barb that night...one of the greatest "hotels" ever.  Unfortunately, Barb couldn't join us the next day at the fair.  Thursday morning we got to the fair bright and early and spent the entire day there, we had a lot of fun.

 playing at Little Hands on the Farm

 Jackson left his mark on the cow chalkboard at Little Hands on the Farm

 Tristan milking a cow

 stopped on the sidewalk so the boys could share a root beer float (one of their favorites)

 Dad wanted to check out these gates/pens for the sheep, the boys demonstrated

 had to check out the big equipment at the John Deere booth

 made a bracelet at the John Deere area

 got to drive the cars around at the Chrysler area, Jackson LOVED this, he probably would have stayed here all day if it was possible, Tristan couldn't quite figure out the battery operated cars, he kept wanting to use his feet....needless to say we do not have battery operated cars (and we'll never get them)

Tman tuckered out after a long day at the fair

We managed to see most the highlights of the fair, no rides this time though.  We had lunch at the lamb stand by the sheep barn, and tasted many other "fair" foods.  I think the boys had a great time, we will definitely return and maybe we'll bring Karsten along next time.

Downstairs comparison

I've been wanting to do a picture to picture comparison for a while now.  Keep in mind that we just moved so we still have "stuff" everywhere...
Before....

This room was the living room, initially we were going to keep it as such but then my Aunt Teresa suggested turning it into the kitchen.  So we did... 

After...

I know it doesn't look like the same room but trust me, it is.  

Before....

 This was the dining room, looking into the living room.  The hallway on the left used to go to the stairs, bathroom and downstairs bedroom.

After....

We added a wall where the hallway to the stairs was and widened the doorway to the (now) kitchen.  This room remained the dining room.  The stairs are still in the same place just around the corner to the left, we widened them significantly.

Before....

 Other side of the dining room.

After....

We removed the door, and added windows to the East instead.  Also replace the large picture window to the south (but made it even bigger).

Before...

 Pretty big changes here.  This is the old summer kitchen/entry way looking into the kitchen.  

After....

So, we removed lots of wall in this room.  Basically, we opened up the old summer kitchen and kitchen into one big room which is now the living room.  For those of you who remember the old house, the door to the basement in the above picture was around the corner by the sink in the summer kitchen.  It's still in the same place, thru the door to the right.  The area just thru the door is the new laundry room/entry way.  As I said, BIG changes in this area.

Before...

 The old kitchen looking to the north.

After...

Living room

Before...

 Old kitchen facing the south.

After...

Just a little different...  Again, it is now the living room opened up.  We obviously added the exterior door.  There's also a small closet to the right just out of the picture.

Before...

 Another picture of the hallway that led to the bathroom and downstairs bedroom.  The door on the left is the stairs.

After...

Hallway is gone.  Stairs are still around the corner on the left.  Next picture shows the hallway to the bathroom and new laundry room/entry way.

 Not sure where to begin with this picture.  Big changes in this area as well.  This is the other side of the kitchen, which used to be the living room.  There actually used to be a wall across this entire space.  As I said earlier, we widened and elongated the stairs but they are in the same place.  The hallway was created and leads to the new laundry room/entry way.  The kitchen was spread into what was the bathroom and the bathroom will be where the bedroom was.  You can see two doorways on the right of the hallway, the first one is a small broom closet and the second one is the bathroom.

This is the new laundry room/entry way, this picture was taken at the end of the hallway in the above picture.  It is all new space added on.  You can see the garage straight ahead.  This room is still a work in progress as is the bathroom off the hallway behind me.

So there it is, the downstairs before and after pictures.  Hope you could keep up.  Lots of work and we are relieved most of it is done!  Stay tuned for upstairs before and after...

Upstairs shower

This picture is a bit old because the shower is now completed but I thought I'd share it anyway.

This was Karsten's first (and last, according to him) attempt at tiling.  I think it turned out great!  He's been a bit hard on himself, but if you know him he's a big of a perfectionist when it comes to some things.

Long time no see

I can't believe I haven't posted anything since July 16th!!  Needless to say, we've been busy.

A week ago we finally moved!  At the end of that day I realized I didn't even get my camera out once.  So, no pictures of moving day.  Can't believe I didn't take a single one.  We moved on Friday afternoon.  I managed to get someone to cover my shift but still sent the boys to daycare, Karsten got off work at noon.  Mike was a HUGE help as well as Mom and Dad, Shirley and Hector came over for a little bit in the evening.  We got it all done in a few hours, got the beds up and slept here for the first time Friday night.

Saturday was spent cleaning the Farmersburg house.  No, we haven't sold it yet but we have a friend of ours who is going to rent for the time being.  He moved in Sunday already.

It's been just great living here so far, I seriously love it.  The only problem right now is that since the house isn't "finished" I'm unable to put everything away.  So, there are still boxes of "stuff" around the house and they will probably remain there for a while.  Karsten's currently working on the laundry room/entry way and the downstairs bathroom.  They are almost ready for mud.  He's also continued working outside on the siding.

The boys and I did manage to get away for a day with Mom and Dad to the state fair this past week.  We had a great time, I'll post pictures soon.