Day 139

Today the kids and I went over to the new house this morning. We were waiting for the guy to come and set up the internet service for us. I guess that means we are getting close to moving in if we are getting the internet set up there. :D

While we were waiting I knocked down some more plaster and carried it out to the dumpster. Melinda wanted to help me knock the plaster down.


She used the giant hammer to knock a hole in the wall. Then she used the crowbar to get some more plaster down... GO Melinda!

On the wall that I was working on I found yet another kind of wallpaper.


Wallpaper #4.

We will not be going back to the house this evening. Tonight we will be attempting to make some purchases. We need to get a few things, some more pex for the radiant floors, the woodburning stove and the things we need to get that up and running, and anything else we need before we close up the walls.

Day 138

We got a bunch of pieces that should work to get the tub working. When we got to the house, Jonathan went to get started on the bathroom. Wow I can't wait to be finished with that room. ;)

While he worked in there, I went to the tower room to cause more destruction. I really hate it when we are paying for a dumpster and it sits there mostly empty. *grin* So I started taking the sheetrock off of the wall. After I got the sheetrock off, I started on the layer of plaster that was under it. I found several interesting things. There were at least three different kinds of wallpaper...


Wallpaper #1
Wallpaper #2Wallpaper #3

The next discovery I made was the best...


Here is Melinda checking out the doorway that I found. There used to be a door between the tower room and the Mars room. The funny thing about finding a doorway here is that just a few days ago, Jonathan and I were talking about how we should maybe put a door here. I guess we are really in-tune with the our new house.

After Jonathan had another setback in the bathroom he came into the tower room to help me. The kids were also carrying buckets of plaster and sheetrock down to the dumpster.



Here is the whole doorway opened up.

Day 137

Over to the new house bright and early. We were having some firewood delivered. :) The first step in keeping warm this winter. We staked it up on the back porch. We still need a lot more wood, but this should be enough to get us through October and November. We are still calling and looking around for some more wood.

Once at the house we had plenty to do. Jonathan worked on the bathroom plumbing. We now have a working sink in the bathroom. :D But we need a few pieces from the hardware store to get the tub operational.

Ella is trying out the new sink. Clean those hands, Ella.

I did a bunch of cleaning. I got the landing room empty and clean. We are going to be moving the eating area back into this room. I am hoping to start setting up the bedrooms for the kids.

Then on to the hardest work of all. We started by carrying down some more plaster to the dumpster. Jonathan took down the toilet. And we turned over the huge and heavy tub. Jonathan used the giant sledge hammer to break the tub into pieces that we were able to carry out to the dumpster.


Here is the tub after he had broken it apart. :D

Jonathan broke the rest of the tub into smaller pieces and we carried it out.


No more tub or toilet here, just small bits of broken porcelain. That was a huge job. Now we only have one more tub to get out of our house. It is up on 3rd floor... anyone care to help with that one?

Day 136

It was Cub Scout Open house night. So we played a few games and had some yummy homemade ice cream. :)

Day 135

Today we stayed in Hickman and did some planning...

Day 134

Jonathan worked on the bathroom a little bit today. But found that there were still a couple of things we needed to hook up the water.

Then we hauled out a bit of trash to the dumpster. And took all of the tools back to the basement. We are clearing out the main landing room on second floor. So we can put the table back in there. This will let us start to set up the kids' rooms.

Day 133

Yay! Jonathan got our new gas stove hooked up. Now we can do some real cooking at the new house. We are so excited. :D One more step in getting closer to move in. Next on the list is the rest of the bathroom.

We have stove, we have gas, we have fire... now what should we cook?

While Jonathan was working in the kitchen, I knocked the plaster down on another of the small walls in the tower room. When the walls are between 2 and 3 feet wide it doesn't really feel like I am making any progress. There are so many walls in that room. ;) But the hardest part of the work is carrying all of the plaster downstairs and out to the dumpster. With Jonathan's help we got all of the plaster that we had knocked down carried out to the dumpster.

Day 132

This evening we downloaded a program to help us figure out our heating. We put all of the numbers and measurements into the program and let it do the calculations for us. The good news is that we might actually be able to do the heating system the way that we had wanted to. So now it is on to the other numbers... $$ See how much this will cost and if we are going to be able to get it up and running before winter.

Day 131

We started off the day by going to Menards. We wanted to buy our stove/oven. We were lucky to find an even better one then the first one we had seen that was on sale. :) While there we also wanted to check the price on lots of other things. When we had all of the numbers written down, we loaded up the stove and headed over to Beatrice. We got it up to second floor and Jonathan figured out what parts we would need to buy to hook it up. We loaded up and headed over to Ace.

We had another Girl Scout activity today. Ella was Bridging to Juniors.

Then we went back to Beatrice. We got up on the roof and checked out what the Mansard part of our roof looked like. Because parts of the roof are still leaking we need to figure out what we are going to do. This one of the thing we were pricing at Menards.


This is the first layer of stuff that Jonathan pulled off of the roof.

In this picture you can see the second and third layer of roofing material on our roof. Jonathan took off the green asphalt shingles. But we left the round wooden ones. We are thinking about putting the round kind back up. But we need to do some more calculations and planning.

After this we went down to the second floor tower room and knocked down some more of the plaster.

And now it is time for all of those calculations. :) Lets hope we get everything planned out.

Day 130

Saturday... good old weekends. Mom and Dad worked on getting a new door knob and lock on the basement door. Jonathan and I were knocking down the walls of the bathroom in the tower room on second floor. We have really been making messes again.


The first part of the bathroom destruction...


Stage two of the destruction. We even got a lot of the rubble carried out.

We would have made an even bigger mess but our dumpster will not be delivered until Monday. But we did get a lot of the bathroom destroyed. Then we worked at getting the nails out of the wood. We are planning on burning the wood this winter in the wood stove. Jonathan cut it up into the right size pieces and we stacked it up. We were hoping to get a new stove for the kitchen. But when we went to look at what they had at Sears, we decided we would wait until we got back to Menards.

We had to leave a bit earlier than we might have as we got to go swimming with Ella and Melinda's girl scout troop. :) Go home get cleaned up and bake cina-knots. Time for some fun.

Day 129

We were going to work on the house this evening. But Grandpa and Grandma were coming up to celebrate Zebbie's birthday. His birthday isn't until Monday, but weekends work better for Grandpa and Grandma. So we went out to eat for his birthday. Zeb wanted to eat ribs at Famous Daves. :) It was really good. Happy early birthday. After eating we did go to Menards to look at some things we might be needing for the house very soon. We were looking at the pipe for the wood burning stove. We need to get that figured out and working soon.

Day 128

Today we stayed home to do some calculating and trying to make some decisions.

Day 127

We started the day by bringing in the marble that we are going to use for the hearth. Then we went downstairs to get the tile that we had found in the house. We were thinking that this tile must have come from around one of the fireplaces. We were thinking that we could use this tile with the marble some way. And we wanted to see how they went together.

The two small tiles are things that we found in the basement. Now all we need to do is figure out what we want to do with them. :)

Jonathan attached the sink to the wall. Then it started raining. We haven't been there when it was raining for quite awhile. We knew that it leaked a little bit next to the chimney. But when the water started running down the wall I got a bit worried. We look around for a way to try and catch some of that water. Then I headed up to third floor to see how things were doing up there. By this time it was really pouring outside. Around the tower roof it was leaking in (a ton of water was coming in). So I looked around in the dark (we have the power shut of to the third floor right now) for some buckets or any containers to catch the water.

It was still raining quite hard when we decided to go back home. There was water everywhere, running to the van, I was stepping in water up to my ankles. We learned one thing from this storm... lots of water CAN still get inside our house.

Day 126

We worked a bit at the house today. But due to issues of not having certain tools at the house or being able to buy the pipe we need we didn't get as much done as we had hoped. Jonathan got the tub hooked up to the drain. Now all we need is to get the supply lines hooked up to the tub. :)

We also figured out which wood stove we were going to buy. We bought the materials to put down for the hearth.


This is the stove we are planning on buying, the Jotul Firelight. We are going to run the stove pipe up through the existing chimney in the second floor tower room.

Day 125

Because we discovered yesterday that our heating plans would not work well for us, Jonathan went to the fireplace store to check out some wood stoves and bring home some information for us to look over.

After supper we went over to the house to see just what it looked like behind the wall in the tower room.



After taking out the floor we had decided that there had been a fireplace here. But until Jonathan knocked a hole in the wall we didn't have any idea of what it would look like or if we were even right. But sure enough there behind the sheetrock and plaster we found bricks and a fireplace. Jonathan looked up and saw daylight through the chimney. This was a happy sight as we are now thinking of using this as our source of heat. We are looking into getting a wood stove and hooking it in through the chimney.


This is going to change our plans of sleeping arrangements as the girls had been going to be using this room as their bedroom. We will not have them sleeping in here with a wood stove. So now we are either going to be sleeping in this room. Or we will use this as our living/dining area. And either the girls or we would have to sleep in the main room. Still a lot to think about. For the new couple of days we will be learning all we can about these wood stoves so that we can make the right choice and start getting thing ready to heat the house during the winter months.

Day 124

We took a lot of measurements today. We need to do some calculations as to what we are going to have to do for a heater this winter. So we measured all of the rooms, windows and doors. Jonathan put all of this up in Google sketch up. It is neat to be able to move around in our house on the computer and see where all of the doors and windows are. But the bad news is that heating is not looking very good. We knew that it was going to be bad as there is no insulation and the windows and doors leak. But wow, we need to do a lot of thinking or we could get pretty cold this winter. It is hard planning for what we have and trying to keep in mind what we will be having in the future. If you have any extra blankets, we might need them. ;)

Day 123

Time for the big birthday party. But more about that on our other blog. After the party we gave a couple of tours of the house. It was a fun and tiring day. But best of all, our party was right in the middle of the storms that came through. :D


The pool was full of big splashes today.

Day 122

Today we were finishing up things for the big birthday party. One more cake to bake. We are having a chocolate cake, a lemon cake, and a honeybun cake. Now all we have to do is pray for no rain.

Day 121

The kids and I went to the new house this morning. I put a second coat of polyurethane on the walls, now we should be ready to put the sink and tub in. I also used the wire brush to scrape the back stairs. I am working on getting them ready to be painted. Now I just need to finish cleaning them and get them painted. After I was finished working we went swimming.

Then home to make supper and wait for Jonathan. Then we went back over to the house. We weren't able to get the sink attached to the wall, as we left the tools we needed in the trunk of Jonathan's car. :( But there is always plenty to do at the house. Jonathan took out some of the bad wood at the top of the front steps. And removed a lot of nails that got missed at some time. I went around and picked up tools that had been left laying around and picking up in general. We did get the tub and sink moved into the bathroom. So that next time we go over to work, we can get the sink hooked up and working. We are still waiting for the drain kit to arrive for the tub. Once that gets here, we will be able to hook up the tub. :D


The sink and tub waiting to be hooked up...

Day 120

Today instead of going over to the house to work, we stayed here and baked birthday cakes. We are having a birthday party for all of the kids this weekend. So we are trying to get everything ready. Two cakes down, one to go. :)

Day 119

We had some more new neighbors move into the tree in the front of our house.

The gas company was supposed to come over to the house and turn on the gas for us today. So the kids and I headed over to the new house this morning. I figured that while we waited I could put a coat of polyurethane on the wallpaper. It took me awhile to actually find the polyurethane. The house is so big that it is easy to misplace things in it. After I found it, I noticed that there were a few places that needed to be touched up with the brownish gold color. So I started out with that. Then I needed to wait for that to dry. The kids and I ate lunch and played a few board games. We were still waiting for the gas man to come. I got a coat of polyurethane on most of the walls in the bathroom.

We had a bit of bad luck. The gas man came over and turned on the gas, only to find out that a part of the stove that we were planning on using bad, and leaking. So now we have gas service, but no stove to use. :( I was looking forward to cooking at the new house tomorrow.

Day 118

This evening we headed over to the new house with a van full of things. First on the To Do list was to unload the van. Then on to the fun stuff... We got to paint the bottom part of the walls in the bathroom. :D This was so cool. I really like the way this room is turning out and can't wait to see what it looks like when we are finished.


If you have been watching as the bathroom changes you know that I tend to take a picture of this corner. I am standing in the doorway of the bathroom, looking at what will soon be our sink and mirror. What we need now is the chair rail between the blue and the wallpaper, a cover over the outlet, the sink in place and hooked up, and the mirror haning between the two lights.


Here is a closer view of the freshly painted wallpaper. It is a brownish goldy color. To me right now it looks a lot like chocolate or leather. All of the kids say it looks like gold. We will see if it changes a bit when it is dry. Either way I really, really like it.

Day 117

Today we mostly worked in Hickman. We have been so busy at the new house that we haven't been doing much in Hickman. Jonathan spent most of the morning working outside in the yard. It is looking much better out there. Mom, Dad and I were working on the inside. We were packing boxes, and loading things, as well as cleaning a bit. It was raining a bit, so we weren't able to take a trailer load to Beatrice. But we did fill the van. Mom and Dad took that load over, while I continued to pack. When they got back we filled the van one more time, so it will be ready to go next time we head over to the new house. We were getting tired by evening, but we ended the day by rehanging the cupboard in the bathroom.

Day 116

This morning we loaded up the trailer and took a load of stuff to the new house. Boy do I hate moving. Mom and Dad were already at the new house when we got there. The two jobs of the day were to get the gas line hooked up to the stove and putting the wallpaper up in the bathroom. Both of these jobs to a bit of time and and effort, but at the end of the day they were finished. It was 98 degrees today, so that also help to make working a bit uncomfortable. But it was a good day.


This is a picture of our light/vent that we put in the bathroom.


Here is another picture of the bathroom. I think you might be able to see the color better as the paint is now dry. We have also put up the wallpaper on the bottom half of the room.


This is a close-up of the wallpaper so that you can see the pattern. Now all we have to do is paint the wallpaper. :) We are getting close to finishing this room.

Day 115

Now starting on my favorite part...

We get to paint the "real" color on the walls and ceiling in the bathroom. We painted the ceiling a light blue color. The top part of the walls is a dark blue. I was very excited about this, as we are getting close to finishing the first room. :) I consider this bathroom the first room, even though we have painted and done things in other rooms. But I know that those are just temporary, so that we can move in. And as soon as we get a chance we will have to go into them and knock all of the plaster and lathe out and totally redo them. And because we have done that to this bathroom it is the first room.


This isn't the best picture. The light was reflecting off of the wet paint in a way that was making it hard to get a picture. I will try to get a better one tomorrow.

Day 114

Off to Lincoln to find the right kind of paint for the wallpaper in the bathroom. We are thinking something gold, brown or leatherlike.

Day 113

Today at the new house we painted the primer on the ceiling and walls in the bathroom. :D I thought this looked great. It is really starting to look like a room.


The room is all nice and white.

Day 112

Jonathan sanded some more in the bathroom. Then he put on some more mud... It seems neverending. If we are lucky tomorrow we will be able to start painting in there. Let's hope for that.

I was busy bringing in all of the boxes that we had packed. And then I went to work some more in the kitchen. Now all of the shelves in the pantry are clean, have new shelf liner on them and are back in.


Here is the pantry all clean and ready for our stuff.

Day 111

Today we stayed at home and put things up on ebay and did lots of laundry...
I guess I did pack up a few more boxes to be taken over to the new house.

Day 110

Today at the house, work continued on the bathroom. Friday when we spent the night we discovered that there is still a leak that lets water in somewhere along the chimney. :( Jonathan took the rest of the doorframe out. (It has been getting wet for many years and it rotten.) And we were able to see more clearly where the water was coming in. But from up on the roof there is really no way to tell where the water is getting in. Dad had thought that he had sealed it all. But really we just need to take all of the shingles off of the mansard part of the roof and replace them. Not sure when we will be able to do this. So hopefully we will be able to find the leak. We don't want water ruining our nice new sheetrock.

We also sanded down some of the seams and spots on the sheetrock. Then Jonathan worked on getting the lights in and hooked up that will be above our sink. This proved to be a difficult task. But in the end Jonathan won and the lights are up and working!


Here is a picture of the new lights. :D Don't they look great.

Then Jonathan finished patching up some spots on the sheetrock. We also bought some paint for the walls in the bathroom. But have to wait for at least a day or two for the mud to dry and give us time to sand it down again.

While Jonathan was working on the lights, I picked up some of the things in the main room and tried to get them grouped together so it will be easier to find. (painting things in one cupboard, tools in the toolbox, trash taken down, things in bags put away...) Then I finished painting in the pantry, and cleaned and got a couple of more cupboards ready for shelf liner. I also started cleaning the back stairs. Boy are they dirty. I could only wash two steps before I had to go and get clean water. Ick... We are going to repaint these steps with the leftover paint from the bathroom floor. But I first have to finish cleaning them, and scraping them with a wire brush. But by now we were getting tired. So the rest of the steps will have to wait until next time.

Day 109

Here we are all ready for our sleepover at the new house. This picture was actually taken Friday night. First we stopped at Walmart and got some things we needed. Then at the house we set up our sleeping areas and got ready to watch Harry Potter. :) Everyone was excited to sleep in the new house.

In the morning we got right to work on the bathroom. Jonathan and I sanded down the walls. Then Jonathan put a bit more mud on the areas that needed it.

It was a short day, as we had Kristen's birthday party to go to in the afternoon.