Landscaping has begun!

Last Friday, the landscape crew installed our entire irrigation system while we were at work. We couldn't believe it was done and we missed it. So, today when the crew shows back up, I understand why. There are 8 of them!
From all the recent rains that we have had, we were able to see how the water will flow across our driveway and through the yard. Our awesome landscaper came up with the idea to put a "dry river bed" where all the water seems to collect and move across the yard. Sounded great! Then, he comes up with the idea to add a water feature at the beginning of it and it will always have running water. Lee about came out of his skin at this idea! So, today they got the whole yard prepped for sod, lined out the beds for plants and got our not-so-dry river bed flowing. It looks really cool and I love the way it sounds! Tomorrow they are going to start the planting. Half of the plants arrived today. Only problem is...we are expecting severe thunderstorms for the next 5 or 6 days! That means that they are not able to cut the sod at the farm and get it delivered, until things dry out again! UGH! They worked so hard getting the ground all smooth. (We had huge crevices where the last rain washed out our dirt, creating gullies!)



Digging the hole for the pump.
End of day 2 -
Our wee-little waterfall.

Sort of Settled....

We are still here! Trying to get things unpacked, be Mommy, be a wife, be a housekeeper, a chef, a taxi driver...and still keep unpacking! Wait, I need a wife! Just kidding! We are managing. Things are definitely hectic and we are always on the run. Corinne and Claire were in swim lessons this summer, and we just kept it going because Corinne is doing so well. They are both in ballet and Corinne just started gymnastics. And, they go to school 3 days a week. I'm not complaining...just explaining! I promise I am not purposely ignoring anyone! Anyway, I have included just a few pictures of what is going on around here. The landscaping is finally getting started tomorrow. I'm surprised we haven't gotten a nasty gram or a fine for not having anything yet. We have put about 5 landscapers to the test and finally settled with one. Can't wait to be able to show you pictures! The house is great, can't wait to get things on the walls and get all the boxes out. In due time, right? We had a beautiful iron fence installed a few weeks ago and Bentley loves his yard!
Here is the back of the house. They had to dig and jack hammer over 80 holes for the posts.
This is Claire on her first day of dance...yes, she looks like Medusa. She did great and wants to be just like her big sister!
Here is my handsome boy. Sir Bentley had just had a haircut. He carries himself so high and proud. The biggest news of all.......we sold our house!!!!! Yes, it took close to 2 months. We are so relieved! The buyers did not ask us to fix anything on the inspection. We were completely surprised. That house was built in 1975, we just knew there would laundry list of items to fix. The buyers are a great couple with a 6 year old daughter. They are looking forward to putting in a pool and taking down some walls inside. They invited us to come by some time and see what all they have done. We will close the 1st week in October. Whew! I had to include a picture to show you how great it looks!This is what it looked like when we bought it in the winter of 2006.
Here it is in June 2009.

Here we are!

Not done yet! We started the moving process this past weekend. Brenda and Gary came to help us and watch the girls for us. We got a lot done. Still a few odds and ends that need to come over, but for the most part, our entire lives are still in boxes! We are sitting on lawn chairs in the living room and sleeping on mattresses on the floor. It works. We were absolutely exhausted after yesterday. Bentley has done great. The cats, that's another story. Oliver came right out of the carrier and started sniffing around, Tink stayed in the carrier for over 2 hours! They are starting to warm up and are ALWAYS on the look out for Bentley! It really is funny to watch him chase them and they hiss and spit at him.
Day 172 - 5 1/2 months start to finish!
Bentley tied up on the porch, started the fence today.

Oliver safely hiding in Lee's suitcase so that Bentley can't find him.
The girls, so tired and not even a bed to lie their heads on! Stairs work!

So, our house is technically "done." The painter was here all day restaining the staircase, the electrician came for a few things, the air conditioning guy came to change out a thermostat, 2 guys started the fence in the back yard, met with an irrigation guy this afternoon, and the security system was installed today! Oh, and the cabinet guy to fix some trim! Needless to say, we are not "done" and I didn't get but 2 boxes unpacked! UGH! Lord willing, there is always tomorrow!
We hope to get some landscaping done in the next few weeks. Leander is in a mandatory water restriction. People are getting fined $500 for watering more than once or twice a week. We got a variance to water as much as we needed, without letting the water run down the street. We would hate to put in new grass and let it die because we can't water it. We even offered to wait until fall, but they told us we had 30 days to get it in. Guess that answers that question!

The Circus!

We surprised the girls last week with a trip to the circus. Ringling Bros. was in town. We went with Tina and Marshal and Mimi and Pap Pap joined us too. We all had a great time! We got there early and were able to go down to the "floor" and Corinne got chosen out of the audience to participate in a juggling act. She loved it! Our seats were on the second row, it was awesome! Even for the grown ups!

Corinne, Claire and Marshal with a clown.

We ran into Justin and Amanda there too! Here is Beau with the girls. Keep in mind, Beau is 2 days younger than Claire! He is a big boy, always has been. What a cutie!


This is one of the main clowns in the show, pretending to be asleep on Mimi's shoulder! The spot light was on her and Claire for everyone to see!

It's for real! It's just about over!

Well, I must start by saying that I am glad to see this construction project come to a close. We started moving things, slowly, today. We now have a new painter. This blog would go on forever if I tried to explain what happened. So, the short story is...the original painter was not selected by Brandon, our builder. Brandon hired a subcontractor to do several of the jobs at our house, and the sub in turn hired out the work. So, after the 1st sub embezzled some $30,000, the 2nd string of subs never got paid and the painter was not our choice. He has "tried" to work very hard. He must be 100 years old and frankly, my 4 year old could have done a better job. After many stressful weeks and over 100 gallons of paint, a job that only needed to take a few days lingered on and on. The new guy is practically repainting the entire house and now taking all the cabinets apart and redoing them and the doors downstairs. Confusing, huh? We will continue to slowly move over this week and then make the big move next weekend. There is a lot of furniture that we need to leave in the current house to "stage" it for selling. We will hire some movers once it sells to get everything else out. Say some prayers for us that it doesn't take too much longer!
Day 165 - So that Justin, my little brother, will stop complaining that I take pictures of the same things post after post. I have some new things to add and some new views to take in!
Gameroom

Railing looking down at foyer.
Corinne's room, possibly Corinne and Claire. Haven't decided if they are going to share a room or not.
Corinne's bathroom.
Master bedroom.

Master bath.
There is a replica of this one on the other side of the doorway.
Master closet built in.
This was taken walking out of the master bedroom. The study is on the left and the pool bath that opens to the back patio, is on the right.
Foyer and dining room. The hall leads to the laundry room and the guest suite. The blue tape was Brandon's attempt to keep people from walking with dusty shoes on the hardwood floors.
The pantry! What a dream, huh?
This is the mud room that opens to the side porch. The driveway runs along side it with the garage at the back of the house. The back stair case is on the left with the laundry room on the other side of that. The garage door is on the right.

This is standing in the breakfast area looking at the living room.
This is standing in the foyer looking through the living room towards the breakfast area.
This is the new couch that just arrived today that we bought for the gameroom.

Believe it or not...we are still here!

I have been getting a lot of flack lately about not putting up a new post. So, here you go! We spent the weekend with Lee's parents here helping us work on some dirt work to prepare for sod. If you know Lee, then you know that he would rather do everything himself, than to pay someone else to do it! So, he rented this mini Bobcat/Skidster thing. It was quite cool and he worked soooo hard! (It looked like Wall E, the Disney character.) We still have a ways to go. The City of Leander cites that you must have grass before receiving your Certificate of Occupancy. Well, with not a dime left to our names, we have asked our builder to file for an extension.....he wants us to move THIS weekend!!! While we think it will be granted, we can continue on with the move and purchase the sod in a few weeks. We put seed out in back, and there are little baby sprouts here and there. Not sure what poor Bentley is going to do! So, last touch ups on paint, a cleaning crew and any final adjustments will all be done this week! Seems impossible, but Brandon says we are ready. We haven't had much activity as far as showing this current house and then yesterday, we had 2 different families make appointments. I talked with one of the realtors from yesterday and she said that the house shows "beautifully" and that the couple is trying to decide if they want this much land. What a strange problem to have, in my opinion!
Anyway, here are some pictures of Lee and his mom working the Skidster thingy.

Corinne "helping" with her shovel that Pap Pap got her.



Check this thing out! It has everything you could ever need to do it yourself on the trailer.

By the end of the day, the kids were coated in dirt, and loved every minute of it!
Well, here we are at the end of the day.

And then...there was light!

Well, it's almost time to move! The thought gives me a lot of anxiety. For me, it has been hard all along to really connect and realize that this house is for us. Not just one of the specs that we love to parade in all the time and watch it come full circle. It's our turn, I guess we had better take it! There is a lot invested here. Not just money, but blood, sweat, and way too many tears! It will be all worth it. Our soon to be neighbors are great. They have kids aged 9,7 and 4. I am looking forward to having neighbors near by again. We are still in very close contact with our old neighbors from Cenizo Path. Tina and I talk almost everyday and get the kids together as often as we can. We have a camping trip planned together this month, and we can't wait for that! Neighbors are just priceless!!
The electric meter finally got connected and now there is light! The fixtures have all turned out beautifully, we are very proud of how it all came together. The A/C man has been there the last couple of days getting things ready. Only 1 of the 3 units is functioning at this time. There is something wrong with the ground fault wiring, or something like that. We're not worried.
Day 149 -
It is hard to see this one in the daylight, but it is just so unique.

2 of the units are off the back patio.
My big gerbil! Bentley has a bad habit of dumping over his water bucket, because he is hot. (I guess I don't blame him.) But, he is so hot and stays muddy, so we bought some cedar shavings for his pen. So far, so good. He has finally stopped trying to eat it. Poor baby! when he wakes up in the mornings, he has cedar chips stuck to his fur. :(Can't wait for him to have a big yard to run in and a doggie door to come and go as he pleases.