Second Night

It is the second night in the new addition and the kids are doing a fabulous job!!! I am not sure what I expected, but (knock on wood) the kids are welcoming their new bedrooms and bed times. Tonight was the first official night of getting the kids into their bedtime routines and they were excited. We broke out their new toothbrush holders and toothbrushes they got for Christmas, even Tony was excited by his new toothbrush. Jayna took the first bath in the addition and for the first time in a long time no one complained about going to bed. Jasmine is still a little nervous about going to bed. She said it was kind of lonely in the room by herself, but I think she likes the private space to go when things are crazy here.

Tackling the task of moving is overwhelming, but there is barely anything left in the old house. When I hop back into the house, it is kind of scary. It feels like I am walking through a vacant foreclosed house. Having everything we need in the new place is really good but finding the spots for them is crazy. We took ALL day today setting up the kitchen and I can tell you that it is still a work in progress. I am still trying to put things together and have them work together in the kitchen, but I did cook the first official meal alright.

Everyday we are getting more organized and falling into step. It feels like we have been living in here forever and not just a few days. WOW and in just a few months we will be ripping into the old place. YEAH!!!!

Move In Day

The long awaited day is here!!!! We have been anxiously waiting this day, but fearful at the same time. For the past few days, I have been working hard at hanging all of the hardware for curtains and assembling furniture for the rooms and today was an added bonus when Chris got off work at noon. Together we worked hard to assemble three beds and moved Tony's toddler bed and our queen up to the rooms. It was quite a scene to have to move our queen box spring out the front of the house and walk it around to the back of the house.

We are still two mattresses shy so Jayna and Nick are taking advantage of the last night of sleeping on the living room floor and watching movies. Tony on the other hand gets to celebrate his first night in his own room. I am hoping the little guys likes the warmth of his new room and doesn't wake up with cold feet anymore.

He wasn't quite sure what to expect when I walked him into his room for nighty night and he let out a few cries out when I shut his door, but I waited outside of his door to make sure he was okay. His cries quickly turned into giggles and small talk when he discovered his stuffed horse he brings to bed with him. In less than two minutes, Tony was out for the count. I think that was a good omen. It also helped that we are still putting him in his pack-n-play for the transition so I think he still feels secure in the family bed.

The kids got a kick out of helping Chris put together the beds. Jayna and Tony got their exercise out of the underbed storage drawers of Nick's bed, it acted kind of like a row machine for them.

Nick's bed turned out really cute along with the Craftman's tool/nightstand my mom got for him, along with the additional wall art.

The rest of the kids' room are underway also and finishing touches will be put on tomorrow or Sunday. So more pictures are to come still of the transformation this addition is taking on. So here to the first night in the addition.

We Did It, We Did It

In the words of famous explorers, "We Did It, We Did It". Dora Explorer couldn't have said it any better, but we have officially gotten the green light from the city and move in day is here. Now the days of the kids sleeping on the floor in the living room will soon be behind us. So the goals for this weekend is to get the beds put together, dressers in, and closet organizers put together so everyone is ready to sleep in their rooms Sunday night. I will take the rest of next week to move the clothes and other nic-nacs in the rooms, but at least the kids can sleep in their own beds.

I am not sure if the rigorous bedtime routines will be looked at as much fun but they will all be getting the much needed sleep they have all been missing out on. For sure Jayna will be in for a surprise not getting to cuddle up with her siblings like she has been for the past year on the floor. Hopefully all the little surprises I have for them will pay off for the sacrifices they have made in the glorious name of this project. Stay tuned for those pictures!!!!

Chris worked hard earlier in this week to get this final done and putting the lid on the outside porch wasn't pleasant and moving the mighty windows wasn't fun either. What a guy right? By the looks of the rest of the family, we are already comfortable in the addition.

Caden's Cause

Just doing the little that I can do...pass it on to all you know and come join us!!!! Go to www.firstcandle.org/cadenscause to register to support a GREAT cause.

Not Done Yet!!!!!

Leave it to the city of Maplewood to throw a wrench into the mix. We or should I say Chris has to finish the outside porch before he can get through this inspection thing. So here we are again fighting with the city to get this project finish. I just wish we could get it done, because face it...if the house burnt down today or flooded out tomorrow the city wouldn't be liable in anyway so what good are inspections then? So why can't we just sign a waiver then and be done with it and move in. FRUSTRATING!!!!!! So we are basically back to square one. Plus the porch REALLY? Are we living in the porch area...have the inspectors looked outside and saw what season it was...do they really think we are going to be outside enjoying the porch? AAAArrrrgggghhhhh!!!!! WTH.

LONG Awaited Final Inspections!!!!!

It is HERE!!!! The day has come when we can say the addition is ALL DONE, and bring on the inspections. On Sunday, Justin gave us more of his time and put up the kitchen pendant lights, which by the way are AWESOME, and gave Chris another list a mile long of supplies he needed to buy to get the rest of the job done. Then on Tuesday, Justin gave us the gift to put this nightmare to rest, he finished the electrical. The island now has an outlet and the electrical panel is plum full.

Here Chris is doing his magic, drilling holes in drywall, and this time he was able to do it without hitting any of the trusses. No patch work needed this time!!!




I am left speechless...we cleaned house and tried to make the addition look like we haven't been using it for the past six months and today (Wednesday) we had our first final inspection. This gentleman came around 11:00 and was gone by 11:20 he didn't pass us, but instead left us a list of three things that needed to be finished along with a "have your husband call me" message. What that means I don't know since I haven't talked to Chris about that yet. The electrical part of it went fine and even the under counter lights went undetected; instead, we have to label the panel (breakers and stuff) Justin called that one, finish the underside of the porch ceiling (can lights are exposed right now) and update the basement panel (which will be done in Phase II). So where does that they us? I don't know.

I guess that is how it goes...inspectors!!!! Who needs them? They supposedly did their jobs and my cousin's house still burned to the ground (faulty wiring), lets just hope that doesn't happen to us. So I guess one down (kind of) and six more to go.

Princess Jayna

Here is proof that Jayna can be a girlie girl if she wants to be one. For Christmas she got a trunk full of dress up clothes, which Grandpa John didn't think she would use, and hasn't been able to use it until Valentine's Day. To be honest, I didn't know if she would use it either, but since we opened the trunk on Sunday she has worn her dresses everyday. She has even convinced us to let her wearing them out in public. Jayna went to Menards with Chris with this particular dress on and got lots of compliments on her dress, but it wasn't until today that she found the crown. This weekend she is suppose to go to Erik's cabin with the guys and wants to take the dresses with her there too, we will have to see.

I am actually surprised how well these dresses are made and they fit her just right. So I am going to keep my eyes open for other dress up clothes for her, but I think she likes the full length dresses the best. There is a pink two piece dress in her trunk but she hasn't worn that one yet, so I think I am going to hit the clearance racks for the after Christmas/winter sales and see if I can get a few more dresses.

Jayna's V-Day

This is the year for many of Jayna's Firsts and bring valentine's to school was extra exciting for her. This year she picked out Hello Kitty (Dora was available were we went) and was excited to write her name on them and pass them out. She is starting to learn how to print her name at school so on her valentine's Jayna was able to print the J all by herself. Like her big sister and brother, Jayna wanted to bring some treats for her class too. She was excited to bring "potty chocolates" aka Hershey Kisses. I tried to get her to say Hershey Kisses but she wouldn't have any of that...they were potty chocolates. Hopefully the kids and Ms. Marge understood her reasoning.

At school, the kids had a little party and passed out their treats and made some heart projects. Preschool is a great time and Jayna loves coming home and showing everyone her projects.

Valentine's Day

It was wonderful that Valentine's Day fell on a Sunday this year so we had a chance to celebrate it with family. Now that the addition is getting closer to being finished it is nice to be able to fit the Herrs, Kellys and Zientaras in one space without too many toes stepped on. Even Chris said it was nice to have everyone here, so I think that is a good sign for future gatherings/holidays. For this holiday it was especially nice to "theme" it all, everything is better when it comes in shapes and food is no exception.

It has been a Carvelli tradition to buy Papa Murphy's heart pizza every Valentine's day and the kids love it plus it gets me off the hook for cooking dinner. I am happy that everyone got the chance to eat it as well EVEN Julie (yeah!!!) her slice of pizza in 6 months.

The island came in handy to put all the food on and hang around while giving plenty of space to the kids for their decorating cookie activities. I made sure there were enough sprinkles and frosting to go around, I think between Mia and Jayna an entire canister of frosting made it into their stomachs.

Even the boys got into the act, it is nice that Nick still wants to do the fun things for his mom. I know my years are numbered and before long he will be too old for cookie decorating.

It is also really nice that Nick likes playing with his cousin Collin and the girls loved running away from their brothers. Tessa even got into the act and displayed her growing desire to move and attempted to reach for a truck. The afternoon was a blast and before everyone left they got their goodie bags, heart balloon, and Valentine decorative plates to remember their day. Jasmine liked it so much that she wanted to plan a St. Patrick's Day party. Hmmm that could be fun too.

Now don't fret, because Jasmine's Valentine celebration started that night when her friends came over. She, too, got to decorate cookies too with Sami and Brianna, but I think she liked it the most because she just got to have friends over. It isn't often that she gets to have friends because lets face it...two more kids in the house makes it even crazier. Oh did I forget to say it was Sunday too, so that meant along with Jasmine's friends over we had Ben-O over too for Sunday dinner. He also got into the cookie decorating activities. Fun Fun Joy Joy for us!!!!

They had the next day off from school for President's Day and we took advantage of that day to go to the Water Park of America (MOA). So I loaded Jasmine, Sami, Brianna, Nick, Jayna and Tony into the mini van and headed to the water park. Thank goodness for mini vans. Surprisingly it wasn't as busy as I thought it would be only when we tried to get lunch at their diner, but overall it was a successful day and weekend.

Mother of the Year Award--To Me!!!

I have officially reached one of the many milestones with Jasmine today before school. She has officially called me the WORSE MOTHER IN THE WORLD. Don't worry it didn't ruffle my feathers too bad since I was just as frustrated as she was. I remember the days growing up duking it out with my folks so I guess it is true when they say, "you just wait until you have your own kids". I have to remember that I am the parent and in the eyes of your kids you are never right and all you are doing is trying to run/ruin their lives and hopefully some day they realize is was for their own good.

This particular morning started off okay because for once we actually got up for school earlier than usual. No particular crabby spells except for Tony when you don't get him out of the pack n play fast enough, but that is expected from him and he all smiles when you open his door. Unfortunately that didn't last and 10 minutes before departing for school, Jasmine choose then to empty out her school bag and proceeded to hand me permission slips that had to be filled out for next school years registration. WTH, I guess they had to tell if they were continuing on with band or choir. I told Jasmine that this didn't pertain to her because she had already quit both of them. I tried to explain to her what commitment meant but that was like a fart in church. I guess that was the wrong thing to say and WWIII broke out because she is under the impression that by doing band or choir she was getting out PE. WRONG, but dear mom couldn't say that heavens no.

After that fiasco, I was rounding up the troops to get them into the van I saw Jasmine hiding behind the island, "Mom, what is 12 x 9?" She was trying to do her homework that she had "forgotten" to do the night before. This isn't the first time she has "forgotten" her homework or lied that she had it done, so I told her that she was going to have the whole weekend to do her homework because her sleep over was getting cancelled. That is when she pulled out the "you are the worse mother in the world" comment. I am proud to say I had a pretty good come back to that one. "Thank you, that means I am doing my job right", she didn't like that either.

Tired of fighting this early in the morning I loaded the last of the troops and backed out of the driveway, I figured it would serve her right if she had to walk out in the cold to get into the van. I guess she thought I had driven away without her, because she called my mom frantically to say I had left her at home alone along with other things my mom won't disclose to me.

She figured out I didn't leave after I honked the horn and off to school we went. All one big HAPPY family. At least I got a "bye Mom" from her before she left the van and once she got home from school things were good again and the sleep over is back on. She is retreating at Grandma Jan's house tonight to get a little lonely time, but because of her fear of sleeping alone she had to bring Jayna with her.

Jayna on the other hand is going to be a JOY as she grows up lets just say she is a little too sarcastic for me right now. She was totally prepared for her sleepover and didn't want any help packing so away she went with 4 pull-ups, 4 shirts, movies, horses, but NO socks or pants. Lovely what independence brings.

REALLY want to move in

I just thought you like to see the picture of how much the kids need and want the space. Jayna has started to take her afternoon naps out in the addition and the evenings have become WWIII at the house to get them into bed/living room.

Carpet FINALLY!!!

Yesterday was an exciting day and not because it was Super Bowl Sunday or that Chris was coming home from the splash but because we finally got our carpet installed. I was having concerns after Saturday when Tony our carpet guy didn't show up, but have a little faith bright and early Sunday morning (7:30) Tony rolled up the driveway ready to go. It wasn't bad since we had to get up early anyway for Nick's hockey practice. It was nice that way we weren't in Tony's hair the whole time he was here. Yes, Nick was looking to help Tony out but I am not sure he was much of a helper or distraction. Carpet Tony was out of here around 2:30 in the afternoon finished and Chris got home around 4:30 to a house full of crazy kids running around upstairs.




It is amazing what a little carpet can do to a place but now it feels like it is home. We still have to get our electrician down here to finish putting a few more breakers in, hang the pendant lights in the island, and wire up the island with an outlet and then we can go ahead and call for those fun inspections.

In preparation for that day, I took the better part of Sunday to clean the addition floors. I am officially parked outside again, because the melting of the van does a number on the floor. So in order to keep some of that out of the house I am parking outside and cleaned the garage floor, which is nice to give the kids another space to ride their bikes other than in the kitchen area. Then I actually scrubbed the floor for the first time. The tile sure does clean up nice, but with all the commotion around here it is already dirty (24 hrs later). I am hoping to combat some of it by implementing the no shoe rule and placing a few rugs down. I found a few cute rugs at Target and hopefully by putting one in front of the stairs and by the doors we can catch some of the dirt before it makes it up to the rooms.

Our little Tony loves the new carpet upstairs and now that I don't have to worry about the tack strips anymore he gets to explore freely up there. Unfortunately he loves Nick's room because it over looks the driveway and he gets to watch the guys work out there. Right now the kids are having fun running around their rooms with all the space. We are on good track to move in before the end of this month YEAH!!

FYI...here is a picture Tony took (I held the camera) while I was snapping the shots of the carpet. He loved flashing the camera and this is one of at least 20 pics he did.

Master Suite

After hours of laboring over this design, I have finally found the perfect Master Bedroom Suite. Now the only problem to going to convince Chris that this is just what we need. Like I said before, if we have the space why don't we use it right? This layout utilizes the entire upstairs and there is no way I can squeeze this into the loft layout Chris wants.

I like doing this type of work and this is pretty much how the addition came about too. If you remember we had Eric Petersen's partner draw up plans for the addition, but it wasn't what we were looking for. So I did some research online, grabbed some graph paper, a few pencils and drew out the plans for the addition myself. I am hoping this visual will be enough to convince Chris.

So if you want to take the mental tour with me, here we go. At our makeshift door right now at the top of the stairs to the left is the door to our room. In the beginning, I hadn't originally wanted a bathtub in the suite, but after the tour of Roseville (thank you Vicki) I thought the resale of the house would benefit from including the tub. So as you can see I included the corner whirlpool tub and another addition to the bathroom after going on the Roseville tour is the doorless shower with body sprays. I hope to block the view of the commode with a half wall and also to include space for my treadmill in there too. This way I don't have to walk far to get to the showers:-) and it is out of sight in the regular room. Chris thinks we are going to save money with going with one sink but then we will have to go with his and her storage areas (X-on either sides of the sink). I think this bathroom is a Plumber's dream and luckily I am married to a plumber.

I am trying to streamline the bedroom so I thought by adding a larger closet I can get by without having any dressers in the actual room. It isn't like I have that many clothes but this way I can have room to store suitcases as well as snowmobile gear/other bulkier things.

In the actual living part of the room, we want to be able to put a King size bed in the room so I off set it in the corner and hopefully I can find a corner shelf unit for the headboard. I want this piece to be big enough to display my Korean collectibles I have so the shelves have to vary in size too. So if anyone knows of a place I can find this or a reasonable carpenter let me know.

Across the way is the entertainment center so we can look at a large black screen since we don't get any channels for now, but in the center I think we should put an under counter refrigerator like a mini bar. So when we are enjoying a nice evening out on the second story balcony, Chris won't have to walk far for a beer. Or if it is rainy out we can utilize the corner seating area and still enjoy the view.

I think with this part of the construction Chris wants to go with stamped concrete for our bedroom so I will need to put a large rug under the bed. Our bedspread is brown, blue and sage green, so I think I want to keep that color palette throughout the room. It goes with the Asian color theme too.

So what do you think? Do I have my work cut out for me in convincing Chris to go with the full second story? Wish me luck.....8-)

Random

Just a though here and there, Chris is on his yearly Splash Run up at Cook, MN, and hopefully when he comes home there will be carpet all through the upstairs. My mother and I went shopping today to continue to get things for the kids rooms. I think Jayna is done now since we got her drapes, which are a cute flowery print. She is getting excited to move in too. I just have to shop for the rest of the rooms blinds/drapes, window treatments for the downstairs, rugs for the downstairs, a night stand for Nick, mattresses for two more kids, accessories for the bathrooms and closet organizers for all six closets. Oh I also forgot I have to finish out the laundry rooms folding area (grand central folding station). Then the awful task of putting everything together starts!!! Plus I still have to get my most anticipated item....the mop bucket so I can keep the tile clean.

I am really excited but then STAGE 2 starts and we start ALL over again. Then my next task is convincing Chris to put the full second story on the house. I know he wants the A-frame look to the house but after doing some calculations there is no way a bathroom and bedroom will fit into the lofted area. We would end up with a galley bedroom and no room for the furniture. Not that I am against the smaller area or am I against having more room up there either, but once a bathroom gets in and closets we would be left with a bedroom only 10 feet wide, that is smaller than the kids rooms. I know that he wants this COOL look and he thinks the roof lines wouldn't match but I think something could be arranged. Also we would have to resubmit to the city a plan but I could do that right? I'm not afraid to fight with the city over the computer, I did it before at the start of this project.

If we could have the space why not use it, I am going to sacrifice my formal dining room for the space upstairs. Lets just hope he goes for that too, but we just have to get past the next few weeks first. So here is the only time you will hear me say this, but I hope to be parking the van back outside really soon.

Carpet UPDATE

We are getting there. Right now we are sitting in the addition with the carpet pad and tack strips down. The pad is fabulously soft and is deadens the noise nicely upstairs. Everyone is excited to see it coming along and Tony loves the squishy feeling under his feet, even if he stepped on a tack strip already. You only have to step on those once to remember that they are there. If we hadn't bought beds, I think the floor would have been cushy enough for them. Tony likes to lay his head down in his room testing out the pad. By Saturday, we are told we will have carpet in the upstairs and down the staircase. YEAH!!!

Chris finished putting the tile down around the staircase and replaced a lopsided tile in the middle of the floor. I think he is done with tile for awhile now. I think we are on track to moving in at the end of this month!!!! Keep your fingers crossed for us. Even if Chris can't be assertive enough for the job Nick can do it, he likes to tell everyone to "get their butts done here and get the job done".