Boo!

October FLEW by!  (really interesting sentence to lead with huh?)  But really, I can't believe we are at this point in the year already, it will be Christmas soon...scary stuff!  I think because we were so focused on September 22nd for such a long time, it seems foreign to now be looking ahead to other exciting events. (of which I am thinking we have lots!)

Last night we did not do a big night of reno work.  It was Halloween so we had to go celebrate with the cute little ones in our lives.

[caption id="attachment_993" align="aligncenter" width="388"] This one didn't quite make it out Trick or Treating[/caption]

We made it out with a really scary lion for a few houses and even in the rain it was so much fun

[caption id="attachment_994" align="aligncenter" width="388"] I think the umbrella was her favourite part![/caption]

I couldn't manage to get a picture of the front of her outfit, but believe me she was the cutest lion out there.  I haven't been trick or treating in about 15 + years so it was really fun to remember the excitement of the night!  Molly was the most polite trick or treater too, telling the other little girls that they looked "beeeeeeeeuuuutiful" and always saying thank you. She was NOT liking the "scary boys" in the Scream masks but other than that I think she had a great night.  Her Daddy stole her chips, Uncle Garret was stealing some chocolates and Auntie Julia was delighted to find a small package of Nibs...it's surprising that she made it home with any loot.

Our next stop was to visit Elliott and Ashley and their little monkey:

[caption id="attachment_995" align="aligncenter" width="388"] All tuckered out on his first Halloween[/caption]

We had some snuggles and took some photos and G found a new snuggle buddy... (I think I'm being replaced)

 

[caption id="attachment_996" align="aligncenter" width="388"] Buster had no interest in getting out of there![/caption]

When we got home G did the first coat on our bedroom. We weren't too sure about the colour but once it was done we were really happy with it

[caption id="attachment_997" align="aligncenter" width="388"] Me: "Hey babe are those your good jeans"? G: "umm hey look over there "...trails off and quickly changes the subject. This is an ongoing discussion as he has about 40 work outfits, and yet every time he is doing something I catch him in nice clothes! Oh well at least it looks nice in photos :)[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_998" align="aligncenter" width="388"] finished walls and one really dusty set of blinds![/caption]

I really need to learn how to take more colour true photos of things like this so I can show off what colour things really are.

He has worked so hard over the past few weeks and I just can't believe the difference in our home  Last night was our last couch sleepover as tonight after he paints the trim the bed is moving back in! To finish this project we still have to figure out the built ins to go over our bed, and rework the closet, but once the bed is in we can get dressers back and start purging and cleaning and organizing (my favourite fall project)

Purple Teeth and no more Closet

Saturday we went down to Niagara to celebrate some 30th birthdays.  Excellent time!  The only downside to visiting many wineries in one afternoon is that it is hard to stay awake past supper.

[caption id="attachment_978" align="aligncenter" width="388"] Slighting boozy smiles with Ashley on the bus[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_979" align="aligncenter" width="388"] My prince Charming and his wine filled glass slipper[/caption]

We went to 6 wineries and had yummy tastings at each one.  G and I bought a few bottles to put in our wine cellar/basement...we laugh because we always have lofty plans of having a bit of a collection, but then the wine mood hits and we break into our stash and that is the end of that.  We managed to rally and make it out for supper, but by the time the gang was heading out to the bar we were both so full of food ready for bed. The Walsh's are a fan of sleep!  Sunday morning we had breakfast with the gang and headed back home to do some work on the house.

Kevin had stayed over on Saturday and finished laying the flooring down in our bedroom.  One step closer to a finished space!  We had also discussed making the linen closet a bit smaller to allow for a bigger nook in our walk in closet.  So we came home to:

[caption id="attachment_980" align="aligncenter" width="388"] a wee doorway for small dogs and house elves to enter our closet[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_981" align="aligncenter" width="388"] G demonstrating the door way[/caption]

Kevin had started cutting it out so he could put flooring all the way through. Glorious, Glorious flooring! Last night G cut out the rest of the wall.  We will be moving the wall back a foot, and then I think building some sort of shelving in the closet for...you guessed it! More storage!  We also spent some quality time at Rona trying to pick out a colour for our bedroom. Originally the plan was white, but then we noticed that there are approximately 200 different shades of white (a less exciting version of 50 shades of Grey perhaps?) The choice ended up being "Risotto" which is a lightly more cream/taupe colour.  As of late we have been pretty pumped with our spur of the moment paint choices so I am hoping that this also works out so well.  Garret has one of his flex days today so he is at home working today...very excited to see what I get to come home to! I love having such a handy hubby. (*side note, first time I have said hubby HA)

Renovators or Hoarders?

This past weekend all of my upstairs dreams started coming true! Kevin came on Friday and he and G just super duper busted a move on getting stuff done!  His plan of attack was to fully finish one room at a time (flooring, painting, redoing trim etc) so when we were finished we would have a completed upper floor.  This is a great plan because we were able to stop moving some of the stuff from the second floor to the main floor, so we could maintain some living space for the weekend.  They started with the guest room.  I arrived home from work on Friday to hear a magical conversation---"where shall we put the closet"?  As in, they were building a closet. *heavenly chorus of angels singing here*  So the plan evolved from "let's put down the flooring" to "let's totally finish the upstairs".This is something that I thought we would be working on over the winter, but thanks to two very dedicated hard working Walsh men...it looks like it is going to just take a little over a week!  Adding the closet meant that it took a little bit longer than they originally thought to do the spare room, but having a gorgeous built in closet/more storage upstairs really is oh so worth it. Garret put the finishing touches on the room last night (sealing the floor, painting the trim and one more coat of paint on the walls)  and today Kevin is finishing off the inside of the closet.  The satisfaction will be short lived I am sure as now everything from our bedroom has to get moved into the spare room as they start construction on our room this afternoon!  The added bonus is that we get to have more couch sleepovers and watch TV while we fall asleep.  Still novel and fun..let's see how much longer we enjoy it.

[caption id="attachment_965" align="aligncenter" width="388"] We are trying out for an episode of "Hoarders: The Dining Room edition"[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_966" align="aligncenter" width="388"] Partly done floors and no closet[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_969" align="aligncenter" width="388"] Kevin starting the closet framing[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_970" align="aligncenter" width="388"] Shop Vac'ing off all the dust and wood[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_972" align="aligncenter" width="388"] Our slightly skewed iPhone representation of our most amazing gorgeous spare room[/caption]

G has been really good about taking pictures through the process and with the iPhone panorama ap he was able to get a pretty good view of the whole room. Once we get our furniture back in here it I will post another picture.  We got some gorgeous bedding as a wedding gift and it is going to look gorgeous in here with the new paint (and snazzy floor)

*ed note:  I just was rereading as I posted and noticed I said "gorgeous" about 35 times in this post. Cant help it it's how I feel!

Planning the next step

While Garret is worrying about how our old uneven floor is going to cause problems for installing the new floor....I am already starting to think about what we can do next.  As I have complained about countless times before, we have no storage space in our house.  In fact we have a really weird teensy walk in closet in our room and a linen closet in the hall way and that is it.  Storage space is scarce n our parts and we have been trying to think of some creative solutions that also look nice.  My mum came across the below two images which I think would be perfect in some combination in our bedroom

[caption id="attachment_953" align="aligncenter" width="388"] Snazzy and would match our existing Ikea bedframe[/caption]

sourced from here

And this one which I also really like:

[caption id="attachment_954" align="aligncenter" width="388"] And this I really like because we could display things (nicely and neatly) on the shelves and have other stuff like jewellery, socks, various other needing storage items in the drawers.[/caption]

Sourced from here.

The tricky part with our bedroom is:

1) Our bedroom is pretty small so the shelving on either side wouldn't be able to be too wide

2) The ceiling in our bedroom is slanted (there is no attic over our bedroom so the ceiling sort of follows the pitch of the roof)  Therefore we don't have a ton of height to work with.

So I think we will end up having to fiddle with a few things to get it to work.  G wants to build something himself, but I am trying to convince him that we should start with an Ikea shell and go from there.  There are just so many projects that require our attention around the house that the ones where we can cheat and get it done in an afternoon? I'm all for those.  Plus I have heard that building Ikea furniture together is a really good marital test so hey why not?!

ecoEnergy Retrofit

I recently found out that the ecoENERGY grants had been extended (weeeee)! Something G and I have discovered as the days are getting colder, it's that our home is not great when it comes to heat loss.  Step one was getting our furnace looked at, but now step two will be having one of the energy auditors come and let us know ways in which we can make the house  more efficient.  Check here for details  I'm not sure how much we would qualify for, but based on how badly we don't want to get out of our warm bed in the morning, I think anything might help.  Perhaps we can just super insulate our bedroom so that could make our mornings less frost bitten!  It's my understanding that they give you a list of ways to make the house more energy efficient, and then you can get some money back based on the changes you make.....This is coming at a good time as I am starting to get a bit nervous what our gas bill is going to look like in the coming months....*gulp

Mega Bed

I guess because we have been sleeping on a low profile bed for the past 4 years that now that we have the new bed I feel so high up! Here's a view coming up the stairs:

Dreams are coming true!

Just got a phone call and our new bed is being delivered on Sunday....is it weird to be daydreaming about sleeping?

I sense trouble coming....

Many a night before, Garret and I have firmly declared that we will not sleep in past 6am. We will get up and ready with time to spare! Coffee and breakfast will be made at home and we will leave in plenty of time for a stress free commute.

As the alarm begins to blare the next morning, we tend to snuggle up convincing ourselves and each other that snoozing is a far better option. We assure ourselves that we can get ready and leave the house in 7minutes flat. (this is a flat out lie...but we tell it to ourselves daily) Instead of a leisurely morning routine there we are fighting for prime real-estate--the upstairs bathroom mirror. We inevitably leave something behind remembering it as we close in on the city. Items forgotten include: sunglasses, cell phone, lunches, and one memorable morning: one contact lens!
This has all been happening in the spring and summer months. Mornings where at 6 or even before, the sun has started shining in our windows, rays creeping across the pillow causing me to bury my head further into blankets. Fall is approaching! This morning I noticed it was still dark when we finally raced out of bed. This is going to be problematic as the days get shorter and we can find better reasons to keep hibernating in our bed. Maybe I should inquire about the possibilities of working from home a few days a week. Surely no one would know I was answering emails and phone calls from
bed?!