We now have insulation and drywall!!

And we have dust–holy cow do we have dust! My lungs can attest to that too cough, cough, cough!! Even with plastic up the dust is everywhere! They don’t show that on TV either!!

Ginger’s room (the diagonal flooring) really looks small with it opened up!

I love the wood we picked out for the ceiling! With all it’s grain and knots it looks even better than we thought!

Here is a bedroom shot.

The metal roof on the screen porch has also been installed. It’s hard to tell from the photos but it is a copper color and looks so pretty in the sun. That is, when the sun actually shines around here!

Slowly but surely we are moving along. Hopefully sometime this Spring we will be able to “move in”!!

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Post tags: Building, ceiling, copper, copper color, drywall, flooring, Holmes, holmes on homes, insulation, metal roof, photo, screen porch, wood

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Today they finished framing the screen porch.

It’s got me dreaming of summer time!!!!!

The screen porch will eventually have screens(!) and french doors leading into the house (where the paper with the green writing is) and  double screen doors opening onto the deck . (the large opening on the left) The area to the right of the screen porch is the deck (minus the railing and decking at this point!)

From the back yard

From the driveway

This is coming in through the new garage into our new expansive and bright hall way! We picked out really awesome tile for this space. I am really excited about all the possibilities of this new entrance way! We mainly use our back door to enter and exit the house several times a day. I always hated walking into the house through that blue door into our tiny dank hall way. It was so depressing. So I wanted to make this new entrance like a front door. We ordered a really nice wood door with a full glass view. I might  paint this space orange or yellow or some other bright color!

Eventually we are going to have a really nice back yard too……I swear! In the mean time we might need to call for another dumpster!

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Post tags: addition, back yard, driveway, dumpster, entrance, french doors, garage, house, screen, screen doors, screen porch, screens

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There was a back porch removed

There was lots of digging and hauling of dirt!!! Jake told me he felt like Mike Mulligan!

They dug for days!

Then there was pouring of gravel and concrete and building the foundation with stone blocks. And then came the framing and sheeting.

And then the trusses (this was truly beautiful!) I have a new love of architecture and hardware stores.

From there it was more framing and sheeting

Here is Ginger standing on our new pantry. This will eventually have railings and be a loft above the kitchen.

We have windows now too! And heat as of today–thank goodness!

Daytime view and night time view:

Sorry for the blurry photos–my auto focus is broken and according to my eyes with out glasses this WAS in focus! This is a shot of Ginger’s old bedroom (the green walls and carpet) now open to the new part. That was a small bedroom but now it looks even smaller!

New steps-horray!! Anyone who ever came to my door and tried to enter while carrying anything or happened to be greeted by the dogs or kids (which is everyone, always!) knows how awkward our old steps were and how awesome these will be!

Here we are at the bottom of the stairs, standing in the new super wide hall way looking at my old back door. To the left is my bedroom and to the right is another bedroom.

This is our new bedroom and below is a lucky kids new bedroom (luck is in the eye of the beholder because there is a war going on for my current bedroom)

We have hard wood floors and tile picked out and new appliances purchased. All I have to say is thank god for Pinterest and google!! I love you both beyond words! And more empty promises to update more often! Sorry!

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Post tags: addition, architect, architecture, Building, demo, google, house, Kitchen, loft, lucky kids, mike mulligan, Mulligan, pantry, PepperPaints, Pinterest, trusses, window, Windows

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I love to hang my clothes outside to dry, but here in Central Ohio, that amounts to a couple short months of warm enough temperatures and sunshine to get that job done. That means the other eight and a half months I use my dryer. Which to me means lots of static electricity. My kids hate finding their socks pasted to the quilt Aunt Rosie crocheted a few years back!

So when I was asked to try out the new Bounce Dryer Bar, I quickly agreed. I don’t usually use dryer sheets for a couple of reasons. I forget to use them and I find those sheets stuck to the quilts just as often as I find the socks. I don’t particularly like the perfumey scent of most dryer sheets either! After receiving my Bounce Dryer Bar in the mail, I anxiously unwrapped it and headed to my dryer. It easily stuck to the side of the drum in my dryer and within seconds I was armed with a Bounce Dryer Bar that promised me fresh, soft, static controlled clothes.

Sure enough, my clothes were super soft and the static was under control. I chose the unscented Bounce Dryer Bar and was pleasantly surprised at the lack of the overwhelming scent of typical dryer sheets. My entire load smelled clean without a perfume scent.Which is just the way I like it! I absolutely love the convenience of the Bounce Dryer Bar. No more having to remember to throw a sheet in with each load. With no static electricity, I managed to fold an entire load with no lonely, unmatched socks left over. Now that’s a bonus!

Yet, the real bonus for my dog-loving family is that once our clothes went through a load with the Bounce Dryer Bar, it definitely lived up to its hair repellency claim! Normally we are a static magnet for our pets’ hair but not so after using the Bounce Dryer Bar! I love the convenience of the bar! Months of soft, static controlled clothes and bedding! And so simple too! Just stick it and forget it! Visit Bounce’s Facebook page for more information on the Bounce Dryer Bar!

Would you like to try one? You can win a Bounce Dry Bar and a $50 Visa gift card from Bounce and BlogHer right here. Leave me a comment, or answer this question to enter: Do you dry clothes outside when it’s warm? Why or why not?

Rules: No duplicate comments. You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:
a) Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post
b) Tweet about this promotion and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post
c) Blog about this promotion and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post
d) For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry. This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older. Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail. You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected. The Official Rules are available here.

For more opportunities to win, visit the Bounce round-up page on BlogHer.com to read other bloggers’ reviews!

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Post tags: blog, blogger, BlogHer, Bounce, central Ohio, dryer sheets, giveaway, promotion, static electricity

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Now as much as I would like to say this was my great idea..I found it on Pinterest. I have said it before, I LOVE PINTEREST!! And I will say it again, I LOVE PINTEREST!!  As a visual person, this site takes the cake!

These were easy to make and called for only a few ingredients. You just need a little time and space.  And having a little helper around really helps!!

First arrange pretzel sticks into a star pattern on a lined cookie sheet or large tray

Next melt some chocolate (white or dark)

Now pour that melted chocolate into a plastic baggie and cut a tiny bit of the tip off. This makes it so much easier to make webs around the pretzels. Be sure to drizzle the points in the middle together really well and make sure to hit each stick on your way around the web!

Next we tried putting 2 raisins into the center of melted chocolate for spider bodies. Then we covered the raisins with more melted chocolate and made some legs.

And after about 4 or 5 of these my helper quit on me! So I was on my own. I decided to simplify– but I must say I like my version better!! I skipped the spider in the center and just shook some Halloween sprinkles into the melted chocolate. Ta da…

Just the right combination of salty and sweet. These were a big hit with both kids and adults alike!

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Post tags: Cake, choc, chocolate, Cook, COOKIE, halloween, halloween parties, halloween season, Kids, melted chocolate, PepperPaints, Pinterest, potluck, Pretzel, pretzel sticks, Pretzels, Pumpkin, pumpkin cake, Snack, snacks, Spider, spider web, star pattern, Web

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350 degrees

12 x 18 would work  I used a Bundt pan–greased and floured

Beat:

1 1/4 cups oil

2 cups brown sugar

Add:

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups canned pumpkin (or one 15 oz can)

4 eggs–beat in 1 at a time

Gradually beat in:

2 cups flour

3 teaspoons baking powder

2 teaspoons baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Bake 30 minutes or longer for Bundt pan

When cool can be frosted or left as is. I whipped up a cream cheese frosting that I could eat all by itself by the bowl full!! I tinted it orange for a festive touch!

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Post tags: Bake, baking, Bundt, bundt pan, Cake, canned pumpkin, cinnamon, cream cheese frosting, halloween, Pumpkin, pumpkin cake, Thanksgiving

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Day of the Dead or Dia de los Muertos is a Mexican holiday to celebrate the dead.

While I was away on vacation another Mom lead our art class at Co op. I left her with printed pictures of sugar skulls and masks created for the holiday to share with the kids. They used acrylic paints to paint the blank masks I bought at Michaels. Then used a hot glue gun to attach fake flowers and ribbons. They came out really great!!

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Post tags: art, art class, day of the dead, day of the dead masks, Dead, dia de los muertos, holiday, mexican holiday, Michaels, sugar, sugar skulls

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I started off this activity with a practice version so kids could see the importance of drawing and placement of the art. I made a simple picture of a pumpkin. It was like a puzzle.

This may be one of my favorite group projects so far! For the real activity– I took a poster of Van Gogh’s Sunflowers and cut it up into 12 pieces. Each student received a piece of the art work along with a blank piece of paper cut to the same size. I numbered the back of the poster and the corresponding papers along with an arrow pointing to the top.

We used oil pastels to fill our papers. Trying to copy what was on our piece of art work.

After everyone was finished we put both the original art work as well as the students art work back together.

I love it! I am planning on pasting the pieces on to a black matte board to hang up at The Rec Center.

I got the idea from TEACH KIDS ART —thanks!!

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Post tags: activity, art, art work, class, drawing, group, group projects, matte board, oil pastels, original art, picture, project, rec center, students art, sunflower, sunflowers, van gough

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Puffy Paint is super expensive to purchase–especially for a whole class. This DIY version is not meant for fabric but more for a paint that dries bumpy. It adds a little depth and texture to the work.

It’s cheap and easy to make. Equal parts salt, flour and hot water. Stir until dissolved. Add liquid or powder tempra. This potion is very forgiving. Add more water if too thick and add more salt and flour if it’s too thin –especially after adding the liquid tempra.

Pour or spoon mixture into squeeze bottles–I bought empty ketchup and mustard bottles. You want the consistency to be runny enough to squeeze out of the bottles with out splatting. Understand? You will once you start mixing. Think frosting–creamy frosting! You can even add a little glitter for some fabulous sparkle!

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Post tags: art, class, creamy frosting, dale chihuly, DIY, glitter, Homemade, mixture, Paint, Paints, puffy, puffy paint, recipe, squeeze bottles, tempra, texture

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Unschooling Co Op is back in session so that means I will have something to post other than updates on our remodel! We talked about the paintings of Dale Chihuly for our first class.

Chihuly is well know for his glass works but his paintings and his painting style is also impressive. Here is a link to a few google images of his paintings

http://www.google.com/search?q=chihuly+paintings&hl=en&client=firefox-a&hs=Xlq&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&prmd=imvns&source=lnms&tbm=isch&ei=QuZxTuPUCKffsQKKvOXICQ&sa=X&oi=mode_link&ct=mode&cd=2&ved=0CBMQ_AUoAQ&biw=1035&bih=465

To mimic Chihuly’s style of painting we layered paint on to canvas through several steps. We used sheets from a canvas pad. Be sure to paint on the correct side so the edges don’t roll. We used acrylic paint.

The first layer of paint when on with a brayer

The second layer went on with a broom-allowing the first layer to show through

Next layer was splatter painting

And then we used “puffy paint” for the final layer  DIY puffy paint recipe here

Each one ended up so different and the kids really enjoyed applying each different layer. I did choose specific colors for each layer so that the darker colors went on first and and then in small amounts last, hoping to keep the layers visually separate.

This collage is made up of all the kids paintings

I can see why Chihuly is also well known for his splatter painted shoes after this class!! I loved both the process as well as the product of this project!

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Post tags: acrylic paint, art, art class, brayer, broom, canvas, class, collage, dale chihuly, DIY, google images, Kids, layer, Paint, painted shoes, Painting, paintings, process, project, puffy, puffy paint, splatter, unschool, unschooling

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