ICE DAY!

We had the day off from work today because of the ice storm... We woke up and there was about 3/4" sheet of ice on the driveway.  As we were standing outside with the dogs the tree top on the tree right next to the driveway snapped off and dropped to the ground... you know that was my favorite tree on the entire property!  We went back inside and continue to hear the snap and crash of tree branches... Of course it happened to a majority of the "nice" trees that we saved in the backyard... Now they will all have to be cut down...   :( so sad!  Hooper was extremely nervous about the trees falling... He came inside and hid under the table... then when another one crashed and we went to the window he came out and started shaking... He wanted to go upstairs so we let him up and he seemed to calm down a little... poor thing!

We got some work done today... Tommy worked on caulking all the crown molding in the foyer.  His dad came down and continued his spackling job in the basement... I spent the day doing the touch up paint in the dining room, master bedroom and sitting room.  At the end of the night Tommy nailed up all the pieces he made for the entrance-way to the sitting room that I had painted earlier.  While I was doing the touch up paint in the dining room Otis was messing with me... barking and climbing on my legs... I started talking to him and then he jumped in my lap but he fell out and went right into the paint tray... Ooops... poor thing had paint on his head so I had to dunk his whole head under the faucet.

MOMMY-TO-BE'S PARENTS TOLD

Today Tommy worked on the crown molding in the foyer and I painted some touch up spots.   Then we started our trek down to the Tile Shop in south jersey to return the remainder of the tile from the master bathroom.  We were able to return it all, a whopping $900 back!  awesome!  We then went over to GPs to take down her Christmas decorations and were able to tell her our good news!

Then we went down to Jess and Dan's to see the progress with finishing the basement.  Jess cooked everyone dinner and I set the table with a little bit of a secret... When everyone was finished I started picking up the plates to clear the table and when i lifted them there was a napkin under each plate that said "Baby Blyskal Oct 1, 2011"... When everyone realized what was going on there were lots of hugs... Good times!

CROWN MOLDING IN THE FOYER

Tom worked on the arched column area in the sitting room.  He created the ledge tops and made a molding to seperate the blue color of the sitting room with the beige color in the master.  I just have to paint them and then he can install them. Then he started the crown molding in the foyer today... It is a bit difficult because it is high.  He was able to install all the crown in the main section of the foyer, including the basecap. He just has to finish up the two long pieces along the staircase section...

While he did the crown I worked on sanding and priming all the spackle spots that I made fixing up some boo-boos in every room.

COMPLETED FRONT PORCH

I continued to work on the tile in the master shower today... didn't get as much done as yesterday but Tommy helped me out and got some of the more difficult parts done. I installed the tumbled stone on the curving top ledge and he cut some intricate pieces for the swoosh at the top.

Tom's dad finished up the front porch... He made a ring to cover the hole where the light fixture went, sealed it, and then later in the day he installed it.

Tommy worked some more on trimwork. He built the tops for the two windows in the master bathroom and installed crown molding in the skylight area of the master bathroom and finished the rest of the crown in the bathroom.

MASTER SHOWER and CROWN

I tiled today until all I saw were tiles... The small 3"x3" tiles that we cut a few months ago were on my to do list today... I got all the walls tiled by the end of the day... they only parts I didn't do were the pieces that needed some funkier cuts along the tumbled stone... The tiles worked really well on the curved walls....

Tommy was all over today doing trim work. His dad made the keystone for over the front door and that got installed. He finished up the trimwork on the eyebrow over the center garage door. He installed some crown molding in the master bathroom and put the crown molding on either side of the fireplace.

Tom's dad worked on the front porch... finishing up the siding and making the azek corbel pieces for the front door.

CROWN LIGHITING

Tom's parents were here today. They worked on the siding on the front porch (unfortunately I did not get a picture)... and Tom's mom cleaned up around the house... this morning the master bedroom looked like a tornado went thru, but when I walked in tonight it was soooo CLEAN!!! yay!

Tommy worked on the floating crown in the master bedroom tray ceiling. We had wedges cut at the spring angle of the crown a long time ago that he nailed up and then he nailed the crown to that... turned out really great... and of course he couldn't go to sleep without putting the rope light in and checking it out... It came out perfect.

I worked in the master bathroom some more. I put the little pencil molding around as the basemolding and then I put the crown type tile going up the curved wall... need lots of tape to hold them up...

STAIR RAILING, FIREPLACE GROUT & CROWN MOLDING

Yesterday, Tom and his dad were able to use the quick drying concrete to put the stainless tubes in place. I didn't get a picture until this morning.

I started first thing in the morning on cleaning out the mortar from between the stones on the fireplace. Most of it was clean already but some of the corners needed some work.

Hooper enjoyed the newly sealed side porch. The sealer worked great to brighten up the colors of the slate.



LaMar came by today to give us a hand. Tommy and him worked on the crown molding on the side porch. We have had this material for a long time but never put it up. They finally did today. We did base molding on both the ceiling and the side wall area and then they put the crown on top.



I grouted the fireplace today. It took a bit longer than I expected, but I also didn't think the grout would dry as fast as it did. As soon as I had everything grouted it was ready for me to go back and tool it.


Tom's dad was out on the front porch working on the railing. He got some pressure treated 4x4's and wedged them in the plastic sleeves. They are pretty darn stiff.



The finished side porch crown molding!



The finished fireplace! I left off the grout on the bottom though because we will need to do it after the hardwood floor goes in.



It won't be as dark as it looks in the picture. It dries much much lighter.