Remodel, Pt. 3...

BEFORE:  Dining room.  Again, kicking myself for not using the zoom lens on the before pics....especially since I cannot have a do-over.  :)  At any rate, did not even change paint color in here either.  I think I tried 6 new colors of green on these walls and wound up keeping the color of the original (tho' they don't look the same in these pics...guess it was the time of day).  Never liked the chandelier, so was glad to get rid of it.  Also, removed popcorn, fresh paint everywhere, new wood floor, and new crown molding (to replace the frilly plaster molding). 

AFTER:  We were mainly trying for cleaner lines and a light, airy feel.  Can I say again how much I'm lovin' the floor??  lol

Remodel, Pt. 2...

 BEFORE:  Family room...Again, the lens and pic orientation made the difference a bit more dramatic than real life.  The second photo makes the room look huge...it's not.  lol  At any rate, our changes here involved new paint color, painting paneling white, and replacing floor and doors.  We had already updated this ceiling a few years ago, so it just got a fresh coat of paint.

AFTER:  :)

Remodel - Pt. 1...

 My apologies to my Facebook friends for posting the exact same pictures here, but this is the only way my mom can see our remodel.  We are finally back in our home, tho' we still have quite a few loose ends to tie up.  I need to preface all of this with the comment that I have no idea what I'm doing with this kind of photography.  I shot all of these on auto.  The before pics were shot in the evening after a long day of moving everything out.  I used my 35 mm lens, thinking that was the most wide angle lens I had (clearly not wide enough!).  By the time I shot the after pics, I realized that I should have used my 18-200mm zoom lens.  DUH!!!  So....I used that for the after shots.  The result is that the after pics make the rooms look quite a bit more spacious.  lol.  For the most part, that's an illusion.  Makes you wonder what kind of tricks they use in all those makeover before/after pics, doesn't it?  :)  At any rate, we were out of our home for a total of 7 weeks...not terrible, considering our contractor predicted 6 weeks.  We have been working on all of this for 3-5 months tho' with planning, organizing, and preparing to move, etc.   I was dreaming to think that, once we move home, we would be done.  I can see that we'll be finishing odds and ends for several weeks most likely.  But we are THANKFUL to be home!  Here is part one of the before/after pics:

BEFORE:  Living Room

This was originally dark paneling, which we painted white about 8 years ago.  So we didn't do too much to change it now, other than give it a fresh coat of paint, remove popcorn from the ceiling, and replace the flooring.  Oh yes, and all of our slab doors were replaced with 2 panel doors (which really do look better with our paneling).  They were all hollow doors before and we replaced some with solid core doors....much better at reducing sound.




 AFTER:  Cannot wait to see what my piano will be like on this new floor!
 

 BEFORE:  Standing in entry hall, looking into living room.  Notice all the boxes stacked out on the back porch.  Would you believe Bob's company moved their office at the exact same time we were moving out of our house?  They told all their engineers they were no longer allowed to have a free standing bookshelf or extra files in their offices and Bob had to bring EVERYTHING home...all his reference manuals etc.  YIKES!!!!  He was finally able to bring some back to work and put some in the attic and I think he had to let some of them go. 

 

 AFTER: So LOVING the floor...especially the way it flows from room to room with no breaks.  BTW...same paint color as before.  What can I say?  I really liked that color (tho' this pic's color is a little off). 

 

BEFORE:  Standing in living room, looking at front door.  Clearly, that lens was not wide enough here.  lol.  Our changes here involved replacing the light fixture (that Bob banged his head on all the time), removing popcorn from ceiling, and removing plaster molding and medallion).  

AFTER:  Wide angle helps a lot, but again...I'm LOVING the floor.  Love this new light fixture too and the crown molding and cleaner ceiling.  Even my new paneled doors to my study are so much prettier.  You can't really see the light fixture very well here, but I love it.  It's made of little crystals and it throws the light around the room on the dark green walls in interesting and beautiful patterns.

More pics over the next few days.

Just because...

Love them!

Noses...

LOVE watching Nathan with his girls!  What a sweet daddy!  Believe it or not, this was only our 3rd swim this summer and summer is nearly over.  Hannah has been very hesitant and fearful, because she's not had time to get used to wearing floaties.  Nathan is such a great teacher tho'...patient and thoughtful.  He taught her to hold her arms out, keep her legs down and "bicycle, bicycle, bicycle".  And she went from holding on to us with a death grip, to "swimming" by herself for about 30 seconds.  Hoping to take her swimming again on our next Grammy Day, before the weather changes.  She had a blast!  And I think this little "pep talk" helped.  :)

Wardrobe malfunction...

I think the days of hairbows are numbered.  And I'm pretty sure we have the same picture of Hannah somewhere.  lol

What a poser!

Yep, she was "ham for the cam" as she stopped crawling, sat up, and posed like this.  Lucky me!  Sweet baby girl!

Exploring...

We took a break from unpacking for one day to enjoy being with the babies.  What fun!  Abigail seemed to like the new floor, even tho' it was a little slippery.  lol.  I KNOW I'm going to love it for photos...so much prettier than that awful gold carpet.  You'll notice we still have packing boxes in the background here.  Once we're settled, I hope to post some before/after pics.  We are SOOO thankful to be home!

Hold the cheese...

This was actually the first shot I took that day.  We asked Hannah if she would like to sit on Robin's bench and she climbed us and flashed us this.  Barely any cheese... lol. 

When did she grow up so much??   She's losing some of her baby fat and lookin' like a big girl!

It only takes a moment...

To go from this...

 to this.

...especially when you're 2.  :)

Perspective...

Interesting how the picture changes with a different perspective and switching to a 50mm lens.  This is a little odd, but I really like it...I think because of the texture and all the negative space.

Unusual visitor...

Hannah was a little worried when he crawled into her drawing, but I think she enjoyed him in the end.  Had to run get my macro, so I could get a closer look.  Love his iridescent parts. 

Yep, it's official!

She's a crawler!  Two months earlier than Hannah too.  Me thinks she's more motivated since she has a big sister to follow around.  :)

BTW...I am so messed up on my dates here.  I'm trying to catch up after 3 weeks of not posting.  Yikes!  Still hoping to post some remodel pics soon.

Chalk face...

Looks like she's been eating Cheetos, but it's chalk.  And I know it's not THAT dirty, but it's dirty for Hannah.  This is a child who won't eat a muffin at Sunday School because "Hannah didn't want to get her hands dirty".  lol.  We loved it that she played with the chalk and allowed herself to get a little messy.  It's about time!  :)

So in love with those baby blues....She looks sad here, but this was moments before a major melt down (at nap time).

Sidewalk artist...

Hannah really enjoyed our sidewalk chalk.  And Miss Priss who doesn't like to get her hands dirty was even OK with getting chalk all over her hands (and face, after rubbing her nose) until Jenny told her not to rub her eyes.  Yikes!  All kinds of drama after that!  I think she thought we were scolding, but Jenny just didn't want her to get chalk in her eyes.  Dirty face pic to follow tomorrow!

With mischief in her eye...

Yep, the hands show one intention and the eyes show another, right?  Love that impish grin and that adorable little dimple too!

Read to me...

She has been ALL about the books lately!  We read the same stories over and over and we love it!  Kara has been enjoying time with the girls, but now it's time to head back to school.  :(

Enough already!

I know, I know...another shot in the polka dot dress!  Haven't been shooting lately, so I'm pulling old photos.  Besides...I love that face!

Hmmmmm....

Sweet baby girl...always watching and thinking.  :)

Budding photographer?

This is technically a weak shot...really just a snapshot, but I think it's so cute.  Hannah's imagination is blossoming in a big way!  After I took Abigail's last monkey pic, we asked Hannah if she wanted to take our picture and this is what she did.  LOL....There's no camera on that tripod, but it doesn't matter.  :)  I wish her arm wasn't covering her face, but I love that we can see her joy.  She's saying "CHEESE!!!!!!!!"  Oh...and she also said "I don't know if this will turn out."  LOL....I think she's heard me say that a few times.  :)

If these shoes could talk...

Shot a couple of weeks ago for the challenge of "buttons".  I've been admiring these at Robin's.  I wonder who wore these fancy little baby shoes...

Alphabet Soup...

 "Why is the alphabet in that order. Is it because of that song? The guy who wrote that song wrote everything." Stephen Wright"

Shot for the challenge of "In Order".  When I begin with new piano students, the first thing I teach them is to say the music alphabet frontwards AND backwards.  Amazing how many variations there are in music with just these seven pitches (and their corresponding flats and sharps).  Change the order and you've got a new melody!

Now, if you want a photo of something that is not in order, come to our house.  The remodel is in full swing and while much has been done, nothing is completed.  It still feels like every room is a wreck!  But I can imagine what it will look like and it's pretty exciting.

BTW...I predict hours of fun when Hannah is old enough to play with these beads. :)

  

 

The master key...

Quote by Oliver Wendell Holmes.  Is this cheesy or what?  Shot a couple of weeks ago for the challenge of "Black and white or sepia".  More of Robin's cool stuff.  Every day I discover something new!

Delicate but hearty...

Still struggling to find time to pick up my camera!  We are 5 weeks out on the remodel and we're so ready to go home!  Hopefully that will be within the next 2 weeks!  I've had no time for the challenges (or much of anything, for that matter).  When the challenge of "delicate" came up tho', I knew I needed to shoot these tiny flowers on Robin's front walk.  I have no idea what they are.  They are TINY....each blossom is about the size of a pencil eraser.  Interesting that these tiny, delicate things are the only flower I've seen recently in the terrible heat. 

Snappy colors...

Love my girls in their snappy colors.  And hey...2 out of 3 isn't bad for giving eye contact to the camera.  Apparently Abigail was more interested in catching the light on her face.  lol

Till she cries...

I love how Hannah laughs till she cries when she gets really tickled.  She's been that way since she was a baby.  And no...Abigail does not do that.  I wonder if she'll change when she gets older. 

Baby Boot Camp...

Abigail has been practicing her push ups!  I think she just may be stronger than I am!  lol.  I don't think it will be long before she figures out how to crawl.  Jenny's life is fixin' to change again!

Look who's 7 months!

I'm so behind on shooting and processing.  And I'm homesick too.  Really hoping the house will be ready in a couple weeks so we can move back in.  Not looking forward to the work, but it will be worth it to be HOME!  :)  I went to see Jenny and the girls earlier this week to escape the chaos and managed to get a few monkey shots.  Don't know if this was the best of the bunch, but I love it because Abigail is showing us her new cute smile.  She sitting much more confidently and trying SO hard to crawl.  I suspect she may be more active than Hannah.  She gets so excited and flaps her arms and legs all the time.  So cute!  Love our little Peanut!

Funny Face...

Poor Abigail is probably going to grow up with a complex because of all the names I call her.  She makes the funniest faces.  This one is a favorite right now.  Not sure what it's about unless she's teething or just trying to catch the drool.  lol.  Lately I've been calling her "spaz", because she's all herky jerky movements.  She gets excited and starts flapping her limbs.  What kind of Grammy calls her granddaughter "spaz"?  (an honest one?)

Ladybug...

Pulling photos from a couple of weeks ago.  No time to shoot again lately.  Can't decide if she looks a little ticked off in this, but I generally like serious pics of kids.  I was drawn to this one because her eyes are compelling. 

Sittin' pretty...

Both looking the same way for once, but thinking very different thoughts.  Hannah was saying "You're making silly faces Mommy"...and Abigail just looks confused...or suspicious.  :)  They DO look like sisters tho', don't they?

Fun to have Abigail sitting up by herself now...a little "shlumpy" still, but she'll get there.