Roof!

You know how all you want to do when you watch an episode of Golden Girls is eat cheesecake? (Don't pretend that's just me.) All looking at these pictures makes me want to create some comparisons- who's up for some before and after pictures? Stay tuned!

Making All Things New

Happy Easter from Tara!

Easter is my favorite holiday and traditionally a celebration of Christ making all things new. We certainly are experts here at Tara with renewing things, aren't we? So, what better thing to do today than to get a whole new roof!

The boys showed up (remember our trusty pals Freddie and Cesar? They brought friends!) about 7am. Welcome happy morning, indeed! By the time we arrived home from church, they had torn the old roof off and put down tar paper. Unfortunately, my mind was busy with Easter baskets and deviled eggs, and I neglected to take pictures of the progress until about 4pm...

As my 7 year-old said, "Those men are working hard!"

Oooh it looks good already!



But oh the trash to clean up!

While they may have gotten an early start, as I type this it is nearing 8pm and they're still hard at work. As Rhett surveyed the progress earlier this evening, he decided he'd better pitch it- and it seems they needed him!

Rhett and Freddie strike a pose...

And now it's too dark outside to get a picture of the finished product, but just wait. Tomorrow, friends!

Happy, happy Easter!

BONUS!

I love a good bonus, don't you? Even if I don't need anything, Clinique Bonus Time always necessitates a trip to the makeup counter. Getting a "bonus" is a surefire way to get my attention.

Tara is getting her bonus this week in the form of a bonus room over our garage. Tara's existing attic is downright huge, running the length of the house. With a little creativity, you could easily set up a game of touch football up there. Okay, it would have to be touch football for vertically challenged individuals because of the way the roof slopes, but you get the idea.

Rhett decided it would be easy to take half of the gigantic attic and make a family/bonus room. Why not? And so the roof comes off.

Darling Rhett tore up the old subfloor and put down some studier stuff. Once that was done, our trusty pals Freddy and Ceasar came to take care of the rest.

Off came the shingles, and then off came the beams! Nothing like a HUGE hole in your roof.

Hi Ceasar!

This was taken from the bonus room, looking into the rest of the attic. We'll put a lovely door here and finish walling it off.

Hello again, from our friendly helpers.

And more progress...

If you look closely at that last picture, you might just get a sneak peak of the colors we're thinking for the body of the house, the trim, and the doors. Lord willing, this little ranch of ours is going to look worlds different in about a month. Stay tuned!

In the end, of course we all have our ideas of what the bonus room should be. Rhett wants an office. I want a yoga sanctuary. The oldest wants a music room for her drum set (drum set not included...yet). Our baby probably just wants there to be snacks. So we'll see what this turns out to be. For now, however, there's nothing like a bonus.

Fixing the dome on our little home!

The new facade is coming along...

The next step will be to knock out those pesky (and crooked) front steps and replace them. I know the guys who are working on our front porch aren't looking forward to jackhammering those steps up, but they have to go. More pictures to follow!

You've come a long way (baby)

From demo to framing, our little porch is coming along!

(Please note little Miss Karate and her owl sidekick...)

Caesar insisted in fixing his hair and posing before this shot!

As of this evening, our roof is alomst complete. It's beginning to feel like the house is getting bigger, and it is!

Chalk it up

I've blogged before about my favorite entryway, but it got even better this past fall. One of my favorite, easy, inexpensive DIY projects of the last few months got a quick mention in this blog, but the single picture I posted (below) doesn't do it justice.

Where there once we three empty squares on the laundry room door, there are now three magnetic chalkboards. Yes, MAGNETIC CHALKBOARDS.

For under $40 at Home Depot, you can get a small pint of magnetic paint and a small pint of chalkboard paint. If you want to simply do one or the other, that's certainly possible, but why not do both to maximize the function? While we chose a basic chalkboard color, you can have the paint tinted any color you'd like (!) making the possibilities simply endless.

Now that basic door is home to notes from school, my daughters' artwork, and even a few creative musings of my own. Love it!

Now you see it, now you don't.

Before we can even begin thinking of a new roof, we have to add something else to the house!

Tara's aged back deck has never been a favorite. It's too hot in the summer, with too many bugs swarming. It's far too cold in the winter to eat or sit outside (though our oldest loves making it a hockey rink of sorts when it snows). Until now, the back deck has functioned best as a hangout for neighborhood kids and a place to pile all the toys.

Not anymore!

When in doubt, tear it down :)

We found a load of treasures hidden under this fifty year-old porch. Fortunately there were nice concrete steps and the pavement under the deck had been *fairly* well preserved. There were also fifty years worth of hockey pucks and even a baseball (pictured below) which thrilled our kids (and our dog, who was able to retrieve several tennis balls). Finally, our contractor, Frank, noticed a complete possum skeleton (not pictured below- you're welcome).

Here's what the back of our house looks like today:

We're thinking of a screened-in porch. Wait, who am I kidding, we are officially adding a screened-in back porch! Picture it! Great ceiling fan, a little heater or fireplace, dinners outside nearly every night. Relaxing with the kiddos and reading in the summer...ahhhh. I'm so excited! We had a wonderful porch like this at our last house and it is the number one thing we miss the most. I'm ecstatic to bring it back.