Day 7 photos

 Annie's room before I tore into it.  The wall paper was so sweet I hated having to take it down, but it was just to damaged to save.

 I can't post any pictures of the room stripped because even after my mom, sister and little Maddie worked on this tiny room for hours, it's still not done. 

 The original bathroom wallpaper. Which I think is really cool.

The first load to the dump.

Day 5,6 and 7

So we took day 5 off from the house.   It was much needed, and I'm so glad we did.  Then for day six I got next to nothing done.  So I was all revved up before I went to bed last night to just plow through and get lots done today.   Then morning came and I woke up with a sore throat and pink eye.  Can I just tell you I don't handle being sick well, but pile being pregnant on top of it and I'm a mess.  I was determined not to let this stop me.  I went to the house and got set up to strip the paper off the walls in Annie's bedroom.  I steam the paper on a section of the wall and discover Drywall.   They glued the wallpaper directly onto the drywall!  Which if your lost why this is so upsetting, the paper on the drywall basically shreds when you pull off the wallpaper, so you can't just paint right on it.  This led me to break down into tears.   I needed easy today, and I got something entirely different.   So I spent the rest of the day breaking into tears over the wallpapered drywall and it was not fun.  I was so upset I ended up not watching the time so Annie was late to school and I was late to work.  Being pregnant and sick sucks.   God should give you super immunity while your pregnant.  It only seems fair. 

Day 4

 Nothing but wallpaper.  Five layers of old wallpaper.  Thankfully, my mom and my sister came over to help.   I'm not sure I would have made it through the day without them.  This stuff did not want to come off.   Annie camped out in her corner and played with her Christmas toys while we worked.  Texas was in the basement rewiring the house.  The rest of us were camped out in different corners scraping one layer after the next.  

 Of coarse my sister makes the wall look like some form of creative expression.

 Color stained the plaster from the last layer of wallpaper.

 This appears to be the original paper on the wall.  This chunk just fell off a wall behind a piece of shelving. 

Living room done!

Day 4:

Wallpaper off living room walls, all five layers!

Basement wiring replaced

New leak in the basement pipes discovered

Time:

Texas 11 hours

Me 8 hours

Mom 5 hours

Greta 3.5 hours

Thankfully there was a football game tonight, so Texas was ok with us going home a little early to catch the end of the game.   Otherwise there would be no blogging.

Day 3

 Annie woke up sick this morning, so we made her a little nest in the corner at the new house.   I was really glad we got all the tack stripping up.   Not safe for kiddos. 

 A day of movies, naps, and relaxing for Annie while Texas and I worked on the house.

Please note how much cleaner/nicer the house looks before we start tearing down paper. 

 My mom came over to help with the wallpaper.

The dining room paper came off without a problem, giving me false hope for the rest of the house.

 Annie got out of bed to try her hand at wallpaper stripping.  

It lasted about 2 minutes and then she went back to bed.

 When we got to the living room we discovered 5 layers of wallpaper with two layers of paint sandwiched in between.  On some sections the previous owners thought it wise to drywall mud over the paper.  This is not going to go as quickly.

By the end of day 3 the dining room is stripped, the living room has the first layer of paper removed, and Texas made a huge dent in the removal of the knob and tube wiring running throughout the house. Thank you Lord, for a husband who is incredibly handy. 

If you notice the light fixture in the banister, it's actually put together using car parts.  Very strange...  I'm just glad that Texas worked as a mechanic for 4 years while getting through college, or we might have lost the very unique light.

Day 3:

Big mess to return to tomorrow

Hours:

all day, I'm tired

House Day 2

 Texas was able to get the plumbing leaks fixed in the basement while I was at work.  We have a semi flushing toilet!   This is good for me, seeing as how every time I stand up I have to pee.   It will be a while before we can put any toilet paper or anything in it.  As soon as we get our occupancy permit Texas has to work with the plumber to dig up the sewer lateral.  Till then, I'm just grateful I can pee.

Texas scraped up the tile junk while I worked on the tack stripping

I got all the tack stripping, nails, and staple up!

End of day 2:

Tack stripping up                  

Staples and nails all removed

Tile gunk scrapped up           

  Plumbing leaks fixed              

      

Time:

Texas, all day

Me, 5 hours   

WE GOT A HOUSE!

On Thursday Texas and I became official homeowners!  No, I really never thought I would ever have a house, much less a husband who can fix it. After a few tries at purchasing our new home, we finally succeeded.  Yes, it took more than once.  Fannie Mae doesn't really seem to interested in selling off all those foreclosed properties.
I don't have any outside photos, but I took lots of inside pics!

DAY 1

 As soon as we closed on the house we went to work.  Thursday was unseasonably warm, so Jon and I opened all the windows and tore out the cat urine saturated carpet (I am no longer a fan of cats). 

1st exciting Discovery, a piece of shuffle board table used to patch the floor. 

I want to keep it, but Texas thinks future owners might not understand it's unique coolness.

 Texas worked on chipping up the tile floor in the entry while I removed some of the tack strips.

 End of day 1:

All the carpet and padding removed 

Tile torn out by front door                 

Tack stripping around stairs removed

Time: less than 4 hours

Annie meets Santa Claus

One of the big changes for Annie this Christmas that Texas is instituting is Santa Claus.  She was not to thrilled about it, and it took a lot of long talks about St. Nicholas.  Being a real person who died a long time ago; his spirit still brings presents to children...  After many talks along those lines, she finely caught on.   I wasn't to sure about starting up the whole Santa bit, but she has really loved it so far and Christmas is still four days away.   The hardest part is keeping her on track with Christmas NOT being about presents, but about Jesus being born.   Finding that balance has been hard, but hopefully I'll have it down by the time I get grandchildren.