The Alguire Family: October 2011

I said, "No". I said, "No Way." I think I even said, "NEVER". Nonetheless, I said, "Yes". And now.....we have a dog, Miley. She is a peanut at 3 lbs, but a lot of sassy and a lot of sweet. The kids are in high heaven. Allison is mother hen and the other two are trying to hold their own. Connor is very sweet with her and will walk her outside. Ella really loves her and always says, "She's cute right mama?" So funny. She doesn't like the biting at her feet, so that is something I am working on with the dog. Other than that we are enjoying the puppy stage and having fun with her. She cries like a baby in her crate, but unlike a baby, I have no problem letting her cry it out:)

Miley in her crate on the way home

Ella loves her

Allison had no idea I was picking up the dog. I surprised her at school:)

One happy girl

Eating time.

Happy Halloween. Our little pumpkin

She is a peanut

Well, we have now lived in our house over a year and we have made some major changes. At times we seemed overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of things that needed to be fixed, changed or improved in some way. We loved the facade of the place and knew that it offered much more space than the other homes in our price range, but for good reason....it needed a lot of TLC. Before even moving in we had almost the entire house painted, all the carpet removed with the exception of the family room, which does not have hardwood and then had the existing hardwood floors refinished. While this was going on my dad took on the kitchen project and we gutted the main floor bathroom, leaving only the tile on the floor. The bathrooms got new toilets and the main floor bath got a new sink/vanity and mirror. Almost every light fixture was replaced as well. The kitchen had an old viking double oven that took over an entire wall. It was replaced with a new oven, microwave and new cabinets that my extremely handy dad made to match the rest of the cabinets. He also made a pantry that went along side the refrigerator, took down a huge bulk head, added crown to the ceiling, new water lines, new tile and counter tops. We did a mini makeover in the kitchen because we plan to completely gut it and add on a bit to the house to give us a much needed entry with lockers and a bit of a bigger kitchen. For now, it is a very functional, up to date kitchen that I really love. Shortly after buying the house we starting getting a leak in the ceiling in the sunroom. We ended up getting a new roof and gutters. Ouch! This summer we got a section of the driveway fixed that was falling apart and caused serious injury to any car that went up or down it, new exterior fixtures, a new play structure for the kids and a huge tree taken down. Next spring we plan to get some new grass and then plant a garden for the kids. Much of our old furniture fit in the house. We have gotten new living room furniture, master bedroom set and a few other things. Lots of rugs and accessories have helped to transform the house. This summer we also had the upstairs painted. They both had really old tile. The kids' bath had green tile on the bottom that was very difficult to match and the floors were peeling. So, we ended up having the tile painted white as well as the floor and then went for a fun blue on the walls. The Master was painted dark chocolate and the floors white. It really makes it clean and will last for a few years...much cheaper than an entire redo!

Here is a look at some of the things we have done:

Main floor bath before...gotta love the fabric

After...everything new except for the tile

Living Room before...yes that is red carpet

After...it is amazing what removing carpet and painting the walls can do!

entry after (sorry no before)

The next two photos are of the family room before. Notice the curtain to the right.

Before

After........All the dark was painted tan and white trim

The entertainment center was also painted

Sunroom before.....

Sunroom...carpet still entact

After....

It is used as a reading room and an exercise room

My dad adding the cabinetry to the kitchen

New pantry

I cannot find my before pictures of the kitchen. So....here are the afters.
There was wallpaper, blue tile on the counters and the back splash and a huge double oven.
Not to mention the bulk head above the refrigerator. All the cabinets
were sprayed white inside and out when the rest of the kitchen was done. A huge thanks to my dad...
this was his project.

All of these cabinets above and around the stove were made by my dad.
He even made a pull out garbage!!! New oil bronzed hardware tied it all together.