A journey to freedom!

Some of our friends and family have asked about how the dogs were doing with the new "fence" so I thought I'd quickly blog about our their journey to freedom without leashes.

Our dogs have never been particularly BAD outside (they save that behavior for inside) but they certainly aren't the best either. They generally listen to us until they see something they want like a squirrel, rabbit, small child or leaf blowing in the wind...then the ear muffs are on.

We went back and forth (and by "we" I mean I) about the pet fence. No, it wasn't the shock that I was worried about...I just had absolutely no confidence it would contain the beasts. Let's be honest, our dogs have major issues, we all know this. Plus I still maintain that I would feel much safer with Layla outside if we had a fence to keep her in and other things out.

Anyway, we got an electric fence. It was cheaper than an actual fence (totaled under $400 vs probably about $5k for a self installed fence) and took hardly any time to install. At first we just laid the wire on the ground so that the dogs could see it (along with the flags) and we knew where it was for training.

Oh the training. We wanted to do it right so that we didn't screw anything up, it is very hard to undo bad training (Moose) and we didn't want to go through all the effort for nothing. The first step is to train each dog separate and spend 15 minutes, 3 times a day outside. Great, that is an hour and a half every day taking both dog out individually and saying "go potty" about 10,000 times while holding a toddler that doesn't like to touch grass. Needless to say I made Bryan do it the first couple of days.

So session 1 with Oscar went well if you prefer to have your husband forget to turn down the shock "volume" and have your 15 pound dog receive the shock set for a horse. So session 1 = "success" and Oscar was trained...he hasn't gone near the line since. In fact, he practically pees on the back patio and is ready to go inside.

After calming Oscar down and making sure he wasn't having heart palpitations, it was Moose's turn. Bryan turned down the "volume" and Moose got shocked about 2 times. Not too bad but he did come back after being shocked which are all good signs this will work for your pet.

Now, 2 weeks later I can actually say that we let the dogs out and they stay in the yard. Like I said, Oscar will barely leave the patio but we are making progress with him. Moose still gets shocked at least once a day but he's getting it (and let's be honest, it is going to happen for awhile). We even let the dogs stay out with us while we were doing the yard work yesterday and they did great!

Overall I think the pet fence was a good choice. If it works for our dogs I fully believe it can work with almost any dog. We aren't to the point where we can just open the door and let them out yet (they need to comfort of us telling them "no" when they get too close to the line) but hopefully by the winter they will be a little more independent.

So fine, Bryan was right. There I said it.

"Is that a tree or a bush?"

Oh boy did this Sunday turn out much differently than we planned. First Layla, aka our alarm clock, slept in until 9:45 today! I think she was still worn out from chasing cousin Grayden around all last week. ;o) Church starts at 10:00 so of course we missed it and went grocery shopping instead. After just hanging out around the house and having lunch, it was nap time for a very grumpy girl (how in the world could she be grumpy after sleeping almost 13 hours the night before?!). Right after putting her down for nap Bryan and I decided to go outside and take a look at some paint colors against our brick. This turned into about 15 minutes of standing in the driveway looking completely dumbfounded as to what color looks good with orange brick.

So after getting sick of trying to figure out the difference between "cool cucumber" and "silver cucumber" we took a stroll around the house to pick out what landscaping we were going to demolish. And by landscaping I mean completely over grown bushes/weeds/trees and by demolish I mean pick apart with hedge clippers and a shovel (we like to do things the hard way). After marking about 13 bushes we decided today was the day to start. So armed with literally one pair of gloves (which I made Bryan stick his hands into to make sure there were no bugs in...you can never be too careful), hedge clippers and two shovels we started to tackle this:

 

Our main focus is to get rid of the 3 bushes under the window and the other 3 bushes that wrap around the house. Eventually we are going to do something about the bushes on the left (X marks the spot) but those things are mega huge and we HAVE to do something about the horrendous tree that you see there on the right. There are two more like it right there and they are really REALLY ugly. 

Now it was time to delegate responsibilities. Oscar and Moose were responsible for hunting bugs, Bryan got the job of axe man and my contribution was pictures and taking every branch down to the road. I have to now explain that I had gloves on the entire time and you better believe every branch, twig and leaf was inspected for spiders and beetles. I don't want to think about those missed but I'm happy to report no incidents. 

So after about 5 minutes of watching Bryan cut down a bush with hedge clippers our wonderful neighbor asked if we wanted to borrow a saw and axe. He must have felt very sorry for Bryan. #1- it was hard work and #2- his wife was standing behind him making comments like "is that a tree or a bush?!" and "that tree is bleeding, omg look at that tree, it is bleeding!". After gaining the proper tools, the job went much faster and easier. Poor Bryan, but at least he didn't have to take the sticks to the road. 

Overall, things went very well. We got 3 bushes completely out on the left side of the house and even had time to trim one down to the "nubs"on the left side of the house. Then we realized something...it was right next to the electrical box were all electric lines, cable and phone lines run into the house.

Well crap, now what do we do? I have a feeling if we call the city they will just tell us not to dig there but COME ON, that thing looks like Medusa's hair! I guess we'll figure that out another day. At this point Layla was still asleep so Bryan decided to tackle some out of control vine (I think that is a vine)

I must tell you that he started removing these with his beloved hedge clippers. I think he thinks it is appropriate to use them on anything from cutting down large trees to trimming the grass. After a few minutes I said "why don't you just use your hands?" and would you look at that...it went much faster/easier without those clippers. LOL

At this point Layla woke up so I took a few "after" pictures to share with everyone and ran inside. Look at what a difference this made!!

Front of the house by the garage:

Same side of the house, just a difference angle:

Left side of the house:

Our house already looks so much lighter! Now we just need to throw down some grass seed in the yard areas that were totally shaded by those bushes and figure out what we will plant in their places. And figure out what to do with Medusa's hair of course. We only have 7 more of the big boxy green bushes to tear out and we can start planting. Woooo hoooo!

Our new house!

After living behind Pizza Hut for 8 LONG months we finally have a new home! This house is really special to us because it is our first "forever" house. Obviously I would never say that this is the house we will be in for life, if I know anything it is that we are totally unpredictable ha! But we do have every intention on being in this house for a long time, hence the enormous amount of work we want to do to it.

Buying this house has been a rough journey for us. We still have our house in Tolono and despite the fact that it is in a great neighborhood, unbelievably cheaply priced (like makes me sick to my stomach priced) and just plain adorable...we can't sell it. I could go on and on about how unbelievable the housing and lending situations are but instead we decided to suck it up and rent it out until it gets better. 

Anyway, the rental situation here in Midland isn't the best when you have two dogs and a toddler so after having just about enough of Pizza Hut we decided to start looking. After about 17,000 phone calls, TONS of paperwork and selling my kidney we were able to find a company here in Michigan willing to float us a second mortgage. It is amazing what the letters PhD behind your name will accomplish LOL. Although I'm pretty sure our new home is owned by the mafia, it was all well worth it to finally have a place of our own with a yard and plenty of room for guests.

A little about the house- it was built in 1979 and the upstairs was just updated this winter to help sell it. Not the case downstairs though...it is 70's central down there. So here we go, I'm sharing these as our "before" pictures because there are PLENTY of things to be done to this house to make it more "us". I'm taking some inspiration from my new favorite blog (younghouselove.com thanks for sharing Ash W!) and want to document all the transformations.

Welcome to 2904 Georgetown Dr!

The front of the house. We are in need of a major landscape overhaul, basketball hoop removal (who puts a basketball hoop there?!) and a fresh coat of updated paint on the outside. All projects for next summer. Good thing I like to paint!

Come on in everyone! Layla is very excited to be your tour guide. Here she is greeting you at the front door.

View when you walk into the front door. We have the kitchen to the right, formal living room straight ahead, coat closet and hallway to the bedrooms on the left. Plans for this space includes paint and some wall art.

Another shot of the living room. The window looks out to the backyard. Layla LOVES to sit on her dinosaur and watch the birds and squirrels out there. This room will get a complete transformation with new furniture, paint...and Bryan wants a new TV (maybe in 25 years).

Another shot of the living room looking back to the foyer.

The dining room is right off the living room and connects to the eat in area of the kitchen. We need paint and a hutch or buffet or something here...

We are back in the foyer looking into the kitchen, eat-in area and family room.

Another view of the kitchen. We don't have any real plans other than some paint and new flooring. Not sure if we will do tile or hardwood in here. I'm sure I'll take a poll on that one at some point.

Family room that is currently being used as Layla's playroom. She is the only toddler I know with a fireplace in her play area. LOL. I know we are crazy but I just couldn't give up the living room for her toys. We still need to do some major baby proofing around the fireplace but other than that, this is perfect for her. All this room needs is a coat of paint and glass replacement on the fireplace (ewww to gold fixtures). You can see the screened in porch through the double windows in this room.

Currently my least favorite room (besides the entire creepy basement). This porch is right off the eat-in area of the kitchen. We need some paint, new screen door, something new on the floor and furniture here (those Illini chairs and step ladder just don't cut it).

Our backyard! Currently we have more woods than grass...something we found to be pretty typical here. Michigan people love their trees...and I'm trying to learn to live with them. It is nice because our house and backyard are SO cool with all the shade, but the bugs...oh the bugs. At some point we are going to have to cut some of these down and make room for a play set. I'm sure there will be a fort out there when Layla gets older. :)

Here we have the laundry room. I'm pretty sure the Lowe's guys had never seen someone so excited about a washer and dryer in their life. I almost cried when they were showing me how to use them. I practically hug and kiss the washer and dryer goodnight every night...I'm so in love with them. We've had nothing but problems with every washer/dryer we've ever touched but I have a feeling these babies will be around for awhile.

We have a half bath right down the hall from the laundry room and by the garage door (plus another closet). Need some paint, fixtures and new floors in here too.

Now for the bedrooms! Here we have our office, this window faces the front of the house. I have lots of plans for this room! New paint, lots of shelves and a place to display my photography.

Another view of the office. Desk and bookshelves compliments of Ashley and Eric, thanks you guys!

Come on Mommy, I want to show them my room!

And here is Layla and Oscar enjoying some rocking time in her room.

Here is a better shot. I'm trying to decide when to redo Layla's room. I'm going to try to put her in a "big girl" bed right after she turns two. Maybe then we'll get to work on her big girl room. I'm thinking cupcake themed for now but that is subject to change. 

I can't wait to paint in here! Still trying to convince Daddy that blue walls will be the way to go. But we'll just enjoy the Paris theme for now. 

Here is the guest bedroom. First on this list is a bed frame for in here LOL. Then we'll work on the rest.

Layla's bathroom. Still working on this one...need more ideas!

Our bathroom. I think we'll do a coat of paint and be done in here.

Layla in our closet. She locked me in there while I was getting a sweater. We have a lock on the basement door and she hasn't figured out the locks on the outside doors but bedrooms and closets are game on!

Our bedroom. Yes...that Jumparoo is still used (pathetic I know)

Besides some paint and more decor we obviously need to either hire a priest or buy some furniture coasters. Our top drawers will not stay shut! A ghost or leveling problem? We'll find out as soon as we stop being lazy and get something under those front legs. LOL

The dogs love the new place!

Overall not too much work needs to be done, just the perfect amount to keep us busy and make the place our own. One thing you won't see for a long time- pictures of the basement. Until I can go down there by myself (I'm too scared now) you'll just have to use your imagination. Their is a drop ceiling, dark wood paneling for the walls, a few windows, a bedroom and another bathroom down there...ALL needing updated. It will be a huge job that will have to wait until we get everything else done. I promise to get before and after pictures but that job is going to wait until our house in Tolono is sold.

Hope you enjoyed the tour! Can't wait to start posting those "after" pictures!

Finally unthawing

We had an amazing day yesterday. It was SO nice outside! After Mommy got a chance to sleep in a bit (thank you Daddy!!!!) we headed off to Lowe’s and Home Depot to do a little shopping. We have discovered that Home Depot has a bit of an edge over Lowe’s. No, it isn’t low prices, a better selection or great customer service…it is the car carts. After walking into Home Depot and Layla seeing those dang carts we can’t make just a quick trip. Nope…we have to scope out a car cart even though they are approximately 50 times larger than the normal carts. You have to really work up some momentum to get those things to even turn a corner. And if you actually put merchandise in there, forget it. You are running into at least 4 people while in the store.

After our NASCAR Queen had enough we headed home to break out the pool. The water was absolutely freezing, something I think we’ll have to get used to up here until late July. Of course, the dogs were the first ones in and probably had more fun than anyone. Layla enjoyed watching Oscar splash around a bit then got in herself, but decided just her feet in were enough. After about 10 minutes of splash time Oscar poked a hole in the pool so we had a funeral. Hopefully Daddy can patch the whole but overall it wasn’t bad for a $2 sale at Pamida. ;o)

Then it was nap time for Layla and time for the bug guy to come. I’m not sure what he did but I haven’t seen a single monster from hell since he left. YAY! 

After nap we decided to head out to Thrune Park. I have been stalking this park since we moved here 9 months ago. And by stalking I mean I am shocked that the neighborhood watch hasn’t called the police. Good thing I don’t drive a white van! LOL. It was closed for construction and finally opened a few weeks ago. This park is GREAT! It is totally fenced in and perfect for toddlers. It has a splash area, picnic tables, a tunnel, walking paths and lots of other fun stuff for Layla to explore. Layla had a blast running around and showing Daddy all the fun tricks she can do. 
 

This picture below is for Grammy...I think you got your red headed Great Grandchild! Curls and all...I have a feeling this summer she'll be more than a strawberry blonde. ;o)

 This was such a great weekend, I can’t wait to have more family time in the sunshine soon!