After the demo...

This is what the fireplace looks like now...So much better than with the lava rock on it!  Now to start the rebuild...

A new project with the Gores

 

We have done quite a few house projects at the Gore's house, and today we started another one!  Look at the beautiful lava rock fire place...get a good look, because it's going to be your last!

Insert chisel and let the games begin!

Here was the view from the top of the ladder looking down when we started. 

This is how I looked during the demolition...

And Kathy!

We draped the area in plastic because it creates so much dust when you are busting up the rock.  We were just in our little bubble working our hearts out. 

It's kind of hard to tell, but the rock is actually busted off right here.  You can see the pieces where it is still sticking out.  A bit of the rock is still stuck to the base, but it will be much easier to clean off than getting the big boulders off. 

An easier way to see that we made progress.

This rubble was everywhere!  A serious shop vac moment is going to be needed when this project is done!

Kathy is right in the thick of it. 

After work tonight, Greg went over with a hand held jack hammer (that they rented) to get the rest of the rock off with Dave.  Kathy, her friend Brittany and I got the other half off today.  Look how dirty these boys are! 

It's very, very easy to see where Greg's mask was!

The picture doesn't even do this justice!  The dust is so, so thick.  Craziness!

They finished up the demo and now we can focus on the reconstruction.  Kathy found a great picture that will be the inspiration, and now we get to really have some fun and make things beautiful!

Cold, cold mornings and beautiful nights

The other morning it was cold enough that Lake Superior was steaming.  It makes it really beautiful, but you know it's cold when it happens!

Later that night, we had the most beautiful sunset.  I was in the parking lot at the grocery store, so the scenery isn't spectacular, but the sky was!  

Touring Exodus

It's always fun to take people to tour Exodus.  The Davis' have been before, but not since the big addition has been finished.  Here's Richard checking things out!

 

It's fun to get in the machines...I swear that everyone (especially every guy) wants to sit in the machine! 

 

Hannah and Chas were in town visiting too.  Here's Chas climbing up...

Then Richard got on the back of the machine to check things out.  Fun times with the Davis family!

Cold schmold...

This was the view from my kitchen window when it was -15 outside.  Yep, all the kids are outside sledding.  I've got some serious Minnesota kids!!

Wow, you have really matured

Ava bought Zach a bunch of mustaches for Christmas and he has been wearing them to school.  Oh yes, that's not a typing error...his teacher said that he doesn't mind as long as Zach isn't being distracted or causing distractions. 

Does this look like the face of a child who would distract or be distracted? 

So, yep, this is how my 9 year old looks when he comes home from school!  Such a funny kid!

The lemon challenge!

How long can you bite into the lemon and keep it in your mouth?  Is there really a winner here?  So funny!

Braces!!!

Andrew got his spacers put in about 2 weeks ago...here are the bottom ones...

And the tops.

And then 1 week ago, this was him!  Getting all prepped - that mouth thing is one of my most vivid memories of having braces - ahhh the memories. 

He couldn't really talk, but he gave me the thumb's up!

Here's Dr. Carlson putting the brackets on! 

What a cute, little brace face!

One of Andrew's friends from school was getting braces on at the same time.  They brought them in together to go over all of the rules, tips and schedules. 

On the way home I stopped and got him a shake...he deserved a little something cold and delicious! 

And here is all the swag he got from the orthodontist!  I thought he made out pretty good (not that we haven't paid for it).  A fancy, new tooth brush, every toothpaste, floss and rinse you could want and a t-shirt so he can enter all of the photo contests they have!  Happy braces day!

When you can't find what you want, make it!

Beth gave us a really great print for Christmas and we went right out to try to find the perfect frame.  It's a really simple print, so after looking at a bunch of traditional frames, we decided we needed something with a pattern.  We found this one that we really liked, but of course it didn't come in the size we needed...

Here's another that we liked, but couldn't find in the right size.  Most of the frames like this were for 4x6 or 3x5 pictures, but we needed something for a 10x13 or 11x14.  That meant that my first craft project of the new year would have to take place on January 1st! 

 

So we bought this simple black frame...

 

I came home and found, downloaded, formatted and printed this pattern on my vinyl machine.  Then I carefully placed the vinyl on the frame (a little trickier than it may sound), painted over it with white paint, let it dry and then took off the vinyl. 

 

 

Next, there was a little sanding, some varnish, and presto!!  The frame we wanted! 

 

Here is the finished look!  I love this present and now we feel like it has the perfect frame!  

Happy New Year!

New Year's Eve proved to be a very cold day here in the northland!  It was -20 in this picture...

And it warmed up to a balmy -15 when we were out in the evening! 

We took the kids to see 'Frozen' and then went to dinner as a family.  We took our time at the restaurant and got home around 10:00.  Then we played games, broke out some sparkling juice and cookies and rang in the new year! 

Right after midnight, the kids went downstairs to show us their New Year's dance.  The blurry picture gives you a really good idea of the dance!  The boys were just shaking their heads as fast as they could until they fell down (they must have learned those moves from their dad, because I know they didn't learn them from me!).  Ava was in the back - busting out her own moves!

Flipping, spinning, rolling, yelling...it was kind of like a New Year's attack!

The worm even made an appearance.  My crazy kids...Happy New Year my crazy kids!

The Woodland auditorium lives on!

Along with the stage, I bought some auditorium chairs at the middle school auction.  I thought they were cool, and I thought they would make for fun movie seating. 

We had to bolt the chairs to a wood base so that they won't tip over, and Ava was our helper! 

She was so cute.  She got right under there and tightened the bolts.  She stayed the entire time and tightened all 32 bolts...that's dedication!

Almost ready...

Taa Daa!!!  Let's watch a movie!  The kids did just that - they invited the neighbor over, got their popcorn and watched a new movie they got for Christmas! 

And the best part is that we can move the rows to the side of the room when they aren't being used.  Nice, comfy seating for movies...all for $5...you can't beat that!