New House & Remodeling

Once we knew we were going to move to Pittsburgh, Tom and I searched for houses daily. We didn't really find much we liked. Tom was the one that ended up finding the house we eventually purchased (HW). It was a foreclosure and had been vacant since November 2011.

When we came up in mid-July, we had a list of 3 houses we wanted to look at. We saved HW for last, because we didn't really think we would like it because of all the work (and the smell was horrible). When Tom and I walked in - we just knew it was the one.

Front of the house

Back Patio

Basement walk-out

The floor plan was exactly what we wanted - split formals, master on the first floor, hardwood floors, 4 bedrooms, 3 1/2 bathrooms, garage on the main floor (not in the basement like a lot of the houses here) and an updated kitchen.

We couldn't put in an offer on the house until our house in TX sold (which happened within a week). After going back and forth on a price - we finally closed (well, Tim filled in for us since we were in TX) at the end of August.

There were a few things we wanted taken care of before we actually moved in. We had new carpet installed on the 2nd floor and in our bedroom, a couple rooms painted and the house deep cleaned.

We've knocked a lot of our "house list" since moving in. There is still a lot to do, but we had to take a break for tax season. Once its over, we plan on taking care of more. :)

Other than the basement, the worst rooms in the house had to be the bathrooms - ALL of them.

The powder room had the ugliest wallpaper I've ever seen on the walls and the previous owners thought it would look good to add leopard print to the ceiling. What!?! Who does that? Tom and I spent a whole weekend taking all the wallpaper down, but the end result was worth it.

I don't really like the sink, but it works for now..

 Leopard Print Ceiling

We chose Pumpkin Spice for the walls

Tom did a great job texturing the ceiling

The kids bathroom upstairs also needed some updating. The vanity was horrible and had no storage or mirror, but at least we didn't have to take more wallpaper down. :)

We went with a mint green color

We also didn't have to do a lot to our bathroom. We painted (okay - Tim did), had a new vanity installed (the old ones were ugly) and added a mirror.

Look - dressers with sinks on top of them (ha) - the drawers don't even open

I love the window ledge above the deep soaking tub

Much better :)

More to come....

Outside

It was such a nice day that the kids and I spent quite a bit of time outside before and after Grace took her nap.

There was a lot of running.....

Some tricycle riding...

And even a little riding/pushing of the wagon.

Happy Easter!

We had a pretty low key Easter this year.

The kids woke up (early) to Easter presents from the Easter bunny. They both loved what they got. Tommy got a new pair of cowboy pants (George Strait Wranglers), TMNT Underwear, bubbles, soccer socks and some Peeps. Grace got a new pair of shoes, lots of bubbles, some more Crayola Wonder paper to color and a few books (Brown Bear was one of them).

Tommy's Basket

Grace's Basket

Someone is a happy camper

I think this was Grace's favorite present

 That's all!

Grammy and Pap-Pap came over for some egg hunting and dinner. Since it was pretty rainy, we had to make due and hide all the eggs under our patio. Grammy brought some adult "eggs" (wine) for the grown ups.

Lots of eggs to find

After dinner, we pretty much sat around watching TV, eating pie and talking. :)

Happy (late) Easter!

Brown Bear

This is Grace's new favorite book....

Gwyneth's 1st Birthday

On Saturday, we headed down to Pittsburgh for our little Gwyneth's birthday party (Tom and Anthony - her dad - went to college together).

We did have a little incident with Grace on the way there - she got a little sick in the car. Luckily, we were still pretty close to our house and after getting her and the car cleaned up - we made it there about 15 minutes late.

The weather was actually pretty nice (upper 40s) and the kids had fun playing inside and outside. Sharon and Anthony had the party catered and the food was very yummy. Our kids were too busy having fun to enjoy it. :)

Ice Cream Time (Grace didn't touch her cake)

Tommy enjoyed the cake

The birthday girl and her family

Tom and Tommy hanging out

 Gwyn, Me & Grace 

After we left the party, Tom drove all around downtown Pittsburgh to show me some of the area (since I can't navigate down there - haha).

Easter Egg Hunt and Coloring Eggs

On Good Friday, Tom and I took the kids to Schramm Farms (http://www.schrammfarms.com/home.php) for a little Easter Egg Hunting.

There were a ton of people there and it felt a lot colder than the 45 degrees it was because of the wind. Once we paid for the hunt, the kids had fun hunting for eggs. Since they have such a big turnout, each kid can hunt for 5 eggs.

Someone was a little grouchy from their nap

Tommy was excited

Tommy and daddy hunting for eggs

Our 2 little stinkers

Mommy gets in on the action

After we found the eggs, we took them inside and turned in 4 for a treat bag and the other 1 for 2 cookies from their bakery.

The kids had a lot of fun and really enjoyed eating their cookies. :)

That night, I took the kids up to Tom's work so we could all go to dinner at this local Italian place. Once we finished eating, got home to take showers and put our jammies on...it was time for a little egg coloring.

The kids had a blast picking the colors for their eggs and then putting stickers on the eggs. Grace's choices included the butterflies and bunnies, while Tommy chose the "Church" stickers (that's what he calls anything with a cross on it.

They couldn't wait to get started

Tom is having fun too :)

Sticker Time

Black Tie Bingo

Last Saturday, Tom, his dad and I went to the Greensburg Country Club for their annual Black Tie Bingo event.

Dressed up and ready to go

Tim and Tom

The cash bar opened at 6:00 and we got there shortly thereafter. We stood around talking and meeting new people until dinner was served. All the food was very good (my steak was a little too pink for my taste) and the cupcake dessert was yummy!

Pretty decor

After all the food was cleared and the speeches done - the best part of the evening started - Bingo! I think we played 10 games with an intermission in the middle. Only one person at our table won a round, but we had a great time. I love bingo and I'm going to convince Tom to take me more often. :)

Tom was having a little fun with the blotter

Tim texting Grammy

Once everything was done and we got our car, we decided to stop at J. Corks to have a nightcap.

What a fun night!