Knights in Shining Armor and Thanksgiving...good times

I wanted to spend my 45th birthday weekend in Chicago and to go to Medieval Times with the FAM but we postponed it. We are trying to get foster licensed and well we had a home study to get ready for the very next week and our house a mess with all the remodel stuff going on we just didn't want to feel rushed into having fun, so we went a few weeks late. It was Jake, Sasha, and Patti's first time to experience it so we had a lot of fun with them. Sasha got a ton of cool pictures too. I didn't really take pictures this time but here is our "Family Photo" of our VIP entrance. What is it about eating with your bare hands surrounded by a bunch of horses and jousting that is fun?

Thanksgiving was so warm weather wise it felt like an Indian Summer. We flew out from Milwaukee and of course the first stop was for Mexican lunch. Oh do they have the best Mexican food out west. Green Bay is okay if you are a pure gringo, but I like the way they make it out west best thank you very much.

We stayed at mom's and watched Stranger Things, finally. I love vacation for that, you don't have to be in a rush for anything. Other than for Thanksgiving dinner to end up on time. So many dishes so many people. It turned out well. Still waiting for my sister to send her pictures of course. And I didn't pack my camera...I am just finding that I live more through that lens then I do in real life so I try to not always pack it. But I regret not getting at least one photo. Here is one Savannah took on her phone of me, mom, and Monica with her granddaughter Ella. It was such a nice day that day we walked to lunch and to the cupcake shop. It was good to see my family again. I miss having that option for holiday events. Matt and Kelly did a super job on the turkey and stuffing...I cannot say much for my potatoes and the disaster I made...but we won't get into that.

And while we were there we got to spend some much missed/needed time with Harmony. She is so bashful and I hope someday I can spend enough time with her so she knows who I am. She sure has grown. It was fun to see her open her early Christmas gift and play with it.

We also got to spend time with  Ryan and his two brothers, Paxton and Kayson. We had fun playing with them but it was hard to say goodbye. I hope to get to see them again soon and we are working on what we can do to make that happen. 

When we got home Mr. Garfield's voice was so scratchy from crying and missing us so desperately. We picked up the dogs and they were happy but all three were exhausted even more than we were. You know how vacations can be and it takes a day to recuperate. Here is Charlie and GF passed out COLD. 

Transformation at the Bennett's

So remember back in spring of 2016 when I posted that were starting the tear out for the remodel of our bathroom (what was our master bathroom) which then turned into we need to remodel the family room at the same time while the floor is accessible which then also turned into updating Savannah's room since I'd promised her we'd paint it since the day we moved in so why not?

Fast forward to today and looking back there is a lot I haven't been covering. Last summer Charlie put in a new fence to replace the broken one on the North side, he finished the new bathroom this spring and it is gorgeous! Savannah loves it. Then this Summer he finished putting up new vinyl fence and gate in the front of the house to match the side he did last year. We also put in a shed so we have our garage back for our cars without the clutter.

Here it is fall 2017 and we are currently working on our bedroom. Rather than try to capture all what we did to highlight the processes with before and after pictures:

Before pictures - Savannah's room. Why yes, she loved pink. You will see shortly how much that phase has passed.

Savannah relaxing back in her room. She's happy to have her own space again. Now to get a few wall art items and her closet system, but for the most part it is done.

Before photo of the family room. Now mind you this is from when we first moved in, a lot of the wood floor still had "some" sheen to it. I can't seem to find a real before picture. I can't believe I didn't think of getting one.

I love my new family room! After Tuesday we will have new furniture though. 

Love the paint color and the bronze fixtures...this picture was when Charlie started the tile, it sure is pretty and I am jealous it is no longer our master bath. 

Look at my husband's handiwork! 

The bathroom is a bit too small to get the kind of picture I need to show it off.

Hubby did a good job...love our new fence! Now to get the skirting and trim on the bottom of the shed. Hopefully in the spring???

Before...doesn't look so bad...but believe me it is! The paint is so old and the carpet is really wearing since we moved in-plus we found out that we have hardwood floors underneath.The beige wall has two layers of wallpaper, and the curtains we took down were literally ancient. Feels good to get rid of the old. 

Isn't this butt ugly? And it was thick, like brown paper bags! Next time we buy a house I am making sure there isn't layers of wallpaper that will need to come off! Either that or hire someone else to do it (if I will part with the money to pay for something we can do ourselves)

Charlie found this behind one of the baseboards and Savannah's reaction was priceless, "7 cents isn't very much!" So he reminded her that back then the box of Pillsbury was probably only 35 cents to begin with. There isn't a date on it so I am really not sure how old it is.

We have new bedroom furniture ordered and have three months to get everything done when they deliver it. Hoping it will be done before we leave for Utah on Thanksgiving. Charlie cut the door to the bathroom that is going to be the new master bath...really feels like it is for real now and I am excited! As long as we've talked and talked about doing it, I couldn't visualize it until now.

Ha! And we said the only thing we were going to work on the rest of this year was replacing our kitchen tile. Which has to be done also but we will probably start on that after Christmas.