Looking at the back of the house

We have windows!!! A big step today. Our windows were delivered this morning and Santa already put them in! He must have some quick Elves! I was home when the delivery came and the boys were so excited to see them . Quinton said, "yeah, they brought our windows from the old condo!" It was so cute!

Inside Shell

Obviously, now you can see why we had to move out of the house! We are enjoying our apartment above the garage. Zan and I put the kids to sleep then come downstairs and watch TV on the laptop in the garage with all the mosquitos!

The house is just in pieces, we love watching Santa's progress each day. We can't believe how much he gets done in ONE day! Just amazing!

More pics of Master Bedroom

Here are some more pictures of the master bedroom. The master suite is above the old part of the house that contained the kitchen.

Getting a look at house shape

We are so excited to see the shape of the house. I LOVE MY FRONT PORCH!! Santa worked really quickly to get the roof on before the rains hit Tuesday. After the rain stopped, he hurried to get the shingles put on half the house before the rain hit again today! RAIN, RAIN, AND MORE RAIN!

Open Kitchen!

Literally, I got a bunch of emails over weekend about the house not REALLY being open so I took some photos for you! Santa boarded up the hallway to our room with plywood so we are unable to get to the house now. We have to go through the garage, makes me feel better cause all I need is to open up my bedroom door and see a bunch of squirrels starring at me!

This picture is taken from our bedroom door before he put up the plywood blocking the kids from going down into house.

master suite

The house is coming along! Loving it but it is a MESS!!! The kitchen is open to the sky! I thought I was worried about bugs before, now I am worried about bats, birds, poop, not to mention a heavy rain storm!

Santa is working through the weekend to try to get the roof covered before a potential rain on Tuesday!

Remembering it before it started

Zan staring at wall space for TV

Finally, Zan and I get to see our Master suite. I asked if I could get a huge sign that read "MOM and DAD ONLY" haha

We met with Mr. and Mrs. Santa tonight to go over our changes! The more we see the house being built, the more ideas we come up with! We had to discuss the benefits and if we REALLY needed them. So tough....we made some changes in the height of ceilings, some windows, and a possible change in the staircase. I am sure we will think of other changes, sorry Santa.

Ripping out Quinton's Flooring

Zan is ripping up the floor in Quinton's "old room"

This will turn into a new bathroom for the boys.

New Hallway Upstairs

I think this was the biggest shock so far! Looking from our dining room, to the left of the vacuum shows the new addition.

Looking at the vacuum cleaner, that was our old bathroom that Zan had torn up a couple weeks ago. Santa took down the walls and the wall that went up the left side of the staircase. Totally off limits to kids!

Deda and Zan

Zan and his father are moving a sewer pipe over to the other side of the house so we can still live upstairs. Our other option? Moving back in with Deda and Baka! I think he was over here as quick as lightning!

Quinton's Roof

The roof was added today to the house. We have decided to raise the front part also, because Santa suggested that it would be less of a possibility for snow damage. Whatever! I just say "YES" because Zan is not here and I am always rushing out the door!

He always makes sense to me. We are also thinking about Solar Panels so the higher the roof, the more sun we get! We are all about saving money!!! Even though it will take a 100 years to pay off the panels.ha

Quinton's room

Quinton is so excited to see his new room being built. He climbed up there, laid down and said it felt comfortable! He asked when Santa was going to put his furniture in so he could sleep there. I told him that Santa first has to put on a roof!!!

Southern Hospitality

I guess it is in my roots! My first day in my tiny mother in law suite and the Fardo clan joined us for dinner. I admit, it was a little tight but Michele and I managed to stand arm to arm to cook, clean and chat. Zan thinks I am nuts but there is NO WAY I can go a few months without company no matter what the circumstances may be. Maybe soon, we will have a table and a grill outside......

Below is the picture of the work today. They removed all the plumbing and the wall between the kitchen and the family room. The house is slowly becoming totally off limits because it is a danger to the kids. They could fall through many areas due to a big hole or weak boards. It is so exciting to watch the demolation and to see how Santa manages to keep it all together.

Finally Done!!

AND I was worried about bugs before! What a joke! This looks so disgusting, Zan was breathing all this in for two days! He can't hardly breathe, watery eyes, and very exhausted. I bet he's glad he's got a business trip this week! I asked if wives could join?

This bathroom will be knocked out possibly Monday and will become the new hallway. It's so gross, thank god its getting torn out! EWW!!

Chioccariello's and Dougherty's

Thanks to both the Chiccariello's, Dougherty's, and Baka, we are officially moved into the mother in law suite! The rest of the house will become off limits! We never knew it would take so long to get out of the one side, I can't imagine if I had really settled in there! The kids had been gone for over 24 hours! It was torture! We had to pack up the entire kitchen, take apart Chance's and Blaine's beds, move completely out of Chance's and Quinton's rooms, reorganize all their clothes to be able to share dressers, and even carry the fridge upstairs! On a good note, I LOVE the fridge by my bed!

I was able to rearrange all the drawers and cabinets to a point that we actually don't feel cluttered! I just wish I had one of those holes in the wall that I could shove the beds into each morning! (see above, they are leaning against the wall) We also cut out a doorway into Blaine's room so we could use that room for Chance and dressers so that was smart! Blaine's room is at the end of the construction.

So, thanks to families and friends, we are settled for now. I was really having a heart attack this morning cause there was still so much work to be done but with the help of all of you, we got it done.

Bathroom #2 Demo

Wonder what he is thinking? I bet he is thinking it is the hottest day of the year so far and that he was 18 living with mom and dad!

Santa left for the Poconos on Friday to go ATV riding. He is an expert trail guide and needed a vacation from the Franc Household! Have fun! Before he left, he did give us a "list", maybe we should have followed him up Route 80. I think this was the hardest we ever worked!!!

We had to rip out the bathroom, which puts us down to one! Our first task was to deposit the kids off for the night. We started working and never stopped the whole day. I kept checking on him and he looked so miserable, breaking all the tile off the wall and floors, tearing out the sheet rock , the electrical, plumbing, toilet, and it just kept coming!!! Never knew it would be so much work!!!

JOSIP COMES TO THE RESCUE!!

The only thing he couldn't get was the bathtub which weighed a million pounds. The sad part was that they knew it would bust the trailer so they had to carry it down each level and gently lay it in the trailer.

Thank you so much Josip for helping us today!!