We have a new addition to our home!

Okay so did that get you wondering???  No there are no more children on the horizon (that we know about!!) or any new animals... but an addition nevertheless.  Yep our humble abode is going to be getting bigger!  (from 1250 to 1650 square feet, woo hoo!!)  We are so insanely excited... okay I don't know how excited the boys are but Chris and I are definitely over-the-top excited.  This means when family comes to visit they will have a room to stay in, a bath close by and we will have a family room.  This also means I have been busy drawing plans, drawing and redrawing room plans, deciding on flooring (still undecided but NO carpet!), figuring out furnishings and lighting.  Let's not forget paint, window placement, lighting placement... do we paint?  do we do a board and batten treatment? (please oh please say yes)  Do I paint the kitchen cabinets to make the area seem brighter?  Do I remove cabinet doors?  OH the decisions.  And my wonderful husband... well he gave me a kiss and said "whatever you want, honey!"  WHATEVER I WANT!?!?  I don't know what I want...  :)  He really is such a sweetheart about the whole thing and has incredible taste!  In fact this the same man who convinced me to paint the kitchen in Alaska tomato red!  and ya know what? He was so RIGHT!  It looked incredibly awesome and is my all-time favorite kitchen.  So since this house has lower than normal ceilings in much of the house plus a somewhat low vaulted ceiling reminiscent of a cottage we are going to try and decorate as such.  Just as long as there is not a lot of fru fru stuff.. cause ya know I'm not a fru fru girl.  Give me antiques I can use daily, thick butcher blocks, leather sofas, and a distressed dining room table I am one happy girl.  No there is no peeling paint in our house because he who I love dearly feels the need to paint it but he is fine with a scarred well used dining/kitchen table.  AND he has been so patient with all the CLUTTER (something he loathes!) as I try to downsize.   So here are just a few pictures to show you the progress...

Oh by the way, they just started the actual construction on Thursday as the weather did not cooperate all winter long!

The crawlspace dug and blocked in.  My climbing rose bush in the jack-o-lantern bucket and the location of our old patio.

The temporary new location of my old patio.

And in other news... We just completed the AWANA Grand Prix!  What a great turnout and the kids seemed to have such a great time.  They were supportive of each other no matter the outcome of the races.  I won't be including any pictures of the kids as I do NOT have the express permission of the other parents to post pictures of their children but here are some of the cars, to include a few "novelty" cars.

Don't you love the monarch butterfly caterpillar car and the ladybug car?

And the mustache car?  Trust me it really does look like one when you look at it straight on!  Absolutely hilarious!

(our youngest the day prior to getting his braces)

(and his car for which he won 2nd place for best race car design.. it really does look like an Indy car in real life! It was his first year to race!)  A great time was had by all!!  I am so glad we were able to help out this year.  Not only were the kids so much fun to watch but so were the parents (I'm tellin' ya some of the parents were more into it than the kids! lol)

Oh if I haven't said it before, I am saying it NOW.  Any and all ideas for flooring, paint, wall treatments, etc will be gratefully accepted, links will be more than welcome as well!   

Hope you have a great week!  We will as we get to sleep in.  ITS SPRING BREAK!!  Woo hoo!