Design Center day is here! :)

 Well, today IS the day and I am glad, glad, glad the decision-making is done!  Well, at least I hope it is....and I don't rethink things in our "24 hour time frame to change things" :)  It was a crazy morning racing out to our home away from home, the Beazer design center in Indy, after putting the kids back on the bus after a 2 week school hiatus.  And, of course, we had still not made a brick decision so we had to drive by the new 'hood to take one last look at our few brick choices. It didn't help. We still had no idea.  And we arrived a tad bit late for our appt bc of it....but still had to snag a photo in our official parking spot! haha :)  Actually we have been here two other times before and never parked here and the only reason we did this time is b/c it was the only place where there was parking on this busy day.  This is actually our first Beazer home since our current home in our Beazer neighborhood was made by Crossman...so we are first-time Beazer homebuyers!  Thumbs up from me...I am optimistic we will make quick and good choices! :)

 It's official...our name is on the wall for our appt today.  Fun!  Just us and the Coopers who are making their big decisions now.

 The decision we struggled with a few weeks ago...kitchen cabinet color and granite....this seemed easy today....can you guess what we got?  I will give you a hint...a level 5 (on top row) for the kitchen and a level 4 for the 3 bathrooms (middle row)

 Kev standing in the "kitchen" pondering things :)  He's a numbers/paperwork guy :)

 Who-da thought hardware would be a difficult decision...we got knobs and pulls for the kitchen and different knobs for the bathrooms.  Nina Stegs helped us pick these and she swears she will visit every month and scrub the ones we got (can you guess which ones they are??)  :) Kev thinks they will get food stuck all in them...he might be right, which is why we have Nina on reserve to clean them! ha!

 Trying out the granite and paint colors in "our" kitchen :)

 Our designer (Andrea) helping us with flooring....we were pretty solid on flooring..it was easy for carpet b/c we wanted the free stuff and they only had two colors and we disliked the darker one.  The vinyl wasn't too hard either b/c we went with fairly cheap and simple one (only for the laundry room and 3 bathrooms).  The hardwood was the easiest. Kev and I both liked this dark hand-scratched hickory.  I am most excited about all hardwood on our main floor (except Hailey's room)...cannot wait!  I am ready to be done with main floor carpet!

 The front door...this was not at all an issue til yesterday....when Kev was tossing around getting an upgrade in glass...that would cost over $1000.  Yikes!  We don't want people looking in our side windows to our door, but we just couldn't stomach paying this much for the upgraded glass which you still can see through a bit. So we are going to try some sticky stuff that you can temporarily put on (our designer recommended).  But Kev's initial thought was "granny drapes"  Trust me, we had a good laugh over this....him saying it was "cool" to put small drapes on our side panels windows.  Hmmm.  I am glad the design lady laughed along with me and put him in his place. :)  We'll just call him "granny Kev" :)

 Our choices....for hardwood, vinyl, granite, and paint. We switched our paint at the last minute too  and didn't go as dark only bc I liked this hue better and they discontinued the darker one. I will just paint accent walls instead. 

 Our kitchen (backwards...the fridge will be flipped with the double oven).  Can't wait for my new kitchen with staggered cabinets.  Wish I could have glass in it but we have a galley kitchen and doesn't really work to put glass in it where they would put it.  Oh well!

 An overall look of what we picked....we stuck with browns and beiges.  So if you look at the last post, we got that brick on the first house.  I really like it the best.  The gray one did not look good with any siding they had.  We did change the siding at the last minute and went lighter bc the darker Clay we picked on Saturday just didn't seem to go with any bricks we liked.  I know Nina Stegs was not excited about this change in our plans, but Kev was not at all excited about the Clay color that he said looked green so ultimately his decision won out since he has to live in the place and see it every day :)  Sorry, Nina.  This whole brown/beige thing will be a whole new look for us.  Right now we have very light siding, red/burgundy brick and blue shutters/door (not by choice but b/c we bought a spec house when we moved into this neighborhood).  So the browns will hopefully work out and be a new color palate for us.  I am glad we are branching out....at least I think so from the small samples we picked. :)

 Kev double checking the numbers...by the fireplace we did NOT pick! :)  We actually went with the full-brick fireplace (floor to ceiling) with a stained mantle.  I am still on the edge about this, but I hope it's the right decision and looks nice!  If not we can always paint the brick or the mantle, right?  We did NOT get the mantle lights either...I hope I don't regret this, but if I do, Kev assured me he would stand by the fireplace often and hold flashlights to light up my mantle. :) hahahaha :)

 Posing in our kitchen :) (with similar appliances...we get free stainless ones since we are moving from one Beazer community to another...bonus!)

Another view of our choices...

It's funny how lighting and angles can make your colors look different.  The paint is way different than it looks here. We saw it in our neighbor's house yesterday and loved it. It's called Bungalow Beige.  I love the darker hue of it and want it on the one wall in my kitchen.  I will say this was one day I wish my mama was around....wish she had been reachable yesterday too bc I would have called her about everything. But I let her enjoy her Keys vacation with friends and didn't bother her.  But I would have loved her opinion on all this. Sigh.  Some(most) days I wish my mama lived closer.  And if the design center was closer I would have taken my Aunt Sue.  Multiple opinions often help! (though sometimes confuse too! :))

Waiting for our final numbers (how far we went over in design choices). The end result was not that bad (or as bad as I thought).

Off to eat lunch and have a celebratory shake at Culvers in Indy!  YAY, no more major decisions to make (haha...yeah, right)...but it sure seems like the decisions from now on should be easier, right?

So, YAY, for us on biting the bullet and making decisions today.  In 24 hours they will put all the info in the computer and our house will be ready to "go".  We are officially on "go" mode anyway (even with our selling contingency) and even though we don't close on our house til Jan. 23.  But, of course, tonight is our first snow storm of the year along with arctic temps, so most likely this week won't be our ground-breaking. But the permits are ready and by next week we might see some progress. She told us in the next few weeks (weather permitting) things could go semi-quickly...and hopefully by April or early May our home will be done!  Now it's onto the reality of packing up this one and moving into our lil' condo by school.  This is sure to be an "adventurous" January.  Funny thing of the day is that a Rooms-to-go package was delivered to our doorstep for our new homeowner.  I guess they are pretty confident they will own this house even though we are 18 days before closing!  Bring on the packing!!

House Help!

 Ok, it was back to more decision-making today.  My decision on decisions is that we STINK at making them! Especially given the options, which is basically to drive around and look at other neighbors' houses. So that is what we did in the sleet and snow today.  We drove around.  We ended up leaning towards two bricks...this brown-ish one above (Essex Tudor)...

 And this is a new one we liked today...Everest Gray Tudor (it doesn't really look gray to me)...and I do not like it with this brown color they put it with...or gray for that matter. So I have no idea what siding I'd put with it.

 Then we leaned back towards Essex Tudor (brown one). I like Clay siding so we are trying to coordinate with that.  Kev, of course, likes more of a red/burgundy brick with lighter siding (sorta like what we have now on this house).  Tooooooo many decisions....and I still find myself wishing we'd picked a different elevation and could have gotten what we wanted on the outside (stone!)...but instead we will settle for brick and siding and make the best of it.  And I will enjoy my interior bay window instead of the exterior I wanted. :) This time next year I prob. could care less about the brick, right?

 Here's our options from yesterday at the design center (the clay siding is in the middle of these bricks which is what I like...Kev likes the lighter siding)...the Everest Gray brick is the middle left and the Essex Tudor is the upper right, I think.  Kev likes the bottom right, but we have not found a house with that on it yet.  I refuse to put a brick on my house that I have only seen a 10-brick remnant of.  Crazy Beazer!

 The two bricks we narrowed it down to yesterday, which ended up being the two we disliked today on actual houses.  Go figure.

 Then it was back to making decisions about a fireplace...brick ($500) or tile (free)...and then which brick goes with our wall color and hardwood....decisions stink :(

 Here is the free option fireplace in a house we looked at today.  Not sure I love it.  I really want a fireplace area we can sit on at the bottom and I don't know that I love the tile.

 We even have to make silly decisions like lights over the fireplace or not?  These things are not cheap either!  Grrr....like $300!

 I almost say no lights, but then again I know I will want to put a pic of our family up there to have light shine on (or have Kev there to admire in the light) :)  I am so bad at deciding.  I've waiting like all my life for a fireplace in our home and I just want it to be perfect (which I guess isn't going to happen cuz we can't afford the stone) :)

 Our sales lady, Linda, laughed at us today b/c we only had a paper plate to write things on in the van.  She teased us a little bit, but then abliged us by looking up all the houses we liked and finding their brick type.

 We drove by our lot today...the first time we've seen a snow dusting on it...yes, winter has arrived just in time for us to start building...go figure. We had such a mild Dec.

I finally got a pic of Shelb with her tree...better late than never...she took it down tonight :)

Anyway....so we make the major decisions tomorrow at 10:30 and have really no clue on fireplace and exterior siding and brick.  Say a little prayer for us that we make the right decision tomorrow. I know it seems like a minor thing but we drove around our new neighborhood today and it was obvious how many people made bad siding brick combo decisions. I don't want to be one of those!  Hopefully this time tomorrow I will be happy with our decisions! (a special thanks to my friend, Melissa, in MI who sent me a pic of her fireplace tonight....I should have made a call-out for fireplace pics awhile back...there isn't much online as far as pics).

Decisions, decisions...

 Well, today we headed back to the north side of Indy for another visit to the Beazer Design Center.  I wish I could say this is becoming my fav. home away from home, but it is not.  I am not a design-picker-outer at all.  This is why we took Nina Stegs along for advice. She was great and I think she actually likes this kind of thing.  She was very helpful with coloring and I am so grateful she was willing to go along (and that Poppy was willing to watch the kiddos at his home!).  We are finally making some headway on decisions....slowly but surely...

Our two issues lie in the fireplace (brick or tile?)  I have always wanted one you can sit on (brick)...but I actually want stone, but not willing to pay over $2000 for it.  Brick is only $800.  Not sure I love our tile options (free).  Also very frustrated by our outside brick options. Who can pick a brick color for their whole house from a small patch of 10 bricks. Crazy that Beazer does not have a computer program that can show us how this would look on our house.  Beazer needs to hire some techy guy (Kev?) to make a program like this.  It would make us home buyers MUCH happier.  Also, why is it our luck that the brick and paint (and other things) we like so much are discontinued right before we need them.  Bad timing seems to follow us....sigh....

It was a busy day going to Indy and then racing home for girl scout ice skating with Ash and Shelb tonight. This mama is wiped out...and only one more day before it's back to the January grind.  And one more day to make decisions on new house stuff.  At 10:30 on Monday we make our final decisions.  Eek :)

Happy Bday to Me! :)

 Another new year, another bday for me (38 to be exact!) :)  It was a lovely day.  It almost always is bc we never have school on my bday and I am grateful for that (no getting up early, no packing lunches, no crazy rat race)...and this year we were actually home and not traveling on my bday! Instead we spent a peaceful day at home.  Well, sorta....I didn't get to sleep in much and my hubby had to work all day, I had to run to Walmart (my least fav store), but I did get to make my baby girl happy with new Shopkins :)...I didn't get my afternoon bday nap, but I did make my baby girl happy by having her best lil' bud over (probably our last playdate in this home)...we got to say hello to Syd-kitty at Aunt Sue's...and I got my hair cut.  I really lived it up on my 38th! :)  But it was a good day...Shelb and Dyl even shocked the socks off me by decorating the house while I was at Walmart with Ash and Loggy.  I came in the door and they screamed "Happy Birthday" and I jumped.  They had blown up balloons and made a banner.  It was cute.  It meant a lot since it was my last bday in this home....and then we partied tonight...(above is me with all the gifts/cards the kids gave me...the "attire" was from Kev if you couldn't tell...the hair accessories are made my Ash :))

 Hailey doing what she loves best...taking selfies (lol...she actually hates selfies...so her doing this was quite funny :))

 I did my best to make her laugh :)

 Picking a bday winner :)

 Love this girl, even though she might think I'm a bit odd :)

 Dylan gifted me with his magician skills :)  He assured me had had practiced, but I think he stumped himself :)

 The sweet banner Shelb made me :) 

 A rare gift from Ash...she did the dishes...then she asked for money :)  Nothing is free with Ash.  Dad gave her a quarter :)

 My yummy dinner...from Chipotle!  Thank you for this special gift, Auntie Sue! 

 My Bday dessert....fondue, of course!  A Mama Steg fav!  The kids got it all ready for me...along with some bubbly :)

 We didn't have a real cake, but since we had bought this yummy cream brulee' cake at Sam's for NYE, we used it again!  I am cracking up at Logan b/c as they sang to me he was screaming for food and no one heard him.  Poor kid!

 Singing to myself...I am quite good :)  I seem to get even better with age :)
The funniest part of them singing to me is that Hailey accidentally put the iphone on slow-mo when recording and we sounded like dying cows singing.  It was quite comical.  :)  We do have fun in this crazy household :) :)

 Proof that the Stegs almost always photo bomb...I had no idea they were doing this...

 Another one....

 A yummy fondue end to the night...delic!

 Shelb even serenaded me with her newly learned Happy Bday song (which she did first for Great-Gma's bday in FL last week :))  We also had to slow-mo the violin when recording and it was pretty funny too!

 Me and my Logster...he cracks me up lately with his tongue antics...he likes to stick it out at me or lick me or spit all over. 

 He cracks himself up too!

 We ended the night by watching a movie (Dolphin Tale 2...didn't Nina take Shelb to see this?)  It was a great movie.

A nice blurry, tired pic of the bday girl and her fav. guy.  Thanks for a wonderful bday, my family...and to all those who emailed, called, facebooked and e-carded.  Love you all!  You are a blessing in my life! 

Our Happy New Year/Merry Christmas Celebration :)

 It was a wonderful, restful, family-filled New Year's Day for our lil' fam.  We attempted to sleep in (Logan didn't cooperate), but we still stayed in pj's til 10 and then got ourselves put together for our belated Christmas/New Year's/Bday brunch celebration with Auntie Sue!  We had quite a spread of bfast items and if I do say so myself everything was VERY scrumptious!  Aunt Sue outdid herself as usual with her creations and we had our whole gang help out making our yummy food items.  More pics to come another day when this mama is not so exhausted.

We had fun opening gifts with Aunt Sue too.  There are a handfull of people in this world that are super great gift givers...people that just know what you need/want and like (I wish I had this gift!). Aunt Sue is one of those people.  Opening gifts from her is always so fun.  Today was no exception.  She gave us all wonderful gifts cards (a gift in itself for a family of 7 moving twice in the next 6 months...i.e. LESS CLUTTER!) and she also gave us each a couple small things...fun things like hard shell (our kids love this and I am way too cheap to buy it!)...and lots of fun lil' goodies that everyone loved.  She outdid herself as always in the thoughtful/generous department!  Thank you, Auntie Sue!  Just having you in town to celebrate with us is the best gift of all :)

 Our last holiday celebration in this home...I am gonna miss the big mess we can so quickly make in this small space.  I hope we don't make an even bigger one in our bigger place! haha :)  I did miss having two kitties amidst our piles of wrapping paper and post-unwrapping mess.  But we did have fun celebrating Christmas with our lil' fam tonight....with gifts from all the sibs to each other and awesome gifts from our lil' Christmas angels, Max and Debbie! :)

Our last family shot in front of a Leighton Ln. Christmas tree.  We had our "selfies" a Merry Little Christmas! teehee :)  Our fav. Christmas card had this idea in it.  Loved it.  Happy New Year, Everyone! :)