Homestead Facelift- A Work in Progress

This summer has been a very busy one at the Milbrandt residence - our house is in the process of receiving a complete makeover! 

I want to state for the official record that I am in awe of my husband and his ability to do all of these amazing things.  Construction has been his trade since long before I knew him, but seeing these things happen right in front of my eyes is very impressive.  I don't think I will ever be able to say thank you enough for all the hard work and hours he has put into this project, so I will just take the before and after pictures and stick to the non-structural improvements like flowers!

I am also in awe at the amazing people in our life that have been willing to help.  Evenings after work,  beautiful sunny weekend days, even in 100-degree temps, you name it they have been there.

Thank you to all of you - you know who you are!!

Note: I will update this entry as we progress through the to-do list, so please check back and see what we have been up to since your last visit!

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Before: Old Roof

After: New Roof

Thank you to Adam, Al, and Dylan for your help!

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Before: Front of House Getting a New Garden

Thank you Becky and Diane

 

During: Layout starting to take shape

 

 

After: Front Sitting Garden Complete

Thank you to my mom Sue! 

This project started YEARS ago and is finally completed with the exception of the growing part!  I call this my "Secret Garden" because you can't see it at all until you get right up to the house!  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Before: Side of Garage In Progress

Tehya and Ada helping (tool belts and all!)

Dan with Tehya on the Roof - "Hi Mom!"
(as moms heart skips a beat!)

After: Side of Garage Complete
New siding and Cedar Trim around windows

Thank you to John for all your help!!

Note: "We" decided that the blockwork at the base of the house needs a fresh coat

 of paint now too -  oh no, another thing added to the to-do list! At least it's something I can do!!

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Before: Fence looking pretty drab next to the new siding and trim on the house.  I decided that it MUST be feeling left out and should get a make-over as well:

During: Ada helping mom stain

During: Beth and I staining

During: Front side half done - what a difference!

 

After: To Come Soon!

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Before: Back of House

After: To come Soon!

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Sailing, Bayfield Style

Dan and I had the honor of attending our friend Mary's 70th Birthday Bash up in Bayfield, WI.  Among the FOUR fun filled days of activities around the town of Bayfield (more pictures and stories to come) we had the opportunity to go sailing.  Neither Dan or I had ever been, so we jumped at the chance to check it out.  In Mary's fathers sailboat the Mara we were "taught" the basics of sailing by one of the local sailors named Ted.  We must have been good students (haha) because he even gave us each the chance to steer the craft.  We had a beautiful afternoon and both really enjoyed our time out on the water with him.  I snapped a few shots of Dan playing captain, and I have to say he looks mighty handsome doing so!!

It's a what?!?

Dan was grocery shopping Friday afternoon with the girls.  Moms list had a cucumber on it for adding to a pasta salad I was going to make.  That night when I started making my salad and getting all my needed ingredients out I realized that Dan mistakenly brought  home a Zucchini instead of the needed Cucumber.

Tehya, who was standing near by hoping to be asked to help with the pasta salad making, piped in "For the record mom, I told dad that wasn't a cucumber.  I know that is a zucchini.  He didn't believe me." 

HILARIOUS in mom's opinion!  I guess all that time out in the garden with mom has paid off!

I received a text message from Dan today:

"Need anything from Target?"

Apparently the toy aisle was quite enticing for him and Ada on their shopping trip today...

What a bunch of goof balls!

Happy Anniversary to Us!

September 17th, 2005

Dan and I celebrated our 4 year wedding anniversary last week!

We started a tradition on our first anniversary that we don't buy eachother gifts for our anniversary, we instead take turns each year planning a special day together. This year was Dan's year to plan and he did a fantastic job!

On our anniversary fell on a Thursday and Dan surprised me at work with 2 dozen long stem roses. They were absolutely gorgeous - and made me the most envied girl in the office for a few days! I am drying them to add to my vase of flower petals from special occassions.

Friday when I came home from dropping off the girls at Grandma Sue's for the weekend I was surprised by a completely clean house, which was absolutely wonderful. I was given my itinerary for the next day which read as follows:

Be ready to leave by 9:30 am. Dress comfy.

When we get home you need to be ready to leave by 6:00pm. Dress fancy.

When I woke up Saturday morning I was so excited! I had no idea what we were doing for the day and couldn't wait to get started! We headed to Stillwater where we ate breakfast and then spent the day wandering around exploring the town. Bless Dan's heart I think we went in every single antique store, jewlery shop and botique! On our way out of town we stopped at Nelson's for some of the best ice cream around. We then headed to the salon for pedicures, which was great after being on our feet all day walking around. Then there was still the evening to get ready for! It was fun getting dolled up for a surprise night! Dan had made reservations at Forepaughs resteraunt where we enjoyed a very romantic dinner.

We had such a wonderful day together!

I think sometimes when you are married, and have kids, and have jobs, and have a house to take care of and all those other things that life throws at you it is easy to forget how nice it is to just have a day to spend together.

Happy Anniversary honey, here's to many more!

Date Night - A new Dining Experience

Fogo de Chao

Dan and I joined some friends for dinner Saturday night at a restaurant named Fogo de Chao. For those of you who have not been, we highly recommend it!

This was our first time dining here, and we have decided that without a doubt we will be going back to this meat lovers paradise! It is a little on the pricey side (about $45 a head before drinks) but well worth every penny. They explain the dining experience as follows:

Step 1: Sit down, relax, and enjoy a drink while we explain the Fogo® dining experience.
Step 2: Visit our gourmet salad and sides bar. Enjoy over 30 items including fresh cut vegetables, imported cheeses, cured meats and Brazilian side dishes.
Step 3: Turn your card green side up, signaling that you are ready for our gaucho chefs to begin tableside service.
Step 4: Choose from the 15 cuts of delectable fire roasted meats that are brought to your table, sliced, and served by our gaucho chefs.
Step 5: When you are satisfied, flip the disc to the red side until you are ready for more offerings.
Step 6: If you wish, end the meal with one of our delicious desserts.

When they say the green side signals that you are ready for the meat to come, oh boy do they mean it! Within seconds several gaucho chefs are at your side each with a different delectable choice of meat. Dan and I were in heaven watching the well orchastrated ballet of butcher knives travel around the table!

New Grill

We bought a new grill! Dan was quite excited about the purchase and of course we grilled some yummy steaks the first night we had it home!

Sleepy Day

Ada and Daddy must have both had a busy day, I caught them snoozing in the recliner together!

Dan played paintball today and decided to let the girls try out his new gun when he got home.
Tehya thought it was really cool that she could shoot paint at our garden trailer!

Ada got a kick out of shooting the gun too. She giggled everytime a paint ball splatted!

I think Daddy had fun sharing his new toy too....He always gets a silly grin when he gets to show his girls something new!

Daddy Makes Mommy's Day!

Dan came home a couple of days ago with a wonderful surprise for me....2 bunches of flowers! What a way to make my day! He said he saw them at the store and thought I would like them, and boy was he right!

(And yes, I did make sure that he didn't make any large purchases that I wasnt aware of!)

How many Milbrandts does it take to fix a toilet?

After having our upstairs toilet innards give out on us, Dan bought all new guts for the repair. I decided that I could do this all on my own and took on the task.

After removing all the old parts and scrubbing out the tank it was time to start deciphering the bi-lingual instructions that were not as clear as the box promised.

Flange A goes to Fill tube with a cone siphon gasket...blah did de blah blah blah. Who writes these things?!?!?

The parts appear to be assembled correctly and I decide it is time to turn the water flow back on. No leaks from the wall connection, no leaks when the tank fills so it is time to test flush....

DISASTER!!!! There is definately a leak now!

After employing Dan's assistance (and being reminded that I really need to tighten things harder) it was determined that the flood really wasn't my fault. The rubber gasket between the tank and base that came with the new kit was not the same size as the old one causing a gap allowing the water to come out. A quick change back to the old gasket and we have a functioning toilet...with no leaks!