Placed our order

We just placed our order for an outdoor wood burning furnace! I'm so excited! I sure won't miss the gas bills this winter! This is the company we went with. They were super to deal with!
http://freeheatmachine.com/ I'll let you know how it works.

You want to do what?

That is the response we get when people find out we want to take the 5 replacement windows out and put the originals back in! It never fails, everyone responds with those words.

We thought that was the thing to do, replace the windows. After doing 5, because we could only do a few at a time, I just felt bad about it. They just don't look right with the house. I feel really bad about it. Luckily, we saved the original sashes, so we can put them back in. You can see from my pictures of the exterior in my below post, that the new windows just don't look right. Do I love how they open with ease, don't need a stick to hold them up, and tilt in for cleaning?? You bet, but it's not worth it to me to lose the soul of the house.

I'm on houseblogs!!

I'm so excited! I love reading everyone's blogs and I'm happy to be a part of it! I was so excited to have my first comment also. Thanks Becky, I really enjoy reading your blog and I'm glad you found mine!

Colors

We have decided we want the exterior to be a green with ivory trim and plum accents. We just have to go the paint stores to get samples of each to pick the exact color we want. We need to this on a date night, because it's going to take some time looking, and with 3 kids running around, that just won't work! lol I played around with the Benjamin Moore program that I downloaded, and I love the colors I played with, but seeing them in person will be so different.

I'm beginning the journey..

I have contacted the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency about getting our house listed on the National Register of Historic Places. I sent pictures and the history of the house to Anthony Rubano of the IHPA via e-mail. He said it sounded like it could be a good candidate, but I had to go through this application system. So, I just printed off everything we need to do, and we will start working on it. I will be working with a woman, Amy Easton, that is in charge of this. We will see how it goes. Cross your fingers for us!

1/2 done with this section!!

Jerry did some more stripping and sanding this weekend. He is now to the 1/2 way done point on this section of the exterior. We need to go to Sherwin-Williams and Benjamin Moore paint stores to see what they recommend using. We are working with John Leeke http://www.historichomeworks.com/hhw/index.htm as we restore the exterior. He's been wonderful! I still need to send a wood sample to him. I need to get that done! I've been procrastinating with everything else that has been going on. It's so hard to restore a house with young children. It would have been nice to have had this house before we started our family. It will get done, just a little slower! lol

Damn gas prices!

I can't believe how much gasoline costs right now! It's crazy! In my area right now, it's $2.76 a gallon! We've also heard that natural gas prices, which are already too high, are going to go up quite a bit this winter. That just moved up our decision to buy an outdoor wood burning furnace. It's a big purchase, and Jerry has wanted one, but I've been on the fence about it. We decided it's the right time to get one now. I hope this is the right decision, but with a big, drafty farmhouse on a hill, our natural gas bill is REALLY high in the winter. Does anyone have any experience with an outdoor woodburning furnace?

Bittersweet

Jerry just got the okay to tear down an old barn. I hate it when people tear down nice old barns that have good bones! The family that farms the land that the barn sits on want it torn down, and Jerry stumbled across that information by accident and asked if he could do it for the wood. It's all cedar and a really neat barn. I always admired it as a child, and I remember when the old farmhouse that went with the barn burnt. I was about 7 and we could see the fire from my house. The good news about us getting this wood, is that we will be using it for our porch! I'm so excited and can't wait to have our porch started! The added bonus is there is still one lightning rod with a glass ball on the roof of this barn! We are so stoked about that! We are trying to acquire a bunch of those for our home and barns.

The latest house progress picture!

Here is the latest picture of the exterior restoration. It's really coming along nicely. I can't wait to see it painted in the colors we choose! Jerry is doing an awesome job!

Good thing the house is still clean!

I've been a cleaning freak for the past month! I can't leave the house or go to bed with ANYTHING out of place. The laundry is done and put away right away. It's been wonderful. I hope this continues. You know how nobody stops over though when your house is clean, but someone ALWAYS comes over when it's a filthy mess? We haven't had anyone stop since it's been so immaculate. Just 30 minutes ago, I was on the phone talking to my friend Amy, when a car drove up the driveway. It was an old couple and I walked outside. They were admiring the house and asking what we were doing to it. I took them on a tour of the exterior, which they loved. I also gave them the history of the house. They really enjoyed that! I'm so glad, because I LOVE talking about our home! I also took them inside to see the 1st floor. Sawyer was taking a nap, so they didn't get to see the 2nd floor. They loved it and loved the antiques we have filled our home with. They told me not to get discouraged and how beautiful it will be. It's so nice to have people stop and admire the house. :) Thanks Larry and Norma!

Here I go...

This is my first time blogging ever! I'm not a writer by any means, so bear with me. I am just looking forward to having a place to record our busy life.

I'm Stephanie, a 30 year old SAHM to our 3 kids. I've been married for almost 10 years to my high school sweetie! Our lives are very busy with 3 active kids and every spare moment restoring our 1874 farmhouse. It's a ton of work, but SO worth it! I can't wait to see this diamond in the rough in all her glory again!

Here are the kids playing in the sprinkler last week on a hot summer day! These are the moments I wish I could freeze in time!

Here are pictures of our home. We have done work in the inside and just started the restoration of the exterior. We found out the exterior is all redwood! We are taking it to bare wood and it's gorgeous wood!