Spruce Bay Wooden Serving Tray Review

I'm always looking for fun home items for our new house. I recently was sent a beautiful wooden serving tray from Spruce Bay in exchange for a honest and unbiased review.

We'll be using this tray in our new front hall to collect things like key, mail, etc... It's a simple design, which means it would work in almost any home. The tray would make a perfect house warming or bridal shower gift.

I really love the sentiment as well, "There is no place like home" one of the classic movie quotes. This is perfect to see at the end of a long day. I love this tray and will be using it for years.

There are affiliate links included in this post. I do receive a small commission but, this does not affect my opinions.

House Renovation Week 11: Windows!

This week saw the installation of most of the windows. We finally got to see what the front of our house is truly going to look like when finished. Also this week the footings for the mud room and front stairs.


MONDAY

On Monday, the footings were dug for the front hall and the new stairs to the basement were installed.

TUESDAY

The new dining room windows were installed on Tuesday. These three windows are one solid piece, our contractor said it was quite heavy. These windows replace the fireplace and mantle.

WEDNESDAY

All the windows in the front of the house were installed and a couple on the side. This house is coming together.

The footings for the front hall and front stairs were started.

THURSDAY

All the windows except for the large fixed window were installed on Thursday. Rain should no longer be an issue for us.

FRIDAY

By the end of the week we had windows! The footings for the front hall, stairs and deck stairs were poured. We also ordered our bathroom faucets and shower controls. It is going to be a very busy fall with all the decisions we have to make in the next few months.

Stay tuned for more and check out previous weeks here:

Week 10: More Stairs, Roofing and More Framing
Week 9: We have Stairs
Week 8: Up Goes the Roof

Thinkfun's Clue Master Game Review

Recently, I was sent a fun new game to test and review by Thinkfun. The game was Clue Master, it is a logic based single player game that develops your ability to see patterns. We have been having a blast playing this with our five year old. The game is designed for ages 8 and up, but we found that our five year old could play this game with our help.

Clue Master™
Logical Deduction Game

Clue Master is a fun logic game that develops the skill of deductive reasoning, a key ability in math, science, computer programming, and many other fields. In this game, you may deduce information based on what must be true even though you can’t see it directly. The more you play, the more deductive tricks and strategies you’ll learn as you reason logically from the clues you’re given!

Ages: 8 and up
Players: 1 Player

Features:

• 9 Magnetic Tokens (Dog Bowl, Tennis Ball and Bones in Red, Green, and Blue)
• 40 Challenges & Solutions
• Game Grid
• Booklet with Instructions

I found this game to be similar to Sudoku in that you are trying to figure out which item goes into which box in a 3 x 3 grid. My five year old has wanted to play this game non-stop since we got it. She is really having a great time figuring out the puzzles with us. This game is great for math, science and deducting skills. Fun and educational, we'll be playing this for years.

You can purchase this game through my Amazon.com affiliate link and be sure to go to www.thinkfun.com to check out all their other fun games. I do receive a small commission from the affiliate link but, this does not affect my opinions. Disclaimer - I received this product free of charge in exchange for a honest and unbiased review.

House Renovation Week 10: More Stairs, Roofing and More Framing

This week saw more stairs installed, the roofing went on and even more framing. It was pretty exciting to be able to walk up to our new third floor/attic space. 

MONDAY

On Monday, they continued to work on the stairs to the third level.

TUESDAY

Tuesday saw the completion of the stairs to the third floor. It was exciting to see how much storage space that we were going to have in the new house. Tuesday night around 6 pm we saw someone throwing wood off the side of the house and then realized it was the roofer installing the water barrier.

WEDNESDAY

Wednesday saw the completion of the roof, which should help with getting less water in the house. Inside the framing for the attic walls were completed.

THURSDAY

The plywood wall for extra structural support was installed next to the stairs on Thursday. This was originally going to be open somewhat but the contractor felt that we needed the extra structural support. I'm all for the house being sound structurally. They also installed the plywood for the sub-floor on the 2nd floor.

FRIDAY

On Friday, they took out the wall between what was the girls room and that was there toy room. This space in the future will be our new office/guest room.

During this week we also started research into the bathroom fixtures.

Stay tuned and check out previous weeks here:

Week 9: We have Stairs

Week 8: Up Goes the Roof

Week 7: Prep for Attic/Roof

House Renovation Week 9: We Have Stairs

This week saw the installation of the stairs from the 1st floor to the 2nd floor. This week was a tough one for weather, two days there were heat advisories with temperatures in the high 90s and then one day we had torrential rain all day. Amazingly the guys still got work done in our house.

MONDAY

On Monday, they worked on finishing up the trim on the roof.

TUESDAY - Got busy and forgot to take pictures

WEDNESDAY - Torrential rain stayed indoors

THURSDAY

The roofing supplies were delivered, but due to the heat advisory the roofers could not install the roof. They were not able to work on Friday either, it was so oppressively hot.

They were able to build the staircase to the second floor, this was great because we got to show our daughter her room. They also framed the window for the front of the house. This window is actually three windows built together.

FRIDAY

This was another incredibly hot day. This day saw the beginning of staircase to the attic. 

Stay tuned and check out previous weeks here:

Week 8: Up Goes the Roof

Week 7: Prep for Attic/Roof

Week 6: Up Go the Walls