While the builder was working outside, we kept ourselves plenty busy inside! Buck and Graysen got the old track blinds removed and the new ones set in place. You may recall I had painted them from their lovely minty green when we moved in to match the brown accent walls. However, I got REALLY tired of painting blinds, and decided to leave the splattered white/brown on the other side :) When the track started pulling from the wall though, we decided it was time for a total upgrade. Good work guys!




Another major kitchen project . . . refinish the table! There's no way that you remember this, but when we bought the table from our little regional K-mart-ish type place back in our last hometown, we'd had it about two days when our kids' babysitter let them paint their nails on it. It splashed polish remover on the surface, and we've had a lovely whitish spot ever since :/ Buck and the boys decided to take care of that--first by dumping our current nail polish removers over the surface--didn't work, can you believe that?! So, then they did some sanding, then they got the finish remover and gooped that brownish-looking varnish right off of there!

"It looks like gross apple sauce," said the boys :)

We're painting it blue to match the walls, so cute! I think the chairs are getting spray painted black to match the legs of the table. We've never had a matching dining room set before, so this is exciting stuff!!

In the meantime, I was busy unpacking my photo wall. I guess that project wasn't as far away as I thought! For about an hour, I pried the frame stands off the backs of dozens of pictures in hopes that they won't always swing sideways when nailed upon the wall. I tried several different arrangements on the living room floor . . . and then measured and realized my designs were bigger than the wall . . . oopsie!

If there was a list of things that Buck dislikes when it comes to home improvement and decorating---hanging pictures would be scribbled at the bottom and crossed out five times. But, he is a sweet husband and he very patiently, for several hours (we took a few Alaska show breaks throughout the evening) hung pictures for me in the kitchen! My picture wall is back! And BIGGER than ever :)






Oh, and one more project got started--chipping the tile backsplash out of the bathrooms to prepare for new countertop installation! The countertops are not really an upgrade in anything but color (farewell baby blue and purple!), but I think they'll look really nice once we get them put in place :) And again--pretty much all we've purchased so far is carpet and a shed. We've been getting everything else off of the rebates they keep giving us. Then we get rebates off our purchases with the rebates, so it's like a constant cash card in our mailbox :)

This little guy seems to be feeling much better! He has been running around and CLIMBING! Whoa, he hasn't climbed in over a week! He played and played, yesterday. The kids even put him in his ball and cleaned out his cage, so it was all fresh and healthy. He explored for a long time, then finally took a nap under his slide. Caelan saw him drinking on his own from his water bottle today, so I think he's all better! Buck saw him poop (such a dad thing ;), Caelan saw him drink, I saw him climb, everyone saw him eat and roll around in his dust bath. Yay, for a healthy hamster!!

Just Keep Building, Just Keep Building

I feel a little like Dory . . . just keep swimming, just keep swimming . . . if only Dory could swing a hammer and work an allen wrench :)

Today, we began around 10 a.m. hauling the single heaviest box of furniture I've ever had to move through the garage, up two flights of stairs, and down the hall. At the point of arrival, Gabby set herself up as our traffic director, since we were in a one-way only situation :) It took the girls and I four hours to build their wardrobe. I'm pretty sure this one has access to Narnia, because it's kind of amazing we got it together :)

We also brought up the matching (floor model) bookshelf--no assembly required! And of course once these were in place, some significant restickering had to occur to get their wall looking just right :) For the rest of the day, they've been unpacking boxes, restocking shelves, tossing stuff they are shocked they've kept all this time ;) We did take a break for karate, but otherwise, it's been room rearrangement all day!

The garage is now easier to navigate; the van is even back in again!! The living room is 90% clear of stuff that doesn't go there--Gimili still has his place on the coffee table, so he can be under near constant surveillance, and there are stacks of window tint hanging supplies lining the walls. Other than that, a box of pictures that will not be rehung anytime soon and a few odds and ends and that room is almost back to normal too!


For a minute, I considered moving the girls' big bookcase into our room . . . I actually decided I'd love this arrangement, but I would FOR SURE need two that match; one for each side of the bed ;) We have two, but they, unfortunately, don't match each other. The boys and I did some serious measuring in a variety of blank wall spaces and finally discovered that the downstairs bookcase that they very recently reloaded with hundreds of books . . . actually fits in the classroom closet with the hedgehog. Oh, they were not super excited about unshelving all those books yet again :) However, they were good workers and while they loaded up the one in the classroom closet, I brought the girls' down to where the other one stood. It's actually a little slimmer and looks better there than the other did. We're looking good around here!


Tomorrow, we learned, the shed is arriving! That will be one more big piece to the puzzle!

Okay, gotta scrub a toilet, switch the laundry, and move the guinea pigs back into the bathroom/laundry room. I do fun stuff . . . lol :)

Back to Work

We were all pretty wiped out, so the kids and I took a couple days off (well, I did assign a full day of summer school, bwah-hah-haha) while Buck was at work. He could have used the days off more than us, though . . . he's got a herniated disc in his lower back :( It started hurting him in April when he rebuilt that retaining wall by our front stairs; after a few days of not being able to walk, he slowly got to feeling better. Well now, all the lifting and carrying we've been doing on house projects tweaked that disc again. He's about through the can't walk phase and now is in the frustrating pain phase. The doctor told him this morning that a herniated disc can easily become a slipped disc, so be more careful. I just hope he feels better soon!


In good news, the hamster is still alive! I'm pretty shocked. I think it is Brennen giving him water every day (since the little critter is still not drinking on his own). Gimili is certainly not healthy, but he is acting more like himself. He came to beg for food at the bars of the cage like Graysen taught him . . . but he didn't like what we were offering, so he threw it on the ground and asked for something else. It was pretty funny! He received his allotment of dog food and was quite happy to take it into his hut to eat. His back legs still aren't functioning completely correctly, but I think he just might make it--it's been nearly a week since he got sick, and normally they don't last the day. If you've recently prayed for a hamster . . . thanks! :)

Also, I talked to a billing lady at the doctor's office. She was about the nicest person on the planet! She immediately gave me a plan of action, which I completed. Within an hour she'd called back to say they were throwing the errant doctor bill in the trash! Yay!!!! I told her, "I really needed some good news today!"

Let's see . . . so as far as projects go . . . we've started patching the holes and dents incurred during carpet installation. The carpet *sneak peek* looks gray in these photos, as it often does during various times of the day. Other times it looks brown. Other times blue. The carpet's name: "Forever Yours." It better be, because I'm not buying carpet for this house again anytime soon! Ha!

Another big project the kids helped me with: heat blocking the windows. This was my brother's idea. He expressed the frustration of the project's 90000000000001 steps. Boy, was he right! Not to mention, our windows are huge. But I really do think it is helping! Our a/c did a way better job of keeping the house cool today (and it was stupid hot outside!!!) than a typical day--even though we only got three of the five living room windows done . . . and this patchwork beauty in the girls' room--are you impressed, C? Lol! (This may be coming down if we have extra from the sliding glass door yet to be completed . . . I sincerely hope it removes more easily than it goes up!)

For weeks, the girls have been sleeping on mattresses on the floor. Today we decided our focus would be to get their new bed completely spray painted and assembled. We chose to paint it metallic, sparkly gray because the original frame was black--it didn't match anything in their room.

Golly gee, was it hot outside!! Buck started the process last week, but ran out of paint. We wanted to take another step toward settled, so the kids and I sweated it out and got the job done.


It seriously took all five of us to assemble the thing (5,000 screws, nuts, bolts . . . only 3 sketches pretending to be building instructions). I'll admit, it's a little wobbly, but it was pretty *affordable* (cheap :). Buck gave it all a solid ratchet when he got home from work--it's better. We need to decide if we want to brace it against the wall or keep it centered. We have some more furniture to build in their room (since their previous bed was also their dresser, they now have nowhere to store their clothes). The bottom bunk/Caelan's bed sits up into a couch, so it can't brace against the wall in the back or else it scrapes the wall. We'll figure it out :) The girls are just excited to be up off the floor again!

Personalities :)

More Hard Things

You take the good, you take the bad, you take them both, and there you've had . . . did anyone else watch Battle of the Network Stars this week on TV? I remember watching it when we were young. Possibly the last time I saw it was when *Blair* and *Tootie* were competing in the 80s as they competed again this round :) Anyway, that has nothing to do with this blog post, except it explains why the song is playing through my head . . .

I called our mortgage company; they can only honor an appraisal ordered through themselves. Seriously!? And there is a drop off time for the mortgage insurance, but I am "not an authorized person on the account" so they cannot tell me when. So, we eat the $510 I guess. I don't think ordering another round of appraisal at the same rate would make a whole lot of sense at this point :(

This week we received a bill in the mail from when Brennen had that weird leg infection LAST FALL. Apparently when we went to our normal pediatrician's office, the visiting doctor who saw B was not "in-network," so instead of a $15 co-pay, we pay for the entire appointment. And, because it took so long for the bill to get to us, I can't contest it with the insurance company: "You are beyond the 180 day period for resubmitting claims." Ugh. But, I did talk to a VERY nice lady in billing. She agrees it's messed up and gave me a task list to start trying to get it corrected from their end. We'll see how it goes :)

And . . . our hamster is sick :( We don't know why, but it seems kind of similar to what got the other little critters. Difficulty walking, kind of spasms through the body like paralysis. Graysen noticed yesterday and shed many a tear. It's different though because Gilmli is still warm to the touch. He survived the night too, which is the first time one of them has lasted longer than the day we noticed the illness. Also, he'll eat if handed a piece of food, and Brennen figured out he can dip his finger in water and Gimli will drink from the drop. I've never seen someone hand-water a hamster before, but at least he's not dehydrating as the others did! Gimli's been our little champ--he was the first critter we got and has outlasted them all! Hoping he pulls through whatever this illness is!

Carpe-t Diem!

You've read the blog.  You know the delays we've encountered on our projects. I figured . . . the day after the 4th of July--we were all up really late, surely carpet crews would be gladly sleeping in before launching into a full day's project. My information was, "They will call between 8 and 10 AM and let you know when they are coming." To my shock--at 7:45 AM they were in our driveway unloading their van! I kid you not . . . between VBS, Karate Camp, and renovations I have been up during the 7 o'clock hour more this summer than I EVER am during the school year. Give me strength!! :)


I woke Buck up, "I can't believe it--they're here!" I'm so glad Buck was able to be home that first day. They sent two guys. A dad and son. To recarpet our ENTIRE house . . . wha?!! And move all the furniture . . . say, wah?!! Buck helped me help them get the upstairs cleared and the bathrooms filled to the brim with our stuff. I heard the dad say, "Muchos cosas . . ." in a tone I would qualify as despair. Yes, sir, we do have many things. Many, many things :)

The installation seemed to go smoothly. At one point I set out a plate of cupcakes. Soon after the kids moved all of their bedding to the stack of mattresses on top of the couch, the cupcakes disappeared. I fully expected to find two Independence Day-themed treats wedged within the layers . . . However, when the crew of two returned from lunch (with two more crew :) they assured us they'd eaten the missing cakes. HOWEVER when Buck and I were looking through the boys' room, we found the missing treats on the bookcase in the closet. Eventually, the carpet guys did eat the cupcakes and returned the plate. It was the missing plate that initially had us worried about where the sweets ended up :)

After the carpet quartet left on day one, we spent HOURS resetting the house. Unpacking boxes. Rebuilding furniture. Restocking closets. Reshelving books. Resetting picture configurations. Vacuuming staples that their vacuum missed. Identifying places we'll need to touch-up paint. Wow, what a HUGE job!! But the carpet is so soft . . . and so pretty . . . and it matches everything so well . . . happy sigh . . . :)

Today's mystery . . . can you spot Brennen in this picture? Oh. You could? I guess I'll just have to make my mysteries harder then!! :)

Day two of carpet installation covered the downstairs and the actual stairs--whew, I heard some colorful descriptions of those stairs while the installers were here :) I'll only share the most positive, "Those are the CRAZIEST stairs I've ever seen." Ha!

But they look so nice recarpeted! I think that maybe the installers didn't wrap the squishy stuff over the edges and underneath though, because you can feel the bumpy edges when you walk up and down the staircase. Although, this is far preferable to the tack strips we used to be able to feel through the rug when we walked on our floors.

When the carpet guys packed their truck (and the section of carpet we asked to KEEP, drat!) and set out, the kids and I went into full swing. We moved and rewired the computers (I had Caelan do this process solo, so she could gain experience--gotta love a teachable moment :) I also took this opportunity to hook the classroom computer to the internet, so we could update Rosetta Stone. It stopped working months ago, and since they use it daily during the school year, it seemed like a good option to get it up and running again.

Together we rebuilt the girls' giant bed in the classroom, its new home. Now we have guest sleeping arrangements for three--three who really like each other :)

We reset the lower living room the way it was before we got the treadmill. The girls and I dragged the treadmill to the garage (we're going to buy a space a/c and set up half the garage like a gym--which is why we wanted to keep the carpet from the boys' room). So far, I think our changes are helping us gain some space. I guess we'll see when the shed arrives and we really get things moving out and about. In the meantime, I'll just keep enjoying the beauty and the wonderful smells of fresh paint, new carpet, and new furniture (though I have to specifically be in the boys' room by their new little end-table-sized dressers to accomplish that last one :)

First the Fourth

Before jumping back into house "stuff," I'll give you a quick wrap up of our 4th of July celebrations. We awoke, and Buck soon declared our independence from a move to the woods. Gosh, mixed feelings! Yes, I am SO much more physically and emotionally comfortable here, but I like financially comfortable too :) Okay, we're fine financially, just not soaring ahead and preparing for tomorrow. But, God provides our daily bread, and we'll just keep taking what He offers. It will be enough . . . maybe just barely enough sometimes, but enough :)

This announcement changed our plans for the day--without a trip to the house to consider our future, we could work on meeting the needs of our present. First stop, the annual J4 brunch at our former Bible study leaders' house. They host this little party for the whole church (well, not quite the WHOLE church) every year. It's a nice chance to fellowship and enjoy yummy breakfast goodies that I didn't have to make :)

Afterwards, we stopped by the pet store to reload on cat and guinea pig food, plus hay, minus cat, almost plus hamster (dad said no), plus happy hedgehog because cat was minus but cat food was not. Whew! I'm good at math, lol :) Next, Buck heard about a discount store selling everything 50 percent off of even the lowest discount prices, so we stopped in to reload his work shirt collection. We also managed to get the girls each a pair of shorts that weren't blue jean! Granted one is (navy) blue and the other is (white, stretchy) jean, but it's an improvement nonetheless--and for $5, it's almost a steal.

Of course projects, including final prep for carpet, took up most of the rest of our day. The boys would disappear periodically to join the festivities at the neighbors' house. We'd reel them back in, work on stuff, then they'd head back over. It ended up being quite a party in on the block! Only three of the eight houses didn't empty onto the street for fireworks fun. Oh, we did hop back in for our dinner at home--Buck made tri-tip on the Traeger . . . soooooooo delicious!!!

Back to the fire-crackies :) I finally shut Chauncey in the laundry room with his blanket. He didn't seem to cry nearly so much. I think he was so stressed with us being out with the booms, and him inside with the reverberations that the laundry room gig was calming somehow. He likes small spaces when he gets nervous, which is hard to accomplish when you're a 100 plus pound puppy :)

There were some good sparklies, on our block! The boys did endless bottle rockets (with careful dad supervision during lighting). They enjoyed these mega-sparklers we bought at the fireworks tent. We collectively decided the "Game Changer" was the most impressive bang for our ($5) buck. We set one off and then our neighbor saved his for our neighborhood grand finale. The kids had a great time, and we all laughed a lot--especially at the fireworks that would zoom off with impressive speed and sound . . . only to go *poof* at the top of their trail. We were rolling, it was so funny :)