Family Christmas

Since we travel for Christmas, our tradition has been to celebrate Christmas as a family on the Saturday before we leave. It was wonderful to be in the new house this year. And the kids are at such great ages for us to enjoy Christmas with them. Christmas is a time that I stop and savor "this time" and the ages my kids are at right now.

I included this picture because I wonder if this stairway will look more complete by next Christmas...


Stuffing the kids' stockings in such a precious time for me. It just makes me happy.





We had a fire going, so the boys were hot. In this picture they are trying to decide which present to open next.


Lauren, my little half-back in a dress. This little dress-up outfit on her stocky little body was about as cute as it gets. Annie helped Lauren enjoy her new shopping cart. Annie ran around the house placing little things out for Lauren to put into her cart.

Moving day

So, yes, this is two months after the fact, but its Christmas and I have some down time so I'm catching up on posts. And this one is worth recording, I think. We had asked quite a few friends to help us move on October 30. Five minutes before 10am, two guys showed up. By 10:15, our lawn looked like the picture below. My mother-in-law described the process as a train that couldn't be stopped. The crew that assembled and the work that they did was amazing, exciting and humbling. Most of the people worked to move the 95% of the house that I had already packed. A few of the women stayed at the old house to pack the things that I hadn't packed yet. When they finished packing, they started cleaning. We had done very little in the garage. A few of the men tackled it. By 2:30, the house and the garage were virtually empty and they were totally clean. My father-in-law, who has helped his 3 children move many times, said this was the first time that he was able to help one of his kids move without actually moving anything (he spent the whole day, much of the week in fact, tiling the bathtub). At the end of the day, even though we weren't actually in our new house, we were so happy and satisfied with the day. And incredibly grateful for the friends God has given us in this place.

The whole yard was filled with trucks, trailers, people and our stuff!


When the furniture doesn't want to go down the steps, the furniture can go out the window.


In preparation for moving day, I made about 8 pounds of meatballs for subs. The food barely fed the crew of people we had. I quickly noticed that even though we had over 30 people in our house, it never seemed crowded. That makes me so happy and eager for entertaining in the years ahead.

Kitchen evolution

Kitchen on moving day


Thanksgiving Day - temporary island, temporary sink, fridge, range. No cabinets. No shelves in the pantry. No dishwasher.


Day after Thanksgiving - Jack cleaned windows on his birthday! We now have a small counter top on either side of the sink and a dishwasher. Pantry shelves coming soon. And hopefully kitchen cabinets!

Fireplace evolution

This picture is shocking even to me - it was taken on October 26 - 4 days before we were supposed to move in.


November 21 - two days before we actually moved in.


December 18 - all moved in. Many fires under our belts. Fireplace tools as Jack's Christmas gift. Next up (when????) a mantle and hearth.

Winter chores

Not only are we enjoying the new fireplace, but we are (by "we" I mean mostly Jack and I) are enjoying the work of the fireplace. Stacking firewood is good work. We had a beautiful Saturday a few weeks ago, so I sent the kids out to stack the wood. Is there a better way for kids to spend a Saturday afternoon? The kids may not agree with me, but I was a happy gal that day. Now what else can I get them to do....?

Home

After 3 1/2 anxious weeks, we are finally in our home. This post is a bit late - we got in the house on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. The story of those November weeks is long and sort of unpleasant, although we had a great time living next to and then with our friends. I'll just say that to be in our home for Thanksgiving (which was by no means a guarantee....) was wonderful. The 48-hours between getting in the house and sitting down to a Thanksgiving dinner were crazy! Unpacking the kitchen (but where to put everything? There aren't any kitchen cabinets!), cleaning floors and bathrooms, finding sheets and towels and setting up bedrooms for the four guests we had for the holiday, grocery shopping, etc. But, on Thanksgiving day we sat in our living room, next to our fire, with our family. So so good. We broke in the house well. In our first five days of living here we celebrated Thanksgiving, Jack's 38th (!) birthday and decorated our Christmas tree. And our guests rooms were occupied, which is exactly how we like them! I'll post pictures later. I just wanted to give the update. We're home!

2 weeks later and still waiting

We've spent the last two weeks at the guest house of a family in town. It was a lovely place to stay - if we couldn't be in our own house. One of the many blessings was that I was away from the chaos of the new house. I didn't have to be around all of the work that plumbers, painters and electricians were still doing. Also, I was forced to rest after all of the work of moving and before all of the work that is still to come in unpacking and organizing the new house. The guest house was also next door to our good friends, which was not only a wonderful treat for the kids but also a blessing to me. Since Jack continues to work late at the house, I enjoyed spending my dinners and my evenings with friends. Our time in the guest house needed to end today so we have worked and prayed toward the goal of getting into the new house today. No dice. There's still not enough done to satisfy the town building inspectors. I was bitterly disappointed and emotionally drained. The patience I think I've been able to maintain over these past two weeks gave out. After spending all day cleaning the guest house, I couldn't imagine moving into another place and doing that all over again. Our friends with whom we have been sharing meals have graciously invited us to stay in their house. We're overwhelmed with gratitude. I'm desperately hoping and praying that we will finally be able to move in by the middle of next week. Now that I have internet service (we didn't have it at the guest house), I'll keep you all posted! I'll also try to send some more pictures.

1 day to go!.... and a change of plans

Well, the good news is that there's actually a lot done. The steps leading upstairs are done. We have a toilet and a sink in the downstairs bathroom. There's heat (in the basement). The temporary exterior doors are hung - we even have house keys. Safety banisters and guards are in place. The plaster is, can I say done?, just about. Ceilings are being painted. And, this is important, everything is clean.

That said, there are a few important things that are not done. We don't have our permanent electricity; which means that while we can run some things off of extension cords running to the temporary pole outside, we don't have light switches or sockets or much power. Secondly, not all the plumbing is done. We don't have heat to the upstairs. And finally, the floors aren't painted. We'll be treading on sub-floor for a while, and apparently that needs to be painted to get a certificate of occupancy. So, while painted floors aren't high on my priority list, the building inspector thinks highly of them.

Since everything mentioned above needs to be done before we are allowed to live in the house, we have made alternate plans for a few days. We are still moving everything into the house tomorrow. We have a fleet of friends lined up ready to help, so we're going to use them. (By the way, Jack is at the house now painting as many floors as he can before we move everything in tomorrow. He plans to work until he drops.) But, our family will sleep in the house of a friend of a friend for a few days. It's uninhabited and furnished - just what we need. Jack thinks that by the end of next week, the issues for the building inspector will be resolved. Not only that, but there may be shelves in closets and in the pantry - a feature that would make the house infinitely more comfortable for me. So, that's the plan. I'm adjusting my mental state and my packing accordingly. Stay tuned...

The finished steps. Beautiful. They have cardboard on them now for protection.


My lovely (temporary) kitchen sink. The faucet even works. The painter asked me today if I'm excited to move in. Um..... I'm getting there.....


In contrast to my very primitive kitchen, Annie and Lauren got their long-awaited kitchen from Grandpa. Jim has been working on this beautiful kitchen for a while, but we think it is worth the wait. He still needs to hang the cupboard doors, but otherwise, it's ready to be played with tomorrow for moving day! The green color is supposed to be the kitchen cabinet color, but now I'm wondering how that is going to look in the room next to the gold living room. Stay tuned for that decision as well....


And now, I'm off to bed. Tomorrow is a busy day!

2 days to go

Jack and Jim are still at the house, so I can't give the official report of the day until they are home. Here's what I know: the porch is done (yay!), the refrigerator was delivered today, Jack will have our temporary exterior doors hung tonight (he's building the permanent ones... sometime), Jim should finish the steps tonight and I think some painting and shelf-building are happening.

The steps as of this morning


I love the living room wall color. In 48 hours all of those building supplies need to be replaced by furniture.


And while the mad rush goes on at the new house, my mother-in-law and I have been packing up everything here. The kids had fun making forts out of the empty boxes.


All available spaces are slowly being taken over by full boxes.

3 days to go

As expected, we're getting into the exhausting part of the week. The part when Jack and Jim are at the house from 7:30am until 10pm with short breaks for lunch and dinner. And there's still a long way to go. There's going to be a delay in getting our permanent electricity hooked up, which is discouraging. After considering our options, it looks like we can still move in. We just won't have access to everything for a few days. Keep going.... keep going.....

This is fun. Our mailbox is in. I even put the house numbers on it yesterday.


Our bedroom is tinted. After the plaster sit for a few days, it gets a final wax coat (I think) so the final product isn't so splotchy.


Jim has the steps ripped out now. He's hoping to finish the permanent steps on Thursday.


The porch is almost done


The tile in the shower is ready to be grouted, except for the niche. Jim is waiting for Jack to cut shelves for it. Another thing on Jack's really long list :)

4 days to go

Sorry, no pictures today. The day was so busy that I only had about 10 minutes at the house and I forgot my camera. There was some progress, but seeing more progress would have been more encouraging. Jim finished the tile in the bathroom, except for the niche. He's waiting for Jack to make shelves for the niche before the tile can be finished. The tinted plaster in our bedroom is done, which hopefully means that they can start cleaning up in the upstairs. Still need plaster in the pantry and living room and a few other random places. Jim started cutting the stairway. Some cleaning up. And there were some pieces that came together, but not other big things.

5 days to go...

Ok, this is going to be fun. We move in five days. The mountains that need to be moved in that time in order for our move to be possible are colossal. Each day of this week I hope to offer a photo countdown as we prepare for the big day. Enjoy! And you might as well laugh with us.

We have the tremendous blessing of having my mother- and father-in-law here with us this week. Jim will spend an exhausting week at the house with Jack. Nettie is preparing meals and helping me with the kids as I pack and run back and forth to the house. Pictured below is the one bathroom that will be ready on moving day. As of this morning there was nothing. No toilet, no sinks, no tile, no doors, no vanity, no countertops... you get the idea. Jim got a good jump on the shower tile today.


Among other things, Jack primed three bedrooms and our master closet.


This is our living room - the room I hope will be my sanctuary (in 5 days). The "finished" room. We are still messing with the tint in the plaster for the walls. It's going to be a roll of the dice - no more time for samples - but I think we've got it.


Part way through on tinting the plaster in our bedroom


Right now we have two toilets - both in the basement. The trick is to make sure you use the one that is hooked up to plumbing.


FIVE DAYS! Well, now it's four. See you tomorrow!

Update on the house

To see these pictures, one would think we are on a good pace to move in to the house by the first of the year. But, we move next Saturday. Exciting? Yes! Overwhelming? Yes!

This is the view upstairs at the top of the steps looking into our bedroom. I love love love that there are windows at the end of that view. So welcoming and comfortable, I think.


The girls check out their newly sheet-rocked bedroom. Their reaction? Squeals of delight and much running in circles.


The kitchen and dining rooms. Annie is standing at the door of the pantry. (I think the spots on the picture are from the dust?)


And.... all of Jack's (and the boys') hard work over Labor Day weekend to put in our lawn paid off. We have real grass in the yard. So much that Jack has actually had to mow it.


I have, well, adjusted my expectations. Gone, for example, are my visions of moving my silverware from its home at our current house, so the perfect drawer designed specifically for silverware in the new house. But, Jack assures me that we will have the basics: heat (propane tank and boiler arrived today), one bathroom (which still has nothing in it, but Jack seems confident), kitchen appliances (but no counter-tops or cabinets), doors (at least temporary ones), electricity and running water. The rest will come in time. I'm OK with all of that. Jack couldn't be working any harder than he is, so the house is just going to be what it is. And even though all of our thoughts and efforts have been directed in the direction of our house for so long, it still seems surreal that we will be living there in a little over a week. Until then, there are boxes to pack! And walls to plaster! And windows to hang! And.... and..... and.....

Good morning!

With T-minus 14 days until Moving Day, our house and our lives are chaos. But, here the girls enjoy a slow morning, waking up together with an American Girl catalog.

Horseback riding in Ohio

Jack took a brief break from house-building for our family to visit his family in Ohio last weekend. We hadn't seen them all summer, so it was nice to be together even if it was only for a short time. Riding the horses is always one of the highlights at Grammy and Grandpa's house.

Corban rode by himself for the first time .


Jakin has been riding by himself for a few years now and he does really well.


At first, Lauren was scared of the horses, but she surprised me by riding with Daddy. After that, I think she decided she like riding. She even sat with Annie.


The first trip with Daddy...


Annie rode for a while and then said in her best spoiled little girl voice, "Daddy, I want a pony". But it was more like, "Daaaaaaaddy, I want a pooooooooony", with her head cocked to one side. Where on earth did she learn to do that? Seriously, we're in trouble.