Monday, March 22, 2010

Progression in Paradise


Before we talk about the house, let's remind us of the gi-normous amount of snow we had. It was a fun winter for us. The kids spent hours outside, and i spent hours in the kitchen! For some unknown reason i get a hankering for working with dough when there is snow. I made more donuts, stromboli, soft pretzels, and i hope that's it.

Dave spent some time in Haiti and then on his annual ski trip, so altho he missed some of the food , snow , and fun, we did not let that stop us from having a blast! Between me, my kids, Phil, Shelly, and their little ones, and Chad, we were together almost every meal for a few days. One night the guys made two trips each just to haul me and the kids to supper at Shelly's. Memories were made!! That was some storm!

No school, again!
I didn't even have to ask Chad to open our drive ( in Dave's absence), however, i learned that he "will work for food"!!
I made ham and cheese pretzel pockets. Yumm-mee!
Might as well have 'em all! Mom Nissley was in FL over this storm and Dave was enjoying his own snow in NM.
Brooke and Sheri opted to eat outside instead of taking off all their snow clothes.I tried the whole "hang-out-your-whites-over-snow-to-bleach-them" idea. Maybe my mom didn't mean for me to leave them out all week, but i thought if one day is good, six is better!! Actually, i then re-washed them, hung them out AGAIN, then finally put them away. Are they whiter? Not really, but they were probably ruined in OR already, by never having seen the sun. Good reason to by new this summer.
OKAY!!!......i am in trouble now! Dave has a wrecking bar.........
.....and a mask?! What to do!
There goes my bathroom. Our bedroom is wrecked,too. In the end, they will be a combo. For now we are sleeping in the basement and sharing the upstairs bathroom with the kids. My dresser is in the garage, but when i wear something and it goes thru the wash, it is then in rotation and ends up in the basement in a crib! Winter is leaving and spring is coming, so more and more items are ending up in the crib. I'm about to dig sandals out of a box,too.
One evening i helped Dave reduce drywall dirt by staying a hair ahead of his cut. It really helps. He was in Josiah's old bedroom, cutting a doorway into the new dining room.
This room will then be the library.

Livingroom will be diningrm in the future. Uncle Paul laid the hardwood for us.
Dave put on the stain and finish and i have a never ending headache. Nice floor,tho.
Dave is spraying the primer in our closet. He thinks his hair is gray enough already therefore the turban.
Gone! they took everything!! even the kitchen sink.
Thankfully the kitchen sink is temporarily relocated and is now the 'garage sink'. Even has hot water! We wash dishes about once a day. Funny story( Monday evening)................tonight after a delish supper that was delivered by a sweet friend i ordered Meg, Brooke, and Josiah to do the dishes. I informed them that Britt gets a free pass since just hours ago she washed all the dishes that were out there. She added "and there were alot". I then confessed that it was most of the weekend's worth. She laughed in spite of herself....you see, she'd been at the mountains all weekend with the youth group.
This is what's left of our living space. The plastic walls divide the good from the ugly. There's still lots of dust and dirt, but i'm very grateful for the walls. I've been doing all the painting, not usually on the table, but i'm sorting them here. I do not cook. My wonderful nearby in-laws have been taking real good care of us. And also good friends who have merciful hearts have been bringing crock-pot food or microwaveable reheats. Timely in-home invitations, too. Thank-you all!

And in the midst of all the mess was Josiah's 8th birthday. For 9 years the family tradition has been to put the gifts on the front window sill of this home, usually a day or two before the birthday, so the child can admire the packages and guess what may be in them. Well, the bay window and it's deep sill are gone, so we'll have to come up with something new, but for today i placed them in the spot where they would have been! Happy boy, even tho we couldn't have ALL his friends over and certainly no sleepovers for now.
He brought home 3 friends and we went bowling.

We are very thankful for the sunny weather. The kids have been spending more time outside than inside ( you would,too) and especially here at the new table and 6 chairs. Our old set that didn't make it back across the Rockies only had 4 chairs, so this is a real treat. They are watching a robin, but i didn't know that and promptly after deciding that a backside shot is not so good, i walked out in the yard to face them. 4 "Mom!"'s and 1 "Lil!" got my attention but now they scared the robin away.....or was it me?

Beautiful Spring!! Always on time.

In a week or so my kitchen will be in and by then our bathroom and bedroom should have it's finishing touches done, so i will try and share the joy real soon.

Have a Blessed Easter!