kids, floors and more

I must say, I have the best kids! They've done so well this year with all of our craziness. As I was upstairs tonight peeling wallpaper, I could hear them playing together happily and I thought about all the transitions they've gone through so far this year...

we started packing in late June and they lived in a pretty toy-less house for the month of July

we drove down to Oregon, put our things in storage, stayed in a couple of hotels in order to look for a house, then went camping on the California Coast

we drove down to California to stay with family. During that time we flew down to Arizona for a family wedding and then Phil and I drove back up to Oregon for another house hunting trip

we moved up to Oregon and into our hotel room August 29 so the kids could start school and Phil could start work

they started a new school, which is really a big deal, because they started school--they've been homeschooled up until now

we've visited a few churches since our move, which means they have to try new classes every Sunday

we've taken 2 quick (5-hour drive) weekend trips down to California for family parties

and for the past week and a half, we've been to our new home daily to do repairs and renovations. The kids just explore and play while we work and then we hop back into the car to sleep at the hotel

They're great kids, I tell you! And I'm so proud of them.

Here's what's going on at the house...

We're plugging away in the kitchen. Phil is going to knock out this wall to open up the kitchen into the dining room.

The kitchen is basically gutted. I've sanded the cabinets and have started to paint them white.

Phil's sister is staying with us and she broke up all the floor tile and hauled it outside to our dump pile. Under the ceramic tile, she found 4 layers of linoleum flooring. Four layers, folks!

Once they stripped it down, look what they found...

Yep! That's hardwood flooring, and it matches the older hardwood in the rest of the house! A friend of ours from California is up this weekend and he's sanding the floor for us right now. I had a really great slate-colored tile picked out, but I'm hoping the hardwood cleans up nicely.