hello there

I've hesitated to blog, because I fear my updates will sound like one long list of complaints. When people inquire as to how things are going with the house and I fill them in, the usual responses are something like, "You're kidding me!" I'm really not complaining--just filling people in.

These are the facts...We don't have a kitchen. We hosted Thanksgiving. I wash dishes in the bathroom sink. I cook with a crockpot, a griddle and a microwave. We've had company staying with us since day one. Our kitchen flooded. The flu went through our house when the plumbing wasn't working so there was no washing, no flushing and no bathing for about 36 hours. My husband has been working crazy-long hours. It's almost 12:30 a.m. and he's still in surgery. It's quite possible that I've cried more in the last 2 months than I have in the last 2 years.

Does this not sound like one complaint after another? I don't mean for it to be. I haven't always maintained a stellar attitude, I admit, but I do know that this chaos will pass.

So now I'll fill you in on the details...

Our kitchen is still in the works, but we converted the downstairs bedroom into a makeshift kitchen. We set up our kitchen table and a little pantry and work area. I've been able to cook with our griddle, crockpot and a microwave the previous owner left behind. The bathroom is just around the corner, so it's not like I'm lugging dirty dishes all over the house.

We've had company staying with us for the past month and a half, but they certainly didn't come for a vacation. They've worked hard. And with Phil's long hours at work, we've needed all the help we could get.

Our kitchen flooded this past weekend when we pulled the plug in the upstairs tub. First the downstairs toilet overflowed, followed by the downstairs shower stall. Then the inevitable happened. Our kitchen sink has not yet been installed, because we're waiting for our countertops to be installed. We hadn't gotten around to putting those plastic caps on the pipes in the kitchen, so water of course gushed out of the pipes onto the floor...the newly-stained hardwood floor that still had plastic tarp over it. You'd think that the tarp would've helped contain most of the water. Nope! It was on the tarp. It was under the tarp. It was under the cabinets that are now nailed to the floor waiting for countertops. Yesterday we noticed that the floor is starting to buckle from moisture trapped beneath. And guess what we had done 2 days before this mishap? We moved all of our boxes from the dining room into the kitchen so we wouldn't have to eat our Thanksgiving dinner in the downstairs bedroom. By the time we discovered the water in the kitchen, our boxes were sitting in a puddle of water.

All the while, one of my girls came down with the flu. And water certainly is a necessity when the flu comes for a visit, but there was to be no flushing, no laundry and no bathing until further notice. All weekend we kept hearing glub, glub, glub, so Phil poured something lethal down the drain before bed on Sunday night. Monday morning as he was leaving for work, the glub we heard proved to be very productive and the septic backed up into the shower. It wasn't pretty. He quickly called in to our homeowner's insurance agent and she made arrangements for a plumber to come over pronto. Thankfully, he fixed the problem.

The kids are still loving school. They love it so much. One of my very best friends is flying in from Iowa tomorrow night and staying until Sunday. I can't wait! Last night we went by our storage unit and grabbed our Christmas decorations. Hopefully we'll get the house decorated this week. Two weeks ago I was able to fly up to Spokane for a weekend. I was able to see this little miracle celebrate 1 year of life and attend this concert with dear friends. It was such a special trip.

I'll try to post pictures soon!

upstairs bathroom

before

It's so fun to paint when you really enjoy the color you're working with. Here's the upstairs bathroom. We're not done yet. I still need to apply a second coat of paint and we're waiting on the flooring to come in. I picked out a black and white hexagonal tile.

down comes the wall...

All done! I LOVE this change. It really opens up the kitchen. Please ignore the mess and imagine a really great dining room back there. :)

outside

We don't really like the idea of ivy growing up the side of the house, but at least it's pretty.

We'll have to tend to this after the kitchen is done.

I'm loving this view from my bedroom window! It'll be nice to actually have time to sit in these chairs (courtesy of our wonderful neighbor in Spokane) once we get a few more projects done around the house.

in the girls' room

I found this corner hutch for the girls' room this week, and they decided to display their special tea sets from Papa (my Dad) on it along with a few of their American Girl accessories.

One of the things I love about this hutch is the knobs. I had these very same ones on my dresser drawers when I was their age.

the girls' room

I've been trying to find time to use the Internet since we've moved out of the hotel and into our house. Yesterday I found a few minutes but I couldn't get the pictures off of my camera. I have so many pictures to share, but for now I'll just post these two...a before and after picture of the girls' room.

We've had so much fun in their room! The color we chose was a soft pink called ballet slippers. We still need to paint the trim and the closet door white. The girls and I have been reading a story-a-day from a fairy tale book and yesterday we read The Elves and the Shoemaker. I told them that our house was built in 1925 for the shoemaker here in town. We tried to imagine where his little elves might have hidden. Gracie picked the attic, and Lily picked the chimney. :)