Merry Christmas!

Here's to wish every one of you a very

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!

 

We trust you are each having a joyful time as we reflect on one of the greatest miracles of the ages, God in human form. A tiny baby, born in a stable. God. Incomprehensible.

 

The snow on the ground just serves to make things feel extra special over this time. We got another inch or so last night. It was so fun to watch it come floating down, all puffy and white and festive. Jere strung up some Christmas lights at the last minute while I was fixing supper, so that was added to it all.

 

Our piano with the impromptu lights added.

We had our supper in the living room. The children sure enjoyed it!

 

Jere helped me make lefse, since I hadn't been up to doing it at Thanksgiving. I still didn't do much with it, but he did a good job!

The new additions to the household. The yellow bird is Jaron's, and the blue one is Eliott's. A friend of ours raises them, and so we went to his aviary yesterday and let the boys pick out their own. They really enjoyed that part!

Leanna opening her gifts. Her favorite was a dolly stroller, and she's been pushing it around ever since!

Eliott opening his favorite gift.

And Jaron with his. Actually, I think the bird is his favorite, but this was his favorite toy. :-)

 

I'm sure I'll have more to share after today! Anita is coming over for a bit just to hang out later. We have the rest of the lefse to roll out. And I plan to catch up with some rest after several busy days in a row. Last night I fell asleep on the couch while Jere was out doing the chores! That doesn't happen normally. I was just so tired after all the activities of the day, and the lights were so soothing, and the house was so quiet... 



Just a couple pictures...

 I just had to share some shots of family life recently... A couple days ago I made a "picnic" for the children in the living room. It really didn't take THAT much more energy than normal, and they sure enjoyed it! The next day Eliott took it upon himself to vacuum the living room rug for me, and all I had to do was show him how to put a polarized plug into an outlet. :-) Nice.

Here's one of Leanna helping set the table. She had SO much fun! (Normally, that's the boys' job.)

 

 

And for those of you who haven't gone onto my other blog recently, here is the memory card I made for our precious little baby. It still brings on the tears for me....

 

The trailer is gone, and other stories...

Yesterday was a WEE bit warmer, so Jere decided to tackle replacing the back door. The door was ruined when someone broke into the house before it was moved, and then the frame got twisted during the move, so we could see a lot of daylight around it. Not real nice when it's below zero and the wind is blowing... Anyway, now it's nice and tight, and we can actually use it! Hurrah!

And... (drum roll)... this morning this is what we saw:

Yes, the mobile home is really truly gone. It was a bittersweet moment to watch it roll over the field and out of sight. We've made a lot of memories in that house. But, it was time to say goodbye, too!

And then I found out I wasn't giving my daughter enough credit for being a big helper. Guess I usually rely on the boys, since they're already "trained" to do so much. But they were out learning to be men with their daddy, so li'l sis and Mama were left to do the laundry...

Oh, yes, and Teddy was "helping" too. ;-)

 

I was really amazed at how well she did, faithfully stuffing almost a whole load of dirty laundry in, shaking most pieces out carefully first. I was there scrubbing chocolate ice cream out of one of her shirts, so she thought she was doing it all by herself. And my, was she proud of it! She knew she'd done something special and held her head high while her eyes sparkled in delight. I'd forgotten how such simple little things can build a small child's self-esteem. Guess I'll have to let her do it more often now!

Trailer house is sold!

I am SO excited, last night the buyers came with the money for the trailer house!!! I'm not sure yet when they plan to take it, but I'm guessing with it being winter they'll be wanting it out fast lest it get snowed in... It's such a relief!

Meanwhile, it's turned cold here. Much to our relief, I might add. With all the dirt work Jere just did to extend the driveway up to the house, and then snow/rain/above freezing temps, well, it got rather sticky as soon as you stepped out the door. Yuck. Now that it's frozen again, the mud issue has disappeared. For now. We did have some gravel delivered so hopefully that will get spread on the new section of driveway before it thaws again, and hopefully it will make things a little easier. I'm NOT looking forward to all the mud and mess spring will bring! But such is the stage of life right now, and one day we'll be in a different stage and this one will only be a memory. And for right now, I'm just glad it's cold! And with it being cold, we're finding out all the spots where the insulation isn't thick enough. Jere spent the morning putting insulation in the exposed basement walls, so that should help. Hopefully he'll be able to find time today to replace the back door too, as the frame of the old one got bent out of shape when the house got moved and it has pretty good sized cracks around parts of it. We have a blanket covering the opening to the stairs going up, as there's no insulation in the master bedroom due to remodeling--and, why heat the whole upstairs when we're not using it anyway? I'm VERY much looking forward to starting work up there again, even if I can't help much. But there's still a few things to be done before we can do that...

Last week I gained a noticeable amount of strength, but after a busy weekend and several late nights in a row, I've been pretty worn out this week. Time to just rest again! :-P Oh well. This coming weekend will be a big one for us too--we're leaving Sunday afternoon for a couple days' "honeymoon" as an anniversary celebration. We are really looking forward to that! And wondering how the children will do with us gone for a couple of nights--none of them have been without us for that long! I'm sure they'll be well taken care of, though. Thanks, Micah and Amy!

Something I've just started as I take time out from my normal schedule, which is usually an incredibly crazy one this time of the year, is taking some online classes for website management/design. I think I've done fairly well with our business site for not having ANY experience in making web sites, but the more I do the more I realize just how limited my knowledge is and how much better I could do if I knew a little more. So that's keeping me very occupied when I'm not teaching school or settling squabbles. It's definitely challenging for me! But hopefully will pay off in the end...

Pictures, finally!

Here, at long last, are a few pictures! I know some are curious to see what things look like now that we're moved in, so I decided to get a few pictures of the living room, since that's about the only place I haven't updated with "done" pictures. Except what isn't done yet... And I didn't figure I'd post pictures of the basement where our beds are set up. You don't want to see that mess. Trust me. So, here is the living room as it stands (we do plan on moving the furniture around once we can get a couple of muscly men to move the piano again, so the one sofa doesn't have to be in front of a window...).

And, for Dad, here's how the table fits in the kitchen!

And while I had the camera out, I also grabbed some shots of the results of some Black Friday sales... We didn't join the madness out and about, but bought a few things online and in town on Saturday.

Jere bought a new set of tools to replace his OLD worn out ones. Leanna enjoyed the flashlight!

The boys had a blast with the drills--and the packaging!

And, they love the mats we picked up to soften the hard floor in the playroom. Suddenly, the toys aren't migrating quite as much to the rug in the living room--and that makes me happy too!

We're doing very well. I'm gaining strength noticeably now, though I'm still trying to take it easy so I don't go backwards anymore. It's so good to DO something, and then still not feel like I'm too weak to move when I'm done! I'm still VERY grateful for the help I'm getting a couple times a week with laundry and general cleaning, but it's a very good feeling to be able to take care of my children on a day to day basis without needing someone else to do it... Even when it means doing the basement stairs a couple times a day! Praise the Lord! Jere's back to work full time again this week, and his folks leave next week for Mexico, so I'm very thankful that I'm getting stronger right now.

The appraiser came yesterday to look at the trailer house so the buyers can get their loan. She complimented us up and down for the remodel job, and said she's never seen a trailer so well fixed up. I'm so proud of Jere and all the talent he has!

And Jere still has a lot to do on this house. Last night after our company left around 11, he was caulking some spots where the breeze was coming through the wall. He has a number more spots to do, especially in the living room, and half of the exposed basement wall to insulate yet. The colder it gets the harder it is to heat the house with freezing air blowing in! But the kitchen and school room where we spend most of our time stays the warmest as they're pretty well finished--as long as I remember I need to restock the wood furnace when Jere's not here to do it! :-) I am really looking forward to the day when we can start working at our bedrooms upstairs... But one thing at a time, and I'm just grateful we are living in ONE house right now, and I can happily put up with a few inconveniences as long as we're together.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope everyone had a happy, joyful, safe Thanksgiving day! :-) Ours was just a pretty much normal day. We'd planned on going to a friend's in the evening, but they got sick so we didn't go. I was pretty disappointed. Not because of the food, but because it gets very lonely and long for me these days. I don't have the strength to go out much at all, and I'm missing church and fellowshipping with church friends. We were also invited to Jere's folks for lunch, but the invitation came as we were fixing a VERY late breakfast and it just didn't work. Instead, we did school (horrors I know, but we got behind over the time of my surgery so we're working hard to catch up) and the little ones got nice naps. Jere took Jaron hunting in the afternoon, and then Jere's parents came for a little visit in the evening. So it was a nice, quiet day.

I was very thankful to find my strength returning some! I actually made pancakes for breakfast as a special treat, and still had strength enough to sit up to the table and eat with the rest of the family. And then I spent some time working at getting my violin in working order again. Our new piano is just out of tune enough that I can't quite get the violin tuned right to play it, but at least now the pegs don't get so stuck that I'm afraid of breaking a string every time I try! One of these days I'll try dragging out the keyboard and see if I can't get it right then. It's been years since I played my violin... By the way, anyone know of a luthier in the area here? It needs a bit of a touch up to a few areas that are starting to crack, and I don't want to stress it out too much and ruin it. And one of these days we need to get a piano tuner up here to get the piano sounding right. And, since Jere JUST found my camera, I should be able to post pictures of it pretty soon!

Things are feeling more and more like home around here now. Not that it's really looking any homier inside yet, but we're starting to make memories in it. It helps that we're still living on the same property so that already feels like home. Jere got the lights in the basement hooked up today--hooray! Now we don't have to use the big, too bright work lights anymore! He also got some outside lights working, so that will be nice too once it gets dark out again. Now that the wiring is about done in the basement, he's going to finish the insulating on the exposed basement wall so that should help things not be quite so cold in our "bedroom". Even the little bits of progress are exciting!

I think about the best news yet is that it looks like we've sold our mobile home! Someone came to look at it today, and offered us a decent price for us. Now they need to go to the bank to finish applying for the money to buy it, or something like that. So, we're cautiously optimistic that it's sold, and hoping and praying they come back with money in hand and trucker in tow. :-) We have a LOT of memories wrapped up in that little house--two of our children were born in it, and we brought the other home to it from the hospital. I walked out of the house pregnant with Treasure, and have never been back into it since he was lost. We've laughed and cried and argued and played games and enjoyed raising our family in it. So, it will be a little sad to say goodbye once it takes the journey out of our yard...

And we look forward to life in our new house! Even though we're not even heating the upstairs yet, we have so much more living space. The children love being able to run about, playing hide and seek or tag. I think it eased their transition into it because they were thoroughly familiar with it before we actually moved in. We've had a few interesting times since they are all sharing the one bedroom, and naps have been cut short because of one thing or another. Oh well. I'm just hoping not too many more months go by before we can get the upstairs livable and all have real bedrooms again! But come to think of it, that means I have a lot to look forward to, doesn't it? Real bedrooms, a working bathtub, doors on my kitchen cabinets, a utility tub in the back entry... oooh, I can hardly wait!

Uh oh

I'm really disappointed and a wee bit worried... I can't find my camera!! I'm guessing it grew feet and ran away, but where I have no idea, and the little feet seem to have forgotten as well. Oh dear. I was really wanting to get some pictures of our house now that we're living in it! And, yesterday Jere moved the trailer house--bummer I didn't get any pictures of that! It just got moved enough to be out of the way so he can make the driveway come up to the new house before things freeze too hard. Maybe. But it sure looks different out the windows now--we can SEE!! Wow. I didn't realize we had such a nice view... Jere had to go down to the job again today to finish up a few things before hunting season starts for his client, but I think he's hoping to start moving dirt this afternoon. I'm SO eager to be able to drive up to the house!

We are doing fairly well. I'm just better enough to want to do more than I can/should do, and it's getting a bit... frustrating. Yesterday I decided I was well enough to do laundry in my new machines. But till I managed to sort out multiple piles of dirty laundry (our laundry hampers/baskets were full of books and other items people didn't know what to do with when they moved our stuff so all the dirty clothes ended up in heaps on the floor) and haul a BIG armload up the stairs and get two loads washed and one dried, well, suffice to say I felt something like jello. So at bedtime Jere managed to empty two of my laundry baskets, empty and refill the dryer, and sort out a few other things so we actually have room to walk around our bed comfortably. I still can't even dream of getting to my crocheting supplies, or the computer programs I've been wanting. They're buried. Along with most of my sewing stuff. Sigh. I'm ready to start making order out of mayhem, but if I can't even do a couple loads of laundry however will I have energy to do more?

I really shouldn't be whining, though. We're all under one roof, and it's warm--as long as someone remembers to load the wood furnace! I have a functional kitchen, and children who know how to load, unload, and run the dishwasher for me. It's sunshiney today, with a sprinkling of snow on the ground. And besides my energy level being in the dirt, we're all healthy! Now, I need to go give my children their oatmeal...

And maybe, hopefully, find that camera...

Birthday party!

Well, finally I'm getting around to posting pictures of Leanna's birthday party the other night. We had a very nice evening, thanks to all of our guests chipping in to bring the meal!

The birthday girl with her birthday "cake".

We had a butterfly theme, in case you can't tell! ;-)

All ready to sing Happy Birthday!

Blowing out those candles...

"Yeah, I did it!"

Opening gifts--a new dolly from the aunties.

And the general hubbub afterwards of trying to put the new kitchen together. :-)

We're moved!!!

Our hearts were rejoicing last night as we crawled into bed, very tired and weary though we were. Rejoicing greatly in the Lord, and His blessings to us. For the first time in over a week, the whole family was under one roof for the night! I have no words to say as to how good that made my mother-heart feel. After coming home from the hospital I have been living in the new house as I don't care to try climbing the 6-foot ladder to get into the other house. But things weren't ready for our beds and other furniture in the new house. Saturday night and into Sunday morning Jere varnished our living room floor, and Monday and Tuesday a friend was busily putting up the duct work. So, last night a number of dear friends came to help us. They cleaned the basement (quite an operation as it's been a workshop for the past months) and moved all of our beds down there. Our sofas, desk, and piano were set in place in the living room, and all the numerous odds and ends were packed into boxes and totes and stacked everywhere. Then the ladies present cleaned the trailer thoroughly, down to mopping floors. I'm quite amazed it all got done, and ever so thankful!

I was up and about some yesterday, feeling stronger than I have yet. I can't express the weary joy of making my way down the basement stairs to be able to direct my children getting ready for bed, then to walk only a few feet away to crawl into my own bed again. To have them be able to come running to us through the night with their worries. I felt like a mama again even though it wore me out completely. :-) God is so good to us. The blessings He has poured out on us are so much above what we deserve! As I look around at our much larger house that is on its way to being so nicely fixed up, God's blessings seem so real and abundant.

There are pangs, yes, as I think of the diaper changing area I had planned out that won't be needed now, at least for a long time to come, and thinking of the crib being packed away once Leanna's done with it. But God has brought peace to my heart that even this is in His hand, and because of His great love for us. Treasure is with Him, in a place where there is no pain and no tears. A love that would keep him in this world of troubles and cares would be a selfish love indeed! I do mourn over the little feet that will never patter over our floors and little lips that will never lisp out "Mama", but I joy that my child has been freed from this world of sin and if forever with the Lord.

There is still a mountain of work ahead of us. They tell me I probably won't be back to "normal" strength for about 3 months, so it looks like an awful lot to do in finishing our remodeling and moving in before spring! We have almost all the trimming yet to do on the main floor, tile to lay in the mudroom, and then the entire upstairs to remodel. Plus bookshelves to build and curtains to sew and a number of other odd things to do. One thing at a time, and I'm just so glad to get done what we do have done already!

Outside, there's sunshine melting snow. I'm glad to see the sun again after it was hiding for so long. Somehow it's easier to feel cheerful when the sun's out! God bless your day, as He has blessed mine!

We lost our baby...

God is good, all the time. Even when it's hard to believe. As in now, when I am in the hospital recovering from surgery after having a ruptured ectopic/tubal pregnancy. I was in a tremendous amount of pain that came suddenly Monday morning, and as our family doc was busy with another emergency and we had no idea what was really going on we waited until afternoon to go to the clinic. Once we were there they couldn't get a blood pressure or much of a pulse, and our friendly ambulance crew screamed us to the hospital. After an ultrasound that confirmed the thought on everyone's mind, I went into surgery to have the ruptured tube--and, obviously, the baby--removed. (As I was only 6 weeks along, the baby was about the size of a sesame seed and they wouldn't have been able to find it.) They suctioned out more than 2 liters of blood, which is about half of the normal adult's blood volume, and said I came fairly close to bleeding to death. Recovery had been difficult from losing that much blood and the abdominal pain I've been having. And obviously also the emotional struggle of losing a baby we were longing for. Though I can't cry, for I struggle to take deep breaths because of the pain. That will come, I'm sure, since I have many close friends and two sister-in-laws who are expecting and we have been desiring another baby for a long time.

So please pray for a rapid return to health during this very busy time in our lives. I will be in the hospital overnight and possibly through part/most of the day tomorrow. And that God would be glorified even in this.

Updated pictures!

Ok, these pictures aren't anything to shout about. After all, it's pretty bare bones living still in our new kitchen. But it's really an improvement over the old one. Thanks, dishwasher!!! :-)

Shooting from the school room. Yes, it's a mess. We're still moving!

 

My new baking corner! LOVE it already!

 

And the other part of the kitchen.

No, we don't have cupboard doors yet, and there's even a drawer missing. That will come--Jere plans to make them. :-) I have such a handy man! Meanwhile, I get to try out my dream of not having cupboard doors and see if I really like it as much as I thought I would. I mean, how many times do we have to open (and try to remember to close!) those miserable doors? Well, it would be nice to hide some of that stuff, really. It looks a little cluttery all out in the open.... One of these days! Just having a dishwasher has been a real blessing. The boys are thrilled to have the responsibility of loading and unloading the dishwasher for me--'specially when that includes pushing buttons!!! :-) Since the table settings are now where they can easily reach them, the boys also set the table before meals. Not only does it save me the time, but keeps them out of trouble during my busiest time of the day. Score!

Things really are going well. Jere thrilled me last night when he told me he thinks he has about two more days on the job where he's working, then he plans to stay home and work on our house till we can move all the way!! Well, as in move all our goods from one house to the other, and we'll be sleeping in the basement until the bedrooms upstairs are habitable. Which is going to take awhile. Oh well. It WILL be worth it! Jere's hoping to have a moving day toward the end of next week. Realistically, I'm guessing it will be the next week before we're able to move. We must still pack, after all, on top of getting this house ready. :-) But I will be SO happy to be living in just one house again, with just ONE fire to tend and not to have to run up and down ladders umpteen times a day. Jere did get the one couch we have into the playroom in the new house, so we at least have somewhere comfy to sit. :-) Hooray! Every little bit helps!

Speaking of moving, the invitation is open for moving helpers... End of next week or sometime the next...

Here's the Princess and her daddy having a goof-off the other evening.

 

And the fire Jere got to watch as a he was on stand-by with the ambulance a little while back. It wasn't real far from home, so Jaron got to go along to watch. The rest of us enjoyed watching the fire trucks scream by on the road from the comfort of home!

Moving!

Don't have much time to say a whole lot right now, but we finally got to the stage where beginning to move was possible! Ok, there's still a TON of work to do. But the kitchen is set up with everything it needs to function--minus a missing drawer, and the cupboard doors, and some shelving in the cupboards. But, that's "extras" that we can live without. Knowing it was coming, I moved a bunch of the children's toys and books over, so that they would feel more like it IS home and they have things to occupy themselves with besides finding hammers and nails, and putting said nails where they don't belong with the borrowed hammer. :) And then Jere got the cabinets re-made yesterday so the fridge would actually fit, and the sink installed. So, today was big moving day #1! Jere's sisters kindly helped out... again... thanks girls!!!!!!... and washed a huge backed-up stack of dishes for me, so all the dishes we moved over were clean. I hauled laundry basket after laundry basket out of one house, up the ladder, and into the other house, only to empty it and start all over again. It's easier to carry than boxes, when you need at least one hand to make it up the ladder! There are still many things that need to be moved from one kitchen to the other, but we did have supper over there this evening. Whoopee! Then Jaron enthusiastically helped me learn to load the dishwasher and get it started--soon, it will be his and Eliott's job. They're pretty excited about running the buttons, at least! So, tonight I'll be going to bed with the good feeling that the dishes are clean. Ahh. Now, just to find an automated way to give those boys a haircut yet tonight...

Starting to finish a few things!

Happily, here are some more progress pictures! Hooray! Our house is coming along, slooowly, but coming!

The new kitchen sink, set in place for the first time!! (We got it used, with the faucet. Isn't it lovely?!)

The Handsome Man working at the plumbing. (Only to find he doesn't have the right part...)

 

Here's the kitchen, waiting for a good, thorough cleaning, the sink to be plumbed, and the appliances moved in. Then, then, we can USE it!!!!

And... HERE is the bathroom!!! Pretty much done for now, and we're SO excited have a working bathroom (including running water!). I think all that needs to be done is to give the vanity and shower a thorough cleaning, touch up a little paint, and screw the new showerhead on.

So, what's next? Well, to be honest the pressure is pretty intense right now. It's getting rather chilly these days (61* in the trailer house all day today!) so we need the furnace to get hooked up. Sounds like our furnace man will be coming tomorrow to run the gas lines to where the kitchen stove, furnace, and our new gas dryer will be. And the gas company is coming Friday to move the tank up to the new house. So, we will "have" to move the kitchen over Friday or Saturday, I guess! Plus, Jere's allergies have really flared up, as they tend to do when I neglect to clean. So, I have to get at least our bedroom cleaned up--massive job, since it's been the stockpile spot for everything we're collecting for the new house! Like, stacks and stacks of fabric for curtains (and some to replace Leanna's dwindling stack of dresses that fit!) and mending stuff that I haven't had time to deal with. Not good for dust allergies...

We also need to finish the living room, and soon. It still needs the walls and trim painted, and then half the floor gets ripped up to repair a big patched area, and then it gets put back down, sanded thoroughly, and finished. What little we have sanded has revealed what promise to be lovely Maple flooring. Once that's done, we'll pretty much live in the new house and sleep in the old. And hopefully that will give us room to maneuver in the old house, to finish up the remodeling we started in there and never finished. Once THAT's done, we can put it up for sale!! And, we need it sold and out of here in time that we can do some landscaping before things freeze... Or we will be in a pickle. This place is a MESS when it rains--I can't imagine what it would be like to add ice to the mix! So, we keep plugging along and hoping we can get things done in time.

We did spend some time on next year's garden last weekend. Jere tilled some in the new garden spot and I planted garlic. We also made a small flower bed by the back steps, and I put some tulips and daffodils in there, along with a few transplants from my current flower garden that will hopefully soon be done away with. :-) I have a few more flowers to move out of there yet--guess I'll just put them into the regular garden till the other flower bed can be built next spring. We also got onions, carrots, and beets out of the old garden, and are waiting for a killing frost to dig the sweet potatoes. Then we can let the cows loose in it to clean up all the weeds! :-)

We also said goodbye to all of our last litter of puppies, so now that responsibility has ceased. Hooray! The sick one did recover beautifully, and also went to her new home. Praise the Lord!

Not sure when I'll have a chance to update again... Seems like I have far more calling for my attention these days than I have time to get around to. But, I'll try to in the next couple weeks. Till then, enjoy the fall!

Science class, and working on the kitchen!

Well, we've had a rather busy week! But then, we've gotten a lot done, too. :-) There's some very exciting progress on the house, and I just couldn't wait to show it to you!

 

But first off, on Wednesday afternoon we had a group science class with some of the other first graders and their mothers from church. We're trying to do it once a month, and so far it's been going well! This class was on the different kinds of trees, their parts, and identifying them. It was the perfect day for it, and we had a lot of fun.

 

Discussing the tree as we're gathered around it.

Making our way down to take a look at the apple trees.

Some of the lovely leaves the children gathered.

The children dipped the prettier leaves in wax to preserve them.

Now, to the house. Our goal has been to get the kitchen ready to move into. So, Jere's been working hard at getting that goal met! I put one coat of paint on the kitchen cabinets, and then he put them up.

Applying molding to the top of the cabinets. (Isn't he awful good looking?!)

Hanging some more cabinet units.

The light now residing above the kitchen sink. It's a remanufactured hanging light. I have the smartest hubby! :-) It's one of a kind, and so pretty!

And, here are the cabinets all in place with the final coat of paint! And, the backsplash is there now too. And Jere hung the main ceiling light so we could see. It's been foggy and rainy and rather dreary around here the last couple of days...

(Just to clarify, that stove is heading out the door. Anyone want a free, antique stove? We just need it out of here!)

It's just incredibly exciting to see the house actually start looking a bit more homey, instead of like a war zone. Of course we have a LONG ways to go, and it will be awhile before even the kitchen is finished. Jere has to build the doors for the cabinets and make the baseboard--both things we intend to do after we're moved in! Meanwhile, we keep plugging away...

Goal this weekend--met!

After such a tough week with the sick puppy, I was afraid I'd never get finished what I wanted to do! But, even though it isn't quite the goal I had set at the beginning of the week, it's still done. The laundry room and kitchen are both painted! And I even have time to spare... well, not really! There's still dishes to wash and laundry to fold and if I braved the pouring rain and mud I could get another can of paint and start on the trim. Wouldn't that be exciting?! With painting the entire main floor the same colors on the ceilings and walls, I'm ready to break out the color! And hope it meshes to look like I want it to! Yikes...

Jere faithfully worked at the plumbing and finished up with that yesterday. He was so excited about having a working toilet in the new house he hollered to me across the yard to tell me! I went to applaud his work, as he finished up something else in the basement, and narrowly escaped getting soaked by water coming through the floor in the bathroom. Here, the toilet hadn't been winterized when the other folks left the house, and it has a HUGE crack in the tank. So, now no toilet till we can get to Menards again and buy one... Well, at least it will be ready to use once we do get it! And still no running water, since we have no working faucets. BUT it's all ready once we get the new faucets in place, and so it shouldn't be too much longer now!

We also pulled the onions, and dug about half the carrots before it started raining. The onions are SMALL this year, very disappointing. But, at least I planted two double rows, so there's still some volume there. And we got something, despite weeds so thick Jere had to take the machete to them so I could even find the onions... Got a few beets as well. And now we just have to finish digging the carrots, dig the potatoes, and wait for a killing frost to dig the sweet potatoes. Besides eating a few fresh peas and a zucchini or two, and a few tomatoes, that's the extent of our harvest this year. Oh well. Hopefully next year we'll not be QUITE so busy? Maybe? I'd REALLY like to be able to have a nice garden again!

For anyone wondering about Chase, she almost seems back to normal. Maybe a little wobbly at times, but she's acting perky and running around and she just looks like she's feeling better. Whew. What a blessing.

Pictures!

To make up for the post earlier with no pictures, here are some I managed to take today! :-)

Sick puppy Chase. Doing better today, but won't be out of the woods for a few more days yet.

Eliott enjoying the sand pile.

Little Miss with her toys--precious Teddy and a rope!

One shoe off and one shoe on--why do they never STAY on?!!!

A corner of the kitchen. Right wall has fresh paint. Whoopee!

And that's all for today! :-) I was badly hoping to get some more done on the house, but that will have to wait till tomorrow now. The goal tomorrow is to finish the first coat of paint in the kitchen! That will feel awfully good!