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...