Moving Day!

RIGHT! We aren't even close. I realized today, even if the house were ready to move into, we're not ready to go anywhere! I'm never going to get packed. The kids really don't have the concept of packing. They seem to think it is like when we go on vacation and they go to bed and get up the next morning and load suitcases. Oh well, it will all happen in good time. Luckily, our lease here isn't running out so it isn't like we have to get it all moved in one weekend. ;o) For the record, I would not recommend moving or planning to move around the holidays. It has been really hard to decide what to put out, what to pack, when and where to do what... it has added a little to the stress of the holidays. I guess you want me to hush and get on with what has been happening at the house. Well, we still have mud! The only difference is that sometimes it freezes. In fact, sometimes EVERYTHING freezes, including the pipes.

It is really hard to lay tile when there is no water. Of course, it is really hard to keep the water from freezing when no one wants to walk through the mud to turn it off when it is going to be in the teens overnight. What a surprise. The good news is that the water was the only bad thing to report on since the last update. Things are moving along nicely, even if a bit slowly. The cold weather slowed us down a lot, but now that the heat is on people don't mind showing up.

Since it is getting a bit late, I'm just going to hit on the high points tonight. Sorry, nothing fancy or insightful.

One exciting thing is that we're getting new neighbors! I took a pic of their porta-potty and the water dept. putting in their meter. This is on the first lot that we sold, so they are directly behind us... but out of sight.

Here are the "re" trimmed windows after my mastermind husband suggested to the trim guy how to fix the problem that was bugging us. I won't give away their trade secrets, but lets just say that before, our arch didn't arch very well. The windows were too close together to make it work traditionally, so they had to get creative.

Here is the door hardware.

Here are the interior french doors with the first coat of stain and the frame that had to be built to support them. We took pictures of the entry at church and our trim guy recreated the look for our office. I think it will be really nice when it is done. I know that when we bought these doors at the Habitat Re-Store I talked about staining them... well, the painter said he'd do it for $50 so I decided to let him. Otherwise, they still wouldn't be done.

The stairs to Marshall's room had to have handrails, so we opted to build little walls to be the rails.

The girls finally got their door installed on the shower. I'm kidding, I really don't know why the door is in the tub. I thought it warranted a picture though. ;o) Their tile is laid and their vanity is suppose to be here the 18th. I haven't heard if they're getting a toilet any time soon.

Many of the light fixtures and ceiling fans have been installed. The electricians were on fire about getting everything there so they could install it, then they disappeared for a week. Hopefully, they'll return this week and finish the job.

The jobs I'm most excited about and have waited for the longest are the handrails and stairs. They are finally finished and I'm thrilled. Seeing and loving all my dark stain has made me second guess our decision to go with the natural finish on the cabinets. I'm not changing anything because so far everything has turned out ok, I'm just hoping my luck hangs on. ;o)

Speaking of cabinets, they aren't finished yet, but the wall for the bar area has been installed.

Last, but not least, here is the chandelier that we searched forever to find. Mom and Dad purchased it as a Christmas gift and we're extremely thankful! I think it will be the perfect addition to the home. It is kind of hard to see in hanging in the gallery, but the catalogue picture of it was even worse.

I guess that is about it for now. This week, the electricians and the tile guys should be busy bees, but we'll see what happens. Until then... have a blessed holiday season and don't forget that Christ is the reason for this season of love, generosity and thankfulness. Pray for our family that we don't take the stress of all that is going on out on each other and that we don't get too busy to focus on Christmas. What an awesome time of year it really is. Imagine a God so great that he chose to come to walk among us and share our struggles and joys of every day life. The greatest thing is that you don't have to imagine it... just believe.