The Work We Are So Happy To Do

I am so exhausted from the lack of sleep and the extra demands of kids who need even more attention during this transition and from all the work we are doing at the house.  John has been there for an average of 12 hours every day working.  With the help of Roger he has pretty much rewired much of the house, added lots of beautiful lighting and helped or over seen all the other work like plumbing and prepping and painting.  After he and his Uncle Morris ripped out the back deck, his cousin Jordan made a railing for the small remaining deck so that kids don't fall off into the dirt.  Mike and Mona Riley came and hauled decking etc to the dumpster, and removed an entire hedge of roses.  My brother in law Sean Holleman and my brother Benny dug up the cement posts from the old deck and removed nails from the old decking to make the planks usable. My mom brought a much needed garden hose as well as flowers and the makings of a nice rope swing to hang on the big oak tree in the back. James Cannan cut holes in the ceiling and worked on new lighting.  David Busch has been expertly painting (waking up really early to get here and help before continuing with his already full schedule) and and teaching me how.  Laura Boyd cheerfully prepped for paint.  Rob and Joanna Short came to paint trim and fix the beautiful floor before it gets refinished next week.  Roger suited up and removed almost all of the insulation from under the house on his own (and had a run in with two possums he discovered her living in it!)  Grandma Ava pulled up old rug tacks from the floor and babysat while I worked. Susan Busch and Juanita Cannan also babysat their kids and mine so that I could choose paint and make decisions.  I love working at the house and having someone watch the kids is an enormous help!
Here are several photos of the house in various stages as well as many of the people helping out.  I will post before and after pictures when we move in.

The evening we got the keys and went to the house to celebrate.

Grace snapped a photo of John carrying me over the threshhold.  :)

Kids playing on the deck on the eve of its destruction.

Uncle Morris starts the demo!

We were sort of hoping to find the boards underneath in good enough condition to re-deck the surface and get a nice new deck but alas it was all rotten and needed to go.

Piece by piece it comes off.

Uncle Mike taking a break after countless trips to the dumpster and back.

Roger swinging a hammer.

Aunt Mona cleared that entire out of control rose hedge off the back walkway and parking area.

David and Laura priming over the wall paper.

Such heroic posture!

Laura up on the ladder with a smile.

James measuring where to cut in the lights.

The floor looks like this all the time.

Me testing trim colors....an agonizing task.

Jordan teaching Grace how to dig.

Yup, these little rocks are pretty light:)

Grace loved sanding the boards.

Is it smooth yet?

Hmmm....

Yup, its getting smoother!

Back to work!

It's coming together.

Jordan's handiwork.

John never seems to run out of energy and he smiles most of the time...he is just loving this.

Ps, the walls will not be pink!

Patching the bathroom.

One of my favorite things about this house...John and I had a clawfoot back at the red house almost 10 years ago and we have often dreamed of having one some day...guess what?  God gave us one:)

Beautiful patching done by Roger.

Nathanael cleaning walls late at night:)

Our bedroom is the first to get painted.

Yeah, there is work everywhere you look.

I am dying to paint the trim!

Walls and ceiling painted, check.  Trim, not yet.

Finished railing at perfect height to lean on with a cup of tea and watch the kids play.

Time for the kids' first hot tub dip!

They absolutely loved it...they treated it like a mini pool.  We will need to teach hot tub etiquette.

Ok, ready for bed now?  I sure am:)

Ava gently removing nail boards from the old rugs.

Meticulous work!

Uh oh, I found a ghost in the basement!

Phew!  It's just Super Insulation Man Roger!

So that's a quick recap of what has happened in the last 7 days.  Stay tuned for more updates!