What We Found

Yesterday we thought we were finishing up with our indoor projects. We had painted, moved furniture, and the girls even gave us a hand pulling up their old carpet. They were so excited. I was utterly grossed out at the condition of the carpet from the top...and once we had pulled it up, I was mortified that we were living on such a bed of dust and old stains from who knows when. I'm inclined to say that the carpet was original to the house??? It wouldn't have surprised me. But, we got it out and cleaned up, and fresh new carpet in the rooms upstairs before we started downstairs to the boys room to get it ready to put in the carpet. Darren was working on that one when I went downstairs to see how it was going. He was standing in the middle of the room..."you have to see this...it's not good."

No...not good at all. In case you can't really tell from the pictures, that is black mold lining the closet floor and covering the carpet. Nate and Darren put on masks to get the carpet and padding out of there as quickly as possible. And I thought I was grossed out at the condition of the upstairs carpet!?!?! It just makes me wonder if that is why the boys have been so sick this year with coughs, bronchitis, breathing issues...all year long, really. We had found black mold on the walls behind the vanity and sink cabinet in the bathroom, but we didn't even consider that the flood had created such water issues in their bedroom. I'm wondering now what we might find under the carpet in the office. I guess we'll find out Monday when we get back to it. We're going to have to Clorox the floor and walls and then paint the surfaces with Kilz before we can start with the carpet.

As disgusted as I am with the whole situation, I am so incredibly grateful that we decided to replace the flooring. I really think that the boys health will improve, and I will feel so much more comfortable bringing a brand new baby into a house without these serious health hazards. As Sam said, "I guess the floods were really a blessing."

He's right. {Although I would say that it may have been the floods that started this mess}

My Pregnant Redneck Self

So, Amy, you wanted to see my pregnant self. I'll do you one better and post the redneck shot of the year. We went camping with the Thornock family the weekend before school started. Bruce brought a bunch of clay pigeons to shoot, and of course I had to give it a shot. {pun intended} Jenny kindly pointed out what a redneck thing that was, and after looking at the pictures I really must agree. So, here's a good laugh for the day. BTW, I went 1 for 3.

Crazy Baby

So many mornings Nate starts laughing almost out loud. Of course, it wakes me up and it's always the same thing. He wonders how I can sleep when it feels/looks like the baby is trying to crawl out of my stomach. He's such an active little thing. He just gets going and doesn't quit. Without Nate here, I guess that I just had to wake up and see for myself. Good morning, little one.

Yellowstone:Part One

Finally getting to it. I started this post, like, a month ago, and finally added some pictures this morning. But I think this will have to be part one. The kiddos woke up, and it's time for breakfast. I'll maybe get to the rest later today.

Last week we took our family vacation. The initial plan was to go to Washington DC. There was a conference there that Nate needed to attend, his brother was there for the summer, my family is there... It just didn't work out. So, plan B was to go to Ohio and visit my family... tickets were just so high every time I looked, and with the price tag on our kitchen and basement repairs mounting quickly, I just couldn't do it. So, we went with plan C. Yellowstone. We could have stayed home and stayed busy from sun up to sun down getting some work done around here, but we all needed a break from the chaos around here.
We headed up to Jackson late Monday afternoon and stopped in Star Valley to visit the Johnsons (dental school friends). It was so great to catch up, and let the kids play.

Now Emma keeps asking why we don't ever go to Kammi's house more. We visited a little too long and ended up parking the camper and staying the night.
On Tuesday we made it to Jackson. Lunch at Bubba's (where else?) and then we played at the Snow King Resort at the Alpine Slide. Emma did not want anything to do with it until she watched all the other kids do it, and decided it would be fun. We walked around town briefly before it was time for the Bar J Wranglers show.

We've seen them a handful of times, and it's always entertaining. The girls were tired, and Emma hates to be around too many people, so she was unbearable until I took them outside. They just happily walked around and played with rocks. I still enjoyed the show with a little cooler air for my heat-sensitive pregnant self. It all worked out just fine. Clay was so tired that he fell asleep on Nate's lap for half the program. Good thing we had found a place to stay that was close. Too bad we had to wreck the bumper on the trailer to find it. {That's a story for later}
Wednesday we finally made it to the park. {good thing the guy parked next to us had WD-40 and a hammer: darn trailer} Although instead of before noon, it was way afternoon before we got there due to a bit of construction that we waited through FOREVER. Nonetheless, we were able to park the trailer and head off fishing. The kids were all so excited to fish. They were relentless in asking, and it was the very first thing that they all wanted to do. We acquired the proper permits and regulations and found a quiet spot on Yellowstone Lake to try our hand at fishing. The boys just fished and the girls sporadically fished as they waded in the water and played in the sand, looking for bugs and other treasures. Of course Sam had to get wet too so that he could retrieve the lure that got stuck on a rock. Although Sam's clothes stayed dry {only because he stripped down to underwear} , the girls both ended up soaking wet and we had to take a stop for some dry, clean clothes before we could find a little better spot for fishing.
The "better" spot for fishing caught Nate an 8 inch baby trout. He let Amelia reel it in, then let it go back to its growing. The boys spent most of their fishing time trying to catch a lure out of a tree. We seemed to have a pattern developing here. {spending our fishing time retrieving lures}

A great way to end the night.

Cute Pics

I have a million excuses for not updating, but no really good reason. Here are a couple cute shots of the kiddos that we took at the beginning of August when Nate had to help move some cows.

The cowboys in the picture are Clay on Storm, Sam on Thunder, and Nate on Rey. I really like how this picture turned out. It deserves a spot in a frame somewhere around the house.

Speaking of house: As of 10:00pm last night, my kitchen is officially 100% done. Craig and Darren helped get the dishwasher in straight and bolted down {thank you, thank you} and I put the new handles on the cupboards after the kids went to bed. It is absolutely amazing!!! I like to just sit and look at it. It amazes me that we could turn what we had into such a wonderful use of space. I actually have about four drawers or cupboards that are empty still!!

Last week, I did this!

Only because I got this installed!!! {again, thank you Craig & Darren}
If it seems like this is all we have been up to, it really kind of is.

Kitchen Update

I suppose busy is a good word for things around here. I have been neglectful of my computer and this blog. Just a little too much non-order around here for my taste. I started a post about our family vacation to Yellowstone, but I don't have the pictures ready yet. Of course the main thing on the mind of everyone in our house is getting things back in order.

This is a picture of our kitchen that I took when we got home from Yellowstone. I can't even tell you how exciting it was to come home to a kitchen full of cabinets. I think they are beautiful. They installed countertops on Friday. Again, amazing. I'm trying to figure out what to do with all the space. We have to wait until the end of the week to have the plumbing connected, the oven seems to be on backorder still, and the dishwasher and cooktop need connected as well. But I have to say...this is progress. We'll have the patio door installed on Wednesday, and that will be the end of the major dust. Hooray!!! I think I will dust my blinds.

This is the view from my new kitchen window above the sink. I love it when the hollyhocks are in bloom all across our neighbors house. They are beautiful.

So I just ran and snapped a couple shots of the kitchen right now. Here they are in the morning light.

I Like Sinks

Before Ron could finish up the work he was doing on the walls, we had to remove the sink from the kitchen. I had unhooked everything but the filtered water line, and was waiting to be sure that was turned off properly before I moved it. I guess I really couldn't have moved it myself anyway, but I was working for progress there. So, as Ron was taking the sink out of the kitchen, Emma asks, "What is he doing? Where is he taking our sink?"

I explained that in order to continue work on the kitchen, it needed to be removed.

Emma thinks about this for awhile and then says, "I like sinks."

Poor little thing likes order, schedules, predictablility, and quiet. She loves being home, and it is pretty disturbing for her to have things so out of order.

So, fast forward awhile. I told Emma that we had to be home because the guys were coming to install the countertops.

Emma says to me, "Will they bring the sink?"

"Yes"

"Oh good. I like sinks."

I think she's just as ready to have a functioning kitchen as I am.