Things are looking up.

My, my, my . . . what have we been doing?

My husband keeps plugging away on our kitchen and dining room remodel that we officially began on Dec. 7. 
I'm not gonna lie--last week was pretty darn bad. 
Right away, hauling out shovels full of plaster and filling up the loader bucket was FUN! 
Then the next morning, I woke up with the kids' stomach bug.  I was still able to contribute, but it wasn't as much fun.  And there was NO END to that awful old plaster and sheetrock.  Then, even though this is what I wanted to happened, the stress of my house looking like a war zone got to me and I started to develop a cold sore.  The next day, David didn't feel well, but we still got work done because we had to stay on schedule.  It was de-insulation day! 

I HATE yellow insulation.  And blow-in insulation.  And old 1950's insulation. 

Seven days after we first moved downstairs, we finally hauled the last bits of plaster, nails, insulation and wood out of this house.  It was Rachel's birthday, so we went into town to celebrate!

If my life had a soundtrack, Billy Joel's "You may be right . . . I may be crazy . . ." would have been playing.  All. Week.  Long.

But, then it started to turn around.  We now have a re-insulated home and sheetrock will go up shortly!

I really am enjoying the pace of this remodel.  In years past, it was "work a little bit, wait 6 weeks while the farm work got done, work a little bit, try to be patient for the next 6 weeks of no progress. . ."  But, not this time!  I have to be on my toes making sure all parts are in place because THINGS ARE HAPPENING!

Tomorrow is the kids' last day of school before Christmas vacation.  It is a long one this year.  We should be able to keep them busy with paint brushes. Their favorite way to help, however, is to watch TV and "babysit Rachel."  It all needs doing, I suppose!  :) 

I do want to mention a big blessing for our family this past week.  After the Christmas program at church on Sunday, the Youth Group surprised us with a "20 second Bucket Run."  When one of the parents started to explain the concept, I had no idea it was in honor of our family, and especially Rachel.  I didn't have much time to process it before kids were running around the parish hall, people were emptying their pockets and waving money and at the end of 20 seconds, $158.09 was collected for the Cranio Care Bears organization.  It really brought me to tears.  It was the perfect Christmas gift.

In all of the chaos in our house right now, we have still had a blessed Advent.  The only stress I have right now is getting some last-minute shopping done.  I'm usually not a last-minute shopper, but demo and not feeling well ate up last week very quickly!  So, last minute it shall be this year!