Projects, projects & more projects!

It's been a big job, trying to keep Travis busy over the last few weeks. He's been laid off, been back to work, been laid off again, back to work again and now he's off again. We're all very tired of the on again, off again dance. Something more steady would definitelly be nice. He's put in resumes a lot of places and actually has an interview tomorrow morning, so fingers crossed things might work out. In the meantime, we've been doing some projects around the house. First there's the swing set Gideon got for his birthday. It hasn't exactly been warm, but at least all the snow melted (until today anyway.) It took 3 days and daddy and grandpa had a lot of help from one very excited munchkin, but it's finally up. And everyday so far we've had to bundle up and go play!

"I'm flying!" He told me, "Look, mommy! I have wings! I'm flying!"

Other projects include new light fixtures for the hallways and ceiling fans for both kids' rooms. And a new toilet in the master bathroom. None of that has been finished yet, but hopefully over the next couple of weeks.

Right now though, everything else has been put on hold while we get new carpet. Those who have been to my house might remember that when we bought the house, the only room with carpet is the family room downstairs. One of the things I loved about the house were the beatiful wood floors. I love wood floors in general. Well wood, tile, all sorts of bare floors. I just feel like they're so elegant and much cleaner actually. And I think if I lived in a more mild climate, I'd keep the wood floors exactly as they are.

But it's soooooooooo cold here. And when the wind blows it seems like my house is always chilly. Plus it's so noisy. And my 3 year old doesn't walk anywhere. So all day long I hear clomping steps as he runs through the house. So we finally broke down and bought carpet for the bedrooms and hallways. (I'm keeping the living room wood though because I do like the wood floors so much.)

It happened so fast my head is spinning. We made the decision over the weekend. On Saturday actually. So that afternoon we called he guy who laid my parents' carpet last fall. He came out and gave us a bid and took measurements on Monday morning. We went out that afternoon, found carpet we like (on clearance even) and bought it. Since it was in stock, they had it ready the next day and the installer said he could come out and do it this week. So we spent Tuesday and yesterday basically tearing our house apart. And the carpet is being installed as I type this.

In the meantime though, we've got 4 bedrooms worth of stuff crammed into the living room, family room & dining room. I've only seen that show "Hoarders" once because it literally made me physically ill. I got sick just watching it. But right now my house kind of looks like it belongs on that show. So we're kind of picking through the rubble, just trying to survive. Fortunately, the carpet should be completely done by tomorrow evening so we can start piecing everything back together. And I guess the plus side is that it's really motivated our spring cleaning. We're sorting through and making a lot of trips to the D.I. I'll be sure and post pictures whent it's all done. In the meantime, try not to mistake the photos below for aftermath photos from Japan. Sadly this is actually my house.