Is This Normal?
The chaos that is the KerbersArchive for house
The finished product
I’ll admit that I was worried about decorating the tree this year. The kids were so excited to help and I knew they’d go at it full force with no regard to ornament placement at all. Anyone who knows me knows that this would be difficult for me. I love decorating the tree, and part of that is finding the perfect spot for each ornament. But when you’re two or four, it’s all about getting as many ornaments on the tree as quickly as possible in an area you can reach. Obviously we have very different approaches, which is a challenge.
Happily, though, I found that I could relax and let the kids hang their ornaments wherever they wanted. We had so much fun sorting through all of the ornaments…each one bringing back so many memories. The kids especially liked seeing the ones with pictures of them as infants. Emma couldn’t quite understand that the cute little baby was her. We kind of worked as a team…Dave was at the tree helping and I was at the ornament box pulling things out a little more carefully than they would have. As they hung more and more (most of them on the same few branches, of course) 
we all just had more and more fun. I will admit that we had to move several of the ornaments to other branches later, but the kids didn’t really notice, so they were satisfied and proud that they did it all by themselves. It was so awesome to watch them have so much fun doing this. I was happy I could let them!
We had such a great time, and we ended up with a gorgeous tree again.
The perfect tree
The kids and I got home from Sycamore this afternoon, and as soon as we did we all headed to Growing Grounds to get our Christmas tree. 
It’s nice tree shopping there, since all of the trees are inside their greenhouse. But today was warm and sunny outside anyway, so no matter where we were going, it was a great day to buy a Christmas tree. The kids were excited, and it literally took us about 5 minutes to find the perfect tree. Then they just started running. 
The greenhouse is probably about 30 feet from where we were to the end, and both kids just ran back and forth and back and forth about a million times. It was great to see them burning off some energy. It made me sad we weren’t at the tree farm getting our tree this year, because they would have loved running around there. Conversely, we would have had to keep track of both of them when they just wanted to run freely, so maybe Growing Grounds was big enough!
We have the tree in the stand, and I’ve got the lights on. We’re all very excited to decorate it tomorrow. I hope I have patience while doing so, because I’m pretty sure the kids will not be able to contain themselves.
Windows replaced
Yippee…we have new windows in every room on our second floor! Well, that’s not entirely true…the little windows in the laundry room and our master bathroom have not been replaced yet, but the big ones are done. There is now a new, sealed, and easy-to-open window in the office, in each kid’s room and there are two in our room. What a difference they’ve made already! I know that we’ll notice a big change in the warmth of the rooms this winter, and hopefully we’ll see a differnce in our utility bill, too!
I’m so proud of Dave for getting all of this done. This is one home improvement that should truly make our second story more comfortable for all of us. Hopefully he can get the little ones measured and in before the weather turns into winter completely.
If it’s not one thing, it’s another
No truer words can be spoken when you own a house. Yesterday morning our garbage disposal stopped working. So today Dave dove in trying to figure out why. Approximately $125 and several hours later, we have a functioning disposal again. But there were some struggles getting there. At one point, Dave was worried that we would have to rewire the whole thing, which would be a really tough job considering it’s over the finished part of the basement. But luckily it was just the switch that was bad, so he was able to rewire that and it was working again.
Thank goodness Dave knows how to do so many home improvement things. I would have really hated to pay someone to do that job. I know he gets tired of constantly having new projects pop up, but we’re so lucky that he can do them himself. Just add that to the many great things about Daddy!! 
A new window
Today Dave put a new replacement window in the office. We have stewed about windows for really over a year now, knowing that our entire second floor needed new ones, but not sure what route to take. We couldn’t decide between wood or vinyl windows for a very long time. There are pros and cons to each…the wood ones look nicer, but are way more expensive. The vinyl ones wear better, but don’t look as nice. We went back and forth so much. Meanwhile, the windows got worse and worse. One day I even saw Emma’s blinds moving when the window was totally closed! Ugh…no wonder the poor girl’s room is so hot! Finally, we decided to go with vinyl upstairs and worry about the downstairs windows next year. They are in better shape, and we think they will make it through the winter no problem. Dave measured and worried a lot, but he went ahead and ordered one window. He just ordered one to make sure that he had measured right and that he could install it himself.
Well, today proved that he had measured right and he could install it himself! He did a great job, and I’m so excited to have a new window in the office. We got the hyper-good light filtering glass (which has a much more official name, but I don’t know it) and it really does make a difference. When the sun beat into that window this evening it was way cooler than the window facing the same direction in Ben’s room. Plus it opens and closes soooooo easily compared to the old ones. I can’t believe I’m so excited about a new window, but it has made me really happy!
Now we just have to order the other 4 for the second floor. It’s going to be awesome. I can’t wait to see how much it affects our heating bills this winter!
The big garage sale, day 2
Today was a very different sale day. First of all, the weather totally changed overnight and it was freezing today! Ok, freezing may be a bit of an exaggeration, but it was chilly sitting out there. It was overcast, breezy, and it started to spit rain a couple times. That definitely had a bit of an effect on the crowd, I’m sure, but I certainly can’t complain. While it was not a steady stream of people all day, they were on a mission, and we had a lot of buyers come through. I was so excited to sell the rocker, and I did so very early on this morning. In fact, almost all of the big things sold, and a lot of the little things (including some things that I thought would never sell) went, too.
The biggest disappointment to me is how many clothes we have left. I really thought that baby clothes would go better than they did. Man, some of the clothes we still have are in fantastic shape! It really surprised me, to be honest. At this point we’re not really sure what we’re going to do with all these clothes we have left. We definitely have some things to go to Good Will, and obviously we could take all of the clothes there, but I’m just not sure if we’re ready to part with all of them that easily. I guess I just need to give myself a little time to decide what I’m going to do. I’m sure that Dave and I will begin to box things up in the morning, and hopefully I’ll have a better idea then.
Oh, I haven’t even mentioned the money yet! We made a killing!! Well, maybe not a killing to some, but let’s just say we surpassed my goal of $500 profit with ease. Sure it was a ton of work, but seriously…having our house cleared out of a whole lotta stuff and getting a wad of cash for it all? Totally worth it!
More garage sale woes
Ok, this thing is getting out of hand. I can’t even put into words…just look.
I know it’s only Tuesday, but there is still a lot of work to do to get this thing ready to open on Friday. Wish me luck!
Stain the playset…check!
Dave and I finished the playset this afternoon. The kids were already scheduled to go to Danielle’s, so he took a half day of personal time and we finished. I think that both of us were surprised how quickly we got done. I know it was weighing on Dave, and he loves being able to check things off his list. One project done…about a million more to go! Do normal people have this many house projects, or is it just us?
Before After
Our “new” picnic table
Today our neighbors gave us their old Little Tykes picnic table. 
Yes, I said they gave it to us…out of the blue! Their kids are 9 and 12, so obviously they’re not using it anymore, and they wanted us to have it so Ben and Emma could more easily eat outside. Up until today, when we wanted to eat outside, the kids would have to sit on our regular chairs, which meant they were either up on their knees or they would have the table at their chins. But not anymore! Now they have a table just the perfect size for them! We’re so fortunate to have such gracious neighbors. They’ve given us so many things for our kids that they’ve outgrown and we couldn’t feel luckier.
Now we just need to rip off this deck and get a patio so we have more room for the picnic table to actually be up by our table…
They’re home!
It was so great to get the kids home today. I can’t even describe how anxious I was to have them get here. At one point, about ten minutes before they were scheduled to get here, Dave said, “here they are!” and I went running out front to greet them. Of course he was wrong, and it was some other van pulling into the subdivision. It was like I was a little kid waiting for Christmas. Then suddenly Ben appeared on the deck and shouted “Surprise!” It was awesome.
Grandma Judy and Grandpa Scott brought them all the way home because Grandpa planned to help Dave install our new sliding door. It was a long, hot job for them, but they got it done, and now we have a brand new awesome door! 
Of course, as with any home improvement job, there were a few wrinkles. For example, the screen door that came with the door was an inch too tall for the opening. Seriously? How could they get the measurements right for one door and wrong for the one that’s connected to it! I mean, really…that seems like it would be a simple concept for door retail…order the same size in the glass and the screen doors! But I digress. The fact of the matter is we now have a much nicer, more solid door that seals way better than one that’s half rotted on the bottom! I can’t wait to get the screen door in and installed so we can stain it all and be done with this project! Hopefully that all happens before the end of the summer…
So the house is sealed better and way nicer now that the kids are sleeping in their beds tonight. How can it feel so different having them sound asleep above us?? I’m not sure, but it is definitely more comforting and full of love.
