working hard(wood)

The hardwood has finally "cured" or acclimatized so that we can start to put it in. We have a bit of a deadline because Christmas is coming and we LOVE to host. We both love to be able to open our home.So the deadline was Dec. 22 7pm. That was when our fist few people were coming and we wanted to have it finished and all cleaned up.

We started on Monday (Dec. 20). Dean came home from work early so we could get a good start on it. The first day was the hardest. The hardwood start on the whole length of the house had to be either cut or sanded from the bottom so it would be level with the kitchen/bathroom/office/waxing room floors.

As Dean cut and sanded the starting pieces, I started placing the boards. The first day it felt like we didn't get as much done because we had to go all the way down the hall.

Dean did an amazing job with making the hardwood meet the kitchen floor for a very smooth joint.

 We worked until 10:30 the first night and got a really great start so that the next day while Dean was at work I could get more rows nailed in.

We had piles and piles of boxes of hardwood that slowly got opened and used up. We both felt the effects of the bending over. With a little help from Advil and an icepack we gotter done.

Day 2 started for me at 9am. Dean and the kids left for work and school and I started plugging away at making some progress. The second day as I was nailing the boards in. A neighbour stopped by. When he saw what I was doing he asked if I was putting the hardwood in by myself. When I said sure. He asked if it couldn't be screwed up. Sure it could, I said.Why would I want to screw it up though?

Dean came home at 4 and then we started to get things done way faster.

 I love the tool that we used this time. The last time we nailed our hardwood in with a hand air nailer. This time we have this fancy hardwood air nailer. You put this tool into place and whack it with the rubber mallet and the air tool pushes the long nails into the floor.

I am barefoot because my socks kept getting stuck between the boards as I nailed them into place.

Ice packs work great with a couple of Advil to get through 12 hours of bending over.

 The second day, We again worked until around 10pm. We figured we had enough done that we should get in finished in time.

 This is all we had left after day 2.
Day 3.We only had a few hours left before company arrived so we had to work quick to finish up and get the house clean and get the appetizers on the table.

This year we opted for a small fake Christmas tree. So we just picked it up and moved it to get the flooring done.

Colton came home after lunch on the 22, so him and I worked until Dean got home in mid afternoon to help. As we started Colton said "You have to do this even though Dad's not home"? Sheesh.

Yeah!! We did it. We finished it in time to clean up and have the house all ready for company!!

We swept/dusted and got the tree back into place. We did it. Having a deadline is the best way for us sometimes.

After we finished we decided that it was really not that bad. After a while your body gets used to the bending over and doesn't hurt anymore. But now we're done so until next time......

I had to remember to get a dining room shot for Tracy.

I picked up one of our pieces of art today. It has been in storage for the last year.

We are hosting our second Christmas party today and we can't wait for them to get here!! We are also waiting for YOU to come and visit. So please don't be a stranger. We miss having you here.

sun rise

As I sit here on my worn couch overlooking our back yard, I smile as I watch the sun rise in the east. I makes my heart full to be able to see this morning after morning. I never tire of the oranges and reds of the morning sun. What a great start to my day.

We are preparing for Christmas and finishing the last parts of the building process. I think about the last year and a half. It has been a wonderful journey together as a family. We have all grown closer.

 Miranda and Colton are in a place where they have a house again and can see the last year of our lives a little more clearly now that they have a room to call their own. It can be hard to appreciate all that we did when your really not all that sure what you will get in the end (a bedroom and all your stuff that has been in boxes for 1 year and a half). Lately I've heard more positive comments (from the kids) about selling our house (they have missed some things, like the old climbing tree) and that is a good place to be, content. They now talk about how much they like our new yard (the forts they can build in the trees) and their new bedrooms.

Dean is a really fun guy to be with. I absolutely could spend every day with him working. Too bad I'm a better waxer than drywaller. Maybe I need to teach him to wax....
We had such a great time together designing, making decisions day to day, nailing together walls, pulling wires, painting and putting up shelving. It has been a blast.

Christmas at our house

Exactly 5 months to the day

We started digging the hole for the basement July 5th and we moved into the new house Dec. 5th. Now that we are "in" the work has not stopped, but now we don't spend as much time driving back and forth to town as much. Dean has also started his church job (building a church). So he isn't here as much during the day so we finish odds and ends when there is time.


Sun Valley cabinet guys came to install the cook top and last bits of stuff to finish off.

                    I am a bit tired of painting baseboards and casings. I think they are mostly done for now.

                                            I will start again once these ones are put on

                              All the boxes have been moved in and I have started to unpack.

                                                              Colton's finished room

                   The other day I looked out the window and there was our cat and a SKUNK!!

                                                               The finished kitchen

                                                                 The hot tub is working!!!

The rug is getting installed in the basement today and tomorrow

feeling a little bit like Christmas

We  have been busy getting the last minute touches done. The flooring is all done other than the hardwood. The unpacking has begun.

 John Wall is our friend of 18 years and our flooring guy. Him and his wife Marlene have done all of our flooring in this house and our last house. They always do a great job.

The unpacking and washing have begun. All of positions have been in storage in a garage for the last 1 1/2 years. The building wasn't mouse proof. We put out tonnes of mouse poison and hoped for the best. We did not have one box wrecked from mice. We found 2 dead mice and one box that had hamster food in it (???) was partially eaten. Why we would have put hamster food right next to all our other boxes is beyond me.

 Cindy and I spent all morning yesterday washing out the kitchen cupboards and washing the dishes and putting stuff away.

         Aww, empty boxes to get rid of. It is like Christmas unwrapping everything from the boxes. Every time I take out a newspaper wrapped parcel from the boxes it is a little surprise.