Crazy Love

Blake and I were at Books A Million Saturday night, trying to find some new books to read. I have been reading my Bible, but haven't read any other books in a long time. I have heard a couple of people talk about the book "Crazy Love," by Francis Chan. I picked it up, and it looked like something we would both like to read. Blake and I both read some of it today, and I think it is a great book, so far. There are videos on the books' website www.crazylovebook.com. In Chapter 1, the video "The Awe Factor of God," made me literally in awe of how big our universe is, and how amazing it is that God loves and cares for each of his children.

Day 15: Welcome Home, Freeman Family

Yay!!! We got to come home today, and our house looks better than it did before we left. I will try to post some pictures when I a) have a free moment and b) can locate my camera cord. We have become a bit unorganized the past couple of weeks. The floor is a lighter shade the than previous hardwood, and I am hoping it doesn't show scratches and blemishes as much, especially since we keep Lady indoors, and Jackson is 110% boy. There are still a couple of things that are not finished, but should be within the next few days. The laundry closet was damaged the most, because the water drained into that floor. So, they are laying ceramic tile in the laundry closet, and our hall bathroom as a bonus. That is all still drying, and we can't move our washer and dryer back in for a few days. The dumpster is also still in the driveway. I am hoping I will feel ambitious and do a little Spring cleaning, and take advantage of that. Our garage and bedroom could use a good clean up. We are so just so glad to be spending the night in our house. We are so grateful to our parents who let us stay with them. I know they really didn't mind (especially since we came bringing Mr. Jackson). I don't think he would have fared well in a Motel 8.

Day 14

Just for the record, we are still not home.

Day 10

Nous rentrerons dans notre maison mardi. That is French for, "We are going home on Tuesday." We have been gone from our home longer than we were gone to Europe a couple of years ago.

Day 9

A coat of polyurethane was put on the floor today. They will be putting 2 more coats on, painting the trim, and them it must dry for 48 hours. Also, they will be adding a new shoe molding, and touching up the base boards. I think they are also moving our furniture back in the house for us. Blake will hear from the contractor tomorrow to see when we can get back in. So, if you see any of us wearing the same clothes repetitively, we are washing the same outfits over and over and wearing them over and over again.

Day 8

Today, our floors were sanded, and also were stained! Yay!

Day 7

Today, there was no progress. I think they must have been off of work today. Or maybe there is other work to be done besides our house.

Ansley's 3rd Birthday Party

Mother's Day

Great is his faithfulness;
his mercies begin afresh each morning.
Lamentations 3:23

Day 6: Graduations and Birthdays

He slept all the way through lunch.

Kathleen, Rebecca, and Blair

Congrats, Whitney

AnnaKate and Jackson

Enjoying a little graduation snack!

Obviously, there is no progress today, but we have had a great weekend so far. Saturday was pretty busy. We went to two high school graduations, and a graduation dinner. Blake's cousin, Whitney, graduation from high school. Kathleen, Rebecca, and Blair (the triplets that I used to babysit for), also graduated. I started babysitting them when they were 6 years old until they started middle school, so I was really proud of them. After their graduation, we went to Bluewater Grill for a celebatory dinner. Blake and I haven't been to eat dinner there before, and we really enjoyed it. I had an Asian Chicken Salad, and Blake had Stuffed Seafood Shells. Donnie and Darla watched Jackson for us, so it was kind of like a date.

Today for my birthday, we, of course, went to church. I left Jackson in the nursery, but that didn't go over too well...I ended up hanging out with Jackson during church this morning. Blake took me to J.Alexander's for lunch. It was so fun! Tonight, we are going back to my parents' house for cake and ice cream. And a sleepover.

Day 5: More Photos

Progress!

I think it looks great! I am excited about the new renovation.

Seeing the new floor made me realize that it has been about 15 months since my house has seen a "good cleaning." Lots of dust and some cobwebs. Surely, I am not the only one that has this problem. (If I am, don't tell me.)

Let's Roll. Mr. Jackson is not so well adjusted at bed time, or 4 AM. We went for a ride in the car at 4:45 this morning to get him to go back to sleep. Doesn't self soothe so well in the Pack N' Play.

Day 4: On to Our Next Shelter

Today was an eventful day! I stopped by the homestead this afternoon to get the mail and do the daily inspection. Much to my surprise, the floor is completely installed with the exception of the laundry room and closet. I talked with one of the installers and they are going to start sanding the floor on Monday. I am hoping to be back in our house by Friday of next week.

We packed up our belongings at my parents' house this afternoon, and headed to Blake's parents' house for the weekend. We SO appreciate their hospitality and flexibility. We are grateful that they have let us hang out for a few days!

Day 3

Today, Blake talked to the contractor, and things are progressing along. Yesterday and today, the sub flooring has been drying. Tomorrow, the floor installers are going to start working on putting down the new wood. Luckily, there was no molding issues thus far. On another positive note, the floor we are having installed is top of the line, and a better floor than the one that was removed.

Another interesting, quite comical, event occurred today, as well. My father in law received a phone call today from a realtor attempting to reach Blake or myself. Someone was driving through our neighborhood today looking at two other houses that are for sale, and wanted her to contact us, and find out if we were getting ready to sale. They saw the dumpster and were curious, and said that the house looked empty. They liked our house! We are probably not selling our house anytime in the immediate future, but it is kind of promising to know that people that are house hunting thought our house was cute!

Day 2: A Photo Op

This is the old linoleum that we put the hardwoods over. This may have saved our sub floor in the kitchen from being ruined.

I went by to check progress again today. Everything appears to be removed as planned. Blake is calling to find out tomorrow what the next plan of action is. I can't locate my camera cord at this time, so a friend from work let me borrow her classroom's camera, and the memory stick in compatible with my lap top...Yay!

Demolition Day One

A dumpster arrived in our driveway yesterday morning around 8:00. The crew was still in action when Blake and I went to check on the progression of the demolition after work, about 3:30. My oven was in the laundry room. My furniture and other decor were in the bedrooms and garage, and some still sitting on the sub flooring of the house. Most of the hardwood was in the dumpster, except for the hallway. There were tons of staples still in the floor. The shoe molding has also been removed due to damage.

I felt really bad for Blake when we saw the gigantic mess in our home. This is our first home. See, when we moved in the house, it needed alot of cosmetic work. The carpet in the house was goldish, brownish, ugly-ish, and was rolled up, and just a mess. The walls were all white, and so was the linoleum. It is great house, but it the house needed some TLC. So, for the first two years we lived there, it was our project together. We have painted every square inch of the house and replaced every square foot of flooring in the entire house. What was special about the hardwood floors is that Blake (along with a little help from the fam) laid the entire floor himself. He pieced and nailed every plank together. So, seeing it all thrown into a dumpster yesterday made me feel sorry for him, just because he had worked so hard. So, Blake, I am so sorry!

In the scheme of life, this is totally not a big deal. I just think it is pretty crazy that a dishwasher installation has created such havoc. It's is just one of those moments where all you can say is..."Seriously?"

Still can't find my camera cord. Hopefully, today I can rummage around and find it!

Dishwasher Drama: A Summary of Events

What originally started out as a simple, routine, and minor home improvement has turned into a very unexpected renovation of a large section of our home.

For some time, our dishwasher has been making a horrific amount of noise, as well as leaving a disgusting sand like residue on all of our dishes. The dishwasher was a base line model that was installed when our house was built, about 11 years ago. We have been putting off purchasing a new one, but decided about 2 weeks ago we would like to watch television without the rumblings of the dishwasher, and I was probably wasting money by running the it multiple times to get the residue off...because, let's face it, who has time to hand wash all of the dishes? I am too lazy for that, I will admit it!

Perhaps a bulleted list would be the simplest way to describe the timeline of "Dishwasher Drama."

• Day 1: Purchase dishwasher and pay INSTALLATION fee. Installation is scheduled for Day 4.
• Day 4: Installation gentleman arrives. Works for some time to remove old dishwasher. He is unable to remove dishwasher from the cabinets. He felt the hardwood floor was trapping it in. Informs Blake he must do it himself. Blake comes home from work, unscrews four bolts of sorts, within 5 minutes dishwasher is no longer "trapped."
• Day 5: Installation gentlemen arrives. Installs dishwasher. Starts dishwasher to check for leaks. Leaves the premises. Forgot to REALLY check for leaks. The dishwasher is wonderful and quiet. I use it again after cooking for my crew.
• Day 6: My mother was at our home watching Jackson. The dishwasher needs to do its thing again. I called to check on Jackson, and she discovers water is seeping into the laundry room from the dishwasher. Perhaps our installation gentlemen should have more thoroughly checked for leaks.
• Day 7: Hardwood floors are starting to cup. We also notice a dip in the floor. We made a few phone calls
• Day 8-13 Summary: Basically....water had been under the floor since the installation day. Our hardwood floors are ruined. The company in which the dishwasher was purchased is fixing everything that was damaged. Unfortunately, we have to leave our house for 7-8 days, so that this can be accomplished. Yes, a demolition team is coming to our house tomorrow, as well as a dumpster, which will be located in our front yard.

I am expecting to see Ty Pennington tomorrow morning for my vacation to Disney World while our house receives a makeover. Probably not going to happen....we do get to stay at our parents' houses, though. We are packed and ready. I took some pics, but I can't find the camera cord....

Road Trip

This weekend, we went to Alabama for my cousin, Sean and his wife Erika's family baby shower. On Saturday night, we went to visit my grandmother. Jackson tried to grab her beta fish out of its home. We then went to Rigatoni's for dinner. We LOVE that place!!! Jackson was so exicted about his long, lost "friends," he would not go to sleep until after midnight, and was awake again at 7:00 AM. He is seriously the Energizer bunny. On Sunday, we spent alot of time getting ready for the baby shower. Erika got alot of really nice gifts, and his nursery looks super cute. All baby boys on this side of the family!

Chuck E. Cheese's

Friday night, we met Dewayne, Melissa, and Abby at Chuck E. Cheese's. We met about 5:00, so it wasn't very crowded when we got there. Jackson and Abby enjoyed watching the shows, and riding some of the rides, and basically enjoyed the priveledge of running around a restaurant without being restricted in a high chair! If you know my husband at all, you know he is just a big kid at heart. He took playing the games quite seriously, and won lots of tickets. I don't think he actually "cashed" them in, though. I think he is saving them for next time, so that he can get a better prize. Eat your heart out, Nascar.

Jackson didn't care for this Barney Tractor Ride. Daddy to the rescue.

Picnic at the Riverpark

Last Monday, when Blake and I got home from work, we decided to pack a picnic dinner, and head to the Riverpark for dinner. We enjoyed our dinner by the river, and then let Jackson play on the playground. We also took a nice stroll down the river front. I really love our city. Sometimes, I forget how lucky we are to live in such a pretty area, with so many fun things for families to do.

Jackson started out blowing the dandelions, then he ate them. I don't think they tasted quite as good as he would have liked.