Breaking Her In

Today lots of the little details were finished up that started to make the house feel less like a construction zone and more like a home. Lights were hung. Knobs were put on cabinets. Tools were taken home. The floor was mopped. And we had friends over.

We are one of four (pretty rockin') families who meet together every other week for dinner and great conversation. The ten children we have among us run wild--laughing, fighting, playing, wrestling, chasing, and becoming fast friends. In fact, as Annie argues vehemently--they're not her friends; they're her family. We hope to be in each other's lives for a very long time, so it was appropriate that they were the first ones to come over to the house.

Taking turns sitting on the three chairs we have at the house, we ate pizza and popsicles. The kids broke in the backyard and went up and down, up and down, up and down the stairs. And in and out, in and out, in and out the back door. They all (even ours) felt the need to open every door and see what was behind it, which I love. I love their curiosity and interest in our lives. These are great kids and I'm so thankful that ours get to grow up along side these boys and girls.

[[This is the perfect place for me to put a picture of all the kids playing together in the yard, but I didn't take one. Oops! Next time . . .]]

Now for some rest, hopefully. The big move is in T-58 hours.

Pictures from today:

Our house looks like this right now. I cannot wait to have the boxes gone. Hayes is climbing them when he can, so I'm having to stack them in ways that I'm sure he can't get on top of them. Trickier than you'd think. It feels like a huge game of Tetris-meets-Mario.

The den. Nice and open and clean! Ceiling fan going in tomorrow. Todd needs to finish up his bookshelves (the first thing we started, which got seriously held up by having the contractors in and their stuff all over the shelves for last few weeks).

Dining room chandelier is in! Debating whether or not to add shades to the lights. Thoughts? I don't really like looking at bare bulbs, but I don't want it to look too traditional either. Curtains coming after we move, since I've packed up my sewing stuff.

The south wall of the kitchen. Makes it sound quite formal that way, doesn't it? Curtains up (and uneven). Faucet in! Need to turn the water on and get a few more door knobs, but other than that we're ready to go!

North wall of the kitchen. Appliances in, knobs on, electricity and gas working. Yay! So thankful to Todd for letting me splurge and get the gas range. I love it! And Annie is thrilled that we have a microwave that works again. (Ours has been broken for about three months.) She was running through the house saying, "We can have popcorn again!"

This room was mom's brainchild. Formerly a laundry room off the den, this little room has been converted into an office for me. This way I can sit and watch the kids play in the backyard while I work, or in the evenings if I need to work I can still be in the room where Todd will be hanging out.