Ever read any of the children's books like If You Give a Pig a Pancake or If You Give a Moose a Muffin? Well, the last couple weeks have reminded me of that....
If you rip up old flooring, you might discover the subflooring underneath is rotten. When you dig up the subflooring, you might find that the insulation is rotten, too. And when you go to replace the insulation, you might find that the plumbing needs work, too. And if you are going to replace the plumbing, you might as well rip out the tub and tub surround as well. When you rip out the tub surround, you might find that the walls need to be replaced too. And as soon as we rip open the old walls, I'll probably have more reasons why...
if you believe ignorance is bliss, and you just happen to buy, say, an old trailer on blue light special, you might just want to leave the old vinyl floors in place. And the carpet, too. :)
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Septic Ready and Horse Drama
The boys room is painted, and they love it! We can't quite install the carpet squares because we need to replace some of the plywood. This is where electricity and power tools would come in handy, but we'll just have to wait for now. It is so nice to have a room almost finished....OK, so we have a lot of rooms almost finished, but this one is the closest, I suppose.
My lovely kitchen curtains do, indeed, look lovely, except that they are too short. I was convinced that the directions I had were incorrect, and I did it my own way. Well, she ended up being right, and it still makes no sense to me why. If you measure a curtain to the length you want it, and then you want a six inch hem (plus a 1/2 inch to fold under), why does that mean you have to add 12 1/2 inches of fabric? Oh, well, I guess I'll settle for a 3 inch hem.
The septic guy was out today, and our septic is done! The only thing that remains is for him to come back out in the morning with a different piece of heavy equipment that will pack down and smooth out the dirt. Then, we'll have the mobile home guy come back and move the home into place. I'm a little nervous about that. It only has to be moved a short distance, but lots of maneuvering in a "tight" space must be accomplished for that to happen. Praying for everything to go smoothly!
The septic guy was so nice to give our little boys a ride on the backhoe! They loved it and will be talking about it for weeks, I'm sure. He even let them pull the levers and lower and raise the bucket. Fun times! In the process of moving the gravel to the leach line site, the septic guy was having to come in and out of the pasture with the backhoe. Well, the horses decided to make a run for it out of the open gate, and we were nervous! The septic guy was throwing dirt clods at them and trying to shew them back in the gate, but they instead got scared and ran the OTHER way! Our neighbor, the owner of the horses, was not home at the time, so Jeremy and I came running out to help. We were looking for peppermints (the horses' favorite), anything to lure them back in. We finally found some apples, and Jeremy was able to lead them back over toward the neighbor's pasture. They soon returned, probably looking for more apples, and Jeremy manned the gate, opening and closing each time the backhoe came through. The younger horse, still a "toddler", stubbornly kept by the gate, in spite of Jeremy pushing on him and throwing dirt clods, so Jeremy suggested the children and I take the remaining apple and try to lead them over again. Well, that didn't work so well. Once the younger horse discovered I had the apple, he constantly had his face right by my face, no matter where I went, and had his head right on top of Seth's head, sniffing for food I guess. He kept opening his mouth, and setting his teeth on top of Seth's head (sniffing maybe?), and it was scaring me! I'd never seen a horse act that way before, so I threw the apple, and the two horses fought over it. Then, they were back again , doing the same thing! Jeremy was encouraging me to just keep walking and lead him over to the neighbor's pasture, but when an animal that large is butting you in the back with his head, and breathing on your neck, and not leaving even an inch between you and him, and you have small children with you, you want to get away NOW! Sometimes, maybe out of fear of the backhoe, he would even start to run a little, and I wondered if we might get trampled. Either way, Jeremy was able to lead them away from me, and they acted normal around him - maybe since they figured he didn't have food? Maybe one day, like the chickens, I will get used to the horses and not be concerned over them, but for now, I like being on the OTHER side of the fence, petting them from there. At least the chickens I can kick. :)
My lovely kitchen curtains do, indeed, look lovely, except that they are too short. I was convinced that the directions I had were incorrect, and I did it my own way. Well, she ended up being right, and it still makes no sense to me why. If you measure a curtain to the length you want it, and then you want a six inch hem (plus a 1/2 inch to fold under), why does that mean you have to add 12 1/2 inches of fabric? Oh, well, I guess I'll settle for a 3 inch hem.
The septic guy was out today, and our septic is done! The only thing that remains is for him to come back out in the morning with a different piece of heavy equipment that will pack down and smooth out the dirt. Then, we'll have the mobile home guy come back and move the home into place. I'm a little nervous about that. It only has to be moved a short distance, but lots of maneuvering in a "tight" space must be accomplished for that to happen. Praying for everything to go smoothly!
The septic guy was so nice to give our little boys a ride on the backhoe! They loved it and will be talking about it for weeks, I'm sure. He even let them pull the levers and lower and raise the bucket. Fun times! In the process of moving the gravel to the leach line site, the septic guy was having to come in and out of the pasture with the backhoe. Well, the horses decided to make a run for it out of the open gate, and we were nervous! The septic guy was throwing dirt clods at them and trying to shew them back in the gate, but they instead got scared and ran the OTHER way! Our neighbor, the owner of the horses, was not home at the time, so Jeremy and I came running out to help. We were looking for peppermints (the horses' favorite), anything to lure them back in. We finally found some apples, and Jeremy was able to lead them back over toward the neighbor's pasture. They soon returned, probably looking for more apples, and Jeremy manned the gate, opening and closing each time the backhoe came through. The younger horse, still a "toddler", stubbornly kept by the gate, in spite of Jeremy pushing on him and throwing dirt clods, so Jeremy suggested the children and I take the remaining apple and try to lead them over again. Well, that didn't work so well. Once the younger horse discovered I had the apple, he constantly had his face right by my face, no matter where I went, and had his head right on top of Seth's head, sniffing for food I guess. He kept opening his mouth, and setting his teeth on top of Seth's head (sniffing maybe?), and it was scaring me! I'd never seen a horse act that way before, so I threw the apple, and the two horses fought over it. Then, they were back again , doing the same thing! Jeremy was encouraging me to just keep walking and lead him over to the neighbor's pasture, but when an animal that large is butting you in the back with his head, and breathing on your neck, and not leaving even an inch between you and him, and you have small children with you, you want to get away NOW! Sometimes, maybe out of fear of the backhoe, he would even start to run a little, and I wondered if we might get trampled. Either way, Jeremy was able to lead them away from me, and they acted normal around him - maybe since they figured he didn't have food? Maybe one day, like the chickens, I will get used to the horses and not be concerned over them, but for now, I like being on the OTHER side of the fence, petting them from there. At least the chickens I can kick. :)
Friday, November 19, 2010
An Inspiring Story
Today I was listening to a CD from the Pineapple Story collection by missionary Otto Koning. You can get this from the Institute in Basic Life Principles, and I encourage you to, because it is really good! Funny, inspiring, humbling, all at the same time. He was the telling the story of a widow lady who, like most widows, had almost no money. The was a housekeeper and made 4 or 5 thousand a year, and she had children. She wanted to give money to a particular missionary, and so she told the Lord that anything she made over her basic needs, she would give to the missionary.
The next day, as she was cleaning the house, the man of the house left for work, and on his way out the door, she told him she would be praying for him as she cleaned his house, that the Lord would bless his business. He kind of grinned at her and just left. Well, he had an AMAZING day at work that day, and he asked if she had indeed prayed for him, and she told him she had. He ended up giving her a raise. She did this with all her customers, and the same thing kept happening. The extra money she got, she gave to the missionary. One of the men noticed she was always wearing the same old black coat, and he gave her money, and told her to go buy a new coat. She thought, "This coat is just fine, and I don't need two coats, " so she gave that money to the missionary as well. Before long, he realized that the lady never bought a new coat, so he thought, "Man, she must really be poor and using that money to buy food for her family instead of for a coat," so at the grocery store, he told the grocer to put all her purchases on his bill. How surprised she was to find out that everytime she went to the store, she owed nothing! So, she was able to buy better, more nutritious food for her family, and give her food budget to the missionary.
Soon, other customers were doing similar things. Her rent was paid for the year, her utilities paid, people were even sending delivery trucks with new mattresses and furniture for her house. She had just kept the same old ones because new ones weren't a need, and she had promised the Lord to give it to the missionary. So, not only was she able to give her entire income to the missionary, but the Lord was providing new things for her, as well.
When the missionary came home on furlough and visited the church, he asked to see the wealthy family who had been giving him large sums of money every month. The pastor told him there was no such wealthy family at his church. The missionary told him the widow lady's name, and the pastor was astonished! "That can't be her", he said, "she just a widow lady receiving from the church's benevolence fund." Little did he know that the church's benevolence fund was going to the missionary, too! As it turns out, she was giving 5 TIMES her annual salary to the missionary, and all her needs were met! Keep in mind, she had been given raises as well, so she was giving incredible amounts of money!
Otto Koning was trying to point out what God can do through us, if we yield ourselves (and our money) to God. He also challenged everyone to keep their same possessions for a year (furniture, clothes, cars, houses - or move to a smaller one), and give that money to God. Wow! What a story! Do I have the guts to do what that widow lady did?
The next day, as she was cleaning the house, the man of the house left for work, and on his way out the door, she told him she would be praying for him as she cleaned his house, that the Lord would bless his business. He kind of grinned at her and just left. Well, he had an AMAZING day at work that day, and he asked if she had indeed prayed for him, and she told him she had. He ended up giving her a raise. She did this with all her customers, and the same thing kept happening. The extra money she got, she gave to the missionary. One of the men noticed she was always wearing the same old black coat, and he gave her money, and told her to go buy a new coat. She thought, "This coat is just fine, and I don't need two coats, " so she gave that money to the missionary as well. Before long, he realized that the lady never bought a new coat, so he thought, "Man, she must really be poor and using that money to buy food for her family instead of for a coat," so at the grocery store, he told the grocer to put all her purchases on his bill. How surprised she was to find out that everytime she went to the store, she owed nothing! So, she was able to buy better, more nutritious food for her family, and give her food budget to the missionary.
Soon, other customers were doing similar things. Her rent was paid for the year, her utilities paid, people were even sending delivery trucks with new mattresses and furniture for her house. She had just kept the same old ones because new ones weren't a need, and she had promised the Lord to give it to the missionary. So, not only was she able to give her entire income to the missionary, but the Lord was providing new things for her, as well.
When the missionary came home on furlough and visited the church, he asked to see the wealthy family who had been giving him large sums of money every month. The pastor told him there was no such wealthy family at his church. The missionary told him the widow lady's name, and the pastor was astonished! "That can't be her", he said, "she just a widow lady receiving from the church's benevolence fund." Little did he know that the church's benevolence fund was going to the missionary, too! As it turns out, she was giving 5 TIMES her annual salary to the missionary, and all her needs were met! Keep in mind, she had been given raises as well, so she was giving incredible amounts of money!
Otto Koning was trying to point out what God can do through us, if we yield ourselves (and our money) to God. He also challenged everyone to keep their same possessions for a year (furniture, clothes, cars, houses - or move to a smaller one), and give that money to God. Wow! What a story! Do I have the guts to do what that widow lady did?
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Why I No Longer Shop at Victoria's Secret
I know this is a strange post for a debt-free blog, but I just had something on my mind.
A year or so ago, I was standing in line at Victoria's Secret with my children when something caught my eye. It all started when I kept getting coupons in the mail for free items. I would go in and get the free thing (many of them expired because I hardly ever go to the mall) and nothing more. Yet this day I saw an advertisement for the Victoria's Secret fashion show - a televised show of immodestly dressed women. "Immodestly dressed" is probably an understatement - it occurred to me that by shopping at Victoria's Secret, I was supporting porn. Ugh. We don't watch this, of course, but what about the magazines that come in the mail? The huge billboards/advertisements that our family has to walk past in the mall? My boys are young yet, but it won't be long before they are affected by these things. How could I give my money to this place, no matter how good their products are? I'll sew my own if necessary. What probably bothered me the most was the many years that I shopped there without even giving a thought to this issue. It just shows how Satan has "normalized" sin to the point that we are numb to it. Lingerie can be advertised without models, as I've seen in sale papers for Wal-Mart and such places as that. But I had just grown to accept it as normal. Something about having sons has opened my eyes to these lamentable things. I'm so sorry for them that they have to grow up in this kind of world, where temptation is all around them, unavoidable. Even driving down the highway we pass billboards with scantily clad women. Avoiding the mall isn't enough, but it's a place to start.
Another good reason to shop at the thrift store. :) So maybe this isn't so out of place for a debt-free blog!
A year or so ago, I was standing in line at Victoria's Secret with my children when something caught my eye. It all started when I kept getting coupons in the mail for free items. I would go in and get the free thing (many of them expired because I hardly ever go to the mall) and nothing more. Yet this day I saw an advertisement for the Victoria's Secret fashion show - a televised show of immodestly dressed women. "Immodestly dressed" is probably an understatement - it occurred to me that by shopping at Victoria's Secret, I was supporting porn. Ugh. We don't watch this, of course, but what about the magazines that come in the mail? The huge billboards/advertisements that our family has to walk past in the mall? My boys are young yet, but it won't be long before they are affected by these things. How could I give my money to this place, no matter how good their products are? I'll sew my own if necessary. What probably bothered me the most was the many years that I shopped there without even giving a thought to this issue. It just shows how Satan has "normalized" sin to the point that we are numb to it. Lingerie can be advertised without models, as I've seen in sale papers for Wal-Mart and such places as that. But I had just grown to accept it as normal. Something about having sons has opened my eyes to these lamentable things. I'm so sorry for them that they have to grow up in this kind of world, where temptation is all around them, unavoidable. Even driving down the highway we pass billboards with scantily clad women. Avoiding the mall isn't enough, but it's a place to start.
Another good reason to shop at the thrift store. :) So maybe this isn't so out of place for a debt-free blog!
Friday, November 12, 2010
Progress...
The septic repair guy was out there today working with his backhoe, which the boys thought was awesome! Good news: both tanks are in and the line that will eventually go to the trailer is in. Bad news: leach lines are in very poor shape and will be costly to reinstall! However, it is still much cheaper than a new system, so we are thankful for that. We called our mobile home dealer to let him know that our date for the trailer's final move is quickly approaching, and that we hadn't forgot about him. We thought maybe HE'D forgotten who WE are, too! He said that he had one guy call 4 years after purchase to say he was finally ready to move it! He estimated that it would be 6 months before we called him, and it's been two, so not as bad as it could have been. :) I'm hoping this septic system will be finished within the next week or two so that we can move it, but we'll see.....
Today we finished priming the living room, and washing and filling nail holes in the hallway, and washing some of the walls in the kitchen. We spend about the first 15 minutes of our entrance into the mobile home every time killing wasps! Lots of them. We thought they were yellow jackets, but to my relief (sort of?), they are actually just yellow and black wasps. If the temps will ever stay below freezing for a while, we won't have to contend with them any longer! Which is good because they creep me out. Anyhow, the living room looks sooo different now, and so much more like home. That dirty wallpaper that wasn't my style at all, made it feel like someone else's home, but now, even with just the primer, it looks so much better.
I'm convinced that the former occupants of this trailer never cleaned. Ever. I have 3 children 4 and under right now, which means two things: 1. There are lots of messes, and 2. I have less time to clean them, and actually a third: morning sickness means I get behind a lot, too. Yet my house has never been that dirty. Lots of food splatters in the kitchen/dining, lots of dirty, dirty wall paper in the living room, entryways, you name it, and lots of other things I don't want to think about on the walls, toilets, showers, tubs in the bathroom. So, when you come to visit, if I tell you we scrubbed the place from top to bottom, you can rest assured that we are not exaggerating. And not because I'm a clean freak, either.
Today we finished priming the living room, and washing and filling nail holes in the hallway, and washing some of the walls in the kitchen. We spend about the first 15 minutes of our entrance into the mobile home every time killing wasps! Lots of them. We thought they were yellow jackets, but to my relief (sort of?), they are actually just yellow and black wasps. If the temps will ever stay below freezing for a while, we won't have to contend with them any longer! Which is good because they creep me out. Anyhow, the living room looks sooo different now, and so much more like home. That dirty wallpaper that wasn't my style at all, made it feel like someone else's home, but now, even with just the primer, it looks so much better.
I'm convinced that the former occupants of this trailer never cleaned. Ever. I have 3 children 4 and under right now, which means two things: 1. There are lots of messes, and 2. I have less time to clean them, and actually a third: morning sickness means I get behind a lot, too. Yet my house has never been that dirty. Lots of food splatters in the kitchen/dining, lots of dirty, dirty wall paper in the living room, entryways, you name it, and lots of other things I don't want to think about on the walls, toilets, showers, tubs in the bathroom. So, when you come to visit, if I tell you we scrubbed the place from top to bottom, you can rest assured that we are not exaggerating. And not because I'm a clean freak, either.
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Never thought I'd care so much about septic...
Today our septic system got its second tank installed, and the next step is to have the leach lines fixed/installed. Our move in date is highly dependent on this getting accomplished! The area where our mobile home will be is so very close to the septic system, that it just makes sense to not have the home moved until it is done. So, the waiting continues. We are still fixing up the mobile home in the meantime, but we are having to do a lot of commuting in order to do so. With no septic, it isn't reasonable to stay out at our property. Once our mobile home is moved and we get running water to the home, along with septic and electricity, we can stay out there, even if the home still needs lots of repairs.
A while back I read a couple little mini-books by Renee Ellison at homeschoolhowtos.com. One was called 10 Extraordinary Stories of Ordinary People Who Got Free of House Debt, and the other was called Money in Your Pocket. These books were, I believe, under $5 each, and immediately downloadable as an e-book, and they were GREAT books! In the money in your pocket book, she writes a letter to her nephew, giving him advice about what they would do if they were young and just starting out. She talks about acquiring a piece of earth, debt free, at the earliest possible moment, and making that his highest priority, even before college. She was saying live in a camper if you have to, then upgrade to a bigger camper, or a mobile home; if the Israelites lived in tents, we could, too! She was, of course, saying that would be easier to do when you are younger and don't have a family, but it was this kind of thinking that got us spurred on in our journey. We thought about all the possibilities of dwellings we could live in, and about all the things we could really live without. Most people enjoy camping for a short period of time; some love living in their campers or RVs even for a good portion of the year. Something about the simplicity draws people. So we looked at every improvement over that as a blessing! We are learning to appreciate the simple things in life. Since we had decided we could live without 2 bathrooms (only HAVE to have 1), finding a mobile home in our price range with 2 bathrooms was a blessing! We decided that even a house with a yard slightly bigger than ours (that we could own debt free) would be wonderful; imagine our joy to find that we were getting 7 acres! God just really changed our perspective on things, and I'm glad He did. It's so much more fun to appreciate things, no matter how small, than it is to be unthankful and discontented with a lot! That's not to say we don't complain sometimes. When we try to go in that trailer and there are about 30 yellow jackets waiting inside to greet us (it's not air tight right now, since it has shifted from the move, and is still waiting to be moved yet again), and I feel like I can't even eat out there without them buzzing all over us, yeah, I get a little irritated! And the no flushing toilets thing is getting old. But we have a goal in mind, and we're getting there. And when it's all over, I will be SO thankful for our septic system!
A while back I read a couple little mini-books by Renee Ellison at homeschoolhowtos.com. One was called 10 Extraordinary Stories of Ordinary People Who Got Free of House Debt, and the other was called Money in Your Pocket. These books were, I believe, under $5 each, and immediately downloadable as an e-book, and they were GREAT books! In the money in your pocket book, she writes a letter to her nephew, giving him advice about what they would do if they were young and just starting out. She talks about acquiring a piece of earth, debt free, at the earliest possible moment, and making that his highest priority, even before college. She was saying live in a camper if you have to, then upgrade to a bigger camper, or a mobile home; if the Israelites lived in tents, we could, too! She was, of course, saying that would be easier to do when you are younger and don't have a family, but it was this kind of thinking that got us spurred on in our journey. We thought about all the possibilities of dwellings we could live in, and about all the things we could really live without. Most people enjoy camping for a short period of time; some love living in their campers or RVs even for a good portion of the year. Something about the simplicity draws people. So we looked at every improvement over that as a blessing! We are learning to appreciate the simple things in life. Since we had decided we could live without 2 bathrooms (only HAVE to have 1), finding a mobile home in our price range with 2 bathrooms was a blessing! We decided that even a house with a yard slightly bigger than ours (that we could own debt free) would be wonderful; imagine our joy to find that we were getting 7 acres! God just really changed our perspective on things, and I'm glad He did. It's so much more fun to appreciate things, no matter how small, than it is to be unthankful and discontented with a lot! That's not to say we don't complain sometimes. When we try to go in that trailer and there are about 30 yellow jackets waiting inside to greet us (it's not air tight right now, since it has shifted from the move, and is still waiting to be moved yet again), and I feel like I can't even eat out there without them buzzing all over us, yeah, I get a little irritated! And the no flushing toilets thing is getting old. But we have a goal in mind, and we're getting there. And when it's all over, I will be SO thankful for our septic system!
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Fixing up the Mobile Home
I can't believe it's been so long since I've updated! Life is so busy, of course! Where do I start...
The old house is gone, along with the huge dumpster that holds its remains, burned or otherwise. So, with the exception of a pile of metal we still need to recycle, nothing is left of it. The neighbor behind us came with his bobcat, took some dirt from our next door neighbor's land, and leveled off the old home site to make way for the mobile home.
Now, LOTS to do in the mobile home! One huge blessing God has provided for us is that our neighbor is giving us some carpet he's not using. It's probably enough to carpet our bedroom, which is the only room I'd want carpeted anyhow. The mobile home had old green carpet, very dirty, but I told the Lord I'd try to be happy with it, if that is how it has to be. Thankfully, he provided another way. The rest of the house we plan to do in a combination of laminate wood and vinyl flooring. I'm thinking attractive, yet easy to clean, with the focus on easy to clean! We just went through a bout of stomach virus in our house, which definitely reminded me, once again, why carpet in a house with little ones equals disaster! Too much poop, puke, and pee in our house, and now that we are moving to the country, add dirt, mud, and animal poop to the list, and you can see why I need something that can be mopped. I'm very much looking forward to our UNcarpeted dining area (that, of course, adds food to our dirty equation).
Speaking of animal poop, we now have 2 horses, 1 longhorn, and 3 calves grazing on our land. Not ours, but the neighbor's! We get to enjoy the animals without having to actually own them right now. I'm very glad to actually be able to do something for our neighbor, however small, since he has been so kind to us. Jeremy told him that he's the best neighbor we've ever had, and it is so very true.
Back to the mobile home. We've ripped up carpet, swept up all the dust and dirt from THAT, washed the walls in the living room, and now, we actually primed the walls in the living room. So much left to do, but it is progress. Last weekend I scrubbed and scrubbed until I was sore in the kids' bathroom. It is probably the smallest bathroom I've ever seen (well, except that in a camper!), yet I've never scrubbed for so long in a bathroom! It is clean, though. The good news is, about 10 or so of those vinyl tiles should cover the whole bathroom floor, and a sample quart of paint (or the leftovers from painting the bathroom in our current house) should take care of it. We just need a new tub surround (who thought WOOD would make a good tub surround?), and a new sink (the plastic sink is cracked). We found a new sink for about $16, so it isn't setting us back very much. We could superglue the crack for a while if we had to, but the sink is so cheap, I think we'll be able to just replace it. The bad news about pulling out the carpet is we found some rotten plywood from leaks that we'll probably have to replace. We got some of that Thompson's waterseal, and we're planning to coat all the exposed plywood with it, so that we have no more rotting floor problems. I'm really surprised that the floors are made of plywood that hasn't been treated, and just covered with carpet. Plywood seems to buckle at even the slightest hint of water, and yet nothing was protecting it from the water, not even in the bathrooms. Strange.
We were hoping to maybe be moved in by Thanksgiving, but I think we've scratched that idea. Now we are hoping to be moved by Christmas. We have to basically paint the entire house, and replace all the flooring, except that in the kitchen/dining/laundry room, so that's a lot of work to be done still. We're painting over wall paper, so we're having to do primer (more than one coat), and possibly more than one coat of the actual paint. And we've never laid floors before, so we don't know how long it will take us.
It's all fun, though, in spite of all the work and the driving. We are making memories that we will never forget. It's fun to work together to accomplish goals, and it's fun to trust God and watch Him provide. And He is definitely doing that.
The old house is gone, along with the huge dumpster that holds its remains, burned or otherwise. So, with the exception of a pile of metal we still need to recycle, nothing is left of it. The neighbor behind us came with his bobcat, took some dirt from our next door neighbor's land, and leveled off the old home site to make way for the mobile home.
Now, LOTS to do in the mobile home! One huge blessing God has provided for us is that our neighbor is giving us some carpet he's not using. It's probably enough to carpet our bedroom, which is the only room I'd want carpeted anyhow. The mobile home had old green carpet, very dirty, but I told the Lord I'd try to be happy with it, if that is how it has to be. Thankfully, he provided another way. The rest of the house we plan to do in a combination of laminate wood and vinyl flooring. I'm thinking attractive, yet easy to clean, with the focus on easy to clean! We just went through a bout of stomach virus in our house, which definitely reminded me, once again, why carpet in a house with little ones equals disaster! Too much poop, puke, and pee in our house, and now that we are moving to the country, add dirt, mud, and animal poop to the list, and you can see why I need something that can be mopped. I'm very much looking forward to our UNcarpeted dining area (that, of course, adds food to our dirty equation).
Speaking of animal poop, we now have 2 horses, 1 longhorn, and 3 calves grazing on our land. Not ours, but the neighbor's! We get to enjoy the animals without having to actually own them right now. I'm very glad to actually be able to do something for our neighbor, however small, since he has been so kind to us. Jeremy told him that he's the best neighbor we've ever had, and it is so very true.
Back to the mobile home. We've ripped up carpet, swept up all the dust and dirt from THAT, washed the walls in the living room, and now, we actually primed the walls in the living room. So much left to do, but it is progress. Last weekend I scrubbed and scrubbed until I was sore in the kids' bathroom. It is probably the smallest bathroom I've ever seen (well, except that in a camper!), yet I've never scrubbed for so long in a bathroom! It is clean, though. The good news is, about 10 or so of those vinyl tiles should cover the whole bathroom floor, and a sample quart of paint (or the leftovers from painting the bathroom in our current house) should take care of it. We just need a new tub surround (who thought WOOD would make a good tub surround?), and a new sink (the plastic sink is cracked). We found a new sink for about $16, so it isn't setting us back very much. We could superglue the crack for a while if we had to, but the sink is so cheap, I think we'll be able to just replace it. The bad news about pulling out the carpet is we found some rotten plywood from leaks that we'll probably have to replace. We got some of that Thompson's waterseal, and we're planning to coat all the exposed plywood with it, so that we have no more rotting floor problems. I'm really surprised that the floors are made of plywood that hasn't been treated, and just covered with carpet. Plywood seems to buckle at even the slightest hint of water, and yet nothing was protecting it from the water, not even in the bathrooms. Strange.
We were hoping to maybe be moved in by Thanksgiving, but I think we've scratched that idea. Now we are hoping to be moved by Christmas. We have to basically paint the entire house, and replace all the flooring, except that in the kitchen/dining/laundry room, so that's a lot of work to be done still. We're painting over wall paper, so we're having to do primer (more than one coat), and possibly more than one coat of the actual paint. And we've never laid floors before, so we don't know how long it will take us.
It's all fun, though, in spite of all the work and the driving. We are making memories that we will never forget. It's fun to work together to accomplish goals, and it's fun to trust God and watch Him provide. And He is definitely doing that.
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