SheetROCKING my World!

I came home from subbing to find a crane in front of my yard.  Yikes! I don't remember ordering any crazy structural beams.  This can't be for my house BUT, it was--lots of sheetrock being delivered to my front door in style.

Look how strategically this operator is stealthily avoiding my trees with this load of sheetrock.  Crazy right? This method gets more to the door. More to the door! More to the door!



Oh! It's a beautiful sight to see walls again.  I have to admit it was a little weird seeing walls.  I had gotten so used to the 2X4's and insulation.



And a ceiling!



Now, if I could pretty please talk my blessed sheetrockers into sheetrocking my laundry room first, I would be a clean clothes wearing gal!  The daunting pile of laundry grows and grows.  It scares me so bad that I avoid my bedroom, so I don't have to look or think about it.  You moms know what I'm talking about.



Meanwhile, back in the kitchen, I've been making tofu, sweet potato pancakes on my panini grill.  Kids had no idea about the added ingredients, and I had no idea my panini could perform so well. It got an extra polish and shine and maybe even a song, after I was done.




Welcome to our crazy!

Last Pinewood Derby. Ever.

Becket and Father competed in their last pinewood derby and they went all out.  Becket named his car the "Chunk of Wood."They spent a lot of time and money into this project so it better be worth it!



Luckily, Mat's parents live close to help us out during this remodel.  I have NO IDEA where to find my scale at this moment of chaos and pinewood derby cars as you know, have to be precise. His parents are always, so kind to lend a helping hand.

Here are the blurry finalist in the Pinewood Derby.  When Becket was asked how he was feeling about the race, he said, and I quote, " I have a lot of hopes and dreams riding on this car and a lot of money!"



And here is the winner of 2014

St. George and House Headway (sorta)

We had a little Spring Break getaway in St. George this past week. It was a lot of killing of birds with one stone for those who like to kill birds. Mat had to work, I had a cousin coming home from serving a mission in England, St. George Arts Festival (which I loved as a former St. Georgian), Easter, seeing family and warmth.



It was a perfect alignment of the moon and the sun--kind of like blood moon I made my kids get up for last Tuesday at 1:30 in the morning :-) You only live once I say--and I have an awesome neighbor who knows how to work a high power telescope like no other. This picture was taken through the telescope lens with my phone. Back to the weekend.....



Dannielle was gracious enough to let us stay at her house and we got to enjoy the baby chicks she brought home to raise. Oh! How we miss Dannielle and family--and the chicks. Their house and company is so delightful and happy.



Gretchen got a new do







Mat got one as well, but he wouldn't let me take a picture, so you'll just have to notice it in other pictures.  (Like the next post)

A couple of family parties in my Aunt's backyard.



And, of course, Easter candy!




We came across these older pictures of my Grandpa and Grandma displayed in my Aunt's house.  We sure miss them at family gatherings, but isn't it nice to know that the family loves each other enough to still find time to be together and support one another.



Good job grandparents.  Love this family picture of my grandpa in his football uniform. My mom is the cute little girl in the middle. She makes you melt just looking at her in this picture.  I guess my grandpa was the only one on the football team with kids.  Imagine that? They had 8 children total.



When we got home we were hoping to find our stairs to be done, but no--that is where our alignment of the moon and the sun got off track.  We did how ever get our tile done by Uncle Curtis.  It looks fabulous and at least one room on the main floor wants to be finished.



Doesn't the tile look groovy with my green shoes and unmatching socks. I thought so!

This Old House

House Update:

We are almost ready for sheetrocking.  I was hoping Monday, but it looks like Tuesday. You did not just hear me groan and scrunch up my lips--because you're reading--but groaning is what I'm doing with fist pump frustration. We keep peeling off more and more walls, meaning, more and more sheetrock. BUT- won't it look somewhat finished once that goes up? Think positive. Think positive. The goal for me is like the story "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie. " If the sheet rocking goes up, then we can paint, if the paint goes up then we can put in our wood floor, if the wood floor gets installed then we can see those cabinets take shape, once the cabinets go in then I can have a counter top, and once that countertops go in I can see my beautiful appliances installed and polished and I'll be a Happy Snowman--Frozen reference.








We also got the house all boarded up so our little friends (mice and wasps) can find a new hideout.




And! We have lights! Sing.  Our house is going to be so lit up that I could go without seeing the sun for a few days and not even know it. Now, if they could magically tan you and not give you cancer would be a super bonus (as long as they were still LEDs)

Cooking Survival

Cooking Survival 101- Must eat Brownies to stay sane.

We attempted to make brownies in the Easy Bake I found buried underneath the stairs.



The light bulb of a oven did not bake our brownies! Not that I had a whole lot of faith in it, but you let us down EB. You let us down.  At least, there was a lot of brownie batter to test and we were happy it didn't kill us.

This bad boy of a crockpot/pressure cooker is keeping us afloat though! It's made some crazy good fish dinners and has given us 2 hot meals in the last week.



I also pressure cooked my leftover brownie batter in it and they were out in less than 5min I. KID. You. Not. Brownies--crispy on the edges and gooey in the middle.

The Inspector Looking to Get Paid

We needed to go with a permit, as much as I didn't want one.  Those inspectors are trouble! We did have some engineering issues knocking out walls and supposedly it is better for resale if you can prove your house isn't going to fall down. BUT, did the inspector have to go snooping around?  He found that our stairs to the right of the entry way were not up to code and he might as well take $45 per sq ft of the whole area. Busted and not awesome Mr. Sir.

Out go the stairs! It does make it handy to toss backpacks our paper towels down to the basement instead of going all the way downstairs.



Here's the view from down below.





One night we passed Micah downstairs through our new not so secret passage. The next day we found it boarded up. No fun.

What we found in our ceiling

When we tore out our ceiling to get to the electricity, we found some nests from our mice friends and wasps friends.  I'm so happy they could cohabitat in our ceiling.  The reason why it was such easy access for these animals was because the builder took a shortcut and just put insulation under the deck instead of a wood board (blocking our animal friends), then insulation.



Here are the remnants of their happy home.



Goodbye.

Laundry Room Tear Down

While I was off playing in Moab, Mat was ripping it up until 2AM in the morning tearing up our laundry room. He tore up all of the bamboo wood floor, and underlying vinyl, to prepare it for the tile we'll have installed. I find it funny that in places where we had wood, we're putting tile and places where we had tile, we're putting wood. Go figure! To each their own to make their own. We have Uncle Curtis coming to put in the tile on Wednesday, so we needed to get this area prepped with hardie backer board (a subfloor of sorts). Honestly, I didn't even know what it was, but I like the name. I would love to invent something just so I could name it.
 

 Our poor cabinets got ripped up during the asbestos removal. We are trying to decide what to do with that mistake. Repaint? Buy new ones from IKEA? I don't like that they aren't adjustable shelves so that is why I was considering new logical ones.
 Here's our guest bathroom for anyone who wants use it.
 Our kids think it is so funny that our toilet is in the hall. Funny grade school humor.
 Mat has been working on a sliding barn door to go across our middle closet. in our laundry room. The other two closets will be cubby storage. The picture is so dark because that is usually how projects run around here. You start in the early morning and finish late at night.
 Okay, I took one the next morning and the picture isn't that much better, I suppose I should slow down when snapping?

 

Moab memorial Ride

As many of you know, Mat's dad passed away in the line of duty. The state has gone above and beyond to recognize those who have sacrificed their lives. It's nice to know that they are not forgotten and that their families have a good support group. In the picture below and to the far right is an officer named Brody. He was shot 9 times and was able to survive. They wanted to dedicate this officers ride to him, but instead he felt it should be dedicated to the ones who have fallen. He felt like he was lucky and got to live, these men didn't.

 
This year they were honoring Mat's dad Dan. They invited the families the day before the public ride and they placed markers for those officer's they were honoring. Everyone used their rock hopping vehicle to drive and recognize those heros. Dan was number two on the course.
 Gretchen doing her Muscleman impression out the window because it was so thrilling
Oh! And did I mention cousins? The kids were in heaven and breathless spending time with their cousins. Lots of loaded laughter.
Hollywood and Avery were inseparable. They could not be apart even if it was a bathroom break!
 Mat unfortunately didn't have enough time to arrange work and he had to miss it, and boy was he missed! I made everyone pinky swear that they would come back next year so he could be apart of it. This is absolutely Mat's world and it was hard enjoy it without him. Pictured: Tom (brother), Bob, Andrea, and Lindsay (sister).
 We went on some hikes and played in the sand.
 The Harris kids have a lot of complaining to bury, that's all I can say! Man my kids are whiners when it comes to any form of exercise.
Of course when you get to your destination, it makes it all worth it. Oh, what's that? No complaining?

Right.

 This was a nice shady spot to rest on the way down while the youngers caught up. We called it our Google nap spot and Becket was trying to charge passerbys .50 cents per nap if they were willing.
 They hotel we stayed out was so kid friendly and safe. They kids really owned it by the 2nd day. They were off to the playground, swimming pool, personal pancake maker like regular bonafide adults 
Next year (I hope)