The Hardest Morning Ever

This morning was the hardest morning I have ever had to endure. Today is the first day of summer camp. District 93 has a camp up near Victor, ID called Pine Basin. This spring, Tristan begged to go. It's the last year he's eligible, so we decided he could go and today was the day.
We arrived at Rocky Mountain Middle School a little before 8am, so we had some time to mill around for a few minutes before they got started. Then the boys had to put their baggage on one side of the walkway and the girls put theirs on the other. Then the camp director had us go over to the little covered area for a quick parents' meeting. His name was Darrin. The told us a little about the cam and some of the things the kids will be doing up there. He also took some time to allay our fears. There is bear sign, but no bears have been spotted. 4 moose have been up to the cabin and looked through the windows, but they haven't been aggressive or threatening in any way. The water levels have gone down so the river isn't as bad, but the kids won't be anywhere near it anyway. The most dangerous things up there are the ground squirrels. A few kids have tried to catch them and were consequently bitten, but the bites were minor. All of the staff has been extensively checked out, including FBI background checks. So, there really is nothing to worry about. While we were talking, the staffers got the kids organized into a circle and started playing games. After the little meeting, it was time to say good-bye. I walked over to Tristan and he stood up. I really wanted to give him a great big hug, but I was content with his leaning into me and letting me do an awkward shoulder squeeze. "Bye, Mom." was all I got. Then a look that clearly said, "Time for you to go, Mom." I turned and started walking toward the van. About half way there, I started choking up. So, I had to hurry up. By the time I got to the van, a tear or two had escaped. I held it together until I got out of the parking lot, but then that was it. I sobbed. I considered pulling over, it was that bad. I calmed myself down just as my phone rang. It was Ty. The minute he heard my voice, he said, "I take it you've dropped him off?" "Y-e-e-s-s-s" I cried. He just laughed at me. Then tried to comfort me. I was fine by the time we hung up, but soon I was crying again. It was so hard to leave my baby with those people. He's gonna be gone for the whole week! I won't see him again until parents' night, but he's not gonna let me hug him or anything in front of his friends. He doesn't come home til Friday. He'll be home for the weekend but then he leaves for Scout camp on next Friday! How will I stand it? I can't believe how much I miss him. I hope I can stand it for the next 5 days!
When I got home from dropping him off, Zachary ran up to me and gave me a HUGE hug. "I missed you, Mommy!" He said. It was just what I needed. Then Samantha came in and gave me a big hug as well. It helped me so much to have my other two babies around me and loving on me. Maybe I will just need lots of cuddles from them to get me through this week. Wish me luck!
PS I would have had pictures from dropping Tristan off at the school, but I knew taking pictures would embarrass him, so I didn't even take the camera. *sigh* Actually, there is a picture on my camera, but I don't know how to get it off. Sorry about that.

Even More

Now the flooding has spread to the family room. UGH!!! I am not happy. In fact, I am VERY grumpy! I wonder if the previous owners knew about this problem...

We're All Wet

Today, I went back into the craft room to return a paint brush that was played with without permission. (grrr. It was one of my good ones too!) Anyway, I stepped next to a box and felt a very damp spot. I thought, "Crap! The dog peed on the floor." So I got down on the floor to smell it and make sure. (Ah, the joys of pet ownership.) However, I got a surprise when I smelled something else entirely. I couldn't place the smell, so I called Ty in to check it out. He couldn't identify the smell either. Then, he noticed that the box next to the wet spot was soaked half-way up. Uh-oh. Something broke and leaked all over. So we opened up the box and found a whole bunch of candles, but they were all solid and nothing was leaking. Ty got up and walked across the floor and discovered that it was ALL wet! Apparently, a pipe outside the house was leaking. A lot! We had to vacuum out the window well and down into a hole. We removed all of the boxes out of the room and had to open a few to check to see if anything was damaged. Luckily, nothing was ruined. Then, we began vacuuming up the water from the carpet. Of course, the hose on Ty's shop-vac broke, so Ty had to go borrow my dad's. While he was gone, I went over it with the carpet cleaner. I had to dump it twice because it filled the reservoir up to the top. Finally, Ty realized that it was futile as long as the pad was soaked. So, we ripped up the carpet and had to chunk out the pad. It was literally dripping and there were puddles standing on the concrete. Then, we had to re-vacuum up the carpet. What a mess! I think the carpet can be saved and the wall is okay as well. Thank goodness for insurance. Of course, all this happened two days before I go in for surgery! (More about that later.) I guess I should have taken pictures of all the carnage, but I was so absorbed in the clean up that I didn't think about it until the carpet was laying back down and the fan was at work. Sorry, I guess I'm out of "blogger" mode.
About the surgery. On Tuesday, I am going in for a partial hysterectomy. I have a very difficult time once a month. Heavy flow, pain that debilitates me, I turn into a total hag. Since we're done having kids, I don't really need all that plumbing, so Dr. Leavitt is taking out my Uterus. He's leaving the ovaries, so I won't have to start hormone replacement. He's doing it laprascopically, so the recovery time is a lot shorter; 7 days as opposed to 4-6 weeks. I may not even have to stay the night! So, if it's no trouble, maybe you could keep me in your prayers. ;0)

Getting there

The bathroom is done! Well, almost. Ty still has to put the toilet back together, but that's a 5 minute job. I'll post pictures when I make it back to the house with the camera. I'm afraid to take it over there right now cuz then I'll forget it and I won't have it for Easter morning and that just wouldn't do! (I apologize to all my English teachers for that run-on sentence!)
Now, we only have a few minor things to do. I discovered a drawer in Samantha's bathroom that the previous owners had glued something in and then tore out, so we need to sand out all the goopy, dried-on glue. Ty found a spot in the hall that didn't get touch-up painted, so we need to do a quick dab there. The fence in the backyard has these old window panes, complete with glass, nailed to it. Some of the glass has broken out, so there's a danger of getting cut. We've cleaned up the glass from the ground but we still need to take the silly things down. And the front and back yards need to be raked. There's still a lot of dog poop in the back yard, so I'll be sending the kids out with latex gloves and WalMart bags to clean that up. (Then out comes the sanitizer!!!) But that's it! Of course, the boxes still need to be unpacked and places need to be found for all our junk, but we can do that while we're living there. Actually, the raking doesn't really need to be done before we move in either.
So now we're all ready. Now if only the refrigerator would arrive...

It Never Ends

It seems that all I am posting about lately is the house and all of the things we are doing to it. Well, I wouldn't want to break that streak, so here's another one!
Ty's big project today was the kitchen cabinets.
Several of the cabinets needed to be re-caulked. There were huge gaps between the walls and the base and shelves.
Ty didn't want me to take his picture, so you know I HAD to.
The shelves also needed to be sanded down and repainted. There are a lot of cupboards and Ty had a big job ahead of him. He got them done and they look great. He went back to the house after dinner and now he's tidied up the garage and then he's going to caulk the gaps in the walls in Zach's room. The man's a maniac.
My project was removing the wallpaper in the bathroom. First, I peeled the first layer off. That took two garbage bags.

Next, I used my favorite new product, DIF. I don't care if the label says it's been proven to cause cancer in California. I'm in Idaho, so I should be safe, right?
First, I sprayed it on the walls. I started by spraying sections on the lower half of the walls. You can only do so much at a time or it sits too long. After it's been sprayed, it has to sit for 15-20 minutes. I tried to space it out so there wasn't a lot of standing around, but sometimes there was a little down time, so I'd go out into the kitchen and "supervise" Ty in his work.
Then I used a putty tool to scrape the wallpaper off. I can't believe how easy it is. When you spray on the DIF, you can see spots start bubbling up right away.
By the time you've waited for the 15 minutes, the paper just peels right off the wall. In some sections, all I had to do was start the peel with the putty thingy and then I could gently pull the paper off the wall. I got the entire bottom half of the bathroom done and two sections are done all the way up to the ceiling. Tomorrow I will finish the bathroom. I had to stop so I could get the kids home and make dinner. I also have piles of laundry to work on. It's been a little neglected these past few days. I didn't go back with Ty so I could get the kids bathed and ready for bed.
I'd better get off the computer so we can get family prayer and off to bed. Have a great night!

Worn Out

After a long day of working at the house and doing post-visitor clean up, we were all pretty tired. Tristan wanted to watch a movie to unwind, so he put in Secondhand Lions. We turned off all the lights and just relaxed. Samantha, Zachary, and I didn't make it through the whole movie. We were just so dang tired!
Samantha curled up on the couch. Doesn't she look so sweet?
Zachary wanted to cuddle and I had absolutely no problem with that. We kicked out the leg rest on the couch and snuggled in. He fell asleep almost instantly and when he goes to sleep, he turns into a little heater. I couldn't help but get drowsy myself. Soon, my head was resting on his and we were both in dream land. I love the little moments like this!

More Work Done

Since Ty doesn't work on Fridays, we (read "he") got a lot more work done on the house yesterday. He headed over at about 8:30 and got to work on the gas line. The house is heated by gas, but we also wanted the clothes dryer to run on gas, so he had to put in a gas line from the furnace to the dryer. He had to tear up the entire wall in the laundry room. He had to take the laundry folding counter off and take the cupboards underneath it apart. I dropped by at about 9:45 so I could pick him up to run a few errands. We dropped Samantha off at the Paramount Theater for a party and then went shopping for kitchen chairs. We also took Tristan to the comic book store so he could show them his report card and get his gift from Topps Trading Cards. I think we found the perfect chairs. Now we just have to decide if we'll get them. We also went to Ace Hardware so Ty could pick up a part he needed for the gas line. Then I dropped him back off at the house and then I went to pick up Samantha. We went to lunch and took Tristan for a haircut. Usually, my sister-in-law does it, but it was a bit of an emergency. The boy looked like a sheepdog. Once his hair was a little less shaggy, we went back to the house so we could get it all cleaned up for Jeremy's wife, Sandi, to come for a visit this weekend. Jeremy is in Iraq (keep him in your prayers, please) so she's doing the single parent thing. I got a Migraine and had to lay down for a bit while the kids worked on the downstairs bathroom and family room. At a little before 4, we took Tristan over to his Scoutmaster's house for a camping trip. Then Samantha, Zachary, and I headed back over to the house. Ty had gotten the gas line completely run and checked for leaks. He got the wall repaired, the cupboards put together, and the counter put back on. He repainted the walls and cupboards. The room looks like he never touched it! You would never know that it had been completely disassembled. He amazes me. He also did all the touch up in Zach's room and the spare bedroom. When we showed up, I puttied a few spots, removed some screws and nails I missed before and puttied those as well. Ty continued to touch up and I scored the wallpaper in the master bathroom in preparation for removal. Ty removed a swatch of paint from Samantha's room and the living room so we can take them to Home Depot and get the analyzed. Those are the only two rooms the previous owner didn't leave paint for. So you see, we got a ton done yesterday! Maybe we will get it done by next weekend.