It Just Keeps Going On

Last week we wrote up a blog post but never posted it, so this one is going to be another twofer.

Early last week, we celebrated the 4th of July. Earlier in the day we went over to the Plastow's house and had a barbecue while it was raining. The rain was really nice given how hot it has been recently, and the barbecue was very good with lots of tasty food.

We invited the Plastows, the Browns, the Plastow grandparents, and the Rogerses over to our house and all lit off fireworks. It was successful, and no one got hurt, and nothing got lit on fire, so that was pretty good. 

Last week, Mike took most of the week off from work and worked on the house the entire time. On Tuesday and Wednesday, we painted. We started installing the cabinets on Thursday; however, they took forever to do, and we finally finished them Saturday evening.

While Mike was working on the cabinets, Rea and the kids worked on installing lots of floors. The bathrooms and playroom are already done, so we have been making good progress. Sara was helping Mike out on all of the work that he was doing, so both of the older girls were pretty helpful. The other kids were helpful too, but they spent a lot of time playing as well, so they were not helpful on the same level.

Timmy has been working really hard on the Barton reading program for multiple years, and he finally completed it. As a reward for completing the entire thing, Alison agreed with him that she would buy him the Lion Knights' Castle, which is a humongous Lego set. We are very excited that he was able to complete the entire program, and Timmy is very excited about receiving the Lego set. He had the following to say about it:

"It's really big and great and yellow and I love it and I haven't opened it yet and I can't wait to open it."

This last week, Alison and the kids went to the Poulsons' house to do an extended sleepover with Andy's family (since they are in the country from whatever *stan or former Russian-controlled state they are living now for a rare visit).

When they went off to do that Mike stayed home and took time off from work to get the plumbing done on the house. It took him about 8 trips to the local Lowes to get all of the things that he either bought incorrectly, didn't know that he needed, or for whatever other reason didn't have, however, as of this moment, all of the plumbing that is possible to install is working and without leaks.

What remains now is to finish all of the showers and tubs that don't have surrounds yet, and also do the kitchen sink (which doesn't have a countertop yet). The surrounds should be arriving on Monday, but on Monday we will already be at the upcoming Poulson family reunion, so Grandpa Mike will have to receive them himself.

On Saturday, Sara also planned a friend birthday party for herself, and invited a few girls over and painted her accent wall in her room. They had a cake and did some art activities. It sounds like they had a fun time overall.

This week we hope all of the electrical work is finished for the house, and that we can get it ready for a final inspection on the 28th. If we can do that, they we could theoretically move back into our house directly from the waters house. It seems pretty unlikely, however, we are hoping that it will somehow magically happen. All that remains on the list is finishing up that remaining plumbing, all the finish electrical, the final hvac stuff, countertops in the kitchen, and getting our fridge, stove, and other large appliances unearthed from the water's house.