Busy, Busy, Busy

We spent the weekend at the new house. Friday, I picked Amy up from college for the weekend. She tutors some homeschoolers in English and writing on Fridays. Her students are my good friend's older children. My friend invited the younger girls and myself to come visit during the tutoring session. Paige and Allie were thrilled to play with their friend Chloe and I enjoyed adult conversation.

Saturday, I took Amy, Katie, Joseph, and Madelyn to the new house. We pulled out the carpeting in the family room, bagged it, and loaded the yucky carpeting in the trunk. Not all the carpet bundles fit, so the remaining bags were left on the deck for pick-up another time.

Measurements were taken of the rooms and some of the windows. There are no window treatments in place. The lack of window coverings did not bother me, until I went to use the upstairs bathroom. The window is directly in front of the toilet, facing the street. We grabbed an old towel that I had thrown in the car for drying hands and used it as a temporary curtain. Dry hands are over-rated anyway.

I was finally able to see the basement. It is scary!!!!! Katie mentioned that if we attached shackles to the wall, they wouldn't look out of place. The basement will be used for storage. It's an old Michigan basement that has been broken up into small rooms.

We had to head back home fairly early because Katie was going to a homecoming dance with a nice young man from our church. She had a good time. She wore a teal dress with a black over-skirt and gold belt.

Sunday afternoon we headed back to the other house to continue our work. Steve, Joe, Madelyn and Kate removed the carpeting from the living room. The home had been owned by heavy smokers and the carpeting in the living room was old and smelly. They cut the carpeting into strips and bagged it up. I got the dining room windows, walls, and light fixtures washed. Joe washed the woodwork and door frames.

Some of the children worked on removing leaves from the enclosed deck and checking out the hot tub. We still don't know if the hot tub works, but the children have high hopes. Katie trimmed some of the bushes. Joe loves plants. He spent some time exploring all the various types of plants in the yard, noticing the berries on many of the shrubs. I spent a few minutes explaining to Paige and Allie that they were not to eat ANY berries until the plants are identified.

Amy washed the kitchen walls and windows. Katie washed the cupboards in the kitchen. I washed the laundry room walls. Stephen helped remove the wall paper in the little girls' bedroom and bagged up the trash.

Paige and Allie made friends with a family next door. The family has 13, 8, and 4 year old girls and a 4 year old boy. The mom and dad greeted us when we were working in the yard. There seem to be a number of families nearby with children in a variety of ages. Hopefully, my children will meet some kids before winter arrives.

We decided to break for lunch and eat the sandwiches that we had packed into a cooler, then discovered that the cooler was at the other house. Oops! Amy ran to Meijer and picked up lunch meat, bread, and chips. We ate a really late lunch.

Amy and I re-attached the door that the previous owner had removed from the laundry room and the door to the basement. My in-laws arrived a short time later for the grand tour and stayed to visit for a few hours. After they left, we packed up carpeting in the back of both cars (Mike had come down after getting out of work.)