Monday, March 21, 2011

March Madness: A House Ripped Apart Before Being Put Back Together Again


March was truly madness for us.

Prior to our home warranty expiring,
several cracks appeared in the ceiling of the family room
& kitchen and the garage.

The repairs would take one week to complete,
with no access to those areas of the home from 8AM - 4PM.

Yikes!
Those areas are truly the heart of the home.

But we buckled down,
and here we go... 




When all was said and done,
the work was flawless!

I lost my sanity a few times,
but overall,
things went quickly.

...

But why stop there?

Since we were already in a state of craziness,
with Samuel on Spring Break,
and our tax refund in the bank,
we decided to install new flooring!


Now the construction zone would incorporate almost
every living space except the kids bedroom and the tiled areas.

Yes,
we are crazy!


Owen found it to be a pirates haven!


And Gabriel practiced his climbing skills!


 Burning the midnight oil!



You always break for a great lunch!


A rare treat for the kids:

Whole Candy Bars!

Why?

I felt so guilty for keeping them confined to
certain parts of the house and
letting them watch movie after movie on the boob tube!

So of course,
I offer them junk food!

Way to go, Mom! 

{ Sigh }




My baby:

The Hallway 


I'm so happy and proud.

It's like giving birth!

{ Just kidding!  This is way better!  Just kidding, again...  }


Bella,
checking things out and dying to slip and slide!


Things were coming along nicely,
and then we hit the tiny patch of tile in the entry way.

Talk about stubborn mortar!

The solution,
grind it with a diamond bit.

The result:

Bittersweet.

The mortar came out,
but dust went...

E V E R Y W H E R E !

Now I know why the home repair guys
went to such lengths covering everything up with tarps!


The story behind this piece is that the work
on this room (or most of the work)
was actually completed days prior,
and in Samuel's absence,
a fact which nearly killed him.

How it worked out was that he had to go to school,
which meant that he would miss out on seeing things through to the end.
 
Thankfully, due to the big, BIG hearts of his
brother Joe and his family,
they stayed on to help finish up the work.

And we did,
except for 5 measly inches!

Try as we might,
we could not find any material to fit that last little bit!

And so that room remained incomplete,
until an order could be placed and received for more material,
which meant that Samuel would be home
to lay the last piece afterall!

{ For my blubbering on the Joe Elmers, see here! }

And so,
to Samuel's delight,
and order was placed,
and he was able to ceremoniously place the last piece!



Ta-da!
...

Is that March Madness, or what?