Crazy week

I've had so much to tell this week, but no time to do it that I wasn't just plopping into bed!! The party went well Sunday and Morgan really enjoyed his Thomas cake. The whole family went out to tour the blue house and see the progress. We were really excited to have Pa Rose finally see it. We hadn't decided if he was depressed that we were messing with his designed house, or if he was just plain too tired to venture that way. We think he's ok with it. It's just hard to remember that he's over 80 years old and just might be more tired than we think!

The shingles and basement windows came in on Monday, so I was hoping to get the shingles cut into crowns before anyone needed them. I wanted Michael to do the flat part that was left because it was a small triangle and needed lots of cutting. I can't do that well, so I told him that I'd finish all the crowning if he'd do that. First, I had to finish getting in all the air vents. They just staple to the roof on the inside to let the air move between the attic and soffets. Meanwhile, the kids were with my mom, and apparently driving her absolutely crazy, so Michael and I decided that if they can't be good for Grandma, they'll have to go work at the blue house for the rest of the week.

I've also been working on a bridesmaid dress for my little sister, Jenny. It's been hard to make contact with her to fit it, but her mom (Yes, we have different moms. Well, we have different dads, too, but we still think we're sisters!) was planning to run me up to quickly fit her on Wednesday.

On Tuesday, it was raining pretty heavily, which was a good thing for the crops. Many crops around here are completely burned up, so it was fantastic to see some rain to possibly save some of them. The kids and I got to the blue house just to find Michael frantically moving the new cabinets around. Water was gushing in all around them in the garage. Without gutters on the house, the water was just pouring straight into the garage toward them. He got a lot of them moved and others put up on boards out of the water, but then we had to tear off all the wet cardboard before the particle board started soaking that up. There's a huge drainage crack that runs through the garage, but it was packed with dirt and sawdust, so Mallory and I started sweeping all that stuff out so it could drain right. We're still concerned that we may have lost some of the new cabinets. Randy stopped by to see what was going on, but he and Michael soon left. The kids and I just decided to start cleaning and getting ready for anything else that might happen. I got them sweeping and vacuuming while I got ready to cut some shingles into crowns when Mallory and Matthew ran to tell me that Morgan had stepped on a nail. I could hear nothing from Morgan, which always makes my heart stop. Sure enough, blood was gushing from his foot and he was crying so hard he wasn't breathing. Mallory ran to get some shop towels and the first aid kit. We got him patched up and ready to go home while Matthew and I loaded some tools and shingles that I could cut when we got home. I couldn't get a hold of the doctor, but found that he'd had a tetanus shot 2 years ago. I had found the nail he stepped on and it was a clean one, but there was a good 3/4" of blood on it. We got him soaking in Epsom salt while we waited for a call and we started cutting shingles. I was also thinking that since the day at the house was over, maybe we could run up to see Jenny that night. Well, that all worked out and the doctor said we could skip the shot if we kept an eye on it, so that was good. We waited for Daddy to get home to sit with the patient. It was a good thing this wasn't Matthew. Dr. Dad doesn't work for him. It's Mom, on the couch, paying attention to nothing but him!! But everything worked out, the dress fit great, and Morgan's ok so far.

On Wednesday, we got to the house to find a new guy on the roof finishing up the shingles. He was Greg, and Randy had told him to just do that diagonal that's hard for me. We unloaded all the shingles we had cut and got those up the ladder. The kids took turns sitting with Morgan and coming up to help me. We got the whole roof done!! Then Randy had a project for Matthew. Where we had turned garage into bedrooms, there was nothing at the floor to eventually nail baseboards to, so Randy had cut 2x4's into chunks and we were to nail those between the studs. Scott stopped by and saw that we needed nails and he brought back more nails than you might need for 8 houses, but that gave us plenty of choices!! So Mallory vacuumed out all the sawdust, I fitted the chunks to the right spots and Matthew nailed them down. By that time, Michael was getting off work and came down to see the action. We were pretty much exhausted, but he decided we should do some insulating. Ok, go ahead, but I was too sweaty. Well, he was that sweaty in about 5 minutes, so then I had no excuse. We really got far with the outside walls. He did most of the pushing it in and Matthew and I were doing the cutting and fitting. His new pocketknife from the rodeo was really proving itself worthy!!

Yesterday morning, Mom was going to mow, so I just took Matthew to work so Mallory could sit with Morgan. We were really going well getting things cut and ready for Michael. We were also cutting the tiny stuff to pack around windows and such. I only had about an hour left before I had to go clean up to go to the bakery when Matthew lost his knife down a very deep hole in the basement wall. We could see it, but it was beyond reach. We worked on that for a while, then took off for some of Grandpa's tools. We met Grandma on the road. She had a message from Cindy that I didn't have to go in today. Well, so much for my time off!! Working at the bakery is about my only time to rest!! But then we had time to go back for Matthew's knife and get some more of the insulating done and/or ready before Michael got there. It took a while and some deep scratches to get his knife, but we got it. Back to work. When Michael got there, my bay window showed up!! We found that not only did it cost 3 times more than any other window, it takes 3 times more people and time to install it!! It's really pretty except for the oak sills on the inside! Who knew that a company that only does vinyl windows would scrape up oak for a bay window?!? Matt asked if I wanted to send it back. He's really cute. We've been waiting for this thing for 13 weeks and he thinks I might send it back. I'm just going to order more formica and have Randy cover it!!

Michael and I got the rest of the outside walls done and got the mud room ready for the floor and the drywall. We're hoping that starts on Tuesday. Depends on whether Randy can get the floor in, Buckalew can get the returns in, and Chris can get the fan in!! Come on guys!! I want my house!!!

Well, today I think Mallory and I will try to put up plastic on the outside walls that are done. Matthew just got up and is planning to help with insulation again, so maybe we'll try to tackle the inside walls. Either way, I gotta get busy, because I have got to get to the bakery today for a little time off!!