Barn raising

No, we're not really putting up a barn. The last thing we need is a barn project before this house addition project is done, but the work that happened today sure felt like a classic barn raising! We had seven men from our church come to help Matt hang sheet rock today, starting at 8am, and people not leaving until 2 or 3pm, and some not until 4. On top of that, three of the men do this kind of work for a living, so they both know what they're doing, and know how to do it efficiently. They got SO MUCH done!!! Most importantly, they got all of the ceilings done. I'm not much help with ceilings, and neither are Owen or Leah. ;) You kind of need big strong tall guys to do that kind of work. And secondly, but only second by a small bit, most of the walls in the upstairs rooms that will belong to Matt's mom are completed. There are a few bits and pieces here and there that Matt will need to piece and fit in, but that's work he can do by himself. It feels like we're finally at a point where we can put all of our (ha! that's a generous use of the plural since I'm not really able to contribute much to the work at this point!) efforts into getting the upper level rooms finished so his mom can move in! Then the rest of the project can move along at a more leisurely pace as time allows.

Some highlights from the day...

Reuben's always ready to go out in the addition, and it worked for him to spend most of the day out there with the men.

Kyle and Korey starting the end wall up in Matt's mom's bedroom. (I'm looking through the stud wall from the stairway.)

And another crew down in the basement cranking on the ceilings.

Of course, part of having eight men working hard all day in the house means there are eight hungry men in the house, which I think is also part of why "barn raising" is what I was thinking about all day. I spent my day barefoot, pregnant, and in the kitchen. Though not barefoot. I actually had shoes on in the house, which I don't usually do, but going in and out of the addition (yes, still through the window!)...

...made it much easier to just keep my shoes on. But I was definitely in the kitchen. Thankfully I had some good help. Because not only did I have eight hungry men to feed lunch, but we had also planned Owen and Leah's family birthday party for this evening (since the original sheet rock plan was for March 1st), so there was LOTS to be done.

Thank you, girls, for helping to cut up the strawberries for the birthday dessert and fruit salad! One thing I can cross off my to-do list for the day!

 As the morning moved on, the basement crew was able to move up to the main level ceilings. They used 12 foot long pieces of sheet rock on the ceilings on this level to minimize joints for taping, but that means they were heavy!

Even these partial sheets are heavy because the composition of the ceiling rock is different (more dense) than the stuff that gets used on the walls.

Reuben found himself a job in the corner pulling the paper strips off the ends of the sheet rock. I remember doing this as a child when we finished our basement at the house I grew up in! Reuben, by the way, has been doing quite well the last week or so after his rash of seizures. As we've been decreasing his anti-epileptic medications (since we could not see any positive correlation between his level of medication and frequency or severity of his seizures, and there are definite negative side effects to the medication), we have noticed that with every decrease he has a rougher week, and then settles out. This last decrease three weeks ago was going from a tiny bit to nothing, and it apparently was much rougher on his system than the other decreases have been, but at one seizure a day for the last week or so, and none yesterday or today, that seems to be settling out for the moment, and we have seen amazing differences in his "aliveness." Part of this is that he's made a step of progress towards independent play/occupying his own time, and this photo captures that for me, thus the novel. ;)

I love the men all lined up in a row for this big twelve-footer (and Reuben sneaking between Chad and the ladder!)

And then it was lunch time. Pizza. ;) Which just happens to also be what Owen and Leah requested for their birthday party dinner back when these were intended to be two different days. So I made a lot of pizza today! Three for lunch and two for supper. (I don't have a photo of it, but we make our pizza from scratch, including grinding fresh wheat for some of the flour, and Owen did all the grinding for me - five hoppers full! That's a lot of work!)

Eating lunch...

On to the afternoon. Matt had requested earlier in the week that I bake cookies in the afternoon to share with the guys working, so Rinnah and I mixed up the dough on Friday afternoon so I could have that much done ahead of time. Rinnah was very proud of the cookies, so I let her push off her afternoon nap a bit so she could help pass them out...

Carefully carrying the tray...

...and setting it on the make-shift table. (Next to the wet-wipes. Because how else do you clean your hands before eating in a house with many small children?)

"Here, Daddy, have a cookie!"

"Thank you!"

This is a thrilling photo (to me!) because Matt and Kelley are down at the bottom of the stairs going up to Barb's space! By this time of the afternoon, the sheet rock has wrapped its way around all the main walls of the upstairs, and is working its way down the stairs. These stairs and up are the "must get done" before Barb can move in. As a bonus (and I don't have photos yet), the few guys that were able to stay after 3pm were able to finish rocking around the small wall to the left in the photo above, and wrap around the puzzle table area and finish the front wall of the main level.

Although there's still plenty to go, this has got to be one of the top five days of significant visual progress. We're thinking pretty seriously about hiring someone to do the mudding and taping of the upper level (and maybe the main level ceilings) to save some time. Matt can do that, but he's got so much (business/paid) work these days, that it would be tough for him to find time to do it, plus it's a nasty messy job. ;) Matt and I have also been (mostly, but not entirely) joking that when the baby arrives and my mom comes up to help out that we can put her to work painting the upstairs! ;) In reality, she may be pretty busy with other things, but knowing her, I wouldn't be surprised if she managed to get some time in on the addition! Maybe if we dressed Reuben up in some old grungy stuff and sent him out with her...

So while all that was happening, Leah and I were finishing up the fruit salad, getting the dough rising for two more pizzas, and assembling the birthday dessert. I had offered to make two separate ones, but when Owen wanted "Death by Chocolate" and Leah decided on her version, "Death by Pink," we figured we could combine them into one with two sides. We baked the brownies two nights ago, and made both the chocolate and strawberry puddings yesterday, so all I had to do today was whip the cream and layer it all up.

Happy Birthday, you two!!

Owen's ninth birthday was at the beginning of February, and Leah will be seven at the end of March. We decided this was a good year to combine family parties instead of trying to do one for each child, particularly since Reuben, Rinnah, and Krassi have their birthdays within three weeks or so of each other! It was a fun ending to a busy, very good day.