Not afraid any more

I've written about fear before, I believe. Well, this post is about a different kind of fear.

The fear...




....of....





....installing hard wood floors!!! [insert scary music here]

Not too bad, huh? We're using a pre-finished floor, so all that's required is nailing it in, and cutting to size when necessary. But still, this is something neither Matt nor I have ever done before, and for some reason I had the idea that this was going to be a very time-consuming, finicky sort of project.

Turns out it's not.

Dan (our framer's assistant last summer) finally had time to stop by this morning and give Matt a few pointers. He was only here for half an hour or so, but enough to give Matt a few hints and tricks to make things run smoothly, work out a detail with the stair stringer, and help him strategize a starting location. This afternoon Matt got a great start on it (about 1/3 of what you see there) and then after everyone was in bed I went out with him and helped by laying out pieces for him and cutting at the ends of the rows so all he had to do was use the nailer, and we ended up with half of the larger room done! Lots of fun to do, and not nearly as hard as I'd been afraid it was going to be.

And, though I can't quite cross it off The List, "install washer and dryer" got one big step closer today as they were delivered this morning.

As part of getting ready for that, Matt installed a few pieces of the base trim in the laundry room, which you can see here. Apparently the person who helped him place the order forgot the piece that allows the washer and dryer to stack, so he'll have to remedy that, but that will fit easily in our cargo-Neon.

Funny boys

[Krassi, thinking to himself] I can totally get over this thing.

 See? I'm almost there.

Thankfully, this is as far as he got. Without the higher edge of that desk to pull with his arms, he still can't quite get up to standing unassisted. Yet.

 [Reuben, thinking to himself] Man, I am SUCH the helper in this kitchen. I don't know what Mom would do without me!!

 [Mom, thinking to herself] Umm. Thanks, Reuben. How am I supposed to get all of those out of there? Summer squash and onion infused toasted bagels, anyone?

 [Mom, out loud] "No, Reuben, the squash and onions go into the pot. The pot, Reuben. Not the toaster. NO!! Not in the sink, either! They go in the pot. Yes. Thank you, Reuben."

 And last, but not least, look at my funny boy who all winter long would do anything to pull off his covers, so I'd have to go in after he was asleep to cover him up so he'd stay warm enough in the night. On this cooler summer night when I checked on him, he'd pulled a blanket on all by himself! And not just any blanket, but a quilt hand-sewn just for him by his mommy. ;) Bet he never did that in all those years in the orphanage!

Good day's work

Matt's got a lighter work-work load this week, so there's extra time to get house-work!

Today he was out there this afternoon, and this evening he and I were able to go out there together. We didn't do anything that actually gets an item crossed off The List, but were able to move forward varnishing of window jambs and installing some window and door trim. (If anyone's tracking, these are items #3, 7, and 8.)

Bedroom windows fully trimmed out

Front sitting room (a.k.a. "woodshop" these days!) windows all trimmed out

And door trim on the inside of the bathroom, since the floor is already in on that side.

Crossing things off The List

After 48 hours with my parents in town, and the work Matt and I did earlier in the week to get ready, we've made a significant dent on the list. (Please remember that this list is only what needs to be done to get Matt's mom moved in, and NOT to get the whole addition complete!)

- final coat of sealer on concrete (happening at the end of this week) 
- lay rosin paper over basement floor (for delivery of trim)
- varnish trim (will be delivered, mostly already cut into the right width strips, next Tuesday)
 Lots of head way on this - see photos below.
- install one more door and hardware upstairs
- install wood floors on upper level and...
-  ...down stairs to main level
- make and install extension jambs for windows
Seven of nine are built, and in various stages of being varnished.  
- install trim on windows, doors, base and down the stairs
- install trim in laundry room
- hang laundry room pocket door (maybe not necessary before move-in)
- install bathroom sink
- install sink hardware
- install toilet
- install bathtub hardware
- caulk the bathtub
- build bathroom shelves
- install bathroom mirror (which, as Matt's pointing out, is more like design/buy/build/install bathroom mirror)
- install closet rod
- build doors for the low closet (Maybe. We may just hang fabric on a tension rod.)
- remove window and... neat photos on this one, too!
- ...finish opening between old and new
- install laundry sink
- install washer and dryer (set to be delivered on Tuesday)
- install handrail

I really do get to help sometimes! It's just a few pieces, but earlier this week Matt and I started sanding and varnishing the fine-grade birch plywood that will be the trim. Here I'm working on the stair stringers.

Then my mom came and kicked the production into high gear. Every time I walked out there I felt like I was in a bakery with shelves and shelves of things on cooling racks, or rising and waiting for the ovens. Because Mom works well in production mode, she's got everything for Barb's spaces triple coated as well as as much more as she could spread out at one time, so this is a big boost.

Yay! Plumbing fixtures!! This is the same sink we put in when we remodeled our old bathroom four years ago. I like it because it keeps the floor open, has quite a bit of "storage" surface, and a really practical towel bar.

And the water works!!!

Matt and my Dad also got the hardware for the bathtub installed. The blue protective liner is still on most of the tub, and it's not caulked yet.

In Barb's bedroom we have lots of boxes of cherry flooring acclimating and waiting to be laid down. The orangey stuff is the underlayment, and he and I have most of that bedroom done, but still need to clean the subfloor in the front room before it's ready to go in there.

But this was probably the most exciting thing, if only because of what it symbolizes. Notice there's no window?? This was the weekend that we went from two parts of the house to...one!!!

There is now no more separation between the old and the new! (Well, except for a large ottoman that fits between the desk and the couch to keep a certain determined Bulgarian from prematurely exploring his new territory! But I moved it for the photo.)

We're optimistically looking at a move-in date of roughly three weeks from now, assuming we don't encounter any major snags along the way. After over a year of working on this project, it's hard to believe that we've almost achieved our goal!

Determination

It's amazing what a little bit of determination can do.

I've written before about how Krassi is getting so much stronger and coordinated in his abilities to get himself up on the furniture. He's been practicing frequently, and I'll usually hear him whimpering a bit and know that he wants to get up but just can't quite do it without that bit of support at the transition. But he's never been able to do it by himself.

I believe I've also written about how much Krassi loves to be in the addition. Sometimes he will sit and whine on the floor under the window-that-will-be-an-opening. Well, today was no different, but since we'd been all out there a few days ago just playing around when it was all completely open and clean, he was freshly interested. But there's a lot of work going on out there right now, so he can't be out there.

But BOY does he want to be! So, this is what I found him doing a little later...

Do you see that? He is standing up!!! His legs are completely scissored, but he did this all by himself!!!

I keep thinking that this kind of internal self-motivation and determination are big parts of this little boy's character that helped him to survive in circumstances of severe neglect for over nine years of his life. Even more exciting to me is thinking about what he may be able to achieve now with the combination of self-motivation, determination and a family who will do everything we can to cheer him on and equip him to be all that he can be. It's hard to put words to how beautiful it is to be able to be that for this boy.

You go, Krassi!

Simple summer pleasures

What's better on a beastly hot day of summer than playing in nice cold well water???

As it's been drier around here and I've been transplanting perennials, the kids and I have been doing some watering here and there, and Krassi appeared interested, so I filled up a can and set it next to him yesterday.

It was very well received. But, as you can see from the center photo, he tends to get a little over-zealous, and very soon the water is gone. And that's not so much fun.

But the hose, now, that's another story! The water doesn't stop. Such a simple thing, and yet to think that he's probably never, in a decade of living, done something quite like this, turns it into a pretty grand experience.

[Go here for the video]

(And, in all honesty, lest you think life around here is all smiles and giggles as these pictures and video suggest, I'll let you know that within 30 minutes of taking that video, I had four of six children crying - two of them pretty intensely - another one who was scowling, and a pot of water at a rolling boil waiting almost 10 minutes for pasta to be added for a nice supper that won't heat up the very hot and humid house too much. Sorry, no video of that! But those moments pass, too. And by supper time the pasta salad was nicely chilled, and five out of six children were happy. The scowling one, not so much. Maybe by tomorrow!)

The List (updated)

So, like most lists, I'm expecting this one to get longer before it gets shorter. Last night as Matt and I were out there I realized that "install handrail" is not on The List and really ought to be. So onto The List it goes.

Last night Matt and I got 90% of the underlayment for the wood floor in Barb's bedroom put down. We also chalked lines for where the joist are underneath, because we can't afford to stick nails in the wrong spot and risk puncturing our radiant tubing! That would be a mess when we turned the heat on this fall. ;) But that doesn't get anything crossed off, since it's only a subset of item #4.

- final coat of sealer on concrete (happening at the end of this week) 
- lay rosin paper over basement floor (for delivery of trim)
- varnish trim (will be delivered, mostly already cut into the right width strips, next Tuesday)
- install one more door and hardware upstairs (Matt and I should get that done this week)
- install wood floors on upper level and...
-  ...down stairs to main level
Today Matt and Owen made two trips to Matt's mom's house to bring the boxes of wood flooring from her basement where we've kept them for the last 9 months or so over here to the addition. They're supposed to sit and "temper" to their space for 72 hours before installation, which means that it will all be here and ready when my parents come on Thursday! This isn't a specific line item, but it's a necessary precursor, and one more thing accomplished.
- install trim on windows, doors, base and down the stairs
- install trim in laundry room
- hang laundry room pocket door (maybe not necessary before move-in)
- install bathroom sink
- install sink hardware
- install toilet
- install bathtub hardware
- caulk the bathtub
- build bathroom shelves
- install bathroom mirror (which, as Matt's pointing out, is more like design/buy/build/install bathroom mirror)
- install closet rod
- build doors for the low closet (Maybe. We may just hang fabric on a tension rod.)
- remove window and...
- ...finish opening between old and new
- install laundry sink
- install washer and dryer
- install handrail