Hi there!!!

The finished product!

The beginning - gutting it out!

The hallway in front of the bathroom that goes from kitchen to garage...

Sorry - I thought I'd be posting a bit more while I'm off, but we've stayed pretty busy for the most part. I also put these pictures on my facebook, but I will double post them this time as I haven't taken tons of pictures... After Christmas, we started on our main bathroom. We "threw" this bathroom in about 8 years ago when we started majorly redoing the house. So, it needed to be "redone". So, we started gutting and then had New Years, a dinner at a cousins house and Christmas at my mom's fall in between, so we work on it as able and are now almost done! I think all that is left is the floor trim and the door. I have to paint the door/frame and hallway yet and it will be done! I also need to paint the kitchen as well before we list the house. The bathroom is beautiful - my husband is so talented and I did pretty good picking out stuff as well!:) That is the fun part! I can't wait til we can build our new house! Since I've been off, we've been watching those stupid:) shows about redoing your house, etc. It does give you lots of ideas!

So, we had a New Year's Eve get together here this year (we usually do it at Jeremy's Dad's). We had Christopher and Amy and their 5 boys, us, Steve and Cheryl, and Heather and Brian and their girls came over around 11:30pm! Everyone but the Walsh's and Steve and Cheryl spent the night. We played games, ate, played video games, ate some more, visited, ate some more - you get the idea! We didn't start going to bed until 3am (guess who was first - ME). We were up by 8:30am thanks to Lyndsay! Steve made some delicious New York strip steaks and we had mashed potatoes, cheesy potatoes, green beans, etc. Lots of desserts as well. I had made my next goal in weight loss (down to 128) but have gained 5 pounds back with all the good food I've eaten in the last month! The Norditrak keeps staring at me... We had fun and took a day or to to recuperate. Then, on the 4th, we went up to Roscommon and stayed at this little lodge that my mom cleans - she got it for us for free! We stayed on one side and Heather and Brian stayed on the other. It was very nice - clean, spacious and loaded with amenities (even internet and cable)! We spent most of the time at mom and Bill's had supper Friday night, tried to help bake and then went over on Sunday for our big turkey dinner and presents and YES - DESSERTS! Nothing like my mom's apple pies and Heather made cocoa-pies this year with Brooke. I'm surprised I only gained 5 lbs! Sunday morning, I took Amber to church (requirement for college) and the church she had found online was closed (the weather was bad), so we drove all the way to Houghton Lake and found a few more closed ones and finally found an open one (Southern Baptist) she could attend. So, I went to Walmart to pass the time and waited for church to be done. We got to my mom's a little later than planned, but all turned out well in the end. We got home late Sunday night and the kids had school Monday morning:)

Monday I left around 12:30pm to take Amber back to college. We picked up another girl in Flint before heading out and arrived in Hammond at about 5:15pm. We ate dinner, went to Walmart and got them to the college at around 7:45pm. Erin went with me to keep me company on the way home. We got to see a little of the dorm area and the chapel and activity rooms. Makes me think back to my college days... (was that really 23 years ago???). So, Erin and I headed home about 8:30 and she watched Charlotte's Web and her laughing kept me awake. We stopped for gas and treats at 10pm and got home about 12:30pm. She fell asleep about 10:30pm! Her snoring then kept me awake - and the 20oz pepsi I drank!

Last Saturday night we went to Jeremy's cousins house in Macomb, MI for dinner and we've never seen their house. The weather turned sour about halfway there so it took an hour longer to get there:( But, it was worth it - the food was great and their house is beautiful! I thought I was in a magazine! She is very talented in decorating, painting, etc. I wish some of this talent I'm around would rub off on me!

I also went with Heather to pick up horse and chicken feed to Millington. That was fun - we put 500lbs chicken feed and 900 pounds of horse feed in the back of the Suburban and it didn't even squat! We unloaded and stacked the horse feed in her barn and cleaned stalls before I came home. I love the smell of sweet feed!

So, here we are finishing up the house - I've been packing some things away downstairs so far (decluttering) and am going to continue this week and then hopefully call a realtor next week. Isaac was asking me last night if we would be able to take the cat when we move and where would we stay if we sell the house? It's funny, I've been here 15 years, seen many changes, Brooke was only 6 months old... All of my other kids have been born while living here and know no different! What an adventure it will be if our house sells! I'm just worried about keeping 1100 sq feet clean with 7 people coming and going!

Lyndsay is a joy - she hasn't been feeling well the past week (bad colds have been going through the house since the beginning of December). She threw up a few times one night, coughing bad, runny nose and she's got 2 more teeth coming through on top of it! I took her to the doctor yesterday and she has a slight ear infection as well so she's on antibiotics. She slept a little bit better last night thank God! She is walking more and more. Erin is just getting over her cold, Isaac still has a cough, everyone else is healthy except Brooke was complaining this morning of troubles... She has been getting headaches again off and on. I think it's stress! Curt is funny - his voice is changing and you can tell he's going through some "changes". He's very lovable and likes to laugh (I think to hear it squeak!). Amber is sick right now, too.

Well, I'm thinking about exercising while Lyndsay is still sleeping or maybe I'll start painting or maybe just go take a shower to wake up more... The possibilities are endlesss! Have a great week and I'll try and take more pictures and post more often!