Rainbows & Lemonade!

Let me first preface this post by saying we have nothing on the walls except 'the picture' and one photo of the kids. I've been out of town the last two days for work, and we've kind of thrown things together, but here it is! Thank you for being soooo patient with me.
We're just giddy about being home!
Two days ago ...
Today! (Look at the difference in the tile!)

Two days ago (yuck!)...

Today!

Three days ago ...

And today!

Kolton is making pancakes and sausage so we can eat here tonight!

My 'new' bathroom

Cornhuskers, what's that doing there? Gotta laugh!

It's been a long three weeks, but we are home, and it's awesome! Thank you to the Muellers for allowing us to invade them and for April inspiring me to paint! Unless something extraordinary happens this weekend I won't be posting. My kiddos need some Mommy time, so please excuse me while I gulp LEMONADE AT THE FOOT OF THE RAINBOW :)

Praise the Lord. How good it is to sing praises to our God, how pleasant and fitting to praise him! Psa 147:1

Just Checking In

This seems to be growing! You know how it goes: I can't do this until I finish this; I can't start that until I do this ... and so on. Right now I can't clean anything until the carpet is in. Where does all the dirt come from? It's concrete, for pete's sake! But I've decided I'm chasing my tail trying to clean until the carpet is installed - which should finally be today and tomorrow! Our tile should be cleaned and sealed Wednesday afternoon, and then I'm gone for two days of depositions. Maybe Saturday I will enjoy my 'new' house. In the meantime, we've been running organized chaos. I managed to delete everything from our DVR - rats! All the Dora, Ni Hao KaiLan, Jon & Kate Plus 8, Olympics Opening Ceremony - rats, rats, rats! On the up side though, I took down all the curtains and cleaned the windows and baseboards, I found all the supporting docs we needed to complete our Shaohannah's Hope application and file our taxes. I still haven't found some of the bills we threw into a basket the day of the flood - too bad so sad :) New pics as soon as we get carpet!

Paint Progress

The office, before.
The office, after (almost)

The living room, finished! I love it!

The entryway, before.

Entryway, freshly painted.

Well, the fans and de-humidifiers were removed Wednesday evening so we could finally get a good look at things. We found some cabinet damage around the kitchen sink where the water sprayed the woodwork, but we can have it restored. Yes, I believe the 'rainbow' is new carpet and fresh paint. We built our small home and moved in a week before Christmas when Kenzie was 22 months old (she'll be 12 this month!). With the adoption processes there just haven't been any extra funds to update, and I've been okay with that because I'd much rather bring my children home. Now it seems the Lord is providing both! And speaking of good things, we should receive a fingerprint appointment from CIS next week! I'm afraid I've worn April ragged with painting ;-) We've finished the living room, office and entryway. We still have to paint the hallway, master bedroom and bath. The colors are bold (for those who know me, that's huge!). I hope they make our home warm and inviting. I can't wait to see the finished product. Thank you for your continued encouragement, emails, comments and prayers. And please remember the Muellers as they continue to house us. We didn't get to spend any time working on the house yesterday as I went to my 'other' job, you know the one - gainful employment - the one that pays the bills ;-) We are so very blessed!

One week ago ...

...we had no idea what the next day would bring. There was water, lots of water. Here is my kitchen now. When life gives me lemons, I'll make lemonade! The walls are bare, there is no carpet ... let's paint.

April is the one to coordinate these projects!

Out with the oldThere are still fans and de-humidifiers in the kitchen and utility so it's pretty loud for painting, but we're making progress. We hauled off all the carpet yesterday, and today we have to inspect all our furniture, personal property and fixtures for damage and loss. We're also going to try to paint 4 rooms (don't tell April ;-) There is a chance for rain soon, and we've got some large items on our front porch so we need to get a move on! Our tile has to be professionally cleaned when we get everything off of it, and our carpet won't be in until late next week at the earliest. We are so grateful to the Mueller family for taking us in for so long, and for the friends watching our kids while we paint and do the necessary tasks. I will never again wake up without praising God for my family, my life, my friends, my home ...

Flood update

Thank you all so much for your prayers and sweet words. We haven't fallen off the face of the earth, though it kind of feels like it right now. We had no idea what kind of aftermath even a 'clean' flood would have. The day of the flood, the amazing professionals came out, assessed the damage, ripped out all the carpet and set up 30 ginormous fans and 3 de-humidifiers. Thanks to the guys who came and moved all our furniture into the kitchen/dining area and the stock trailer! We also appreciate our i. agents personally coming out and bringing cookies, hot chocolate and coffee! Most of all, thank you to David and April who have opened their home to our larger-than-life family! You have saved us from moving into a hotel. Unfortunately, we've brought 'germies' into their home because the night after the flood I got sick, really sick, and was flat on their couch for ... well, a long time. Anyway, maybe today (Monday) most of the fans will be removed. We've ordered new carpet (the rainbow???), but it won't be installed for nearly 2 weeks. Since we have no carpet this seems like the perfect opportunity to paint walls - except that I'm terrible at home projects! So with April's lead, we're going to try to paint several rooms and move back in (even with tack strips) until the carpet is installed. There's the matter of my work, which is suffering, and the thought of living on a concrete slab (woohoo!), but we still have a home! This is a major inconvenience and even a financial hardship, but it is a temporary and momentary struggle! We have felt the prayers and the depth of love for our family, and through this the Lord has wrapped His arms around us. May His name be praised!
ps. I think I can officially say Kambry is potty trained - yippee!!!

There will be a rainbow

First, let me praise God that Kayden was coughing at 3 a.m. If I hadn't gotten up to tend to her, I wouldn't have found this ... until 5.

Second, I want to say that I have a new bloggy friend who very recently lost everything to an early morning house fire (praise God the family is fine!), and this is nothing compared to that. I got five steps into the hallway and knew there was a problem when I heard something like ... water! A line had burst under our kitchen sink and there was a half inch of water on the tile.
The utility room.

To the edge of the living room at 3:30 a.m. ...

...the living room at 6:30 a.m. My office. The water has spread throughout since this picture.

Hard to see, but this is soaked

This closet is at the very back of the house!

I needed to rearrange furniture anyway

So, why am I blogging in the midst of this?!? We've been mopping and vaccing water for 3 hours, the professionals have been called and now Clayton has to drive the school bus and I need to get the kids up for school and figure out how to keep them from staying in the two rooms that aren't yet affected. Would you please remember our family today as we 'wade' through this trial. One thing I know for sure, after every rain there is a rainbow - praise Him!