Two Weeks!!!

Old paneling ripped off. Check. Mud and taped. Check. Now....texturing and priming. Then paint. Then floors. Then finish the cabinets. Wow.....I've been told in two weeks, we should have a functioning living area & kitchen. Just in time for Christmas......

....then we start on the bathroom.

More from our "Hopeful House Inspire" pictures...

The Reality.....

Is My Thanksgiving Like Yours?

The Feasting Table

Maybe your Thanksgiving is easy, easy. Every year it's at the same home, same cousins, same jokes, same game playing...... us Ferrell's? Oh no. We like to mix it up. Every year it's a guessing game of who's gonna have the dinner, where's it going to be located, when are we going to do it, are we going to be here/there/everywhere? etc. etc. Now that's a holiday!

This year, the Thanksgiving candidate that won was.....

My sister's house!

The lovely winners - Cody & Angela

Cody Digging In

My dad & Sopees (as she now calls herself!)

Grace and her best cousin bud, Landrie

My other two nieces, Emerie & Kellie-Laine

I love my sister's house because it's always busting at the seams with little girls. And this year, with my hubby gone hunting, it was even more girlish. Poor Cody. And the dinner is pretty much a chaos of getting everyone plates & drinks.... then hoping the adults can sit down and eat a bite before the little ones need something. Then sending the little ones on, so that us big ones can chat and laugh. But I'm thankful for a family that can be at a table and have some laughs. Even if it's mostly at ourselves.

Progress....Slow Progress!

Well, the beginning of some cabinets are beginning to show. Now, we're in the battle of deciding countertops - granite, wood, quartz, what HAVE you. But it's nice to see paneling off the walls....I can't wait for "paint day" and after that "floor day". Our trusty remodeler says it should be about two more weeks......we'll see about that!

Stage 7 - out of 42

The Nutcracker

For our niece's birthday, Mimi decided to treat her and Grace to go see "The Russian Nutcracker" in Dallas this past weekend. I got to tag along, of course, not just to see the stars of the show, but to get to hang with the stars of ANY show....

these two. Birthday girl & Grace.

Grace had a blast. Back home, she immediately went to ballerina mode. Practicing her plies and arabesques......which in 6 year old body language is more like splits and flying leaps.

Mommy enjoyed a meal with my oldest. Sometimes Sophie Monster garners all the attention 'round here. It's nice to get to slather some onto just Grace.

Thanks Mimi for a fun day!

Hello, My Name is Florence....

.....and I craigslisted again. I admit it. I'm ashamed. I scoured the site. Found what I wanted. Schemed a way to get it. And drove miles out of my way, just to get a hit. I did this awful thing. Based on this "inspiration" picture for our gutted bathroom......

Ain't She A Pretty One?

I needed a table for the sink. I could have it made, but when I saw this on Craigslist for a really, really cheap price - I thought - SCORE!

Chop it in two, hook it to the wall, drop a sink it in, grab cute fabric and voile!!!

I promise. I'll NEVER DO IT AGAIN. (grin!)

Gut It.

Lately, I think these two words have been used more often than they should. Remodel phase 3 out of 45. We pondered, dilemma'd, wondered, and thoughtfully decided that instead of salvaging any of the former kitchen cabinetry, we....just...wouldn't. The bathroom, too. Gut it. Gut it all.

If only those words came with "Gut it...while we stay at the Holiday Inn". Unfortunately, we are still living in this house. Breathing in the dust. Using the one bathroom sink as our kitchen sink, and eating take out. Lots of it.

Our new canned lighting has been installed (Yea!) and tonight, in preparation for the sheet rocking and painting to come this week, Boog and I got busy putting order to the chaos. Just so we can survive another month.

Ahhhh. All in a day's remodel.

Old Kitchen....

Gutted. No More Dividing Wall!

The Lovely, Nasty Gutted Bathroom

Fancy Nancy!

This week, Grace had a school project - dress up as your favorite character from a book you've read. Well, of course, Fancy Nancy was on top of the list! These books are so cute, and I love the fact that - lexicon - (a term I use daily in school!) is a focus of the stories.

We stayed up late to put curlers in her hair....Fancy Nancy's hair is a mess of curls....and she chose the "Pajama Day" book. So Grace got to be comfy. I was jealous.

Fancy Grace. : )

For Our Friends, Nathan & Jenna

Roses & Thorns

Every now and then, when conversation at the dinner table is lagging, we play a game called "Roses & Thorns". Each person has to say one rose (a good thing) and one thorn (a not so great thing) about their day. It sounds silly, but it's a good conversation starter for little kids. Gets 'em thinkin....

So in bloggerville, I would say my rose today was, after teaching an appositive sentence lesson at school, one of my students was practicing writing one and said, "Hey, Mrs. Ferrell....you'd like this one....I wrote 'Jesus, my Lord and Savior, died on the cross for me.'." I gotta say, my heart swelled a little just knowing she knew I'd like it.

At the same time, my thorn is....all day today....I still have a nagging thought. My Uganda trip application - unmailed, undelivered. I'm still hesitant about just sending - it - on - in. It's like if I drop it in the mail, then boom. I'm for sure leaving my kiddos for two weeks. Something I've never done before.

Ironic rose & thorn.

Roses & Thorns. Fun game. You should try it.