"Is that elbow straight?"

The last few weeks have been a whirl wind experience! We have come home from our survey trip of the very large, very intimidating city of Wichita and into a fast paced race to pack the mountain of belongings of our family. The whole nine of us own the biggest pile of junk I have ever seen!! The closets just keep spewing forth with stuff that I had thought long gone! Somehow things that I have thrown away 3 and even 4 times are resurfacing amongst our "treasures"!! LOL!

Now, I am a pack rat. I will admit it. "I'm a pack rat." Now, I feel better. BUT, I can't have all my kids becoming pack rats too!! I can remember my mom talking about all the little pieces of paper she used to find in my room and all the "valuable" collections I had stuffed into drawers and shoved under my bed. Well, rest assured Mom, I'm getting my pay backs! Trying to talk a child out of porcelain doll that is missing half a face, a hand and most of her legs is a lot more difficult than you'd imagine. :-) We have all attached memories, thoughts and stories to our junk making it very hard at times to part with it. Over the last week or so though we have sorted, tossed and pitched more things than I thought we could have possibly owned. The rest was boxed, labeled and placed in an organized fashion into our semi trailer that will make unpacking at our new home a breeze. YEAH RIGHT! LOL! Well, all the boxes and most of the furniture has made it into the trailer, we'll see about the last part! Ha!

One thing I can say is, so far our kids are having a blast! Wonderful friends have taken time out of their busy schedules and come by to help us finish building our home. We have been working on remodeling and adding on to our home for the last few years and now the time has come to get it DONE!! Just in time to sell! LOL! The kiddos thought that "school" was packed away last week into boxes but little do they know I have been recording their education everyday, and what fun education it has been. They have all been following Dad and the workers around asking great questions (driving them crazy :-} ) learning all about plumbing, electrical, carpentry and many other wonderful things. They are hammering , sawing, drilling and fetching their hearts out!! And that's just on the inside! Outside we have been dozing stumps, property lines and my flower beds !! Taking apart fencing, tearing down old sheds and building the biggest burn pile we've ever had!! Tons of neat things are being learned from professional people willing to let my kids tag along and drive them nuts with all their questions. The electrician, Wild Man calls "Truck" (we are working on that ch sound) keeps coming back for more torture and I am extremely grateful. I just love electricity, don't you? It just lights up my life! The plumbers!! Wonderful people aren't they!!?? and when you bring electricity and water to the same appliance, such as a washing machine or a dish washer!, it is a VERY exciting moment!!!

And what good is a second floor without a marvelous set of stairs leading to it!!

So!, now with this wonderful education the kiddos are getting they should be able to help out in any area of home construction. Even answering simple questions like the one Michael asked me yesterday, "Is that elbow straight?". While I sat there looking and thinking the answer came from a nearby professional, " NOOO, PVC elbows are bent at 90*!!" :-)

I think I'll go make some sweet tea!!!! Cookie anybody?

Photo of Kendal asleep at the table, work is exhausting!! :-)