Maycember- Alternate title: Paint!

So with priming done, and a good start on the ceilings we took a few days break.  
Sunday afternoon drive out to see the house all fresh and white... 

Will I actually get to use this for storage or will they just play in here? 

We opted for vinyl floors in the bathrooms and kitchen because it is practical.  And easy to clean for those of us who hate to clean and have no desire to scrub grout (because we all know I wouldn't actually scrub grout.)  The installers came and had questions; I couldn't convince Perrin to change out of PJ's before we ran out to talk to them.  Then he was my strong helper boy and helped me move the extra bricks off the front lawn.  :) 

Emmy turned 12!  She really, really wanted a whimsical stump cake with mushrooms and bunnies.  So I melted and froze some chocolate shards for bark and ordered some cutesy figurines.  

The middle school kids could have gone to a baseball game with the school, but they decided they'd rather stay home and hang out with friends. Cecily went to Kenna's, Emmy was pretty excited to skip school on her birthday with a couple of friends, and Perrin was happy to have kids around.
 

I feel like a broken record, but how is she 12 already?! 😭

Meanwhile, back at the woods, we have the beginnings of a septic!

Kitchen floors got done!  It's a square vinyl tile and I think I still like it... (I'm starting to second guess everything...)

I started painting the office and was regretting my choice of 9 foot ceilings.  I don't like heights and I don't like ladders and it is a long way up there.  Tim and Asa were plumbing that day and saw me struggling and offered to leave some scaffolding.

 

Emmy helped me after school.  :)  

The septic got hooked up and inspected and Tim and Asa stuck a toilet in the basement!  woot woot!  There was great rejoicing.  I was super excited to have my very own Pittsburgh potty.  

One room done, so many to go.

Perrin really wanted to check out this tracked trencher.  😏  We have internet at the house before we have running water or lights or hvac hooked up.  Priorities... 

Bob had Friday off and the vinyl flooring was all laid so we finished up spraying ceilings. The rolling scaffolds were so helpful.  Also a great marriage building exercise- can you stare up at the ceiling and remember your cardinal directions while your spouse is up on a rolling cart telling you to 'push me north?'    "Rotate me 90 degrees south."  😝

We also hung a few tarps around our indoor plumbing. 😉 Since most people prefer privacy.  

I was good and wore a respirator, but safety glasses got covered in spray and were pretty useless after a while.  I still got covered in paint over spray, and had white sleep in my eyes the next morning.  😜

We started putting color on the walls on Saturday!  Matt brought ladders and is not afraid so he graciously painted the stairway.  

 

I didn't get pictures of everyone who helped, unfortunately.  And I tried very hard not to second guess my paint color choices. 

Bob and Matt worked on the entrance hallway and stairway.  

Sharon, Michelle, and I worked on the living and dining room in the morning.  In the afternoon Tori and Sarah came and we finished that up and painted the bathroom and laundry room.

We went to Washington for Mother's Day.  They were all in their Easter outfits so we tried to take a picture.  It went as well as it usually does. 

We celebrated Emmy and Miri's birthdays, and then headed back home to rest up for a big painting week. 

Monday morning Mom came to watch kids, and Michelle and Mary helped paint.  

Living room picnic.  :)

They put second coats on and did a ton of cutting in in the kitchen and hallway.  

We also got a bunch of rocks that day and it is SO.NICE. to have a driveway and not so many muddy ruts.

 

Tuesday was a break day- Perrin had a dentist appointment and we had various other things that needed picked up/ shopped for so we didn't do any painting.  Mr. Perrin showing off his muscles.   

He built himself a dumbell weight out of duplo blocks to show me how strong he is.  

I am not as strong as I think I should be (and also the sink was wedged into the back of the van with paint I needed to return), but #stubbornwysswomen I contrived and safely got it unloaded and into the garage all by myself.  

I was back to painting on Wednesday.  Kelly came to help and worked on the kitchen.

Perrin doesn't mind being a couch potato at all... 

And Kathy came and we got started upstairs! 

Progress is so nice. 

We put a coat of paint on the laundry room before I remembered that I had bought beadboard wallpaper for one wall.  So I started hanging that.  Grandma and Pearl would probably not approve of my very slapdash setup, but it worked to get it on the wall.  

I didn't quite get it all up before I had to go home and make supper, but I finished it up the next morning and it's all still on the wall. 😜

The weather has been great for painting, especially since we didn't have any working air conditioning (and our one good fan is still full of drywall dust.)  We like porch picnics. 

They re-spread the topsoil and Perrin's 'vehicles' were having a great time.

Bob took Thursday off and spent most of it drilling holes for internet cables.  Yes, we should have done it before, but we didn't think we'd need multiple routers.  I remain unconvinced that it is necessary, and was not very happy when a bit slipped and I had to patch brand new freshly primed drywall.  And I'm not great at it and it you can totally tell.  😟

I have no other pictures from Thursday, but Jake took the day off work and brought the whole family out from Iowa to help.  Rach came and helped paint in the morning and Jake came in the afternoon.   We worked on the master bedroom and hallway and master bath.  

Dad came on Friday (with his paint hat) and painted the bathroom green. 

And Fehr's came and planted grass.  

Sarah and Dawn got so much done Friday.  Painting Powerhouses!  😋

Perrin's green room... it took him a little bit, but I think he's not mad anymore that it isn't dark blue... 

Emmy helped put a second coat on her room after school.  

Cecily was off gallivanting with her friends on the 8th grade field trip.  

Saturday I had to pick up a few more gallons of paint and then we hit it hard and finished it up!  Tori came for a couple of hours and we got the last few second coats done.  It felt so good to be done.  

I find such things interesting so here you go:

It took 1.5 days to clean up after the drywall crew left.  Sweeping the floor and removing drywall dust from the walls.

We spent 2 full days spray priming.

1.5 days spraying the ceilings and closets.

We painted parts of 8 days.  

11 different people (besides Bob and I) came to help paint and most spent just a couple hours.  Just 3 people spent more than 6 hours. (Rockstars, all of you!)

We used 45 gallons of primer

15 gallons of ceiling paint (ceilings and closets)

and 28 gallons of color. 

 

Anyway.  Somewhere in there was the middle school spring concert, two field days that I didn't attend, potluck... yeah.  I have not been the most attentive parent and the old house has been a disaster, but the new house is painted!

 

Sunday evening we had a small family party to celebrate Cecily's 8th grade promotion.   

The event was Monday evening.  She was so unexcited.  🙄

I am thankful for this group of girls.

And especially for these girls.

Emmy was super excited to get high honor roll.  

They hooked up the hvac!!  We have air conditioning.  We needed it for the wood floors, but we still have to wait.  *sigh*  I'm starting to lose hope that we'll be moved in before the end of summer.  😒

Greg and Mary hosted a scholastic bowl pizza party and kids vs. parents match.  The parents beat the kids again.  Such fun.

And then school was out!  This year really flew by and now Cadence is off to Middle School.  😢

Blessings.