Swag Bucks are Cool

I just got an exciting email from Swag Bucks.  Not a mass email but someone reached out to me personally.  Know why?  It appears that many of you have clicked through my link to find out how awesome Swag bucks are for yourself.  So many of you that we got their attention.  And they are making you an offer.

Hello!  Here we are :).

If you have never signed up with Swag Bucks before and want to give it a try.  Go here. Click the box that says “I have a sign up code” Then use the case sensitive code GroShrink and get an extra 70 Swag Bucks. Then you’ll get another 30 when you complete your profile. This code only works until November 8th so don’t wait.

I use the Swag Bucks search engine for everything, and once in awhile (several times a day), I win some Swag bucks. Which looks something like the picture below (which I got right after typing in a search for “cookie in a mug.”)

Swagbucks Contratulations!

Swag bucks keeps track of my points for me and when I have enough I can redeem them for all sorts of things.  My personal favorite is trading 450 Swag Bucks for a $5 gift card to Amazon.  You can save up the gift cards and use them all on one purchase.

812oLI9JY2L._SL1500_

Just this week I used some of my Swag Bucks gift cards to buy my daughter, Heather, a nice Lego Friends set that would have otherwise been outside of my Christmas budget.  She’s going to be surprised!

I’ve used them on a fancy sit and stand stroller, home decor, books, gifts, food.  I love it because Amazon has the best prices on a lot of items and I can use a gift card for an even lower bottom line.

Want more info? Go here

So you don’t have to scroll up here’s that referral code again:  Go here. Click the box that says “I have a sign up code” Then use the case sensitive code GroShrink and get an extra 70 Swag Bucks. Then you’ll get another 30 when you complete your profile. This code only works until November 8th so don’t wait.

 

The Cost of Laundry

This week I cut two dozen green wipes and two dozen blue wipes from old sets of knit sheets.  (Knit doesn’t ravel, so after cutting the squares it’s done–no sewing required.) We decided to color code the wipes per bathroom so we were sure to get the right number of wipes back to each room.  Currently they all end up in the bathroom closest to the laundry room (#wearelazy) and the other rooms are out of luck. They are 9 inches square before shrinking.  They could be smaller though if it fits better on whatever you are cutting them out of or the container they will be stored in.

(These were more of a turquoise blue but the camera got it all wrong.  Interesting that the toilet and wall colors are very close to true life.  We have a lot of spaces in this house that need attention, lol.)

A reader asked me last week if the cost of washing the wipes counteracted the savings from using them.  That’s a great question and definitely worth looking at.  I figure there are 4 costs to a load of laundry:  detergent; water; electricity; and gas to heat the water (or for dryer).

There’s a handy calculator that allows you to plug in your rates and type of machine etc and estimate the cost of your laundry.  I have a Fisher and Paykel high efficiency washer; use Arm and Hammer powdered detergent (cheap and works great–I don’t like homemade detergent–I used it for 6 months before I figured that out.); we have a gas water heater but electric dryer.  I line dry in the summer.

When putting my info into the calculator I found that one load of laundry costs me $.21 to wash and $.50 to dry. I wash a load of wipes once a week.  We definitely use more than $.70 worth of toilet paper per week, so the savings is worth it for me.  The savings for cloth diapers is even greater and wipes and diapers can be washed in the same load for more savings.  Too bad Grant is so huge and can’t wear our one size diapers anymore.  Definitely time to potty train.  The potty training is not going very well.  I think I forgot how to do it.

Just for giggles here’s a calculator to compare whether buying appliances and washing at home or going to a laundromat is more affordable.

So anyhoo, even figuring in the cost of washing the wipes, I save about $18 a month on toilet paper.  We have a big family so our savings is higher than average.

Feeling Blessed and Free Baby Crochet Patterns

The readers here are amazing.  One of you sent my son a pair of shoes so I wouldn’t spend the money left in my clothing budget, even though the money was there.  She wanted me to get a head start on our 200 ways to save $100.   Another reader emailed to ask me what sizes the kids are because her friends are always looking for places to pass down clothes.  And our family worship group has taken turns bringing us dinner for the month of October after we found out our foundation needs help.  It’s more than we deserve.

Heidi and I crocheted a few baby hats over the weekend for the Women’s Clinic.  Thinking too much about myself and our drama is a pathway to depression.  So we decided to break the cycle and do something for someone else.  We used this free pattern:

1-157e1539fd

Hat picture belongs to www.AestheticNest.com

The hat worked up super fast.  We could make a hat in less than an hour all while visiting together and building our relationship.  My niece got in on the action too. There’s nothing as much fun as making something for a baby! And doing it with friends is even better.

And then I crocheted up this little peacoat for my new niece or nephew. By adapting what I learned from making the girl hat above I made a matching hat inspired by this one.  I also made a little tie onesie to go inside the jacket. It  is meant to help the mother feel the joy of the blessing that is coming in the midst of the overwhelm of daily life.  Sometimes at the beginning of a pregnancy it all feels surreal and can be overwhelming when there’s already a house full of children.  Holding something for the new baby helped me feel a connection to the new life.  And hearing the heartbeat helped a bunch too.  So even though the new baby isn’t due until May, we are giving the little package to the mother tonight.

Baby Boy Crochet Layette

 I had so much fun with these projects (all from stash too–so no new money spent) that I started this sweater for Grant:

a6bff6baa208e04d7f3f12417c18659a

I had gathered all the supplies one week at a time, using a 40% coupon for each skein of yarn and have had them for awhile.  I plan to make the brown part on the arms a lot shorter to match the length of ribbing on the rest of the sweater and am using YouTube videos to learn all the little parts of knitting (like how to cast on and SSK.)

Now that I see this list of projects, I see why my house is a wreak.  Forehead slap.

We have settled into a routine with dinner at a table all together and homework in the one room left with furniture in it.  Sometimes there are more stories and laughter than progress on homework, but it’s happiness to be spending time together as a family again. We are resting from projects and just living.  Next week we have 3 foundation companies coming out to give estimates.  Until then, we are finding a new normal in our space.

I’m starting to look forward to cooking again.  I gave myself a head start by putting a breakfast casserole in the slow cooker last night.   Darren said I could assemble a few of our lower cabinets if I wanted to put some of my dishes away on the main floor.  That sounds like a good plan to me :).  I’m gathering a list of crock-pot breakfast recipes and autumny foods that can be made without an oven. I’ll post on what turns out well.

 

The Other Side of Savings

Post interruption:  It’s hard to say something like this, but a tragedy struck our little private school this week. The visitation for one of my Freshman students is tonight and he will be buried tomorrow.  My heart breaks for his family and there is a hole in the heart of every person at the school.   Something like this puts things into perspective.  We feel entirely different about our foundation issues now.  It seems superficial in the scheme of things. We are holding each other as a family, thinking about what’s really important, and praying for those who are closest to this trauma.

Back to the scheduled post:

I appreciate all the supportive emails after yesterday’s post.  There are lots of awesome ideas in the comments there.

Some good friends also sent these ideas through private messages:

“Don’t forget the little stuff. I don’t know how your bills are but setting a timer for the shower, always making sure lights are out in rooms you aren’t in and things like that really help!”

“Do you have the HyVee Fuel saver card? I just signed up, and I was careful and bought store brands on sale or others at a good price that also had the fuel saver discount, and in two weeks, I have $1.01 off per gallon.

Also, I noticed they have gift cards that have fuel discounts, too. I know JCPenney is one of them. For $25 gift card you get 12c/gallon and for $50 you get back 25c/gallon. Then you find a coupon to go use your gift card.”

*************************************************

But also many of you landed on the idea that savings alone can’t fix a big money problem. It’s true!

Heidi Violin

There are things that could go on my list of 200 ways to save $100 that I don’t want to add.  Things like stopping ballet or violin lessons.  Not only would our kids be sad, but we would be affecting the income needs of other families. We’ve had to make decisions like that in the past, like with a sudden job loss.  But if I can find another way, I’d like to do that.

Then there are things like our internet connection.  We’ve already let our house phone go (we use Magic Jack) and have never had cable television.  But I earn my money through the internet.  So our quitting internet service would be like DH quitting his job so we wouldn’t have to buy the gas to get him there.  It just doesn’t  make sense.

There are other things we pay for that end up saving us money in the long run.  Things like a menu subscription :). Or a membership to a discount warehouse.  Or insurance.

If I stopped paying anything–the house, electricity, food etc. and saved every dime we brought in over 4 months would we have $20,000?  Nope.

So when simply slashing the budget and saving isn’t enough it’s time to consider earning more money.

Selling excess things around the house is a good place to start for fast cash.  It’s not a permanent solution, because when the stuff is gone, the income stream is gone too.  We have an upright freezer we could part with. An air hockey table (that the kids love); our piano, my guitar, a clarinet, some tiny violins, our furniture, and our wedding rings.  The reality is these are items we use, every day.  We would feel the loss.  In the scheme of things they are just things and I could let them go.  But if I can earn money another way…that would be best.

**********************************************

I could expand my businesses already in place to earn more online. It’s scary for me, this earning money online thing.  To do that, I have to put myself out there, make offers, experience rejection, read mean emails from hurting people who forget I’m a real person and it freaks me out.  I’m terrible with handling criticism.

But also, it means I get to help people.  I only make money when I meet a need, give encouragement, make a better life possible for someone else.  And while doing that I get to help my family at the same time.  It amazes me how business works!

Of course I don’t have to work online to make extra money.  I could  teach classes; sell crafts; teach classes on how to do crafts :); do yard work; get a part time job; take on custom sewing.  I’ve done them all, but in this precarious situation of ours, I have to be choosy.  I have 6 children, I teach school part time and run 3 other businesses from our home.  It’s my primary job to keep the family running smoothly, so I have to consider the time it takes me to earn money and choose the most income for the least amount of time.  If I say yes to an opportunity to spend a lot of time for a little return, then I give up the chance to use my time to make the kind of money we need.

To do that well, I have to stay away from income streams that earn an hourly wage (like custom sewing or making crafts). And instead choose sources of open ended income where I do the work once and get paid for it multiple times (like video courses, drafting sewing patterns or writing ebooks).  This type of income earning is less guaranteed.  What if I spend all this time making a digital product and no one buys it?  It’s still scary.  But it’s my best shot.

There’s no perfect solution, just the best one for our current circumstances.  And we don’t have to walk the path alone.  And when I reflect on what has happened over the last few weeks, I’m thankful for God and his providence.  He doesn’t make bad things happen, but allows us to walk through them to refine us and help us grow in faith.

200 Ways to save $100

Friday morning, 5 hours before super hero training camp and moments after I frantically finished up my menus for delivery…The doorbell rang.

Women cleaning a window 3

At that moment I had glass cleaner in one hand and a rag in the other.  I needed a shower. But I was pretending to be the lovely lady above. The man at the door said, “Don’t you usually clean AFTER the remodel is finished?”

I said, “Are you our Engineer?”

He said, “Yes, I tried to cal…..”

But I could’t hear the rest.  I was leaping and yelling, “Yipee the engineer is here!” With the door standing open and the man looking confused. If he had a thought bubble it would read, “Do I go in? Do I stay out here?  What is that woman on?”

We had been waiting 2 weeks for this day.  The day to find out what is really wrong with our house, how soon can we fix it, and gulp, what it will cost.  This moment stood between me and having a kitchen again and I was ready to face it head on.

He spent several hours at the house with a fancy laser level and clipboard.  Thoroughly listened to our concerns and even checked out the leak in the attic. The diagnoses?  Our east wall has dropped 4 inches and requires 15 piers and jacking to repair, plus landscaping, gutters and annual watering to prevent further damage.  The good news:  It can be fixed immediately.  And as soon as it’s fixed we can continue with our kitchen remodel. The bad news: We should expect to pay at least $20,000.  And when we pay that….there won’t be money to finish the kitchen. (The leak in the attic only needed a little caulk around the sky light.)

Now is not the time to panic.  It’s time to think and plan.  All I have to do is find 200 ways to save $100 or 100 ways to save $200 and boom.  Problem solved. And he said we could wait until July (the next dry season) to get the work done, without worrying about further damage.  If I’m willing to delay the kitchen that long.

So I’ve started a list.  And am giving myself 4 months to find the savings.

Best Christmas Photo

#1 We’re not sending Christmas cards this year.  So Merry Christmas–we love you. Savings:  $75

#2  Let my hair go officially ombre and then brown with silver streaks. Savings $75 every 6 weeks or $200 over 4 months. (In theory, I really only went every 6 months….) I need to go right now, but can use the money to buy Heidi a hair straightener for her Christmas gift instead.

#3 Potty Train Grant (yep he’s 2 1/2, but I just haven’t felt like I could add that to my plate.  Adding it now…) Savings:  $25 a month or $100 over 4 months.

#4 My sister-in-law and I agreed to cancel our gift exchange this year.  We wouldn’t be together on Christmas Day anyway and the cousins will simply celebrate this year with the annual gingerbread house building and a fabulous playtime at Grandmas.  This one was hardest on my Mom, but my kids took it really well. Savings:  $100

#5 I crossed 5 budgeted gifts off our Coffman list by planning to sew the items from stash materials and they are going to be the BEST ever! Savings:  $100

#6 Instead of going to Chucky Cheese tonight for Caleb’s birthday the family agreed to go to Striker’s $1 night bowling.  For which we had a $25 gift card for admission and each child had a $2 gift card for the arcade.  (The arcade was surprisingly expensive with games costing between $.75 and $3.  Our $2 cards weren’t going to go very far.  But an older man came up to me and asked if I was the mother of all these—motioning around with his hand.  I said I was, and he handed me a gift card. After he left, I swiped it on the machine to check the balance and it had $52 on it!!!  I cried, literally.  It was like God looked down from heaven and said, “I see you.”

Official Savings $50 (We ended up buying pizza for $25.  I goofed and thought they had $1 hot dogs there, but that was the other bowling alley.)

#7 Exclusively go back to cloth wipes instead of toilet paper (I have been buying more paper since we moved but time to buckle down.) This will save $20 every other month. Or $4o over 4 months. Or $120 for the year

#8 Drop my grocery budget by $100 which will pull us back to the $400 per month ($50 per person) budget.  Pinch!  This will be hard as I’ve gotten used to my extra $100….but doable.  Official Savings:  $400.

#9 Adjust the clothing budget.  I’ve worked hard to get Darren to raise it up to around $100 a month for all 8 of us.  If I can do without for 4 months, that would save us $400.  Several of the boys need shoes.  But I can make up their other needs in creative ways.

So That’s where I am.  That saved us $1,005.  Only $18,995 to go.  Do you have any more ideas for me?

(We will be ok and my sister and 3 friends already brought over casseroles.)

 

 

Safe Within The Fold

Dub didn’t waste any time making his covenant with Jesus.  The day after he turned 8, he was baptised as a public declaration that his sinful nature is passed away and he is made alive in Christ. A covenant is a two way promise.  Dub promised to make Jesus Lord of his life, and Jesus promised him eternal life.

DSC_1792

I asked him to show me how he felt about this day. And I got two thumbs up.

DSC_1794

No Doubt.  Dub knows what he’s doing.

DSC_1797

Dub’s father is an ordained Priest with authority to baptize.  He said, “Having been commissioned of Jesus Christ, I baptise you in the name of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, Amen.”DSC_1798

Then Dub was completely buried under the water.  Buried with Christ.DSC_1799

And resurrected with Christ a new creature.  Old things are passed away and all things become new.DSC_1800

Happy Born Again Birthday, Dub!
DSC_1802

Dub was then baptised with fire and given the Gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands.  This requires more authority than Daddy has.  But his grandfathers, one an elder, the other a High Priest gave him this gift.DSC_1807

This is his teacher from school.  She never misses a baptism.

Today the class will sing to him:  “Welcome to the Family, we’re glad that you have come to share your life with us as we grow in love. And may we always be to you what God would have us be, a family, always there to be strong and to lean on.”

My son is now my brother.

Super Hero Training Camp

Turning 8 is a big deal.  In my culture it’s the moment a child is old enough to understand his depravity and choose Christ for his savior.  Before that time he cannot sin, since he is too young to fully understand the law.  Around here, 8 is a BIG celebration.  Dub wanted to invite everyone from Dub’s class at school, Sunday school, family worship, cousins, and Boy Scouts and that ended up being a list of 40 kids!  I had to limit him to 8.

When I was thinking about this day earlier in the summer and making little plans my mind was giddy with happiness, because we would be hosting this party in our brand new kitchen space.  Things didn’t work out as I planned, but it was wonderful anyway.

We started by clearing out the tools and materials for the construction project.  Then rehanging the doors to hide the garage and closets. (Heidi and DH were finishing up the closet door in the picture below. You can barely see his fingers wrapping around the door as he ran the drill from inside.)

DSC_1715

We used the wide open space to our full advantage and the carpet squares warmed things up in a  homely homey way. One of the large round tables came with the house and the other we bought off Craigslist last Christmas when we hosted 35 guests. The tablecloths were leftover from DHs 40th birthday in August.  Knowing this party was coming, we carefully washed down the Dollar Tree cloths and folded them up after everyone had gone home.  (That saved $10)  The banners were from previous celebrations too.  I have a little bin of birthday decor that we save from year to year.   Most things were gathered from Dollar Tree, and even though those items are only $1 each, it can add up when there’s a cart full.

DSC_1709

I bought a blue twin sheet from Wal-mart ($5) and my Mom made the buildings out of cardboard boxes and a homemade stencil.  She said it took her about 6 hours to make them.  Thanks, Mom!  The star-burst cut outs were in packs of 30 at Dollar Tree.  Heidi had fun thinking of things to say on them.  My brain was stuck at “pow” but she thought of fun stuff like:  “Where’s my Sidekick?” and “You, wait here.”  Which she assures me is what most super heroes say to their sidekick. We used it for a backdrop for the start of the party, then the boxes became a hurdle training relay for learning to jump over buildings in a single bound.  At the end we spread it all on the floor to take flying pictures of the kids.

 

DSC_1711

I let the kids decorate pretty much how they wanted.  I was feeling stressed and decided to wave perfection for plenty of attention on the birthday boy.  It was the right choice. This open space was perfect for our building leaping relay later. DSC_1714

These are our “Bad Guy” Targets.  I trace the outlines from our Front-Sight range targets and drew a mask on with a marker.  I didn’t get things lined up very well….but none of the kids noticed it was wonky.  We used silly string on these targets for “web shooting” practice.  I stuck them to the doors in case the silly string left greasy marks behind on my freshly painted walls.  We got string EVERYWHERE! My heart jumped up in my throat a bit when I saw bits of it all over the newly laid carpet squares.  But everything vacuumed up wonderfully…It really was a breeze to clean-up. (I’m super excited to paint these doors and trim white….Every time I see a picture this direction I think about it. And all our furniture is just shoved in that room beyond….)

DSC_1716

The first activity of the night was choosing an alter ego, with name and super power.  Then designing a mask and cape to match.  I cut the masks out of craft foam and then tied an elastic cord (from my craft bin–I saved them from new pairs of shoes that were tied together) We cut the cords a little too small which made the masks delicate.  If you try this at home, be careful with the length. I bought a bag foam pieces from Dollar Tree that the kids could cut any shape and then glue or self-stick on their mask.DSC_1724

The best part is when the guests arrive 🙂

IMAG2385

Right after Mask and Cape  Creation, we had a Super Hero Buffet. Our guest here is wearing a post it so we can remember his Super name and Super power.  A mom who planned ahead better would have had real name tags :).IMAG2383

With Hero Sandwiches.

IMAG2386

Homeopathic Kryptonite (Lime Jello with Crushed Pineapple.)

IMAG2388

Veggies and Dip
IMAG2390

Chips (Don’t mind the random Nerf gun.  I have 4 boys–they are everywhere.)IMAG2389

And washed it all down with Power-ade.   I cut the tiny capes out of the scraps leftover from the big capes and stuck a glitter foam sticker on the back.  The bottles were the fruit flavored water from Aldi and a new “Pow!” label completed the look.

IMAG2381

We have tables–but no chairs.  Baby steps.
DSC_1721

Dub designed his own cake and my mom made it for him.  The base cake is an 11×15 chocolate sheet cake and the mountain is a vanilla cake baked in a bowl.  She made blue jello in a small round pan and cut a hole in the cake to drop in the “lake.”  Dub gathered up the trees and lego men from his collection of toys.DSC_1719

I had plans for an on theme super hero cake, but this is what Dub wanted.  And the day was not about planning my perfect party–but his.DSC_1718

After eating, we played a round of Dodge Bomb.  I blew up 24 black balloons then one person who was it, threw them at the others.  Once a  person was hit, they could grab a bomb and start lobbing it at the rest.  The last person to be hit, was it for the next round.

Then we saved the black balloons to take their part in the super hero relay.

IMAG2394

Heidi set up a laser trap with red yarn and painter’s tape in our small pass through.  The relay began here.  Two teams competed by going through the laser trap (if they touched a laser they had to pause for 3 seconds before continuing) Then running around to the building hurdles (hoping my sister in law got a picture of this), then detonating a bomb (popping a black halloon) while containing the blast so no one was hurt.  Then webbing their target in the face with silly string and back to the beginning to high five their next team member so they could go.IMAG2393

After that we took flying photos to prove it was possible.

DSC_1751

My nephew, Sean.DSC_1743

My 6 yo boy, Brandon.DSC_1741

The birthday boy, Dub.Super Lucas

This giant hero was in my choir last year and graduated.  Sad for us, happy for him.  My kids have all adopted him and made sure he knew he had to come out for the super hero training camp.  He was a great sport.

To finish out the day, we turned out every light in the house and passed out glow sticks (They come in huge packs at Wal-mart for $3 which beats out the Dollar Tree prices.) They tested their night vision with a rousing game of glow hide and seek.

The guests took home their mask and cape and glow-sticks as party favors.

 Sources: Cape Pattern (I cut mine from Polar Fleece and could fit 2 capes on 3/4 yard.  There was no sewing involved at all since polar fleece doesn’t ravel.  Then I hot glued velcro at the neck using fabric hot glue–though regular would probably work too.)

Flying Photos We used a twin flat bed sheet, cardboard box buildings, and polyfil for clouds

Mask Template I cut my masks from  packs of foam sheets

 

A few carpet squares

While waiting for the experts to tell us how to save our house, we decided to take some temporary measures to make it more livable.

DSC_1685

My friend, Pam, was over exercising and asked if we had thought about buying some cheap carpet squares.  “Um, you mean like these?”  I motioned to a dark corner where we had a large stack of them.  We bought them to finish our basement with, but set that project aside for bigger things.  I had never thought about using them upstairs until Pam said something.

DSC_1679

So the children carried them upstairs for me and laid them down in a basket weave pattern.  The floor is now clean and soft underfoot.  Yes, it’s too dark and shows every speck of dirt.  And the squares shift around since they aren’t glued down. We didn’t cut anything, just overlapped squares when they didn’t fit quite right.  But with no money out of pocket it’s starting to feel a little more like home.

DSC_1687

We had stacks of flooring all over the house and Heidi helped me move them to one central location then cover with a cloth to use as an island.  (I have since traded out the green cloth for a flannel backed vinyl cloth with fall leaves on it.  I wanted a moisture barrier to protect the hardwood flooring in the boxes.) We moved some of our cooking things down here too.  The ceiling was so low in the attic and there wasn’t enough space to sit as a family that I finally said, enough.  There isn’t much storage down here, so I’ve only brought down the bare minimum in cooking items. And will continue to store stuff up there.  BUT we are so much closer to where the food is kept that life is much better.  During this whole process the thing I miss most is a table where we can all eat together.
DSC_1698

I also hung 4 clipboards on the wall so I could display some of the brilliant art work the children do at school.  There are 4 more clipboards for the other side that I will hang eventually.  The hardest part about hanging them is getting everything lined up just so.  I bought these at amazon, because I really wanted this style of clip, but they have the smaller clip styles at Dollar Tree which work really well too.  I was thinking about trying to stain these clipboards a darker color, but they seem to have a slick finish on them.  I’m not sure stain would penetrate very well.DSC_1707

I love these two pieces of art.  Dub was embarrassed about the upper piece because it was supposed to say, “Hello, Fall.”  But I love it just the way it is and told him so.  We now have a real leaf in the upper clipboard and a second painting by Dub in the lower right. Brandon made the tissue paper piece in his kindergarten art class.  “Why do you think it looks like fall?”  He wanted to know.  It just does.

DSC_1689

I bought the felt leaf shapes from Dollar Tree and stitched them to squares cut from canvas drop cloths to make these pillows.  The idea came from Tatertots and Jello.

DSC_1696

The children went to the pumpkin patch with Aunt Erica and each brought home a pumpkin, so we have scattered them about too.  I love real pumpkins. I’d love to change out the flowers in the vase for each season.  Maybe pinterest has some inspiration for me for things I can gather from the yard?

 

A Little Dirt Work

DSC_1640

Last week my Father-in-Law brought down his skid-loader since we couldn’t find one in town to rent.  It was a blessing he was here, because DH hurt his back the same day and we needed a lot of help.  My mother-in-law came too and ended up staying with us several days which was a blessing.

April 2012a 002

Here’s the front of our house from April 2012.  That was before new front doors and the tree trimming. Most of the yard was ground cover ivy instead of grass.

DSC_1634

The side yard by the driveway was full of misc. trees and bushes that always looked scraggly to me.  I’d been begging Darren to let me cut them down since we bought the house.

DSC_1633 DSC_1631 DSC_1630 DSC_1638 DSC_1637

DSC_1643

They are gone now! Don’t worry, we still have a lot of beautiful trees left, but everything looks a lot cleaner.

I was thrilled to say goodbye to a yard full of weeds, and hello to beautiful dirt angled to keep water from seeping under the foundation.  We took several bids on gutters but don’t think we’ve found the right company yet.  The house is 4 stories tall in the back and we need something that doesn’t have to be cleaned out every week back there.

DSC_1674

It took most of the week to get the dirt work done.  Then Cloyce tilled the entire yard 3 times to smooth everything out and prepare it for grass seed.  You can see him on the right with his garden tiller.  Oh man, this was a serious amount of work. Darren was in no position to help–he was laid so flat I was dressing him and feeding him too…I’m thankful he’s starting to get better.

DSC_1652

While Cloyce worked out front, Bonnie (my mother-in-law) planted Hostas fro me in our jungle bed out back.  She pulled out a lot more of the invasive ground cover, which I was so thankful for.  I got my hands dirty a little bit too, but my job at the school interrupted our most productive work times.DSC_1654

When she wasn’t working here, she was inside helping with dishes and laundry, and reading stories to the cutest 2 year old named Grant.

DSC_1666

We are expecting a second opinion on the foundation this Friday and will know more how to proceed.  It feels like a long time to wait.

DSC_1660

Foundation Update

So Foundation Guy was here.  I was exercising with friends and DH handled the main walk through.  I came in for the verdict.  The look on his face was a cross-between maybe you should sit down and it could be worse.

We bought the house from the original owners, who designed and built the house. They lived a good portion of time in Europe, and found the maintenance on the home from across the seas to be daunting.  Especially cleaning leaves out of the gutters.  Soooooo, they took the gutters down when the house was a year old. That was 41 years ago.

The lack of gutters forced water to fall off the house next to the foundation and erode the soil away.  This allowed water to seep UNDER the foundation and heave up the center of the house.  There is a heaved up crack in the basement floor and the house is 2+” higher in the center then at the edges.  The drywall in the attic is cracking and buckling.

Foundation Guy suggested we relandscape the front yard, do some mud-jacking of washed out areas under the front porch, put on gutters and wait for the house to settle back down before proceeding with the kitchen.

“You’re kidding right?  You totally had me going there. Your face looked soooo serious…..you’re not kidding?  You ARE serious? Catch me….I’m going down.”

How much is that going to cost?  How long will that take? We are making phone calls….but so far JUST the mud-jacking is $800.  And a structural engineer for a second opinion?  $400 and a wait time of two weeks.  Then we can rent a skid-steer because DH has Skills. Expecting $200 a day for that which is way less than hiring a landscape company.  But we are on a waiting list to get one–looks like lots of folks have the same idea. Foundation Guy thought we had enough dirt in the high spots of our yard that we wouldn’t need to buy more–good news.  And then the gutters….not sure on that but expecting 4 figures.

And once we get that done, how long before the house settles?  No one can tell us. Darren has already called his mother and suggested she start thinking about plan B for Christmas since we won’t have a house to host it in.

Breathe…..slowly.  It’s not cancer.  We are still in love.  Our children are safe and healthy.  We have food and an emergency fund and maybe when the furlough is over DH will still have a job.  The dry erase marker came out of my new sofa this morning with a shot of hand sanitizer and Grant is really sorry and will never do it again.  My washer and dryer are still functioning as are our 17 year old cars. There’s so much to be thankful for.  Thankfulness takes the sting away.

I still need chocolate.  Good thing I bought the Halloween candy early….or maybe not.