A glimpse of our lives and carpeting for the large family--photos

Following is a report from last week, I just didn't want to publish it without pictures...

Yesterday was one that did not stop! Have you ever had a day that seemed like 3-in-1?

We started the day with cleaning, painting, and moving things around in preparation for the carpet that is being installed today due to the "great deluge" that happened a few weeks ago. It is amazing what you can find behind bookshelves--and how many egg boxes it takes to pack up all of your books--almost 30--and that doesn't include the basement.

We decided that we should repaint areas with the old carpet still in place, in case we messed up a bit here and there. I also took the opportunity to put up a border in the dining room--I just went to the garage and selected a beautiful embossed floral from my stockpile that I bought for just .25 a roll a few years back.

Since many hands make light work, we had the prep work done by the afternoon. Then we took our oldest son at home out for a date--he is such a great help to us that we wanted to reward him. He wore his grampa's cowboy hat, one of many that we have inherited, and we discussed the Ballantyne books he has read so far while we ate and enjoyed each other's company.

I stopped off at the grocery store on the way home and bought some muffins and frozen pizza in preparation for the next day of carpet installation.

We returned home to find that two older daughters, Grace and Anna, were visiting, along with fiancee Jordan and Jack the dog. David, the oldest of our boys, has been in Florida this week, so Anna was lonely. We all sat down to watch a 60's TV episode together, and Anna just cuddled between Daddy and I the whole time, alternating shoulders. She is such a sweet blessing, whenever she visits she is such a sparkle!

Grace and Jordan wanted some counsel from us, so Daddy and I spent a good hour or two with them, ending with prayer.

Then we went to bed--and since I don't sleep well at this stage of my pregnancy, and my husband is a bit of an insomniac, we stayed up and watched an episode of The Fugitive (we check these things out of our library--free entertainment that we pick and choose ourselves. It is an interesting study to see how our cultural morees have changed albeit these were still not totally Christian, since the airing of these shows).

This morning we woke early, ate our muffins, and finished up little things here and there. The installers came and have been at work. My oldest daughter called, the one with a two toddlers, and we talked. It seems she has been feeling pretty lousy as a mother because she has been trying to fit into everyone else's mold. She is a night person, just like her dad, but she has been expecting herself to operate like a morning person. So she torments herself lying in bed at night and not sleeping, then awakens early to a messy house feeling groggy, then denies herself a nap in hopes of falling asleep at night, and so goes the ugly process all over again. She has been fighting feelings of inadequacy and carrying a big burden for many weeks now.

I suggested that, instead of fighting how God created her, to work with it. So she is going to use her awake time at night to clean the house and get things ready for the next day, so that when she awakens early to send her husband off to work and spend time with the little ones in the morning, the house is in order and her meals are planned, etc. If she is able to keep her kids busy and happy, they should go down for a good nap, which will enable her to have a good hour or so to sleep as well. I have learned over the years that a good hour's worth of sleep in the early afternoon is worth 3 hours missed the night before. We hung up with great excitement and expectation--I am so hopeful for her! Just another reminder that we are all different, and that God uses us just where we are. (update--after my daughter relaxed, she finally started sleeping at night--PTL!)

The children have been watching the carpet installers from the bannister on the top floor. Faith, 5, is the most enthused. I had often prayed that we could replace the carpeting. We were forced to have a cheap carpet installed to begin with, and that was 7 years and many foot treads ago.

This time around we are installing commercial grade carpeting--the type they use in offices. I wanted to have this type originally. There are so many reasons this type of carpeting is better for large families. For one thing, it is stiffer and tougher. For another, there is almost no pile, so footprints don't crush it, keeping it looking new longer. We chose one that was multi-colored and had a slight texture, so that every little speck doesn't show. We have had this same type of carpeting installed in our basement for over 6 years and can attest to its longevity. For industrial use, the carpet is glued down, but it can be installed with a carpet pad, just like any other residential carpeting.

It is also some of the cheapest on the market--only costing .63 a square foot!--although this is not coming out of our pocket and is covered by our homeowner's insurance.

In just a few hours we should be able to put everything back in order--I can hardly wait.

Update--here are the photos:

This is the new carpet--commercial grade

This is the old--worn out!

This is an "after", with the new border that cost me .75. Note the chandelier that cost us $20, the table we bought a few years back for $300--it was the longest we could find and will sit 16 of us, albeit a little bit crowded. We had the benches made about 10 years ago, and I covered them with some batting and vinyl. The rounded cabinet we found with its doors off, so we got it for a song and fixed it up. It houses my sewing machine, some cloth and notions, with my sewing basket on the side. The curtains we came across at a time when the home improvement store was reducing inventory--$3 a panel.

This is an "after" picture.

This is the "before picture"--quite a contrast! Our table was too big to move, so they chose to work around it.