What Do You Do When Your Husband Has Vacation?

I think most normal families would say, "Go to the beach," "Take a trip," or "Just hang out at home, relax, and maybe take a few family field trips." Not so with our family...here's what we did with Daniel's week-long vacation.

Back in March Daniel went to Lumber Liquidators and came home with 2 tons of wood flooring that has been sitting in my garage ever since. At about that same time he also tore out the carpeting that ran up the middle of the front stairway leaving the stairs looking totally trashed. I'm sure you can tell that it hasn't bothered me at all for the past 3 months. . . . So, for Daniel's vacation this week he and his mom, Cindy, have been re-finishing the stairs and laying the 1500 square feet of wood floor. We are doing the whole main level, minus the kitchen....which apparently we are going to totally gut and start over. We had put tile in our kitchen in St. Louis and totally loved it, so we're hoping to do the same with this house. Daniel also wants to rip out all our cabinets and put in new ones. He thinks they are ugly and cheap-looking. I love how one project isn't even finished before another one gets planned. I have been trying to repress my Type A personality and just let it go that my house is a complete disaster and I am currently typing this in my kitchen with the keyboard in my lap. . . . But with how awesome the floors are looking, I really can't complain. I have assisted them a little bit when I'm not running kids around...keeping them out of the way...or making food. Tristan and Alicia have really gotten into the spirit of it all and love to help every chance they can. At the beginning of the week when we were sanding the stairs, they each had their own sanding block and helped sand for hours. As the floor started to be laid they helped hand the boards to the nailer, organize the wood, and clean up the work area. It's actually been a great family bonding experience!

I am so pleased with how the stairs have turned out. I still need to paint the white backstops and add quarter round on the underneath edges, but I'll do that when I get my house back together! About a month ago Daniel and I sanded down the banister, primed, and painted it white since it had a horrible white-washed finish on it.

Daniel and Cindy first starting to lay the floor last Saturday in the dining room.

Daniel, our friend Andrew, and his better side laying floors yesterday looking from the front entry into the living room. All that is left is the hallway to our bedroom and our bedroom! Daniel works the swing shift next week, so he's hoping to work on it before work everyday. He'd probably love it if I worked on it by myself a little bit...we'll have to see how things go!