Settling in?

The weekend before last we went over to the in-laws and just hung out. It was the MLK Jr holiday, there was still some snow on the ground from the "big storm" the week before, and a few lazy days were in order.

 Isn't there just something striking about the bright red in the snow?

 Mismatched gloves - unearthed from the jumble of toys on the floor of the truck.

Poor Canaan got stuck with my "fancy" gloves, which then bled all over his hands. 

They were not made for snowballs or snowmen.

He was not a happy camper!  

What could be better for little boys then to spend time playing with their grandparents, watching movies, playing with toys that use to be daddy's, and eating pretty much anything they could think of? 

(Notice the orange mustache? He doesn't get those very often... but he loves it when he does!)

You have to take a minute to appreciate the orchids in the background. Ellen, my mother-in-law, has the most amazing green thumb. Her  sun porch has been completely taken over by plants, mostly orchids. They are amazing. However, I think my favorite of her plants is her coffee tree. She managed to grow coffee beans in her bathroom, roast them herself, grind them and brew fresh coffee. Can you imagine how good it tastes to drink coffee that you grew yourself?

"Cheesin" boys

 While we were there Ellen asked how we were settling in here at my parents. I realized that I hadn't told her, or anyone else, how we were, or rather how we were not, settling in.

 Let me fill you in. You see, only part of the basement here is finished. Every time Andy deploys we try to finish something new. The "living room" has drywall on it, but it has never been mudded, sanded and painted, and a drop ceiling has never been added. So we thought that would be a good project for us to work on while Andy had this time off. We pushed furniture to the center of the room, removed pictures from the walls, and sadly, saw the dark, slightly moldy spot on the wall where (we thought) water had leaked in under the door a few years ago. Yuck. Andy decided that it would be best to take that piece of drywall off and replace it. Why put all that work into something that was nasty?

Pretty ugly, isn't it?
It gets worse...
After he pulled off the drywall, he noticed that the insulation was wet.

And behind that, the layer of wood - the outside wall - was wet too. Soaking wet. Except for the fact that there was siding to keep it contained, Andy could have pushed a hole through the wall and been outside... all the way up to about shoulder height. Not good news!

 We hired someone to take the siding off, replace the wood, put the siding back on, and seal it properly this time. But then, it snowed. And stayed 32 degrees for days and days. Plus, the guy was a friend of a friend, who worked full time and did this on the side... so could only do it on certain days. (but he was a fabulous price!) Delay, after delay, one thing after another.
 This last week it was finally warmish, and dryish, on a day he was available.

 Let the teardown begin! 

It simply crumbled under his hands. Eventually he removed the boards and installed new ones, but the super wet stuff simply fell off by itself.

 The worst of the leakage was underneath the fireplace/chimney. 

(although there was some over the door also) 

 Kinda gross, isn't it?

I am 100% sure there is a sermon in there... the wet, moldy yuckiness that is hiding underneath the plastic siding we put up to make ourselves look good. We, as humans, as Christians, we wouldn't know anything about that, would we?

 The simple procedure it would take to fix it- but how it would probably hurt, tearing all that siding off.  Having to find all the screws, one by one, to remove the moldy piece of wood. Trying to decide if some of the wood is salvageable, and if so, what do you do with it? Put it back in the same place, trying to meld it with the new? Use it for something else, giving it a new purpose in a different place? Then, you have to put all the screws back in. Once again, pain. 

 Why is it that God can never make us better without pain? 

But, I don't want to look fine, all plastic and pretty on the outside, and yet be falling apart and covered in mold just one layer down. 

 So - tear the plastic off. I trust you God to be careful and not crack it. Find all the screws, rip the disintegrating part out, and give me a new, solid, piece of wood. Quickly, before the rotting spreads to the support beams and I have a real problem. 

Okay, sermon done. Sorry!

Shall we close with a few last pictures of my children enjoying a day of learning how a house is put together? 

Zion thought it was cool to watch...

for a while.

Then just being outside was cooler!

Can't exactly call it a warm snap when Canaan can still find ice this size on the slide...

but at least it is feeling a little bit more like GA around here! 

The outside wall is fixed. Now, back to the original project of mudding, painting and putting in a ceiling. Maybe then we can "settle in"? 

I wouldn't count on it... I don't think these feet know how to settle down!