Family Under Construction

Good day to you all!  I said that I would keep you all posted on our current family of six adventure, so here I am writing!  Work should officially begin this week, but I thought that I would share some quick few thoughts about our family life at the moment.

So like I have mentioned before, this may seem small to some of you; however, this home disaster is BIG for me.  It feels big for a few reasons.  First, it is affecting our functioning and storage space(s), which is absolutely vital for a large family living in some tight quarters.  Secondly, I really do display some OCD tendencies sometimes, and with this being out of my control, and relying on others to start okaying and doing the work, this is just irritating to me. (If you saw the Big Bang Theory this past week, I could so relate to what Sheldon was describing!) While I am not always able to keep up with the demands of cleaning and upkeep to the extent of some people, in many ways I am a clean freak desiring to clean things in a relatively decent time frame.  And with the impending construction, the need to clean has decreased substantially; however, the desire is still very much there!  I have to talk myself out of cleaning things that are about to get either torn up or affected by construction, so I am ready to just get the repairs going already!  I am also aware that this house is about to get a heck of a lot messier before it get's a whole lot better, which scares me.  Our backyard looks like a city dump now.  I can't stand my children playing and/or sitting in some of the affected areas; however, many of the affected areas are right in front of the house and part of the kitchen and major traffic areas!  I also REALLY REALLY would like our downstairs bathroom and closet back!

On Friday of last week, I got quite annoyed with everything, and I began to have some little panic attacks.  I reached my breaking point about it all.  On a good day, Friday was going to be rough regardless.  I had places to be all day long.  I was going here and there like a crazy, wild woman.  At one point, my breakfast consisted of one donut, a few grapes, and I handful of cheddar cheese sticks to go that I swiped at the girls' school during a reception while wrangling both boys too.  Couple that with just plane ordinary exhaustion with a less than a perfectly functional house, I was all kinds of like a loose cannon.  During one of my pit stops at home, I tripped over the area that had flooring and where damaged flooring had been removed--total hazard by the way; and I almost wiped out with Big Mac in my arms, which just sent me over the edge of emotions!  At one point that day, I misunderstood something that Scot sent via text, and I bawled my little eyes out in the kitchen when I thought, incorrectly, that repairs were going to begin another whole week later than what was originally believed.  I probably just needed a good cry, which up until that point, I hadn't really had yet.  I just had shed a tear here and there with a few tantrums mixed in!  I am finding myself as I type this very post actually, getting agitated by it all and the wait, as Big Mac was pulling parts of the old flooring, wall, and cement up with his bare hands in the kitchen, because we are living in a construction zone!  I just want it to end already...

We still have a bathroom vanity to pick out, a new sink to choose, and faucets.  The flooring guy is coming to measure for flooring on Wednesday, which for me as mamma of this household is just not quick enough.  I want to see men in here working on my house NOW...

But like always... I have to wait.  I have never been a patient person, but things like this make me all the more anxious.  And of course. nothing ever happens on my time, which makes me all the more upset, and a struggle... so hence I am struggling and tired of struggling and trying to keep myself in check.  I am getting exhausted.  I also feel like I am just doing a horrible job keeping myself in check, and find myself having to ask Scot as well as God for forgiveness constantly.  I just wouldn't mind, however, if one thing could occur on my preferred timing!

So we have taken a few more projects on while we are at this phase, and while we have a contractor to help.  In the above picture you can see my tight little foyer, which often looks just as crowded every time we are about to leave, for which that day was no different either.  Therefore, the pony wall to the left of the kids is coming down during repairs, and hence the term renovations.  Taking down the awkward pony wall will open up the area around the front door, which will be very helpful.

Please pray for me as this is stretching me big time.  As we speak, we still have not received the contract to sign to get work underway, and this frankly is irritating to me, because none of these people have to live in this mess.  Also, I am realizing how busy a mom of four really truly can be as I am often going anywhere and everywhere throughout any given day.  Fridays are looking like they will be crazy days for the near for seeable future.  With that said, Scot and I are also contemplating allowing the girls to come home via the bus every Friday afternoon so that the boys can have their much needed naps.  I am learning that being a mom to a larger family means that flexibility, and the willingness to change up what were once set plans, is key.  We are a family under construction!

(Again, no time to proofread or edit!)

"Love It Or List It"?????

Last week, I had actually planned to write an honest post about how I was truly feeling about my current little house.  Many times, when I get on here to write about how we are managing life as a large family, and especially of that of a large family living in such a small house as of late, I have usually overcome some form of griping, and/or complaining, to write a more positive reflection of how we make our tight living arrangements work.  Last week, however, I was going to write a true honest reflection about how I was feeling about our little home.  I was going to provide you a very transparent view of my feelings, even after on FB last week when I revealed how I was trying to be at a place of gratitude and thankfulness of our current living situation; however, deep down inside I was griping still as I was grasping for a more positive outlook.

Have you ever seen one of those DIY shows like "Love It Or List It?"  They usually show a couple who are at a point of discourse in regards to the house.  One of the individuals wants to stay in the house while the other just can't get out of it fast enough! (Like yours truly!)  Most of the time, the lack of space and storage are the chief complaints.  The show often shows footage of a family cramming into small spaces like a kitchen, or a bathroom, with multiple family members trying to do a variety of separate tasks.  If a film crew came into our house and tight space, and especially captured footage of our morning routine, our footage would be so very similar!

We have one and a half baths for six individuals.  In the mornings, the girls have to head off to school, Scot to work, Little Man to either preschool, or some other destination with me, and me who just has to get ready at this point in life before I am left alone with my needy Big Mac!  I take my shower first, then Scot does, and then as we are using the double bathroom vanity to either brush our teeth, shaving, blowing drying or fixing our hair, washing our faces, or applying make-up etc. (Not that we are both doing every before mentioned actions! LOL!  I  assure you that Scot is not applying make-up! ;-)  ).  Anyways, I mention that so that you all may get the idea of the busyness we experience in the morning; however, as he and I are trying to use the mirror, and the sinks, the kids need to use it too for various actions like brushing their own teeth and such.  The girls complain when they are trying to brush their teeth as I am blow drying my hair when I accidentally blow air their way, messing up their brushed out locks!  I am waiting for someone to accidentally spit out toothpaste onto the back of somebody's head at some point!  Or sometimes when one family member is using the half bath/powder room downstairs, another kid needs to use a toilet too, which in turn kicks all other individuals out of upstairs bathroom also.  For about an hour to an hour and half it is nothing but chaos, and a shuffle/shifting dance to get everyone ready and out the door!

This has begun to wear on my positivity in regards to staying in this house, because I realize that Big Mac is not even really included in this bathroom shuffle yet!  However, Scot wishes to stay a bit longer, as I desperately dream to one day run very, very fast from this little, tiny dwelling.  I did agree with my husband to stay for a bit longer since we believed that God had called us to get a few things straight first financially, however, I have found myself griping and desperately wanting to "LIST IT" already!

Well, as I was struggling with my heart, this small house, and having only one full bath with one half bath for six individuals, God decided to place a trial before me and bring us down to only one full bath, and even less useable square footage than we already have had!!!!!!  With a leak, our little house suffered water damage, and is now in need of repairs.  My downstairs half bath is pretty much gutted, which leaves us with only one toilet available for our large family!  Our already lack of storage has been compromised as our downstairs coat closet suffered damage, and was gutted, causing all its contents to spread all over the house in various spots, like our master bedroom for instance...  (sigh).  Some of our damaged items and other items are currently on our back deck too!!!  Like our downstairs toilet, due to the fact that it can be used again but had to be removed for repairs in the bathroom first... (sigh)  Then there is our lost square footage.  While this damage may not be as extensive as it could have been, the fact that we only have 1280 square feet to begin with in, and we are now down to much less useable footage for SIX PEOPLE, is a whole other element that is just hard to fathom, and to deal with when you already felt like your four walls were caving in on you as is, and on a good day!  Therefore, please don't judge me when my good moments are mixed in with several tearful bad moments during repairs and construction!

So my closing thoughts:

1.)  Be thankful for what you have, because you can always have less!
2.)  While I feel like our obeying what we have believed God has asked us to do, and my sometimes frail attempt at being submissive to my husband's wishes--"to stay," has made our situation worse, I have to trust that He has a plan for us and our future living situation regardless.  It does seem like a cruel joke in a way, and I have questioned God, and complained some, but that is where His grace comes in thankfully!
3.)  Our goal at the present, is just to get this house fixed, and repairs completed.  I will keep you all posted as we go!  I get to redecorate a few rooms so I am excited about that. We were going to renovate our upstairs bathroom rather than our nice looking bathroom downstairs; however, water damage has left us with no other option.  We will start working on the upstairs bathroom soon.  We may have to piece meal it for now as we go.  I am also going to go and redecorate my master bedroom for kicks while I am at it!  I will try to find more useable space when able, and I will show you all when I do! 
4.)  I have actually begun to get excited about this house again as we plan on splashing some new colors on the walls, and décor, which is a good thing, because I have been so negative about this house with in the last few weeks.
5.)  And I will being praying for patience as the repairs and such are being made, because they just don't seem to be happening as fast as I would like them to be!

(Please ignore any grammar issues as I simply do not have the time to proofread thoroughly!  I hope that you were able to understand the thoughts for which I was trying to convey!)