To Renovate or Not to Renovate...

Renovations. I'm sure we've all heard that renovations are nightmares. Mark always says it's easier to tear down the house and start over than to renovate. Now I see why.
 When we bought our house in Raymond 3 years ago, I didn't even see it in person until we moved from Victoria. I saw some pictures but It's quite different seeing it in real life. I love being a homeowner and our move has been a blessing to us in many ways. But the  first thing I noticed when I went inside was how white it was. Like everything is white...The walls are white, the ceilings are white, the light switches, the sinks, the taps the fans, the linoleum, and the carpet is very light. You get the picture, a lot of white.... So I thought that painting was going to follow very soon. But once we got settled in and put pictures up the white started to grow on me and I like how big and bright it feels. So, no paint. The carpet however was another story.
 You know how hard it is to keep light carpets clean with 4 kids? Impossible! Anyone who tells you differently is selling something....literally. I actually got my carpets professionally cleaned and within a couple of weeks the stains had returned and it looked the same. I was constantly spot cleaning and frustrated. After I had my fourth baby, Adelaide, I seem to have forgotten how to keep my house clean. When I had 3 kids, no problem, for the most part. I would be able to have my whole house nice and clean once a week. Now I'm lucky if I can find clean clothes to wear. I wish I was exaggerating... I keep telling myself I will figure it out eventually and be able to get back into the groove of things but it's taking too long.... So if anyone that has 4 or more kids, a home business and home-schools and is able to keep their house tidy please share. I would be forever grateful. Needless to say the carpets were always yelling at me and I  happened to have acquired some engineered hardwood last year to redo the hallways. I have family coming out to visit for Carter's baptism in September and I got this bright idea to do the floor before they come. So we measured it all out again and realized we would just barely have enough if it even was enough. We also have wanted to redo the kitchen floor but didn't think that would happen for a long time if ever.  The more we measured and tried to plan out the more it looked like it wouldn't work. Then we realized that the line dividing the carpet and linoleum was not straight which would also be a problem.  So then we figure we may as well do the kitchen and dining room as well. We went to End of the Roll thinking we would get a complimentary wood and not expecting to find more of the same one. It was meant to be though and sure enough under a huge pile of other boxes was the same kind. We went back the next day so they would have time to dig out our buried treasure. I was so excited and in my naive little mind I thought, "Yay, I'm getting new floors and it's going to be done in a couple of days, everything is awesome!"  Haha...hahahha. What was I thinking?  I'm sure it is going to be amazing when it is done but Aaaahhhh! Nightmare of nightmares. First of all, we have to rip up the sub floor that is full of staples which is actually kind of fun and satisfying ...for about 5 mins. The kids were great little helpers and even Jake was wanting to help. And we all know it's faster when your 3 year old wants to help.So for hours we sat pulling out staples. Me and my 3 little helpers, (Mark was cooking a ginormous pot of beans) and when I looked to see our small 2 feet by 2 feet spot of accomplishment and then beheld the rest of the floor we had still to do, I cried. Well not really but I realized this was much harder than I had originally thought. Then enters Mark and pulls out the amount of staples it took all of us hours to do, in about 5 mins. What a nice husband and father to let us feel like we were contributing! Then there's 9 month Adelaide ,who loves to crawl everywhere and put everything in her mouth. I have such a hard time keeping the floor clean on a normal day to stop her from eating everyone's leftovers or anything that has been left on the floor. Then add in staples, bits of carpet, underlay and particle board and you have a baby in a land mine.  I finally put her in the playpen which kept her occupied for a few minutes but she really just wanted to be free.

Luckily she still naps twice a day, so we did most of our working then.  It was quite a sight to see my 7 year old hammering a pry bar under the flooring and my six year old hammering a screwdriver under the staples and using pliers to rip out the broken ones, and my 3 year old...well, I'm not sure what he was doing but he had a screwdriver and felt like he was doing important work. It made me feel happy and a little proud to see how hard they worked to pull out stubborn nails. They were practically beaming after their first shift. When I asked Leilani if  she was having fun she said, "It's hard but it's fun." I think sometimes we think our kids are too young to do hard work. But I have found when I have let them do something that I wasn't sure if they were ready for they could do it and actually enjoyed it. I made sure they had a break when they wanted and let them help when they wanted and we had fun together. When they see the finished product they will always remember the value of hard work and know how it feels to accomplish something that will last for a long time. That's why I enjoyed pulling out those staples. It was so much more satisfying than washing dishes or folding laundry. It isn't going to get undone or put back in. While I know housework is important, it is often hard to keep doing things that you know you're just going to have to repeat the next day and the next. So working on something that will last a little longer and have us working together as a family despite the difficulties, is in the end, worth it.