House Crash Christmas Edition (with hotel life)

If you are just tuning into the intriguing experience of an SUV crashing into our living room on Thanksgiving Day, you can catch up here and here.

It always feels like there is not enough time between Thanksgiving and Christmas to fit all the pieces in.  I love to decorate (and I totally would do so before Thanksgiving.  --not weeks, but just the week before so I can have everything in place before Black Friday).  But Pete wants to keep Thanksgiving separate -- so I delay any decorating until the Sunday after Thanksgiving.

Well when a car crashes into your house on Thanksgiving Day, it changes your decorating plans a bit.  From Thanksgiving to a few days before Christmas, we were unable to use our dining room and living room.  So in our den, we ate all our meals, did home school, I kept my office, we played and watched TV and basically made a constant mess.  The photo above was on one of the cleaner days (note schoolwork and dishes on the same little tables).

So what did the four weeks of the Christmas season hold for us?

• Both girls sang in the church-wide Christmas program.  This meant lots of practices (several that lasted past bedtime), three performances and a great show.  We also got colds.
• We celebrated St. Nicholas Day (Dec 6) with new pajamas (a family tradition) and the Veggie Tales DVD about St. Nick.
• We observed Advent and incorporated a cool book that shares the history behind well known carols (then we sang the carols).  It was a lovely way to keep the focus on Christ during the season.
• I didn't decorate beyond a few cute towels in the bathroom and a dollar store super-basic nativity scene.  The girls especially missed having lights up.  Next year, as God wills...

Right before Christmas we were able to have access to our living room and dining room.  Here's our Christmas Eve-eve dinner scene.  I actually kind of liked the simplicity.  Being pregnant, I just don't have the highest energy level, so decorating was one thing I was satisfied to let go of.

We found new couches and they were delivered two days after Christmas - which was the same day we had five family and friends come to visit stay with us.  Yep, the photo of the den above - two days after Christmas it had to transform to a guest room!

Two weeks ago, we left the house four days so the contractors could repair the drywall in the girls' room and the hallway.  We came home Thursday, then went to a hotel on Sunday so the floors could be refinished.  That was a ten days ago.  Once the smell (which was the most natural product available - Bona Traffic) has cleared, we are heading back home!

The restoration company handling the repairs has a major air scrubber thing that is trying to help it get cleared.  Pete also went over this afternoon to open windows to help it clear faster.  If we had gone with a polyurethane, it would be even longer for the smell (and chemicals) to clear. We are hopeful that we may be able to move back home by this weekend. Here's a photo of our "kitchen" with a sink, mini-fridge and microwave (but we don't use a microwave).

Semi side note: I'm not sure if I have rhinitis (pregnancy-related stuffy nose etc) or if I am just really sensitive to all the smells.  But its been a challenge for me ...and Pete (as I have dramatically increased my snoring).  I want to be home and I really desire to be "still" for a while.  I laughed and said I didn't want to use my suitcase for six months to a friend (who doesn't know me very well).  She said, "You better get your suitcase - you've got to go to the hospital in couple of months!"  Yay -- home birth.  One more great reason, LOL! Hilarious, but once we get home and resettled, it will be time to set up the birth room again.

We're so grateful that insurance is taking care of most of the costs.  But we're definitely ready to be home for a while. Thanks so much for your concern and your prayers.

Love, Carra