I got some things done on the house in the last couple of days. I tore down the drywall ceiling around the attic stairs and sanded about 1/2 of the laundary room. Unfortunately, I've been feeling a little under the weather the last couple of days which has slowed me down.

The good news is that it looks like our tax problem will finally be settled tomorrow! :)

I called FS FarmTown today to replace the rear tire on the 4320. They are calling for 6-12 inches of snow in the next couple of days and at the moment, I have no way to plow out the lane if we were to get snowed in.

Holly has another DR appointment tomorrow morning as well. Should be pretty routine. Count down is on! Only 70 days left until B day!!

I'll probably look like a snowman later tonight as I'll be sanding drywall mudd up in the laundary room. That always leaves one covered in a fine white dust.. kinda looks like a ghost actually. :)

I plan to get that room sanded so that Holly can identify what's left to be mudded and with a little luck, we can be painting here by the end of the week and maybe laying the tile floor down. (I bought a tile wet saw a week ago, since I knew I was going to be doing so much tile work in the coming days).

I called a cousin of someone at work to do the brick work around the fireplace. Hopefully, we can get it done without spending an arm and a leg, but it would be great to have it done professionally so that it really looks right.

I also plan to start ripping apart the upper hallway tonight (and maybe even putting up new insulation and drywall). We want to get this done before the baby is due. Also, the hallway is always pretty cold, so replacing this might make a big difference. Of course, at the same time, we'll be moving some lights around and replacing some wiring.

Finally, we've had a long running tax dispute on the sale of the Homer House, with the IRS claiming that we have to pay income tax on $124,000. I finally got wise and hired a lawyer who seems to have handled it all really well. Hopefully, tomorrow, we'll go in and sign the amended return. :)

This has been a great weekend, both in regards to weather as well as getting work done at home.

I put the last pieces of drywall up in the dining room, which is huge! I can't believe that this room is ready to be mudded. Our friend Dave Lynn has volunteered to help us do the mudding, since Holly is now 7 1/2 months pregnent, she has a hard time being on her feet very long. It has taken her a while to get the laundary room done to the point where we can paint and tile it.

I also finished the tile work around the wood storage box near the fireplace (I've lined it with tile to prevent bugs and moisture from the fire wood hurting anything. I installed a shoe shelf in our closet and hung up Christmas lights on the lower level.

We went to Shoemaker's Christmas Tree farm today and picked out a tree, although we won't cut it down until closer to Christmas (also, once the drywall dust has settled from the dining room). Katy and Brad Hart were also there from the Vineyard. :)

Austin Stoker came out for a couple of hours today and played with Broderick, which was great. It got both of the boys outside. Holly and Bridget went clothes shopping as Bridget (now 5'2" and 110 lbs) is running out of jeans. Bridget lost a tooth today.. only 2 more left until Braces! (Not sure if that is good or bad)

Next step for me is to get some backer board for the kitchen walls that need it to put up the brick facing.

Wednesday night, we drove down to Aunt Joyce and Uncle Bryce who live in St Louis, MO and spent the night with them. It is always great to visit with them and their youngest son Spencer is just a tad bit younger then Bridget, so the kids love it there. The rest of Holly's family came down on Thursday and we had a great lunch served with all the traditional meals.

Around 4:30, we left St Louis and drove up to Amber's in Springfield and spent the night there. Amelia and Nick were in town and the Girls brought home a friend from Knox who is from Holland. We had a great time chatting and watched Harry Potter and "The Goblet of Fire". Friday morning, we got up and had home-made waffles and headed over to the new Lincoln Museum. It was pretty busy and we only could stay a couple of hours (Bridget even complained that we didn't have a chance to read everything), but it is really great! We watched a couple of movies/shows and zipped as quickly as we could through parts. I was amazed that they have a replication of Knox's Old Main building where Lincoln debated Douglas... Pretty neat!

When we got back to Amber's most of the family was there. We had another great meal followed by a rousing game of football in the front lawn. It was truly a great 3 days seeing family and chatting. Spending the nights at both places allowed us to visit with family more one on one rather then trying to get it all done at one time. :)