~~~Downstairs~~~

The inspector came on Tuesday to inspect the basement and make sure it was all done right. It passed with flying colors, so I started moving stuff in right away on Tuesday and have been working on it ever since. It's a big job to move half the family downstairs! It's a nice feeling to have the building be done and the contractors gone.

I've been trying to sort and clean out Athena and Samantha's upstairs room and it is unbelievable to me how much stuff they had in that one little room!! I still have some work to do in there, but it's almost done. This will become Alexandra's room. Right now they have the remnants of their bunk bed and their chest of drawers that are emptied out.

This is our reading corner downstairs. The kids already enjoy using it. I still have a lot more books to add - this is a start.

Athena is all moved in. She immediately discovered and made use of the window well for a shelf.

Here is Samantha's room, all moved in. We still have to put up the borders in both of them. Oh, and Nathan just HAD to give me a big cheeser. Why couldn't he have done that on Saturday when we actually got his picture taken?!!

Nathan's room. He tried sleeping in his bed last night, but got scared and ended up in his crib upstairs. I'm sure it will take some work for him.

Athena and Samantha were so anxious to sleep in their new rooms and have done so for 2 nights now. They LOVE IT. I thought they would be more scared, but they are really excited to be down there.

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I do have to share what happened this morning. I was in my bed, not wanting to get up, when I heard nonstop blood-curdling screams coming from the basement. I jumped up as fast as I could and Samantha met me at the top of the stairs. She said, "Athena's in the bathroom and there is a spider and the door is locked!" I hurried and gathered the necessary tools, still in a daze and not completely awake. Then down I went, armed with one of Jeremy's shoes (can't use my shoe for a spider) and a knife.

I raced down there, all the while listening to Athena's torturous screams. In an effort to protect myself, I yelled to Athena through the door to tell me the location of the spider. She said it was behind the door, so I unlocked the door with the knife and pushed open the door, much like a SWAT team member would have done it. There sat Athena, on the toilet, with her legs straight out in front of her, screaming. I instructed her to hurry and get off the toilet and join me in the hall, where there was safety. She hurried and ran out, but then I told her she needed to flush and wash, so she went back and did that and scurried out of the bathroom. Then it was just me and the spider. I hadn't even seen it yet and was fearing the worst.

I WILL NOT kill spiders if I have any other options, but if it is going to get my children and I am the only protector - only then will I make an attempt. They freak me out like nothing else. I slowly opened the door all the way and there it was sitting on the floor. It was BIG! A big black spiny spider, about an inch and a half wide with a meaty body (cold chills right now as I'm explaining).

Without even thinking, I slapped the shoe down on it and it half-shriveled. So I smacked it again - got a huge wad of toilet paper - scooped it up as quickly as I could - threw it in the toilet - flushed - and walked into the hallway to breathe.

What an experience. I hate that experience. I told Jeremy today that we are going to get a pesticide on Saturday and are spraying the basement ASAP. I can't handle much more of that.