Why, yes, we have a steel beam in our house!

My kitchen and dining room are finally ONE ROOM.  I'm thrilled.  SOO thrilled.  We still have a LONG way before it is completed.... we have to frame out the beam and strip wallpaper... new flooring... new countertops.... paint... it'll be a slow, long road but in the end it will be worth it. 

We are SO SO SO grateful for the help we had... Ryan's dad first and foremost.  He's always there when we have a big project and he's ready and raring to go.  We wouldn't be able to do it without him.  And Jade so wonderfully offered to give up his Saturday to help us out.  We are eternally in debt to him... Ryan's dad was very impressed with Jade and complimented his knowledge so much.  It was just the three of them in the afternoon trying to get this 300lb beam up to support our second floor (of course I'd want to take down a support wall... why not?  HAHA!).  They quickly realized they wouldn't be able to do it themselves so they called in the troups... Ry called our neighbor Gary, Dave called in his friend Jack and Jade called his friend Brad.  Brad doesn't even KNOW us and he came to help.  How awesome is that?    

The beam went up quickly and smoothly and  I wasted no time cleaning up the floor and putting my furniture "in place" so I could see how the end result will somewhat look like.  I love it.  I can't wait to get that god-awful wallpaper stripped and to save up enough money to do the floors and countertops.  We're taking this project step by step... determined not to go into debt doing it. 

For lunch today the boys ate at the island.  They loved it!  It is so nice to feel like we're all in the same room when we're doing dishes or coloring or eating or cooking.