Accomodations

Logistically, we realized that some accomodations will need to be made in order for 8 people to comfortably live at Mom and Dads.  They live in the house I grew up in.  It's a nice, single family home with 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms.  It also has a finished open basement.  The builders "roughed out" a bathroom in the basement that has never been finished...and Meri suggested that she and Alannah sleep in the basement.  That sounded great to me! LOL  Seriously though, Arahn and Alannah have shared a room for the past 3 years, and they are getting to an age where separate rooms would be a good thing.  Meri suggested that we finish the basement bathroom, and make 2 bedrooms down there as well.
I called Mom and she agreed.  She also suggested the remaining space in the basement be a rec room with couches/TV for the kids.  Dad is pretty set in his ways, and this would allow the kids to have an area to watch their cartoons, have toys, etc without Grandpa always being on edge, haha!  She then discussed the need for us to expand the driveway.  Currently it's a 2 car garage driveway, but we will have 6 vehicles, so they won't fit.
Meri then called me back and suggested the need to fence in the backyard for her dog, Wrigley. The backyard opens up into a large field/park, and it would be difficult for Wrigley to get enough active time without a yard to run in.
Wow, these things quickly add up!  How will we pay for all of this?
We decided to delay the debt payoff for however many months it takes us to save up cash to do the home improvements.  In other words, if 2 months is enough to pay cash, then we start the original plan on month 3, and just delay the initial start date.  This way there is no additional debt being added.  I feel like we're making progress daily!