As I type Ben is removing the secondary subfloor in the dining/front room. This will allow him to lay the hardwoods without covering the baseboards. This is the last of our house projects. YAY!
We have stayed here for the past four nights. The kids bath is done now.
Now all we need to complete is.back.to.school.shopping. My brain will not compute. Didn't school just let out for the summer? Since I worked all summer I didn't get to see the kids as much as I would have preferred. BUT vacation is coming! Ben and I begin our vacation tomorrow!!!! I won't be back until the 8th of Sep. and Ben the 6th. The first day of school for the Twins and Sam is the 6th. Sis begins the 7th. I begin the 26th with my last full week of work being the 12th.
How has your Summer gone? Do YOU have any fantastic Fall plans?
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Saturday, August 20, 2011
And the list goes on
We have had the keys to the house for a week and a day. We've had a few set backs. Ben had to sand the hardwoods twice, and the tile work was set back by....technology. The new tile cement was touting ease of time, but it set up TOO quick. So, back to Home Depot for the regular stuff. I bet that was his tenth trip in a week. =D The kids have been helping TONS. I am so proud and blessed by them. They have been cleaning, painting and assisting Ben and I in our jobs. We have been assisted by our church family and my parents. Many others would love to help but 1) they have jobs or kids that need them 2) we're getting to the done side of this thing. YAY!
Thus far we are done with: painting, carpet cleaning, 1/2 bath renovation, carpet in master and first floor existing hardwoods.
What is left you may be thinking??? Today Ben will be laying the tile he cut, cutting and laying tile for the kids bath. The kids and I will be finding all the sprinkler heads and cleaning them. Moving their rooms over, moving the fridge in and possible moving our perishables over.
Tomorrow will be bathroom day. We'll be putting the toilets back and cleaning. Ben will begin to install the new hardwoods downstairs. By weeks end the ducts, furnace and AC will be cleaned, and the cable and internet will be swapped.
Ben and I have to work all next week, but the following week WE'RE OFF! YEEESSSSS! Some where in all of this I need to school supply shop with the kids. Oh yeah, and get a little rescue dog. =D
I love being my own landlord. Sweet Baby Jesus thank you LORD!
Thus far we are done with: painting, carpet cleaning, 1/2 bath renovation, carpet in master and first floor existing hardwoods.
What is left you may be thinking??? Today Ben will be laying the tile he cut, cutting and laying tile for the kids bath. The kids and I will be finding all the sprinkler heads and cleaning them. Moving their rooms over, moving the fridge in and possible moving our perishables over.
Tomorrow will be bathroom day. We'll be putting the toilets back and cleaning. Ben will begin to install the new hardwoods downstairs. By weeks end the ducts, furnace and AC will be cleaned, and the cable and internet will be swapped.
Ben and I have to work all next week, but the following week WE'RE OFF! YEEESSSSS! Some where in all of this I need to school supply shop with the kids. Oh yeah, and get a little rescue dog. =D
I love being my own landlord. Sweet Baby Jesus thank you LORD!
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| Sam. He blistered his hands and didn't even know. |
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| Joe. |
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| Zach. |
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| Sam's room. |
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| The Subway pick-nick we had the day we told the kids. |
Friday, August 12, 2011
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
...blank...
I bet you have been thinking that I would just throw in the blogging towel, haven't you? NO WAY! Let me see, where to begin.....
Ben and I were able to take a week off the end of June for a little stay-cation. It was awesome! Be barbecued and read our books in the yard. We also offered on a house. With that came the roller coaster of waiting, paper work, not hearing anything and....waiting more. We are still in the midst of this event and are hoping for a soon coming close. I've learned that you can't take hope or dreams to the bank.
The kids have been keeping busy with friends, sleep overs and our county's summer read program. They have been spending every Wednesday at my folks' place. As I work M-F this is a nice reprieve for them. My dad has been giving them guitar lessons (just the older two). The kids are required to practice, write stories and have a craft time week days. My hopes were that their penmanship would improve over the summer.....we'll see. They are all hard workers and I am proud of them!
We have a final vacation set for the end of this month and then, BAM, summer break will be over. School supplies will be purchased and middle schoolers sent off. Gosh. I.AM.OLD. ;-) A seventh, a sixth and two fourth graders this year. WHAT?! Yup.
I will hopefully be able to post exciting news soon. It's scary to hope at times.
How has your summer been thus far?
Ben and I were able to take a week off the end of June for a little stay-cation. It was awesome! Be barbecued and read our books in the yard. We also offered on a house. With that came the roller coaster of waiting, paper work, not hearing anything and....waiting more. We are still in the midst of this event and are hoping for a soon coming close. I've learned that you can't take hope or dreams to the bank.
The kids have been keeping busy with friends, sleep overs and our county's summer read program. They have been spending every Wednesday at my folks' place. As I work M-F this is a nice reprieve for them. My dad has been giving them guitar lessons (just the older two). The kids are required to practice, write stories and have a craft time week days. My hopes were that their penmanship would improve over the summer.....we'll see. They are all hard workers and I am proud of them!
We have a final vacation set for the end of this month and then, BAM, summer break will be over. School supplies will be purchased and middle schoolers sent off. Gosh. I.AM.OLD. ;-) A seventh, a sixth and two fourth graders this year. WHAT?! Yup.
I will hopefully be able to post exciting news soon. It's scary to hope at times.
How has your summer been thus far?
Saturday, June 18, 2011
The Piercing Progression
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| The Besties |
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| Which earings to choose? |
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| The pre-lobe |
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| Instructions |
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| Nerves |
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| Excitment |
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| Fear! |
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| Now that it's over....that wasn't so bad! |
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| The post-lobe look |
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| The car ride home. Black Eye Peas "Tonight" |
Thursday, June 16, 2011
I am one of them
I was itching to write today (I began the beginning of June and finished today). Of all of my classes I miss my writing classes the most. I purposed today to take time and let my mind be creative.
As I sit and type I can hear the fridge humming, smell my coffee and feel the solitude and peace.
Ben took the kids on a fishing outing today. The house is quiet. This is the prefect time for my thoughts to express themselves.
I was chatting with a friend recently. She described our family as out of the surviving young family stage and into the settling down and in it for the long haul older family stage. She nailed it. I hadn't even realized we'd passed to the other side. Our discussions have bled from simplistic call and response to call, understand, teach, and respond, and then ask again. My kids do NOT want pat answers. They are thinkers. They are emotional and spiritual scientists. I am doing my darnedest to pray and give them guidance.
With this current stage I have found that the mile stones are becoming more structured. They are now looking forward to driving, dating, and defining careers. In this phase the accomplishments are more official, but still just as heartbreaking for me. The last symphony concert. The last day at elementary school. And then the FIRST day of middle school. That first bus ride alone. *sniff*
I guess I really haven't changed much since they were tots. I still cry during a first or last. I still crave a cuddle. The thing that has changed is that they are becoming who they will be. What a privilege for me to watch them become....them. Uh oh. I feel the tears coming.....
"Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all." Philippians 4:4+5
As I sit and type I can hear the fridge humming, smell my coffee and feel the solitude and peace.
Ben took the kids on a fishing outing today. The house is quiet. This is the prefect time for my thoughts to express themselves.
Mothers
Mothers are curious beings. In all my life I have never found a more profound or confusing creature. They strive for excellence and push themselves to the limit for their offspring. They cheer at games, argue about homework and complete the household tasks that the more faint of heart would not touch for a million dollars. It seems that the best Mom's are all the more contradicting. They educate and encourage their kids to greatness. How can this be a contradiction? Well, after all that encouragement, cheering and challenging, when the kid accomplishes the strove for task, you will find the Mother crying. Tears of joy none-the-less, but still tears. I did not know how very much they were this way until I joined the group called Mothers.
Before Ben and I married our plans were set. We would wait to begin having children until we had been married three years. There were many reasons for this decision. They were good, valid, and wise reasons. Due to this we were amazed to discover that I was pregnant a mere 3 months post wedding. I was on the pill and hadn't missed a dose in two months. I had just turned 20. I was a new bride, and I was pregnant. Our life was not happening according to our plan. The first lesson of motherhood was underway.
Esther was born after 38 hours of mind numbing labor. This family unit we created was what I had dreamed about since childhood. Ben worked hard at his job to enable me to stay home. As an accomplished baby sitter and nanny not much of infant/child care was a surprise to me. I loved caring for my baby. Sam was added to the family 12.5 months after Esther. A new normal was created. Then when Zach and Joe came we sort of "hunkered down", made our house in the 'couve home base, and barely survived. I have nothing but fond memories of those days, yet I really don't ever want to live through that again. Not even for a visit.
I'm sure you've read or heard that of all the family years the young family years are the most physically demanding. I can attest that fact was true for us. Between cutting teeth, potty training, emotional training, world view, loosing teeth and tutoring one barely has time to breathe. No wonder parents have a rough time scheduling their own play dates with friends their age, or arranging their own hair to be styled. Yet, we celebrated with every new tooth. Every nap that they awoke dry we partied. I would strive for the prize of teaching them accomplishment and when it was reached I chocked back tears. "This is what we've worked so hard for" I would think. But as she rode away without her training wheels I saw her driving to college and cried.
Esther was born after 38 hours of mind numbing labor. This family unit we created was what I had dreamed about since childhood. Ben worked hard at his job to enable me to stay home. As an accomplished baby sitter and nanny not much of infant/child care was a surprise to me. I loved caring for my baby. Sam was added to the family 12.5 months after Esther. A new normal was created. Then when Zach and Joe came we sort of "hunkered down", made our house in the 'couve home base, and barely survived. I have nothing but fond memories of those days, yet I really don't ever want to live through that again. Not even for a visit.
I'm sure you've read or heard that of all the family years the young family years are the most physically demanding. I can attest that fact was true for us. Between cutting teeth, potty training, emotional training, world view, loosing teeth and tutoring one barely has time to breathe. No wonder parents have a rough time scheduling their own play dates with friends their age, or arranging their own hair to be styled. Yet, we celebrated with every new tooth. Every nap that they awoke dry we partied. I would strive for the prize of teaching them accomplishment and when it was reached I chocked back tears. "This is what we've worked so hard for" I would think. But as she rode away without her training wheels I saw her driving to college and cried.
I was chatting with a friend recently. She described our family as out of the surviving young family stage and into the settling down and in it for the long haul older family stage. She nailed it. I hadn't even realized we'd passed to the other side. Our discussions have bled from simplistic call and response to call, understand, teach, and respond, and then ask again. My kids do NOT want pat answers. They are thinkers. They are emotional and spiritual scientists. I am doing my darnedest to pray and give them guidance.
With this current stage I have found that the mile stones are becoming more structured. They are now looking forward to driving, dating, and defining careers. In this phase the accomplishments are more official, but still just as heartbreaking for me. The last symphony concert. The last day at elementary school. And then the FIRST day of middle school. That first bus ride alone. *sniff*
I guess I really haven't changed much since they were tots. I still cry during a first or last. I still crave a cuddle. The thing that has changed is that they are becoming who they will be. What a privilege for me to watch them become....them. Uh oh. I feel the tears coming.....
"Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all." Philippians 4:4+5
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
This is me
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| Sundea night. March. |
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| Grandma Berta's 90th birthday party. March |
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| L-R Brian (Ben's cousin) Nes, Ben and Hannah |
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| Movie night! |
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Hurry up and be patient....will ya!
We found what we feel would be the prefect spot for us. Large back yard. Nice living and bedroom spaces. Shops/dentists/orthodontics/library/3 city parks within walking distance. BUT, we will have to wait to offer on it. Forty-nine days cannot arrive quickly enough! We hope the fact that it is in need of LOTS of work will keep it open for us. Here's to the right house for us; if it be this one or another. =D
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
our.bEEutiful.day
And the fantastic news? We will be ready to make offers
on houses in this very neighborhood (three city parks
and shops/public library within a 5 min walk) in
TWO months. Yeah. My mind was reeling today. =D
And the fantastic news? We will be ready to make offers
on houses in this very neighborhood (three city parks
and shops/public library within a 5 min walk) in
TWO months. Yeah. My mind was reeling today. =D
Monday, May 2, 2011
...questions...
Yesterday we learned that Osama bin Laden was reported to have been killed. Honestly, I was shocked at first. I had forgotten his name. I thought that he had already evaporated into the abyss of my forgetfulness. Idiocy. He was apparently killed by special forces this past week-end and buried at sea.
This alone is not the purpose of this post. The above information has cause many questions to ignite in my soul. Such as....if we are all created in the image of God and "knit together in a secret place" then how can we rejoice or "justify" the murder of another? What is this all really about? Is killing ever "okay"....
My mothers heart is breaking for all who have been lost. The enemies and the victims. Some would view this tenderness as a weakness that the "enemy" could use against me. LOVE.CONQUERS.ALL.
The.end.
This alone is not the purpose of this post. The above information has cause many questions to ignite in my soul. Such as....if we are all created in the image of God and "knit together in a secret place" then how can we rejoice or "justify" the murder of another? What is this all really about? Is killing ever "okay"....
My mothers heart is breaking for all who have been lost. The enemies and the victims. Some would view this tenderness as a weakness that the "enemy" could use against me. LOVE.CONQUERS.ALL.
The.end.
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