Thursday, August 25, 2011
It's a Boy!
We found out this month that another boy will be added to the family! The expected date of his arrival is late December. I brought all 4 kids with me to the ultrasound. Micah was the most excited because he was 'alive and healthy'! Josh was a little quiet- he was excited, but he wanted a sister for Sophie. Sophie was dissapointed, but that has mostly worn off . Judah saw that Mommy was right, there really was a baby in her tummy! We celebrated afterwards by going to a park and getting some icecream. So thankful for the little blessings God has given me.
Under Construction
We have been doing this all summer:
Just after the new year, we received word that my husband's job would likely be transferred to another location. For 3 months we started looking for houses there and began preparing. In the late spring, some unforeseen circumstances happened at work and he was asked to stay. As soon as we found out we were staying, literally that evening, my husband took a sledge hammer and started knocking down walls in our basement. We have been wanting to remodel our home for some time now. We have seen traces of mold in our basement and with Judah's asthma, we knew we needed to take care of that. We began the planning process to remodel before the word about the job transfer. When we found out it was likely, all plans came to a stop until we knew for sure what was happening (we would do just what we needed to do to sell the house-if we moved, not all we wanted to do). So, when we knew we were staying, we started the remodeling process back up. It has been a can of worms. It's been a series of peeling up one layer and seeing the bottom layer needs work. My husband has been doing all the construction (in our college summers, he worked for a builder and therefore had learned so much), my dad has helped us with the electrical, so we've only needed to hire help with the plumbing so far. I've heard remodeling is such a mess and it is. There is a layer of drywall dust on every surface in the house. But we're little by little getting somewhere and that part is exciting. The basement, which started as the main focus, now has became the last. It is unfinished now, but free from mold and mildew. The new focus has been to bring the laundry from the basement to the 2nd floor and redo the master bathroom on the main floor (since they're right on top of each other they needed to be done simultaneously). We also decided to expand our kitchen a bit. So, maybe, by the time baby arrives this bit of construction will be over. In the meantime, it's a family affair- mixing dope, sweeping with the shop vac and bagging up garbage. Trying not to be overwhelmed- especially as school is starting up again next week! God is teaching me many lessons through all of this for sure.
Just after the new year, we received word that my husband's job would likely be transferred to another location. For 3 months we started looking for houses there and began preparing. In the late spring, some unforeseen circumstances happened at work and he was asked to stay. As soon as we found out we were staying, literally that evening, my husband took a sledge hammer and started knocking down walls in our basement. We have been wanting to remodel our home for some time now. We have seen traces of mold in our basement and with Judah's asthma, we knew we needed to take care of that. We began the planning process to remodel before the word about the job transfer. When we found out it was likely, all plans came to a stop until we knew for sure what was happening (we would do just what we needed to do to sell the house-if we moved, not all we wanted to do). So, when we knew we were staying, we started the remodeling process back up. It has been a can of worms. It's been a series of peeling up one layer and seeing the bottom layer needs work. My husband has been doing all the construction (in our college summers, he worked for a builder and therefore had learned so much), my dad has helped us with the electrical, so we've only needed to hire help with the plumbing so far. I've heard remodeling is such a mess and it is. There is a layer of drywall dust on every surface in the house. But we're little by little getting somewhere and that part is exciting. The basement, which started as the main focus, now has became the last. It is unfinished now, but free from mold and mildew. The new focus has been to bring the laundry from the basement to the 2nd floor and redo the master bathroom on the main floor (since they're right on top of each other they needed to be done simultaneously). We also decided to expand our kitchen a bit. So, maybe, by the time baby arrives this bit of construction will be over. In the meantime, it's a family affair- mixing dope, sweeping with the shop vac and bagging up garbage. Trying not to be overwhelmed- especially as school is starting up again next week! God is teaching me many lessons through all of this for sure.
Monday, August 1, 2011
Two Summer Birthdays
Joshua turned 7 this summer! We dearly love this little boy-- he's so affectionate and yet so serious! He's my little thinker. We 're so thankful for all 7 years we've had with him so far.
Legos are a favorite around here right now. His cake was made by cutting into blocks with halves of marshmallows on it. Super easy!
Sophia turned 11 a couple weeks after Josh. She's turned into quite a young lady and is getting so tall. I'm thankful for her passion towards music, reading and writing. I'm looking forward to see what this next school year will bring for her as she'll be in the 6th grade already!
Playing Catch Up Again
Whew. Looking back over the last several months I'm trying to decide what to post first. I guess I should back up to April. Today, I promised my grandmother I would post pictures of the murals
I've been working on and realized I haven't posted the most recent one. Earlier I painted the 50s children with pendants, then the next two were free standing canvases. The first was a baseball fence scene with hidden pictures and then the second was from an old photo of Roger Maris. This one was so fun because it was so different from the rest being in monotone. It also felt like the paint flew quickly for this one.
The shot below shows the size of the canvas. The living room was the only place I could fit the canvases. They were too large to take upstairs or downstairs to paint in an out-of-the-way spot. So, my kids were a bit disappointed that having many friends over to play was not happening much these days.
I've been working on and realized I haven't posted the most recent one. Earlier I painted the 50s children with pendants, then the next two were free standing canvases. The first was a baseball fence scene with hidden pictures and then the second was from an old photo of Roger Maris. This one was so fun because it was so different from the rest being in monotone. It also felt like the paint flew quickly for this one.
The shot below shows the size of the canvas. The living room was the only place I could fit the canvases. They were too large to take upstairs or downstairs to paint in an out-of-the-way spot. So, my kids were a bit disappointed that having many friends over to play was not happening much these days.
So fun to be painting again!
Friday, May 13, 2011
Judah turns 3!!!
It's hard to believe my little boy turned 3! Judah is such a delight.
Who knows who he's calling.
We love our little man!
Who knows who he's calling.
We love our little man!
Thursday, May 12, 2011
Happy Birthday, Samantha!
Today would have been Samantha's 4th birthday. Unbelievable! I finally figured a way to get a clip from our home movies of her smiling for the first time. This was taken 2 weeks before she died (9-18-07). She was 4 months old. We weren't sure if she would smile at all (honestly, we weren't sure if she could see or hear much). This series of smiles (they lasted about 3 days) was one of the most precious gifts she gave me.
Monday, April 25, 2011
What's Been Occupying My Time Lately
Several weeks ago I had 2 very large packages come via semi truck to our home.
The kids loved the box they came in and were busy making a house in no time.
The first mural idea the client wanted was something like this (a picture he found) :
So this is what I came up with:
I changed the children to resemble the client's children and I changed the angle of the fence to make it more artistic. Finally, I added 10 hidden pictures throughout. Since this will be hung in a dentist's office, it will be something fun the kids can find.
The kids loved the box they came in and were busy making a house in no time.
The first mural idea the client wanted was something like this (a picture he found) :
So this is what I came up with:
I changed the children to resemble the client's children and I changed the angle of the fence to make it more artistic. Finally, I added 10 hidden pictures throughout. Since this will be hung in a dentist's office, it will be something fun the kids can find.
Hidden below are a ball and jacks, gecko and teacup.
Peppermint and Bible.
Peppermint and Bible.
It's been so much fun. However, I didn't anticipate the size or the amount of room they'd take up. I could not maneuver the canvases down the stairs so the only spot for them have been in the living room. The kids have been very good in keeping far away from it, but they've been disappointed that we haven't had many people over for visits because of the risk. I'm hoping to deliver the canvases this week and will be relieved when they leave in one piece.
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