Lights, Camera, Christmas!

We tried again with a borrowed camera for an evening shot of the lights. Nothing fancy, just plain white lights. Maybe someday we will get some color and outdoor decorations. Perhaps we will find some good sales after Christmas for next season.

It really is Fall

I am just now adjusting to the change from summer to fall, and winter will be here in less than a month. I need to catch up. It feels like time is rushing by and I have no way to slow it down. In spite of time passing too quickly, this has been a wonderful, restful holiday weekend. We were able to get lots done, while still finding time to rest. Tomorrow it is back to the grind. Somehow it doesn't seem as bad knowing that the Christmas break will be here in a matter of weeks. Speaking of Christmas, John got the tree and the outside lights up this weekend. I know it's hard to see the lights in the daylight, but my camera doesn't work well in the dark. The pictures always come out blurry, so this is what I got. Now I just have to get all the shopping out of the way so I can enjoy the season. The kids are going to a "Parent's day out" event next Saturday, so hopefully we can finish the shopping then. We have to go to a wedding at 2 that afternoon, but that still gives us all morning to shop. I think we can get it all done in a couple of hours. It will be fun. I can hardly wait to join the grumpy crowds. What better way to get in the holiday spirit. Just for the record, the only thing I dislike more than shopping, is shopping close to Christmas. I just have to take lots of deep breaths and say lots of prayers. At least the people watching provides a little comic relief.

Thanksgiving

Today was a perfect day. I love spending time with my family with no schedule or obligations. It was great to just relax and enjoy the day.John made beignets for breakfast. What a guy! Once lunch rolled around we enjoyed a fabulous smoked turkey. We spent the afternoon working on projects such as clearing leaves from the front yard and cleaning the chimney. We finished the day with great friends and a fire in the fireplace. We are blessed, and I am thankful. Happy Thanksgiving!

Another week gone by in a blur

Wow, make that two weeks. This poor blog is not getting much of my attention. I will blame it on Facebook, and life in general. Last weekend we spent time cleaning the house inside and out. John cleaned the roof while I cleaned the gutters. We make a pretty good team. This weekend will most likely be a repeat of the same. Jacob is at a birthday party right now. I will have to go pick him up in a couple of hours. I am sure he is having a blast. How could you not have fun camping with 12 of your closest friends. I just hope my friend Alison is still smiling this morning after a night with all those boys.

I can't believe the holiday season is upon us. The kids are already out of school for Thanksgiving. John and I will work Monday through Wednesday so they will get to enjoy time at daycare. John will work Friday as well, so I plan to stay home and enjoy a day with no obligations. I refuse to shop the day after Thanksgiving. I don't like crowds, and it is way too soon to get ready for Christmas. Shopping the 23rd of December is more my speed.

Since the holiday season is here,we are having a Thanksgiving meal at church Sunday evening. I signed up to bring a vegetable, so I need to decide what vegetable and get to the store. John will most like do the cooking. I will be at an Aloette party tomorrow afternoon. I love Aloette, and getting together with friends. It should be fun.

Okay, speaking of church, I need to update the world on our search for a church home. Back in June, we began attending a church closer to home. We loved it because of all the great friends. However, it soon became obvious that there was a bit of dissension in the church. Fast forward to last month. We joined a group of our 40 closest friends and began the process of planting a new church. We have been meeting for several weeks and things are falling into place. John and I are teaching the nursery age on Sunday mornings. We had 8 0-4 yr olds. How crazy is that. We are currently looking for a volunteer to take the 3-4 yr olds. That would make our class a little easier to manage. We had fun though, and I'm looking forward to seeing all their smiling faces in the morning. We are currently renting space on the college campus here in town. It is great. We have a chapel, a cafeteria, and lots of classrooms at our disposal. We are thankful the Lord led us to this group of friends, and our prayer is that we stay focused on His plan. It is quite an adventure when you decide to go where the Lord leads. We are blessed beyond measure.

It was a long day, but...

we made it. The painting was done and everything was back in order before the party. We should probably go back and do some touch up, but no guarantees it will happen. Luckily my dear friend Kristi got here early to help set up. She did some last minute cleaning while I took a quick shower. It is such a blessing to have great friends. The baby shower/cookout was a success. John, as always, did a great job on the food. Our friends who are expecting were blessed with lots of gifts for baby Landon. All in all a great day.

Down to the wire

With less than 24 hours til our house is filled with friends, we are still painting. I have two coats of red on the kitchen walls, and one coat of green on the dining area walls. I think we are about to call it a night. John has a meeting at work tomorrow, so his morning is taken. I will be up bright and early to finish the painting. Then I have to get busy putting things back in order and cleaning. I hope I'm up for the challenge. All the painting is complete in the front room. I just have to put all the books back on the shelves, clear away all the clutter, and clean. Nothing to it. I already need another weekend to recoup from this one and its only Friday.

Saturday is getting close

As John has mentioned we tend to start our home improvement projects when we really don't have enough time to do them. Since we are having a little shin dig here on Saturday this seemed like the perfect week to strip and stain the dining room floor. John did a great job. The floor looks amazing. If we're staining the floor we should paint the trim and the walls. That is why there is paper all over the newly stained floor. I got the first coat of paint on all the trim today. Hopefully, John can get a second coat on it tonight. The plan is to have paint on the walls by tomorrow night. We are also painting all the trim and walls in the front room. We didn't want to make it too easy to meet the deadline. While we're at it lets finish the fence around the back and run new wiring to the gazebo. The pictures don't do it justice. The fence looks great. It is so nice to have things so open back there. Once Spring rolls around we hope to get the drainage, sod, and flowerbeds completed. I can hardly wait. The back yard is the whole reason we bought this house. I'll post updated pictures of the dining room as it comes together. I am so ready to see some green paint on the walls.

Tamiflu for everyone

Friday night we were not able to get the floor completely sanded. We made the decision to call it a night and get up early Saturday to go get more sand paper. Saturday I got up before six and started getting everyone ready so we could head to Home Depot. Joshua dutifully got up and dressed. As soon as he walked in the kitchen, I knew he wasn't alright. He was in tears telling me his head hurt. As soon as I touched his face, it was obvious he and I would be staying home. His temp was 103.1. John and Jacob went to run errands. I gave Joshua some Tylenol and put him back in bed. As soon as the doctors office opened, we were there. His flu test came back positive for Type A flu, which is the H1N1. So now the whole family is on Tamiflu. Joshua can't go back to school until Thursday, so John and I are working out plans to shuffle our work schedules. To make things more exciting, Jacob got up this morning saying his stomach hurt. Once he threw up he felt better, so I am hoping it was just a little bug, or too much Halloween.
In addition to the sickness invading our house, we have quite the remodel mess going. John did get the dining floor sanded and stained yesterday. This morning he put the first coat of sealer on it. It is going to have three coats and there has to be a six hour dry time between each coat. While he waits for the first coat to dry he is working on the back fence. The above pictures show where we left things in July. We had to wait until we had a few extra dollars to finish the fence. Those balusters are not cheap. We found an online retailer that sold them for $1.35 each with free shipping, so we ordered enough to complete the project. They run about $21.00 for a box of 10 when purchased at Lowes or Home Depot. We were pretty excited about finding such a bargain. It is going to look really nice once the fence in complete. I guess being stuck at home with sick kids isn't all bad. It is giving us time to knock out some of the projects.