Thursday, April 29, 2010
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Friday, April 23, 2010
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Our last two weeks...
It has been a crazy couple of weeks around here. I definitely feel like real life has been put on hold as we try to finish up this plumbing project. The plumbers came Friday and replaced our water main, and they did a great job. If you're in Bloomington with a plumbing problem, I definitely, definitely recommend Aim to Please Plumbing. They were super professional and remarkably clean. They're a small, family-owned Christian business, and they were great to work with. After they left, David and I started the ridiculous task of putting all that dirt back in the trench. Interesting how once dirt is out, it doesn't seem to fit back in very well. One or both of us has been working on it for a few hours every day since, and the yard finally looks mostly normal. Yay!
With the weather report calling for rain for the next two or three days, we're hoping to get my plants back in tonight and get grass seed spread across the whole thing. My plans for a bigger garden have gone by the wayside, as I am currently having nightmares about cleaning Indiana clay off my shoes. We'll just be happy to get it back to the way it was. As sick as I am of digging and dirt, I've taken a few breaks this week to do other, more enjoyable tasks. I cleaned up the front porch, got all my pots out for the summer, and got them cleaned up and filled with dirt. I'm trying something new on the front porch this year: garden veggies in the pots. We'll see how it goes! Hopefully we'll get some fun produce out of it!
I've also been keeping a keen eye on Craig's List here in town, and have found two awesome items in the past two weeks. This one was $10 from a guy who's selling everything to go work on a dock in Alaska for the summer. Interesting dude. I love the table, because it's gorgeous, and because it will provide us with a little extra table space when small group is here on Sunday. It's always nice for people to have a place to put their drinks while they're trying to eat off a place in their laps :)
This is a king footboard that I found for $20. I'm in the process of painting it white, and then I'll figure out a way to affix it to the wall behind our bed as a decorative headboard. Our bedroom has been a work in progress for the past 18 months, but I think once the headbaord is done, I'll finally be able to post before and after pics!
I've also found a great sewing project that I'm going to try: A Frock by Friday. I got the idea off of B's blog, and I've got another friend in town enlisted in the project. Should be fun! I'll try to post an after pic of that, too!
The kids have had various things going on, including finalizing flower girl dresses for my sister's wedding, reading books to Laura, starting a new science program with Carver for the summer, and teaching Carver some about how cars work. Our Odyssey has a loose connection between [something] and the battery, causing the car not to start. We thought it was the battery, but then found that when the jumper cable was attached to one of the battery posts, the car started just fine. So the way I started my car today to get to Wal Mart was by standing, holding the connection, and having Carver start the car. He LOVES it. I think he's hoping we won't bother to fix the problem, and just let him start the car all the time. I was hoping that, once at Wal Mart, the car would start up magically on it's own, but to no avail. Fortunately, I had parked in the back of the lot to attract as little attention to myself as possible as I propped the hood and put my 6-year-old in the driver's seat. But it worked like a charm! He was disappointed that I wouldn't let him drive home, but that's a lesson for another day.
So, that's a snapshot of life around here for the past two weeks! Feeling a little loopy, but hoping that all the craziness will be over soon!
With the weather report calling for rain for the next two or three days, we're hoping to get my plants back in tonight and get grass seed spread across the whole thing. My plans for a bigger garden have gone by the wayside, as I am currently having nightmares about cleaning Indiana clay off my shoes. We'll just be happy to get it back to the way it was. As sick as I am of digging and dirt, I've taken a few breaks this week to do other, more enjoyable tasks. I cleaned up the front porch, got all my pots out for the summer, and got them cleaned up and filled with dirt. I'm trying something new on the front porch this year: garden veggies in the pots. We'll see how it goes! Hopefully we'll get some fun produce out of it!
I've also been keeping a keen eye on Craig's List here in town, and have found two awesome items in the past two weeks. This one was $10 from a guy who's selling everything to go work on a dock in Alaska for the summer. Interesting dude. I love the table, because it's gorgeous, and because it will provide us with a little extra table space when small group is here on Sunday. It's always nice for people to have a place to put their drinks while they're trying to eat off a place in their laps :)
This is a king footboard that I found for $20. I'm in the process of painting it white, and then I'll figure out a way to affix it to the wall behind our bed as a decorative headboard. Our bedroom has been a work in progress for the past 18 months, but I think once the headbaord is done, I'll finally be able to post before and after pics!
I've also found a great sewing project that I'm going to try: A Frock by Friday. I got the idea off of B's blog, and I've got another friend in town enlisted in the project. Should be fun! I'll try to post an after pic of that, too!
The kids have had various things going on, including finalizing flower girl dresses for my sister's wedding, reading books to Laura, starting a new science program with Carver for the summer, and teaching Carver some about how cars work. Our Odyssey has a loose connection between [something] and the battery, causing the car not to start. We thought it was the battery, but then found that when the jumper cable was attached to one of the battery posts, the car started just fine. So the way I started my car today to get to Wal Mart was by standing, holding the connection, and having Carver start the car. He LOVES it. I think he's hoping we won't bother to fix the problem, and just let him start the car all the time. I was hoping that, once at Wal Mart, the car would start up magically on it's own, but to no avail. Fortunately, I had parked in the back of the lot to attract as little attention to myself as possible as I propped the hood and put my 6-year-old in the driver's seat. But it worked like a charm! He was disappointed that I wouldn't let him drive home, but that's a lesson for another day.
So, that's a snapshot of life around here for the past two weeks! Feeling a little loopy, but hoping that all the craziness will be over soon!
Monday, April 12, 2010
New Bikes!
Carver got his birthday present from us way early this year. He has really outgrown his old bike, and now that the weather is nice, he's been outside every single day. So we decided to go ahead and get him the next size up bike. As a result, Ellie got a "new" bike also. She still needs the training wheels, but otherwise she's doing great. She also got a new helmet, since her head is huge and had outgrown the littler one. Sadly, her little legs are not quite strong enough yet to ride her bike on my 3-mile walk. Since Rose is getting pretty heavy to carry in the backpack, I need Ellie's spot in the double stroller for her. I haven't quite figured out how I'll get my walks in this summer. Hopefully the more Ellie practices, the longer she'll be able to go.
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Saturday activities
Yesterday was our church's women's retreat. It was a great day away for me--I learned a lot, and got to have sweet fellowship time with women that I love. As expected, I came home to a relative amount of chaos. David and 5 other guys were digging up the front yard, and the kids had been running loose all afternoon. They were in pretty good shape, considering. Ellie was very happy to see Rose, and she had the bright idea to have Rose ride the tricycle with her. Rose loved it!
At dinnertime, we fed everybody pizza, beer, soda and oreos. Here is what they were able to accomplish:
Pretty good, huh? They were able to find the pipe, but have seen no sign of the leak yet. We think there is about 10 feet more of digging until the water line dives into the foundation, and we're desperately hoping to find the leak in those 10 feet. While they were able to spare my front garden, it's not looking so good for the side garden now. Oh well--I guess those plants were ready for dividing, anyway...
At dinnertime, we fed everybody pizza, beer, soda and oreos. Here is what they were able to accomplish:
Pretty good, huh? They were able to find the pipe, but have seen no sign of the leak yet. We think there is about 10 feet more of digging until the water line dives into the foundation, and we're desperately hoping to find the leak in those 10 feet. While they were able to spare my front garden, it's not looking so good for the side garden now. Oh well--I guess those plants were ready for dividing, anyway...
Monday, April 5, 2010
The Black Hole
...of mud.
We love our home. We have been so thankful to have a home here, and while it seemed huge when we bought it, God has blessed us and filled it with children. But, with the joy of home ownership come the, uh, responsibilities of home ownership. Like, when stuff breaks, you have to fix it. Bummer. Where's the landlord on this place, anyway?
So we have a leaky pipe somewhere in our front yard. David has started the excavation, and it looks like this at the moment:
This week, the hole will get bigger, and bigger, and bigger, until he finds that elusive water pipe and is able to locate the leak. Then the plumber will come and patch the leak, and all will be well! We hope. In the meantime, I'm trying to convince him that, as long as we're digging up the entire front yard, why not plant a huge, gorgeous, lush garden? We're already doing all the hard work anyway. And by we, I mean him (and the neighbor, who came over for an hour on Friday to help). But I have to time my garden appeals well: asking when he's up to his neck in mud, up to his ankles in leaking water that seems to have no source, back aching from digging and trying to throw mud out of the hole, so far hasn't furthered my cause much. But, tomorrow's another day :)
We love our home. We have been so thankful to have a home here, and while it seemed huge when we bought it, God has blessed us and filled it with children. But, with the joy of home ownership come the, uh, responsibilities of home ownership. Like, when stuff breaks, you have to fix it. Bummer. Where's the landlord on this place, anyway?
So we have a leaky pipe somewhere in our front yard. David has started the excavation, and it looks like this at the moment:
This week, the hole will get bigger, and bigger, and bigger, until he finds that elusive water pipe and is able to locate the leak. Then the plumber will come and patch the leak, and all will be well! We hope. In the meantime, I'm trying to convince him that, as long as we're digging up the entire front yard, why not plant a huge, gorgeous, lush garden? We're already doing all the hard work anyway. And by we, I mean him (and the neighbor, who came over for an hour on Friday to help). But I have to time my garden appeals well: asking when he's up to his neck in mud, up to his ankles in leaking water that seems to have no source, back aching from digging and trying to throw mud out of the hole, so far hasn't furthered my cause much. But, tomorrow's another day :)
Sunday, April 4, 2010
He is Risen!
He is risen indeed!
Every year, I have a slightly different idea of what sort of activity I want to do on Easter. Some years, we have dyed eggs. Last year, we did a "spring party" on a week completely separate from Easter that included egg hunts, candy, fancy breakfast, and presents. This year, I was not feeling terribly ambitious, so all we did was a fun breakfast and presents before church. I didn't even dye eggs. (But don't tell the kids--I don't think they know they missed out! I can only get away with that for a few more years :) So the kids came down to a fun table this morning, with presents in a basket, Peter Rabbit plates, cinnamon rolls for us and GF banana chocolate chip muffins for Ellie.
The presents were a big hit:
And here's everybody before church (Ellie grumpy about something, but I can't remember what--it's better that way):
And don't worry! The meaning of Easter was not lost for the kids this year. We went to Maundy Thursday service, after reading about how Jesus served his disciples by washing their feet before the last supper. On Friday, we attended Good Friday service, read the story of the crucifixion, and discussed why Good Friday is "Good" when it seems like it should be "Bad." Yesterday we waited, knowing what would happen today. And today we praised God for raising His Son to redeem us! It was a joyful morning! We also had the privilege of picking up an international student on campus this morning so that she could come with us and experience and American Easter. She is from Malaysia, and is Muslim. She was very sweet, and enjoyed being around the kids. David spent a lot of time talking to her, was able to share the gospel with her. She will not be going home to Malaysia this summer, so we're hoping to get to spend more time with her.
He is risen indeed!
Every year, I have a slightly different idea of what sort of activity I want to do on Easter. Some years, we have dyed eggs. Last year, we did a "spring party" on a week completely separate from Easter that included egg hunts, candy, fancy breakfast, and presents. This year, I was not feeling terribly ambitious, so all we did was a fun breakfast and presents before church. I didn't even dye eggs. (But don't tell the kids--I don't think they know they missed out! I can only get away with that for a few more years :) So the kids came down to a fun table this morning, with presents in a basket, Peter Rabbit plates, cinnamon rolls for us and GF banana chocolate chip muffins for Ellie.
The presents were a big hit:
And here's everybody before church (Ellie grumpy about something, but I can't remember what--it's better that way):
And don't worry! The meaning of Easter was not lost for the kids this year. We went to Maundy Thursday service, after reading about how Jesus served his disciples by washing their feet before the last supper. On Friday, we attended Good Friday service, read the story of the crucifixion, and discussed why Good Friday is "Good" when it seems like it should be "Bad." Yesterday we waited, knowing what would happen today. And today we praised God for raising His Son to redeem us! It was a joyful morning! We also had the privilege of picking up an international student on campus this morning so that she could come with us and experience and American Easter. She is from Malaysia, and is Muslim. She was very sweet, and enjoyed being around the kids. David spent a lot of time talking to her, was able to share the gospel with her. She will not be going home to Malaysia this summer, so we're hoping to get to spend more time with her.
He is risen indeed!
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