Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Sleeping...

There are many ways to sleep, on your back, stomach, side. With pillows, without pillows, with extra pillows. With teddy bears, binkys or blankies.

And then there are the more uncomfortable ways to sleep...


He falls asleep like this all the time, from sitting up, crying, hoping to be picked up... and falls straight over. Doubled over. On his face.

Boyer Boys Bathing

Timothy LOVES bath time now! He can sit up, crawl around, and loves to splash and play. It's so cute. And Jackson has always loved it! The other day, I asked him if he was ready to take a bath, and he said, "And TimoTy take a bas too?"

Jackson helps me wash Timothy, even when I don't need help!

And, of course, he helps me feed Timothy!

If only Timothy could run away!

Poor Timothy!

My sweet Timothy usually doesn't complain, even with soap in his mouth or eyes. :) It's so sweet watching them love each other.

Sigh. Bath time.

Saturday, March 27, 2010

"Train them up..."

As we have been working on our house since around Feb. 19th, I have been there almost every week day, minus about 2 I think. I have worked alongside Jamin, painting, scraping, sweeping, holding this or that, fetching this or that. I stop to change a diaper or nurse Timothy. I work some more. I kiss a "boo-boo." I help Jamin think something through, then I pick up Timothy.

As I have been so busy, hardly cooking or doing regular cleaning, I have done a lot of thinking. There have been several moments when Jackson would be settled with a movie, and Timothy would be sleeping. Jamin and I would be doing separate jobs, and I would think.

The boys have been dragged there to work every day. They haven't been held much, cuddled much, read to much. They have both slept on a pallet on the floor a little, and been very dirty. Jackson has been told, "go play" a lot! Timothy has cried a lot because our hands were so busy! And my mind would be thinking.

I would think, "Poor babies." I was with them, but not really with them. I was there physically, but that's about it. Their basic needs were met, but we didn't have the same relationship as we normally do. To me, this proves that God designed me to be a Mom who stays home and raises my children! Yes, their physical needs are met, but what can I put into them while I'm constantly working? How am I training them if I'm just hoping they'll be content, just for 5 more minutes? How am I preparing them for eternity? How am I helping them learn to serve the Lord and be a good Christian? The answer is: I'm not!

When I'm not in the home, doing my job as a stay-at-home Mom, the job just doesn't get done. I haven't had time to do anything for them except feed and change them. (Now, don't get me wrong, they are cared for, and happy for the most part. I'm so thankful we will be finished remodeling soon, and life can return to normal.)

I believe the Bible teaches women should be in the home. My thoughts are, that if I'm with them, but not really raising them for the Lord at this time, what would happen if I did work outside the home? What would happen if they spent every day in a day care? They would not get much godly training. I would come home in the evening, worn out and have to get my laundry, cooking, and basic cleaning done. I would quickly send the children to bed so I could accomplish those things. To what end? How much time would I spend with my boys on those days? About two hours maybe?

I think a lot of people think, "Oh, they'll be fine." Yes, maybe they will. Maybe they won't. But why settle for "fine?" I want my children to thrive! I want to make them all they can be for God! If I don't, I have failed as a mother. If I don't give my best, my absolute best, I feel I am cheating something from them.

A lot of people say, "I'm glad my husband works hard so I can stay home." That's fine. My husband works hard too, but he doesn't make much money. He has chosen to put more into the ministry, rather than take a full-time, high-paying job he is constantly tied down to. Our needs are met. Our bills are paid. We don't have much left over. And... we are happy! Others think you have to have two incomes. We never have and we've always been fine. We only have one car and it is not new. We buy most of our clothes at thrift stores. And... we are happy! We love the simple life! It's not worth having money if we're not the ones raising our children.

Just my thoughts. I'm so thankful my precious, godly husband shares my opinion on this matter. He is even stronger than I am on it, and I'm glad! I don't want to be proud in this, or "holier than thou." But I want to be firm. I don't want anyone else raising my kids! I'm so thankful for them. Every day is precious with them, and I only have one lifetime to raise them.

Friday, March 26, 2010

Project "Love Our Home" Post #7

This has been a very profitable week! It started out slow and discouraging, but the end is great! Everything is getting finished next week, Lord willing.

The outside of our cute little place. I can't wait until everything blooms!

Jackson is really getting into the spirit of things. He calls this "chaining" because he calls every saw a chain saw. :) So cute!

We had some helpers this week. We borrowed three of the Reagan clan to help us out. Caleb helped Jamin hold things to saw, Isaiah played with Jackson a lot (Jackson idolizes him), and Briley held Timothy a lot. They were all dying to paint, so ...
Caleb got a little carried away.

Lunch time
They were good helpers! Briley especially hung in there and painted about a closet and a half by herself. They're great kids, we love 'em!


Okay, every time I walk down the hall, I just love it! When I get to this part, I just always think, "this is so pretty."
So, maybe it's just me! But I love it. All the trim is nice and crisp. The paint has all been touched up. It looks beautiful!! It was bright yellow (with smoke streaks) and dark wood trim! So, doesn't it look beautiful?!

This is the hallway looking into our bedroom. We scraped the paint off the glass today and it is just perfect!

Finally starting on the living room! This room has been piled with tools, trim, extra drywall, insulation, you name it.. forever! So, we're just now getting around to it. I painted the window and door trim.
Then the walls!! Ta-da!! This is the living room looking into the kitchen. I purposely made them match since you see through. I love the look!
I love it! I've wanted a red living room for a long time! Now I just need a new couch! :)

My kitchen! I love the brick! Jamin made a little shelf over the stove for me. It looks so nice. There's no pipe for exhaust to go through, so we really don't need a hood over the stove. I think the shelf is really great! My husband is so handy! I can stack my cookbooks and nicer-looking stuff up there. :)

While I was painting the living room, this happened to my hand! :) I promise, it just happened!

My sweet Jackson on the way home this evening. He's so tired.

What we accomplished:
  • Painting the Living room
  • Painting All the door frames, window frames, and some doors
  • Finishing the kitchen (minus a little caulk)
That doesn't sound like much, but it is. Everything takes two or three times longer to do than we think. :) Plus, how many of you have ever painted a window?! It is so tedious! Takes forever!

What we still need to do:
  • Touch up bathroom paint (just in one spot)
  • Put up crown molding in the bathroom
  • Paint two closets
  • Sand all floors
  • Put up baseboards
  • Clean, and move in!!!
It feels endless, but we are almost there! I think I said that last week!

Saturday, March 20, 2010

Sympathy, Please!

So, this is what happens when you live in two different houses. You work hard all week, living out of a suitcase, keeping shoes off the "bed" in the room where you sleep, trying to keep everything clean in a house of sawdust and sanded drywall.

When the work-week is done, you rush home, looking forward to "resting." But, there's so much laundry, the clothes get so dirty when you work, and when the children are playing in everything they find.

Then your husband cleans out the fridge for you (thankfully), because it has been neglected also. But then you have a counter piled with dirty dishes.

The laundry which managed to get washed is still lying around waiting to be folded while we rush off to a church literature blitz. The children are happy when we get back home! They are so glad to just be "home" and playing, but the results of all-the-above are devastating...



I'm ready to be moved and live in just one house, please!

Friday, March 19, 2010

Project "Love Our Home" Post #6

It has been a busy week!

It all started Monday morning at Lowe's. We got almost all the rest of our supplies. We just had to buy a few more things from another store. And I'm afraid we still need a few more paint rollers. :)

My poor tired boys leaving Lowe's! They have done great through all this hard work. :)

The kitchen cabinets got some paint this week. This is after the first coat. I had already spray-painted all the hardware.
I LOVE my kitchen cabinets!! LOVE them! I think they look a little contemporary. So who knows what style I will end up with in my kitchen. I want a little country-primitive, but I'm very traditional at heart. It will all pull together with these contemporary cabinets! :)

New vanity for the bathroom. It has a granite top and was on sale! :) It is very beautiful. Don't worry, the colors will blend in a few more shopping trips. ;)

New storm door on the back. :)

Hall closet framed in and ready for paint... and a door. :)
A closet door! Hide that water heater and furnace, please. :)
Baseboards everywhere!! The house had old baseboard heaters when we bought it. So, in every room, there was at least one baseboard heater. Everywhere the heater WAS, left a huge gap of no baseboard. So... it's going to be tricky to get them back in. We had to buy some new baseboards of course, to make up for where the heaters were. We're going to do the LR with new baseboards, and use all this to piece together in the other rooms! Anyone want to help?

My front door getting a makeover!
My painted front door and new storm door! I love it!!!!!

Boys playing outside! Truly, I am thankful for the beautiful weather, and our fenced-in backyard. We can just work and pop our heads out to check on Jackson!
My sweet Timothy playing outside! He loves it!

And... this would be Timothy getting into the paint! It's bound to happen sooner or later when you are painting with a two-year-old and a crawling baby. :)

Finished hallway and pretty closet doors!

Hallway... the color ended up great. We are without a lot of light right now, so it looks kind of dark, but once the lights are back in... voila!

Kitchen! :)

Thanks to all who are keeping up with our home projects! We think we just need a good two to three days of work to finish! There are a few other things that our contractor friend is getting done... septic work and new gutters. Other than that, we should be packing mid-next week! :) After we move in, I'm going to post room-by-room before-and-afters. I think it will be fun. I know everyone will be shocked! :)

Friday, March 12, 2010

Project "Love Our Home" Post #5

Okay, so the work goes on! and on, and on... :D We stayed ALL week, Monday afternoon through Friday afternoon. We didn't really work on Thursday (we spent the day with friends), but we did work hard the rest of the week.

We've heard people say many times, "You just don't know what you're going to get into." It is SO true! Early in the week, Jamin found a drip in the tub. Sigh. Apparently the glue had not dried when they screwed the pipes together... hence a small leak. And on the back side of the tub... our brand new furnace! So, it was hard to work on. But, my wonderful husband found a way and took care of that drip. It's finally done now!

We started on kitchen cabinets. We sanded them down, and primed them. I spray-painted all the hardware last week, so we're ready for paint!
(By the way, I'm hoping to get new counter-tops before we move in!)

The bathroom paint dried beautiful!! I love the color! We're getting a black vanity which will help it not look so off-balance. :) I can't wait! (and yes, my camera lens is very dirty!)

The boys' room finally saw a coat of paint on Wednesday. I touched it up today. I love, love, LOVE the color! It's the perfect baby blue! We also primed and painted the window and door trim. Voila! A brand new room! (Except for sanding the floor and putting the baseboards up)

Kitchen all primed and ready for a couple coats of Caramel or Cappuccino. :)

Living room window getting primed. I just love crisp white trim! It automatically updates a room!

On the family side... Jackson has been exploring the yard. It's so cute! He loves to play back there while we work. Today, he got my hand and said "You come wis me." So sweet!
Working hard??? :) We all need a break sometimes!
My bibbed boys! :)

This has been a GREAT and very profitable week of work. We're tired!! We should be getting the rest of our supplies at the beginning of the week, then we can start to see the beginning of the end! :)

What we accomplished:
  • The tub and shower COMPLETE... really this time. :)
  • The boys' room totally painted!!
  • The living room and kitchen totally primed
  • The cabinets totally primed
  • Lots of trim primed and painted
  • Smoke detectors hooked up
Yea!! I'm hoping we'll be finished in two more weeks! Hoping!

Saturday, March 6, 2010

My Sweet Timothy ~ 7 Months

Every day that goes by is blessed with this sweet little face! He is perfectly sweet and content, he giggles and grins (when his mommy holds him). He coos and says "da da." He can finally crawl forward, but most of the time just sits and cries because he forgets he can.


He has two big teeth on the bottom gums, and two big blue eyes! His hair gets all fuzzy and crazy after a nap. He is ticklish and will laugh even when he is getting a diaper change.


He is starting to pull up, and get on his knees a lot. He likes to make faces when he eats cereal, or rather doesn't eat it. We like to hold him just because...


Just because he's our sweet Timothy!