The Boyer Story

Someday...

2012-01-31T21:24:00.003-05:00

Tomorrow, I will see my friend. My college best friend. We were freshman roomates. We went through SO much together. We stayed close until graduation and still keep in touch! I am so excited to see her!

As I think about how long it has been... 3 1/2 years... I wish I could see her more often. I have had different friends throughout my life. Childhood friends, teen friends, co-worker friends, college friends, and "now" friends. Sometimes I just wish I could blend them all together and glean all the happy moments!

Then there's family. Our wonderful families that we don't live close to. Our sisters we can't go shopping with, our brothers that we can't play basketball with, our parents we can't just invite over for supper! I wish we could all be together!

Someday... we will be all together! One grand reunion will take place in Heaven for those of us who are saved! Thankfully, all our family members and close friends are also in the family of God. We will be together for all eternity... someday! :)

I Have a Dream...

2012-01-23T10:04:00.005-05:00

The other day, I was upset about something small. I don't even remember what it was. It seems to be happening more often. I have trouble handling my emotions. So, I decided instead, to dwell on blessings. I thought of all the dreams I've had throughout my life that have come true.

The first dream I thought of was being able to play the piano and sing at the same time. :) When I was a teenager, my piano teacher was awesome. I still love and respect her greatly for her influence in my life. She could play so beautifully ... and sing at the same time. I thought, "If I could just sing and play at the same time, I would be so happy!" You see, when you're young, it takes a lot of coordination. It took a long time to develop that. When I was about 14 or 15 years old, I played and sang my first song in church! It was very special day for me. Click here if you're wondering what I sang. :) The Lord put that dream right in the palm of my hand, and has allowed me to sing pretty often, ever since that day.
When I started college, I quickly became aware of the college singing groups that traveled and sang every summer. I thought it would be so wonderful to do that! What an opportunity! So as a freshman, I began to dream... and I started praying that if that's what God wanted me to do, that He would open the door for me. During the spring of my sophomore year, I was chosen to represent the college in the Southwest Trio! It was an amazing experience. I got close to those I traveled with. The Lord taught me many things during those 10 weeks! What a fun time, what a dream!
When I was 14 years old, I really began to desire God. I often thought I would love to marry a preacher, but I didn't think I was good enough for God to give me that! Little did I realize at that time, that God uses ordinary people! I am just a person... a person married to a preacher! We have been able to serve the Lord in local churches for 6 years now! And we're praying for His will for the day that we will be in the pastorate. God made my dream come true! Not only did I marry a preacher, I married my best friend. I married the man I had pictured as Prince Charming since I was a very little girl, putting sheer curtains over my head for a veil, and carrying plastic flowers. :)
There was a time in my late teen years that I started wondering if God would give me children. I didn't think I deserved them, and in the back of my heart I had this horrible feeling that I never would have any. In the early years of our marriage, we did have a hard time having children. We tried for over a year, only to miscarry. Then, it was another whole year before we had a little one on the way. I was terrified for months! I just knew we couldn't have this little one either! But we did, and have had no problems since then! I thank God for my beautiful 3 children! I always dreamed of being a Mommy... with my matted hair baby dolls.
Renting is fine, but buying is better. "Can you please give us our own house?" I used to pray. We have been in our cute little house for almost 2 years now. I have painted and planned. I have made curtains and bought pillows. I have arranged furniture and sanded floors... in my own house! It is the Great American Dream, and God made that dream a reality for us. We have our own house that we have made a home!
Just in these last couple of years, my musical dreams have grown. I have been playing arranged offertories for church for the last two years. The Lord has REALLY helped me. I make mistakes every Sunday, so there's not too much risk of being lifted up in pride! But this last year, I believe God put in me the desire to arrange some of my own music. So my awesome computer-brother found a great music program for me, and I have written four of my own arrangements. That really was a dream come true! I never thought I could do that, and I'm so thankful the Lord chose to give me that dream!

It's amazing how much the Lord has given me. Sometimes, in the middle of the night, when I am sleep-dreaming, I'll be in this imaginary world. I remember one dream in particular. I was shopping and found this amazing ring on the clearance rack. (Of course it was a dream because jewelry isn't on a "rack.") It was marked down SO low and I bought it. It was so pretty and sparkly. I held it up in the light to see it shimmer. I remember how thrilled I was in my dream. I held up my hand to look at it and realized I was awake now, and it wasn't real. There wasn't a sparkly ring on that finger. It wasn't real. But every day, I look at my blessings and those dreams are real! I want to remember to thank God every day!

Ribbons, and Clips, and Glue! Oh my!

2012-01-21T12:34:00.004-05:00

On Pinterest and blogs, I have found some adorable hair bow ideas, so I decided to try a few. I love to doll Eva up! It's SO fun!

The hair bow tutorial I found was SO easy and simple. I used it to make these bows.

I think this green one is my favorite. I just love the ribbon! It is huge, but I love it!! (and I love the model!)

Some of them are as big as her head! I love it!

Then I also found a great fabric flower tutorial and it is even easier! I have big plans for these shabby flowers!

Blogger would not let me link the shabby flower tutorial, so let me know if you would like the website. :)

Thanks for stopping by!

Not Enough!

2012-01-14T13:40:00.004-05:00

Bows, and ribbons. Flowers. Headbands, hats. We've got it all. What we don't have is...

enough hair!

Well, we tried. Five months is not a sufficient life span to grow enough hair for pig tails!

Piece to the Puzzle

2012-01-12T16:23:00.002-05:00

Jackson got a floor puzzle for Christmas. He loves it! It is 2x3 feet. He is getting pretty good at putting it together. He needs some occasional help, and generally whines a lot during the process. But he's getting better!

Jackson turned 4 on December 28! 4! I can't believe it. He is growing so fast and getting so independent.

He's starting to like drawing and cutting.
He can write an "A."
He can unload the dryer.
He can put on all his own clothes, the right way. :)
He can put toothpaste on his own tooth brush.
He can quote some Bible verses.

He's our big boy and we're thankful for him!

Sweet Leggings

2012-01-12T16:15:00.003-05:00

My Eva girl in sweet leggings. I love her. I just love to dress her up. I love her bows and frills. I love her 23 hours a day! There is that one hour in the middle of the night when "like" is a better word than "love." But seriously, I know she is growing so fast, and will soon outgrow her night feedings. Pretty soon, she'll start pulling off her headbands. Pretty soon, she'll be under my feet when I'm busy.

I'm glad she's still little.

A Different Saying

2012-01-10T20:51:00.002-05:00

"A place for everything and everything in its place."

umm...

"A place for everything is a place it can survive."

"If my pottery can survive in the china cabinet...

...so *should* my sunglasses!"

Dumplins!

2012-01-10T20:24:00.005-05:00

From my kitchen to yours:

Chicken and Dumplings... *drum roll*

Start with Mother-in-law's ready-made turkey soup, fresh out of the can.

Get a couple mixers to make the dumplings. Stir, stir. (Any impurities coming from little stirers' hands will be disinfected in the boiling liquid!)

Boil those dumplins!

Lunch and memories ready-made!

A Glimpse of Heaven

2012-01-05T15:03:00.007-05:00

It is with a heavy heart that I blog today. I rarely blog about extremely personal events because I don't just want anyone to read them. But today, a college friend is remembering the year anniversary of her baby girl being born beautiful and healthy, taking her home, and holding her while she took her last breath at a precious two days old.

It was a horrible experience, to say the least. I will not even try to write of the depths of sorrow their family endured. I cannot understand. I do not want to be able to understand, for only a first-hand experience could make it hurt like she hurt.

What I do know is that to lose a baby is very heart-breaking. Over the past few years, we have miscarried two precious babies. Those were black, rayless times in my life. But God carried us through them, and proved His grace to us!

My first miscarriage was in May 2006, before I had any children. It was the hardest. I felt like we'd waited to long. I felt like there was a beautiful reward for us...just out of reach.

The second miscarriage was in October 2010. We already had our two boys, so it seemed much easier. We knew we wouldn't be childless. But it was still very heart-rending, and I spent much time in tears. But very soon after that, we found out we were expecting Eva, and God used that to heal me.

Recently, the Duggar family miscarried a baby. They shared a picture of that baby's hand on her hand. There was a lot of controversy about the photograph, and whether or not they should have posted it. But I'm so glad they did!

You see, I have nothing tangible from my babies. My miscarriages were early, within one week of finding out they were on the way. That made it SO much easier. But in a way, I would love to have known if they were boys or girls, or one of each. I would love to give them a name, and seal a place in my heart. I would love to have a picture, and a favorite outfit they wore, something to hold onto. But I know that with that sweetness would also come a much bigger hole in our lives.

I'm so thankful for Heaven where loved ones are quickly moving. Our babies are there. They are with Jesus, and I know we will be all together again.

Is my story sad? Yes, it is sad, but not compared to so many others. But I'm thankful that the story WILL have a happy ending, for Heaven is real.

Oh, to Be Perfect!

2012-01-01T16:58:00.004-05:00

As 2012 begins, I am contemplating all the things I want to excel at. They are many!

Today as we came home from church, we could hardly get in the door! It is still a mess from Christmas and traveling.

I told Jamin, "Do you ever feel like every area in your life is a mess?"

He understood where I was coming from. I need to practice piano more, spend more positive time with the kids, get more organized in my menu-planning and housekeeping, read the Bible more, work harder at my teaching, exercise more, get up earlier, be kinder, and on and on the list goes...

I love fresh starts. They feel so good! Valentine's Day is happy, anniversaries are romantic, Christmas is magical. But New Year's... it's fresh! I'm excited to get closer to God this year, and let Him improve me! I'm so glad God doesn't remember all the failures of this past year.

Excited for 2012!

The (Eva) Joy of Our Lives

2011-12-31T21:07:00.002-05:00

Our precious little Eva is almost five months old! That is so extremely hard to believe, considering the last two weeks of my pregnancy lasted three months! But nevertheless, she is such a sweet part of our lives. We love to cuddle her, and love on her. She gives us the biggest grins! It's amazing how such a little person, in such a short time takes such a big place!

Little screamer, cute though she may be:

Dressed in her church bonnet:

Love her sleeping cheeks!

Contagious smile:

Watching movies with the biggest brother:

Yes, she's our girl!

Thankful in December

2011-12-31T20:50:00.003-05:00

Today is church-cleaning day. Sometimes it is rough... on my attitude. It's not that I mind vacuuming. I don't mind washing dishes, and straightening hymnals. It doesn't bother me to change a trash bag. What does bother me is that we do it with all three kiddos... sometimes all screaming. So the tension adds up, just like the messes we are cleaning. And I find myself steaming, annoyed, and basically not right with God.

Today, during one of those such moments, the Lord shared a thought with me: I should be so thankful! First of all, that I do have three little kiddos. They can all scream, therefore they are pretty healthy! ;) We have been called into the ministry, and this was a small opportunity to serve the Lord together... as a family.

Let's all remember to be thankful, even for a small way to serve God!

Flash Figures and Frogs

2011-12-31T20:33:00.004-05:00

I have been teaching Sunday School since mid-September. It has been so fun for me! I first started teaching Sunday School when I was 14 years old. I taught primaries, and I usually had 3 in my class. :) Even then I loved it. I loved being in charge. I loved teaching God's Word. I loved how it helped me study and want to know more, even about the most familiar Bible stories. But most of all, I loved to plan the "fun stuff." :)

I stopped teaching when I started college. It just became too much for me with all my studies. A few years after college when Jamin was a youth pastor, I would occasionally fill in for an absent teacher. And other times, we would split the teens and I would teach the girls. I loved it.

Since we have been in Ohio, I haven't really had the opportunity to teach. I have taught ladies' meeting a few times. And I taught the teens once or twice. But not until this September did I realize how much I love to teach kids! I have really missed it and have felt so much more at peace since I started. Maybe that sounds weird, but I think it's just "for me."

So I want to share a couple things. It's not that I'm creative at all, I just want to share a few of my ideas in case it could help you.

I recently decided not to use curriculum any more. Some of the lessons were so "empty," and I think it's so fun to write my own Bible stories so I launched out. I'm starting on the "Miracles of Jesus" tomorrow and I'm very excited about it. But the problem with writing my own lessons is that they don't come with visuals. We have great flannelgraph at the church (Betty Lukens), but it gets boring if used week after week. I can't draw. Sometimes I can find a few things online, but usually only one picture... and that's not enough for an entire story. So... I asked my talented sister-in-law Becky to draw for me. So she did. And she did a great job! Tomorrow I am doing the story of Jesus turning the water into wine and here are the pictures she drew:

I think they are so good! She drew them as pencil sketches and emailed them to me. And since my printer decided to run out of ink today and wouldn't print them clearly, I traced over them, chalked them, and laminated them. I have decided to coin the term flash figures. :) Woo hoo!

Also, instead of trying to find a craft or activity for my difficult ages (4-12 yikes!) I'm going to start implementing Bible games for review. I got them from Ed Dunlop books. If you have never heard of him, I suggest you read one of his books. He is very good! And he has a lot of experience. Tomorrow we are playing Leap Frog! Here is the game ready to go in my classroom:

The students have to answer a review question correctly, then they choose a log from each row to try to get across. Some logs have alligators behind them and eat frogs! And some of the logs say "pass" so they don't have to choose another log. I think the kids will love it. So we shall see!

Cloth Diapering Adventures

2011-07-18T16:09:00.005-05:00

So, we're trying cloth diapering around here. :) I have done a lot of research on the internet, and talked to other moms who cloth diaper. The primary reason is money. Diapers are SO expensive, but they are definitely necessary!

There are SO many options out there. Some of the big names are BumGenius and FuzziBunz. Honestly, I would love to use these diapers! They are SO adorable! But if the main reason to cloth diaper is because of cost, these are too expensive. I mean, you may spend around $500 (probably more) to diaper your baby until potty-training, but I needed a cheaper way.

Then I discovered the Econobum system. They boast "Diaper your baby for $100." So, hey, I can do that! I ordered a sample for $10 on amazon.com. It was one prefold diaper, and one one-size cover. I really liked it!! As I researched more, I discovered the Snappi. This way, you can use old-fashioned prefold cloth diapers, (which are super cheap) but without the pins.

So... I've been using all these discoveries on Timothy. I'm very happy with the results. :)

Here's the plain cloth diaper fastened with the Snappi. It's very easy!

I want to mention that one time, I didn't have the front layer (the wings) under the back layer where I had the snappi fastened, and it was digging into his skin. Poor little guy!

The Econobums waterproof diaper cover... I love it! It's supposed to be from 8-35 lbs. See all the snaps? It's very adjustable. I just think it will be very bulky on a little one. And I'll wait to use them on Eva until she's a few months old. It still has a row to go on Timothy.

Cute little soft bottom!

I tried them at night once, and I probably never will again. And I'm not going to put them on Timothy when we're going out. It's just too much mess. You have to have a bag to put the wet ones in, and they're so bulky to pack. So disposables are still our friends, but just using them some has helped already. We haven't bought diapers in 3-4 weeks.

I still have a lot to learn. I'm learning how to deal with the dirty ones... it's just so much more complicated. But so far it's going good, and I just wanted to share my finds!

Mini Vacation

2011-07-15T19:00:00.008-05:00

We have had many plans this year for things we wanted to do. We had romantic getaway plans, which changed, but actually came about! We had family plans, which really got changed, then changed again.

But we decided it was definitely time to have a little un-interrupted family time. So we got on hotwire.com, found a GREAT hotel deal, and took off. On hotwire, you don't see the name of the hotel until you pay. But it was a four-star in downtown Cincy, so we took it. It turned out to be the Hyatt Regency. It was so nice, and we were really happy with it.

The boys on "their" bed. Yes, I think Jackson is picking his nose.

The boys had never been in a real pool before, just the ones we have bought them from year to year, that you blow up. :) They were so excited!

They were so scared at first. They just wanted to sit on the side. It took us a while to convince them it was fun! After a while, they were jumping in to us. We even let them go under a few times. The loved it!! The boys with Daddy:

Getting ready to check-out of our 21st-floor room. :)I had a quick dr. appointment, then on we went to EnterTrainment Junction. It is a neat little place. They have over 2 miles of track, and lots of displays. The boys loved it, but we did lots of holding because they weren't tall enough to see. ;)

My biggest "boy" building "Cranky the Crane":

They could shovel coal. They LOVED it!

Going on a "Thomas the Train" ride all by themselves! We were so proud of them:

All-in-all a fun adventure. We wouldn't pay to go often, but it was worth it! :) Our happy family:

We ran by Hobby Lobby so I could get some of those cute little crocheted hats and bows and flowers to clip on them. :) Then, we stopped by Steak-n-Shake before we went home!

We had a terrific time! It's wonderful to just spend time with our boys. We are so thankful for them. Sometimes life gets busy, and you have to slow down and just "be" together. Happy memories...

Ready for the Hospital... Anytime now... Anytime...

2011-07-09T16:55:00.004-05:00

It hit me very suddenly that if I went into labor, I would not be prepared. Even though the due date is three weeks away, it could happen. (I know it's too good to be true, but it's theoretically possible.) I could just imagine us rushing around in the middle of the night, looking for things we needed, looking for the suitcase. Waking up the boys, putting clothes on them, trying to think of who to call in the middle of the night. Kind of like a nightmare.

I put together a hospital list, and now we're ready. Our clothes are in the suitcase, all zipped up, ready to go. Our toiletries are in a tote bag, hanging on the bathroom door. We use things out of it, then put them back in. And I have a list of things we need to grab on the way out... like our phone, laptop, and a pillow for Jamin.

I'm still waiting for Eva's diaper bag to come site to store, so she's packed with our stuff. I can't wait to dress her.

Her coming-home outfit:

And I wanted to do something for the boys, so we'd be a cutesy family in the hospital. I bought shirts and iron-on letters at Hobby Lobby, and ta-da!

Now we're ready... anytime now, little Eva!

Independence Day

2011-07-09T16:45:00.009-05:00

Sunday night, we ventured out to the race track, where we had been told were great fireworks! And they were great! We enjoyed them. The boys loved them. We sat with our neighbors, and our kids played together. It was a sweet time...

Monday morning was our town's annual cute little parade. It was lots of fun. The boys were really getting into the candy this year. :)

Highlights

2011-07-02T13:03:00.011-05:00

Since my blog has been neglected... here is May and June in a nutshell!

At Mom's church's ladies' meeting... Mom, Kristan and I were asked to sing. It was so much fun! The three of us with Tammy Pallotta, the pastor's wife:

With Becky, our other sister :)

The home school group took a trip to Connor Prairie in May. It was over the boys' heads, but a great, educational place to go.

Fun in the sun... at home:

In May, I learned how to make headbands! They are so easy and cute!

"Time of Refreshment Ladies' Conference" Our silly skit:

Alicia and I

Mom and I

Miss Margaret Stringer, our special speaker. She was a single missionary in Indonesia to cannibal tribes for 40 years! A very special lady. :)

Our back yard getting spruced up:

Our Summerfest booth. My friend Amy and I worked so hard! We hardly sold anything, but our stuff looked pretty!

In the Summerfest parade, showing off our Old Fashioned Sunday duds:

Fun with cousins at Grammy and Pawpaw's:

VA VBS: Jamin did a great job leading the whole thing. :)

And that brings us up-to-date! Here comes the statement:

From now on, I'll blog more often! :D

Found Out!

2011-07-02T12:55:00.003-05:00

We have a little pond in one of our front flower beds. Well, that's what Jackson calls it.

It has a fountain, which we have never plugged in, but it's a cute little thing. After we moved in last spring and the ice thawed, we discovered a golfish in it. I don't understand how they can freeze and thaw every year and survive, but "they" say they do!

Well, Harry the goldfish was nowhere to be seen this spring after the thaw. We think the neighbor's cat probably got it.

We still don't like for the boys to go over and throw in rocks, and poke in there with sticks because they are bound to get soaked.

Be sure your sin will find you out!!!!

I don't blame him for crying. It was pretty gross!

Getting Ready for Pink!

2011-07-02T12:38:00.004-05:00

I recently did a LOT of sewing for a summer street fair in our town. I mean, I sewed for months! I enjoyed it, but it was stressful and my house and kids got sadly neglected. The festival was June 9-11. Glad it's over! :)

Then the boys and I spent most of a week with Mom. It was so nice to relax. After that, we went to Virginia, where Jamin and I helped with his dad's church's VBS. It was a lot of fun, but I must say it's a little harder to get into it at 35 weeks pregnant!

Now that it's all over... I'm home, being Mommy, being a wife. The house is clean. I cooked lunch today. The laundry is not all over the house. It's folded, in drawers. Ahh....

Now I'm getting ready for Eva. And the boys have been helping me!

Laundry time:

Blankets all washed in Dreft and ready to wrap her up in!

We had to invade the boys' closet. She takes up a lot of space with her little stylin' wardrobe:

For the first three months: 29 blankets, 4 quilts, 37 dresses, 22 pants and skirts, 3 sweaters, 52 onesies and shirts, and 41 gowns and sleepers. I think she has enough!

We are SO excited to meet her!! 36 weeks and counting.... :D

The Best Mexican Food EVER

2011-06-04T06:52:00.002-05:00

Wednesday afternoon, we ate lunch on the river. It was SO good! I've never had such good Mexican food! Yummy!

Sadly, I forgot the name of our restaurant, :( but this is it:

There were strolling mariachis all along that side of the river. So, we thought we maybe wanted them to sing and play for us... it would be so romantic. But, they CHARGE you $12 per song! We thought they worked off tips. Oh well, we could hear them sing to other people. :)

The ducks and pigeons stayed close by. If you got up from your table, the pigeons would move right in on your food. Yuck! But they left us alone... I was protective of my food! :)

Japanese Tea Gardens

2011-05-23T15:48:00.003-05:00

Wednesday morning, we hopped the river taxi and took it as far as we could go...

Then we hopped a bus, had one transfer and arrived at the Japanese Tea Gardens. They were beautiful. They're called "sunken gardens" because it was an old rock quarry, so everything is in a huge basin. It was a free attraction :D, and didn't take long to walk through.

Ooh la, la!

Cruising the San Antonio River

2011-05-23T15:23:00.003-05:00

The river has a taxi service called the "Rio Taxi." It is very expensive per ride (like almost $10). But for $15 per person, you can hop on and off for 24 hours! So, while still expensive, it is so fun and relaxing, plus you can get to a lot of different places without walking! So Tuesday evening we bought tickets and rode most of the day Wednesday, too. :)

Some of the sites:

At each underpass, a local "artist" was given the privilege of decorating it. So each one was totally different. Some were really beautiful, some were weird and some were...

One section of the river has just been renovated in the past few years, and it I think 8 or 9 feet higher, so they have locks for the rio taxi to pass through:

Fun, fun!

The Witte Museum

2011-05-21T08:33:00.004-05:00

Tuesday afternoon we tried to get to the Witte Museum. We finally caught a bus and they directed us to another bus, which took us there. :) It was free after 2 p.m. :) Altogether I was disappointed in it. If we had paid $8 a piece I think I would've been mad... or maybe I would have appreciated it more!

These are the highlights:

This was my favorite part: All these trains designed and worn by royal women throughout history.

After the museum we had a terrific supper at Sonic!!

Remember the Alamo

2011-04-24T12:08:00.004-05:00

The Alamo was amazing. We were able to spend more time here on Tuesday, and read everything. First of all, the structure we call "the Alamo" was the church of the entire fort. It was only a small part of the original "Alamo." Now it is a shrine inside. There are a few displays, and a lot of flower wreaths. You are not allowed to take pictures inside, and gentlemen are asked to remove their hats.

This is the view from the street.

This is from inside, but a different section than the above picture. This was the short barrack, an original structure... I think. It was huge and full of displays... guns and knives, pictures. Did you know there were survivors of the Alamo? Women and children who were there with their families were not killed. Amazingly, they were in a room in the church and when the soldiers found them, they did not kill them. After it was all over, Santa Anna gave them each a few dollars and a blanket and told them to leave.

Unbelievable Oak tree!

These are some diagrams of the original compound. The small structure top right is the church.

An actual cannon used in the Battle of the Alamo

The next day we went to see an IMAX about the Alamo. Then we came back once again. The story was unbelievable. They were fighting for the freedom of Texas and it seemed so vain. But it kept Santa Anna's army away from Sam Houston and his army long enough to build that army. They defeated Santa Anna just a short time later!

Spanish Governor's Palace

2011-04-19T23:53:00.006-05:00

Before you get lured into the luxurious idea of a palace, let me explain. This is from the 1700s. There was no such thing as luxury. I'm sure it was very nice for its time, like it doesn't have dirt floors. :)

The outside:

The living room:

This was an addition from the 1930s. It is a children's bedroom. The bed is very ornate, and I think it's kinda creepy. :)

The terrace: (with a handsome man)

I probably should get this picture out when I feel like complaining about cooking. The kitchen:

Stairs to the loft:

The loft where herbs were hung to dry and grain was stored:

Together:

San Fernando Cathedral

2011-04-19T22:12:00.004-05:00

On Tuesday morning, we bought day passes for the trolley and bus. We hopped on right in front of our hotel, and rode to San Fernando Cathedral.
Just inside were the remains of a few Alamo heroes.

Inside the beautiful building:

The outside:

It was a beautiful sight to see. It just made me so sad to see the people come in, pay money, light a candle, and pray to Mary. To them, it's just a ritual for the most part, something they have to do. I think San Antonio needs church planters!

San Antonio, Day 1

2011-04-18T21:12:00.015-05:00

I have been so excited about this trip! This is our first time to go away without our boys. And with little Eva coming, it will be a while before we can do it again. It has really meant a lot to me, just in the planning stages. :)

We got up at 2 am, and headed to Nashville at 3. We've been at Mom and Dad's for a couple days, so that is where the boys are. We parked and waited for the shuttle to take us into the airport. We got our tickets printed and headed to security. I thought I would have to opt out of the body scan because of the pregnancy, but they say it is safe, so I did it. After I went through, they held me for a minute though because my scan wasn't clear. The lady had to pat me down anyway. :) I had left my necklace on, and she said that was probably why. Then any time they do a pat-down, you get this "hand test." So, a man took me aside, and took a little wet wipe thing and wiped it on my palms. It was to check for explosives! Wow! Of course, it took all of 1 minute to take care of these things, but I thought it was hillarious! AND, our laptop was in the suitcase. They had to take it out and re-scan my bag. Sigh. I didn't even know it was supposed to come out. There weren't any signs or directions about it. Live and learn.

I was getting so nervous waiting for our flight. This being my first time, being nervous and pregnant, we knew I should eat breakfast. :) So, we ate at Wendy's, and then had a good 45 mins. before we boarded. The whole experience was so fun for me. Take-off took me by surprise! Jamin had told me it really goes when it goes, and he wasn't kidding. But as it was going up for so long, and banking, it kind of made me light-headed. It wasn't really a big deal but I was glad to get on the ground. I took pictures, but I think I was so tense, I didn't enjoy it to the fullest. :) The first flight was only 35 mins. to Atlanta. I think we were only at maximum altitude for about 5 mins. :) Very fast!

The next flight was a lot more fun for me! We had just at an hour to get our next plane. Atlanta's airport is HUGE! We had to get on a train to take us to our concourse. Unbelievable! So many people, going so many directions. I enjoyed this flight way better. :) It was almost two hours, and the flight attendants served drinks. Jamin and I played cards for a little while, and I dozed. It was a completely full flight, and we were on the very last row. It took a long time to get off. :)

We thought our hotel had a shuttle, but we didn't see it. We called the hotel adn they said they didn't have one of their own, but they recommended a few. But the cheaper of the few was almost $40! So we waited for the bus, which cost us $2.20. :) Good for us! The driver was very helpful and told us she knew exactly where we needed to go, so we didn't have to signal to get off, she just stopped and said, "That's your hotel, right there." We liked her.

Our cute room:

We ordered pizza. By this time it was 12:30 central, 1:30 to us... we were starving and tired. So we ate pizza by 2, and took a nap! At 4:30 we headed out to explore the riverwalk. It was SO beautiful!

A little off the riverwalk stands the Alamo. Since we were there, we decided to look through. It's free, but we got there about 30 mins before it closed. We're going back, but here is a preview of it. Inside the main building, it is a shrine. You are not allowed to take pictures or video, and men are asked to remove their hats. You can't touch anything. There are a lot of pictures and plaques of the men who died. There was a painting of Davy Crockett, and one of his rifles. (He doesn't look anything like Fess Parker.)

The grounds are beautiful! Check out this huge cactus! Ouch!

On to the Tower of Americas... by this time I was getting a little tired of walking. But we were already over halfway there, so on we went.

At the top. It was open-air and super windy! It felt nice though, a few degrees cooler.

The admission into the tower included a 4-D IMAX show. It was so cool! We sat in non-moving seats because of little Eva. It's a good thing we did, because the show included a football game, and bull riding... yeah, a little rough! Don't we look nice? I seriously considered stealing these:

Outside the tower, there were tons of fountains. Beautiful! We spent some time just looking at them, enjoying being together. :)

We finally headed back to our hotel, exhausted. We stopped at a few shops, and grabbed a cheap supper at McDonald's. We were both SO worn out, we kind of limped back to our room. It was about an hour from the time we got our supper. We've been awake about 22 hours now, except for our nap! :)

Surprise Baby Shower

2011-04-11T13:37:00.004-05:00

I am in a home school group. I'm not sure exactly why since Jackson is only 3. :) But I love the moms and have come to just enjoy the friendship that comes with it. So, I have been on lots of activities, saved Box Tops, and participated in fund raisers to enjoy that friendship. Last week, we had a Moms' Night. We're always trying to talk with a million kids running around, spilling drinks, needing to go potty, etc. So we try to have a night just for us every once in a while. I hosted it in my home this time and it was so much fun! The moms gave me a surprise shower! I was so excited. It really made me feel special! A few favorites:

Jamin and the boys had escaped to the preacher's house to hide out. :) When they got home, Jackson almost immediately fell asleep on our bed. It was just so adorable, I had to take a picture. :)

Love his mouth hanging open. :)

What to Do on a Rainy Day

2011-04-11T13:27:00.000-05:00

Head for the tub!!!!

My Heart

2011-04-05T20:42:00.001-05:00

I was recently given the privilege of teaching in our monthly ladies' meeting. A subject immediately came to mind since it has been my focus all of this year. The Lord kept confirming the direction.

I have been saved since I was very young and raised in a Christian home. I was home schooled, then attended a Bible college. I married before graduation so I was always very sheltered. I did all the "right" things, made all the "right" decisions. And that is the way God means for it to be.

But because my "outside" was formed very young, some decisions I never had to make. Not once in my life have I got up on a Sunday morning and wondered if I would go to church or not, or a Wednesday. I never questioned if I should join the choir, or attend special events. But in all the hustle and bustle of ministry, sometimes I would just go through the motions and leave my heart out. I mean, I'm the assistant pastor's wife, people expect things of me. But that is the wrong attitude.

Deuteronomy 28:47-48 says, "Because thou servedst not the Lord thy God with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart, for the abundance of all things; therefore shalt thou serve thine enemies which the Lord shall send against thee, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of all things: and he shall put a yoke of iron upon thy neck, until he have destroyed thee."

When I don't serve the Lord from my heart, I experience hunger, thirst, nakedness and want of all things… in a spiritual way. When I am not happy, I know I'm not serving the Lord, I'm serving something else because His yoke is easy and His burden light.

It's so easy to just go through the motions because it's your "job" to teach a Sunday School class, or go on visitation, or come to choir practice. And there will be many days when we don't feel like doing it, but we should anyway. That just shouldn't be the norm. "And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily as to the Lord, and not unto men." It should be for the Lord and nothing else. Isn't He worth it? Don't I owe Him?

It's been said that this is a basic of life, and it is. It's very basic. But even more, it is essential. If I can't learn to serve God from the heart, keeping my eyes on Him, then I'll always fail. If I have my eyes on others, I will always be miserable because I cannot please everybody. But I can please Him. He says in Psalm 147:11, "The Lord taketh pleasure in them that fear him…" I can't please people, but I can please God. I think that's amazing!

You would think that with my childhood days, this would come naturally for me, but I'm in the thick of learning right now. I'm having to learn it because I get discouraged so easily, feeling jealous over others' talents, worrying about what people expect of me, trying to be the best and be noticed. It's simpler just to look to the Lord and serve Him with all my heart. His yoke is easy and His burden is light!

Time for a Trim

2011-04-04T12:01:00.000-05:00

Just because haircut day can be hilarious!!

Many hands...

2011-04-04T11:56:00.002-05:00

"Many hands make light work"

... so they say...

I've often wondered who "they" are.

Almost there...

2011-03-31T19:39:00.003-05:00

It must be a man-thing... sometimes the dirty clothes are touching the clothes hamper... just a little farther and it would be there.

The books get piled in many places in the bedroom, instead of in the neat little pile beside the bed.

The new roll of toilet paper gets neatly perched on top of the holder.

I made a neat little fabric basket on our dresser for Jamin's pocket knife, wallet and change to go... but those items are usually on the piano, buffet or shelf.

So, I said to Jackson, "Take these toys to your room."

He comes by it honestly.

Jackson the Builder & Co.

2011-03-31T19:31:00.004-05:00

Cover It!

2011-03-31T19:26:00.002-05:00

I've always wondered about slipcovers... they use them in decorating magazines all the time. We needed one. Someone gave us a terrific couch and recliner, but the colors were a little too much for the look I wanted...

soooo....

we bought slipcovers! Tada!! I think they look fabulous!

My Daughter-to-Come

2011-03-16T08:50:00.005-05:00

Friday was a wonderful day for me... the BIG ultrasound! Having two precious boys already, I really wanted a girl. It's not that I didn't want a boy, it was just a deep desire to have a girl, ever since I was very young.

Thursday night, I barely slept. I was already feeling so guilty about being disappointed with another boy. Like I said, of course I would have been happy with a boy. But I knew there would be a little disappointment for a few days. So I couldn't sleep. I also woke up at about 6am, instead of 7:30 with the alarm.

We dropped off the boys with our deacon and his wife (the boys' OH grandparents), and went to the appointment.

It seemed to take forever in the waiting room. They were a little behind schedule. When we finally got back to the ultrasound room, I told the technician about my fears. I just felt like I needed to confess I guess. I was visibly upset. Part-way through the ultrasound, she said, "I feel your heart! You are nervous!"

We saw the little head, and she took a few measurements. Then she went to the legs. Jamin said, "Is that the legs?" She said, "Her legs."

I said, "It's a girl?!"

"It's a girl," she said.

I just had to ask her if she was sure, and she said they're not allowed to say 100%, but she could see what she needed to see. I started crying, I was so happy!! She finished the exam and took us back to the waiting room to wait for the doctor to see us.

I called Mom really fast to let her know. I said, "It's a girl!" She said, "It is?!" She was in Lowe's with Becky, and they both started crying. I started a fresh stream of tears. Like I said, I was in the waiting room and all the other pregnant ladies were staring at me. I told Mom I would call her later because neither of us could talk anyway.

After the appointment, we called and texted other people to let them know. For those of you who don't know, this is my mother's 8th grandchild, and the 1st girl. After almost 12 years, there will be a girl in the Snow family!

I had saved up some money so we could shop, and shop we did!!

When I called Mom back, Becky wanted to talk to me. She told me about a sermon her pastor had preached a few weeks ago, about faith. She told me how that she wanted a little girl, and Kristan had wanted one, and that I wanted one, too. She told me she was trying to live her faith, and she had prayed that God would give me the desires of "her" heart! That was so precious to me! God answered her prayer in my favor!

My fb announcement picture:

A special day together!! By the way, Jamin is just as excited as I am, but he didn't cry! ;)

Thrift store finds:
Once Upon a Child finds:

I bought some little bows at WalMart last night. Jackson wanted me to try it out on him and take a picture!

Bought at WalMart last night:

Other buys:

We have some "house" work to do. We are going to build a room on our carport and move Jamin's study in there, then the baby will have his old study. It is a cute, very small room, perfect for a baby girl.

We are going to name our daughter Eva Joy. Eva pronounced Eev-uh. I have loved the name "Eve" forever, but it's really hard to place it with a middle name, so we improvised. I love her name. I love to name them early. Then their little lives take shape, and find a quicker place in the family.

The day after the ultrasound, I made this quilt top for her room. I will make a matching bedskirt in the next couple of weeks. I have BIG PINK plans for this nursery!

These are the sheers for her window, and the paint swatch we will use!!

I did this quilt when I was pregnant with Jackson, just to pass the time. It was a kit, and I had it quilted last year. It's beautiful!! I'm sure it will match in Eva's room! I'm hoping to get a comfy chair for nursing, that I can drape this quilt over!

I'm so thankful for little Eva Joy. I feel like my greatest dreams have all come true. As a child, I dreamed of marrying a preacher and having several kids. I dreamed of a cute little house, the picket fence, shady trees to sip lemonade under. I think I always thought I wasn't good enough, that for some reason God would never be that good to me! But He uses ordinary people despite our failures. And now I'm realizing that those desires came from Him anyway! I'm living my dream!

Purse!

2011-03-09T10:23:00.003-05:00

My spring bag!
I recently sold a purse, so I decided while I had the sewing machine out, I would just make one for myself. So, I did! I wanted a "spring"y one. :) I also made one for Alicia's wheelchair. She really can't carry a purse and "roll" at the same time. So I made a wheelchair purse for her. I haven't got a picture yet, but it's pretty cute... just take my word for it.

Couples Retreat

2011-03-09T10:09:00.003-05:00

Last Friday and Saturday, we were able to go to the couples' retreat "Back to the Basics," hosted by Liberty Baptist in Chillicothie. It was at a lodge inside Shawnee State Park, so pretty. We drove both days, since it's close to home, and we couldn't afford it anyway. The special speakers were so good! We were both so encouraged!

Preacher and Alicia

Dave and Amie

The lodge had a huge lobby with big, comfy couches and fireplaces. It was fun just to relax between sessions.

I really wanted to go just for fun. I feel like we have a great marriage. I believe we had close-to-perfect examples all our lives, so we already had a lot of the "kinks" knocked out before we even got married. I kind of thought I didn't need to learn anything. Pretty dumb, huh?

I learned once again, how important we are to each other. I learned, as a wife, I really can make or break my husband. He can follow the Lord and be a "great" man of God even without my cooperation, but it's not as likely. He needs me. I am his greatest critic, greatest encourager, greatest supporter... it just depends on which role I choose to use. I was greatly challenged!

I love my husband so much. I know how hard it must be to be married to me! I thank God for him. He completes me. He loves me. He is patient with me.

It was such a good retreat, just to re-focus, and remember the importance of marriage!

All Boy

2011-02-28T12:24:00.002-05:00

Jackson is sporting his "fireman" clothes. At least, in his mind, that's what he is:

My neighbor and friend gave me this sweet little suit for Timothy. He has worn it a few times. I think it makes him look even more adorable:

17-Week Belly

2011-02-28T12:20:00.002-05:00

A baby bump picture at 17 weeks! And I'm looking very tired, I might add. :)

February Life

2011-02-26T13:28:00.004-05:00

I have not abandoned my blog. :) Yeah right! you may say! :) Well, there will be no catching up, just moving on.

Life is good. God is even better! We are so blessed. Since Jamin went full-time at the church, our faith has been stretched until it seems it would snap! But God knows best, and I'm praying that I am learning as I go. I truly want to serve God with all my heart, and I'm glad we now live closer to the church and Jamin is able to put a lot of time into the ministry.

I am 18 weeks along in my pregnancy. We find out in two weeks wether it's pink or blue!! We are planning and ready to build a room onto our carport to make a little more room for our growing family.

Jackson is almost potty-trained, praise the Lord!! It's already saving us so much money, not buying diapers for two. He is SO full of spirit and life, almost too much some days. We're learning how to discipline. As he learns more, our tactics have to change a little. But he can be absolutely the sweetest boy on the planet.

Timothy is into EVERYTHING! He is definitely my busy one. He is loud and makes his presence known. He often tells me "no." He scrunches up his face a lot. He can identify most of his body parts. He can say a LOT of words. One of his newest words is "yogurt." He says it with his tongue... it's so cute!

I love being a Mommy. Some days I could absolutely go into hiding. The work never ends. I mean, when is the house clean, how long before there is something out of place again, or dirty dishes in the sink? Um... like five seconds! But I'm learning to deal with it. It's more important to raise my children and build my home, instead of keep my house. Life is a learning experience.

I have to say my newest hobby is playing the piano. I made the New Year's resolution for 2010 to play a real offertory every Sunday morning. It was a huge goal for scared me, but the Lord helped me greatly. I think I only missed about three Sundays the whole year. So now, a year later, I have some I can just pull out without learning a new one every week. I just ordered some new arrangement books last week with my birthday money. I can't wait to get them in the mail!

All for now, hoping this post will jump-start my blogging again... complete with pictures! Thanks for stopping by!

Library Day

2010-11-25T14:36:00.002-05:00

We've been going to the library for story time lately. We go almost every week. Jackson is just now starting to love to sit through the story and we've made a lot of friends. A couple weeks ago, our home school group dressed up like Indians and pilgrims for story time. It was sweet. :) and Jackson made a little turkey for his project.

Gatlinburg for Two

2010-11-05T17:16:00.008-05:00

Last week, while in Tennessee, Mom agreed to watch the boys so Jamin and I could have an all-day date! I was so excited! Dates have been few and far between this year it seems, so a whole day without strollers sounded so good to me.

We started with lunch at Red Lobster! Yum! Who doesn't love their garlic biscuits? Then we decided to ride the Gatlinburg Sky Lift. It was fun! I had never ridden before and I thought I might be a little scared, but I wasn't. I enjoyed it. It was a little strange to go across the road though.

At the top:

Going back down:

Ice cream!

We also wanted to take a short hike, since that's what we've been into lately. :) We hiked Laurel Falls. It was paved and crowded. There were lots of signs about sharp drop-offs and those who have died from it! Yikes! And there were signs about bears. Apparently bears are very active in that area. The waterfall:

It was a great, exhausting day! I am so thankful for my husband. Being in the ministry, you hear a lot of others' homes and marriages, and I'm so thankful for a peaceful home. All the glory belongs to the Lord. He has been so good to us. Sometimes life gets busy and it seems we can't seem to spend enough time together. So I was thankful for this day.

On the way back down, we did some shopping and I bought some cute place mats that have inspired the decor I will now work on for my kitchen! I'll post that all later. Thanks for stopping by! :)

TRAIN!

2010-10-19T09:42:00.006-05:00

Our first official trip as part of the Freedom Homeschool Group was last Thursday. It was a fun train ride! We loved it. There were about 50 in our group, and we had a blast!

Jackson's excited face!

Jackson's buddy, Hope

A little village we stopped at... I forgot the name of it

A Swinging Song

2010-10-19T09:35:00.002-05:00

Autumn Evenings

2010-10-19T09:16:00.002-05:00

"Can I play in the brown dirt?" Jackson asks. Of course he can. And they'll both wear it until bath time.

Just Sweethearts

2010-10-19T09:14:00.002-05:00

A Family Visit :)

2010-10-19T08:48:00.004-05:00

Mom and Dad came for a quick visit almost a month ago now. It was very fast. It seems like it always is. Never enough time to visit and talk. Never enough time to sit and laugh together. Never enough time to shop with Mom. ;)

But we did make time for a hike.

... and a picknic at the lake

We cherish every moment of "grandparent" time... since we don't get very much. It was a fun, short visit!

... said Jackson

2010-09-23T18:09:00.002-05:00

At supper one day:

Jackson: We saw the ugly thing at Lowe's. It was scary. Do we like ugly things, Mama?

Me: Um... not if they're scary.

---------
Sitting down to read our Bible story book, Jackson was holding another story book.

Jackson: I'll show you Noah.

Me: Ok

Jackson: Noah's not in here, Sweetie.

---------
At lunch

Jackson: Mommy, I'm a hebicoptah.

Me: Helicopters finish all their food.

Jackson: Hebicoptahs don't have mouths!

September Sky

2010-09-21T11:05:00.003-05:00

We spent the evening outside last night. It was beautiful. I'm so glad it's cooling off. Jackson is loving the leaves! He wants more, and we assured him that we will have PLENTY of leaves off our many large trees. :)

Take a Hike!

2010-09-06T17:48:00.004-05:00

Last Friday, Jamin unexpectedly got the day off! So, we decided to make a family day of it! He had taken a hike a couple years ago with our pastor before we moved here. So, we decided to try it out. We had a backpack carrier for the baby (that I found at a thrift store for $8!), and we thought Jackson would be able to walk for a while. We bought some bottled water, packed a picnic and off we went!

The carrier was actually pretty comfortable. But with Timothy, the pack itself, and our waters and camera, it was probably about 24 or 25 pounds. I carried him for the first little bit. The trail itself was a little overgrown. At times I was a little claustrophobic, worried about "critters" just waiting for someone to come along so they could touch me! Ick! But, nothing like that happened, thankfully! J

We crossed the highway, then pretty soon crossed the creek. At that time, I gladly handed my heavy pack over to Jamin. We went on. Jamin said, "It seems like we should be going up by now." We didn't.

In a little while, he said, "I just didn't think it was this far." By this time, Jackson was finished walking. He wouldn't admit to being tired, but he was almost crying. He said his legs hurt. Pretty soon, we did start going up. Really up. Steeply up. UP! We started seriously questioning our sanity, as to why we brought our two really small children on a hike! We were so glad we brought water!

I had been carrying Jackson a lot until this point. Jamin actually put him on his shoulders for part of the time, even though he already had the pack. We had to stop and rest in the middle of UP.

Timothy fell asleep when we were almost to the top. He was so cute! His little arms hanging, his little head bobbing. When we reached the top, we sat the pack down and he kept sleeping until we were about 20 minutes back down the trail!

After UP, it leveled out. It really turned into a nice hike. I'm glad it was challenging. There was a pretty view at the top. Nothing like the mountains where we grew up, but beautiful!

Buzzardsroost Lookout

Down was a lot easier. Although the steep part of DOWN hurt almost as much as UP. J We rested on the bridge when we were almost to the end of the trail.

At this point, the camera died. No pictures of our fun picnic, sitting on a quilt in the shade by the lake. It was such a sweet and precious family day. Those are my favorite kind of days. I think we spent around $3.00 for drinks. Not bad for all those memories, huh?

We finished off our family day with a pizza and a movie.

And the next day, we were sore. J

So, what did we do the next Friday he had off? We went for a hike! J It's becoming a fun hobby for us! And we went for one today too... so...

Take a hike!

What a Sucker!

2010-08-23T19:25:00.002-05:00

Room-by-Room ~ Boys' Room

2010-08-23T19:11:00.004-05:00

I love my boys' room!! It is finished! Yea! I worked on a lot of projects for this room long before we ever moved.

I just added the polka dots on the wall a couple weeks ago. They really pulled everything together and blended it all in.

After taking this picture, I realized I really need a shelf. There is too much open wall space. :)
This shelf was given to us, after being bought dirt cheap. It is actually two shelves stacked. They were blue, green, red and yellow. I finally painted them and we added the letters, bought at Hobby Lobby, the most awesome store on the planet!

I made these valances (with Hobby Lobby fabric), and used a big panel to make the shades. They tie up...

...or come down to block lots of light at naptime. :)
My boys love their room, and for the most part, it is well-organized so that a quick daily pick-up takes care of the mess. :) Thanks for looking!

Room-by-Room ~ Master Bedroom

2010-08-23T18:44:00.005-05:00

Welcome to a tour of my bedroom. It is finished, and so I wanted to share. :) I wanted to post "before" pictures, but there really wasn't much to them. The walls were cream-colored and needed to be patched, the trim was dark, dark wood, and the floors needed work. Now...

tada!
We've had our bedroom furniture since we got married. It was the only thing we bought brand new, and we totally used wedding money to pay for it.

I would like to replace the closet doors someday, and trim it in. That would help. :) I found the mirrored tiles at IKEA for $5! It really brightened up the room.
My tiny side of the bed. I just need enough room for a lamp and a few books.
I got this light fixture at Grandview Weekend Outlet for $10! It was bright gold, so I spray-painted it black to match my curtain rods. I found the curtain rods at Grandview for $2.99! I love them. And the valances were on clearance at Walmart for $5.00! I love the finished look!
The chair we re-finished, and re-upholstered. It's crammed in, but there's nowhere else for it to go. :) I've also had those sheers since we've been married, and the pillows.
A collection of my favorite romantic pictures of us. ;)

I've also had the bedding since we've been married. I think I've only added a few pillows through these six years. We bought the wall art at Walmart a few months ago. It matches perfect!

I just had to get a good picture with the floors. They turned out so nice after we re-stained and polyurethaned them. :)

And there is the finished product! I love our bedroom. I think the colors are so calm and peaceful, and beautiful. I wanted this room to be a place to come and relax at the end of the day. And as of now, it is still totally uncluttered. Just last week, I put some plastic totes of fabric under the bed to store, but even the closet is clean. I'll enjoy it for now. :)

2010-08-23T18:44:00.001-05:00

New Quilts

2010-08-23T18:38:00.003-05:00

The mood to quilt has hit me HARD this last month... so I have been busy!

This was a sampler quilting kit I had. I pieced together a lap version for our church deacon, who is starting cancer treatments in a few weeks.

This is a baby quilt. :) I found a neat pattern to make these crazy, off-set blocks. I really liked how it turned out!

I love, love, LOVE this one. i found an easier way to make this star block, and it made it go faster. It's so fun. I love white with pastels or brights... definitely my favorite color combination.

I'm also working on another baby quilt for a friend, a huge applique project for a Christmas gift, and repairing Timothy's baby quilt. There just aren't enough hours in the day to sew...

Giving It a Try

2010-08-23T18:34:00.001-05:00

I've discovered the down-side of parenting: potty training! We hit it hard for a little bit, but he's not ready. He still wants to go sometimes, mainly nap time and bed time. ;) But until he learns, it's pretty cute!

Happy 30th, Jamin!!

2010-07-31T14:27:00.002-05:00

Jamin's birthday was Wednesday. He turned 30! I tried to plan ahead for a great birthday. Well, it seems to never be the right week to be rolling in the dough. So I decided to go for a memory instead of a great gift! :) I took my sweet hubby golfing! He has only been a few times since we've been married, and he was really excited to go. No, it was not a surprise. I can hardly hold in a surprise like that!

So now... I have golfing fever. We actually went to the driving range this morning to see if I could actually drive the ball. Jamin is so sweet. He is saving his birthday money to help buy me my own set of clubs. ;) It was a great day. I'm so thankful for my wonderful husband. I don't deserve him!

Happy Birthday, Timothy!

2010-07-31T14:19:00.002-05:00

July 23rd was Timothy's birthday! I cannot believe it has been a year! He has been such a good and precious baby... not perfect, but close! :) He is walking now. He can make it across the room. He can say, "Mama, Dada, thank you, ball," and lots of little blubbers. He quints his eyes when he laughs, and throws his little head back. We are so blessed with him in our lives!

We had a little party to celebrate!!

My cake experiment:

He cried all through "Happy Birthday" and didn't want to eat any cake. :)

But he loves his new swing! :)

We were outside after the "Happy Birthday" song disaster, and Jackson went in for a minute. He came out dragging Timothy's new swing. He said, "I found it. It was wrapped up." :)

Timothy's Hair Cut

2010-07-22T15:39:00.001-05:00

Big boy!

Back to June :)

2010-07-22T14:58:00.005-05:00

Well, since I am WAY behind on blogging, I'll just do a little at a time. :) The first Sunday of June was Friend Day in our church. Jeanene and her family came to take part in that. They stayed in our house, and we had so much fun!

Jarrod with Jamin, getting some honey. :)

The next week, we ALL went to our Boyer parents' house. It was a great week of just hanging around and making memories together.

Jordan with Granny Umberger

Taking Jackson for a ride late one night.

Jordan's morning look ;)

Eating lunch out

At Grayson Highlands National Park. We spent the day there, hiking and looking at the mountains and streams! :)

They hiked all the way down! Two little peas in a pod. :)

The best in-laws in the world!

Playing in the creek

Jackson with Grammy and Pawpaw

Chad and Jada

On Saturday, all the family got together on the Umberger side. I met a few of the cousins I have never met. Everyone was there except one wife and kids. It was a fun day.

Petting Pawpaw's oxen :)

"The picture" of the grandkids... all in the same spot as 10 or so years before.

Jackson and Jordan playing

Uncle Dale and Timothy. Uncle Dale loves to play with the kids... and they love him!

Our whole family.

We were so blessed to have such a wonderful week. We have a great family and we thank God for them!

Boy Update

2010-05-26T11:11:00.002-05:00

And I couldn't blog without posting a good old-fashioned update on the boys! They are growing SO fast! Jackson is getting so grown-up, talking endlessly.

Helping Daddy work!

My sweet Timothy. He is 10 months now! Unbelievable! He is fast, getting into everything! And he eats everything!

He always gets this wild look after a bath! I think it's priceless!
Every day, my patience is tested! I am reminded of how patient God must be with me every day!

Ladies' Banquet 2010

2010-05-26T10:53:00.003-05:00

Our ladies' banquet this year was WONDERFUL!! We rented a beautiful banquet hall, that was decorated for us. It turned out so nice and saved us so much work! We were completely filled to capacity. We were prepared for 75, and ended up with 77 or 79 ladies.

Our speakers were two pastor's wives from the area, and they both did a tremendous job, even the songs flowed together to make a great evening. The Lord really spoke to my heart! I'm so thankful for the wonderful time we had!

Our tables!

Alicia, reading a hilarious story about women!

Melanie, giving a testimony about what is beautiful about her pastor's wife, Cassie Brown.

Kay, giving a testimony about her pastor's wife, Susie Montgomery.

Susie Montgomery, speaking to us. What a great lesson she had for us! She taught about how we should be grateful for those who had invested in our lives, and how we should do the same for others, loving them unconditionally.

Okay! Then, the fun started. During all the closing statements and prayer, cell phones were going off everywhere. There was a huge storm coming in, and a tornado warning in the area. We actually found out later, that a twister had touched down just a few miles from where we were! The Lord kept us safe! So.... many ladies started home and had no problem. But many went home and got stranded in people's driveways until 1 am! Flash floods closed all three roads leading back into West Union. Around 11:30 or 12:00, we decided to check into a motel! So there were seven of us in adjoining rooms. What a wild evening! To top it off, they did not have any ground-floor rooms, or an elevator!! OR clean stairwells. They had been remodeling and there was drywall dust all over the stairways. We offered to carry Alicia up, but she didn't trust us, I guess. :)

Crazy, crazy!! So, did you miss our ladies' banquet this year? Well, you REALLY missed it!! :)

Creation Museum 2010

2010-05-26T10:12:00.004-05:00

We were invited to go to the Creation Museum last week with Alicia's home school group. These ladies are all library moms, which I have recently started to wade into. They are a great group of people. We were excited to go. Jamin didn't have to work, so off we went!!

Timothy was a little nervous around this cute fuzzy cow. :)

Jackson was pretty brave and wanted to pet the goat!

Still sweethearts!

Our family! Precious times!

Me and my sweet Timothy

Two boys!
We had a great day. We were absolutely exhausted. We left around 4:00. It was a gorgeous day! We all packed picnics lunches, and just had a terrific time!

Then, we went by Lowe's and bought a mirror and vanity light! Yea! I will have to post bathroom pictures soon. It is SO pretty!!

My "finished" wall

2010-05-12T15:10:00.007-05:00

Life without the internet has taken its toll on me. Actually, I'm kind of enjoying the freedom from it, but I'm sad not to cut up on facebook and take expert care of my blog. (Who am I kidding? I was only blogging once a week! :) But, here I am for an update.

We have been in our new house for a little over a month now. Things are unpacked and in place for the most part. Our carport is loaded down with stuff though. I still need to go through it all. We had a giant yard sale and got rid of a lot of our "junk." It's nice to have that out of the way. I am going to blog about each room of my house as I get it finished. But there just isn't too much of it that is truly "finished." But I will post one picture! This is my piano wall in the living room. That wall is "finished." (Except for crown molding and new baskets for all my music, and baseboards... see nothing is ever "finished.") I guess I am "satisfied" with this wall at this point. :)

Actually, I think it's gorgeous. I love to turn the lamps on and just look at it. :)

Jackson helping Daddy "mow." :) He LOVES to help Daddy!

(Dear grandparents... the blades aren't on)

We're making a cute little garden spot in our backyard. We're condensing some of our multiple flowers and shrubs into this one little section. We put our hammock, and Jamin used the timbers from our 50 flower beds to make a small split rail fence. We also transplanted some Rose of Sharon bushes to make a hedge for privacy from our neighbors. :) It's going to be so cute!

A recent family visit!! :)

And then, there are boys....

And that's life in May! :) Thanks for stopping by! Please let me know you were here!

If you have a bad experience...

2010-04-21T20:44:00.002-05:00

you may as well blog about it!

On the way home from our Tennessee trip:

Yep, we had a flat tire. A major flat tire. It was almost a blowout. Thank the Lord traffic wasn't heavy. A safety person stopped almost right away, and we were all safe. :)

Ladies' Tea

2010-04-21T20:18:00.004-05:00

Jamin and I were able to go to the Bible Conference at Temple Baptist in Powell this year! I was so excited to go! We were there Monday night for the alumni banquet and the evening service. Then Tuesday afternoon, there was a ladies' tea. It was so much fun!! I really enjoyed it. I got to see some college friends. And Mrs. Schaap was there and she was the special speaker. The Lord really convicted me about how He loves me unconditionally and how we should love others unconditionally. She said if we store up enough of God's love, we can never stay unhappy. It was a wonderful time!

Mrs. Sexton welcoming everyone to the tea.

My sweet friend from college, Ruth. Ruth and I traveled together and sang for the college one summer. She is such a sweet friend.

Alicia, and Sue (our deacon's wife)

The beautiful centerpiece (a bad picture of it :)

Yummy food. It was all so pretty. And the orchid was edible. I tasted it. It was kind of like lettuce... not much to it. :)

Yullie Stancil leading a few choruses

Mrs. Schaap teaching us

Alicia and I. I thank God for my great friend!

Angie Tomlinson and I. Angie taught me to proofread during the short time I worked for the church. And she and her husband traveled all summer when I was with the college trio.

Mrs. Schaap and I. I'm so thankful I was able to cross paths with her.

It was such a great time. I just love getting together with God's people.

Project "Love Our Home" Post #8

2010-04-12T12:10:00.006-05:00

Long time, no blog.

We have moved, so we have no internet. :) I am missing it terribly. But, we moved!! :) Yea! I have a few pictures. It has all been a whirlwind. Our last inspection went well, and everything was signed off as "complete."

Friday, April 2, we sanded the floors. It was a tough job. I actually made a run to Lowe's (just me and Timothy) to get more sanding discs and polyurethane. When I got to the checkout, my debit card wouldn't work. It was so humiliating. We had money, we knew. So I called Jamin, and we eventually came up with a plan. Long story short, I drove to the next town, withdrew cash and headed back to Lowe's, all the while, toting my heavy son. I bought myself a beautiful hanging pot of snapdragons for all my trouble. It took ALL afternoon!

The floors were in bad shape, but we only had so long to get them finished to where we could walk on them. So, we decided to work on them as we can, and we moved in. I know, I know, we'll never do it if we move in. But you can only pay to live in two places for so long.

That night, we stayed and worked until about 3 am. We put Jackson in the pack-n-play, and Timothy went down in the bathtub with some quilts. They slept so soundly through all the sanding. We chewed gum, drank caffeine, and tried to be nice to each other. The days of staying up all night are SO over for us! :)

We moved Tuesday, April 6th. Mom drove up to help, and help she did! She practically cleaned the whole house as we moved everything out of it. And Bro. Jimmy and Jamin did all the carrying. I hate moving! (ten thousand exclamation points!) But, it is so worth it. :)

Now, this picture is totally disgusting!! But, I think it is a funny story! Jamin packed a few things into the very back of the truck that had been outside. Some tools, buckets, stuff like that. A mouse came flying out of the bucket and ran into the back of the truck, who knows where. So, there was no way to get it out. When we started unloading everything, I kept a very sharp eye out for it. When there were just a few boxes and the piano left, I saw it in there!! Eek!! So, when they were ready, Jamin and Bro. Jimmy ran him out of his hiding spot. Jamin got his foot on it, and Bro. Jimmy stomped and squished him! Yuck! But I'm so glad he didn't get into my house!!!
The bees also made it safely in to the backyard. And I think they are thrilled with all the beautiful trees, flowers and shrubs we inherited. :)

So, now we're getting all set up. Here are just a few pictures of the rooms that are almost together:

I love this boys' room! There are still some things to be done. But I love seeing the curtains up, and all the little things I've collected and made for their room! :)
So, I guess we're there. We've "loved our home." It's still in need of a lot of love and a lot of work. But we're moved in. I'm so glad we're moved and most of the hard work is over. It has been a great adventure. Thank you to all of you who have made suggestions, given encouragement, and just stopped by to check in. It really does encourage and inspire me! I'll be posting lots more as I decorate... the fun part starts now! :)

Sleeping...

2010-03-30T14:59:00.002-05:00

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

2010-03-30T14:50:00.002-05:00

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.

"Train them up..."

2010-03-27T20:12:00.003-05:00

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.

Project "Love Our Home" Post #7

2010-03-26T19:46:00.010-05:00

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!

Sympathy, Please!

2010-03-20T16:29:00.003-05:00

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!

Project "Love Our Home" Post #6

2010-03-19T18:25:00.010-05:00

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! :)

Project "Love Our Home" Post #5

2010-03-12T19:08:00.006-05:00

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!

My Sweet Timothy ~ 7 Months

2010-03-06T21:39:00.002-05:00

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!

Andy Griffith Syndrome

2010-03-06T12:55:00.000-05:00

If you are a fan like we are, you need no explanation!

Project "Love Our Home" Post #4

2010-03-06T12:31:00.006-05:00

We had a busy week of work, just the two of us. :) We worked some Monday. Then Jamin had other work to do Tuesday, so I stayed home. It was much needed, and the boys LOVED being home to just play... all day! :) Then Wednesday, we worked, and we stayed at the house until about Friday at 7:00pm. (We did go to church Wednesday night :) Talk about tired... and dirty! (Yes, the tub is in, but we are trying to get it caulked so we could only run the water "gently" so it didn't splash everywhere!)

The living room primed... we will see some RED in here in a few more days! :)

The kitchen where the awkward air conditioner used to be: it was a hole cut through the wall and the a/c unit was held up with plywood and stuff on the outside... eww...

The cabinets are getting ready for a makeover! Now the doors are all removed... the hardware is all removed and has been spray painted silver. It looks nice! :)

Now for the bathroom... SO much has been done in there. It's really coming together.

Bead board going in:

It's starting to look like a room!Time for some paint!!
Hello BLUE!! How bright you are! We are debating over this. It's supposed to be navy. Hopefully it got darker after we left! :) If not we will re-paint. ;)

Our bedroom finished. :) Beautiful! (When I say "finished," I mean the walls are finished. :) We still need to paint all the trim, and sand the floors, and put the baseboards up. Then we will be "finished.")

Timothy in a rare sweet moment. He is starting to get used to being there. He can be happy for more than 5 minutes now while not being held.

And that's our adventure for this week. We accomplished a LOT. :)

What we accomplished:

Getting walls in the bathroom
Installing bead board and painting the bathroom :)
Getting cabinet doors removed and hardware painted
Priming the living room
Getting a second coat of Kilz on the living room and kitchen ceilings
Getting the boys' room primed minus one wall (We discovered some mold, so Jamin took out 18" all along one wall in their room, and put new drywall back in. It has been patched now, but needs another layer before we can prime... oh the surprises!!)

I feel the need to leave out my "what we still need to do" section at this time. :) Thanks for stopping by!

Project "Love Our Home" Post #3

2010-02-27T20:51:00.004-05:00

We have done a lot of work this week! Some highlights:

Jamin's study painted! It looks great! It is a little bright in the picture. It's a little more "hunter" and a little less "grass." (Although the name of the color is "Fresh Green Grass.") :)

Our bedroom is painted. It is beautiful!

This is the kitchen ceiling being painted. The previous owners were smokers, enough said. So it now has a nice coat of Kilz. :)

Drywall going back into the bathroom. It's starting to look like a room again. :)
So much measuring!
Bathroom ceiling "before." It needs a coat of Kilz, a new light and new fan.

Jackson loves to "measure." He kept us smiling and light-hearted as he spouted off "3-5-9, 3-3-9."

After a long week of work, we accomplished:

Painting the study
Painting our bedroom (Now, it doesn't sounds like much painting happened, but if you had seen these walls... you would know why we were only able to finish two rooms. ;) It is amazing how good they look now!!!)
Painting all ceilings except the bathroom
Getting in the shower/tub, toilet and most of the drywall in the bathroom

The painted rooms still need:

The baseboards and trim painted
Closets painted
Floors sanded

Mom and Dad have been wonderful this week. Jamin and I have a hard time getting much done with two little kids in tow, so a big thanks to our parents! We probably wouldn't have done half this much without them here! All that work done... it's a good feeling!!

Just Sunday Pictures

2010-02-25T21:21:00.000-05:00

Sunday, February 21.

Project "Love Our Home" Post #2

2010-02-25T20:49:00.007-05:00

Mom and Dad have been with us since Sunday afternoon. Boy, have we put them to work!! The week started out slow with some sad delays and unexpected twists. But we have had a few pretty smooth days and that has done great things for our morale!

Mom tearing off old sunflower border:

Jackson "cleaning up" the sunflower border... he would pick up a piece and lay it in front of the broom to sweep up. So cute! :

The bathroom, on its way to being gutted:

New bathroom floor:

Floor in, toilet in, tub going in:

Mom patching:

Unbelievable holes!!!

Sometimes it gets worse before it gets better! (Psst! Don't give Dad a ball peen hammer!)
Now to fill MORE holes!

Finally!! priming!:

So far we have completed:

heat and air: finished! (that was contracted out and finished today)
priming walls in ONE room
kilz-ing the ceiling in one room
getting some drywall, floor, tub and toilet back into the bathroom
a LOT of patching

What we still have to do:

no one would read my blog for that long ;)

Project "Love Our Home" Post #1

2010-02-16T19:32:00.009-05:00

Today was the very first day to work on our new house! It is super cold and snowy right now, and the heat has been set on 40 in the house for a few months now. So it wasn't below freezing inside, but pretty close. We were there for just under two hours and we got SO cold. We took the boys and they both ended up with purplish-red hands and bright cheeks. I was cold, but when I touched them, they felt like ice to me... poor little guys. We finally put Jackson in the pac-n-play snuggled with a blanket. That helped. :) I carried Timothy around a lot and tried to pull nails at the same time.

(Jackson is watching "Cars" for those of you trying to see)

So, what did we accomplish? We ripped the stained, worn carpet out of the living room to make sure it had good hardwood underneath. We didn't need any $urprises later! ;) And... it does! Ta-da! It needs to be sanded down and polyurethaned, but so do the rest of the floors.

We also pulled all the nails and the ridiculous amount of sticky hooks from the walls, and the baseboards from the floors (just in the living room). We took down the curtains and curtain rods in the whole house.

In the scope of all the work that needs to be done, it wasn't much, but it was a start. Not too shabby considering the freezing temps and purplish-red boys. Stay tuned for LOTS of updates on our house. It will be so fun when we get to the "fun" part: paint. :)

The living room still needs...

the baseboard heaters ripped out
new baseboards (Dad is volunteering for that project ;)
walls patched, primed and painted (the "three p's" we'll be using all over the house)
painted ceiling
window and door trim painted
floor sanded
new furniture (I am being very ambitious and optimistic here!)

Getting a House

2010-02-16T08:54:00.008-05:00

We have been house-shopping since August 2008. We looked and looked. Then we went to the bank, and got a loan amount and approval. Then we looked some more. Then we had to re-qualify because it took longer than 30 days. Then our agent suggested a new lender. We tried there, qualified, and found a house we loved. But... there was a slight problem with the house and the lender would not give us the loan. So...

a friend of a friend suggested yet another lender. We checked there and got a 3% loan! By that time, God had changed our hearts about the house we loved. We no longer loved it! The low interest on this loan gave us a bigger price range, so we shopped there. There were some nicer homes, but they were at the top of our range. And one of them (that I loved) only had a tiny eat-in kitchen with a super-small table shoved up in the corner. There was no way to remedy that.... not enough room to eat at the table! (By the way, we didn't want to spend that much money anyway, but if we had, the house would have had to be perfect... with enough room to sit around the table.)

So, we kept looking. Then we found a little house we both loved for almost half of the small-kitchen house. We checked it out thoroughly, then made an offer! For the price, we could gradually fix it up with super low payments. But... our lender, the USDA saw several things they wanted repaired by contractors and placed in our loan. Some things we were fine with, but they wanted several small things done too... like painting every room, and replacing door knobs. Not that we wouldn't want these things done, but we just didn't want to put them in our loan. But there was no way around it. And even with several thousand dollars-worth of repairs, it's still 20,000 cheaper than the perfect, small-kitchen house. So...

We closed Friday, February 12th!! And the three-day waiting period is now over and...

WE ARE HOMEOWNERS!!

Jamin's boss made a bid for all the work, so Jamin will actually be doing the work (with me helping of course). ;) A contract has to be signed before we go in and work, so all the waiting has been driving me crazy! So... I've been working on projects to go in the house. :) Here are a few:

Jamin got this chair for free somewhere. It had potential. Before:

After: it's going on my side of the bed to hold a stack of books. :)

Before:
After: to go above the boys' beds in their new room. :)

There's no "before" for this one. I made two of these for the boys' beds.

We are so thankful, and so excited! It is always scary making a big change, "signing your life away," and all that goes with buying a house. But we feel we have prayed, and waited, and received the perfect house from God. It is 5 minutes away from our church! We currently drive 30 minutes. We really want to make sure we use it for God's glory... after all, He gave it to us!

There will be lots of pictures to come of the house. We are going there today! I need to measure windows for curtains. There's not really much we can do there today, but we just need to go to "our" house. :)

A Monday Memory

2010-02-15T15:39:00.005-05:00

Today's memory: our engagement :)

This was about two weeks before we got engaged...

The day we got engaged... see the beautiful red roses, my gorgeous diamond, and our bright smiles! :)

Engagement pictures:

Engaged December 23, 2003

My baby

2010-02-13T15:22:00.002-05:00

Trying to crawl: unsuccessful as of yet. Well... does backwards count?

Trying to steal my heart, melt it, and win my love: he has been VERY successful!

Snow fun!!

2010-02-13T15:16:00.001-05:00

Ready or not... here we go!

Having so much fun!

This was the first time Jackson got to play in the snow, mostly because of his lazy parents. We would rather stay in under a blanket than bundle up for the snow. But we finally decided to just do it. And out we went! We left Timothy napping soundly and headed out to play. Jackson was so adorable! It was a little too deep for him to really play but he loved it! He was a little scared at first, but quickly got used to it. His favorite thing was to help Daddy shovel. And a great help he was!

My valentine...

2010-02-11T14:18:00.005-05:00

I love you, my valentine.

Christian Home Crusade

2010-02-08T11:10:00.004-05:00

This past Thursday and Friday, we had to privilege of attending the Christian Home Crusade in Portsmouth, OH. Pastor Ryan Brown was the host of the meeting. It turned out to be a huge event. Pastor and Mrs. Sexton were there, with Pastor as the main speaker. We so enjoyed the meeting.

Pastor and Mrs. Sexton hold a special place in our hearts. Jamin and I have godly parents, but they are sort of honorary spiritual parents to us. Of course, they don't take the place of our parents, but have taught us so much in the ministry. It was so encouraging to see them. I really have no words to describe how it felt to see them... home would be a good word. It just feels like going home to visit Temple, or to see them.

He hit home with each message he preached, about the home, family, and our roles. I was distracted by my small son who didn't want to be in nursery without me, so I plan on getting CDs of those messages. I'm so thankful for this weekend!

Thursday night at the Calvary Baptist Church:

Friday evening was a banquet at the Shawnee State University. Several of our church folks came. We had such a fun night!

Then the service was in a huge auditorium on campus. There was a huge 170-voice choir, made up of 10 different churches. It was a special night.
Jamin, Alicia, and I also got to sing a couple songs for prelude as people were coming in. That was fun! :) It was a wonderful meeting! There were so many there that we have never met, of course, but there were some friends as well. It was so encouraging to meet together like this. And we've been telling Ryan and Cassie Brown, "Let's do it again next year!"

Happy Birthday, Jackson!

2010-02-01T16:37:00.005-05:00

We had Jackson's "birthday" a few weeks late. But he won't know for a few more years, right? :) We found him some little mini cupcakes... he loved them. He calls it "taKe," really emphasizing the "K." He had fun blowing out the candles and opening his presents.

We are so thankful for such a precious little boy. We felt like we waited forever for him. He is so precious and full of life. He makes us laugh, pull our hair out, get teary-eyed, and laugh some more! We are constantly reminded of his sweet innocence, but also his sin nature. He is a little soul that God has entrusted to us. We are humbled by the great responsibility every time we think of it.

"Thank You, Lord for two years with this sweet little man."

All in a Two-Year-Old's Day

2010-02-01T16:30:00.003-05:00

Today, I was working on painting and refinishing a chair. Jackson saw me and disappeared. In a few minutes he came back in dragging his little fold-up chair. "Paint mine's Mommy." He is a doll. I said "no, we can't paint yours." He disappeared to play again.

Then he came back in a few minutes and was watching me, he got some paint on his hand "accidentally." Just being two. He watched me and said, "is petty Mommy," in his sweetest, high-pitched voice.

Later on, I put him in the crib for a nap so I wouldn't have to keep putting him back in his toddler bed. I checked on him. His socks were gone. I told him to lay down.

I checked on him again. All his blankets and pillows were in the floor and he was crying for them.

Later, as I once again checked on him, he had taken the batteries out of the crib toy. Sigh. He really needed a nap.

I checked on him again. He was standing once again, blankets and pillows in the floor, without socks OR pants... and is still not asleep after two hours.

It's all in a two-year-old's day!

Sweetheart Pictures

2010-01-23T21:54:00.004-05:00

My awesome brother Jonathan took these in December. Just wanted to share! I love them! I love my wonderful husband. These pictures are so sweet, just like our love.

"This is my beloved, and this is my friend." ~ Song of Solomon

Sweet Smiles

2010-01-23T21:50:00.002-05:00

Jackson performs random acts of torture upon his small brother. This one backfired... Timothy liked it! It was so funny, four legs in two holes:

Timothy is getting so big! He is six months old today! It flies... I think faster every single day. He is sitting up pretty good now, with only the occasional bonk! His first tooth popped through this week, and he is rolling everywhere! Such fun is he, but my already-busy hands are about to become busier!

A Saturday Morning Crepe

2010-01-23T21:48:00.001-05:00

... just about as fancy as my cooking gets...

With peach filling and a little powdered sugar... Yummy!

Ode to IKEA

2010-01-22T09:14:00.003-05:00

It has been an entire week since I first saw the greatest home store in the world. My mind and dreams have since been occupied with rugs, curtains, sofas, dishes, duvets, lamps, mirrors, chairs, cabinets, shelving...well, you get the picture. It is an awesome store! I just cannot put into words how utterly amazing it really is!

I went with Alicia and we spent ALL day away. We started at the hospital where she goes for therapy twice a week. Next, we ate at a yummy Chinese restaurant. Then... we loaded up the babies in the double stoller (yet again) and went to IKEA!!

My trusty driver Alicia:

IKEA!! It's huge!

Sleeping soundly

The cool part about this store: There are many, many whole rooms set up. You can walk in and open every drawer, every shelf. There is clever storage everywhere! There are tags on everything so you can see how much it is. And you can write the item numbers down on clever little pieces of paper and pencils they provide you with all over the store. This is the room Briley loved when they went before:

Not sleeping soundly anymore, the babies had to be carried. :D

Not pictured: The pain that comes with toting a 18- or so pound baby around for over two hours.
I bought a few things at the store: a dish brush, a pot-lid organizer, and two twin duvets to make for the boys' new room when we move. I spent $20!! That is the best part about the store... it is affordable! We were in there 4 hours!! It is so fun, and you can get so many ideas. I had wanted to take a ton of pics to blog about it, but I got excited and forgot. :)

Friends and family, neighbors and strangers, if you have never been to an IKEA, well, you just have to go!!

...the mouths of babes...

2010-01-11T12:46:00.003-05:00

Jackson is just now learning to pray. We have done a simple mealtime prayer with him for months now! The other day, he surprised me and took off after just the first line! So, here's his little prayer. He strayed a little... I'm not even sure what he's praying for. :)

By the way, he thinks lowering his eyebrows and sort of scowling means his head is bowed and eyes are closed. ;)

Sundays...

2010-01-11T12:42:00.002-05:00

We love them! We need them! But...

They make little boys (and their mother) tired: