My... my... how time flies... when you're having fun...?

First of all, my precious girl has turned eight! Wow. That makes me feel a tad bit old... eight... how did that happen? I promise to give her birthday the proper post but I need to upload all those pictures... maybe tomorrow.

We are up to our ears in dust and wood and paint and fixtures and house! I also will give proper blogging to house redo pics but here is a small taste of what is going on in almost every room!

I can't find my picture of the dinning room wall paper anywhere... maybe never loaded it off the camera. But here it is with the walls primed.

And here it is with the chair rail pulled off, the first coat of paint on the top half, and the trim pieces in (MOST of all of them in this room!). See the dust under the table? This has/is covering every surface in the house... I clean it up, a couple days later after workers are here... everything is covered again, and again, and AGAIN!!!!!!!!! THIS is my greatest ICK right now... it is on my last nerve... can you tell? BUT, progress can be seen and so THAT is what gets me through!

Hope you all are well. Hugs and love...

Some Fun For Me

Don and I will be celebrating our 10th anniversary this December with a renewing of our vows.

We are going to have a very special ceremony and I am getting more excited as each day gets closer.

I get to plan a mini little wedding. And my daughter will be my flower girl. And my son will be my ring boy. And family and special friends will be invited.

As I start to plan, I am taken aback at how much more special this feels than the first time. Isn't that crazy? But as I think of the past ten years, and all we have walked through together, how much we have been challenged and grown, and how deep our love is... our relationship is far richer, deeper, and more precious than it was ten years ago.

That is going to be the makings of a very wonderful evening and the best anniversary yet... even beating out Maui!

Praise and more praise... and a smidge of frustration

Abby has gone two weeks now without a seizure! I praise our Lord for His authority over illness and her health, for His mercy in giving her rest and granting our prayers, and for His unfailing love and attention and presence in the good and the bad. How amazing our God is so Holy and powerful yet so personal and sweet. That alone blows me away. If she goes a few more nights seizure free, she'll go back into her room to sleep and the blow up mattress will be removed from our bedroom floor... the monitor will return and I'll sleep with one ear awake. Your continued prayers for her are ALWAYS appreciated.

The kids did an amazing job on the eight and a half hour drive to and from North Carolina. Another praise. The funeral was very nice and the family did well. Thank you for your emails and comments of sympathy and prayer.

Before we left for NC, our dear friends, Joel and Ryan, had a party for our family to welcome Marc. It was very nice to share our joy with friends who have walked this journey with us, encouraged us, comforted us, and prayed for us. Marc got to meet several children and showed off his new walking skills.

This is the most exciting thing going on for us right now. It is so sweet to watch him learn to walk. Abby was already walking when we met her and so it is such a blessing to be part of such a sweet little milestone in his life. We got him walking shoes a week ago and within two days he was taking several steps at a time. Now he is up to about eight at a time before sitting down. It is very cute and sweet to feel such excitement as he develops and grows! Such a sweet blessing. Did I mention "sweet"?

Of course, life is not always a bed of roses! Remember this picture of our master bathroom? So nice... how could you forget?!

Well, here it is now! How refreshing with just the paper peeled off and primer on the walls! My brain is so much calmer in here now. If you look closely on the left, you can see the blue it's going to be painted... "Mount Airey". It's a Porter Paint color but I think we are going to go with Benjamin Moore paint. BUT... the frustrating part is that we can't get the trim guy to work quickly... or even get us our quote... and the painters only work on weekends (their side job) and so the process is going PAINFULLY S-L-O-W-W-W-W-W!!!!!!!!!!! And Abby's birthday party is here this weekend and there is not a room in the house that is done. Ugghhhhh.... frustration.

So we are off to the jumping place this morning to meet some friends for some fun. I may try and jump out some of my frustration! Have a great Tuesday.

Home On The Mend

In the midst of the all the chaos of life, the house is on the mend. Wallpaper has been removed (HOOOORAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!) and the stuff that was on really well has been primed! The painters were coming this weekend to paint but we will be at my grandfather's funeral so it will wait.

Even with the primer and the peel... the house looks a thousand times better! The trim guy came out this morning and measured walls so we should have an estimate for baseboards, board and batten trim and crown soon!

Don, our friend Joel, and I also tackled the forest in the backyard this week and several trees came down. More under growth needs to be removed and then the HUGE dumpster in the driveway full of greenery can be removed and the back yard festivities can begin.

Pictures of my house will come soon but in the mean time... let's be inspired... shall we?

I could just sit in the bathroom and read and be happy... mmmmmmmmmm.

Here I was thinking I was just going to let the laundry room be. Not anymore! This picture on a blog I love has inspired me not to overlook such an important space in the home!

And down the list of "to do's" is to replace our front door... this one would have me sitting in the foyer floor in love! I am totally in love with this door.

All these photos are from blogs I love. The top two are from Rare and Beautiful Treasures and the last one is from BH&G.

Passing Onward

My grandfather just passed away within the hour. He was over taken with cancer. Please be in prayer for my family as they walk through the next few hours and days. There is a lot of family pain and a lot of needed healing for many. Please pray that God's presence will reign down on everyone.

Happy Birthday America the Beautiful!

I am so excited about celebrating the Fourth of July tomorrow. My dad, in AL, just called and is coming to town for festivities, making the day even more fun and filling!

I hope your day tomorrow is full of family, friends, great food and fun... topped off with a large portion of prayer for our country and her leaders. Love to you all.

Photo by Rob Eastman on etsy.

We are back.

We got home around midnight last night. There was a canceled flight and everyone from that flight got on my flight and so I did not. It could have been worse. I am thankful it was not.

It was a very nice trip. The weather was amazing and it was so nice to be with my family. I miss them so much. Marc did great on the airplane and was such a trooper.

Abby did well, considering she is now majorly sharing the spotlight. Prayers for her adjustment are so appreciated. Prayers for wisdom and patience on my part for her are also very much appreciated. She is having a hard time. I am thankful it is so normal... but feeling unequipped to deal. I try to be prepared. But I am/was not. I need to find a good book on the subject. Any suggestions? God will guide us through... as HE always does... just a day at a time.

After the break, I am feeling more motivated to tackle the house once again. We hunkered down today and were all in our Pg's (Pajamas) until 5 p.m. I finally stopped long enough to get dressed and go to the store to buy some food. Hopefully, tomorrow will be even more productive.

It's been one month. One month since this little wonder has joined our family. And I continue to be blown away. Blown away with God's power. His goodness. And the fullness of a love that continues to expand into every corner of my being... it overflows. Wow. I pray I can always be open to walking on the path that God in His mighty wisdom has planned for me... it is not always easy... but it is beautiful and full.