"I Miss My Pillow!"

(On the way home from her check up for kindergarten.)

Sarah:  When are we going to go see your sister again?

Me:  I don't have a sister, sweetie.  Who are you talking about?

Sarah:  You know.  We went to her house and I left my pillow.

Me:  Oh! You mean Ms. Cindy in Florida.

Sarah:  Yes!  We need to go back there to get my pillow.

Me:  You have a new pillow.  I told Ms. Cindy to give your pillow to someone who needed a pillow.

Sarah:  Oh, no! I want my pillow back!

Me:  But you have a new pillow.   We gave your other pillow to someone who didn't have a pillow.

Sarah:  But, I didn't want to give my pillow away!

via

 
(Repeated over the next 5 minutes through sobs and crocodile tears.)

I miss my pillow!

Oh, my pillow!

My fluffy, cuddly pillow!

I'm thinking we really could have used a nap!

Living thru faith,

Misty 

The Back Fence

We knew when we bought the house that the back fence had been damaged over time by termites and would eventually need to come down. We also knew that we couldn't afford to put up a new fence, so we just left it up.  

One day while Brian and I were sitting out enjoying the shade from our new umbrella, I got the idea to just take it down and fill in the areas with tall plants to provide some privacy.  There is actually a wire fence on the other side of the wooden one that lines our neighbor's long driveway.  Growing in between the two fences were trees and weeds.  

Brian wasn't sold on the idea, but the more I thought about it the more I liked it.  So...he left town and down it came. :-)

I sent the boys outside and about 3 minutes later half of it was on the ground.  

It took a little bit longer for the other half to fall, but in about 15 minutes everything but the posts were on the ground.

As we tried to take some of the larger sections apart to stack, Matt and I suddenly heard buzzing coming from inside the wood.  

Turns out we had carpenters bees burrowed into the fence AND the posts.  It was just a matter of time before this thing would have just fallen down on it's own!

Slowly but surely I am getting all the weeds cleared out and the trees trimmed up.  The posts are proving to be harder to get out than anticipated, but we will win that battle...eventually.  I usually only have about 30 minutes or so later in the evenings to work on it, so it is definitely a slow process.

My plan is to get it cleaned up and mark out the new line, then, in the fall, lay out mulch and possibly some bushes when they go on sale.  In the spring we can till up the new bed area and add whatever plants we decide on.  I don't know if that is the way you are really supposed to do it, but it makes sense to me.  If someone has a better plan, let me know!  :-)

Living thru faith,

Misty

Closet Turned Office

Our closet really needed to be organized, but we also had bigger plans for the closet.  So, if you're brave enough take a look at the before pictures.

It was a mess!  There used to be a dresser on the back wall, but we had to move that to Sarah's room because she was outgrowing the small chest of drawers already in her room.  All the stuff that had been in the dresser, plus all the stuff that had been piled around it was just thrown in the back of the closet.

There were boxes of stuff on the shelves that have just gotten moved from place to place over the last few moves...always with the intention of finally going through it before the next move.

Our other problem was that Brian's desk was in the bedroom.  We've had desks in the bedroom before, but never his main work area.  He had always had some other space to study and write.  It really wasn't working as it was.

So we finally bit the bullet and got to work.  Everything had to come out of the closet and, of course, there was no where for it to go but the bedroom.  Each day the bed got covered up and each night we had to clear off what was left. 

Before we could move Brian's desk into the closet, he had to have an outlet.  Thankfully, he found a video online and was able to do this on his own.

It took several weeks, but eventually we tossed, sold, organized, or gave away everything that had been in the closet. 

(No, I haven't cut the tags of the new boxes...)

There are still some things to go through and organize like pictures and warranties, but overall it's done and those projects are now more manageable when I do get to them.

Having the desk in the closet has worked out really well.  Brian can close the door and have a little more quiet or work after I have gone to bed.

Matthew decided we should put a lock on the door (from the outside) and lock Brian in until he finishes his dissertation.  As tempting as that is, I guess we will let him go in and out freely.  ;-)

Living thru faith,

Misty

June Update

Actually, it is probably more of a May and June update since I've been absent from here for so long!  

Life wasn't busy enough in May, so we decided to start our master closet reorganization.

After we got everything out of the closet, it looked like the entire closet threw up in our bedroom which eventually spilled out into the rest of the house.  (I will show you the "finished" product tomorrow.)

Of course that project led to cleaning out the entertainment center, the hall closet, the hutch/cabinet, and eventually the coat closet.  

The only closet I have left is the main bathroom closet, but that isn't really related to the original project.. and I'm tired of reorganizing closets!

At the same time we started the master closet project, we also bought some used kitchen cabinets from someone and have drawn out the plans to use those.  Some will be used in the garage and some in an unused corner in the kitchen. They, of course, are still sitting in the garage...

Brian left town for a conference the first of June, so that insane twitch of mine decided it was a good time to pull down the back fence.  In all honesty, though, I really was trying to take advantage of the beautifully mild weather we had that weekend. 

This project is still on going and probably will be for the rest of the summer.  When you only have 30 minutes here and there, projects get done very slowly!  Unfortunately, the beautifully mild weather has already left us and has been replaced with 90+ heat.

Let see...other things going on in the last 4 - 6 weeks...

Baseball, baseball, baseball

Sarah's first dance camp

Daniel participated in a week long mission trip

Matt turned 17 and got his permanent license

Friends moved away :-(

The dishwasher broke

Sarah had her first ever eye appointment (which went very well)

Matt's been narrowing down colleges to visit

Brian's mentor from England is in town for an extended conference

I've been planning trips to Nashville and Louisiana for later this summer

and, last but not surely not least, preparing for homeschooling in the fall

I know there has been some more things going on, but at the moment I'm too tired to remember it all!

I think I need a nap...

Living thru faith,

Misty

Surprises...Good and Bad

Friday was Matt's birthday and he never would say what he wanted to do except go out to eat.  So, I found an accomplice and surprised Matt with a pizza lunch with about 10 of his friends.

I'm so glad they were all able to come. I think he had a great time!

Saturday we traveled two hours away for baseball.  There was some mixup in the times and the team didn't show up until after the coaches made some calls.  There was a lot of time on our hands waiting for the game to begin. Just enough time for Sarah to manage to fall into a little a creek.

She was a bit surprised to end up face down, feet up and completely soaked.  Over and over she said "Oh, I should have listened to you Momma!  Momma, I should have listened to you!"

I managed to hose her off, borrowed some clothes another girl happened to have with her, and comb out her hair.  We dried out her clothes in the sun and changed her back between games. (Summer ball usually involves double headers.)

This week Sarah is attending a dance camp.  She is so excited about going.  What I didn't her is that it is a princess camp and she gets to do her hair and nails during the camp.  She was so surprised!

Living thru faith,

Misty

Our new family member

Sarah has been begging for a pet lately.  She has been driving me crazy!

 I guess God heard her pleas.  A friend's daughter came up to me last Sunday and asked if she could give Sarah her fish.  They were moving and she wasn't able to take Gramps with her.

Sarah was so excited!  

She decided to change his name to Rojo ("red" in Spanish - she loves Dora & Diego).  She loves feeding him, talking to him, showing him her creations and having tea parties with him.  For now the tank is in the dining room until the novelty wears off.  After she stops playing with the tank, I plan to put Rojo in her room.  If she ever stops playing with the tank...

Living thru faith,

Misty

Happy Monday!

Well, it's been a crazy couple of weeks, but I'm hoping that today is the beginning of settling in for the summer...

in our busy, crazy, out-of-control kinda way. 

Brian is in Louisiana for a conference, Matt has two ballgames and a baseball showcase, we are going to start going to the library this week, and...

Matt turns 17 on Friday!  

I just can't believe my baby will be 17!  Maybe if I close my eyes real tight he will be my little blonde haired boy laying on the couch each morning watching Scooby-Doo and eating cheerios without milk. 

{sigh}

I don't think I showed you the porch since I put some plants in the pots.  

It wasn't the best time to take pictures, but I think you can get the idea.  Brian also installed a peephole in the door.  I didn't like not being able to see who was at the door. 

The hydrangeas are now blooming.

I may be transplanting them to the back at some point.  Or, maybe it would be more accurate to say I will be finding someone who knows what the heck their doing to transplant them.  :-)

Living thru faith,
Misty