this and that (again) on a Thursday

I've had several things I've wanted to post about
 the last few months

but either no time

or no words

to post them.

This by no means

'catches us up'

but I'm getting at least a few things 

down on paper

so to speak.

I got our Intent to Homeschool form turned in

a full 3 days before the deadline,

and on Tuesday
 we started our 17th year of home schooling
with zero fanfare and no first-day photos.

(This mama is tired.)

~

Regarding the house -

all walls are painted except for the hall

that leads to the secret tunnel

to the movie room.

We still need to do touch ups in every room,

but (except for the spot in the library 12 ft off the floor)

it's something I can knock out in just a few hours.

Most of the receptacles,

light switches,
fans,

and lights

have been installed

and we now have interior doors upstairs!

And - we have air conditioning!!

Our rustic Ozark Mountain oak flooring

is acclimatizing (all over the house) as I type

and is almost ready to install.

We have to go back to the mill to get another 550 sq feet

(which reminds me - I need to call and see if it's ready....)

and we have over 1,000 feet of baseboard trim

waiting to be primed and painted.

We're still deciding how we want to trim the windows and doors

but we've already purchased the wood for the casings

and it's also waiting to be primed and painted.

I spent an entire day with pencil, paper, and calculator,

figuring out exactly what boards we needed

and planning cuts to use those boards most efficiently.

(and then I bought a few extra 16 footers - just in case I was wrong)

Tyler sees all this raw wood and gets excited.

I see it all and think

oh my word - 

how are we ever going to get all this finished??

~

My sewing time is quite limited,
so it's taken longer than I expected,
but I've finished Sparkle,

except for the label,

and made a small practice quilt before diving into Sojourner

(which I started yesterday)

because I'll be quilting lots of new-to-me 'motifs'.

~

Brandon got a job as a tutor,

so his plate is especially full this year.

He'll also be a Life Coach for the 6th grade boys at church.

Since he's worked with them for the past few years

in Children's ministry,

it'll be a very easy transition to youth group for them.

~

We got to see our Hadley Bear on Sunday!! 

That girl is the best baby (toddler, actually) I've ever seen.

what a doll baby!! 💗

When I first held her,

she pressed her little face against my cheek

and left it there for several minutes.

It was as if she was saying,

"Oh Mimi, I've missed you!"

Oh, Baby Girl, Mimi has missed you, too!

Lexi put a picture

that Hadley drew while she was here
 on the fridge

and when I saw it,

it literally stopped me in my tracks.

I have lots of grandchildren (7, to be exact)

but I don't get to see any of them often,

and this is the very first grandkid picture to grace our fridge.

~

Jeremiah and Josiah's air conditioner died,

so they have started sleeping out in the new house.

They're making the rounds of various rooms

and trying to be the first one to fall asleep,

to claim the title of

'first to sleep in  ____________'

Josiah was planning to sleep in the bathroom one night,

and I told him he'd probably get the title of

Only one to sleep in the bathroom... 

~

Speaking of sleeping,

none of the children are - so I best scoot