crazy

So.

When we left off,

the block work was finished.

Not long after that, the garage floor was poured,

but I never blogged about it.

I mentioned Thursday that framing began on Wednesday the 27th,
and here's how things looked after the crew went home that day
and the guys finished waterproofing the subfloor:

When they left on Thursday,

we had this:

Friday,
it rained most of the day, so no framing happened.
Brandon and Tony went out every time it stopped raining
and did their best to get the water off the floor
using first a broom,
then
homemade squeegees
and a leaf blower.

The crew worked about half a day on Saturday
(maybe a bit more)
and this is what we came home to after Brandon's graduation:

Yesterday was kinda weird.

There seemed to be a lot of loafin' going on,
and for the most part,
any time I looked out,
I never saw more than 2 of the guys working.

Makes me wonder what all they could have accomplished
if they'd really been getting after it.

It was a Monday,
and a pretty gloomy one at that,
so maybe that was it?

And to be fair,
I spent a good chunk of my day with Hadley,
so it's entirely possible
I just looked out at all the wrong times...

Even with all their lollygaggin,
they still got a lot done,
so
this is what the guys will be starting with
this morning:

How crazy is it
that
that is the result of 3 1/2 work days?!

4 down; 4 to go

So.

Brandon is a high school graduate now.

(this is where I would have posted a picture of him 

had I thought to even take one.

sheesh!)

I'd planned to 'desensitize'

by watching his video / slideshow 

over and over

and

over.

With the crazy week we had,

that never happened.

I was not at all

desensitized

and could very easily have sobbed through the whole thing.

Not wanting to be a blubbering mascara-smeared mess

when we went on stage to give him his diploma,

I sucked it up.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QUVy6JCkXY

We fed about 50 people lunch after the graduation

and I was repeatedly filled with gratitude 

for the room full of people who have loved my son

and poured into his life.

(huge thanks to everyone who pitched in to help,

especially our beloved Montgomerys!)

Brandon - I love you.

I'm proud of you.

And

I am so happy to have had you home all these years.

sham, shazam

A few days after we gave TJ and Keri their (amazing) quilt,

they decided they'd really like some pillow shams to go with it.

They suggested it would make a really nice anniversary gift.

And it would have,

except that we don't really do anniversary gifts

(with 8 kids, it's best not to start traditions we can't keep...)

so I decided rather than making them wait 'til next Christmas,

it could be T's birthday gift.

So that the crinkling would match the quilt,

(which was quilted as I pieced...)

I ditch stitched all of the vertical seams.

Not surprisingly, the shams took considerably longer to make 

than I'd anticipated, 

so I didn't get them done in time

to get them in the mail to arrive by T's birthday.

It turned out good for him, though;

since they were going to be late, 

I decided to add some hand quilting in the (lovely, mitered ;-) border.

Then

I figured what the hey

and hand stitched the 'hem' on the back, too.

Since Carole told me that a machine sewn hem really is more sturdy,

I decided I should learn to do a machine sewn binding I can be happy with.

I was successful,

but honestly,

it was because the fabric is so well-suited for it.

I'll still do a hand stitched hem most of the time, 

but with a carefully chosen binding,

I suppose

I would be okay with machine sewing it when the quilt demands it.

I hope you like your shams, T (and Keri! ;-)

Love you!!

linking up with AmandaJean

Thursday's this and thats

Oh y'all!

So much has been happening.

I only thought time was moving fast the past few weeks...

Saturday was TKD testing

and everyone passed.

Yay!!

Brandon tests for his 2nd degree black belt July 23rd!

~

Sunday was the grand finale for Kid XP

(the Sunday evening program for preschoolers - 5th grade)

They did a skating party.

At the last minute,

Tyler lovingly decided to give me the evening off,

so I got a few hours by myself to recharge.

I had more than enough work to fill the 2 hours,

but I decided to start it off with an actual break.

I took my knitting needles and my little ball of yarn

(which have remained untouched 

since a few days after Family camp

when I finished up my second wash cloth)

and sat out in the sunshine in the hammock

and cast on 22 stiches

and then knit 'til my timer went off 30 minutes later.

It was refreshing.

Then,

I cleaned.

~

Monday we spent a couple of hours 

window and door (and also grocery) shopping.

Then we picked up Tony and Kacy and Hadley

at the airport at 11 o'clock that night :-)

Hadley is the sweetest, easiest baby I've ever seen

and we can't get enough of her.

~

Tuesday was Tyler's birthday

(we also went door shopping.

again.

Front entry doors are really expensive.

Who knew?!)

~

and Wednesday

- Wednesday -

the framers got started on the house!!

My dad came down to join us for the occasion

(and quite possibly to oversee the work ;-)

which I thought was really sweet,

and TJ came down late afternoon

and hung out with us 'til midnight.

It was nice to have all of my boys here

for a bit.

(and I was able to give him his birthday present,

albeit a few days late...)

Wednesday was also the day we needed to make our final window decisions,

because the framers 

started putting the walls up today,

and had to know first thing in the morning

what size all rough openings need to be.

(that sounds a whole lot less stressful than it was)

We ordered a porta potty for the workers, too.

They bring their lunch,

so they don't leave the premises all day,

which means, 

short of peeing in the bushes,

they had no means of relieving themselves.

~

Let's see.

Today Tyler let me sleep in.

(was that just this morning?!)

That extra hour was really nice!

(but I always feel bad when I don't make him breakfast...)

My main priority of the day was to balance checkbooks and pay the bills.

(which, 

between playing with Hadley,

tending to building business,

and just regular life-type interruptions,

didn't get completed until early afternoon)

It's all done for another month,

and I am grateful Tyler works so hard to provide for our family.

Kacy and I ran to town to pick up a few things

 for our family feast following Brandon's graduation Saturday,

and firmed up our (minimal) decor plans.

We've still got to buy all of the food,

fill balloons with helium

(the ones Kacy picked out are perfect!)

and do lots of food prep,

including making burger buns,

because my brother in law would be so sad

if we didn't have them.

When we got back from shopping,

I made lettuce wraps for (a late) dinner,

(Hadley helped)

While I was making dinner,

the guys and Kacy moved hundreds (maybe thousands) of pounds of lumber

since there's an 80 % chance of rain tomorrow.

Tony and Kacy went on a dessert date,

so I'm babysitting Hadley while I work on this post.

She's sleeping,

I told you she was so easy!!

~

Tomorrow is dedicated to getting ready for Saturday.

And baby snuggles and smiles...

and this one, too

When we roamed downtown Van Buren

snapping Senior pictures,

Josiah came along as our pack mule.

(thanks, Bud!!)

So I ended up with a couple of great pictures of him, too :-)

Bonus!

heehee

I know. This one is blurry. But I love their faces!

Oh, Josiah.

Momma loves you to the moon and back!

this boy!

 

ok. so this isn't really a 'senior picture' but I love it, and it's my blog ;-)  (Lexi took this one!)

We might have gotten a little tickled here....

 

How I love him!

Brandon ~ Every time I start thinking about you graduating, 

my throat constricts, my heart stops for a moment, and my eyes leak. 

I know that life is going to change around here. 

And I'm not often a big fan of change...

Very simply, 

I will miss you.

I'll miss you sharing what you've learned (aka taught yourself).

I'll miss laughing with you at your jokes.

 And my stupidity. 

(and some of your inventions. Like charging seats... ;-)

I'll miss smelling coffee at random times, 

because you've just fixed yourself a cup.

Because even though you are a 'teen', you are an adult.

Mostly, though, I'll just miss you.

You are so precious to me, Son. 

Out of all of our kids, you brought about the most change in me. 

I became a better person when I became your mom. 

Thank you.

Sometimes I feel like you got the short end of the stick 

– being in the middle, all by yourself.

And maybe you did. 

But Dad and I get a little more of you because of it. 

(and vise versa)

(I know, I know. This is supposed to be about you, not me...)

I am so pleased with the person you are. 

You are kind and patient. You're helpful. You are observant. 

You're creative, and talented. 

And everyone knows you're a good lookin' kid.

You're humble and focus on others waaay more than yourself. 

You're a hard worker, and a good learner.

You are a delight.

My prayer continues to be

that God will fill you with the knowledge of his will

through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives,

so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord

and please him in every way:

bearing fruit in every good work,

growing in the knowledge of God,

being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might

so that you may have great endurance and patience. 

(Col 1:9-11)

Much love, Mom