big honkin melons

Gayle has new baby bunnies, 

so we went out to her farm this morning to get our eggs and other goodies.

And of course, see the bunnies.

The girls squealed about how adorable they were; Josiah and I thought they looked like tiny pigs.

She told us about a place 'near the bottoms'

that sells garden fresh watermelon and cantaloupe.

It was only about 2 miles out of the way, so we figured we best go.

(two miles if you know where 'the bottoms' are - we, did not,
and apparently drove through said bottoms and added a few more miles to our trip. 

We didn't mind, though ~ there are acres and acres of peanuts growing in 'the bottoms' and the plants were so pretty

 and we could see the mountains off in the distance,

and the sky was a gorgeous blue, with lots of puffy clouds)

Anyways,

we finally found the melon place.

$4 for large watermelons, $3 for small ones, and $1.50 for the hugest cantaloupes I've ever seen.

We bought 3 watermelons 

(2 big, 1 small - so we could see which variety we liked best. As if I'll remember) 

and 2 big honkin cantaloupes.

Not only were there big honkin melons near the bottoms, there were stinkin huge tractors, too :-)

unmentionables

I had a big ole post written up,

but then realized that probably nobody cares about the 8 (stinking cute) bras,

13 pairs of (mostly matching) panties, 2 super soft nighties, the sa-weet 'at home' lounge dress

and the yummy smelling lotions and sprays my soon-to-be daughter 

brought home last night from our fun little shopping extravaganza.

So I deleted it.

;-)

my sweet Sarah

As I anticipated my precious friend's (way too) short visit,

I was thinking about how to describe what she is to me.

She's almost old enough to be my mom ~ but she hasn't really been a mother figure to me.

Although she has done mothering things, like include us in their Thanksgiving celebrations

on more than one fun-filled occasion

and praying for our family.

She's not exactly been a mentor, although I would have welcomed her in that role,

and she has taught me many things by her wonderful example.

She's not necessarily who might come to mind when one thinks of a 'meek and quiet woman'.

She's a bit of a firecracker, truth be told,

but oh, I do live fireworks,

and she most definitely loves the Lord, 

and her husband - and he is awfully fond of her!

It wasn't until after she was gone

that I finally figured it out.

Sarah - is my cheerleader.

Josiah and the smoke bombs

Josiah thought $ .89 was too much to spend on a dozen smoke bombs,

so he didn't buy any when Tyler took the kids to Jake's last week.

He asked to be taken to other firework tents.

I searched 'fireworks' on my blog, so I could see what we've paid in years past.

I remember last year thinking that the smoke bombs were pricey....

We discovered that the cheapest we'd gotten them for, in recorded history, was $1.

Suddenly 89 cents wasn't looking too bad.

But for some reason, he still had it in his head he ought to be able to get them cheaper

and when Tyler took them again, he only bought one pack

and came home asking, again, to be taken to other tents.

"Why didn't you ask Daddy to take you when you were already out shopping?" I asked.

"Because he told us he was only taking us to Jake's," he said, his voice and his chin quivering just a bit.

"Well," I said, "I guess you were right not to ask then."

But I admit I was a tiny tad irritated, because as far as the kid was concerned,

he didn't have enough smoke bombs, and another trip would be required.

I reminded him that $ .89 was probably the best price he was going to find,

but he still wanted to 'check'.

Then - a new coupon from Jake's fireworks arrived.

For smoke bombs!

35 cents a box!!

Woohoo!

(with a limit of three per household per day, of course)

But.

Since we weren't going to be able to shoot off fireworks on the 4th, what with the burn ban and all,

Tyler said we weren't going firework shopping again,

until the 5th.

The kids and I headed out at 10:00 this morning, in search of bargains.

What we found,

after quite some time,

was one tent selling at 'consistent prices all season'.

Even worse, Jake's, whose coupons expire today, was closed.

I'd told the kids they could each spend $2.

As much as I hated the thought of paying full price after the holiday,

we went to the only open fireworks tent.

The tent of 'consistent prices'.

Josiah picked up the $2 pack of smoke bombs.

I just couldn't do it; 

I couldn't let the kid pay $2 for something he wouldn't pay $.89 for last week.

And that he might still be able to get for $ .35.....

I thought that maybe Jake's was waiting 'til noon to open. maybe??

He returned the smoke bombs to the table and chose other things.

I didn't see the barricades as we got close to Jake's

and hollered out joyously, "They're open!" 

But as soon as I said it,

drat,

there they were.

They'd just been hidden by a hedge.

I pulled in anyways.

I was going to ask if they were just opening later....

A gentleman walked out to meet me in the parking lot, 

after he saw that all his waving wasn't deterring me.

He told me they were closed.

I said, with somewhat of an incredulous whine, if you must know,

"But! Your coupons don't expire until today!

My son has hung onto that 35 cent smoke bomb coupon since Tuesday night...."

I don't know what I thought he would do;

I mostly just wanted my son to know that I was willing to try for him.

The man looked at me.

"Pull your car around here, I'll get ya fixed up."

I hopped back in the Excursion and told Josiah, "They are closed,

but he's going to open up, just for us. He's going to let you buy your smoke bombs!"

The man unlocked the store and held the door open.

"Get what you need," he said, with a sweep of his arm, and handed me a plastic bag.

Josiah grabbed 3 boxes of smoke bombs, the coupon's limit.

"Surely you need more than that," he said,

so we picked out 3 10 cent party poppers for each kid ('except Brandon)

and 3 more boxes of smoke bombs

and headed to the front.

Josiah remembered that he'd never bought any bottle rockets either,

so the man grabbed a gross of moon travelers, "Well, we can't have that!"

Then he asked how many boys we had, and ran back to get an expensive airplane firework for each boy

and a pink car one for each girl.

And wouldn't take a cent for any of it!

Josiah gave a pack to Jeremiah, and offered a package to Brandon, too.

That man made my kids day - especially Josiah's!

He didn't have to do that; he could easily have sent us on our way!

Josiah would have been a little disappointed, but he would have known I did everything I could

to get him the smokebombs we'd told him he could get.

Instead, that man chose to bless a little 7 year old boy (and his siblings).

And he got our business

for life.

optimistic much?

I was bemoaning the fact that I am so overly optimistic,
thinking I could accomplish five hours of work,
in two.
My beloved looked at me and said,
"What you call optimism - I call stupid."

touché

organizing the shelves

Usually I wait until I've got everything that I've ordered for the new school year

before I attempt to organize the shelves.

This year, they were such a wreck, I couldn't really wait another 6 weeks.

('cause you know the chance of me actually having my act together

 and ordering school stuff sooner than that, is slim to none)

More importantly, 

Tyler asked me a few months ago when we could have one of his friends from work over.

I said I'd have to clean the shelves first.

Saturday, while Tyler and Brandon were away on their trip,

I started feeling badly  that I hadn't done the shelves yet; 

Tyler so rarely asks anything of me, I should have cleaned them immediately!

I got started a little after 4:00 and figured I'd be done by bedtime.

Wrong!

I didn't finish until 1:00 pm, the next day! After the guys got home.

And my night had been  v e r y  short.....

Organizing stuff takes me so long!!

I did order new art supplies for the summer ~ I'm only 6 wks late on that.... the coke canister hides our tempera cakes

I threw away three full Walmart bags of trash

(how does this happen, that we keep trash on our shelves??)

and have a decent sized stack of books to get rid of.

As easy as it is for me to let go of stuff ~ books are tricky;

how do I know we won't ever want to look at it again?

The kids know I like interesting shaped / textured rocks,
they just don't always know what makes them appealing to me.
often the girls will present me with a gift of a rock
(that is neither interestingly shaped or textured)
"because you like rocks almost as much as flowers, Momma!"

Something interesting:

All the kids commented on how nice the shelves look all organized, 

but Lexi loves that the shelves look nice.

She thanked me for 'making them beautiful'!

The reason, besides the beach, that she didn't want to come home from Florida,

is that, "it's not beautiful here" (meaning inside our house).

Apparently, her eyes need 'peace' as much as her momma's do.

In case you wonder... L to R on top of the bookcases: Tote bag holds catalogs, grey enamel pitcher from Granny holds buttons,
permanent markers reside in the green tin flower holder thing, the metal box from Sears and Roebuck hides the woodburning tool,
  and the cash-box, that hails from my early PartyLite days, holds school monies, some fake some real.

Next, I need to work on the corner of the dining room where things-that-have-no-home

get stashed.

Just as soon as I recover from organizing the shelves.....

the squirrel who liked pears

After he had his fill of that pear, he ran almost to the top of the tree, to choose another.

MINE!  

And then, he ran back down, to a height more suitable for eating.

I grow tired of the "Mom" "Mom!" "Mom" all day long,

but I am glad when they 'Mom' me to share fun things like this.

(these were taken [some by Brandon; some by me] from inside the house, with the big lens the boys bought me :-)

you know my obsession with floors...

Jeremiah built a lego house, complete with furniture, and a  stove.

There was a lone single thin brick that I couldn't quite figure out.

I asked what it was.

He said, "Oh nothin; that's not supposed to be there.

Oh wait ~ leave it!

That can be trash on the floor."

Proof that I have the floor-trashingest kids!

sew many stitches

I have been stitchin' and stichin' this past week!

And loving almost every minute of  it.

Friday, I put off nap-time as long as I possibly could,

waiting for the UPS man to bring my book.

About 1:52, I decided I'd just have to do something else while sitting in with Lexi,

I couldn't wait any longer to get her to bed.

I turned on the stove to start my coffee.

(in the little espresso maker Nate bought me in France years ago :-)

I put a spoon of xylitol, a few shakes of creamer, and some coconut milk in my cup.

Just as I was adding the coffee, I heard the truck rumbling up the drive.

I was so happy!!

As with the other two Natalie Chanin books, I read it cover to cover in one sitting.

(setting?)

~

Ya'll,

I have so many projects going on  right now!

I still need to cut away the top layer on the two little half daisies

Another muslin.

(This time from the 2nd book - I call it the 'princess seam' shirt. 

 I'm having a hard time remembering which style shirt / dress / skirt is in which book!

I need to make a chart. I'm only half-kidding.)

It was kind of silly of me to embellish a muslin, but here's the thing.

One.

I made some adjustments to the pattern based on the fit of the second muslin I made from the camisole pattern,
so I was pretty sure it'd fit across the bust. (it does - bottom is fuller than I prefer, but oh well. 

I adjusted the pattern for next time.)

Two.

I need something else to wear with my sassy shoes.

I only have one corral shirt. 

Which meant I wasn't wearing my sweet sandals as often as I should have been.

I saw Katy's book cover, and decided,

"Yes! I have tons of my blue sheet left. I have a $ .25 corral tank top in my repurposing stash.

I'll just put 'em together!"

I bought the daisy pattern from Hobby Lobby

and used watered down acrylic paint mixed with textile medium to stencil the fabric.

This is the back :-)  A certain little 3 yr old got up from dinner and touched my fabric before the paint was even dry.
So, yes, that is food that you see on it. grilled chicken, perhaps.   : /

I don't want to do a ton of hand sewing on it, since the quality of the fabric is horrible,

so I'm waiting to hem it and bind the neck and arms until I get some matching machine thread.

I know ~ you don't hem Alabama Chanin garments, but this fabric just rolls up too much.

the back side of the front panel

~

I decided (hopefully, not foolishly!) to not make a 3rd muslin of the 8-panel shirt.

I made the changes to the pattern, and just went with it.

I had planned on machine sewing the seams, and doing the rest by hand,

but I hadn't managed to get the first two seams sewn by naptime,

(have you gathered that I get to sit with my feet up while I wait for Lex' to fall asleep?

I either read or sew. Sometimes I visit my favorite blogs...)

Since I couldn't get started on beading, 

and I'd already finished the one book I checked out for myself,

Saving CeeCee Honeycutt (good, but not fabulous)

I figured I may as well grab my white thread and sew the seams by hand.

I don't imagine this will surprise you, but I loved making every tiny little stitch!

I felt like all those hours hand-quilting totally prepared me for the task.

Which didn't feel one bit like a task!

(And was sooo much easier than quilting!)

The double stick tape was not my ingenious invention; I stole that.

Once I got a few things figured out and developed a rhythm, I started enjoying the beading some,

but I don't enjoy the beading nearly as much as the 'seaming'. 

~  

I didn't have quite enough purple, so we did some color blocking. I was pretty tickled how nicely things lined up!

Kacy asked me Sunday if I could make her a swim suit;

thanks to Crossfit, she now has a bootie

and her current suit doesn't cover it decently.

I used some crappy swimsuit fabric and some FOE that I had a lot of 

to make a muslin of the panties bottoms.

(crappy swimsuit fabric seems to happen a lot around here. hmm)

She laughed when I called her to try them on (red with silver legs and waist, they look like underoos ;-)

but then told me she was keeping them 'cause they were comfy :-)

They were not made well ~ they were made quickly.

I told her, under no circumstances, was she to show them to her mother

and tell her that I could make her a wedding dress if she didn't find one she loved.

~

On Monday, I squeezed in reading Sheet Music.

Tony and Kacy were given it as part of their pre-marital counseling.

He told Kacy to go ahead and read it now, but said Ton' should wait 'til right before the wedding.

I thought that I remembered it being recommended 

to save a good portion of the book for honeymoon and beyond, so I gave it a quick run-through.

I agreed whole-heartedly with the author 

who suggested only reading the 1st four chapters before marriage.

I think the book goes a long way towards a healthy view of Christian sex,

and I agree with him in many (but definitely not all) ways

but I don't think I'm really a Leman fan.

And I really could have done without quite so much talking to and about 'Mr Happy'.

And I'm not entirely convinced he's as imaginative as he thinks he is ;-)

Yesterday 

I started reading Captivating, because the speaker at the retreat that Eva made me go to

highly, highly recommended it. 

I have no feelings one way or the other about the book so far...

~

I've got fabric on order, and a bunch of windows open on my computer for more fabric,

so I don't know if much reading will be happening in the next few weeks,

but I am fairly certain there will be lots of happy stitching.

Of course ~ if you want to see what others are sewing and reading this week, visit

a day off

Jeremiah and Josiah decided to give me the day off today!

(only from cooking, but hey ~ I take what I get :-)

For breakfast, they made scrambled eggs with cheese and bacon bits

and lunch was tuna salad, cucumber slices, and salty almonds.

Totally by themselves.

And they left surprisingly little mess!

I was informed I may have to help with dinner, though, 

'since that has to be a big meal'.

Thanks, guys, for givin' Momma a break!

I love you!!

figured it out :-)

Thanks for all your suggestions!

After hours and hours of searching and being quite picky 

(Tyler was rejecting cabins and cottages because of their location. Whatever.)

I rejected a cabin because the grass by the water was too scraggly.

Another was rejected because I didn't like the style of a dresser.

you know ~ important things ;-)

we finally decided on a cabin on the White River for our upcoming anniversary.

The water is supposedly so cold, it'll lower the air temperature around it by about 10 degrees.

(We'll let you know how that works out)

third time's a charm?

I'm joining Elizabeth's


 again

My sewing and reading this week have gone hand in hand.

Last Thursday, after not having visited Alabama Chanin's journal in months,

I decided to take a peek and saw this top.

picture from Alabama Chanin

I never wear white ~ but I love this!

So much so, that I ordered the book that contains the pattern.

It just so happened to arrive the very next day 

(I love it when Amazon gives me overnight shipping for free!)

right as I was heading in to lay Lexi down for a nap.

Perfect!

Just like I did with my first Alabama Chanin book, Studio Sewing + Design,

I read it cover to cover in one sitting.

~

Being genetically predisposed to not following patterns or recipes exactly,

(although, I did follow Kacy's moms' recipe for Gumbo for Kacy's birthday exactly exactly)

I had to change things up.

The neckline, I knew, would need to be raised about an inch.

and I knew I'd want the shirt a bit longer in front.

To trace the pattern and make adjustments, I used my lightbox

also known as, a window.

I knew changing the neckline, since it was comprised of 2 pattern pieces, would be tricky

(plus, I don't think, when they made the larger sizes, they did it correctly; 

the upper left portion of the piece I am tracing in the above photo 

should only be a 1/4 seam allowance on the side, with no seam allowance at the neck. 

This caused me an hour of consternation and mutterings and texting my sewing buddy)

so what I did, was leave those neck lines intact when I cut out the pattern, 

then overlapped the edges of the pattern pieces 1/4 inch, 

folding the seam allowances to the side and marked then cut the new neckline.

It worked perfectly!

~

Not wanting to take f o r e v e r  handstitching a muslin, I opted to use the machine.

I used a size L instead of XL, hoping it would fit snug enough that I can lose weight and it'll still look decent,

without being too tight, right now.

But the L was too snug, and I wanted it longer still (I'd added about 1 1/2 inches to the front)

so I taped pattern sheets to the window again

and started over.

The results were much better, but still too short.

And the fit at the armholes wasn't exactly perfect, 

and the neck ended up a tiny smidge too wide, and it doesn't lay just right

so it was back to the drawing board to alter the pattern again.

You would think all of this work would be frustrating to me,

but it really hasn't been.

(I actually wore muslin #2 all day yesterday; I tried it on to check the fit before finishing the neck and arms
and I just never took it off. It is soo comfortable)

I'm going for perfection here.

Attainable perfection, at least ;-)

So

today,

it's round three.

But hey, third time's a charm, right?

Yesterday, I pulled out and re-read Alabama Studio Sewing + Design again.

Then I ordered the second Alabama Chanin book (my third)

I just couldn't help myself.

much less nasty

When I titled the bathroom project Operation Less Nasty, I had no idea how smart that was.

I mean, if it was Operation Pretty the Bathroom, or Operation Nice Bathroom,

we'd have had to paint the ceiling.

As its turns out, though, with Operation Less Nasty,

we could simply cover termite tracks with drywall mud and viola ~ success.

Sure, it would look better with the ceiling painted, but honestly,

what we did was enough.

I can look up in the shower and not see termite tracks ~ which is definitely less nasty.

I'm not done in there yet, but I'll show you what we've got, so far.

For those of you who haven't had the pleasure (I use that very loosely ;-) of seeing the bathroom in person

here's what we started with:

see the bottom of the tub? nasty!

The above picture shows all sorts of  nastiness.
Torn shower curtain. (actually cut. Somebody cut it, then, it tore. 6 yrs ago...)

We have more mildew (which has been attacked many times).

stuck on stuff from the former owner's plastic bathroom accessories
(which I removed in about 20 minutes using an essential oil I don't like the smell of 
(so I didn't mind 'wasting' it) and a scraper)

and last, but definitely not least, a big ole patch of termite damage.

When we painted before moving in (or maybe it was after?) 

we thought just painting over all the damage would be sufficient. 

It may have, if we hadn't actually killed all the termites, 

after they started chomping on my second favorite John Bell Jr print. 

Did you know that the termites that destroy your house also protect it from natural deterioration

by providing moisture? Kill the termites, things dry out very quickly.

Which causes all manner of additional troubles.

Back to the bathroom.

Below we have the worst of the nasty,

an open water heater closet

and major termite mess.

In addition to the mess that you can see,

there's a whole lot of nasty going on further down the wall

that I guess I didn't get a picture of.

There was no trim, the drywall was more torn up than what you see here

and the tile didn't go back to the studs, so there was always a little pile of dirt on the concrete.

There was also an inch or so gap between the drywall and the cabinet.

Nasty!!

Tyler filled all the holes with drywall mud. we opted not to bother with texturing the walls;

we were simply going for 'less' nasty, after all.

Then we painted with a custom mixed paint.

Meaning I mixed up 3 parts (or was it 2?) Sherwin Williams' Hazel (from my dresser) 

with 1 part Creamy White from the LEM table, which it appears I never posted a final photo of

and the french chairs I refinished and also never posted about.

Because I was afraid it might not be quite right, I added 2 splashes of pantry paint.

I should have only added one, because it's a tad brighter than I wanted.

Tyler fussed at me because he'd told me to buy whatever paint I wanted.

I told him I thought I could make exactly what I wanted...

At first I thought we were going to have to repaint,

but after a few days, I decided I was okay with it 

( it is less nasty - although a little more beach-houseish than I'd prefer) so I'm leaving it.

I'm not sure how I feel about the caulk strip we used around the top of the tub
but - it is less nasty...

Probably the biggest improvement, beyond covering up all the termite damage,

and replacing the tile at the base of the tub with wood trim,

was 'framing' the mirror, which was an after-thought. 

You'd think it would have been easy, but no, nothing in this house ever is.

I'll spare you the drama.

We, I think, will remember.

This is Tyler's favorite addition, besides the mirror trim

(mirror still needs to be caulked and corners repainted)

I made that love sign. All by myself! 

Well, I printed it as a photo at Sam's, but the rest of it,

was all me.

I"m even more tickled, though, with my family 'rules' poster

I liked the one from Alexander Creative's shop, but at 20x30, it was too big

(and $30? yikes!) so I made my own 16x20 print, changing it up a tiny bit. 

I printed it at Sam's, so it only cost me $7! Plus, it's even more perfect for us.

I coated the poster with 3 layers of floor finish, so it would be wipe-able and water resistant.

An added bonus ~ the brush strokes (I did horizontal and vertical) added a canvas-like texture to the print.

The frame is a piece of pre-primed trim board from Lowe's that was $2.38.

Brandon helped me make it ~ we got all sorts of twisted around figuring out which angle went which way.

You can see in that picture that we have an outlet!!! In our bathroom!!

Which means we don't have to plug into an extension cord at the top of the mirror.

And - it works with the light switch off! I could even use a night light if I wanted to .

Or a Scentsy thing. 

Oh, the possibilities.

Also - I'm sure you noticed the lack of holes, trim work, and curtain.

Here's what the lower portion looks like now, 

complete with the addition of the favorite musical instrument of many a small child.

Definitely much less nasty!

We outdid ourselves!

I fell in love with this print  (which I did buy from Alexander,

so I'm pretty sure he's okay with my copying his other poster

since it was the wrong size and all anyways) when I saw it a few months ago.

I have a little trouble with my mouth sometimes, so I pretty much needed it

to help me remember to speak life.

I ordered it right after deciding to embark on this little bathroom project

and it was pretty much the catalyst for the whole 'word art theme' that evolved.

Brandon and I worked together on this, too - we cut the board to size, then sanded and painted.

I spray-glued the print (which was thinner than I'd expected) and stuck it on.

Perfection!

But then I added the floor finish top coat to it, and it all crinkled up.

Which I guess is okay, because it goes with the texture of the background color, 

but I'd have been pretty bummed if the background was solid.

It's hanging over the door, so we can see it every time we leave the bathroom.

Jeremiah said he's just going to read it over and over while he's on the toilet.

Then he'll read the big one. Then go read this one again.

He spends a lot of time on the toilet, so this could be really beneficial ;-)

The shower curtain, which was inspired by this post,
which really sort of inspired the whole makeover in the first place - I think I'm scrapping. 
Not as in - using scraps, scrapping - no, I think I don't really like it.
And I really didn't like working on it.
And I actually kinda like the airy-ness of just the liner.
The impetus of the project - unused.
Weird how that worked out, huh?



I have a 'You are my sunshine' print to hang above the toilet,

and I want to make one of Micah 6:8 to hang between the medicine cabinet and the tub.

I may or may not add more 'words' as time goes by.

The really cool thing about this little project,

besides the fact that the bathroom is definitely much less nasty,

is,

I really love everything we've added, and will most likely use it all in the new house.

plans, good things, and longing fulfilled

Once upon a time, we drew up house plans for fun.

Then we drew up house plans for real.

And eventually,it wasn't fun anymore.

In fact,

it got to where I downright hated it.

Every time we'd work on house plans, I'd get on realtor.com and check craiglist for real estate.

We just couldn't get everything we wanted

- where we wanted it -

in few enough square feet

that we could afford to build.

Three weeks ago, Tyler sent me a text

I wasn't really convinced that that'd be the day we came up with the plan,

but,

not wanting to be a hindrance to God's plan or anything,

I got real serious about coming up with a plan.

I got my jar of water and went outside.

I sat in the shade of the tree we need to cut down because its ugly

and looked at where the house will be and proceeded - to come up empty.

I moved to the shade of a different tree so that I'd be looking at the 'house' from the west,

which is the direction I normally face when I sit at the computer and work on house plans.

(these things matter)

Still nothing.

And kids needed me, so I gave up on having a house by the time Tyler got home....

That night, after we put the kids to bed, Tyler and I sat down at the table.

He 'drove'

(that's what we call it when someone has control of the mouse. 

He has to use a mouse.

  I have advanced enough that I can build a house with the scroll thingies on my Lappy. 

not that I have pride issues or anything ;-)

Anyways.

He put the front of the house 

- which will face north -

at the bottom of the page.

This caused me to be very disoriented;

I always draw the plan as it sits on the property.

North, on my plans, is north as I sit at my desk. North is west on paper (or the computer).

I'm sure you all understand.

Every few minutes I was asking Tyler which direction was what.

He got a little frustrated with me, which helped me to figure out that north,

was south.

Long story short(er)....

as soon as he expanded the dining room (north on paper - south for real, on the property)

I felt like we might really had something to work with.

I was having a problem with the stairs, though.

The flow was all wrong.

To go upstairs when coming in from outside, 

the kids would practically have to go through the whole house.

Tyler had the staircase in the living room, because I always wanted the stairs to be a feature.

I miss our beautiful stairs.

Children Lexi needed tending to, so Tyler went off with a spankin spoon,

and I took over on the computer.

I moved the stairs to where they made more sense

(and where they would no longer be a feature)

He came out and saw what I'd done and said, "I couldn't do that." 

See ~ I had to be the one to give up the pretty staircase; he would never take that from me.

I started to get a little bit excited when we extended the master bath,

thinking  we really might have the plan...

Tyler went to bed and I stayed up a few more hours working on the upstairs.

~

The next day, Tyler called and shared something he'd read that morning from Proverbs 13

and said he really felt like he had permission from God to move forward.

Up 'til that point, there hadn't been peace.

~

I love turning onto our street.

I loved it the first time we drove down it.

I still love it.

That archway!

Here, have another look:

A day or so after we came up with the house plan, as I turned onto our road, and saw my arch,

I thought, 'I am so glad we've come up with a plan. 

I would miss this.'

Then I got to calculating; it had been right about 7 years ago when we found this property.

Seven years.

Ya'll see where I'm going with this?

Freedom. Rest. Ownership....

I'd been wondering what the date was in 2005 when we first laid eyes on this land.

It was a Sunday.

Josiah was a tiny baby; I was still recovering from a c-section.

We spent about a week deciding to make an offer.

Another 3 1/2 weeks to close, once we made the offer.

We closed on July 1st.

This morning, I pulled up an old calendar.

Go look, I'll wait for you.....

May 29th.

Did you notice the date on the text up there?

The day Tyler said, God willing ~ this would be the day we came up with the plan?

May 29th.

Seven years to the date.

Right now, 

it looks as though we have God's blessing to move forward with plans to build.

remember, south on the screen is north on the property.
 That little rectangle off to the left (east) is the LEM -  it'll be my craft room ~ I'm so excited!
The room at the upper right is the mudroom ~ so excited about that, too!
The storage room just below the mudroom is the pantry.
Ignore the freakishly large chairs in our bedroom and the sitting area in the dining room.
 Oh. that hall leading to my craft room? Library! With a sunny window seat!!

The north and south windows are actually dormers (no way to do that in the program that we have)
 so there will be little nooks at all those windows.
The little space labeled 'nook' is a secret room, accessed through the boys' closets.
of course, an architect (anybody know of a reasonably priced good one?) may need to change things up a bit...

yes!!!

Finally!

Ya'll just don't know how long I have hovered

close

to the twenty-five pound mark,

but never quite hitting it.

Today,

finally,

I hit it!

Twenty-five pounds lost!

Still a kazillion to go,

but I somehow have had it in my head that if I could just hit 25,

the next twenty five would be easier (and quicker).

Stupid, I know,

but I'm happy all the same.

I should celebrate!

With like, some chia seeds or something.

completely unrelated, but notable - we had burgers on buns Sunday, on top of having had BLT's on real bread 

Saturday (granted, I had an open-faced sandwich and only 1/2 a bun, but still it was wheat 2 days in a row) 

and I had a headache the entire day yesterday (and maybe even Sunday evening; can't remember) 

that 20 glasses of water didn't even touch. (usually I can get rid of a headache by simply drinking more water...)