Do It Yourself Projects

Allen & I have embarked on the adventure of a lifetime! We laid new floors in the boys rooms several weeks ago and then we laid them in the living room & dining room.
We also had the house painted on the inside and got new carpet on the stairs, landing & master bedroom. More pictures will be coming!


Dining Room.

Dining room chair that I recovered. My Mom picked out the fabric. It's beautiful & best of all ... Allen likes it! I did not think he would - but he does!

View of the living room & dining room.

We turned the living room into an office room. Complete with three desks & three computers. We really brought new life to this unused space. Best of all, Ben gets his own room & I can have the computers in the open and not be so worried about the boys getting into trouble googling things they should not be!

Biggest Job of all... new banister! Allen & I stripped the white wash banister down to the bare wood and sanded & stained. It was a huge job. A 'professional' quoted us $4,000 to do the job. We are pretty smitten that it cost us about $50 and about 100 hours of work... but the end result is beautiful! You can see the new carpet too. It's really plush and pretty! The mirror on the stairs was a great find from TJ Maxx for $60. I was happy with that too!

A Father

The following was read at my Dad's memorial service three years ago. I just found it and wanted to share again... There isn't a day that goes by that I don't think about Dad and wish I could have had one more day with him.

A Father by Henry Paul Harvey

A father is a thing that is forced to endure childbirth without anesthesia ... A father is a thing that growls when it feels good... and laughs loud when it's scared half to death.

A father never feels worthy of worship in a child's eyes. He's never quite the hero his daughter thinks ... never quite the man his son believes him to be and that worries him sometimes... so he works too hard to try to smooth the rough places in the road for those of his own who will follow him.

A father is a thing that gets very angry when the first school grades aren't as good as he thnks they should be. He scolds his son... though he knows it's the teacher's fault.

Father's are what gives daughters away to other men who aren't nearly good enough ... so they can have grandchildren who are smarter than anybody's.

Father's make bets with insurance companies about who will live the longest. One day the lose... and bet is paid off to the part of them they leave behind.

I don't know... where a father goes... when he dies. But I've an idea that after a good rest... wherever it is... he won't just sit on a cloud and wait for the girl he's loved and the children she bore... He'll be busy there, too... repairing the stairs... oiling the gate, improving the streets... smoothing the way.

Happy Birthday to Joanne!

Today is my sister-in-law Joanne's birthday!

Happy Birthday Joanne!
I hope all of your birthday wishes come true!

Munchkin

Ben auditioned to be a munchkin in the high school production of OZ!
He was selected! Rehearsals will begin soon and he is SOOO Excited!
We can't believe he was selected... and we are excited to see how he likes doing drama with someone different!

Happy Birthday to My Dad

Today would have been my Dad's 77th birthday.
I miss him every single day.

Winter Camp

Allen took Daniel to winter camp. Allen's last winter camp in Indian Guides.
He has been in the program for 9 years. I can't believe it's all coming to a close.

They had a fantastic time.
Tons of snow and tons of fun.
I am hopeful I can find pictures from someone!

A-ha Moment

I was picking up the boys from religious school the other day. I had an A-ha moment. I went in for the end service of the day.
4th graders standing on one side; 6th graders standing on the other.
I saw my boys life rushing past them. The 6th graders are turning into young men right before my eyes. I can't stand it.
I can't believe my son that I love with all of my heart and soul is now taller then me and has bigger feet then me and is changing more and more every day.

I relish the time I have with him; I know life goes by fast; but I didn't realize how fast until I became a mom.

Life With Kids

I found this wonderful video on YouTube! It's amazing what you can find there!

It makes me remember all of the reasons why I had kids!

Label Daddy Winner!

My boys picked our winner!
Congratulations to:

JT42 said...

with 4 kids i could totally use the combo pack!! ;D but if i were to choose one it would be the small all purpose label.
what a great giveaway!

January 26, 2009 9:22 PM

For winning the $50 gift certificate to www.labeldaddy.com.

Email me your address and Label Daddy will send you your gift certificate!
Thanks for entering!