Painting

I went to help a great friend, Gina, paint last night. They are building a new house and they are painting it themselves! I actually enjoy painting, so I volunteered to help. I remember how busy we were trying to get our house finished and it was hard to find help. We had so much fun, it didn't feel much like work! We painted until almost midnight! We were both covered in sheetrock dust from sitting on the stairs and bending on our knees to paint near the floor. I had paint on my shirt and pants from touching the walls! Once, Gina and I had stopped painting and were talking and I just leaned my paint roller on my shoulder like it was a baseball or something! Paint all over my shoulder! I accidently stuck the end of my extender rod in the gallon of paint! I almost knocked a hole in the wall several times with said rod! Come to think of it, they're probably hoping I don't come back! :)
Gina, you have a beautiful new home and I know you can't wait to move in! Thanks for letting me help you paint!

It's The Little Things...

I got a new birdbath and I had no idea how much we would enjoy it! The boys and I stand at the door or windows and watch them for what seems like hours! This is our cardinal that seems to enjoy our new offering the most. Such joy God gives us in even the smallest of things!

Look at the birds of the air: they neither

sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet

your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you

not of more value than they? And which

of you by being anxious can add a single

hour to his span of life?

Matthew 6:26-27

Catching Up...

It's been a while. Several people have commented that I haven't blogged in a while. I guess we've just been busy getting back into the groove of things after the holidays. School is back into full swing for us now and that takes up a lot of our time. Pretty much our days consists of breakfast, school, lunch, school, prepare for dinner, tae kwon do, dinner, a little play time and bed. That's about it. I didn't realize how much of a break I needed from it all until this past weekend. Our homeschool moms in our group had a retreat. Wow! That's all I can say. It was amazing! We intentionally did not plan anything, which totally went against human nature for several of us. We did nothing but talk. We played a few games and cooked but mostly just talked. We laughed, we cried, it really was therapeutic. I am sometimes intimidated by the incredible organization of some of our moms. While I do not rejoice in their struggles, it is comforting to know that my struggles are not so abnormal after all; they struggle too.


A few other things I wanted to share:

The boys got life-size cut-outs of Elvis for Christmas (from Nana). They are motion sensored and talk whenever you walk by them. It doesn't matter how many times I walk into their rooms, I am always startled by these things! Lola (our shih tzu) hates them. Anytime she goes into their rooms, she barks and growls and carries on like it is about to attack her or something. It's funny for the first 10 seconds, then it just gets annoying. Thought you might like to see them:



Matthew got the G.I. Blues one:


Tanner got a cowboy Elvis. I'm assuming he played this character in a movie.





Matthew got a grappling hook for Christmas (from Grandma). He loves climbing trees. Well, he got stuck up a little too high the other day and couldn't get down. He yelled for me to help him. I told him to sit tight while I ran for the video recorder! When I got back, Mike was trying to help him down. I recorded the rescue. He was up so high, Mike had to get the ladder to get to him. It was quite entertaining!

Here is one of our cats, Lilly. What could she be staring at?

The boys got a new bird feeder for Christmas!

Lilly sits under this bird feeder all day long! She watches those birds for hours. Thankfully she hasn't caught one yet!

I wanted to share the beautiful view I have each and every time I leave my house now. The neighbors across the highway have moved their horses to the field directly across from our house. We have woods between our house and the highway so I don't get to enjoy them from my porch, but it gives me something to look forward to when I have to head out!

It's Been A While...

My computer crashed two days before Christmas and I just got it back. So Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and Happy Birthday Elvis!

I hope you had a great holiday! Our holiday was quite relaxing this year. I guess it was because of Christmas falling on a Thursday that seemed to spread everything out a little more and we were able to breath a little between trips here and there. We bought the boys Rock Band for the Wii. I should say we bought ourselves Rock Band. Mike and I have enjoyed it as much, if not more, than the boys! I must say, I am quite good on the drums! I got a new video recorder so hopefully I can post videos now (as soon as I get it figured out, that is)!

Our New Year was unusually eventful this year! We always go to a bonfire/cookout thing at a friend's home and everyone usually leaves around 8:30. We then attempt to stay up and watch the ball drop and fall asleep on the couch. This year, we left the bonfire and went to another gathering we were invited to by a couple at church. We stayed there until after 12:30, making it the first in 4 or 5 years that we have actually seen the new year come in!! The new year affects me differently each year. Some years I feel like it is so overrated. Other years I feel like it's a new beginning. This year I was kind of indifferent. I really enjoyed being with our friends when the ball dropped but I haven't made any lists of things to accomplish this year or anything. They never last (for me, anyway).

Last , but not least, today is Elvis' birthday! He would have been 74. I can't imagine what he would look like or be doing today if he were still here.

So, the Christmas tree is down and gone. The new year has gotten underway. School has started back and life is back to normal (whatever that is).