Time to come home **UPDATED**

**PTL! She's coming home tonight :)
thanks again to everyone for praying!!

Can I ask for a few extra prayers to be sent up for the little one today...
Her mommy and daddy would love to bring her home,
but until she starts drinking, she can't.
She's also over-tired as she hasn't been able to sleep much - I think
being in her own home minus an IV....will do wonders
You can read more on her mommy's blog,
but just need those prayers... thanks

Nana

This little one...

is as cute as can be,
and has already had a few milestones ...

...she made it through those first few teeth,
celebrated the big "1",
mastered the 'walk' (? wiggle) ...

and has proven to be a real trooper
having had her first (hopefully only) surgery

and, though she was feeling pretty lousy,
her eyes lit up when big brother walked in the room
and she gave him a smile :)

We're thankful for God's protection over her!

Please continue to pray for her recovery

Nana & Papa

What I didn't say, was...

I don't want to complain...not here, in front of everyone.
I'd rather you don't see that side of me and so, I'll save it for
...hmmm, who? - the one(s) I love??

But, if I did... I wanted to say...
~ this reno stuff is just too much and I'm... well... T.I.R.E.D.
~ please, can we move now?

I was gonna complain that...
~ I'm lousy at forever camping and I don't wanna anymore

and...
~ though I really have enjoyed washing all those dishes by hand,
and they're cleaner than any dishwasher could get them,
c'mon - it's forever since we tore out the old kitchen and, well...
I'm so DONE with fetching water from the tub!

I even wanted to wait...
~ to celebrate Thanksgiving 'cause I just did't feel like bathing with
the turkey, so it could get a rinse too...GROSS!!

I've been tempted to...
~ no denying it here...GRUMBLE

Instead... I should have remembered
and been thankful for this...

the hard work that began over a year ago

and, this...
helping hands that have been there over,

...and, over

and, this...
the valuable apprenticing that has happened
along the way

Just when...I was feeling ashamedly un-thankful...
this happened

look a little closer...

I have a SINK...a shiny new kitchen sink!!
AND
a bathroom sink

Thanks to our amazing friend/plumber!

Now, I can say goodbye to this...

and have a little more time for this...

I really AM thankful...forgive me, Lord!

A little lovin'

It's been so much fun to watch the little ones lately,

how they're growing..
how they interact with each other and especially with us :)

Here's just a little glimpse :)

always thinking

always movin'

two bundles of energy entertaining a very
tired mommy after a Youth Lock-In

enjoying the 'ride'

playing 'peek-a-boo'

giving grandpa some lovin' too..

and here's a little clip
I managed to catch the other day of
two of the little sweeties learning to 'share'?
I was glad I had the camera close by ...

O Lord, please grant that we may enjoy many more
of these precious moments!!

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Down to the crunch...**UPDATED PICS**

First of all, I have to apologize that I haven't posted pictures of the renos lately...my camera batteries are dead and I've put the recharger in a 'safe' place - but where exactly that is, I can't remember right now...so, not many pictures to speak of. Many things are displaced with the kit/DR areas being mostly cleared out. So, I can post a partial picture of the bathroom which I had already downloaded previously. The **tiling is not done in these photos, but it's the best I can give right now (sorry Kathy). Maybe I'll go pick up some other batteries to use until I find the charger. (**UPDATE - I picked up another battery charger - one we can also use in the vehicle...so here are a couple of better pics of the bathroom, with tiles done)

I love the paint colour (it's a greenish-brown)
and I wasn't sure at first about not having the listelli
trim around the top (long story - they were damaged & returned),
but I like it just the way it is.
We also did cork flooring, which I LOVE - it's warm!
the opposite wall, where the vanity will go..
and, you can't see it, but there's a shower to the left of the tub

OK...on to the issue at hand. We have really got to decide on our flooring NOW because the cupboards are coming in less than 2 weeks...but I am having trouble making that decision. We like the idea of bamboo (thinking 'green') and perhaps that's what we should do...because it is a real wood product, it's warmer that laminate. On the other hand, laminate is so durable and will stand up for years to come. Just one example...as hubby was putting up the door frame in the new bathroom, the phone rang. Thinking it was secure, he reached for the phone and the frame pieces parted ways and came crashing down on the adjacent bedroom laminate floor, nails down....not a mark! Impressive!! However, the look and warmth of the bamboo is alluring.
Then, I'm not sure what to do on the stairs, which go down off the main entrance. We'd love to follow through with bamboo on the stairs as well, but it's so hard should a little one take a tumble. Any suggestions here? We would do carpet down the stairs, but the carpeting at the bottom of the stairs is almost 10 years old (clearly visible from entrance) and would be difficult to match up...AND we don't want to replace downstairs carpeting right now. What to do....any suggestions?

What's going on?

There's definitely something going on...is it me? or my computer? ...WHAT?
Somehow I've (or someone else?) managed to erase all my bookmarks!!
And I wasn't trying to empathize with Stacey either.

You gotta understand I probably had in excess of a hundred (my son would say more) bookmarks, all marked and categorized for future reference...
..sites with fabulous recipes, home reno pages,
wonderful sites I go to for encouragement and uplifting, friends blogs,
gardening sites...Oh I'll miss that one!!...and the list goes on.
Some days I get so frustrated that I don't know more about these
"metal boxes". Honestly, I know I'd know if a prompt came up
and said, "Are you sure you want to delete all your bookmarks?"
Anyone else experience this?...maybe there's some sinister internal
program on this computer that says....'let's hide all the bookmarks
once they look too organized'

Well, there's no time now to try to fix this...so I guess I'll be starting from scratch.

Oh, and there's one more thing...why is it when I think I've got a
post ready and then go to post it...it's all re-spaced?
Can anyone tell me how to fix the margins
so that the way the post looks whilst I'm typing is the way
it actually comes out in the end??

In the meantime....we are painting....wish me luck!

17 Already!??

Where has the time gone?

How did we get from here...
(being the little guy with the guitar)

to here...
(being a hero for the little guy with the guitar)

Happy 17th Dustin!
Even though you don't hear us
say it often enough
...you know we're very proud of you.

Always choose to use your talents to honour
your heavenly Father...

It'll be exciting to see where He leads you!


Love,
Mom & Dad

Rainy Day Monday

Today... we were blessed with some much needed rain...

...what I really wanted to do was just stand outside
with my face to the rain and, just for a little while...
forget about all the cares and silly things on my "to do" list

But, since I didn't feel like re-drying my hair, (vanity? no.. lazy!),
I held back and opted to do some much needed baking
Ok, I'm not sure I really needed these, but lately have been craving them!!


I was also craving the smell of fresh-from-the-oven multi-grain bread,
which would have been so wonderful with some homemade soup...
but ended up with these and some homemade pizza instead

Sounds crazy... but I was disappointed in myself at the end of the day.

Next time....I WILL go stand out in the rain til I'm soaked to the bone
and maybe, if I'm lucky, there'll be a special someone home
to enjoy the moment with me :)

Thank you, Lord, for the rain!

Reno Update

Well, I know many of you have been patiently waiting for some
word on how our renos are coming along. It's been a long,
slow process - for a long time our attention was needed elsewhere
...on things that were much more important than two-by-fours,
bathroom fixtures and paint colours...

BUT ..
we're finally back at it!

So...where are we now???

- the bathroom is waiting for tiles and the final plumber visit
(Dustin has been using the shower although there is no door)

- some finishing work to do on the mudding throughout kit/DR

- the old ceiling has to be fixed and spiffied up for the texturing
(remember the old 'stipple' - that came off)

...then I can paint...the colours are waiting! YAYYY

- we took the plunge and tore out the old cupboards this week
even though the new ones aren't ready until September..
.. so I'll be learning to live with minimal dishes/accessories
and washing all the dishes by hand (no dishwasher after today)

getting ready to remove the old cupboards

temporary new location for a few of them

our "new" diningroom for the next several weeks

- we finally accepted the fact that there will be too many issues in
repairing the old floor and so the decision has been made to
tear out only one layer of subfloor (there are two, and who knows
how many floors have been put into this house over the years)
...here's a little hint

all these layers of flooring were underneath
our cupboards (5 visible)

anyway...that's all I can share for now
gotta go help do some demolition since dh's back is
not doing good - SCARY!!!

Another little milestone

Bria turns the big 'ONE' today

Happy Birthday cutie-pie!!!

Hurry back home so we can celebrate :)

Huggs and kisses from Nana & Papa

Celebrations!!

A very special little boy turned "3" today

One who makes us smile . . .


one who never ceases to amaze us . . .



one who makes us wonder . . .

how we got so blessed

to be called grandparents...

We love you little buddy!!

GUESS WHO'S ONE TODAY

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SELAH!!

Can't wait to see

who God shapes you to be..

..keep Smilin' Sweetie!!

Love,
Nana & Papa