handsful

We’ll start with the Before pics…

Wallpaper with big fruit and leaves.  Lovely. 

I had finally had enough.

The During pictures…

adding a coat of Kilz on top of the wallpaper.  We learned the hard way a while back that the wallpaper in this house was put DIRECTLY on the sheetrock.  Taking it down wasn’t an option. 

Lainey painted the area behind our fridge.  She loved painting.

And, my favorite…the After!

Earthy Sage replaces hideous wallpaper.  Ignore the cabinet above the fridge without a door…we got that back on later. 

We’re beyond pleased with how it turned out…I never realized how much I disliked the wallpaper until I saw our kitchen without it!  The room is much more calming now, and so less BUSY!  Yea for us!  :)

The “ick” has hit our house, in the form of the flu.  Ethan is hardest hit, and his asthma makes it even worse.  Marley feels worse today than she did yesterday.  Payton dealt with some nausea and a headache today.  Abbey has some achiness, Lainey has had some digestive issues, and Randy and I have had a headache for two days.  We brought this home from NC, after our kids got together with their 12 cousins.  As of tonight (if I’m counting right), 13 of those 17 cousins have the flu.  Amazing :)

It is a rare Sunday when we come home from church with only the children we took TO church.  Sometimes one of ours goes to a friend’s house, but more often we’re piling extra kids into our truck.  This past Sunday, the boys hit the motherload.  THREE friends!  I just had to get Lainey to pose with them.  All the guys seem to love Lainey, especially the guy in the middle with her….he has her picture in his wallet.  Too cute.  Their favorite thing to do is “high five” or “fist bump” with her – she loves it.  Looks like Lainey has a bunch of big brothers!

This past Saturday, Randy and I celebrated 17 years of marriage.  That sounds like such a long time!  20 seems just around the corner.  We actually began dating in 1985, so we realized that we will have been together a total of 25 years next year.  Gracious! 

Randy surprised me with a slideshow complete with music that he created the night before our anniversary…come to find out, he stayed up ALL night making it.  What a sweetheart.  It was great, and I held back the tears during the whole thing.  The kids loved seeing all the pictures of me as a little girl leading up to us dating, marrying, and having our brood of kids.  It was the best anniversary present EVER. 

The girls decided that our anniversary deserved a cake, so they made this while we were out at a baby shower that day.  Pink frosting, baby blue cake (someone had fun with the food coloring…), the wolf represents Randy’s college (everything always comes back to NC State somehow), and they found a stray “1” candle and added 7 others.  How sweet is that??  We saved the cake until after we all got home from our wonderful steak dinner out.  

 

Why I love him…

He’s my best friend.  I know most everyone says that about their husbands, but he really is.  I prefer an evening spent with my husband over any other option.

 

He makes me laugh all the time…one of the first things I loved about him all those years ago is still true (more so!) today. 

 

He’s generous with the resources that God has blessed him with, and enjoys doing for others – what’s not to love about that? 

 

He’s a fantastic dad, with a great relationship with all the kids.  He balances firm discipline with all-out, crazy fun. 

 

He endures ME!  My constant to-do list suggestions (some would call it nagging, I prefer not to), my simplistic cooking skills, my “how can I handle all this today” rants.  He loves me completely – just as I am – and I can’t say how much that means to me. 

 

He loves Jesus.  As much as his “I can do it all” self tries to push him, he strives to lay it all at God’s feet and accept when things don’t go his way.  And, he’s quick to give God the glory when things do. 

To quote Winona Ryder in Beetlejuice “The man next to me is the one I want.  You asked me.  I’m answering.  Yes, I love that man of mine.”  :)

Such a perfect Lainey expression.  Sweetness and sneakiness, all in one. 

When I read other families blogs – which I love to do – I tend to go to those that blog consistently.  I love reading their stories, seeing what’s new in their lives.  I try really hard to do that here, but I’ve failed pretty miserably lately!  It isn’t that life hasn’t been bloggable.  Randy says I rate our experiences based on how well it would fit into a story here.  heh heh.  It might be true. 

the little gymnast…she started 3 weeks ago and LOVES it. 

I’ve been so consumed lately with getting our homeschool year started, planning for the co-op class I’m teaching, adding back in the kids weekly activities that were off for the summer, dog-sitting (which means trips back and forth to their house daily)…you get the picture.  I’ve barely had my camera out lately at all.  Next week will be even crazier, as we pack for our trip home to NC. 

So, bare with me as I get back into the swing of things, find my rhythm, and learn to get less sleep.  Just kidding about that last one.  I’m the kind of gal who NEEDS sleep.  In the meantime – another picture of L.  She’s a hilarious “poser” lately.  She twists, jumps, makes the goofiest faces – I click and she’s beside me in a flash, having to see the results of her work. 

Next post – pictures of our resident pre-teens and teen.

…your toddler might be up to something.

Notes from my kids MAKE my day… (this one is from EJ)

I didn’t want to be SO predictable and post about the kids 1st day of homeschool :)  Today was our SECOND day and it went really well.  This is my 9th year teaching at home – Abbey began her homeschooling in 2001 when she was 5, the triplets joined the “class” in 2003 (boy was THAT an interesting year…), and Lainey will officially begin in 2011.  I try to avoid thinking of how many years I have left to school …too stressful to consider! 

Seriously, though, I can’t imagine doing it any other way.  There are certainly days when I question my abilities, patience, and strength to get through each day – especially as they grow older, subjects become more difficult, and studies take longer to complete.  But, there are many more GOOD days than bad. 

I am BLESSED to be able to stay home and teach-train-raise our kids with the knowledge and beliefs that WE desire they have.  And, our kids wouldn’t have it any other way. 

The teacher with her future student.  (note to self – try a little eye makeup next time maybe?)

 Lainey, are you excited to do school one day?

I’ll call that a yes. 

And, no, this pic has ZERO to do with the topic of this post – but it’s too darn cute not to include!  Lainey gave lots of lovin’ to Cammie while she was here (we were dog-sitting for friends).  She went home today, and the kids hated to see her go.