Saturday, August 29, 2009
more photos
We love the space--- even when we have to mow it!
This is Meg's favorite thing! All she wanted was a home with a swing set. She is very happy.
kitchen
I love the cabinets and counter space in our kitchen! So does Sam. He likes to cook like me. I think we will love baking Christmas cookies here this year!
our home #2
We still need to paint, but we'll get to that this winter. We were ready to just move in and get settled. We figured we had plenty of time to figure out what we wanted to do with colors. These are my school room.
this is the supply cart. I can roll it out of the way to use the white boards behind it. I will hang the lower one for my youngest daughter to reach it.
The bookshelf straight ahead is used for our current materials. We will definitely fill it up. I also have a bookshelf I'm using for scrapbook supplies. The kids love to sit at the table and do crafts, make cards, color, do puzzles, sew or whatever else they can think of. I wasn't sure how it would work in the room, but it's been the perfect addition!
Our home #1
I thought I would put a few pictures of our home on here. What a blessing it has been. It's so good to feel settled and feel like we're finally "home". This has been a wild year of transition. Several years, actually. (I'll post several times with various pictures.)
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Pool care for dummies (aka John and Me)
Well, we have this wonderful house that happened to come with an above-ground pool.
Great! Beautiful sparkling clear water, fun for the kids on a hot afternoon, you get the idea. I'm envisioning picnic lunches outside on the deck, laughter ringing throughout the yard......
Then reality hits........how in the world do you take care of a pool?!?!
The previous owners told us what to do, we called a few friends with pools, etc. It can't be that bad, right?
WRONG! (I'm definitely a visual learner and need to see it!)
We've had it off limits since Saturday because of algae. It all started after Levi's birthday party when all the kids jumped in and out and we got tons of grass in it. That was another brilliant move on our part--- do NOT cut the grass right before a swimming party and leave grass clippings all over the yard! Over the next week the water got less clear each day. We shocked it several times, put the algaecide in it, you name it. The water cleared up, but I couldn't get the dead stuff off of the bottom for anything. Then of course, the algaecide level caused foaming. Foaming caused mirky, nasty junk skimming the surface in a huge ring. Not pretty.
I told John we were finally going to have to get someone over here who has a clue what they're doing. He agreed. Then last night I googled some more info and saw some short informational videos put out by a lady who owns a pool company. She showed everything step-by-step and explained it all in detail.
My ph levels and chlorine levels have been fine, I've been doing everything right as I watched a "pro" do it and ........then I saw it. The BIG mistake. I won't even tell you or you would laugh soooooooooo hard. Let's just say the vaccuum was hooked up wrong. duh!!! So it really hadn't been vaccuumed in 3 weeks!!! aghhh!
Ok, so maybe I'm wearing the big "L" on my forehead today.
There is a happy ending though..........
After thinking about my big goof-up (which John told me to do, by the way--- hey, do you really think I want all the credit for that one????) I got up at 5 a.m. and hit the pool around 6. I was armed and ready.
By 7:15 the pool bottom was clean, the foam and scum were gone, and the water was clear. woohoo!
I just might be able to do this after all!
(and the embarrassing thing is that it was so easy)
It's kind of like being thrown into the pool and sink or swim, only this time it's "here's a pool---- care for it or destroy it" I guess I learned the hard way.
Oh, and we took care of the grass problem. We got a push mower with a bag for inside of the fenced area. No more grass clippings during pool season for us!!! We'll mulch it the rest of the year and won't use the bag. Now I have a great compost pile going out back. I can't wait for my garden next year!!!
Great! Beautiful sparkling clear water, fun for the kids on a hot afternoon, you get the idea. I'm envisioning picnic lunches outside on the deck, laughter ringing throughout the yard......
Then reality hits........how in the world do you take care of a pool?!?!
The previous owners told us what to do, we called a few friends with pools, etc. It can't be that bad, right?
WRONG! (I'm definitely a visual learner and need to see it!)
We've had it off limits since Saturday because of algae. It all started after Levi's birthday party when all the kids jumped in and out and we got tons of grass in it. That was another brilliant move on our part--- do NOT cut the grass right before a swimming party and leave grass clippings all over the yard! Over the next week the water got less clear each day. We shocked it several times, put the algaecide in it, you name it. The water cleared up, but I couldn't get the dead stuff off of the bottom for anything. Then of course, the algaecide level caused foaming. Foaming caused mirky, nasty junk skimming the surface in a huge ring. Not pretty.
I told John we were finally going to have to get someone over here who has a clue what they're doing. He agreed. Then last night I googled some more info and saw some short informational videos put out by a lady who owns a pool company. She showed everything step-by-step and explained it all in detail.
My ph levels and chlorine levels have been fine, I've been doing everything right as I watched a "pro" do it and ........then I saw it. The BIG mistake. I won't even tell you or you would laugh soooooooooo hard. Let's just say the vaccuum was hooked up wrong. duh!!! So it really hadn't been vaccuumed in 3 weeks!!! aghhh!
Ok, so maybe I'm wearing the big "L" on my forehead today.
There is a happy ending though..........
After thinking about my big goof-up (which John told me to do, by the way--- hey, do you really think I want all the credit for that one????) I got up at 5 a.m. and hit the pool around 6. I was armed and ready.
By 7:15 the pool bottom was clean, the foam and scum were gone, and the water was clear. woohoo!
I just might be able to do this after all!
(and the embarrassing thing is that it was so easy)
It's kind of like being thrown into the pool and sink or swim, only this time it's "here's a pool---- care for it or destroy it" I guess I learned the hard way.
Oh, and we took care of the grass problem. We got a push mower with a bag for inside of the fenced area. No more grass clippings during pool season for us!!! We'll mulch it the rest of the year and won't use the bag. Now I have a great compost pile going out back. I can't wait for my garden next year!!!
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Life is starting to feel normal
It feels soooooo good to have a home again and to get our life kind of settled down. (Don't come look in my garage at the boxes or suitcases piled in there--- I'll get into those later this week.)
I've enjoyed a few days of nothing house related. It has been nice to just make meals and do normal day-to-day things. (That meant 3 hours of grocery shopping and running errands Monday and 3 hours sitting in a doctor's office yesterday.)
I love to plan out my meals in advance and have them listed on the refrigerator. I have missed cooking and having a normal meal time. We ate enough sandwhiches over the past few weeks that the kids have requested no more for a while. :)
Last night I made them a chicken casserole, homemade bread, tossed salad with mandarin oranges, bacon and almond in it with homemade poppy seed dressing and a chocolate pie for dessert. They liked it. It smelled great! Faith tried the dressing and said she wants to try it on hamburgers. (I think I agree!)
It's actually feeling like home and we may even have a routine going soon. : ) I'm definitely ready for that. For today........I think it's back to boxes.
I've enjoyed a few days of nothing house related. It has been nice to just make meals and do normal day-to-day things. (That meant 3 hours of grocery shopping and running errands Monday and 3 hours sitting in a doctor's office yesterday.)
I love to plan out my meals in advance and have them listed on the refrigerator. I have missed cooking and having a normal meal time. We ate enough sandwhiches over the past few weeks that the kids have requested no more for a while. :)
Last night I made them a chicken casserole, homemade bread, tossed salad with mandarin oranges, bacon and almond in it with homemade poppy seed dressing and a chocolate pie for dessert. They liked it. It smelled great! Faith tried the dressing and said she wants to try it on hamburgers. (I think I agree!)
It's actually feeling like home and we may even have a routine going soon. : ) I'm definitely ready for that. For today........I think it's back to boxes.
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Our home
I don't have any photos yet, but I wanted to give a little update on the home God provided for us. it was a long process (!!!) and we actually tried to get several other homes, but something weird always happened. (back taxes owed by owners or something that would take a really long time and make it difficult to buy it) In the end, we ended up with the perfect home for our family.
It amazes me to think that we "own" a home again. Well, I guess technically the bank does for quite a few years.......lol. We sold our home 9 years ago to go to seminary and then on to the mission field. I never dreamed we would one day be back and have a home of our own again. I guess it's a little bittersweet too, because the reality is that we're no longer on the field. We have a "new field" now and it's here in the States.
God gave us the perfect home. We have 5 children and one on the way (through adoption). You know how it is when you're looking---- you have your dream list of what you'd like a home to have and then the reality list. Well, this home hit pretty much everything on my dream list.
It's an older home with a central hallway floorplan, so it doesn't have a huge greatroom or walk-in closets or bathrooms with big soaker tubs or whirlpools...........but........
It is a 24 year old house that has been completely remodeled inside and out in the past 2-1/2 years. It has 5 bedrooms (!!!), 3-1/2 baths, a 2-car oversized garage, lots of storage, a finished basement, almost 2 acres of flat land that is cleared off and perfect for the kids, an above ground pool, a playset and partially fenced yard around that and the pool, and tons of room for parking. The kids love it! The street is a dead end and they can ride bikes or scooters outside safely.
The bedrooms are all "official" bedrooms because the 2 downstairs have windows and closets in them. The kitchen is beautiful and very modern. I have 14 drawers and 21 cabinets in the kitchen and counterspace on all 4 sides. Sam and I love to cook, so even he said that he wanted a kitchen with room to cook in it. He got his wish! I have a double oven too. woohoo!
There is plenty of room for our family to grow here. I imagine we will have lots of kids hanging out here over the years. We already had 2 parties and have tested it out. lol It's perfect for sleepovers!
Now that we have our home, we can finish our adoption home study and the last few things on our checklist. I wonder if Carmen will remember us? Speaking of "my girls"..... Marisol's family had to back out of her adoption process. She is so precious. I wish..........
It brought tears to my eyes when we actually got this house. I figured we would buy a fixer-upper and then take years to make it comfy. God is so good. He provided above and beyond anything I ever dreamed we would find.
Our church has been so wonderful. They even showered us with gifts. That was an embarrassing story all in itself, but it was a true blessing. (The people who organized it asked me to go register--- well, kind of more like, "it's in the bulletin that you're registered at these places". If you know me, that is so "un-me".) God has provided over and over the many needs we have had as we moved.
We did not bring our beds or living room furniture or anything like that back. It has been so neat to see how God has pieced that together for us. He has provided every single thing we need. Even the week we were moving, I was short one twin bed still. I had bought one for Meg from someone, but I knew I would have to replace the mattress eventually. The people we were buying the home from called our agent asking if we would be interested in 2 twin beds and a refrigerator they had in the basement. She asked how much and they said they just wanted to give them to us! When we got here, I wanted to cry. The mattresses and boxsprings were like new! I doubt their children used them long at all. And a 2nd refrigerator was not a true NEED, but definitely on my wishlist for down the road. It helps with a large family. I can keep extra milk and such around. yeah! God never ceases to amaze me.
There's more to the story but I won't bore you with it right now. Let's just say that over and over again, God continues to provide exactly what we NEED, exactly when we need it.
Now I'm praying for our adoption process. It's been kind of on the back burner during the housing hunt/delay. Now it's "real". We have to put down all of the money and make the major leap of faith and committment. I am praying for clarity and wisdom in our decisions so that we DO NOT DO anything that is NOT led by God. Would you pray for us in this process? It will be a small miracle to bring our princess home. It's been one of those things "in the future..." or "one day...." but now that day has come. We need to hurry with the process now to get her home this fall. The process is long for international adoptions and there is a lot of red tape. I'll give an update on that later.
Well, off to clean my new house.
(I guess the fun has to wear off sometime, right?)
It amazes me to think that we "own" a home again. Well, I guess technically the bank does for quite a few years.......lol. We sold our home 9 years ago to go to seminary and then on to the mission field. I never dreamed we would one day be back and have a home of our own again. I guess it's a little bittersweet too, because the reality is that we're no longer on the field. We have a "new field" now and it's here in the States.
God gave us the perfect home. We have 5 children and one on the way (through adoption). You know how it is when you're looking---- you have your dream list of what you'd like a home to have and then the reality list. Well, this home hit pretty much everything on my dream list.
It's an older home with a central hallway floorplan, so it doesn't have a huge greatroom or walk-in closets or bathrooms with big soaker tubs or whirlpools...........but........
It is a 24 year old house that has been completely remodeled inside and out in the past 2-1/2 years. It has 5 bedrooms (!!!), 3-1/2 baths, a 2-car oversized garage, lots of storage, a finished basement, almost 2 acres of flat land that is cleared off and perfect for the kids, an above ground pool, a playset and partially fenced yard around that and the pool, and tons of room for parking. The kids love it! The street is a dead end and they can ride bikes or scooters outside safely.
The bedrooms are all "official" bedrooms because the 2 downstairs have windows and closets in them. The kitchen is beautiful and very modern. I have 14 drawers and 21 cabinets in the kitchen and counterspace on all 4 sides. Sam and I love to cook, so even he said that he wanted a kitchen with room to cook in it. He got his wish! I have a double oven too. woohoo!
There is plenty of room for our family to grow here. I imagine we will have lots of kids hanging out here over the years. We already had 2 parties and have tested it out. lol It's perfect for sleepovers!
Now that we have our home, we can finish our adoption home study and the last few things on our checklist. I wonder if Carmen will remember us? Speaking of "my girls"..... Marisol's family had to back out of her adoption process. She is so precious. I wish..........
It brought tears to my eyes when we actually got this house. I figured we would buy a fixer-upper and then take years to make it comfy. God is so good. He provided above and beyond anything I ever dreamed we would find.
Our church has been so wonderful. They even showered us with gifts. That was an embarrassing story all in itself, but it was a true blessing. (The people who organized it asked me to go register--- well, kind of more like, "it's in the bulletin that you're registered at these places". If you know me, that is so "un-me".) God has provided over and over the many needs we have had as we moved.
We did not bring our beds or living room furniture or anything like that back. It has been so neat to see how God has pieced that together for us. He has provided every single thing we need. Even the week we were moving, I was short one twin bed still. I had bought one for Meg from someone, but I knew I would have to replace the mattress eventually. The people we were buying the home from called our agent asking if we would be interested in 2 twin beds and a refrigerator they had in the basement. She asked how much and they said they just wanted to give them to us! When we got here, I wanted to cry. The mattresses and boxsprings were like new! I doubt their children used them long at all. And a 2nd refrigerator was not a true NEED, but definitely on my wishlist for down the road. It helps with a large family. I can keep extra milk and such around. yeah! God never ceases to amaze me.
There's more to the story but I won't bore you with it right now. Let's just say that over and over again, God continues to provide exactly what we NEED, exactly when we need it.
Now I'm praying for our adoption process. It's been kind of on the back burner during the housing hunt/delay. Now it's "real". We have to put down all of the money and make the major leap of faith and committment. I am praying for clarity and wisdom in our decisions so that we DO NOT DO anything that is NOT led by God. Would you pray for us in this process? It will be a small miracle to bring our princess home. It's been one of those things "in the future..." or "one day...." but now that day has come. We need to hurry with the process now to get her home this fall. The process is long for international adoptions and there is a lot of red tape. I'll give an update on that later.
Well, off to clean my new house.
(I guess the fun has to wear off sometime, right?)
Monday, August 3, 2009
I'm back!!!
We are FINALLY back online and in a home! woohoo!!!
I was beginning to wonder if it would ever happen.
I will post later today about how God blessed us with a wonderful home and how He has continued to provide over and over again for all of our needs.
The kids love it here. So do the dogs. We even got a new kitten. Ike named him "Andy". I'm not sure why. So, Andy is a big hit. Even the dogs think he's pretty cool. Of course, it took Nessy a few days to realize he's not a rabbit and for her to stop shaking from excitement because she wanted to chase him soooooooo badly! She chewed on his head a few times and nipped at him all over. After about 3 days, Andy played with her when she did that. They get along great now.
I am crazy with boxes right now. Yuck Yuck Yuck!!!
I hope to be finished this week. I wonderf if some of the things in the garage will ever get unpacked. Have you ever wanted to just leave it in the box and haul it off without looking at what's inside? lol
I love our new home and can't wait to see how God will use it for ministry opportunities.
more later...........
I was beginning to wonder if it would ever happen.
I will post later today about how God blessed us with a wonderful home and how He has continued to provide over and over again for all of our needs.
The kids love it here. So do the dogs. We even got a new kitten. Ike named him "Andy". I'm not sure why. So, Andy is a big hit. Even the dogs think he's pretty cool. Of course, it took Nessy a few days to realize he's not a rabbit and for her to stop shaking from excitement because she wanted to chase him soooooooo badly! She chewed on his head a few times and nipped at him all over. After about 3 days, Andy played with her when she did that. They get along great now.
I am crazy with boxes right now. Yuck Yuck Yuck!!!
I hope to be finished this week. I wonderf if some of the things in the garage will ever get unpacked. Have you ever wanted to just leave it in the box and haul it off without looking at what's inside? lol
I love our new home and can't wait to see how God will use it for ministry opportunities.
more later...........
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