Renovation time!

Decided to do some renovation on the bathrooms - they are all in pretty bad shape. This is the downstairs bathroom before - right now it has a new countertop and no mirror - but it is getting there!

Upstairs bath - before . . . you don't want to see it right now! Floor is gone, mirror is gone, wall is cut into, no drywall around tub - it looks bad!! Gotta look bad before it looks good. So far we have added a new tub and countertop. I'll share more as the work goes on.

Digging in the sand

My in-laws are really cool people. They went to Aurora, NC to dig through piles of sand for . . . shark's teeth! My FIL has an impressive collection of shark's teeth and he found a big assortment this trip. They did a thoughtful and generous thing - they brought home each family a bag of this special sand so we could have our own dig! We spread the paper out a few nights ago and found some very small teeth - it was fun! Thanks Grampy!

Obama is just scary!

Turn off the music before you start the video.

Atlanta City Pass!

My sister and niece came to the recital and stayed the week with us. What a week it has been! We bought Atlanta City Passes and we got it all in except the zoo - which is still to come! We went to the Aquarium, Coke museum, Atlanta Botanical Gardens, CNN and the High Museum of Art. They were all wonderful! We even got in a trip to IKEA. My sister and I are doing the Archivers scrapbook night this weekend. Incredimom blessed me with a gift certificate - she knows me well. It was a blessing my sister is here this week, it would have been a hard week emotionally after the huge weekend. I was very emotional through the finales - and my poor dd was extremely emotional the first 24 hours - it is a big fall from the high you get when you plan and work on something for months and then . . . it is over.

It is done!

It was glorious! The Lord was praised in this awesome recital! The drama team pulled off an excellent story line among tons of beautiful dances done by the classes at The Studio! My dad was there for the first recital and took some awesome pictures - if you want to see more you can check it out! (go to My Child My Princess if the link isn't direct)

A trip to France

My oldest dd is far away - far, far away. She has gone with her college class to France to visit European businesses. She seems happy and having fun! What a lifetime experience! On the bottom picture, she is the last one on the right in the front row. On their studies abroad blog she stated she is having a hard time with the "different" shower stalls - soaking the entire bathroom. I'm sure she'll have it figured out before the trip is over. Have fun and make memories girl!

A little fun

Looking around Etsy, this pretty thing called my name - and I love it! It weighs nothing on my wrist and it makes me so happy!
My friend, Vivian, called this morning to ask if I wanted to go to a pre-garage sale her friend was having. I AM THERE! This friend was selling her mother's things and she had some beautiful things. She had a vintage typewriter that was begging to come home with me - so I called my mom and sure enough, it will be admired at her house!


I am so excited about the 9 glass-topped Ball jars I brought home, they will be fun to fill in my scrapbooking room! One item that caught my attention was the wood bowl, she said her grandmother made biscuits in that bowl. My great-grandmother had a wooden biscuit bowl too. The one I bought today still has biscuit dough stuck to the sides - talk about things telling stories. The old Big Ben wind-up clock reminded me so strongly of my dad's parents, it became an emotional moment holding it. Now it sits in my guest room - a constant reminder of them. How cool to find a whole box of 1965 Coca-Cola matchbook reproductions - repros that are 43 years old? Fun. It has been a stressful week getting ready for the big recital this coming weekend. What a nice and much needed break!

Sweet day

I hope and pray all of you great moms had a wonderful Mother's Day! My family certainly made me feel loved. They gave me a pretty corsage (thanks to the hints from Incredimom), breakfast in bed, lunch out, gifts and cards, a nap and then some ice cream from TCBY. It is nice to be spoiled!

Jitters

I woke up with my stomach in knots! You'd think I was the one flying to France, you'd think I was the one performing in front of hundreds of people! No, it is my daughters! And they are cool as cucumbers but mom is a basket case. My oldest dd is flying out of the country today for 10 days in Europe! My youngest dd performs 2 dances and a major drama role in her recital this coming weekend. All I really have to do is be supportive, calm and collected. NOT! Somehow the role of props chairman became mine - how do you manage to put props out and also help your daughter with her hair, makeup and costumes? Plus, pictures! I want pictures! Calm. Cool. Collected. Smile.

Grabbing up promises from the Lord - here is today's from In Touch Ministries.

Wavering is dangerous, so believers must develop confidence in the Lord. In Mark 11:24, Jesus says, “All things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted you.” The closest we get to perfect faith while on earth is the ability to trust that what we ask in God’s will is as good as done. Yes, DONE!

Praise to the King

Lift up your heads, O gates, And be lifted up, O ancient doors, That the King of glory may come in! Who is the King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, The LORD mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O gates, And lift them up, O ancient doors, That the King of glory may come in! Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, He is the King of glory. Selah.

Psalm 24:7-10

Mother's Day

Mother's Day is this Sunday! Wow. Got an email from The Old Schoolhouse with some great ideas for free cards and crafts for mom. Sweet scrapbooking type card (hoping to get one of these!), fun personalized coupons , and crafty gifts. Happy Mother's Day!

Curriculum Fair!

Adjectives that describe a homeschool curriculum fair: Exhilarating, exciting, fun, frustrating, entertaining, tiring, overwhelming, exasperating, thrilling, awesome, difficult, super, tremendous - yes, overall, it was tremendous! My feet and back are hurting, but it is a good feeling to have all the curriculum purchased for next year and exciting to think about what the year holds. We worked the used book sale so we could shop early and we sold a box of stuff that paid for over half of our purchases. It is all good.

Let me show you some goodies from yesterday:

Some language and supplies for lapbooking.

Some history.

Some science.

OK, this- was- exciting. Steve Demme, the man behind Math-U-See was there! My dd watches his videos with her curriculum and she laughs and enjoys his lessons so much - it was pretty cool to see him in person. He gave her a $5 Turkey paper bill, he had just been there teaching missionary homeschool families! He was a joy to talk to - an unexpected great memory of the day. My oldest dd used his math all through elementary school and jr. high and was able to skip Algebra I and advance to Geometry her freshman year of high school and first year in a private school! Needless to say, I am loyal to MUS!

Some extra learning fun stuff.

Stuff for mom to read. Hey, I need stuff too! :)

A promise

The other day I had an opportunity to go through an antique mall. I hadn't taken more than 10 steps into the mall when I saw this little jewel, a 1935 Royal Typewriter. And at a very good price! It had its original case and still works! I absolutely love, I know - straaange, old typewriter keys. When I see them on bracelets as charms it justs makes me melt. Anyway - the whole typewriter is now mine to post a great quote or just admire. Ahhh.

The quote is perfect too - life seems to be pretty heavy right now - but I see God's hand in every part of it. It is so easy to get weighted down with the nitty gritty of life and not see the big picture or the completion of part of God's work in our lives. My sister and minister husband are taking on a huge new adventure, a great leap of faith - but hearing the details, the little things that show God's nod of approval on this bold step - that is so huge, so promising. Worry can do so much damage, faith in God protects us from the damage.