365Project.2013 | Week 26

I ought to be in bed, but I've enjoyed going through my pictures, so I'm going to share them this evening morning ... ;)

 

Day 178. Along with many, many others, we've been blessed with an abundance of rain. The storms were particularly intense while we were trying to pack for vacation, and our quiet little creek once again overflowed its banks. Thankfully, our stone bank continues to hold, but it definitely made for an interesting evening. Especially when a car with four passengers hydroplaned and stopped with two of its wheels off the bank. Praise the Lord, no one was hurt.

 

Note to self anyone who will listen. Do NOT drive through running water.

 

 

Day 179. Very. Long. Car. Trip.

Matthew's budding coloring skills ...

A beautiful rainbow ... after more rain. :)

Ready for some shut-eye. We got in about 5-minutes till midnight. SO glad to pull into G&G's driveway! (And so thankful they were willing to wait up for us ... and then get up with the kids at 7:00 the next morning!!!!)

Day 180. Enjoying some treats at the local ice cream shop. :) This is probably my favorite picture of all of vacation ... LOVE this picture of my Dad!!! ♥

Thomas showed up in NY, too! :) (Matthew was making whistle noises.) ;)

Day 181. Practicing on Grandma's piano ...

Day 182. The cousins enjoyed spending time together ... "painting" the swing set, playing Qwirkle, hop scotch in the garage, and during a break in the rain ... bubbles!!

:: Matthew, age 3 ::

 

 :: Bryce, age 4 ::

:: Peter, age 6 ::

 

 :: Sam, age 6 ::

:: Hannah, age 8 ::

Day 183. We thoroughly enjoyed getting to visit with Great Grandma and Grandpa ... even though their pool water was a bit cooler than ours in SC. :)

Great Grandma's flower gardens were filled with beautiful blooms! :)

Day 184. Cousins on the Stair Steps! :)

While the kids played in the sprinkler, the adults worked played in the yard for much of the day. (Good fellowship makes everything more enjoyable!) There were quite a few trees in need of a good pruning and many hands make light work. Matthew figured he'd bring proof of having earned a sit down break. ;)

Day 185. This carousel has been ridden by three generations! Not only did I ride it as a child in this same location, but Grandpa rode it in a local park before it was moved to the mall!

And then we headed to the ropes course ...
Grandpa LOVED it ...

 Chris and Peter LOVED it ...

Hannah LOVED it ...

Mommy wanted to love it.

But in reality, she had to keep reminding herself, "This is supposed to be fun ..." as she sucked up enough courage to cross each swinging section of rope and wood, continually muttering under her breath "just keep moving, just keep moving, just keep moving" and wondering in amazement how on earth her kids were running around up there as if they were in the backyard?!?!?

And then ... I got stuck. The little ball-bearing that's supposed to glide along with you so smoothly got STUCK. S.T.U.C.K. As in, would. not. move. So there I was. WAY too far above the ground. And I could. not. move. forward. Going forward was hard enough. But standing still???? So. Much. Worse. And how. on. earth. are you supposed to go backwards!?!?! And let go of the rope so I could shake it lose???? NO. THANK. YOU. Thankfully, my hubby happened to be somewhat nearby and after at least ten minutes was able to help me get back to the edge. I immediately made my way off the course and will very happily keep Grandma and the camera company on all future expeditions.

Day 186. Time flies when you're having fun! Already it was time to head home, but G&G were able to start our journey with us as we made a quick visit to Steam Town in Scranton, PA. Definitely a huge hit for our train loving family!

Seeing one of the eight Big Boys still in existence was definitely a huge highlight of the day! :)

Day 187. We spent Friday night in one of the last hotel rooms for an hour north or south of our location, and then made the rest of our way home on Saturday. We were welcomed by some rather large squash ...

And now, we're getting settled back into our "normal" routine ...

Houston, we have carpet.

And it is most definitely not a problem!!
Totally excited around here! :D

 

Thought I'd share the results of our carpet installation before we make tracks for points north ...

 

Wee hours of the morning, pre-installation:

 

Hand prints for posterity ...

The Supervisors ...

Finished product ... SO E.X.C.I.T.E.D!!!! :D

Hannah's room ... in case you were wondering, carpet is an excellent surface for somersaults! :)

 And the boys' room ...

 

I should probably have taken a close-up picture, but the den and stairwell are a speckly neutral/gray/taupe berber. The kids' rooms are a charcoal color--both very pretty, and really not done justice by the camera/lighting. :)

365Project.2013 | Weeks 22–25

Yes. Four weeks. In one post. Why? Because these last four weeks have been crammed full to the brim and at this point I am honestly just about exhausted and if I didn't post them all at once, I probably wouldn't post them at all, since on top of everything else, carpet gets installed tomorrow and we leave for vacation in 54 53 hours. So. Enjoy yet another whirlwind. :)

 

Day 147. Concurrent activities in our household of five? Spray painting, lawn mowing, napping, and sprinkler playing. If I had my druthers, I'd take a nap, but in order to keep my hubby moving forward in the basement, I undertook the yard. It's rather bumpy. And I've now mowed it twice and have managed to break something (thankfully, fixable) both times I've taken the job. I think my hubby will be glad for the basement project to be done so that he can mow the yard again and preserve the lawn mower. ;) Hannah and Peter were most definitely happily occupied. :)

Day 148. "Can I play, too, Daddy?"  Can you? Not really. May you? Gladly. :)

Day 149. Over the course of about three days, we strategically placed the rocks Peter had gathered a week or so earlier to finish our landscaping edging. We priced rocks from a lawn & garden center ... something in the neighborhood of $200. Definitely worth the time and effort to collect them from our own property!

Day 150. Funny thing about doors. It's best if the walls are painted before they get hung. Well, I can't hang doors (at least, not yet!), but I can paint.

So paint I did. about 5–6 hours worth. (Funny thing about tinted primer--the final coat isn't nearly so impressive.) ;) The kids helped a bit, played outside for a while, and then enjoyed a Thomas the Train movie marathon.

Day 151. And then the next day we spent the morning playing games ... like go-fish with Thomas the Train. Yep. He's a rather popular engine around here.

Day 152. Two doors installed. Room returned to rights.

 Day 153. Chalk fun ...

Day 154. Hop scotch! :)

Day 155. Flowers ready for a blessing visit ...

Day 156. My inspired artists hard at work after seeing walls covered with paintings the previous day ...

Day 157. Daddy's trucks are just as much fun for his boys as they were for him and his brother. :)

Day 158. Of course, one cannot neglect to celebrate National Doughnut Day. :)

Day 159. Hannah's room-to-be, now emptied of stuffage, is ready to have the closet drywalled in!

The last of the basement drywall is hung!!!! Woo-hoo!!!!

Day 160. Good-byes are never fun, but we're excited for our friends' new ministry in California!

Day 161. We had nearly two. straight. weeks. of rain. That made for lots of puddles. And cooped up kiddos. So we decided to put the two together. No big surprise, it was a winning combination! :)

Day 162. Sunshine! Parks, here we come! :)

And swimming lessons!

Day 163. The jungle creek was in need of some serious work. So Hannah supervised Matthew ...

While Peter and Mommy attacked the vines. With some follow-up efforts a few days later, it actually looks like people live here again. :)

Day 164. Met some friends at another park!

Day 165. Hannah and Peter had their first Guppy Swim Meet ... lots of fun!! They both did great, and each came first in one of their races! :)

 Peter and his coach ...

Swimming hard with a spotter right next to him ...

Coach with Hannah ...

Swimming hard and coming up for air ... :)

Day 166. Why yes, we are back in the basement. Again. Priming trim board this time. While Daddy was hanging more doors and mudding/sanding the drywall in Hannah's room.

Not surprisingly, Hannah found some treasures with the extra time she's had to study the labels on the boxes in the storage room. Meet Pioneer Hannah. :)

Day 167. Happy Fathers' Day! ♥

 Day 168. Daddy left Monday morning for a work conference in Florida ...

 

Day 169. A long-distance good morning on Tuesday ...

And rice-krispy ice cream cones as a special treat to compensate for the disappointment of swim lessons canceled due to thunder storms ...

 

Day 170. Along with Daddy being out of town, Hannah and Peter were attending art camp in the mornings, so Mommy and Matthew primed those nicely sanded walls while Hannah and Peter were away ...

Day 171. And almost before we realized he'd been gone four days, it was 9:11 PM, and Daddy was due home at 10:00. Yikes. Things were rather tornadoish.

So Mommy put on her "Super Mommy!" cape and her sneakers and raced around like a mad woman for the next 46 minutes. Things looked significantly better at 9:57. :)

Day 172. Why yes ... yes, we are in the basement. Again. Did I mention that this has been the month of the basement? This picture totally did not capture the color of Hannah's room, but it's a beautiful pale lavender! Once of my favorite room colors ever! :)

And here's Peter lending his assistance to install yet. another. door. Not counting closets, there were s.e.v.e.n. doors to be installed in the basement. 1.2.3.4.5.6.7. Yep. Seven. That's a lot of doors.

We had a brief break from the basement to pick up Hannah and Peter's art projects and explore just a little bit ...

Here's what Matthew thinks of the basement project ...

Day 173. I grew up attending pot-luck dinners at church ... now we attend pitch-in dinners. :)

Day 174. Oh yeah. We have a garden. That thing that's been growing weeds while we worked in the basement. And went to swimming lessons. And played at the park. And cleaned up the creek. And worked in the basement. It's been growing some great weeds.

I am SO thankful for my helpers!!! We filled FOURTEEN grocery bags of weeds. And they were troopers. Especially Hannah! She LOVES picking the produce, but she totally hung in there for the long morning of weeding and kept pace with Mommy the whole way! (She and I did six bags each and Peter did two.)

Matthew played on the wood pile. The garden is safer that way. ;)

However, along with the weeds, it has finally started producing ... produce!!!

We thoroughly enjoyed our tilapia with honey-balsamic glaze and fresh from the garden veggies lightly stir-fried in olive oil. Delicious!!!

Day 175. Deadlines are a wonderful thing. Carpet gets installed tomorrow. Stair molding gets finished tonight. :)

 

And that's what we've been up to.
I know why I'm tired.
And I am looking forward to vacation. :)
And we're also most definitely looking forward to being able to move the kids downstairs to their new bedrooms! :)
Hopefully I'll be back again before the end of July.