This and That

I am afraid I am going to be resorting more and more to bullet points as we near our departure date.  I am amazed at how much normal life and wrapping up details need to happen in the next 8 weeks!  Yikes!

But I do want to keep you all up to date and in the know, so here goes:

• My mom was able to come again!  This time it was for two weeks and it was great!  We got a lot accomplished around the house, like finally decorating the boys rooms (yes, that only took two years.) and learning about painting here.

•  Yeah, paining here.  Not fun.  Not fun at all.  I have no idea why, but it was kinda the same but completely different than any painting I had done before!  The paint seemed sticky, the walls were porous, the roller was different, and well, it was simply a pain!  So glad I decided to only paint a wall or two in each room!

• We also got to redo the little break room at church!  This room gets used for a lot of different things during the week!  Growth Groups meet there, teachers use it to eat their lunch, Moms' group sometimes meets there when it is rainy, and well, it needed some love and attention.  With the help of several college age girls and my mom, we made it quite the cute little place.  A bit of home at church!

•  Our new system for water cups.  I am amazed at how well this has really worked!  Even Quinn understands the idea.  If you are just wanting a drink of water, use a red cup.  When you are done, hang it back up! No more water cups all over the counter or in the sink!  

•  All the boys' stockings are finally finished and are now sitting in a suitcase ready for the trip to Michigan for this Christmas!

The Casita, errrr Fort

Around Thanksgiving time, our church ordered a bunch of paving stones to pave the parking lot.  These pavers came on pallets.  Now.  I have been on the hunt for pallets for 2 years!  So I asked around and was told "take them.  Please." Well ok!

I had lots of ideas, but the first project I wanted to get done for the boys was a playhouse.  Or a casita (little house).  And I was told, "we don't want a playhouse, we want a FORT!"  Ok then.

Our landlady had some big posts and Noah and the boys promptly got to work on digging the holes. After about an hour the boys abandoned Noah.

But really, the ground was soft and he got the the post sunk in a morning.  Then, our landlady had some leftover aluminum sheeting she offered for the roof of the casita err fort.

The boys love it.  We are still working on a floor of some sort because it's in a low spot (one of the few level places in our yard, which is on the side of a mountain), but really, they are in it almost everyday doing something.  

I am praying somehow we can keep this house with it's amazing yard and great landlady while we are on home assignment next year.  It's just too good of a space to give up!

Staff Photos

A few weeks before Christmas, the Program Department at camp asked me to come take some photos of the camp staff.
 

 

While I was very excited about the opportunity, I was pretty nervous too.  I normally take photos when no one is looking, you know, they are playing, or sleeping or hitting a piñata.

These were suppose to be real portraits of each person, a group shot of each department, and a full staff photo!  Yikes!  Oh, and did I mention these were going to be a Christmas present to each staff person and the group shots were going on the website?  Yeah.

Noah was a big help in just directing everyone so I could focus on the actual taking of photos.  The day and the light couldn't have been more perfect.  And really, I think they turned out pretty well for someone who just sorta guesses at what they are doing.  

Fresh Face

So, there have been some changes around this little corner of cyberspace.  If you are reading in a reader, click here so you can check out the new look.  Really, there some fun new photos you can't see in your reader.  Do it.

Ok, you're now at the actual blog?  Let me give you a little tour.

First, loo up.  Isn't the new banner cool?  Yeah, I thought you'd like it.

And see our new prayer card?  Nice huh?  As always my amazing sister did the design work. 

Next, did you see we are now offically United World Mission?  Yep, that happend January 1st, when the merger between LAM and UWM happend.  You can click on their spiffy logo and check out more about them.

Also, there is new information on our Support page, so make sure to check that out.  And lastly, there are a few new recipes

Get Creative

I'm over here today talking about being creative to solve life's problems.  Come check it out!

Christmas Crafting

So, I wanted to show you some of the fun things we made for Christmas this year.  We were scrambling at the last minute to get things done, but whatever, right?

First up, Quinn's mobil.  Can I just say I love it?  And he loves it too!

 He always wants to grab it and when we make the birds dance, he laughs and flaps his arms and kicks his legs.

And these birds...I am addicted to them.  I am pretty sure I could become a crazy bird lady if I am not careful.  I got the ohsoveryeasy pattern here.  And I just grabbed some sticks from the yard and used a bit of yarn I had laying around.

For the big boys we made swings.  And they have really enjoyed them.  We had some help with cutting and drilling the holes because we don't yet have those power tools.

  And don't judge me because my kids swing over cement, ok?  Most of the trees in our yard are banana trees, so they aren't sturdy enough to hang a swing from.

I made the stain from a concentrated tea and it's held up very nicely.  And the boys have really enjoyed them!