Our latest project

We are putting ceramic tile in the girls' bathroom. This is some back breaking work. As soon as it is done I will show some completed pictures. My dad built the sinks and they are awesome. Will keep you posted.

Yellow Bird's room

OK, well we got a little distracted with the Little Mister at home but Yellow Bird's room is almost done. Leopold made all of the molding and is taping off to paint the trim. Now I just need to find the other roll of border I ordered so I can finish that part. I truly have no idea where I put it. A safe place I'm sure. If only I knew where that was. I guess it is safe from even me. I found this light switch on ebay. It matches her border.
Helping Daddy out.

Lending Daddy some moral support.
Yellow Bird is so excited about her room nearing completion. I am too but know there will be another project awaiting us.

It's snowing!!!!!

OK, so it isn't really snowing but it kind of looks like it. That is all the dust flying around. If only we had rented this thing sooner. It is messy (very messy) but so fast.
Dust is everywhere.
This is the newly sanded floor with the drum sander vs. the floor I had done with the belt sander. I just thought I had done a good job. Now it is looking like I didn't. It took me hours with the belt sander to get it looking like the darker floor and about 1-2 hours for the well sanded floor. Amazing what the proper tools can do for you. Give me POWER!
There is saw dust everywhere. This is the bathroom. Every wall and surface will have to be wiped down. Good thing I wore a mask while sanding.

Floors, floors and more floors!

When we moved into our house almost 17 years ago there was pea green shag carpet over oak floors. I guess that was the style then but the carpet had to go. We have refinished most of the floors but still lacked Yellow Bird's room and the hall. So, here we go. We have them about sanded down and will start varnishing them soon. It is a big job but so worth it. With my allergies, hard flooring just makes sense. You can see the sanded floor and the finished floor. Almost done.

My new project

In addition to getting ready for a baby in the house this is my new project. It is so nice to have time for hobbies again. I should be studying for my boards but just haven't felt like it. I will need to start studying soon. When I started this project I had no idea how big it would become. I'm kind of making it up as I go. We have a king size bed so it will have a million or so more rows and that isn't even counting the edging which is quite elaborate. It will be a bedspread and not a comforter like I thought but it will be pretty. I will post pics when it is done. I might be 80 by the time that happens but I promise I will.

Gift from Mom and Dad

My mom and dad gave this wall hanging to us. Isn't it pretty and a good reminder to take the time to "be still and know that I am God". It can be so hard to make that time but it is so essential. Leopold preached Sunday and God as our Friend. He paid the ultimate price for his love for us and continues to love. us. He ask not for perfection but for obedience and He desires a relationship with us so deeply. How much are we willing to put into our relationship with him. I love my earthy relationships and work hard at them. But the things of eternal significance somehow get lost. As I look at what I do in life I look at what eternal significance it would have.

More Decorating

Leopold's mom when she was young. I love old pics. They hold such memories.

This is a pic of Leopold and his older sisters. The older one to the right is Trudy and she died when she was 15. The one to the left is alive and kicking and on more than one occasion has given me some of her blood when I was anemic. What a great sister-in-law! So, now I have real family blood flowing through my veins. He also has a younger sister but she wasn't born at the time of this picture.

This is Sasha when she turned 3. Isn't she adorable. I'm still looking for the one of Yellow Bird. I have it somewhere.

Now that school is done I've had time to do some decorating around the house. More to come though. I have so much to do but I'm having fun finally having time to get it done. I love not going to school anymore.

I love angels

This is my angel book. I have to say it is by far my favorite. Leopold has added several chapters to it. I cry when I read it because it is so full of love and memories. He started by telling the story of our falling in love and has continued with new chapters as we grow in this life together. It is amazing and I love it.

I love collecting angels. Several Christmases ago Bud crated me a wooden angel that he designed and built. Here are a few. Pictured are a few that he has made for me.

Look what I did!

This is a flower arrangement that I made. It has all of my favorite colors in it. Deep red, burgundy, plum, gold, green. I love it. It is big though. It is bigger than I had planned and kind of gets in the way of the TV. I may have to move it. We will see.

I also made this coffee table. I had looked all over to find one that I liked. I finally just made my own. I took a potting urn and put a wood plate over the opening that happen to fit perfectly. I then took red glass beads and glued them over the plate. I then attached a iron scroll wall hanging I found and then put a piece of glass on top. It is different. If I had to do it again I would have filled the urn with rocks or concrete to stabilize it more. It will tip over. I'm going to have Leopold cut me a decorative board to attach to the bottom of the potting urn that will be bigger and hopefully provide some stability. I'll stain it to match the dark on the wall hanging. Two things taking this picture helped me see. The remote and the fact that I need to vacuum desperately.

These are a few of my favorite things!

These are some pics from our living room. Some of my favorite things.

I love the pics on this wall. They all are special to me. And, yes, our walls are burgandy. I love dark, rich colors and the go well with our oak hardwood floors.

This is one of my favorite pics of my girls. They look so sweet and loving.

I had this baby pic of Leopold restored a few Christmases ago. The original was in bad shape but they were able to restore it all with the exception of one curl on the top of his head. Isn't he cute and Yellow Bird looks just like him.

This is a pic that a friend of mine took. I just love it. It is umbrella handles. She took it at Disney World at Epcot. I just think it is a cool pic and I appreciate her sharing it with me.

Cross walls are becoming more and more popular. We have started one at church. Our neice LaLa has one in her home and it got me started. The pic is one Leopold gave me a few years ago and of course the J needs no explanation.

This is the top of our entertainment center. Just more of my favorite things.

This is the wall entering the hallway. Just a few of my favorite pics and such.

This is another pic Leopold gave me a few years ago. I saw it and commented on how much I liked it. He surprised me by going back and getting it for me.

Our garden

This is our little garden in the backyard. There are some sunflowers that grow taller than a human. I love my sun wind chime that is hanging. This is also a rose from one of our rose bushes. Thought I would share a little bit of summertime in the freezing cold of winter.