Great Ending

Today was a long day. I'm tired. Ryan is teaching an evening class. More tired. 

But then I got to share this moment with my boys and it made me feel better.
What a great way to end the day!

Sharing and Teamwork

Sharing and teamwork seem to come up in conversation constantly in my home right now. Nate wants to be just like his big brother which means he is constantly taking things from Ben and Ben does not tolerate such rudeness. Ben also accuses Nate of making all the messes and wants no responsibility in cleaning it all up. Nate's favorite word seems to be "me" and it isn't possible for him to say it once. He must say "Me! Me! Me! Me!" at the top of his lungs to get his point across. Yesterday I heard them screaming at each other outside and found them with all four little hands wrapped around one little shovel and they were pulling and tugging back and forth.

So, we talk about sharing. We talk about teamwork. We talk about how we can do things more fun and more efficiently when we share and work as a team. Sometimes it works and we all get along great and the playroom gets picked up in record time without an uprising from the littles. But, other times there are tears and stomping and pushing and pulling (yes, my sweet boys do this too).

In all my training up of my little people in my house, I have been learning this lesson for myself as well. Life is so much more fun and efficient when we all work well as a team. We are privileged to work with an amazing group of people, but we are all still people and we don't always function perfectly together. But, lately, I think we have really shined.

Just a few short weeks ago our director's wife (and really great friend) gave birth to their second son FOUR weeks early. The baby had to remain in the hospital for two weeks and spent some time in the NICU. Everyone on staff was talking about it! How can we help? What can we do? Can we clean? Make dinner? As their life settled a bit they did allow us to help and we are still bringing meals! It was so exciting to watch everyone get together, share in the joy of the new birth as well as the fear in the uncertainty as we waited for each update on the new baby. We prayed and then prayed some more! We all went through this together.

The body of Christ, when we truly put aside our selfish desires of the flesh, is the best team to be on! We have the same foundation and the same goals but individual ways of going about things. When we function together, each using our own unique gifts, we can do amazing things! It is our prayer that we do this as we plant churches, as we raise our family, even as we play!

Sanity Projects

In the middle of the crazy busy summer, I had to squeeze in some sanity projects. Warning: Lot's of pictures coming and only one has the boys in it.

Way back in January (think shut in for the winter) I decided that my boring pantry needed a face lift. It was dark and boring and it made me not want to be in there. The shelves were a dark wood stain and the walls only had primer. But, I do a lot of laundry and it is a really big pantry that makes other people jealous, so it should be a fun place.

Before

When our pipes froze during our first winter here (4 years ago) the property manager cut a whole in our wall and just left it there so the pipes would get the warmth of the house. Very unattractive. Ryan insulated and patched it for me!!

My boys were very helpful.

My kitchen looked like this during the day and then I put it all back together before Ryan came home from work.

 I chose white shelves and a bright orange wall. I love it!

But, stuff came up and I had to pause with a few shelves not yet painted, picture below.

It stayed that way until earlier this month! So not like me. I finally got it done and I am thrilled with it.

Ta-da.

 

 I made a little chandelier of sorts.

 And ordered vinyl lettering from this cool shop.

I needed a new way to do my menus so my mom bought this stick-on calendar for me when she was in town. It lasted about a three weeks and then kept falling off the wall.

So, thanks to some Pinterest inspiration, I made this.

I spray painted a cookie sheet, drilled holes in the top to attach a hanger, and used printable magnetic sheets to print all my dinner options. I love it. And yes, I forgot some things after I printed so I have added a few handwritten ones. 

I have been thinking Ben needed a chore chart of sorts. Again, on Pinterest a saw this printable. It hasn't really worked for us because I don't remember it, Ben already does some of those things without needing a reminder and he thinks it is more fun to erase the checks than write check marks.

 

Eight years ago we were given a table from Ryan's stepsister. I recovered the chairs then but recently decided it was time for another upgrade.
White stripped original pattern on the chair.

My first recovering.

 Curtains before to match. 

 Curtains after to match.

Chairs and curtain before.

 

Chairs and curtain after. Similar, but fresh and brighter.

Diaper box and mailing tape became...

An organizer for all our junk that clutters my counter.

I LOVE to bake. This summer I made Cherry Limeade Cookies. Amazing!

And a Banana Pudding Cheesecake with homemade caramel sauce. Amazing! 

 After all that, maybe I stayed sane. Or maybe I just need some new projects now!

Two More

While I'm on a roll...here's two more videos...

The boys caught Olympic fever! We had all kinds of sports in our living room.

This evening we took the scooters out. Now that we are getting upper 80s for high temps we are playing outside a lot more!

July Update - a month late

We kept busy this summer. We thought July would be a slower month, but right before it started I was asked to cook for our mission trip groups that come weekly through July. The actually cooking was quite easy, but going across the street for a few hours a day, three or four days a week with both my boys wore on us all. And we got tired of eating the same foods too. But, it was a change of routine and I like that sometimes. I was able to bake a lot, which is my favorite thing in the kitchen! 

Like last summer, this summer was blazing hot. The boys played outside in the mornings and then we stayed indoors or ran errands in the afternoons. Ben mastered turning the water hose off and on and much mud was made this summer!

Thank you Pinterest for this sidewalk paint idea - cornstarch, water and food coloring!

Goes on with the color and then dries white. Washes off with water.

 Joy

 They were showing me how dirty they got. I was a bit nervous about the food coloring washing out, but it was no problem.

When were weren't outside...
 Nate's trick. He has done this since he was able to walk. Weird. Random. Funny.

Nate's favorite color is...

Some indoor fun.

My boys are already shaving.

More mud.

 Reward for a hard morning of working in the sandbox - pureed oranges made into popsicles.

 We even went to a friend's pool one morning. It took Nate a while to get his nerve to get in. Then, twenty minutes before it was time to go he was jumping and splashing and I had to drag him out. 

 Friends

 There was also a sport court - my boys loved it! They are really into tennis lately. I think it is just because you get to hit something with something else.

 Love that belly!

 Ben and Maren shootin the breeze. We saw Maren almost every day this summer!

Summer Fun

Wow! We have had a very busy summer! I didn't realize it has been so long since I posted. I think I will have to work backwards to get caught up on our past month. 

This past week my mom, sister and niece came for a visit. We stayed on-the-go to keep the kids entertained and it wore us all out in the process. We got a cool front so it was a lovely 75 degrees or so when we left the house in the mornings for our outings with a high of only 95 degrees or so. That may sound hot, but it is a little more than 10 degrees cooler than we have been lately. 

Since we did so much and took so many pictures and videos, I just combined it all for a 5 minute montage. Enjoy!

Happy Birthday Grammy

Happy Birthday Grammy!

From Ben, the boy who makes all things into helmets and Nate, the horse!