Friday, September 26, 2008

Sawdust and pretty little toes

I am just returning to the house to do dishes, put away laundry, and hopefully go to sleep soon. Kris is still out putting up walls at 10:30 pm. It is all looking great but OH so hard to show pictures. Too many angles I suppose. The house is looking more finished by the day.
Isabel and I went light shopping today. A sales man was helping us and commented on Bel's shoes. She was very quiet until he left. As he turned to go down another aisle she said, "Momma, he didn't even notice my toes!" So here is to some pretty little toes done up by big sis for the wedding last week.
Good night!

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Wesley's Room



Wes took these pictures just now. As you can imagine he is a bit excited! :)

Applesauce and what the search revealed...



Our church has a table in the back for people to bring in and share extra produce. On Sunday we got some apples in hopes that our power would be back on to make some applesauce. This morning Isabel and I started the process. While they were cooking I went to get my food mill and remembered that I have not used it since FL (3 moves ago!) and was not sure where to find the vital piece of kitchenware. I decided to go to the pile of boxes. I was fortunate to find a huge box in the beginning of the pile but at the bottom labeled "pots and pans". It seemed like a good place to begin. I still had Isabel with me and she got a bit distracted over the toys that were in the way. :) When I opened the box I was SHOCKED to find our summer clothes in that box as well! I guess when we moved in October from Cedarville to here we packed them up and that happened to be a box that had extra room. I have looked for them since March but now find them at the end of September!

This experience made me think of how the women that I respect in my life would have handled all of this. I know some that would have never had a pile, those that would have already been using it, those who would have used the mill as a decorative piece, and those who would have done a better job with labeling boxes then I apparently did! As Sharie would remind me in one of our moves, I need to remember the end result. It is hard to stay organized at this point when you know that another move is coming. When I packed these boxes the kids had dressers. They will again soon but for a year in the middle life has had some interesting moments!

I am not sure I will ever eat applesauce again without remembering this moment. Isabel just told me that this is the best applesauce she's ever had and it's cool enough to eat. I'm off to try a bite!

Monday, September 22, 2008

Catching up

Today was spent canning and working on the house. It seems we have so much to catch up on and are getting anxious to be in our home soon. The tile was delivered today. Kris is finding the round beams very hard to work around! More salsa and tomatoes have been added to the canning stack. It is looking like we may have to have a rotten tomato fight in the next few weeks! :_) Anyone up for the challenge?
Over the weekend Amanda J. and Susan ran the Air Force Marathon. I am so proud of them both! I am very thankful Amanda is the type of guest who can live without water and electricity as well.

Sunday, September 21, 2008

3:13 pm

We have POWER!!! Thank you, God! It has been a long week. I have so much to catch up on and plan on doing so over the next day or two. First there's laundy, grocery shopping, charging up the phones.....Talk to you soon!

Friday, September 19, 2008

Hurricane Ike Hits Ohio

This is Heidi posting from sunny Florida for Marcia...Kris & Marcia, along with 900,000 other people in Ohio, have no electricity. They say it could take 3-14 days to restore, it has been a week already. Kris, Marcia & kids returned to Ohio on Monday, from Pete & Karen's wedding in Dallas, just after Hurricane Ike hit Ohio as a Category 1 Hurricane (wind only). Who would have thought that would happen! Here we were in Dallas not far from where it was a direct hit, only to get a rainy day at the most and it travels all the way up to Ohio. They have some shingles missing, no power, etc. Marcia said to tell you they are all doing well. The kids are back in school (where there is power), and the log home building process is continuing. Suddenly I'm reminded of that show "Little House on the Prairie" and sitting around the log home at night by candlelight. Kris, do you have a fiddle??

Sunday, September 14, 2008

Hurricane Ike and a wedding



For some reason the computer feels this is enough pictures for now! We had a great time at the wedding. Most impressive was the bride's attitude. How many brides would be ok with their feet turning blue from shoe dye and the rain and then turning the bottom of the dress blue? Welcome to the family, Karen! :) We love you even more after this day. I hope to be able to add a few more pictures a bit later as the computer allows. We have so many great memories of this day. We will be driving straight through today. Until Ohio....

Friday, September 12, 2008

Pool party



We have arrived in Dallas. It was a bit unnerving this morning at the pool in Arkansas to realize that we surrounded by guests that were evacuees from Hurricane Ike. It was stranger still to see the expression on their faces when they asked where we were from and where we were going! Tonight was the pool party. We've met a ton of people from Canada and the kids had so much fun in the water.

Thursday, September 11, 2008

Texarkana


We have made it part-way to our final destination. We figured we could come up with a name of where we live as they seem to be named here....Perhaps Cedarclifsprings? :) The kids enjoyed crossing the Mississippi River. We all are glad to be out of the car right now!
On this day we are grateful again for Isabel's continued health and healing from her seizures just 3 years ago. Thank you for your prayers.

Off to Texas...



I will be out of state for a few days. We are off to witness Pete and Karen celebrate their special day. My kids are excited about going to a different state and seeing Aunts and Uncles.
Kris finished the flooring in the kitchen/dining room. I would post a picture but I just realized I already packed my camera! :) We were able to install the lower cabinets today and Isabel spent an hour of her day sweeping the new floor. You could imagine how exciting it is to actually see the layout and get a feel for its dimensions. It is so amazing to see a plan start to take shape.
Have a great weekend. I am not sure I will post until I return.

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Adding a bit of hickory to cedar logs


Kris and Wes are beginning to install the flooring! It looks great although Kristianna thinks it is making the walls look bad now. Isabel says it looks like a ballerina floor. Wesley is having fun with the rented new tool.

Monday, September 8, 2008

Saturday, September 6, 2008

Late night news






Whew! It is hard to believe it has been so long since I've posted. So sorry....I wish I could say I was on vacation or something exciting like that. Truth be told we have been affected by coming close to our goal of 5 years. We are in the installing process of building our house and sometimes all of those details that are so exciting to us are simply details. (Thanks, Shelly, for helping us decide on the color for our outlets the other day. :)) We have shopped for flooring, lighting, fixtures, and sinks. It is good to have Susan here to remind us that on a beautiful night like tonight a cookout at John Bryan is a better choice then sanding the walls. I know the kids are enjoying having an adult around who is enjoying life as it is happening and not as focused on planning for tomorrow.








I think I was in denial about summer being over despite the kids being back at school until I worked in the garden today. My tomato stakes are breaking and the focus now is on canning and making salsa rather then encouraging growth. I canned 14 quarts of tomatoes today. It is neat to see the pumpkins turning orange and growing more round. The soybean fields near our house are becoming more golden each day. I am enjoying watching the plants tell me that Autumn is coming to Ohio.



We are hoping to be able to start staining the interior walls this week on the downstairs level. After that we can put down the wood floors and then install the cabinets for the arrival of the counter top in the next week or so. We are also preparing to drive to Dallas this week for Pete and Karen's wedding so these goals may be the same for the next 2 weeks.
Thanks for your patience in this time of transition. Although I am anxious to find and sort through items that have been packed away and be in our log home, I am relieved that we already feel like this is home. Our lives this week have been impacted by time spent with friends, special moments with our family, and the grace of a dream within reach. Thank you, Father, for these good gifts!