06/30/10

My house is finally somewhat back to normal. I have cleaned for two days... and still have some areas, but at least I think I'll be able to put away the vacuum tonight!

Here is our bedroom/master bath. The original paint was "Gold 4" (that was the name from eight years ago) and it was more browny/gold than yellow gold.

I am keeping it real with these before pics because we have LIVED in our house.... and pretty much do always. lol

Before
Notice the "spider wreath" above our bed. It was nice.... 13 years ago. My best friend coveted it every time she came over along with my "drapes".... if you can call them that. When I took them down I presented them to her in grand fashion while she was on vacation. When she returned she threw them away.... I just can't understand why. They were just covered with DUST and were all over the place. :)

After

Here we are with pale daffodil with a twist... a TONED DOWN twist. I didn't want a canary on my walls. Just something bright and cheerful. lol

Before

Yet another view of the spider wreath.
Totally keeping it real in this shot. You get to see "MOUNT EVEREST" of laundry that likes to visit... a lot. Especially during the school year.

This is another before shot that I didn't really get the complete after shot.

After
Hopefully you can see that Mount Everest is gone. :)
No pictures right now over the TV... not sure if there will be any. No window treatments either because I don't know what I want and don't want to rush to get something.

More up close over the bed.... glad the spider wreath is out of there. Found these cute prints instead.

Now we're moving in our bathroom. This is where you can really see the color of the walls better.

Before
I didn't realize how "dark" our bathroom was until the afters!

After
Can't you just feel the fresh air blowing through the windows and giving you a bright cheery start to your day? Yeah, that is what I am thinking. lol

Before
Keeping it real again with the robes, etc... hanging on the bathroom door. It is life, people. :)
The lighting in this bathroom was the same as our hall bath.... the lights you would see in the "makeup" chair for movie stars.

After
LOVE my new lighting in there. I also love I get to display some of my flower pics in there!
Notice there are new towel holders. Those silver long ones are g.o.n.e.

Just a "straight on" view of the vanity and lighting.

Before
This before picture doesn't match up totally to the after shot but I couldn't remember.... it had been a long time since I took the befores!
Yet again.... life showing with the towels.

You can see a bit of the greenery in the reflection of the mirror in the above "before" shot.

After
New greenery, a cute vase colored a splash of red on the baker's rack that has always held our towels and such.

Thanks for visiting our room! Let's hope it sees less of Mount Everest.

Probably not.

06/29/10

Enjoy the lily pics!
What a busy day.... trying to clean up this house that has been a disaster for about a month!

Here is a quick thought for today:

We are not immune to difficulties, but we can have peace in difficulties.

06/28/10

Beautiful lily.... more of these to come.


Last week I shared with you that I had a nice talk with the mom of one of Wesley and Mikayla's friends. There was a lot we discussed but this one has left me chewing.

We discussed Haiti.

You may think that is not extraordinary because it has been in the news so much after the earthquake and such.

It is actually beyond that... and before the earthquake about what we talked.

Haiti is definitely a poor country. There are people there who don't eat for days, have no real home, and are without so much of what we in America see as a need.

She brought up a point that I had never thought of before. She said that the Christians in Haiti (and other parts of the world like them) are closer to the Lord in many ways.

Why, you ask?

Through faith they ask God for what they need and are solely dependent on Him.

In America, we buy what we want and ask God to help us pay it off.

She gave me the story of a woman who runs an orphanage in Haiti. The woman had been praying for days for the Lord to send money because the kids had not eaten in three or four days. A person that normally paid her for a certain job came to see her and said the Lord told him to give her the money before she did the job. She said she knew why... the kids hadn't eaten in many days and needed food!

My faith has wavered so many times through the years. When hard times came I found myself questioning God instead of having the faith that He was in control and was going to take care of all I needed.

What an example that woman has set before me.... a woman I have never met and will probably never meet until Heaven. She has caused me to remember to put my faith in the Lord first.

Haiti may be poor in material possessions, but America is poor as well.

Americans as a whole are selfish and demanding. It is no wonder other countries around the world find us offensive. We say we are a "Christian nation".... but when you turn on the TV you see anything but that! The example we show to the world will be our downfall.

I am thankful for the ways the Lord opens my eyes and teaches me in ways such as this.

May the Lord find me faithful to Him trusting Him in all things instead of trusting in my own selfish ways.

06/27/10

John 12:24-25
Verily, Verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.
He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.

06/26/10

Another dahlia.... different side.

So yesterday I received pics that I had printed up for our walls in the bathroom. Steve and I poured over my many shots I have taken through the years to find ones that would compliment or go with everything we have done with the paint.

I was tickled. :)

It is very rare that my creative pictures get printed. I would long to cover my walls with them, but that wouldn't be so good. lol

It is one thing to see my work on the computer, but it is another to hold the print in my hand and see it through "different eyes."

If you come to my house to view the finished products of this "renovation" I will have to take you to our bathroom and show you the shots. I can now view moments of God's beauty I have been able to capture no matter what the weather outside.

I am thankful for the gift God has given to me to view His creation and capture it for others (and now myself!) to enjoy.

06/25/10

So what else are Wesley and Mikayla up to while I paint?

Simple adventure.....

Fill your old wagon up with water, jump in (notice Wesley is hanging on for dear life) and "steer" it down the driveway.

Try to get out of the way of your child who is driving so you are not run over while trying to capture the moment! Notice that Wesley is still not all the way in the wagon. lol

Wesley's turn in the driver's seat. You would think they were competing in the bobsled for Winter Olympics the way Wesley looks.

Take off!
(They were dragging Steve's golf bag cart behind them....)

Down the driveway they go.

You just wouldn't believe how much laughter comes from them when they do this. These are the memories made that are not costing much but will live on in their hearts as good times.

Maybe one day Steve and I will try this.

Then again... maybe we'll just keep watching them. lol :)

06/24/10

So while I have been painting you may be wondering what Wesley and Mikayla have been doing.

There have been days of reading and working on Summer Fun books.

There have been times of imagination play with their "stuff."

There have been a few moments on the Wii and the computer.

What have they loved to do?

Pictures are worth a thousand words.

This is what I love best of how they are making some memories this summer. :)

First it was just squirting each other with the water hose.

Then came the mud....

This is our "pool".... you just can't dive into it.... too shallow. :)

Rinsing off the mud before coming inside to take a real bath!

As long as they were safe I didn't care that they were in that water and mud. They also had to clean up their area when they were done. What a blast they have been having!

06/23/10

We have painted the bedroom. We will do the second coat in a few.

MAY I HEAR REJOICING FROM YOU ALL??????????

Just one portion of the "main" house left to do and we will be done with painting the walls.

Had a play date time with some of Mikayla and Wesley's friends at lunch today. It was a great time of getting to know the Mom of the two girls better. There were lots of things we shared and talked about that led to me "chewing" on some things. I haven't really had time to digest them the way I want but I feel a blog post coming about them sometime soon.

For now, enjoy these verses I read in one of our devotions this morning. It reminds me of summertime but it is the perfect illustration in God's Word teaching about the water cycle. God showed science even before men realized it was there.

Isaiah 55:10-11
For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater:
So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.

06/22/10

Warning: This post is about a little boy and a snake. Do not be alarmed, but please find it interesting reading. :)

On Sunday when we went to our side yard to take a couple of pics for Father's Day, Steve found a black snake in the flower bed. I am not a fan of snakes, but I also understand a black snake will not hurt you and they can help rid off other rodents and such that can get around or into your house. We usually let them go their merry way.

Unfortunately, this black snake got caught up in some old deer netting Steve had put out around some of his plants to keep the deer away. Wesley was amazed by the snake, as he is with most all creatures, and wanted to free it. At that time we had to get on to the next place and Steve said he figured it would eventually get out of the netting on its own.

Wesley went outside to check on it yesterday. It was still entangled in the netting and was having a hard time releasing itself from it.

Wesley was now on a mission and he tried to free it. I didn't mind him working to free this snake because I knew it couldn't harm him because it wasn't a venomous snake. The head was what was caught so badly so the tail was the only thing he really pulled on. I did, however, caution him to not get too close to its head when it was getting freed because it could still bite him with being scared.

He started with just trying to physically grab its tail and pull it out. That didn't work so well. Then he began to use his golf club, with me watching, to try to free the poor thing. (I can say "poor thing" because it really was caught tightly.) It just wasn't budging and we knew we would have to cut some of the netting from around the back of its body in order to help free it. Steve decided it would be OK until we got back from the errands we needed to run.

Well... unfortunately for the snake, our errands ran a little too long. It died while we were gone. Wesley was rather upset and decided he still wanted to free it from the netting. This is where the pictures take over:

Please remember this is a DEAD snake.

He used an old pair of scissors to try to snip away the netting.

Our dog, Boogie, was not so happy about this snake. She kept barking at it and sniffing it. It was kind of nice to know she saw danger and wanted to protect us.

I realize this may cause some of you to have issues, but I couldn't resist photographing the head of the snake. AGAIN, IT IS DEAD AND THAT IS WHY I COULD DO THIS. :)
Notice its teeth. I continue to be marveled at God's Creation.

There really was beauty to this snake. Wesley kept rubbing the skin and talking about how pretty is was. When he flipped it over we saw the beauty of the underside.... it reflected a prism-like shimmer!! The picture doesn't do it justice, but it was a nice surprise to find.

Wesley was very sad this snake died. We found out after he freed it from the netting that we would not have been able to help it when it lived because it was wrapped up too tightly. Wesley took it out back and threw it in the woods away from people so it wouldn't scare anyone.

I know most of you may think I was crazy to allow Wesley to check out this snake and free it. I saw it as an opportunity to not allow my own fears to rule my son. We discussed at great length that we are to respect snakes and use caution when seeing them and that if this had been a venomous snake it would have been killed.

However, that is how Wesley learns best..... by going out and touching/feeling/handling something that he can experience. As long as he was safe, I knew there was nothing wrong with him freeing it so He could learn something more from God's Creation. Even though I didn't care to touch it, I still learned something from the snake that I didn't know before.

The best part.... my son taught me.

06/21/10

More dahlias for your enjoyment.

Our bathroom is almost completed. At least I got to use the shower today. lol

Our room is next.

Have I mentioned lately how much I dread that room?

06/20/10

It is Father's Day. :)

I chose the above picture because it symbolizes a father to me. God gave us Fathers so that they can shine God's love down on us and be that rock of stability on this earth. In all of that, they are a picture of our Heavenly Father and the love he shows us and the rock He is to us.

This is a day set aside to honor the men in our lives who are fathers to us. Our Heavenly Father speaks of how those earthly fathers should conduct themselves in the lives of those he loves.

Ephesians 5:25
Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;

Ephesians 6:4
And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.

I can honestly say that these verses are true for my own Daddy as well as my sweet Steve, the Daddy to our own. What a blessing to know these men are a part of my life!

I am also grateful that I get to share my own birthday with this special day. I was born on Father's Day so when I have it fall on that special day in a year it makes me smile.

Today I am just turning 21.

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!!!!

06/19/10

Today is the hall bath makeover. (Also known as Wesley and Mikayla's bathroom!) :)

There was not as much changing with the decorations for the hall bath since I had recently done that. (If you want to see that post, go here 01/10/10.)

I was originally going to paint this bathroom the same color because, well... that is what we had in the rest of the main part of the house. I had a revelation in this painting process that this bathroom could be different, too! lol

The border needed to go. It was fine 13.5 years ago when we built the house but this was one of those borders that was limiting my choices of colors.... plus, it just needed to go.

So, without further ado....

Before

After
Lyndhurst green paint... and I love it! It brings out the green I had in my pictures and the main rug in the bathroom.
I also love that the border is gone.

Before

After
We got new lighting over the sink. I didn't get a shot of the former lighting before, but it was the bar lighting with the bulbs sticking out.... kind of like you would see where movie stars get their hair and makeup done. lol
I love, love, love the new lighting!

Before

After
Notice the new towel bars, too!

Before

After
The little wall hanging above the lamp is actual tiles with Scripture on them.