Moving Day!

Not us... my parents! Back in December my dad retired after about 35 years in the ministry. More than 30 of those years were spent at First Baptist Church in Pillager, MN. His first church was in Quamba, MN. Yep, I'm a small town girl... Saint Cloud is HUGE!! LOL I lived the first two years of my life in a parsonage in Quamba, right across the street from the church. The next decade of my life was spent in a parsonage in Pillager several blocks from the church. Next, we moved into a newly constructed parsonage built next to the church.

Now, for the first time (and ironically the same year my brother and his wife are purchasing their first home) my parents will own their own home! The house was built on a lot near the school by the Construction Trades class. On Tuesday, the house was moved to it's permanent home on 5 acres north of Pillager. I had planned on coming home Monday, but stayed through Tuesday so my kids could see the move. It was exciting, and a little scary, watching that house heading down the road! I had a knot in my stomach... my mom, who was riding with me, was near tears (mostly joy, and a bit of trepidation). When we got to the highway, Victory finally realized the house was in front of us and said, "Hey! I didn't know the house was driving!!" LOL

It was a cold, nasty day, but worth sticking around for! Here's some pictures of the big event...

Congratulations, Mom & Dad!!

Yard projects

The garden is larger, the sidewalk/patio whatever it was is gone as is the cement pad next to the garage. We love the results! I couldn't find a good pic of the before for the patio replacement, but I found one that will give you an idea. (And, of course, if you've ever been to my house you know what it looked like...) We never did like that random little area before and we finally did something about it! We used a manual sodder and made the garden larger and used that sod to fill in the areas left when we took out the big granite pavers and the cement pad. I have a wonderful, hard-workin' hubby!!

Before:


After:




And, one just for you Steph :)

We're back!

With several mosquito bites, and great memories. When I get the pictures on my computer I'll share more stories and some pics as well! The biggest thing that happened while we were gone was the moving of my parents house from the building site to their land! (We stayed an extra day up north so the kids could see that.)

Quick, before I go...

I'm leaving with the six kids tomorrow after my dentist appointment. While the week has already be changed some, we'll be spending lots of time with grandparents and cousins! Tim will join us for the long weekend, and I'm sure by then I'll be REALLY happy to see him! LOL The weather is looking to be a bit schizophrenic for the week... here's the 5 day in short (high's only): 78,66,88,68,70. Oh, wait, that was St. Cloud. Here's Pillager: 73,62,83,63,68. Ah, Minnesota. :) I've almost got everything together to pack, but I'd better go round up those last minute things. Then, off to bed! Hopefully J will sleep like she did last night -- I managed FIVE FULL HOURS OF SLEEP IN A ROW! Yay!!

"See" you all next week sometime! ;)

4 months already?!?

Jericho is such a joy! She interacts with all of us in such fun ways. She's discovered her hands, and just this week began grabbing at things. She smiles so much! I don't know how much she weighs now, but I need to get back on the Wii fit and weigh her (Did it today - 5/15 - and she was 13.8lbs, so I was a little over on my guess -->). I'm guessing she's around 15 lbs. I've got more updates on the other kids too... they are all growing like weeds. But, that's news for another day. Enjoy the pics, and a quick jump down memory lane. :)




Photos: Shiloh & Jericho having fun; happy baby at 4 months; where we started

Wordless Wednesday

(Mostly) Wordless Wednesday

*just a reminder that you can click on a photo to view a larger version (opens in a new window). enjoy!

Around here, this is what we refer to as "milk drunk".
Please excuse the diaper... I was planning on changing her and decided not to disturb her for a while. Forgot all about it when I was taking the pic -- I was looking more at her sweet little face. :)
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This little lady was totally unaware that I was taking her picture, so engrossed was she in her book.

A Tidy Tip for Tuesday

Clever title, huh? LOL Okay, so I know, I'm a dork...

Anyway, I was cleaning my entry today and I thought I'd share this great tip I discovered almost two years ago while trying to bring back some of the "new" to my old house. It's a *bit* hard to see in the pictures, but if you look closely (hint: click on the picture to see a larger image in a new window) you can see a definite line where the floor goes from very clean to not so clean.



Now, I washed 2/3 of the floor. The first half (closest to the top of the picture) I washed with Lysol, used a magic eraser, and then wiped with the Lysol again. The next 4 squares down were only scrubbed using the Lysol. The rest of the floor has yet to be washed. As you can see, the top portion looks much cleaner!

So, invest in those little magic erasers. I admit, they don't work quite as well as I'd like for some other applications (such as removing crayon from the wall - not that we know anything about that around here...), but they definitely bring new life to my floors!

Project complete

We finished one project over the weekend, despite the fact that I got sick. The toddler bed got two coats of primer and two coats of paint, and still didn't cost anything! The paint was left over from the girls room (the bed is the color of the trim, and the screw *caps* are the darker color of the walls), and the roller, primer, and brushes were all things we had on hand. I also made the sheet and matching pillow case from some favorite fabric I had on hand.

When I brought the mattress up and put it on the bed, the first thing Shi did was tuck in one of her "babies". Guess that's the stamp of approval. :) My mom and dad came for a visit on Saturday and brought my old daybed for Victory. The only problem is, the hardware was left behind! So, until their next visit (this coming weekend for S and J's dedication, Mothers' Day, and A's birthday) the bed remains propped against the wall.

Most likely we'll get the boys old bed taken down and get the girls old bunks moved into the boys room sometime this week. Victory will just have to sleep on a mattress on the floor until we get that hardware. :) I don't think she'll mind too much.

Well, off to get kids in bed. We'll see how Shi's first night in her new bed works out! (I'll let you know.)