A Before and After

Next month will mark our 2 year anniversary in this house.

We neglected to take before and after pictures (which makes me sooo mad). My brother found a picture of our house from a few years ago on the Internet (sorry the quality is poor) and I took a picture of how it looks today. Talk a bout a transformation! And the inside transformation is just as amazing!

Before

After

I dont think I have ever blogged about the condition of our home when we bought it.

In short, it was beyond a mess. Being on only 1 teacher's income we knew that finding a home, that we could afford and would meet our needs/ wants, was going to be tough. I found this house on the internet and told our realtors that we wanted to see it. The first time we came, I told the realtors, "never mind, it is in really bad shape. It is beyond a fixer upper." We didnt even go inside.

After our search continued for another few weeks, our realtors approached us about this house again. Except this time, they were going to have a contractor buy it, fix up the inside, and then he would sell it to us. The house was so bad that the bank would not even do a loan for it, it required cash. So, the contractor bought it with cash, took 6 or so weeks to fix it inside, and then sold it to us at the agreed price.

He had to totally gut it. I think the only thing that stayed the same was the floor in the hall bathroom, both bathtubs, and the cabinets in kitchen (though they got a total facelift). The floors were ripped out completely, holes in the sheet rock had to be repaired, and don't even get me started on the smell... it was a huge job! To get the house at the price we could afford, we agreed that he would not touch the outside. So, he left the outside totally the same except for fixing some siding on the back of the garage and knocking down a dangerous deck in the backyard.

Anyway, I love a good fixer upper and we definitely had one in this little house. I am so thankful that the Lord, again, went beyond meeting our needs!

Forgotten Outing

I cant believe I forgot to post these pictures. About a month ago, we finally went to The Children's Museum. Aunt Sandee and Uncle Tommy had purchased tickets for Ashton's birthday last year. Welp, 10 months later, we went.

The boys had a great time. There were so many things for them to do.

Instead of me yammering about them, here are the pics.

They were quite wild with these foam blocks and scared off the other children ;)More block action

One of Hunter's favorites- The object was to get the bricks to the top and then it would come falling back down. He is getting help from his brothers

Ash doing his shopping. True to form, Hunt could have cared less about the shopping and was still in the climbing thing. Actually Ashton only did this part for a few minutes before he went back to climb.

Shep in the "grocery store"

A big part of the ground level is a HUGE water table. This was just the little baby one in the center.

This is the toddler's water table.

Shepherd's favorite... the balls.

One of Ashton's favorites... playing tic tac toe with a robot

Shepherd loved the blocks.

This "climbing thing" is right in the middle of the building. It looks like a piece of art but you can climb up. This was done multiple times!

A better picture of the climbing thing

We capped it off with lunch on the ground level which was really good! It was definitely a great few hours!

Wish I had a picture

I wish I had a picture for some of my ramblings today.

First, Hunter and Ashton's 1st soccer game was last night and the person who always has a camera on her (me) forgot said camera. I debated about whether or not to volunteer to coach this team and ultimately decided not. I have had second thoughts but my competitive spirit would probably not be well-received at the U6 level. The boys played so good. Ashton is a spit-fire and though the smallest on the team (technically not old enough to play but since his bday is so close to the deadline, they made an exception), he played so hard. He almost scored a goal. Hunter, believe it or not from our first soccer experience in the spring of 2010 when his only goal of the season was on the wrong goal, did an amazing job. He plays a lot like his mother... faster and bigger than the other kids and just kind of plows his way through. He is also quite good at controlling his body especially for his size. He scored 5 of his teams 10 goals. Not that we keep score BUT the other team only had 3. So WE WON! See, it is probably a good thing I dont coach this level.

Today was also a first. I have had to wake the boys up about 1/2 the mornings since school started. Today, when I went to wake Hunter up, he pulled the covers over his head and tried to go back to sleep... definitely not the last time this will happen. Again, wish I had my camera with me.

Only had Ash and Shep today. Shepherd set to pulling every sticker out of a lightning mcqueen coloring book. Just a cute picture.

Then we made brownies. Ash and Shep were the clean-up crew. One of the only bad things about having kids, I dont get to clean the spoons and mixers anymore. :( I suppose they are worth it! (Excuse Shep's hair- he kept getting chocolate in it (you can see in pic 2 how that happens, so I girlified him and "fixed" his hair for him (and me))

Another first for us tonight, going to start going to Wednesday night church. We are starting a women's Bible Study. I am excited to see where this study leads (Beth Moore's- So Long Insecurities).

A bunch of randomness that just reminds me that All is in fact Grace-

From Ashton's Eyes

Ashton loves gadgets. He loves my phone, he loves the computer, and he loves my camera.

I have enjoyed watching him take pictures. Everything he takes a picture of makes him smile. He finds great joy in the hunt of pictures (part of that joy might be to annoy his brothers, just sayin').

He has probably taken 300 pictures in the past week. Don't worry! Don't worry! I am not posting all of them. I have deleted most of them, many without even looking. Once I started to look at them though, I was struck with the perspective of his pictures- I hated I had deleted so many without even looking at them. I realize how, as a 3 year old, he really looks up to me, to Hunter. It makes me realize how I need to take the time to see life from my kids' eyes... to really get down on their level (sometimes) to see where they are coming from.

But, without further delay- here are some pictures from the eyes of Ashton.

His Toys and Random




People when they are wanting their picture taken

People when they are not wanting their picture taken...

Thanks for the reminder on perspective SmAshy. :)

A New Sunday School

A few months ago, God laid it on our hearts to start a new Sunday School class. As He so faithfully does, He also had been putting the desire in another couple's heart. This Sunday, Chad and Benji will begin teaching the Newlywed/ Young Married class.

At our church, they allow and desire for the leaders to "fix" up or decorate the room. Though we have had weeks to do this, I procrastinated and just started on Wednesday. I finished up today and am pleased with how it looks. I am so thankful that Ashton and Shepherd gave me a total of 8 hours (over 3 days) to work and get the room ready. Though I know that God doesnt need a decorated room to move, I hope this space is one where God will speak mightily and use me/ us in an effective way. I have always been one of the young(er) ones in the couple's classes we have been apart of, I am excited to see how God is going to work with me in a leadership role.

Here are some pictures of our new room. The whole room was the light color, the chair rail was not painted, and there was a mess of things (a catch all room) to be straightened up.

View from the door (does this remind anyone of our house in R.M.??!!)

Love these curtains... how is that a $4 worth of clearance fabric and a hot glue gun turn into something so cute!

Front of the room... we are still waiting on another dry erase board and bulletin board.

When you think about it, just lift us up as we take this step.

Eucharisteo Part 17

529- Clean, clear water at my fingertips.

530- Evergreens growing tall outside my kitchen window- blocking a neighbor

531- Curly ponytail

532- Freshly fallen pine needles

533- Shepherd's canine teeth popping through

534- An easy win

535- Shinguards on little shins

536- Places to go

537- Hearing "I love you mommy" from Ash

538- Hearing "wuuuvvvv you" from Shep

539- 5 year old bear hugs

540- Grass not growing

541- Chad's gutsy call

542- --- another win

543- My mom, again, giving up her Friday night to watch the boys

544- Bed time prayers

545- Food on the table

546- Found coupon notebook

547- Losing the only van key at the mall and then finding it

548- A surprise visit from Chad to see the boys

549- Sanity saving play dates

550- New friendships

551- Finally... rain

552- Little boys in rain coats and rain boots

553- Looking for worms

554- Long weekends

555- Late school start

556- Cute little trio

557- Successful school drop offs

558- Figuring out the car line

559- One on one time with the boys

560- Big puffy clouds

561- Paint that washes off easily

562-Ahhhh, cool(er) days

563- Well behaved kids

564- Hearing "it was fun" about the first day

565- Dad dropping in for a bit

566- So may friends/ family calling about Hunter/ Ashton's first day

567- Totally at home

568- Lysa T an Ann V webcast

569-Knowing God is always at work

570-Unpacking fall clothes

571-Reusing clothes on 3rd little boy

572- Shoes for every occasion

573- Watching Molly dance in the grass

574- --- which leads to 3 boys chasing her through the backyard

575- Ashton's tenacity on the soccer field

576- Hunter actually going after the ball with a bit of passion

577- The way lasagna makes so many meals

578- Leftovers

579- My dream job is mine

580- Catching a whiff of the sweet smelling gardenia right outside my front door

581- Groundcover creeping through the flower beds

582- The exact same bed time book 3 + weeks in a row

583- Shepherd giving me 3.5 hours to paint at church

584- Leaving the back door open because the air is not on

585- Bow legged toddler trying to keep up with his brothers.

586-Forgotten dinner prayer remembered by a 1 year old

School Starts

Updated---
Well, the day is here... Hunter started kindergarten and Ashton started K3 (only on Tuesday and Thursday).




Ashton was beyond excited about starting "school." True to form, Hunter was nonchalant about it all.

Once we get to Hunt's school, he gets a seat across from his best girl buddy, Karson. Another little girl from our church is also in his class. I was glad that there were familiar faces for him... it made it a lot easier to walk away. I think I could have cried if it had not been so chaotic to get out of the house. I am soooo out of practice of getting out of the house early. I thought I woke up in plenty of time this morning and we got out of the house just in time.


Ashton's drop off was easy since we know so many of the people there... I know he will have a great morning!

This is my new normal! :)

Edit- A rare, rare occasion... Ashton must have been totally worn out from school...
he fell asleep watching his movie :)

The Daycare is Closed

The past 3 weeks I got to watch my niece. Today was her last day with us before she starts her pre-school program next week.

I wondered what it would be like to have 4 kids that were 5 and under... and I have to say that it went really well. Charlee just fits right into the mix. She and Ashton kept eachother laughing and yelling. Hunter played the father role keeping the little ones in line. And Shepherd, well, Shepherd was just Shepherd.

Here are some pictures form the past 3 weeks.

Rest time... Shep realizes now that nap time for him means movie time for his brothers. I let him watch the first 10 minutes of the movie on this day. :)

Ashton giving Charlee a ride on the power wheels. They are going down the little hill.... wish I had my good camera for this one!

Again, Ash and Char Char- doing a puzzle

Some of our school work.

The boys- Charlee is on the other side of Shep.

Overall, it was fun having Charlee with us... I got to put hair up in pony tails and hear arguments about how pink is, in fact, the best color (according to Charlee).

Now to enjoy our last weekend before school kicks in. ;-(