Al...most...there...

Last year at about this time, I started a "home improvement" project. We had recently purchased our new home (built in 1871!!) and upon moving in, pieces in one of our two bathrooms started shutting down. It began with a mystery leak under the sink, and after trying everything I knew at the time (turn the faucets handle harder) to stop the leak, I just shut off the feed lines. We had another sink close by. Problem solved. Then the corner shower unit installed by a previous owner began to back up. A bit of time and a few bottles of Liquid Plum'r later, we decided to just use the other bath. We still had a toilet, right? After a while, it too became inoperable, (roller coaster ride, anyone?). I decided I'd had enough, and started asking some of my neighbors for information. After almost a full year, I now understand why they were so reluctant to help. Some friends from our church were much more willing, and so, after inspecting the job to be done, we started pulling out EVERYTHING from the small room. The paneling they had used to hide the holes in the plaster walls, the (total of) 1/2 inch of plywood for floor and sub floor, shower, sink, toilet, walls, and ceiling- after it fell on us. I was now the owner of a black hole of a bathroom.

After repairing floor joists, running all new plumbing, new electric lines, installing an overhead light and exhaust fan, sub floor, tile backer, drywall, and tub, I am seeing a light at the end of this tunnel. Above, I've included two pictures from after the demolition. Yesterday, a church friend came over and helped me lay the tile. I am so excited to be this close to finishing, I just had to share. The room is only 9.5 ft. x 4.5 ft. with a window at one end, yet it has a full size tub, and will have a working sink and toilet within the next few weeks.

Every body dance a happy dance with me !

Y'KNOW?

Tonight, I witnessed the most beautiful sound as about 100 youth and kids raised their voices and hands to praise God. After the event, we posed the kids to get this picture.
Tonight started with a band of high school
age youth playing a harder version of some
songs, followed by the sweet sound of a
cherub choir. Almost exact opposite sounds, as the cherub choir is made of pre-K and kindergarten age children. Here is Puppy Dog having a great time acting like different animals as they praise the Lord. I think this was a bear. After a small scenery change, the rest of the youth came on to show the adults how praising is done. They sang, they danced, and they had a lot of fun!
Kitty Kat recited all of Psalm 150. (This was the program she was preparing for in the previous post.) Froggie , Birdie, and Monkey pleased all while they danced to the music. Even when they were "supposed" to be standing still. Afterwards, all were invited to gather over cookies and just have fun. If you haven't figured it out yet, "Y'KNOW" stands for "Youth and Kids Night Of Worship".

(This is kind of an awkward way to end this post, but I hope to get better as I post more.)

Our Wedding Party

If I remember correctly, none of the wedding pictures of Jon and I came out. We really don't have very many wedding pictures, but here is picture of our wedding party.

I Love You Too, Birdie!

I found this at my place at the table today. I sat down and called Birdie to come do her reading lesson. Birdie wrote this note to me today, while everyone else was busy doing their schoolwork. If you know Birdie, you know that she has some learning disabilities. This was a MAJOR accomplishment for her. For those of you who can't figure it out, she wrote, "I (heart) U !".

Tomorrow Marks a New Unit!

We're starting a new unit in school tomorrow. We finally got through the last seemingly never ending unit today. This next unit is timely (plants and animals) and should be a lot of fun. I anticipate a lot of outdoor projects.

The kids have been fighting all day today, so I'm going to cut this short and get them ready for bed.

Have a great night/day everyone!

I added some motivation to my profile.

This is close to the way I want to look when I'm done with my weight loss journey. Obviously, I won't look like I did as a senior in high school, but I can dream, right? The crazy thing is that I used to think I was fat.

Ummm....... Hi!

After watching Brandi have so much fun with this, I finally convinced her to sign me on as an author.
Hmmm.........
What to do, what to do.........
OH!! I know, I'll write a post.









Drat! Can't think of anything right now and I really have to get off the computer 'cause Brandi's out and the kids are up. Sounds like a zoo here, so when I actually have something, I'll be back.

This 'N That

Here's the picture Damama T referred to in the comments section of the last post.

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We did go back to the zoo Monday. Here's a picture of Jon and the kids:

The sun was in their eyes. That explains Birdie covering her face and Baby Bear squinting. You'll also notice the absence of coats and jackets. It was very warm that day. We also made sure we took and used sunscreen. No one got sunburned Monday, but everyone was sunburned last Wednesday.

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My time for blogging has been decreased lately for several reasons:

1. Mrs. Darling introduced me to
Spark People. I finally checked it out and began counting my calories. I was just eating six small regular meals and being careful not to let my blood sugars get too low. It's amazing how many calories I must have actually been eating. According to the Spark People site, I need to eat between 1250 and 1500 calories a day. My doctor had previously told me to aim for 1800. I am now starting my fifth day using Spark People and I have lost four pounds already. I have allowed myself to eat more than the 1500, but I have kept my calories close to or under 1800. I've had headaches, hunger pangs, and my blood sugars feel constantly on the low end. I'm encouraged by the weight loss though. Right now this is taking up a good bit of time to record my foods and exercise. I'm going to stick with it and see if I can get everything evened out.

2. We switched around the chore assignments, so I am spending a lot of time overseeing chores.

3. We have been doing a lot of family activities in the evening.

4. The kids have Y' KNOW practices. Since Kitty Kat just reminded me that they have practice today, I'd better get off the computer and get everyone ready to go.

Lions? and Tigers? and Bears!

Jon got a call from work on Wednesday asking if he wanted cut for the day. He decided to take the cut. Because of our new schedule, everyone was almost ready for the day when the call came. We were able to make an impulse trip to the Columbus Zoo. We took our time getting ready, ran some errands, and made it to the zoo by 11:00 AM. We got through one-half of the zoo, and made plans to return to go through the other half next week (weather permitting). Jon is on call next week and I saw a forecast for rain, so we may need to reschedule.


If you're wondering about the ?s in the title, the
lions and tigers were not in their habitats. The
zoo was doing some work on those areas. We did
get to see quite a few bears. One pair of bear brothers even gave us a show. Wow, they fight nicer than my children do!