I do think this has been Paul’s busiest season EVER.
Though we have been thankful for the Lord’s provision this year, it’s not fun to be without him so much of the time. We’ll be so glad to have him home a little more, beginning next week.
I’m not mentioning names, but when I was unloading photos, I did find this:
Paul may get a little tired of me snapping pictures….
He can have the baby asleep in almost seconds…he’s got the magic touch!
I’ve had Courtney busy, busy editing photos of recent events in our home.
I’m thankful for her willingness to capture family moments…it’s a blessing for our home and our family!
In any case, I was thrilled to hear that she had Paul’s graduation photos ready for me. Bless her heart, there were thousands of people there and we don’t have the camera set-up for shooting an event like this, but she did a great job capturing this special moment in our lives.
I’m sure I’ll have more to add in the coming weeks….
I’m so proud of him. Aside from working hard each week for our family, and of course that little thing….leading our family of soon to be, 14, he has studied and studied more! He graduated Summa Cum Laude- one of only about 30 people in a graduating class of more than a thousand!
Praising God for this accomplishment!!
In the process of going through my camera photos, I found these:
Amazing, don’t you think?! At least we know where Matthew got the fascination with taking pictures of himself!
We received Paul’s graduation cap and gown today!!
If you had told me two years ago, or even one year ago, that we would have still been cleaning this house, I would have laughed!
Yet, here we are!
This week, Paul has been home ALL WEEK!! For those who know us personally, you know how unusual this is for our family. We have soaked up every single minute with him.
When other men would have been home with their feet up, probably watching television, Paul has been working around our home.
Yesterday, found him repairing a blinker on the truck, returning an item to a friend, and taking me to buy remaining supplies we needed for the floor we’re installing.
The day before, we took a HUGE load of all sorts of things to the thrift store.
This morning, he was up bright and early, loading a trailer full of items from the basement to go to the metal recycling center.
The children have stuck by his side, chatting and telling him all their latest happenings. Everyone is working with a smile, just glad to be by their papa’s side! I’m smiling knowing my driveway and (part of), the basement will be, ~at last~ CLEAN!
(Do you hear the choir singing?!!)
Even not feeling my best, it has been a GREAT week with him here so much. We have needed this time.
O.K…..today’s flooring update:
This is after 2 coats of polyurethane. We’ve got the timer set to re-coat every four hours. We’re thinking by the end of the day, we should have a total of five coats on the floor.
Until then, the littles are living it up in the living room:
They are having the time of their lives! How often do you get to set up camp in your living room??
Prayer Requests
Today I’m Thankful For
…..and then there is this little gem that arrived today:
Shhhhhh!!!!! We’re not telling Papa until tonight. 
We had a special dinner and Courtney made him a cake:
Wishing you a joyful home and sweet fellowship today….
with love,
A quickie craft project….
I can’t remember where exactly I came across this idea, probably Pinterest.
I do so adore this man…..
Paul’s new chicken house has inspired him to try some new projects (well, and maybe a little prompting by me!). Plans are being made to build us a dining table.
Have any of you made your own?
I’ve found these online:
Both truly beautiful, but wow(!), I was not expecting them to cost so much.
Lowe’s had a tutorial in their last magazine for this table:
We’re thinking we can adapt this table to the size we need (we’re trying to seat around 20 total in our dining room).
I didn’t realize they have an entire You Tube channel with more than 600 DIY videos!
I’ll post updates as we make progress. I’m excited!!
First- Thank You, Barbara, for Paul’s birthday wishes. He had a good day….
I was only 16 years old when I first celebrated a birthday with him. I baked cupcakes and took him a case of Dr. Pepper to the high school we attended together.
Yesterday, it made for a sweet, shared memory.
Paul’s day was filled with homemade birthday cards, lunch out with one of our children, and a sweet birthday cake baked by Miss Courtney.
We ended yesterday with a small group from our church family. It was a wonderful, blessed birthday.
I’m sorry I dropped off the radar for a few days. I’ve decided to call the recent happenings in our home “extreme nesting”. I’ll share pictures over the next few days.