Deevs Does it

Awesome young man.

Good character.

Strong grades.

Wise choices.

Great attitude.

How could we say "no"?

More Home Updates

I took a gamble on Etsy and got a pair of vintage pinch pleat drapes originally from Sears & Roebucks. Do you remember these from your Grandma's house?

We went and bought the traverse rod and put the hooks into the pleats and hung them up.

I thought it would be complex and difficult, but it was actually VERY self-explanatory.

I am pretty happy with how they look.

I think they will look even better with the new paint color - when we finally choose it!

Here is a little vintage kitsch - the napkin holder.

AWESOME!

(You can also see some paint possibilities taped to the wall behind... not sure what we are doing... we shall see.)

The closet is continuing to shape up day by day.

We picked a light and D installed it.

SO EXCITED!

I told D "it is all turning out better than I could've imagined it!

I can't believe it is actually happening!

PS

Dining booth is ordered.

Won't be here for 5 weeks.

Now that I have decided, I am IMPATIENT!

Sooooooooooooo excited!

Closet Continuation

As D progresses on the closet renovation, I simply MUST gush a little!

His expertise and work ethic have made this probably the cheapest renovation on the face of the planet. It has taken VERY little in the way of supplies to create this room... it has take WAY more time and knowledge and sweat equity. He has saved us a fortune (like he does on SO many things like car maintenance and repair etc.).

It is moving along at QUITE a steady pace, especially considering he is also running his own business and going out on appliance repair calls!

New door cut into wall between our bedroom & new closet.

View of framed in new wall with drywall still to be hung.

View from other angel - looking in at what USED to be a huge, floor to ceiling window that has now been framed in and covered with drywall.

View from our room of what USED to be our closet - with all the shelving & hanging rod removed - into the new closet.

Rubiks Cube Bros

A few years ago, Deevs was on a Rubik's Cube kick. He got one for Christmas then went online and learned algorithms to solve it and was quite a pro at it. Then over time, his passion faded and he kind of forgot a little (not entirely).

He got a new one this past Christmas and his love resurfaced a little, but not much. Then something happened a couple weeks ago where he found his cube again and has been timing himself solving it. Then he found ANOTHER one and has been timing himself solving two!

Then Jade came over and - their brains work very similarly in many ways - Deevs was delighted to not only share the formulas, but also to let Jade borrow one!

Maybe now they can RACE? ;)

2 of our genius kids.

Deevs teaching Jade how to solve the Rubik's cube.

We Heart Popcorn

Have I mentioned that our family LOVES old fashioned (real) popcorn?

Dad loves movie popcorn DRENCHED in butter and the microwave "movie" popcorn best (poor guy, why do I always buy the low fat kind?).

Mom (I) am not a huge fan of either one.

The kids like movie popcorn. They will not go out of their way to make microwave popcorn - but will eat it if it is around.

But we all LOVE yummy, oil popped popcorn with salt.

I grew up with this and it is what my taste-buds CRAVE when I think of popcorn.

Storing this monstrosity of a popper is no easy task... but it is worth it! Yum!

Miss M's Heart

This post from Miss M's Tumblr (like a blog) today is written about her experience at lunch at her Jr. High this afternoon. She told me the story over dinner and I listened, teary-eyed. I am SO glad she wrote it out. I couldn't be more impressed with the heart and character of our kids! (There is NO WAY I would've done that at 14... my unspoken motto was "every man for himself".)

"Today at lunch i was doing what i did every other day, just standing around. But today as i was standing around i head the “popular group” laughing really loud, i turned to look at the bench where they always sit. As i do so i notice they are all looking at this one kid who had just thrown a trash can to the ground, and now the trash was spilled all over the place. The kid started digging through the trash on the ground. Meanwhile the popular group is all still laughing at him.

So i turn to my friend and i said “lets go see what hes doing.”

Now normally i would have just looked, noticed, and gone back to my conversation. But something about the way they were laughing at him made my heart get all angry and furious and i felt bad for the kid.

So my friend and i walk over to him and ask whats going on. He then started to tell us how he threw out his retainer. He sounded so distressed. He was worried about his parents getting mad. And even more mad cause he had done this once before already.

I looked at the popular kids (still laughing) and back at this very upset seventh grader and then i got down on my knees and started digging through the milky gross trash. It was the grossest thing i have done it a while. And i sat there and did it for about 15 minuets. He finally stood up and said “its no use.” then he walked away.

We never found his retainer. And i bet he didnt think twice about the fact that me and my friend had walked over and helped him. But all i know is that on the way to the bathroom to wash our hands, my friend looked at me and said, “wow i feel really good right now.” I silently said a little thank you to God. and finished washing my hands.

We didnt find his retainer. We didnt shove the popular kids in the trash can…even though they deserved it. We really did nothing but tried to help him.

For the rest of the day every time me and my friend looked at each other we just smiled. It felt so good to do a little thing like that. No point at all to do it. But just because he looked like he needed it.

I have been on mission trips, i have volunteered at church events, i have served God in a lot of ways. But today was the weirdest thing. I felt better than i ever had felt on a mission trip and dont know why. It was refreshing to think that i could serve God in little ways around my school for people who might not think much of it. Of course it felt awesome to just defy the popular kids and show them that laughing was not what was needed, this kid just wanted to find his retainer. But in the end it wasnt about defying the popular kids. It was about glorifying God in the little actions throughout my day. And today i feel like i did that very well."

*sigh*... humbled and blessed.

From the Archives 1

This was Mis M in her 80's costume from summer church camp in 2007.

Adorable.