Tile is Done!

Joel worked hard ALL weekend!
He laid the first part of the tile (under the bar) on Friday night. Then, early Saturday morning our friend, Joe, came over to help Joel lay the entryway and hallway tile. They did a lot of work! When we came home in the afternoon, this was the status.
Then, Joel kept working after we made a trip to get two more boxes of tile.
He filled in the gap and did the rounded corners.
On Sunday morning he got up and went to work again. He laid the last bit of tile (just inside the back door) before we headed to church.
Then, Sunday evening we started grouting. I was of minimal help during the tile laying process. My help was to take the kids and be gone all day Saturday! But, I got in on the action and did about 2/3 of the grout work last night.My hands are sore today.
But, this is the finished product! It looks a little streaked because it needs to be wiped down again and then in a few more days we'll seal the grout. We are hoping to have the carpet installed later this week.Tonight we have to empty our bedroom and take up the flooring in there. I emptied most of it on Friday afternoon (after I snapped the shot below).

Girls Room Redo and a New Project

The girls room is about 90% finished. I just need to puff up their headboards and put a green strip with pegs on one wall (over by the window).
Everything else is finished!
I especially like the birds!
And, now we're off to the next project!
Joel and I removed the wood laminate flooring in our entryway, hallway, and back living room last Sunday (well, I sorta helped). Then the kids got in on ripping up the linoleum we found under the entryway wood laminate!We are tiling the entryway and hallway and a section under our bar and around the back door. Then, we're having carpet installed in the living room and our master bedroom.
When we took up the flooring we saw that it was a really nice brand and in very good shape. So, I decided to try and sell it on craigslist. I listed it Sunday night and a guy came and bought it all just after lunch on Monday! Yippee! We've had these concrete floors for the last week. I'll be glad to have them covered soon.

Growing Baby, Growing Belly

I cannot believe I'm already 17 weeks pregnant and have not taken a belly shot yet! *Gasp!*
I had Rylee shoot a few pictures tonight when it crossed my mind. I was a little more worried about the camera than how I was standing, so depending on the angle I look huge or barely showing. I'm sort of in-between. Showing some, but you could easily just think I'm gaining weight.

Totally Like Her Mama

She is SO my child!

In so many ways, it's kinda scary at times.
She was sweet and smiling when she left the house and then Daddy snapped this shot while they were eating breakfast at her pick, Jack in the Box!

First Day of the First Grade

Rylee just left for school. She starts 1st grade today!
I'm excited for her school year. She's been reading a lot this summer and is ready to dive into another year of learning and growing. She will have both 1st grade teachers this year since they team teach. I think it will be great for Rylee to have a teacher who focuses on math/science and then one who specializes in reading/social studies. I look forward to seeing her excel in both areas with the special attention.
Joel will be taking Rylee to school each day. This morning they left early so they could go have breakfast together. What an incredible treat! Joel is such an amazing dad and continually shows his kiddos his love in very tangible ways that I think they'll remember for years to come.

So, Jenna and I bid her a happy day as they departed. Asa's still sleeping!
Here's a prayer a friend sent that I thought would be neat to include for today:

A Mom's Prayer On the First Day of School

Here we are again, Lord. Their backpacks are loaded and their faces are scrubbed and their lunchboxes are full.

And I know you'll walk with them, Lord. You always do. But a mom still has to ask.

Will You walk with them? Will You whisper to them what they need to hear, when I'm not there to whisper it?

Will You please, oh please, cover their school with the protection only You can give?

Will You make their minds strong and ready to learn? Will You help them understand that hard work honors the One who created them?

Will You guide their teachers, giving them patience and wisdom and creativity and more patience? Will You bless them for their efforts?

Will You love all those children there, the ones whose lunchboxes aren't full, the ones who feel alone? Will You teach my children to be kind and unselfish and to love those who are different from them?

Will You point them back toward home just as soon as you can?

Lord, I give them to You today and everyday, trusting them to Your care.

Amen.

Remembering the Past

I just made a photo book for our family for the year 2007. I'm that behind on having photos printed! I finally put the last of the 2006 photos in our album and called those albums "done". There was a sale on books I've wanted to try, so I took advantage and went to the next year. It took me two days to make the 34 page book. I'll now go back and start having photo books made for the subsequent years (okay, so I just looked up subsequent to make sure I used it correctly, how sad is that?) My goal is to make the books and then order them when there's a sale.

So, that brings me to the post at hand. The past.
Three years ago I was teaching junior high Sunday school to a great group of students. I had just wrapped up a ladies study on the tabernacle in the Old Testament (Beth Moore's A Woman's Heart) in the fall of '06. It was so incredibly powerful to me that I chose to teach the basics to the students in my class.
We read through the passages in Exodus and figured out what it would have looked like. Then, I got the crazy idea that we should build a replica. There is actually a museum in Lancaster, PA that has a tabernacle replica (about 45 minutes from where we were living in Harrisburg). But, there's nothing like using your own hands to create something to make your head and heart more fully grasp the concepts.
Our church in Harrisburg owned a very large old school building. The youth ministry had the old wood shop area. We had a huge room in which to build our replica.
So, we measured things and tried to lay them out to scale as much as possible. Joel built most of the pieces himself and the students helped paint it. They also helped come up with the facts we would share as we gave tours to the adults in our church.We ended up having a youth worship service where we offered an 'experiential worship' component centered around the different parts of the tabernacle (a place to lay down your sins as they did on the brazen altar, washing your hands as they did in the laver, lighting candles as the priests did on the lampstand, ... finally coming to tear up the papers on which our sins were written as we sprinkled them over the ark of the covenant). I remember it being a really neat experience. I heard many adults talking about how neat it was to see the symbolism and understand some of it.I came across these pictures as I was creating the photo album for 2007. What a treasure to go back and reflect on the neat things God allowed me to be part of in years past.
I found this neat website that seems to have lots of information for those interested.