Extreme Home Makeover: Hall Edition Project 1 Sneak Peak

The first project in the parsonage was the girl's bathroom. The water heater in there had leaked and caused some damage so they had someone to come in and repair this and then we began remodeling. I have not decorated it yet and I will do more pics once it is decorated but here is the progress so far.

The rest of the house is just dated BUT this was well, you can see for yourself... Just not my taste...
Can't tell it so much in this pic but the laminate on the vanity has the gold sparkles in it. This shows the new color of the walls which is a really light blue. We had painted and then we pulled to light fixture down to replace it this is what we found. This is discolored and not sure how old but I love it! Shows how patterns and colors come back around. Deep under all that paint and sponging was a beautiful damask wallpaper.

The new vanity! A did a great job! I am not sure I will ever get him to use grout this dark again because it was such a mess to work with, especially on the light tiles but I am happy with it. It is more of a modern look than I was really going for but I do love it. I debated on painting the cabinets this dark brown or a lighter color and I love the brown! Notice I don't have the outlet covers yet. Some of the "simplest" things can take the most time!

New light fixture (with bulbs we had just to have light) We will put clear bulbs in. Notice the mirror is just a plain glassThe tile floor which has a lot of the blue's and brown's and the grout is the same grout we used on the vanity. I knew I wanted dark grout so it doesn't show dirt and stains as easily. Very happy with the outcome

A preparing to work on the mirror and Sallie inspecting!

ALL the Hall Girls have worked and continue to work on our Extreme Home Makeover

My favorite part-the new mirror (ignore the paint that needs to be scraped off)!!! Actually it is the same mirror and we added trim. I came up with this idea of adding trim to the mirror. Mirrors are so expensive and I wanted to add something to the old plain mirror. We got this trim for less than $20 and A primed it and painted it the same color as the wood on the vanity. I wish I had taken one of it with the cover off so you can see it with the vanity but I will post some more once I make the curtain and hang it and have it all completely finished.

As much as this feels like a burden right now with so much going on I am humbled by the fact that we are getting to remodel our new home and have all the input on colors etc. Our God is so good! It may be a really long time before I ever have this opportunity again and I love that things have worked out for me to be able to do this. God does care about the little things. I would have gladly moved in and made do with whatever home was provided but God allowed me to have a part in something that I enjoy so much! For so long I have helped family and friends pick out things for their home and remodeling projects and now I get to do that for my home. It also means a lot to us that we serve a church that wants us to have an input in these things and wants us to be as happy and comfortable as possible. Stay tuned for the next installment of Extreme Home Makeover: Hall Edition!

It was a Country Living with a little Chuck E Cheese Spring Break

Since A was out of school last week we decided it would be good for him to take off work Thurs and Fri and us head to Red Springs to get some work done on the house. So, we headed that way Wed after he got off work. It was a productive time. More on that later but we are finally making some progress on the house. Still lots of work to do, but we do see progress! The girls love being there. They love playing outside with so much space to run. All they want to do is be outside which works well for us when we are working inside except that we have to constantly be watching for them because they like to go out of the fence or to Mr. Jimmy's. Mr. Jimmy is the neighbor and he takes a lot of time up with the girls and they are all about that. We had the windows up in the house and one time we heard them yelling at him while he was in his house, "Mr. Jimmy, we need you!" Uhhh... yea they needed orange soda or suckers or anything else he will give them!

Here they are "cleaning up" the dirt they put all over the front porch! Please ignore the mess of the yards. This is project # 1 million! The girls are not going to like us covering up their dirt piles with mulch!

Lizzie and Millie have never been to Chuck E Cheese and thanks to Disney Channel or maybe it is Nick commercials they have been begging to go so we decided to take a break from house projects on Friday for a little while and take them to Chuck E Cheese. Of course it was an hour drive which the closer it gets to moving time the more I realize is going to be a major adjustment to country living! We surprised them and did not tell them where we were going. As a sidenote, sign up on online at their website and they will send you great coupons! Saved a lot of money with the coupons.

Happy Girls!

My oldest baby and my youngest baby!
There was a time when Lizzie would not dare have ridden this horse but she was all about it.

Millie will do whatever...

REALLY could not believe she got in this! She is so cautious but she is loosening up a little!

Playin' with Daddy

My big girls!

Elleigh wanted to pretend she was not having fun, BUT she was! Sallie in ACTION!

"Can we have a turn, Daddy?"

After 2 beautiful days and lots of playing outside we woke up to this Sat morning. It was SO COLD and yes, the white stuff is snow! This was first thing Sat morning and it snowed most of the day. The wind was terrible so it blowed most of it. The girls were not happy that we would not let them play outside!

Speaking of our oldest about to be country girl, Elleigh has started her own blog to share her thoughts. Her address is www.hisgirlfirst.blogspot.com Check it out and I am sure she would love some feedback!

Prayers and Perspective

I have asked many of you to add this sweet family to your prayer lists but they are heavy on my heart so I thought I would put it on here and get more prayers. Jeramy Thomas, 18 is fighting Lymphoma of the liver. I worked with Jeramy's mom Amy at the Seminary and we were in supper club together, A worked with Jeramy's dad Pat and Jeramy worked for A during school breaks as well. They have since moved to Louisiana where Pat pastors a church. Jeramy has had Chrohn's disease for years and continued treatment in Dallas after they moved. Long story, he began to have other complications and after some surgeries, etc they learned that he had Lympoma. This young man has been through more than any of us can imagine but they lean on our Lord for their strength and it shows. He has gone through extensive treatments over the past few months and on Thurs he will receive a bone marrow transplant from his dad. There was a 1 in 200,000 chance that Pat would be a match and he was! What a miracle in itself! Please pray that the transplant will be a success. Also, there is a possibility that once he receives Pat's bone marrow he will be cured from Chrohn's! That would be wonderful! Thank you for your prayers.

This is a recent excerpt that Amy wrote from Jeramy's care page. It really puts things into perspective:

"While we have been at RMH the three of us search out for ways to serve others and we try to be a witness for our Lord. Sometimes this means finishing laundry for a family that needs to drop everything and run to the hospital or giving a ride to others back to the hospital. Serving others keeps the focus off of ourselves and makes us feel useful. As a Christian we know "it is not all about me" which is what the world tells us. Once the focus is in proper alignment we can be useful vessels of honor. "

Also, to put a face with a name, this is a clip from a recent news story that Jeramy was featured in. He and Amy are shown walking through the doors at the hospital and then there is a short interview with Jeramy:

http://www.wfaa.com/news/health/Strangers-donate-bone-marrow-for-children-in-need-87523237.html

50's Girls!

Today was the 50th day of Discovery School for this year so they had 50's Day! I had SO much fun dressing the girls up! I made their skirts which ended up being a little more challenging than I first thought. They would be much easier now that we (A had to help me because I was frustrated...) figured out the best way to cut them out. The girls were so excited and look ADORABLE!!!

I have no idea why these are hazy (well partly my camera which I do not like but that is all I will say about that!). Maybe I will dress them up again one day and take some more.
Notice the hair sticking out on the side. She cut a chunk of her hair. It is underneath and she has so much hair so it is only noticable when it is pulled back. I LOVE this little girl and all her sassyness!Millie has a GREAT smile! Melts my heart! Precious! Notice her hand on the sequins. I am anxious to see if they are still in tact when I pick them up because they could not keep their hands off of them.

Our Entertainment

I really should write down the things the girls say as soon as they say them because they say SO much we often forget but these are few of the latest episodes!

Lizzie was having a bad day (happens quite often)! She is a sweetheart, HOWEVER, she is very high maintenance and well she just needs everything to go HER way! She was mad with Millie and with me because she wanted the toy Millie had and we both told her no. So, she goes into the playroom and closes the door and will not let Millie in. Millie is trying to get in and Lizzie screams, "NO, you can not come in, I am dealing with myself!!!"

Same time frame as above but a little later on with Lizzie still in playroom "dealing with herself" she tells Millie, "you can not join me, I am ill!" All I can say is she is TOO MUCH and the teenage years with her are NOT going to be pretty!

This past weekend she (Lizzie of course) says to Elleigh, "your mama is buddy!" Excuse me! Several issues here: Do people really still say buddy? How does my 3 yr old know anything about "buddy" and most importantly I AM THE MAMA she is referring too! CLARIFICATION: "buddy" as in generic, off brand, etc. Growing up this is what we always referred to meaning something was "off brand" Cruel, I know, but just saying...

I told Elleigh to come over and look at a dress I was looking at online and Lizzie runs over, looks, and says, "CUUUUUUTTTTTTE, Elleigh you have to see this, it is CUTE I am telling you it is!" OK, maybe that sounds a little like me!

Millie's newest favorite saying is "my noses are running"!

Seriously, they keep us in stitches (AND ON OUR KNEES)!

Simply Silly Somewhat Sassy Sisters!

Despite the drive to Red Springs that we are all ready to be done with we have some fun times! We are all together and we find ways to pass the almost 6 hours we are in the car each weekend. We have some great conversations and sometimes we become Simply Silly!

Millie got A's toboggan and put it on her head and it was amusing! Of course the more we laughed the more she showed out. Glad I had the camera! We were almost there so maybe we become delirious by the end of the trip!
Of course then they all had to have a turn being silly! As you can see not only did Lizzie put the toboggan on her head she is imitating Millie sucking her thumb!

Sallie's turn! Those of you who know Sallie best can hear her laughing as you look at this picture! She LOVES to laugh!
This was made the next day but I guess they were still in silly mode! Even Elleigh who normally is much more serious than silly was being SILLY!
Once again, what one does they all do!

Conversation last week between 2 SASSY SISTERS:

Lizzie was having a hard time putting on her pants for some reason and Elleigh offered to help her which completely offended Lizzie and so the arguing began!!!

Lizzie: "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.... Elleigh, I don't want you to help me!"

Elleigh: "FINE! I was just trying to help!"

Lizzie: "You are 12, I am 3, I am not arguing with you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Said in the MOST SASSY voice imaginable!

Lizzie: (Louder each time) "You are 12 and I am 3 and I am not arguing with you!" Same sentence repeated over and over!

While it is on my mind and so many of you are so sweet to check on us and ask for updates I will give you a few updates on the Simply Silly Somewhat Sassy Sisters:

Sallie's Therapy: Still super slow BUT she is cooperating a little more. She loves to go and she still likes to do what she likes to do but it is better so please keep praying. We feel your prayers! Of course the activities she most likes are those she is most successful at and that is how we all are. It is much easier and more desirable to do the things we are better at vs. those things we struggle with. Right now pray specifically for us to know the direction to go from here and for future therapy options once we move. We will have to travel an hour each way to therapy so I am really hoping that we can do one day a week BUT if she needs more then we will do what we have to do. Still not sure about school for her next year so LOTS of prayers needed for our decisions on that.

The sisters and their mama and daddy still have a home! The last investor offered more money and I feel like the owner will deal with with this investor. However, this investor is also a real estate agent SO there is a good possibility that the owner will decide to allow him to list the house vs. buying it upfront. This of course keeps us in the house longer. A plumber is supposed to come in the next day or so as well as someone to look at the foundation both of which relate to negotiations on the house between the owner and investor/real estate agent. SO, all of that to say we STILL did not know how much longer we have here BUT we are thankful for each day we still have a place to call home and every day brings us closer to mid May which is our ideal move out time! Thank you GOD for your provisions!

5 months and Counting Down

In 5 short months from now Aaron and I will be here Yes, I am going to Africa!
We have talked about this for a while and I guess since A told the church last night that I will be going with him, then I WILL be going with him! This trip is a one that he will head up and several of our members are going on as well as a couple of other people from different churches.

The picture below (which is not dated correctly) is of some of the children with the dolls that the ladies in our church make. They make the dolls and then they are taken to Africa along with a picture of who made them and a letter promising to pray for them. These children have nothing and are thrilled to receive these dolls. Our members also can adopt the dolls for a time before they are taken to Africa and they pray for the child that will receive the doll. Thank you God for allowing us to be part of a church that is incredibly missions minded. A expressed to me as soon as he came back last summer that he wanted me to go with him this year. I really wanted to but there is so much to be worked out but I really got a peace that God would work out all the details and I just had to commit to go.

I admit this is WAY out of my comfort zone on so many levels! First of all the thought of leaving my children for 2 weeks makes me SICK! Really, it does. Please pray for me. The girls will go to AL and spend time with family and I know that they will spoil them and keep them entertained but I have only been away from Lizzie and Millie for 1 night and it will be hard on all of us. Pray for a peace that can only come from God. Pray for Elleigh who SO wants to be in Africa with us! Aaron will be going at least once a year so we told her she could go next time. She is so anxious to get back to the people.

Please pray for my heart to be completely broken for these people, especially the women. We had share time last night at church with the team that just got back and one of the men was telling us about a lady who was praying to receive Christ and she said, "thank you for dying to save us all, even women." That got me! These women have no self worth. They are mistreated and used by the men in their lives (something I can't possibly understand). They need to know that their self worth comes from HIM! One of the ladies shared that she went back to visit a lady who was saved last fall on a trip and that she was now HIV positive and pregnant. Her husband had gotten her pregnant, left her HIV positive, and left her which is the norm. One of the greatest needs on these trips is women to go and lead Bible studies with these ladies and I need you to pray that I will have the words to say to them that HE would have me to say.

We are going to have many many prayer requests and I will be adding more I am sure as time gets closer but those are just a few things that are weighing on my mind right now and that are part of my current preparations. I need to mentally get in a good mindset about leaving the girls and I need to seek Him for wisdom in dealing with these suffering women.

OH, also I cry every time I see a picture of the kids SO you might want to pray that I do not kidnap any of them to bring back with me. Seriously!

Below is a video with the song God of this City by Chris Tomlin. I love this song! Aaron used it on his slideshow when he did his presentation to the church after getting back and one of the ladies last night had used it again. This video is not either of those but just one I found on you tube. The words are wonderful and I feel like I will be listening to this a lot over the next months. It makes me want to jump on a plane right now (while crying like crazy)!

An appropriate theme

Today was PJ Day at Discovery School. The girls love theme days so they had looked forward to wearing their PJs to school. I was so glad that they were finally well enough to get out of the house and go back to DS. You can tell they have been sick :( Lizzie ate NOTHING for 4 days and she was having to keep pulling up her pants this morning.

After our week, I could not think of a more appropriate theme than PJ day! We had been our PJs for a while! This was the picture at our house for 6 days (with the addition of 4 more sick bodies)! Notice I got wise and covered our couch! Better to wash a quilt than try and clean the entire couch... Yes, we ALL ended up with it. I can not believe how much I am hearing about the stomach bug. It really seems to be all over the country and sweeping through entire families. I have heard of so many families who have all had it. I feel for them! This was for sure NOT a 24 hour thing. This was the first time we have all had something like this. It seemed to never end and we hurt like we had the flu! We are still weak and very tired but so much better! The irritability factor in our house is at an all time high but we do have excuses, right? Enough said about all that... I am ready to move on!

Once again, I was reminded through this period of chaos and well LOTS of other things that we are so blessed by wonderful family and friends. We had so many people checking on us and offering to bring us things and praying for us. My sweet friend (who has 4 small children) dropped a bowl of homeade chicken soup at our door last night. The timing was great! The girls could finally eat and they were excited to have something home cooked. She also had left a warm loaf of fresh baked bread and it was really good to our fragile tummies! We are beyond blessed!

I had so many good blog ideas in my head for this week and they have somehow all been erased from my mind. Maybe the ideas along with my energy will return soon!

Hope you all STAY WELL!

The chicken is still in the freezer...

Where do I begin?

Let's start with last Friday:

I have really been needing some "time" lately and of course there is a lot to do here and a lot to do in RS. A convinced me to let him take the girls to RS, me stay here and have some "time" and I was planning to get some things done around here.

I scurry around getting A and the girls ready to go. Fridays are therapy days and Ell teaches at Good News Club so lots of running around, etc. But I got their groceries bought (and mine) and got them packed and ready.

I had Supper Club on Fri nt so I headed there and A and the girls left for RS.

Had a wonderful time at supper club. Great food, great relaxed time with friends, they gave me some really cute kitchen towels and an ADORABLE apron because my supper club time is coming to an end :( Nov. was our 3 yr anniversary. There are only 4 of us now from the original group. I make the 3rd who has moved away (all 3 of us being minister's wives).

I was telling the supper club girls that I was going to make some chicken salad and I had some Pepperidge Farm entertainment crackers and I was going to eat that all weekend since I was alone.

I get home from supper club and A and the girls are home. WHAT???

I walk in the door and know immediately that Lizzie is sick.

I confess I had a very selfish moment and was not happy that MY TIME had been interrupted!

Shortly after I felt really bad about this selfishness and went into mama mode! Once again I admit that I was still thinking "this is not Fai????" I can't say the word because A doesn't allow that word! It ends in a R!

We debate what the rest of the weekend holds and as much as I did not want to be home without A and with a sick child and the other girls I knew that is what I had to do. I knew that since Lizzie was throwing up there was the possibility of the other girls getting sick and A could not take care of them so they needed to stay with me. A went on Sat morning to RS so he could do some projects around there.

Lizzie continued to throw up all day Sat, running fever, eating nothing, not even being able to keep down Sprite, etc. She had 5 baths in a 24 hour period!

Same story for Sunday...

Millie is just at that age so she is a handful and she is the baby and she likes attention so she did not like me taking care of Lizzie and trying to keep her away from us. So Sun was really quite a challenge with her!

She kept telling me her tummy hurt but I thought she wanted attention. Bad mama for the second time in one weekend. First my selfish moment and then thinking Mill was being selfish!

Sallie holds her head which is her telling me she is sick. Great, now Sallie is being selfish! She curls up beside me and about 10 min later she shows me just how sick she is! BAD, it was BAD! All over the couch, all inside the couch, EVERYWHERE! We get a shower, clean up, clean up, did I mention clean up??? Ell (I love her more than ever!) was trying to help me and gagging! I told her she had to GET IT TOGETHER! I NEEDED HER! Bless her, she did "GET IT TOGETHER!"

In the midst of cleaning the mess, I slip on a toy on the hardwood floor and fall. I thought I was really hurt! I just laid there and cried for a while. Ell was about to call 911 and she is always calm! She was saying "mama, what is hurt" and all I could say is "I don't know!" I finally "GOT IT TOGETHER" and got up (while Lizzie is standing there waiting on me to pick her up)! I am fine. A little sore today and huge bruises on one of my legs.

Sallie begins throwing up again (more than just from her mouth!). While she is throwing up Millie starts throwing up. NO, I am not kidding! I would not make this up!

It all gets really blurry about now! Sallie throws up a few more times that night and Millie threw up 6 times in a 2 hour period. I have never had puke and poop on so many things! Sorry, but it's just the truth! Our linen closet was bare and our laundry room was FULL!

A finally gets home late Sun. nt armed with much Lysol, gain, oxy clean, soup, gatorade, sprite, and the such! Not sure I have ever been so glad to see him.

He comes in and immediately begins washing and cleaning.

Ell goes to bed and tells me she doesn't feel well. Around midnight she gets up throwing up and she throws up more and more and more!

A was so sweet to clean it all up and take care of her and the other girls that woke up at different times. He kept saying "I got it, you have done this for 2 days" I LOVE HIM!!!

He stayed home with us today and bleached everything we own and helped take care of sick girls! The task was much more managable with both of us!

In fact I can hardly breathe the bleach smell is so strong. He may kill us all along with the germs!

So far A and I have not gotten it. Lizzie is much better tonight. Millie and Elleigh a little better and Sallie not so much. She went to sleep today at 1:30 and at 6 we went in to wake her up and she told us to leave the room so we did and she has not gotten up. I am hoping she will be better after sleeping so long.

This was our first experience with them all having a stomach virus at the same time. NO FUN! There is so much work that comes with stomach bugs! Whew... I am SO thankful that A and I have not gotten it. I know we are not out of the woods yet but at least if we get it maybe the girls will be better.

I have for sure been reminded that MY plans are often not what ends up taking place! Lord, I already knew that! Really, I didn't need THIS MUCH of a reminder!

Needless to say, no "time" for me (which is OK!), no completed projects, and no chicken salad... THE CHICKEN IS STILL IN THE FREEZER!

DaySSSSS... of Celebrating LOVE!

With Valentine's Day being on Sunday this year we had to break up our celebrations. As usual we had a great time! A always goes way out to make this time special for us. I pray our girls have husbands who do the same for them.

On Friday night he cooked our usual Shrimp Fettucine Alfredo. Delicious as always! A took this picture of all his ingredients and I love the picture.
LOVE these girls!

I made the girl's shirts and they were quite proud of them. I have been wanting to make some and I had this fabric leftover so decided to make these. I zig zagged around them and that was not so easy on these curvy letters. The part I am most proud of is that I could not find a font to work so I free handed the letters. It took me a while but I got it!
Ready for dinner

Being silly

LOVE this picture!

My LOVE and I

What more could I ask for? My man in a turtleneck sweater serving up some delicious food he cooked!

Looking at this picture makes me feel so full of LOVE!

Thank you God for giving me a WONDERFUL husband and 4 WONDERFUL girls to LOVE!!!For the first time ever, I did not make our dessert. Poor planning on my part and the snow are to blame! So, I came up with this idea and it turned out really cute and very good!
We always use our fine china and the little girls get better each time at handling the china

On Sat. morning before heading to Red Springs A did breakfast and gave the girls their teacups. This year he did the Vera Bradley covered mugs. They are very different from what he normally gets but very pretty. Table shot. A normally does pancakes but this year since we were in a hurry to head to RS I made a breakfast casserole the night before and A cooked it and got the table ready, made the tea and coffee, etcOnce again, Daddy serving his girlsLOVE, LOVE, LOVE everything about thisSipping tea
Ell loves hot tea. She drinks it all the time.Lastly, A and I celebrated together on Tues nt. We went to Italian Inn. We have heard about it since we have lived here and never been. The food was good. For sure not the best italian we have ever had but not bad either. The prices were reasonable. The highlight was the private booths. You actually close the doors on your booth and it is really private. It is known for the private booths. It was a neat experience. The restaurant itself is nothing fancy at all but the booths were unique! This pic was made as we were leaving for our date.