My goal is to wind up our long-ago WI trip later this week, but tonight I thought I'd give a quick update about what's been going on around here.
First of all, our bedroom is painted!! It's the first of many rooms that really, really need it, and it's exciting to have one finished! :-D Our bathroom will be next (that's as much paint as we have at the moment, though we've chosen most of the colors finally).
Thomas was confused and a little concerned about the moving of furniture . . .
The cats, of course, had a ball with the sheet covering the headboard and bed--Sam on the 0utside, Rosie on the inside.
I'm not sure if Nuri didn't realize it was Rosie under there, or if he thought he'd be safe because she couldn't see him (they're relationship is still rocky at best), but not thirty seconds after he started playing she shot out from under the sheet and was after him. 
After I separated them, the boys decided they could continue to have fun without her.
We are very happy with the color (I'll take a picture once we have the pictures up, etc.)--a kind of grey/green that looks blue in certain light. It's hard to describe! I was going to link to the color, but it doesn't look ANYTHING like what they have on the site so you'll just have to wait. :-)I was recently privileged to be a part of an evening of baptisms with REALITY, our church youth group. Six high schoolers gave their testimony and were baptized! It was awesome. I'm also excited to be going on the REALITY winter retreat again this year in early January.
Erik recently went on his first Men's Retreat and had a fantastic time!! (the link to pictures is on Facebook and will only work if you have an account). He's looking forward to making it a yearly tradition. Isn't he cute?! :-D
Last Monday we had some young friends over while their parents were at a class for their foster parenting/adoption certification. Much fun was had by all! This picture was taken after the Barbies were shelved in favor of dressing up Meredith.
"Now I will dress myself up!"
In other news, the weather is doing it's whole "It's fall! Wait, it's still summer! Now it's fall again!" routine. Mostly we've had lovely weather with some hot thrown in. But fall means that certain things smell and taste better than any other time of the year . . . hence, I made spiced tea and am planning to make some pumpkin bread this week!
School has started and I'm enjoying being part of the Community Reading Project again. I've been assigned to a different school which is just starting to participate in the program (in fact, I'm the only volunteer who is showing up so far). Hopefully we'll get some more folks soon!I finished my Sampler Quilt class in September, and have enough blocks to put together a quilt for a guest bed--but now begins the long process of making the sashing . . . and then doing the binding. :-/ I think I like the piecing part much better!! Anyway, I need to back at it so I can actually finish it! Here's a preview, including the little slips of paper pinned on each square so I remember the order we decided on (please don't look at the boxes in the corner). By the time it is finished, the plan is to have that mattress on a box spring (still to be acquired) and bed frame (currently waiting in the garage), for the boxes to be gone, and for the room to be painted a nice shade of blue! :-D
What else? We've been putting together a couple of baskets for a silent auction. I wish I'd taken pictures of them before we dropped them off--we had fun putting them together! We included some yummy fall drinks (different teas, chai mix, spiced tea), a cookie-in-a-jar mix, some refurbished candle holders with candles, a set of coasters with pretty photos in them, a pair of mugs and a pair of knitted mittens, all in cute wire-frame window boxes. Hopefully they'll bring in some much needed money! Speaking of which, if anyone is looking for a great cause to lend support to, check out Young Life. Our friends Troy & Shay Hess are desperately trying to raise funds to keep up their ministry in Kern County. Giving has decreased with the economy while, ironically, their volunteer staff and student participation has been exploding. I know they would appreciate your prayers.We've also been getting materials together to organize and promote Operation Christmas Child at our church. This is such an awesome ministry--we loved filling our boxes together last year and are excited to be getting more people involved this year!
You thought I was kidding about being busy, didn't you? Ha!
We spent a fun evening with friends at their house last night, eating taco salad and some yummy homemade blackberry gelato! We moaned about football (we've been making picks each week with Brent and Julie and this week our records were SAD!!!) and chatted, I helped cut paper dolls and Erik played fooseball, and then we settled down for a game of Settlers of Catan. Fun!! And I have to say, as badly as we picked this week as a group, I did the best (for the first time) and even improved from last week!! :-D The girls are also holding onto a (slight) lead for the second week running--WOO HOO! Erik and Brent compete for who is going to buy coffee at their discipleship meeting each week; Julie and I are competing with the boys over the whole season for a dinner and date night prepared by the losing side. What's with the Packers losing again this week??! :-( Interesting note about time zones . . . there is no turning on the TV and watching the football game after church around here; it's more of a get-home-and-check-the-scores (and maybe catch the end of a game). Weird. Not as weird as it must be in Hawaii though!!
Here's a funny thing: Sometime in July, the part of a ginger root I had sitting on my counter sprouted a little shoot! When Ben and April were here, they suggested sticking it in some soil and keeping it on the counter so I could pull it out when I needed some, hack a little off and replant it. Well it has been growing like crazy! I'm wondering just how tall the shoots are going to get (it's in front in the ugly cool whip container). I need to find something bigger to put it in--and something more aesthetically pleasing!
And I'll leave you with this: for the past two weekends, do you know what my sweet, sweet husband has been doing? Waking up bright and early on Sunday AND Monday and surprising me with a hot delicious breakfast cooked by him! Would you believe he did all the dishes this morning afterward? I tell you, a girl could get used to this . . . :-DSayonara! :-)
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