At last.....it FEELS like HOME!

Finally......this house is beginning to feel like HOME! When we moved in three summers ago, the whole house was painted the lovely off-white color that maintenance uses. I found out the name of it is Pearly Gates no less. Now isn't that fitting for a Bible college campus! LOL! Even though maint. allows you to pick colors, there was such a hurry for us to move in that they were only able to get two rooms painted in color....our bedroom, which is sage green,and Lauren's room....pink. That Fall, I was extremely busy with school. I moved from bouts of quesiness with my pregnancy with Caleb right into my Junior Piano Recital. That spring, I was still taking quite a few classes, and I also had Caleb in April. Then in the late Summer, I got sick with CHF. Ever since it was a struggle jsut to get my weekly cleaning done. Actually, I even had to have help with that as well. Needless to say, I NEVER got the closets really organized OR any of the rooms painted.

Well, this summer, I was determined it was going to change! I must really pause a minute to give God a little praise for the way I've been feeling lately...I feel really great! Around the same time that Chris sent my to Fl., my Dr. gradually began increasing the one heart med. I was on. As a result, I've been feeling gradually better ever since. It is sort of like waking up from a deep sleep. I have so many things I want to get done and now I can! Anyway,

we knew we were to get new carpet sometime this summer. It finally arrived about a month ago. When I moved all the furniture back, I REALLY organized the closets. Before the carpet was laid, I tried to get everything painted the way I wanted it. Now.....I can truly say....this feels like home. It looks the way I want it too.....minus some curtains. I know what I want, but I'm waiting on a sale at Hancock Fabrics first. I found out Home Decor. material is NOT cheap!

Here are a couple pics of the living room before.....

about midway through....painting done, but carpet and new furniture not arrived yet! Wasn't that look beautiful??? Sort of like Christmas in July :)

Finally....the finished product......

The pics above and below show the red the way it really looks. I'm surprised how many different shades I got all on the same day at the same time.

Sorry the dining room picture turned out so dark. I might have to try to get some better ones later. It was a really bright day....I though they would turn out great. :(

The dining room color wasn't such a drastic change. When I see the walls I think of "warm vanilla". I'm not sure if that tells you what color they are, but that's what I call it! I needed the dining room to have color, but also coordinate with the living room since they are joined in a way. I've been really happy with the results.

A very happy 4th............

We spent the weekend with my parents in McDonald PA.


Friday morning.....the kids waiting to leave for Grandmas.

Saturday morning my Dad fixed his famous pancake breakfast. Yes. You read right....my Dad enjoys cooking. His specialty is fixing pancakes. One time I asked if he could tell me what the ingredients were. To which he replied "Oh, it's just plain old pancake mix. You just add water......oh, and also some eggs, oil, baking soda(or powder...can't remember which), vanilla, corn meal, sometimes I throw in apple juice.....yeah...you get the picture. Just plain ole' mix! LOL! Anyway, not only are they VERY light and fluffy, and terrible delicious, but he also can make almost any shape the kids ask for. This time Michael got a tiger.

Lauren got Pumpkin (a cat)

Caleb really enjoyed playing with the cat, Melody. This cat is so old and lazy. Caleb got a necklace out of the toybox and draped it over the cat repeatedly. The cat put up with all the fuss quite well. She's just too old and lazy to get up and move!

Saturday evening we drove over to an old Presbyterian church. Not only is it in a pretty location, but it is very old (177?) and the surrounding grounds are well maintained. There's an old cemetary off to the side, so we enjoyed looking through that. Lauren had a lot of fun looking at the old tombstones and then informing us which American Girl was "living" during that era.

We topped the evening off with a stop for soft ice cream.

They had unique seating for kids!

Yumm.....it WAS delicious. Thanks Mom and Dad for the yummy treats!!

They even serve a special treat to dogs.

Since I last posted we.....

have been enjoying beautiful weather! The kids have had oodles of fun playing outside. One of the "perks" of living at GBS is that the big parking lot belongs to the kids in the summer. It's a great place to ride bikes and our kids just LOVE IT! Caleb brings along his bubbles and has a great time as well.

Michael just learned to ride without training wheels several weeks ago. So he can zip around pretty quickly. Sometimes at the expense of a skinned up elbow!

Caleb lookin' pretty cool with his sunglasses and boo-foo!(pacifier)

We also celebrated a great Father on the 15th! Chris is a wonderful Dad to our 3 great kids! We are one blessed family!

I just had to include this picture. Their look-alike looks never seemed more obvious!(can't remember what they thought was so funny!)

On the 17th I packed up (I mean LOADED) the van and headed off to Heartland Family Camp. My parents were there, so there was an extra pull in that direction! It was my first time to attend (other than a Sun service 7 years ago) so I was a little nervous about it at first. However, after being there just a few hours, and discovering how FRIENDLY everyone was, I began to relax and feel right at home. (Thanks to Julie A. for being the first to make me feel welcome!) Of course, after being there a while, I realized I knew many campers. The kids absolutely LOVED it. They quickly made friends, and enjoyed the Children's services.

Lauren was asked to help wipe trays at lunch and not only did she enjoy helping, but also enjoyed many giggles and made some good friends!

Wed. afternoon, they had a baseball game just for 5,6, and 7 year olds. VERY CUTE! This was Michael's first time of playing on a team and he LOVED it! He also whacked the ball pretty good, as you can see in the pic!

On the 20th, we took the kids to Logan's Roadhouse and celebrated 11 years of wedded bliss! The food was delicious, and the kids thought it was really cool to be allowed to go along on our "date"!

In addition to getting our whole house carpeted (over a span of 5 days), we had a visit from my Mom. Actually, her visit was in response to my SOS call! The carpet guys told us on Mon that they would be here on Fri. to do our entire hosue. While we were at camp, Chris busied himself with taking apart tables, moving furniture etc. When I arrived home from camp, my entire dining and living rooms were in the kitchen and basement. Of course, that left the closets and kids rooms to me. Ugh! He did help me with furniture, but with the help of the kids, I got all the little stuff moved. Friday came and went. Finally they came about 6 pm sat night and got the downstairs done so I could have access to the kitchen. They were done with the bedrooms by Tues, so I asked Mom if she could come and help me get everything put back together. A few guys from GBS helped with the furniture, but the closets etc. really take TIME. I wanted to get them organzed better. Mom stayed until last evening. What would we do without our Moms??


Friday is my day to watch the Kelly kids. Alex and Michael are close to the same age, so they have fun together. Since we were taking a picnic to the park, we invited Caroline Crater to join us for Lauren's sake! We went to Pride Park in KY.

Born at GBS, 4 months apart, Caroline and Lauren have grown up good friends.

They shared many secrets and giggles.....

All 6 playing.

The boys had lots of fun as well.

Getting dizzy together!

Well, it's almost 8 and the kids are begging to get out to the parking so lot, so why not?! Now I'm caught up on blogging.....whew....time to rest!

Michael turned six last week.

Rather than have a big party every year, we have a party every other year, and go to Chuck E Cheese instead. I LOVE Chuck E Cheese years. Not only is it easier, but I get to have fun too!

It was a good night to go....they weren't having any birthday parties....just several families scattered here and there.

Caleb was very scared of the "scary mousie". He eventually got over it as the night wore on.

As I'm sure you can tell, me and the kids LOVE skeeball. It used to be just Lauren and I that were crazy about it, but this time Michael joined in the fun too and found out he loved it!

Chris loves the basketball game....conveniently placed beside the skeeball!

Michael's look of surprise when he saw his race car cake for the first time. It was worth all the time I spent.

A bit too much black frosting!

While I was working in the kitchen the other day, Michael came in to chat and casually mentioned that he had an idea. Instead of going to Chuck E Cheese next time, he had decided he would like to go to Hawaii. Where did he get that?!? Sounded good to me as long as he's paying!

Michael was thrilled when his Grandma sent him $5. in his birthday card. He excitedly told me he was going to put it in the offering at Junior Church. I was a proud Momma!

Michael has a very funny sense of humor. Usually it has to do with thinking up silly phrases or songs. When he was 3, he used to go around singing "Come listen to my tale, of Hippie and the Whale". (on purpose)And just last week, when he got a plastic lizard from Junior Church, he quickly named it "the Lizard of Oz"!

During devotions this week, we were reading a story that involved "a couple wives". Michael quickly piped up that "that would be cool!....to have 2 Moms". I couldn't have been more shocked! (nor my ego more bruised!) So, we began asking him who he wanted for his other Mom. After naming probably 20 or more names, he concluded he didn't want any of those Moms....I guess he just wanted me cloned or something! I've finally recovered....I think!

It's fun to see him grow, but I can't believe he's 6 already!! Where has the time gone!?

Look Who Turned Six!

My favorite blondie turned six on the 3rd! Happy Birthday Michael!

We love you!