Bath update

So painting the hall bath didn't happen this weekend. Surprise, surprise, we are sick again! :) Dave has had a high fever since Thursday, and the boys are still sick too. We are a pathetic group, aren't we? Just how many times have we been sick this winter? Too many to count!

And to think that Dave used to pride himself on the immune system he gained by growing up on a farm and regularly ingesting dirt. He used to tell me this all the time. In all seriousness. :) I don't think he's really taken a sick day in his seven years with this company until this winter, so that tells you something.

But seriously, it is getting old, having nothing to report but our series of aches and pains. This week - an entire 4 days spent in bed. Sigh. Anyone else tired of my whining yet? Ha! I am tired of it! I have noticed myself thinking things like, "What is going on? Why is this happening to us?" and wondering if it is a spiritual battle or just a trial the Lord is bringing us through. It sounds ridiculous, and typing it out, I am seriously inclined to delete this whole post. I should keep my woes to myself.

But I am posting this. I want to be able to look back and remember how the Lord brought us through this time. That is the purpose of this little blog, after all. To make a conscious effort to see the goodness of the Lord in our little family's life. Because in and of the flesh, my tendency is towards despair, to be honest. Even over little things, like multiple viral illnesses back to back. Ha! My husband knows this about me, and always encourages me to reflect on each day and choose to trust. He is so wise, isn't he?

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your paths." Proverbs 3:5,6

"A man's heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps." Proverbs 16:9

"But He knows the way that I take; when He has tested me, I shall come forth as gold." Job

"A man's steps are of the Lord; how then can a man understand his own way?" Proverbs 20:24

I have been meditating on these verses, reminding myself of the truth of them, that the Lord really is in control, and that He cares.

I thought these paragraphs by Elizabeth Elliott were especially good,

When trouble comes, we are tempted to think we are being punished or that God has forgotten us. He never forgets. He keeps faith--that is He keeps his promises, is faithful to his word, even when it appears that we are forsaken.

Joseph suffered one disaster after another. When, because of the vicious lie of a rejected woman he was put in prison, the Lord was with him there, keeping faith (Gn 39:21). Perhaps Joseph wondered why Almighty God could not have prevented the woman's triumphing over him--or prevented his ever having been victimized by his brothers in the first place and thus being at this woman's mercy. But we are given the complete picture which Joseph did not have while he was in prison--the amazing purpose of God for his chosen people, Jacob and all his family, who because of Joseph's long-drawn-out sufferings, were saved. God keeps faith--He has a perfect blueprint, and He is building according to its specifications.

So this is where I am. So, so tired of all the illness, but reminding myself of the truth of God's Word. We have not been forsaken by the Lord - in fact, He is proving Himself so near. Just as He did with Joseph.

"But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him mercy..." Genesis 39:21

Love that. He is with us too, and showing me mercy, after mercy. And thankfully His faithfulness is not dependant on my faith...

Oh, and I know that as soon as summer comes, I will completely forget this long winter and how endless it has seemed. The days on end without leaving the house. But I want to remember. Because as frustrating and exhausting as it has been, the Lord has met my spiritual and emotional needs every day. His Word has never let me down. I have had faithful friends remind me of the truth and point me to the Lord just when I have needed it. And my husband never gets discouraged. At least I don't think he does. Our house could burn down, and he would find something positive about the situation. It's a good thing I married him, don't you think? :)

Ha! Hopefully I should have more pics of the tile job in the next few days. Yay! Something worth posting about!

Hall Bath Remodel

I forgot to take before pictures, but you remember that hall bath, don't you? Cracked tub, dated 70's wood vanity with rotted wood and a door hanging off, cracked marble countertop. To our credit, when we moved in (of course, that was 5 years ago), we stripped all the purple butterfly wallpaper, painted the walls a neutral shade, and put in a new lighting fixture and towel bars (which we are keeping). I think everything else is going though. :)

Since this is what is going on in my life right now, I'll share some of the work in progress. I was able to sneak a couple pics during the crew's lunch break.


The tub is in! Granted, this is just a regular, ol' tub, but to me, it is beautiful! No cracks means no leaks, and that is a good thing.


As you can see, they have drywalled the tub surround, and have started mud and taping it. As I type this, I can hear the cement board being installed on the floor for tile. Yeah, it's really loud around here, and of course it happens to be nap time too. :)

Oh, so the contractor told Dave today that he would be done with the dry wall this week, so if we want to, we could paint this weekend. Paint????!!! What color am I painting this bathroom?! I have just been thinking about tile and countertops for the last couple weeks.

Funny little sick boy

If you were in my kitchen this morning, this is what you might have overheard:

Ethan: "Mom, my coughs make my throat sound like it's tooting."

Fevers

Little update here. The boys are sick again, yes, again. Ethan woke up at 3 am last night with 103 fever, and of course that ended up with him puking. He always pukes when his temperature spikes, even when he was a tiny baby. That kid has the weakest stomach.

Thankfully he's old enough now to tell us when he needs to throw up, and he almost always makes it to the bathroom in time. Last night was a good night. Afterwards (and some Ibuprofen later) we made a little bed on our floor with his sleeping bag, and we all slept until 9 am. Even Dave. Oops!

Si is sick now too, and while I'm tempted to be a little down about yet another round of illness, I have to admit, it made for a nice day of cuddling on the couch. We read several books, and the boys watched way too many movies. Oh well, summer is coming, right?

So we spent another day at home, despite the fact that we have a crew here demo'ing our hall bath all this week. My plan was to be gone during all of this, you know, run errands and go to the park and the zoo, that kind of stuff, but oh well. The Lord knew that this was coming, and we are resting in Him.

On an encouraging note though, this afternoon a sweet lady from church called to ask if she could bring dessert for tomorrow night's Bible study. She didn't have any clue that I had sick kids, but she just felt like offering to do it. It was such a sweet reminder to me that the Lord always meets my every need, even the little things. Isn't He good?!

Easter at the farm

We joined some friends and went to the Passion Play at a local church this weekend. We were even able to sit on the front row! The boys were enthralled. It was such a neat way to start our Easter weekend.

My favorite Ethan quote of the night was, "Mom, I wish Jesus had a sword so He could fight all those bad men off!"

He was so concerned. I love his little heart, taking it all in.

...........

We went out to the farm for lunch after church on Sunday. Chris, Toni and kids made it too!

The boys were already hyped up on sugar before we got there, and it only got worse as the day progressed.

Grandma made jelly bean cupcakes for the kiddos.

Simon immediately face planted in his cupcake to try to eat the jelly beans right off it. :)

Look who showed up!

Kristi brought over her 4 year old son Garrett, and he and Ethan became fast friends. "Mom," he says to me, "It's so exciting - I have a new cousin!"

The kids are out the door for the big Easter egg hunt...

The older cousins picked some tricky hiding places for those eggs!

Sweet Grace...

Melissa, Will and Brittany...

And now we're going to sleep off all that sugar... happy Resurrection Day!

Look who finally gets to come to date night!

The kid side of date night, that is. :) Miles has been going on *dates* with mom and dad for almost 9 months now, but no longer! I think he enjoyed himself, which we were glad to see.

Goodwill Find

Spring always puts me in the mood to create, whether it's just homemade cards, scrapbook pages (okay, I haven't done that in awhile!), organized drawers....or bigger things, like painting or recovering thrifted furniture. You will not find me trekking through snow to get to the Goodwill, but first sign of warmer temps, I am there.

We went in yesterday and found this cute little bench.


I love it so much. What do you think? Black legs and a new seat cover? What kind of fabric should I use? Solid or print? I am thinking it will be perfect for my basement entry way, under the coat hooks.

The boys love it too.


Now they're just getting silly.

Fort building and other thoughts

Wooden race cars from Grandma R. Oh what fun!

Spring is in the air around here, and I'm in the mood to blog again too. Why can't I be more prolific when it's too cold to leave my house??? There is just something about the promise of spring that inspires me.

To write....and to clean. To organize, to purge half my house. :) And to play too. Although right now, the boys are happily building a fort all on their own in the backyard. I can hear them giggling together, and it makes me so thankful that they have each other.

So I have a moment of quiet here in the kitchen. Dinner is in the oven, fresh bread is on the counter. Life is good.

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