A Sign of Hope...

Could this be a little "God Wink" for me...something to give me hope and to see the beauty in the day filled with choas, dust and endless errands to Home Depot?  This is a 'tree' azalea and it is by the front porch.  Here it is the end of October and this little guy has two brand new buds!  Isn't this awesome?  Yes, I do believe...and the first sign of the pink bud did indeed give me hope and encouragement to face the day....in spite of two trips to Home Depot!

Remodeling the old house!

We are not done yet, but now we are in the middle of living in a mess in the kitchen at this old house.  It was decided that painting the cabinets would best be done before we move because seriously, it is a major disruption and can you see getting three children up in the morning, getting breakfast, packing lunches and keeping Jalen out of the "tent"??  And doing it all in the laundry room because you have NO access to the sink, the stove, the refrigerator?  We did put the microwave in the laundry room and can heat up a few things and of course make some popcorn for an evening snack!!  Just thought I would show you the chaos I am living in right now!

Creating in the Craft Room!!

Yeah, it is done and I am still organizing, but so much better than where I was!  I love it!!  I am still getting things placed where I need them...but I have plenty of time to figure that out!  It is a wonderful room to create and to get the "mojo" going!!  I can hardly wait until I have hours ad hours to "create"!!

Another "Sneak Peak" at the Kitchen!!

Are you all ready for this?  It is absolutely beautiful...I can hardly wait to start cooking in this awesome kitchen! The counter tops were installed today and they are fabulous!  The BIG ISLAND, as we call it, is the biggest island our fabricator has ever done!  The copper sink sits in the center and the counter flows over the top of it.  Do you see the posts at the edge where the bar stools will sit?  Aren't they cool?  Hal carved all them and added the upholstery nails so that it looks like all our doors from Mexico that have clavos in them.

All of the back counter tops are a chocolate brown, so beautiful, with lots of movement with darks, and reds and even some bits of white in it.  I am very very pleased with how it looks.  The stove top island, which is not done, will have the same dark chocolate granite counter top.

Now for some scary, exciting and stressful news!  Dina's house sold!!!  YIKES!!  Are you kidding me?  That means we have to be out of this house by November 16 because she has to be out of her house by the 20th!  I have a feeling a lot of our "stuff" is going to be staying right here in this house because we will not have enough of the house done to move everything.  We are going to really push hard to get things done, but some things are out of our hands....like the cabinets!  Hal is a one man shop and he is worth the wait and is working as hard as he can.  So it will be done when it is done.  I do think we will have the kitchen and at least the guest bedroom/bathroom done before we move.  And of course, MY CRAFT ROOM will be done, so I will be happy!!

I will keep you posted on our updates, hopefully we can pour a patio and front porch in two weeks!

Our Riley Dog

Riley, our part chow, part retriever, part other things was having some problems walking last spring.  He did what we called "twittering" while trying to stand or walk.  In other words, his feet did a little dance without going anywhere.  And his back legs would give out on him!  Poor thing.  So we took him to the vet, did a bunch of tests, then he was referred to a neurologist!  A doggy neurologist!  This Doctor actually was the same one who did the surgery on Bandy's neck about 25 years ago!

He had to do more extensive testing...a cat scan of sorts to see his spine and what was going on.  The prognosis was to do surgery in one week....this was last April!  Riley was to be on steroids for one week prior to the surgery.  Well, gosh after one week of being on the drugs, he was like his old self, walking fine, no 'twittering', wanting to chase balls, jump etc.  So we brought him back to the doctor and said, "Look!!  He is walking great!"  The doctor was actually very surprised, so we all agreed that we should wait and continue him on the pills, but at a lower dose and see how he does.  So in August Scott and I were thinking he looked like he was hurting again and needed the surgery, brought him back to the doctor, he assured us that giving the drugs to Riley every two days instead of three would be okay for him.  So, let's re-evaluate him in November!  Well, it really only took a couple of days that we had colder weather and rain and we thought Riley was hurting again.  Not sure if it was the colder weather and arthritis, but we decided we shouldn't put it off any longer.  The doctor agreed.  Riley had his spinal surgery on Monday and came home today, Thursday.  He is looking godd, feeling pretty good and walking okay....a little bit hesitant, but pretty good for the kind of surgery that he had.  The doctor was very happy with the results.  For the next couple of weeks we need to walk him and not let him roam on his own.  He will get the stitches out in two weeks....I say stitches, but really they look like staples!

We are happy to have Riley back home chatting with us and keeping us company!

Be still, and know that I am God

Our church is having it's first ever 'over night' retreat in November. One of the ladies who is organizing it, asked if I would help with some sort of token 'gift' for each lady attending. There may be close to 60! The theme is just what the title says....so I got on the internet and found a stamp with that verse on it and I bought it. Then I whipped up a couple of bookmarks, a little box, a post-it-note holder, and a candle to show my friend. They all had the verse stamped on them someplace. Of course the one she really liked, which she thought was "over the top" and so unusual was the candle. I found a site on the internet to buy 5 dozen for just under $1 each. They are 2 x 3 in size and just perfect for this size stamp. Are you wondering how I did it? It is so super simple, you might just want to try it yourself. You stamp the verse, or maybe you want to stamp a flower or a leaf, or a tree branch...anyway, stamp it on tissue paper!! Then cut around and close to the image as possible. Place it on the candle and then wrap a strip of wax paper around the candle. using a heat embossing tool, heat the image, but be careful not to get too close to the candle or else you will melt it!! You will slowly see the image adhere to the candle and become darker. Take the wax paper off and you are set with a new gift to give someone! I am cutting some scallop circles to place under the candle for the place setting at the table. I think everyone will love this little gift and will be anxious to take it home, put it in a special place and light it to remember all the blessings God has given to us, and if we are still we can hear Him speak to us!