Really???

My cute little basset found my ball of hemp and somehow managed to unravel it all in a couple of minutes.  Notice anything else in her crate??  She also chewed up my gloves.  She's a busy girl!!

Our Sunday...

 On Sunday we tied a favorite verse to a balloon and released them after the service.

 Shepherd puts together Thanksgiving meals (using donations from other churches).  Volunteers come and deliver the meals all over the East side.  The Shepherd staff (including yours truly) stood outside directing volunteers and loading totes for a couple of hours!  A chilly day, but think of all those families that will have a great Thanksgiving day!

In the evening we met with a large group of Christian neighbors and then attended a hand bell concert in a nearby church.  That was one busy day for us!

Candles vs. Electricity

In comparison to a light bulb a candle puts out much less light.  I guess it depends how dark your surroundings are.  Without any power on our whole block, a candle was pretty bright!  Perhaps this is why we are supposed to be in hard places--our light shines brighter where it is darkest!

A Thing of Beauty

 Today, two electricians upgraded our circuit box.  Later this week and next week they'll be redoing all the hundred year old wiring.   Things went pretty smoothly except for Mei Mei sneaking down in the basement and stealing screws and other necessary parts--she'll eat ANYTHING!!

I like old things, but when it comes to electricity out with the old and in with the new!

Hooray--(Almost) Done!

 After I ripped off the carpet--the kitchen stairs looked like this!

They were in pretty bad shape--they are about a hundred years old--so not too bad I guess.  I had to fill in holes.  We're guessing the banister was replaced when the kitchen cabinets were put in in the 70's.  

 I also did some sanding and staining.  My goal wasn't to make it perfectly smooth-- would have taken a long time to do that!  I love how it turned out.  Shows it's age, but is shiny and well sealed.  Should last for another 30-40 years at least. The only thing I have left to do is stain and poly the base of the banister.  We'll also eventually add some quarter round to the back of each stair.

 Although a lot of these projects are time consuming, we enjoy doing them and LOVE how much they improve the appearance of our house.

The Storm

 On Sunday a huge storm system swept through Indiana bringing tornadoes, hail, and heavy rain.  We got some serious rain--the poor neighbor had to move both his cars to higher ground!  (We're very thankful for our garage!)

There were also some strong winds that rammed a branch into a transformer in the alley--so we were without power for about 16 hours.  (As it was only about 30 house, it wasn't a high priority.)  We were SOOO unprepared--had to go borrow matches.  The only candles I had were Christmas ones--so our house still smells of cinnamon and gingerbread :)  We were glad to see a beautiful rainbow and to have our heat back!!

Let It Snow!

We couldn't believe it when we got a dusting of snow on Nov. 12th!  Super early for a first snow.  Ana was so excited she volunteered to take our dog out in the early morning hours and then proceeded to pelt poor Mei Mei with snowballs.  

Entry Stairs Finished!

 We used a non toxic stripper that had to stay on overnight.  It worked really well. I did have to do some additional scraping and sanding.  BUT, it turned out amazingly close in color to the treads.

After polyurethaning (is that a word???) twice, I'm very pleased with the outcome.  Now, Matt just will add a little quarter round and we'll be done!

Hurrah Singapore!

Today I read (in my Sunday paper that I'm reading on Tuesday) that Singapore banned the adultery website Ashley Madison.  There are things to be said about freedom of speech/press.  BUT if your goal is better marriages and more kids, this website clearly isn't going to help.  My personal opinion is that part of the success of Singapore is that they have had great leaders with a goal in mind.  I'm sure this leads to ruffled feathers, but the benefit of the country is more important!  This is one way a collective society works a little better than the individualistic one. 

I'll leave you with a quote from their statement.  The website is in, "flagrant disregard of our family values and public morality."  Hooray for a government that will take a stand for something GOOD!

Our Next Project...

I decided to rip the carpet off the bottom of the staircase.  Matt wasn't too excited about this as we have a lot of other things going on BUT I KNEW there was beautiful wood underneath AND I think the wood is much easier to walk on.  We were a little sad that the risers were stained darker.  (Tomorrow I'll show how the stripper worked!)

The kitchen had been altered at some point.  But we are planning to leave the risers black and the treads stained.  I'm only deciding if I want to sand and stain the banister as it is a totally different color--we'll see!

Sometimes all the work seems overwhelming BUT we have accomplished a lot in three short months.  This house is becoming a home!

It Makes Me Laugh!

It's so funny to see her still enjoying the 1 cent Meijer pony just as much as when she was two!  Thank goodness it only cost a penny!  Go Sandy Go!  

Fall Photo Shoot

 Couldn't resist taking some photos of our fourth child!  She's not an easy one to photograph!

 I'm sure she's quite happy, but she always looks sad.

 This is my favorite.  I'll probably touch it up a bit when I have photoshop loaded back on my computer!  It's a rare thing to get these two sitting still long enough to get a shot!

Ana loved raking and playing in the leaves.  You should see our yard now!  We could go swimming in the leaves.  (Good thing the Indianapolis trash service will take 40 bags of leaves PER WEEK!!)

It's Finally Fall!

 We were so happy to discover the massive maple  in our backyard turns a beautiful yellow!

 It's really one of the prettiest on the block!

More fall photos tomorrow!

And...

we're back!  We had a corrupted hard drive.  Luckily I had most of the stuff saved in other places and the repairman was able to get all the pictures off.  Yeah!!

Sorry

Our computer really died this time. We'll post as soon as we get it fixed or get a new one. Have a super day!!!