Our New Year's Project

Just before Christmas we started on a new journey. We went in with another teacher from school and purchased this house. It's not a stunner...yet. It's not even very big. But, we feel that by redoing homes and moving in stable people, we can help turn neighborhoods around.
So, for our two weeks of Christmas break, we started gutting this house. It has good bones and some lovely woodwork. BUT, it has some major leaks in the roof and bathroom, ceilings were falling in, there were so many bugs...everywhere, AND due to broken windows there were some animal guests (and a STRONG odor!)

We started by pulling up the water logged oak flooring (sigh!). My dad helped us pull out nails from the subfloor.

Matt got to work cutting up the kitchen.

Len and I got to work on the ceilings. These ceilings had the traditional lathe and plaster, an old form of drywall, AND papered tiles. It made a huge mess when pulled down!!

What We've Been Up To

We finally all finished school. I went on a fun teacher retreat at a fancy-smancy hotel. There was lots of great content too. I'm thankful for the great people I work with!

The library had a book event sponsored by the Pacers. It was a little young for my kids, but a lot of fun anyway. They got some great Pacer prizes and a free milkshake from Steak and Shake.

 Today we redid our swing. We got it for free, but it needed some work. I sanded it and spray painted it a couple of times. It looks great!

We had a great first week of break! Next week summer camp starts!

Pray With Us...

Today we had a combined church service. We had a "chance" meeting with an Indian lady. Although we have never been where she's from, we do share a common love for curry etc.!) She's definitely down and out and feeling like no one understands her. (Which is quite possibly true in an inner city mission!) Please pray that we will know what God wants our part to be in her life!

Lately...

 For Matt's birthday we celebrated with family at a Mexican restaurant and then on his actual birthday we got cupcakes from a trendy store in Irvington. They were delicious.

 Ana did well at her last quiz. She only missed one and received a gold. The Indianapolis quizzers won for the best score in the state!

Ranger is still doing well. He got his cast changed and there were no issues. His foster mom says he doesn't seem to be in pain at all and wants to play and run like normal. He's still got four more weeks!!

Only 4 and a half more weeks of school!!!

Ranger Update

His surgery went as expected. He is back with the foster family that first took care of him. I laughed at his cast! If you look closely, you can see it's a tiger print!

They May Not Be As Pretty As the Art Museum's...But

I'm loving my tulips!! Hooray for spring and happy colors!

There's No Such Thing As Personal Space...

with a German Shepherd!!

 His surgery is scheduled for Thursday. (He will have an infected plate removed from his front leg.) He then will spend over a month with a foster family while it heals. (We have too many stairs!!)

Spring has (FINALLY) sprung!

We went to the Indianapolis Art Museum on Sunday to view all the beautiful flowers. It was not a very sunny day, but we were still dazzled!  I bet it will be even more beautiful in a week or so.

The Dreaded Castle Project is DONE!!!

Can't you tell it was totally built by Ana :) ? Just glad next year all she has to do is memorize a speech--piece of cake!!

So Blessed!

When you work for a nonprofit ministry, there are times when you wonder how ends will meet.

We recently found out that our newly adopted German Shepherd, Ranger, needed to have the plate inserted onto his broken leg removed. Due to a very bad infection, the plate needed to be taken out so that it could heal. Unfortunately, this is very expensive AND requires 6 weeks in cast. Our house is ALL stairs and as we both work all day, it would be very difficult to keep him still.

I contacted the rescue where we got him from, intending to ask if they could take him back. Instead they said they would cover his surgery, foster him while he heals, and return him to us. The foster family is the same family that kept him after his first surgery and knows him well.

I picked up Ana today from Girls on the Run and she had a brand new pair of  Asics Running Shoes. They happened to have an extra pair. She's been growing like crazy and most of her shoes no longer fit.

Due to Title funds, I have been able to do some amazing professional development for free. I'm excited to be growing professionally.

Of course, we have access to Shepherd's wonderful summer program that is virtually free. Our kids get to go on weekly field trips, week long camping trips, and more.

A few months ago we sent some money off to India. I was really nervous about this, but a couple of days after this we got some significant refunds from China and Mitike's counseling. (I still don't really know why we got them to be honest!)

My backpack, which I found in a closet at Shepherd 5 years ago, was beginning to fall apart. I'm blessed to be able to go to a Teacher Store, which is available for teachers of low income schools. There was a brand new Jansport backpack made to carry a computer. (I carry my work laptop home almost everyday.)

God provides in many different ways. For some, He gives them a really good job that allows them to buy what they need. For others, He supplies in unique ways. But, it is still Him behind everything good. I'm thankful today for the lessons He is teaching me in how He can provide ABUNDANTLY in every circumstance!

Hooray!!

We were overjoyed to find out that Mitike and China got placements at the Purdue Polytechnic High School. This is such a big help because they will be on the same schedule as me. It also teaches in a non traditional manner which we are hoping will work well for both of them. The other benefit is that the school is moving to its permanent location just off of East Washington...minutes from our house and Shepherd. Yeah!!

The Other Day...

I was walking Ranger at about 5 in the morning. It was a so cold my down coat couldn't keep out the frostiness. As we strolled past the dumpster at the park, I heard a noise and saw a man going through the trash. We live in an interesting neighborhood...but sometimes I forget how blessed we are. I have never, ever had a time in my life that I would try to live off trash. I pray that my eyes can be opened to the needs around me.

Please Pray for Israel!

One of our past students was recently diagnosed with lymphoma. He has a single dad that is doing his best to provide care while still working nights. He has to have chemo once a week for the next eight months. Pray for strength and that the Christian community around him will be a good testimony.

Things Are Happening...Just Slowly!

Hope to update more soon. I'm finishing off the bathroom which involves caulking the trim, painting the walls, sealing all the grout, painting the trip, repainting the bathroom mirror/cabinet, and fixing the scratches made in Matt's beautiful doors.

Why NOT to give your child your phone...

You might open it up and see something like this!

Still Going...

As we predicted there have been multiple problems with just about every pipe in our bathroom.

Today they finished up pipes below the toilet and fixed the joists that they had to cut out. Now our toilet won't fall through the kitchen ceiling....a good thing!

Everything is grouted and the dry wall experts have come in and finished the walls. We had a sink which Matt sent back because it was too big. Unfortunately, they are out of stock of the smaller size...so now we're waiting...

The guys working on the house are neat bunch of guys that live around here and very involved in the neighborhood. We're blessed to be working with them!

Sledding...

 Brookside Hill is a very popular place to go sledding. It's a pretty major hill that has a steep incline. You get a workout just trying to get up it. We were the only ones there this morning...The early bird gets the worm!!

 I definitely enjoyed the tube more...it makes the sharp angle at the bottom less painful :)

There is a definite thrill going down this hill. Here's two different views. (I didn't wipe out...There's just a lot of flying snow!!)

Ranger

Ranger is still doing well. He's definitely getting used to us and our routines. His greatest love is lettuce. He could eat a pound of it in about a minute. He also likes belly rubs and is getting much better at coming when called.

Kids Are Weird!

Ana is still finger knitting. She has around 300 feet which she has formed into this "octopus" which she mounted on a pole. Currently, she is torturing Mitike with it. How do they think of these things?

Bathroom Update...

 Well, we've made some more progress. Unfortunately, because of the poor weather on Friday, not much work got done. I'm excited to see what happens on Monday!