Saturday: The Beauty of Friendship

I was TOTALLY BLESSED on Saturday 

by visits with THREE friends, and 
long phone calls with TWO more friends.  

Oh my!  

So good!  

So  blessed!

I had a few more minutes with 

30-year-friend Debbie & Family,

over breakfast in Centralia.

I left Centralia at 10:00,

and arrived in Salem, OR at 12:30,

just in time for lunch with

20-year-friend Julie.

After a 2 1/2 hour lunch date,

and WONDERFUL visit with Julie,

I filled up with gas and headed south again.


During the afternoon drive,
I had two long phone conversations with a
friend-of-21-years and another
friend-of-16-years.  So blessed.

I arrived at Bloggy Friend Donna's house

at about 7:00, just in time for dinner.

Donna's husband was out-of-town,

so we had some serious

Girlfriend Chat Time until midnight.

Thanking JESUS for precious friendships!!!

Friday: A Record Breaking Day

Thanks for your prayers as I'm traveling.  I've been away from my computer for a couple of days, but am having a GREAT trip.




Yes.  Friday was a Record Breaking Day.  The traffic in the Seattle area was the WORST I've ever been in, and it took me the LONGEST to get through as it ever has.  (not a fun record to break)


We moved North from Puyallup 12 years ago.  We've made the trip back and forth probably hundreds of times.  When we drive mid-day (avoiding rush hour), it usually takes us 2 1/2 hours to go the 150 miles.  The longest it has ever taken was 4 hours.  However, on Friday it took me 4 1/2 hours.  Ugh!


For those of you who know the area ... Hwy. #405 usually takes about 30 minutes to go 28 miles.  It took 1 1/2 hours on Friday.  Then, Hwy. #167 should take about 30 minutes to go 24 miles.  It took another 1 1/2 hours.


I met Gregg & Kayla for coffee in Puyallup ... and visited for 1 1/2 hours, trying to avoid getting back onto the ugly freeways.  I left Puyallup at 6:00 for the 1 hour (55 mile) drive to Centralia ... which then took me 2 hours.  Seriously.


Funniest thing about the day ...


I was so nervous about getting into a fender bender in the crazy traffic.  I've never been in one. I never worry about it.  But, this time, I was driving a car that I am selling.  I could not imagine anything happening to the car, on my way to sell it.  So ... I was probably the nicest driver on the road that day.


"Anyone want to change lanes?  Oh yes.  I'll slow down and let you in.  I'm in no rush.  I really don't mind driving 8 hours for what should take 4.  No problem.  Just stay away from my car."  


I was, seriously, so mellow.  All I wanted was to make sure my car stayed nice, clean, and  without dents ... which it did.


After the extraordinarily long drive, my 30-year-friend Debbie served me dinner when I finally arrived.  Then, we had a 3 hour visit.  

So good to be with friends.  

So good to visit.  

So BLESSED to have this time with friends.

Country Baskets

I have always loved baskets.

However ... I have very few.

I have loved them when I see them

in other people's houses.

I have loved them when I see them

in little country stores.

I have loved them when I see them

on sale at Michaels Craft Store.

However ... 

I have never just gone out and bought baskets.

Why?

Probably because ... 

I "couldn't afford it" ...

I always had "better things" to spend $$$ on ...

our house wasn't really "country" style ...

our house wasn't really any style ...

While I have always thrown in a few country

decorations and pieces of furniture hear and there,

our house has always been more ...

"hand-me-down" style ...

utilitarian "what-do-we-need" style ...

crowded "we-have-12-people-living-here" style ...

After 29 years of marriage,

Papa and I are having FUN with

our re-decorating / re-organizing project.

Oh. My. Yes.

I am being very purposeful in each and every purchase.

God has BLESSED us with some amazing new pieces

of furniture through our Craigslist shopping,

and we have paid for EVERY piece by

selling more on Craigslist than we've bought.

Now that the furniture is all purchased,

I am having fun with the decorative touches

and organizational strategies.

This week, baskets are 50% off at Michaels.

So, I headed there with a plan.

This basket is on one of our new bookshelves

in the living room.  The little sign is one that

I already had; it's not attached to the basket.

This basket is the perfect size for Mama's Paperwork ... 

the paperwork that is usually stacked on the

kitchen counter or dining room table.

This way, the paperwork is always handy,

and can be organized in file folders in the basket,

and Mama can get it out to work on it any time,

but it will not be just randomly stacked.  Yea!

The green matches the Sage Green of the kitchen,

and the fabric matches the Taupe wall (behind it)

that ties the dining and living room together.

I LOVE the little Country Button details.

This is ...

Mama's New Kitchen Desk.

It used to be the phone desk and the

pile-stuff-as-high-as-you-can desk.

It held plastic cups, lids, old cell phone charging cords, etc ... 

It was the anything-and-everything counter top.

Now ... it is the phone desk, the iPhone charging station,

the computer modem, and Mama's Calendar Desk.

Mama's Calendar used to be stacked on top of

or under Mama's Paperwork stacks

that were on the dining table or kitchen counter.

This cute little basket is Mama's In-Box.

It will hold Mama's Mail and

Mama's Bills To Pay.

I'm going to tie some raffia around the top of

a canning jar for Mama's Pens & Pencils.

This tall cupboard is next to the refrigerator.

Only tall people can reach the top of this cupboard.

Therefore, it became the catch-all place for unnamed

tall people to put things that didn't have a place

(bbq lighters, bags of chips, cookies, etc...).

Mama decided to fill this catch-all space with a basket.

If unnamed tall people want to stash something up there,

they will have to take down the basket, and the

item(s) will have to fit into the basket.

No more messy area that Mama can't reach to clean.

This cute basket has a little blackboard on it.

I need to find a piece of chalk and then label this basket.

How about ...

"Tall People's Junk Basket"

I bought one more basket today.

It's a brown basket, with a fabric insert with

green and taupe criss-crossing lines.

It fits perfectly under our new living room End Table.

No pics of this new basket,

because BOTH batteries died on Mama's Camera,

and I can't find my battery charger.

Oh dear.

What to do!

More pics coming soon ...

...  the Plum & Taupe Living Room

...  the BEAUTIFUL New Bookshelves

on either side of the fireplace

(w/ Papa's funny story about

the mantel falling off the wall)

...  the New Plum Curtains with 

"Shabby Chic" Taupe Sheers

...  the Taupe & Sage Green Dining Room

w/ Plum Curtains and the

New Oak Hutch

...  the Sage Green Kitchen

...  the Taupe Hallways

...  the Plum Hallway Portrait Collage Wall

...  the Stairwell's New Look

Do any of you decorate with Baskets?

What rooms?

What do you use them for?

Just decoration ... or organization?

I would LOVE to hear about YOUR baskets!

Also ... what is your Decorating STYLE?

Country?

Shabby Chic?

Modern?

Hand-Me-Down?

Utilitarian What-Do-We-Need?

Help! We're Crowded!

Woo Hoo! It's Road Trippin' Time!

Mama gets to take a "little" Road Trip ... and Mama is EXCITED!!!


A week or so ago, I "advertised" the sale of my little Ford Focus on my blog.  Well ... turns out ... one of you sweet Bloggy Friends decided that was just what you needed.


However ... you happen to live in San Diego ... 1300 miles away.


No problem.


Mama to the rescue.


Mama happens to LOVE to take Road Trips.


Mama happens to have friends along the way that she would LOVE to visit.


Mama happens to be in need of some "quiet down time" ... and a few days in the car with Jesus and some Worship Music sounds absolutely WONDERFUL.


Papa happens to be out of work right now, so he can hold down the fort, the kids, and the homeschooling.


Mama won't be starting work at the bookstore for another week or two.




So ... do you all think these things "just happened" to happen?


Oh.  My.  No.


God is the AMAZING orchestrator of each and every one of these details.


Mama will stay with a dear long-time friend on Friday night (after lunch with Gregg, and hopefully Kayla).


Mama will stay with a Bloggy Friend, who has become a dear real-life-friend over the past couple of years, on Saturday night.


Mama will have a quiet night in a hotel on Sunday night.


Mama is hoping to spend much of Monday and Tuesday with a Bloggy Friend, who has become a sweet "Little Sis" over the past couple of years.  Mama will spend the night with her family, and meet her sweet new baby, on Monday night.


Mama will meet up with Car-Buying Bloggy Friend in San Diego on Tuesday evening, and hand off the car keys.


Mama got a steal of a deal on a room at a waterfront hotel in San Diego for Tuesday night.


Then ... Mama will fly home on Wednesday.


Mama gets a much-needed VACATION.


Bloggy Friend gets a GREAT little car.


Papa & Mama's bank account gets a nice little shot-in-the-arm, while Papa is unemployed again.


Looks like a Win-Win-Win Situation all the way around.




If you happen to live near the I-5 Corridor anywhere between Canada and Mexico ... and you would like to meet up for coffee or a meal in the next few days ... just pop me an email and I'll see if I can make it work.  (I will be starting the trip less than 5 miles from Canada, and ending the trip less than 10 miles from Mexico ... with a whole lot of Washington, Oregon, and California in the middle.)




Please keep me in your prayers over the next 6 days, as I hit the open roads ... just me, and Jesus, my worship music, and my iPhone (for safety, gps, and conversation).

More Than Just a Coat of Fresh Paint

Papa has done MUCH painting this past week;

but that's not all that he has been working on.

For the past couple of years,

our Front Entry has been filled with books ...

lots and lots of homeschooling books and supplies ...

with bookshelves on every wall.

Now, however, with our new School Room,

we were able to clean out the Front Entry.  Yea!

We have a very uniquely shaped house, 

with hallways off of hallways off of hallways

on the main floor.  Therefore, choosing colors

for the hallways is a major task ... not wanting

to use just one color, and be overwhelmed by it.

So, we chose 3 colors for the 3 hallways,

using the same 3 colors we are using in our

"L"-shaped kitchen, dining, and living rooms:

Aroma Garden (Sage Green)

Treaded Grapes (Plum)

Naturalist Stone (Taupe)

The Front Entry was chosen to showcase the Sage Green

of the Kitchen.  However, Jim thought that 3 full

walls of Sage Green might be overwhelming (whereas

the kitchen walls are covered with white cupboards).  

So, I suggested that we put up some wainscoting.

Oh my!

We are so pleased with this decision.

We are hoping to create a bit of a "Country" feel

with our re-decorating project,

(which is difficult in a plain, boxy 1980 built home)

and I think this wainscoting was just the right

touch for the Front Entry.

Still pondering what to put on the walls,

but this is the "view" when you walk

through the Front Door.

I just LOVE the crisp White trim and wainscoting!

Here's a pic of the Front Door.

The Red Door is the same color as the 

Red Shutters that we put up outside.

I really like how the Red & Green complement each other.

See the dark brown trim around the window?

That dark brown trim was everywhere,

until just a couple of years ago when Jim put the

crisp white trim throughout our 3400 sq. ft. house.

Jim is now going to paint the trim around

the window the same red as the door.

Sorry ... crooked picture, not crooked front door.

When Jim put up the white trim throughout our house

a couple of years ago, he and a friend also put up

wainscoting in our Red, White, & Blue Master Bedroom.

This is Jim's first wainscoting job on his own,

though, and he did a WONDERFUL job!!!

Do any of you have wainscoting in your house?

What rooms?

What colors on the walls above?

3' or 4' wainscoting?

Oh Dear! So Sad!

"No more running,"

said the doctor,

the day before Ben's

Conference Cross Country Meet.

Senior Year.

Season Over.

So sad.

Thankfully, Track is Ben's #1 Sport ... and Cross Country is his way to keep in shape while waiting for track.  He had a good season.  He ran well.  He had fun.  We're all sad that he must miss the last 2 meets of his Senior Year, but thankful it isn't more serious.  Something tightened up somewhere, that tweaked something in his knee.  We were quite concerned that it could be an ACL or Meniscus tear (as 3 members of the Big D. Family had 7 knee surgeries in 7 years, just a few years ago), but the doctor was sure it wasn't so serious.  The doctor just wants him to do some swimming and bike riding to even out the muscle usage in his legs.  

Great Season, Ben!

Always Fun to Watch You Run!

Can't Wait for Track Season!

Are You Short?

Are any of you under 5' tall?

Do any of you have 

extraordinarily short children?

I am wondering how to help Sarah respond to people when they comment on the fact that she is short (and all 3 of her younger siblings will probably pass her up pretty soon).


Sunday's conversation ...


A woman at church approached the table that Sarah, Rachel, and I were standing by.  She said, "You're the lady with the van, right?"  Which I thought funny ... as if I'm the only lady with a van ... but laughed and nonchalantly said, "No.  We actually sold our van and bought an SUV."  


She then (without even asking my name or introducing herself to me) turned to the cute little African children Sarah and asked, "What is your name?  How old are you?"  Then to Rachel with the same questions.  (Sarah will be 13 next month, while Rachel is 10.)


She looked back and forth between them, finally turning to Sarah to say, "She's almost as tall as you." (as if Sarah wasn't aware of this fact) "Oh well.  Over the next couple of years you will grow a lot more." (as if there were something terribly wrong with her being short, and her sister possibly passing her up in height).


I casually turned to the woman and responded, "Actually, no.  She's done growing.  This is as tall as she'll get."  To which the woman hurriedly rushed off.


I didn't try to embarrass the woman.  But, at the same time I wanted to show Sarah that she could respond honestly, without being embarrassed of her height.


When you look at the 2 girls, Sarah is clearly older.  Her facial features and build are much more mature than Rachel's.  However, the fact is:  Sarah didn't get much nutrition until she was nearly done growing.  The lack of nutrition in her childhood stunted her growth.  Period.  Our doctor told  me last spring that she appears to have reached her adult height, which I think is under 4'8".


Now, the funny thing is that in our family we are certainly not all the same height.  Two of Sarah's big sisters are 5'3" - 5'4" and two of Sarah's big sisters are 5'9" - 5'10".  Thankfully, they aren't all 5'10", to which Sarah would really feel short.  Interestingly, all four of our Big Boys are within an inch of each other at 5'10" - 5"11.


Two of the Big Girls didn't reach my height (5'6"), and none of the Big Boys reached Jim's height (6'2").  It will be interesting to see where the Young Ones end up on the yardstick.  I actually don't expect Rachel to continue growing much longer.  While the girls' birth certificates show them as 10 and 12, they are actually at least 12 and 15.  I expect neither of them will reach 5'.  While in Ghana, I met 3 of their older brothers; and two of the three are extraordinarily short, as well.


Anyway ... let me know if you have dealt with this issue, and what the best response might be for people that make comments implying that it is a horrible thing to be short.  Sarah and I did talk about it after we left church, and I told her that she can just smile and say, 

"Yes.  

I'm short.  

This is how God made me."

A Busy Week Around Here

While my blog has been pretty quiet this week, we have been busy with our re-decorating project.  Since Papa doesn't have any outside painting jobs lined up right now, he has had time to do a LOT of painting around here.  I would guess that he has painted nearly 1,000 sq. ft. this past week.  In addition to the main bathroom, he has painted the stairwell, the hallways, the entry, and the kitchen, dining, and living rooms.  Woo Hoo!  I can't wait to show you pictures.  He has also done some trim work ... put up wainscoting ... put up new curtain rods ... and put together 3 new bookshelves for our schoolroom.  Thanks, Papa!!!


Meanwhile, Mama and Hosanna have been busy sorting, organizing, putting the library together, putting together a new end table for the living room, ironing and hanging the new curtains in the living & dining room, decorating, etc ...


We are really enjoying the New Colors & New Style of our not-so-new house.


Pictures coming soon ... when I get some things hung on the walls.




Oh yes ... in the midst of all of the re-decorating ... we are also keeping quite busy with our homeschooling, our homeschool enrichment classes, piano lessons, etc ...  Honestly, our homeschooling is more organized and scheduled this year than it has ever been.  Yes.  Ever. After many, many years of homeschooling with babies, toddlers, and kids that can't read ... this year I am really able to focus on "just" the 6 homeschooling kids we have at home.  No babies.  No toddlers.  No non-readers.  Wow!  It's amazing how much more can be accomplished (although, I absolutely LOVED having babies and toddlers and non-readers around all of those years).  Yes.  Homeschooling is really going well ... and we are MUCH enjoying our new designated "classroom" (rather than all homeschooling taking place at the dining table).


Off to more organizing and putting things away.  Excited to put the 3 bookshelves into place that Papa put together this afternoon ... and get more books organized.  Oh yes!

A Weekend Away

Some friends invited us to their house in Oregon 

last weekend, and we had a GREAT time!

We had a BEAUTIFUL drive along the 

Columbia River Gorge.

Papa and the Young Ones went downtown to PLAY

on Saturday, and Hosanna had FUN 

with Mama's Camera.

They found a cool, old train to play on.

Elijah enjoyed some FOOTBALL FUN.

Mama enjoyed time with friends.  

Oh. So. Good.  

Mama met "C" at Family Camp 5 years ago,

and we renewed our friendship last month

when we went to camp for Labor Day Wknd.

("C" and her family invited us to their house.)

Mama met "J" at Family Camp 15 years ago.

We were good friends for a few years,

as we lived pretty close to each other.

We had lost touch about 6 or 7 years ago,

after moving away.

"J" is "C"s older sister, and "C"s daughters

invited "J" and a daughter to also come

for a visit this weekend to surprise "C" for "C"s birthday.

It was WONDERFUL to spend time with "J" again.

Mama met "A" at Family Camp 13 years ago.

We have seen each other at camp on and off

through the years, but haven't really been in 

touch the past few years.  "A" is a friend of "C"s.

and lives in the same town.  So, "A" and kids also

came over for "C"s birthday party on Saturday night.

It was truly a BLESSING to spend time

with these 3 PRECIOUS friends.

We chatted ... and prayed 

... and chatted ... and prayed

... and chatted ... and prayed.

Oh.  My.  Yes.


I think I got more hugs from friends this weekend,
than I've had in the whole last year combined.
I am BLESSED with several very special
long-distance friendships, but don't get face-time
with friends very often.

Thank You JESUS for these Friendships!!!

We all had a good laugh on Sunday 

when I came to a strange realization ...

J & C are sisters.

They are both ... 

"Mothers of Large Families".

J has 7 children (ages 15-32).

C has 5 children (ages 13-19).

When their families are together,

they have 12 cousins in a 19 year age span.

I have 12 children in an 18 year age span.

1 Large Family + 1 Large Family = 1 Big D. Family