"Two steps forward....

and two steps back. We come together 'cause opposites attract." This could probably be our theme song.

But, for today...TWO STEPS FORWARD!! Ben had the weekend off...and massive progress was made on the house :) YIPPEE! Kind, helpful, "steps" in when you need him...Greg...helped build STEPS on Friday!! Yes, we now have safe steps to get into our house!! (Okay, well safe is a funny word. We don't know where the key is to that door, so you have to go around to the other door to let someone in that door.) We won't dwell on that...STEPS! This is huge.

Ben even started a walk way to the steps so we aren't walking through mud. Finishing that will require a few good men...so he stopped where he had to...and then...

Started cementing the front of the house!!! This has a similar effect as stucco. And, it is looking so so great! Finishing this will require staffling. But, it is another step in the right direction.

1) Finish walkway 2) Finish front of house 3) Insulate the new living room (we have the materials) 4) Sheetrock new living room (have most materials) and then the rest is down hill....until we feel a push for more room downstairs. I keep telling myself that if we lived in NYC (which at one time we thought we were big city folks), we would have less than this much space. We can make it work, well, comfortably. Even if our family does grow on that one day.

So, I feel motivated with our steps in the right direction. Poor Ben is exhausted. And, I feel relieved. Bad wife. Well, not really. I kept in perpetual motion as he was working outside. All of the laundry is clean. The house is clean. We enjoyed a good dinner. And, a sweet little Charlotte was well snuggled and filled with sips of sprite.

bad hair day....

I feel like I am having a bad hair week. Just that "off" kind of week. Home is off--dirty and messy. School is off--busy and crazy. Marriage is off--crazy schedules different adgendas. Life just seems off.

But, GOD is never off.

"God is greater than our hears, and knows EVERYTHING." 1 John 3:20
"You and I are goverened. The weather determains what we wear. The terrain tells us how to travel....God doesn't check the weather...He makes it."

He does not change. Ever. Ever. But, please change me...I hate it when my mood changes with each bad hair day!

A valentine for you...

Love, a cute three year old. Most have been made. Getting them to the mail is the hard part. We have spent lots of time cutting and making Valentines the past few Saturday mornings.

Today was another 2-hour delay. So, I got some morning smiles and hugs from Charlotte. What a great way to start the day! "Mom, take a picture of the sky. It is beautiful." Charlotte said this as we were on our way to Ama's. Yesterday Ama took a great sky picture. It looked like the clouds had been sponge painted. I wonder if CZ will end up a photographer like her Grandma. Likely.

"Mom, I had fun at church today. Thank you for taking me." She said this on Sunday. I love when thankfulness shows up without being prompted.

Storypeople

"They came to sit & dangle their feet off the edge of the world & after awhile they forgot everything but the good & true things they would do someday."
True Things by Brian Andreas, www.storypeople.com A great place to go when you need a pick-me-up!

A perfect snowy day!

The world needs more perfect days like this one was! This was one of the snow days. It started with playing dress up in the snow. Then we played with the dolls, changing, feeding and putting at least four of them to sleep. After changing into the next pair of pj's we "cut" for about an hour. Using scissors is CZ's favorite hobby these days. A perfect ending came in the form of homemade sugar cookies. Yes, homemade. And, delicious. A day you could just eat up!