Hopscotch

With all the talk of Little Lady's room, I thought I'd share a darling photo of her (courtesy of my iPhone and Hipstamatic). Hopscotch is serious business for a princess ballerina.

The Big Girl Room

When we bought our house nearly 5 years ago, we were a wee family of 3. Instead of having a guest bedroom, I gladly relinquished control of the third bedroom to my husband, who could use it as a home office. Well, a few years later our baby girl came. There was no rush to get her into her own room. She would be in a bassinet for a few months in our room. The next fall W started graduate school, so we both wholeheartedly agreed that he should keep the extra room for studying and um, QUIET.

Fast forward 2 years. Our kiddos have been sharing a bedroom and have done great. Until one night this past spring when someone coughed then someone cried. They started waking each other up every single night. I had a 2 and 4 year old who were like newborns in the night.

Thus, the room reformation was born.

Here is what we started with.


The room, our third bedroom, once all the furniture was removed.

The bed, graciously given to us by W's parents. This was the first bed my husband and his brother had as their "big boy beds." I think it's so neat that it's being used by the next generation of our family. The process of refinishing was time consuming, but not difficult. I aggressively applied three coats of liquid sand paper, then applied two coats of an oil-based stain killer/primer. Next came the paint and I used a specialty High Gloss Acrylic/Enamel. I probably used 3 full coats to achieve the look I wanted. The spindles proved to be the most difficult. I tried 100% to not have any runs, but painting one side of a spindle then switching to the other side (back and forth, back and forth) created a couple small runs. I didn't want to sand them out lest I disturb the other smooth paint, fearing I'd have to do it all over again. (Photo was after liquid sandpaper, with a touch of the primer on.)

The dresser. I used the exact same process with the dresser as I did with the bed, except one thing. I only used one coat of primer/stain killer. And you can tell. After a minimum of three coats of the paint, you could still see distinct grain lines. I (at that point) just kept on painting but feel confident a second coat of primer would have eliminated the grain strokes.

The bed. I was feeling crafty and made the canvas montage on the wall (based off her bedding).

Obviously before they were hung.

The dresser. What I had the hardest time with was the handles. Initially I spray painted them (what I thought to be) a light pink. The contrast between the white and the pink through made them to look like they were dipped in Pepto Bismol. And, they are brass--but I didn't sand them. The pink paint immediately started chipping/peeling off. I then got a textured spray paint that almost looked like sand. I sprayed on top of the pink with a little showing through... and couldn't decide if I loved or hated it. With the help of some friends we thought it made it a bit beachy... which is fine if it were, um, in a condo. It just didn't work for our big girl room. So, I took some of my white acrylic enamel paint and added some light green acrylic craft paint. I sponged it on the sand looking layer and it worked. It is so faint it's almost white, but enough that it's not.

Also, the quilt hanging is so precious to me. I have a tender spot in my heart for handmade quilts and when Sam was christened a sweet woman in our church who works with all the local pastors gave it to us. A friend of hers made the quilt, and the detail and perfection is overwhelming. I hope Sam will cherish it as much as I do.

The reading nook/doll bed. A precious friend of our family gave both Sam and T-Pup these anywhere chairs for their birthdays. They love them, and so do W and I! They are so comfy and it's extra fun to bring them downstairs for a movie night. The doll bed was an unexpected addition, but another precious family to our family (who helped with the kids while we were in Costa Rica with their children) gave this to Sam. This was their daughter's baby bed, and she just started her freshman year of college at Belmont. The bassinet comes up and there is storage underneath which I love!

I love that everything has a story. Even the roller shades! We went with those because they are room darkening (obviously the picture is contradicting me) and more "energy efficient." Our upstairs rooms are hot in the summer and cold in the winter, so we've made a few changes to help with that this summer.

I STILL NEED CURTAINS! I have looked up and down but can't seem to find any that fit what I have in mind. I don't want valances but I don't want long panels. I don't want a solid but don't necessarily want a print. I've thought if I could find a nice light green then I could sew some cute ribbon around it, but haven't found a green that I like. If anyone has any suggestions, by all means, SUGGEST!

The end :)

PS: homegirl cannot part with all of the animals on her bed. She wants every.single.one. in the bed with her. I know the day will come when she will not want any, so I'm not pushing it :)

PPS: I want a vinyl wall decal with a scripture to hang above her bed, but can't decide on a scripture. Any suggestions on that?

The "real" end :)

Singing in the rain

Singing in the rain, singing in the rain...

What a glorious feeling, I'm happy again.

For the glory of it all

On our journey home from Costa Rica, we were delayed at DFW. We were allotted a little more than an hour to get off our flight, get through customs, go to luggage claim, go back through security and then catch our next flight. With 52 people. Oy vey. Long story short, a storm came, the luggage conveyor shut down, we missed our flight. One of our youth, Bert, had already scheduled to go to UT for his freshman orientation. There needed to be an adult traveling back with him, so I was nominated. We gate-hopped about 6 times getting on standby trying to catch a flight.

On the last gate of the night, I saw this man. I thought to myself that he looked familiar, but couldn't logically place him. Then, it clicked. I asked W if he thought said man was David Crowder. We all started analyzing and trying to decide if it was him or not. I finally pulled up a pic on my iPhone from google, walked up to him, and said "hey, is this you?" He laughed and obliged. We all talked for a minute and we told him how much we appreciated his ministry. So, we met David Crowder. Cool.

The entire 12 days before that in Costa Rica I'd listened to a song by DCB called "The Glory of it All." All week. Over and over each day. I was struggling with being away from our children and the words continually pointed me to the cross. I was there for the glory of it all. We were there for the glory of it all.

Since we've been home, we've had these crazy attacks from enemy. I mean absurd. Some of them have come from people close to us, and well... that sucks. It truly hurts. I mentioned in my post Cinco that your words are weapons. James chapter 3 verse 5 is one of the many scriptures that reference our tongues: "Even so the tongue is a little member and boasts great things. See how great a forest a little fire kindles!"

And even when it hurts from people we love, we press on loving God with our hearts, heads, hands... for the glory of it all. As it says in the song "after all falls apart, He repairs, He repairs." If you've ever been of the receiving end of an attack like this, you kind of feel like your heart is in shambles. God is so faithful to repair though.

I get to continue to love these people in the midst of a forest fire of the mouth, for the glory of it all.

There is gold and a multitude of rubies, but the lips of knowledge are a precious jewel. Proverbs 20:15

Cinco

I've started about 5 different blogs in my mind, yet can't seem to get them typed out. Upcoming (meaning you know, coming up in the next YEAR) I'd love to write about:

-My first DIY refinishing furniture experience for Sam's new room. (Her room, it's PINK! PINK, Mama!)

-I deleted Facebook. Clearly the world must be coming to an end.

-We're officially a home educating family! It's going great!

-Your words are weapons.

-And the fifth must have had something to do with a little thing called my children. They're growing up before my eyes.

We'll see which posts come out when... they are in no particular order! Hope to hear from some of my abandon Facebook friends, too. Don't lurk, let me know you're there.

What's cooler than having your picture made with a cardboard fire cow?

See Me Through

I have been listening to this song everyday for the past week. The funny thing is that I have had the album (how do you say this now that one doesn't actually have the CD? Album seems so dated.) for over a year yet have never listened to this song.

God knows just what we need when we need it.

Last week I was coming back to town and this song came on. I had to pull over until the tears ceased flowing because I couldn't see the road. There have been a few things so heavy on my heart lately and at this point I was finally able to release them to the Lord. It's funny how we try to hold on to things ourselves.

Ever since that point, I have felt so much freedom from these situations I was carrying. I have known the scripture "Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom" for many years, yet I experienced it in the purest form these last few days.

So, have a listen. I pray the Lord ministers to you as He has to me.

Our youth

One month ago yesterday, I stepped foot onto the beautiful soil of Costa Rica. I haven't stopped thinking about the trip since then. Now I know when people come back from mission trips each has a testimony, each has a story. I do have my story, but I feel like I have 13 other stories as well. What blessed me beyond belief was seeing our youth minister, seeing our youth bless others, seeing them be blessed.

For the past 5 years we have watched them grow up. We have laughed with them, cried with them, tried not to pull our hair out over them, loved them. They have matured beautifully into young men and women of the Lord.

Our church here is a traditional church. The Methodist church in Costa Rica was very charismatic. During the worship some people were dancing, some danced with flags. Many raised their hands in worship and were very passionate. Our first Sunday there was Father's Day and all the fathers came to the front. The children surrounded them and we all stretched out our hands to pray for them. W and I have been in every church imaginable, so all of this wasn't a shock for us. The youth, being in a different kind of church though, did awesome. They worshiped God alongside the Costa Ricans and never questioned the differences.

During the mornings when we worked remodeling the church, they gave it their all. Cleaning, scraping, sanding, painting...I never heard a complaint.



For 3 days a few of us worked on a gate in the back of the church. We had to clean it with wire brushes then sand it, then paint it. Both sides of this huge 12 foot wall. On the other side of the gate was an alleyway where homeless people would come and use the bathroom (both #1 and #2). It smelled awful. Doris, one of the women at the church came and power washed the #2s away but it was still rough smelling. Our youth pressed on, finished the job and had a great attitude the whole way.



I love these teenagers. I feel like they teach me how to be a better person and look to the Lord all the more. And they make me laugh :)