kitchen....

Well all of the tongue and groove is up but not all primed and painted (as you can see behind the cart). We did finally get the drawer pulls back on the drawers but have no cabinet doors up yet. I haven't even begun to paint them. Sigh...

I did buy this rolling cart on Overstock (which soon will get a coat of moss green paint). It holds all of our baking pans and various things as well as provides more counter space. I love having the wider doorway. A rolling cart and a pot rack - I don't want to move now.

stylish blogger

Kelly at Kelly Is Inspired awarded me the Stylish Blogger Award awhile ago and I'm finally getting around to writing about it. Sorry Kelly!

I'm supposed to list 7 random facts about myself...this is a little hard to do!

1. I'm not ticklish. Really, I'm not. People have tried and been disappointed.

2. I have red hair and freckles. Love the red hair now, hate the freckles. I think they are creepy. I'm hoping I'll get enough of them that they will all blob together and I'll look like I have a permanent tan.

3. I once found an old piece of silver at Goodwill for $.75 and resold it on ebay for $125.00. I had no idea what I found and figured I would get $5.00 for it.

4. I love green shag carpeting. Just kidding. ;)

5. I love to play sports and have only recently been able to get back into it. Happiness.

6. I long to fly to Scotland and walk in the highlands and see the moors. My red hair blowing in the breeze...sigh.

7. I find it hard to live without chocolate. Seriously is there a more perfect food?

I'm supposed to nominate 15 other bloggers but I'll have to think about it a bit. There are so many good ones to choose from!

But here is a good start:

The Farmerette

Journey Chronicles

birthday...

Guess what I did for my birthday? Here is a hint...




And another...


Notice the word Air? (cool sign by the way, love the colors)

Ava accompanied me on a birthday flight around the Gorge and into the Oregon City area. It was thrilling and fun and breathtaking and I can't wait to do it again.


Doesn't this look like an advertisement. "Come fly with me."

Our amazing pilot was our friend Chris Lyons. Check out his website if you want to learn to fly or take a super fun ride. I HIGHLY encourage it, you won't regret it.

So now on to some pictures:


This is Multnomah Falls, which from the ground is spectacular but from the air, not so much.


Here is the Washington side of the Gorge. You can tell it's been raining a lot here.


Our church in the middle right side. The brown brick building.

\
We were going 140 mph but it didn't feel like it. Check out the little airplane on the gauge thingy. Isn't it cute.


Some random towers I thought looked interesting. The white tower looked like a giant golf ball on a tee.


Here is where we were coming in for a landing. The runway does not look very big from the air.

Chris performed three touch and go landings. I LOVED them. We would come in for a landing and then immediately takeoff. It was thrilling until the third one and then my stomach said enough.

My next flight will hopefully take place in this airplane. Love the three propellers. They look so vintage.



I also love the colors of this one.

This was by far the best birthday present that I could remember. I'm completing my birthday week by going skiing on Saturday. I haven't been skiing in a long time but am looking forward to it!

paint...

It's amazing what a little paint can do.

Grae's booster picked up at Goodwill for $1.99. The colors did not match my decor so out came the black spray paint.




Now it looks like Darth Vader's helmet which Grae thinks is awesome.



Molly's highchair picked up free at Goodwill (with coupon).




I cut off the arms because they didn't fit under our table.



Now it blends in with our new Ikea chairs (pictured above).

my sweet love...

Here's my sweet love Grae...




He gave Mary an iPad to take to Bethlehem. Apparently Joseph works for Apple as well in maintenance.


Lauren trying to teach him chess and him not really getting it. "It's okay Lauren, you can take my King. I have plenty of other people."


Must run around after every move.


Realizing California is missing from the puzzle and asking if that is important to which I replied as an Oregonian, "not really, then they can't move up here anymore."

We love our Mr. Man and don't know what we would do without him in our family.

my weekend...

More kitchen posts...















Still to do: fill in nail holes and some knots in the tonque and groove. Paint and do some sort of edging.


New potrack from Ikea.


Sewed some new pillows.


Sewed some curtains but still need to find some trim.


New $7.00 lamp and shade from Goodwill. It was brass but I sprayed it black. Still need to do trim to match other lamp.


New trim on other lamp. It matches the pillow I made.

Whew!

Linking:

growing up...

Lauren is working on writing 3 stories to get into a fiction writing class at Veritas Press without having to take Composition 1 or 2.

She loves writing and is really good at it. She's the main writer for the girls comedy detective movie series Get Buckles but she also enjoys writing historical fiction.

I think she takes after me. I loved writing in high school. Speeches, reports, fiction, you name it. I was editor of our student newspaper and really liked it.

Anyway, she wants to get a degree in writing with an emphasis on teaching. I think it is a wonderful idea. Not only could she write novels to sell, she could tutor homeschool students, hold classes, teach at a private Christian school or simply excel at teaching her own children. Most of this she could do while staying home with her children (after she's married of course.)

Her plan is to CLEP many basic courses as she completes them at home and hopefully complete 2 years of college before she's done with homeschool. Then either continue taking classes here at home or go away for the remaining 2 years of college. We're not sure about that part yet and this is all preliminary.

It's scary thinking about my oldest getting ready for college. Only yesterday I was teaching her to read (well not literally yesterday, but you get the gist).

I know this is what is supposed to happen but it doesn't make it any easier. Sigh...

ikea...

Brian went to Ikea yesterday after work to pick up the rug of my dreams and a few dining chairs. Our black chairs were too wide for the table and are listed on Craigslist.

When I saw this rug at Ikea I couldn't get it out of my head. I actually liked another rug better but it had white in it and white is not a good color to have with kids. I can't believe I actually liked this rug as it isn't my normal style but it goes so well with my house and new Ikea gray slipcover. It sure makes our coffee table look small, hmmm...

Want to see it?



See the "indian" style print. Totally not me but I love it.

Brian and Maddie started to install our sink so we could have running water.




While Lauren, Ava and Ellie were assembling my chairs:


I just stood back with encouraging words and took pictures. Nice to have help!

Speaking of Ikea...Graedon loved the store so much he did some drawings.