Noah's New Room

It's not all put together yet, but I wanted to give you an idea of the latest big remodel we did. Previously, Noah's closet was on the other side of the room. His ceilings were level. Now he has a much bigger closet on the right side of the room. His ceiling has been raised on an angle, a bulkhead was created above the door for future AC vents, and because there is a cement column on one side, he's getting a built in desk area. It still needs to be organized, but you get the idea.

Number 2!

While we were in Charlotte last week, Noah's bottom tooth got really loose. The afternoon we went to the waterpark the second time, my aunt Melanie went ahead and pulled it for him. It was barely hanging on, and it was a little too much for me to bear to pull hard on his tooth. Mel is a nurse so I figured she could handle the blood. She took him around the corner, yanked once, and it was out!

Project Update

The kids and I came home on Friday to brand new flooring in the living room and Noah's room. Noah's room is still having the finishing touches put on it (in the picture Matt is hanging trim), but the living room is finished. This afternoon they will continue to work on the floors in the kitchen, and then hopefully the dining room. I'll post pictures of the rest when everything is done and cleaned up. On another note, we couldn't have done this without the help of Gabe & Mary, who have been living here working non-stop since before last weekend. Our family is amazing!

The Waterpark

The Morrison YMCA in Charlotte near Rachels house has an awesome waterpark on site. We were able to go twice while we were in Charlotte, and since we were members in Marion, it was free! The kids had a ton of fun. It was so hot in Charlotte, that it was nice to be in the water! My aunt Melanie met us there on the second trip with Cameron. The boys had so much fun Noah went on to spend the night at their house. We'll definitely be coming back soon!

A whole lot of fun!!!

I got to go to IKEA, shopping, waterparks, swimming, eat a ton of food, and all with my family! Its been a great week in Charlotte with Rachel, Buck, HB, Mom & Dad, they made my birthday week truly special!

A break, a prince, and barbeque.

Today we took a break from the remodel to go to Greenville with the Siak clan to see Jesse in his latest play, Sleeping Beauty. It was magically done from the sets to the costumes, to the superb acting. Ella got emmotional when Jesse had to fight the bad witch and when he was speaking to the big spider, she told Matt and I "get Jesse away from there!" But at the end she was so happy when the prince got to kiss the princess and all was well. Noah was sitting on Kylies lap (Jesse's girlfriend), and when Jesse leaned in to kiss Briar Rose awake, he turned around and asked her "are you mad?" which was hilarious. We ended the night having dinner all together at Barry's favorite restaurant in honor of fathers day for the dads. It was a nice break. But back to the grindstone we go.

My birthday week

I don't know how it started, but somewhere along the way, we instated birthday week. The whole week of your birthday is a celebration. This year is a big year, the big 3-0, so this week is extra special. I get to spend it with my sister, HB, and Buck, and my parents in Charlotte while Matt installs the new flooring in our house. I'll end the week with a fabulous birthday dinner with the people most precious to me - Matt, Noah, and Ella.

When I was 20, I had some big hopes for what I would do in this next decade. And amazingly God has taken my hopes and made them a reality. In my 20's I...
~I met Matty. Fell in love with my best friend. In September we will have been together for 10 years and what an amazing adventure that has been. He is my rock. The person I laugh with, and I am at peace in his company. I still catch myself thinking how incredibly handsome he is. And I know that for as many decades as I am alive, I will be by his side. Loving him.
~I wanted to have children in my 20s. What a blessing to have been given my Noah. He has taught me so much about life and his heart is so big. He's an incredible person and I am loving watching him grow on the outside and the inside. My Ella is my princess. The sweetest girl who brings me so much joy. I love all the little things about her. I am blessed to love them and to be loved by them.
~ My family is so important to me. In the past 10 years I have continually developed an appreciation for the unconditional love, sacrifices, and grace my parents have given me. I could write a book about how blessed I am to have my mom and dad. There are no 2 greater people on the planet, and I got to have them as "mine." My siblings have grown up, married their perfect mates (except for JohnMark) and I adore them. There is not a single time we have been together when we haven't laughed until we cried. Each of them are unique but similar. They have given me some of my favorite memories over the years.
~ Marrying Matt gave me a whole new set of people to love and share our life with... his family. The way that they have been there for me and us over the years I cherish. We've had our own times of laughing til we cry, and I love that we live close to most of them, and get to hang out often.
~ I have some of the greatest friends on the planet. Who I can call at any time, who love me for who I am, who lift me up, and put me in my place.
~ We found Grace. Our church grounds us to Marion. It would be hard to leave just because of our church home. Through it we have been blessed immeasurably. We have found friends and people to walk through life with.
~ We bought 860 Virginia Road. As much as it has driven us crazy, it's our house. And through so much sweat, we have made it our own. Now if in the next decade Matt could just quit having ideas to make the house better... :)

I am not dreading turning 30. It means that there is much more to come. More goals to try to achieve, more hopes that will Lord willing become a reality. So begins birthday week. Thankful for the past, looking forward to the future. And hopefully during the week I'll get to eat some chocolate cake.

In the beginning

When we bought our charming, 1920's house almost six years ago we loved all the character of owning an older home. We also didn't expect all the "fun" you get with owning an older home. Our first major project, was raising the ceilings in the living room and Noahs room. The house had drop ceilings in two rooms (like the ones in a school classroom). They were super ugly. Taking them out gave us over a foot higher ceilings in both rooms. At the same time, we sheetrocked over the existing wall board paneling. This being our first project, we didn't know exactly what we were doing. So... at least 4 years later I am fixing the mistakes from our first renovation. This is our livingroom today. Since we will be putting in the new flooring in the next week, I needed to go ahead and putty the wall seams and ceiling so that they looked smoother. I'll be sanding tomorrow. Compared to the mass chaos that is going on in Noah's room right now, this is a super easy project. And just so you know, while our first project was sloppy, I can humbly tell you that we are pros at sheetrockin' now. :)

The very last day of the school year

Today was a big day. I dropped off Noah at school early, and ran home and got Ella and Matt and we headed back to school for the awards ceremony. Let me give you some insight onto kindergarten awards. They give out the following... perfect attendance, science, math, reading, writing, and citizenship. Noah was awarded the citizenship award for his class. Miss Parker said in front of the whole gym "for always being kind and a friend to everyone." 2 things happened: I smiled as big as I could and teared up a little bit. Until Matt leaned over to me and whispered "I think our kid just got the MVP award." Which is true. You can always work harder to write better, read more, etc. But what carries you through is your character. I am so proud of Noah.

And I am so thankful that God gave us Ms. Parker as his teacher. They both loved each other. Last week as I was picking up Noah from school, he ran up to her and gave her a quick side hug before he ran to my car. The smile on her face was priceless. Noah has always talked so highly of her, and going on fieldtrips with her I witnessed her endless patience. We were so blessed to have her start off Noah's school career - she has set the bar so high.

Now begins our summer of fun, before Noah returns as a first grader!

Noah's heading off to school for the last time as a kindergartener

Noah's Note & Tooth

Noah posed for a picture with the note he wrote for the tooth fairy and his tooth (in a baggie). And yes, she did come to the house that night!

One project leads into another

Not even a full week after we finish the laundry room remodel/roof leak, we are starting the flooring/closet moving/craziness again. Noah's closet is extremely small, and Matt is making a different closet on the opposite wall. Which means the old one has to come down. I had too much fun taking a hammer to the old sheetrock. It really is as fun and relieving as it looks on tv. I'll keep you updated on the progress as we begin this next journey at 860 Virginia Road.

Noah Lost His First Tooth!!!

Noah got in the car today after school and surprised me! Evidently he at a candy apple at the school carnival and look what happened! Bless his heart, cutest little snaggletooth I've ever seen.

Forgotten God

One of my friends passed along this free download to me and I thought I would share it with you.

It is for Francis Chan's new book Forgotten God. I have had the opportunity to read Crazy Love, and it challenged me in ways I wasn't expecting and was one of the most impacting books on my faith that I have read in years.

Here is the link: https://christianaudio.com/free. After you put it in your shopping cart, and have created an account, the next screen you will need to put in your coupon code. The code is JUN2010.

You will have to create an account with with Christian Audio and they will send you three emails a month about free downloads. You don't have to give any credit card information.

I have downloaded it to itunes and listened to the first part and it sounds incredible.

Enjoy!

Sarah

It all started with a little tiny leak...

This past winter we saw more snow than we've ever seen. It would snow on top of snow, and because of how shaded our house is, it would never melt. The back part of our house, over our laundry room, has a flat roof. During the last snow melt we noticed a small leak over the door that went from our laundry room to our well room (yes, our well is inside our house - totally crazy). Matt climbed on top of the roof, pulled back the shingles and found major rot. So bad that we had to pull the entire roof off. Then gut every bit of sheetrock, insulation, and framing for the two rooms. Mind you, this was three months ago. After countless hours of Matt working, some help from family, and more hours of Matt working, I can proudly say it is finished. At one point, you could open the door to our laundry room and see the sky. We were blessed to be able to get the roof off, re-framed, and put back on before any major rain storms. That was probably two months ago. Since then Matt has worked nights and weekends to get it put all back together. I am so glad that this project is over, and now we can move on to the next one - installing the new flooring in two weeks!

PS: My husband is amazing, he rarely complains, works a 10 hour day and then more hours at home at night. He is a great wood-worker, electrician, sheetrock-hanger and master craftsman. I am so blessed to have such a handyman!

Before I loaded all the junk back into it.

What it looks like now

Kisses for Katie

I found this blog months ago. I can't even remember how or why I found it. And it is one of the most shocking, amazing life stories to read about. This young girl (only 18) decided to go and spend a year in Uganda before college. She ended up staying. And now has adopted 14 children. And ministers to her village by having a mini-clinic out of the back of her car during the day.

www.kissesforkatie.blogspot.com

If you have some time, read her story.

I always knew they'd be famous

Saturday I got to keep my friend Kims little one's while she went to a class. I bravely took all four of them to the splash pad. While we were there a reporter from the McDowell News came by and asked if she could take some pictures for the paper. I said yes, of course. The top one is of all four kids, Noah, Avery, Carter, and Ella. The bottom left is of Carter running through the water, and the right is of Ella. Noah and Ella have agreed to provide signed copies for a minimal charge or happy meal :)

Splashpad

The Marion splashpad is a big hit each summer. Last week I took the kids for their first run through the water. They had so much fun! And the next day I went and bought Noah some new swimming trunks. The poor kid has no hiney and was flashing everyone the whole time!

Walking

My friend Kim and I are trying to get healthier. We're pushing ourselves to workout more and put down the drumsticks (the fried chicken ones and the icecream ones). Last week we met and walked her neighborhood. I got quite the workout pushing all 3 little ones!