Outside Play

The weather this week has been wonderful. Alana and Peter have thoroughly enjoyed being outside to play every moment they can.

Peter plays so much more like a little boy now. Last year, he just sort of wandered around the yard, following Alana. Now, he plays! The last few nights we've had to clean dirt out of socks, his diaper, his ears...... Boys sure are different! But so much fun!

Two years ago today, we brought Peter home from the hospital. Hard to believe!

Kitchen Floor

Our house has definitely reached that age where everything starts to break and need repaired. We've been dealing with a leak in a shower for almost a year. Tom tried to fix it several times to no avail. When the ceiling in the dining room started caving in from the leak, we knew it was time to really dig in and see what the problem was. My dad came over and he and Tom cut out a hole in the ceiling where the leak was and fixed the leak and then repaired the hole.

We have been noticing some discoloration coming through our kitchen floor for several months. We just thought it was the glue seeping through, which can happen when a floor starts getting old. While my dad was here helping repair the leak, he noticed the kitchen floor too and pulled back a tiny piece. The problem wasn't glue, it was MOLD! We had to replace our dishwasher a few months ago and that may have been when the problem started. So, we had to get a new kitchen floor. Not at all in the budget! I've never liked the floor in the kitchen since we moved into this house, but we weren't ready to take on this project right now. My thoughts are in gear for the kids' bedrooms and getting ready for the baby. However, I cannot have mold. That's not good for any of us.

This is the old kitchen floor, installed when they built this house about 13 years ago. It was glossy white, which showed every single piece of dirt. It may be kind of hard to see, but the dark discoloration splattered all throughout is the mold.

Last Saturday, my dad came over and he and Tom removed the old floor. The kids and I stayed out of the house all day. We were worried about breathing in mold. The plan was to remove the old floor and then radically clean the concrete and let it dry for about a week to make sure we got all the mold removed and it had no way to grow again. Come to find out when they began to remove the old floor, there were actually two layers of vinyl and the mold was between those two layers. None of it was on the concrete. I was so relieved because I didn't have to worry about any of us breathing in mold spores. They just removed both layers and threw it out. We still had to live on concrete for a week, which was no fun.

This past Saturday, Tom and my dad put down the new kitchen floor. It turned out to be a much bigger job than they anticipated. We chose vinyl tiles with a special grout made specifically for vinyl instead of ceramic. The grout was very difficult to install, but it has turned out beautiful! I love it.

Last Trimester

This week I am officially in my last trimester of pregnancy! That's hard to believe. Although pregnancy never flies by for me, it certainly has gone by quicker with this one than either Alana or Peter. That's probably because I'm so busy caring for those two all the time. Only 12 weeks to go - who knows, maybe even a little less. However, I want this baby to stay where he belongs until the appointed time.

I went to the Dr. yesterday and all looks fine. Also, I do not have gestional diabetes, which is always good news. I've never had it before and I hope I never do. I've heard it's no fun! The Dr. did say that I'm anemic and I need to start taking iron supplements. Maybe I'll have a little more energy.

I'm really starting to get in the mood to work on the kids' bedrooms soon. It's going to be a lot of work to switch them all around, but worth it. The boys will need the bigger bedroom to share, especially with all their toys. Alana still has a lot of stuff, but not nearly as many toys. She is definitely growing up and changing. The bedrooms will have to wait though, until we get the kitchen floor project done. I'll share more about that after the weekend.

Happy Friday!

Scripture Memory - March 15

It's time for our next verse.

She rises while it is yet night and provides food for her household and portions for her maidens. - Proverbs 31:15 (ESV)

In our 14 years of marriage, it has been very rare for me to rise at night just to fix good food for my family. It's a good thing I don't have maidens to care for also:)

Improvising

Perhaps we should consider getting this poor child a stool,

so he doesn't have to use the toilet paper package!

Scripture Memory - March 1

It's time for our next verse:

She is like the ships of the merchant; she brings her food from afar. - Proverbs 31:14 (ESV)

I was reading in the commentary about this verse and it was saying that the analogy is that this woman goes to great lengths to prepare fine food for her family. Sometimes Scripture is so simple. I would love to let something like making good food for my family just get lost in the higher ideals of Bible study, raising children, church, etc., but right here I am commanded to take the time and energy to prepare good food for my family.

Happy March! Spring is on its way.