Crystal Bridges

We recently had a school field trip to Crystal Bridges to see the Norman Rockwell exhibit and we got to take Grandma and Grandpa with us. 

Cameras weren't allowed in the Rockwell exhibit, but we went and had lunch and came back to see the rest of the museum, which does allow photography. 

We went to a seafood place off the square in Bentonville for lunch.  It was a good choice.

Silas with George Washington.

I wonder what Eli thought of the exhibit?

Snow outside! Momma with her boys.

Eli did pretty well while went around all the exhibits, although I did wish for a stroller once or twice.

Daddy with his boys.

Silas with Rosie the Riveter.

We ended up at a bookstore (one of our favorite places) afterwards.  It was a really nice day and a blessing to share it with Grandma and Grandpa.

Lessons on Hank Williams

My mom came one evening to our house to visit with us.  Somehow we got on the subject of Hank Williams and soon we were watching some YouTube videos of him and his son.  Silas and Eli were fascinated, so we told them a few things about them both. Soon both boys wanted to do their impressions of Hank Williams Sr.  

My Youngest Son Steals My Camera

...and takes some of the best pictures.

Closet Building

We recently started step two in a very long house remodel plan.  The end point is remodeling our main bathroom and adding much-needed square footage to my older sons' bedroom (along with a closet).  

Step one of the plan was weatherproofing one of our outbuildings so it could be more of a tool shed/storage building.  That needed to be done so that we could empty out our utility room and create space for a closet coming from our master bedroom.

Here's the closet door laid up against the wall that the door will be coming through.  You can see where the closet will be by where the carpet's been removed.  The room the closet is being built into is where our washer and dryer are and where our water pump is.  It has mostly become a storage room, but it's got so much space available that we decided to build into it for our closet.  We removed the master closet from our room several years ago in order to give our bedroom more space.  We've been making do with a hall closet ever since.

This is one of many reasons we are SO thankful Christian's parents now live right down the road.  Stephen put a lot of work into building the closet.  It was very much appreciated.

Eli tried to help, but mostly just hung around saying, "I want you Daddy."

Silas did actually help by grabbing tools and moving things around for the workers.  This picture is of the utility room.  You can tell there is still loads of space that's mainly used to store homeschool records and baby clothes.

They had to take part of the wall out in order to put the door in.

The closet doorway from our bedroom.

The door in place!  It still hasn't been trimmed, so I guess the project's not 100% complete.

The house hasn't exactly been built to specifications (can you read the sarcasm?) so they had to do some thinking about how to make things level.

And, of course, I forgot to take anymore photos until it was complete and I'd hung up all our clothes.

The finished closet! I got to paint it purple.

That door is going into our master bedroom, and as you can tell there is an opening on this side of the closet for another door to be installed soon.  One day in the distant future, we will remodel the rest of the utility room and turn it into a master bathroom with an entry into it from this closet.  But that's another project all together.  I would take photos of what the closet looks like jutting into the utility room, but my utility room looks like it's been hit by a tornado.

Step three of our current remodeling project is to build a linen closet.  That way, we can remove the current horrid closet that's in our hallway and add that square footage to the bathroom and Silas' bedroom.  The final stage of this remodel is a major one and will involve removing an old bathtub and installing a new one, moving a toilet and sink, moving a wall, and completely redoing the current main bathroom.  This will add about 20 square feet to Silas' bedroom (which is currently completely wasted in the bathroom layout) and will give the bathroom a major update. 

P.S. I have a friend, Jeff Grube, who created a sink out of stone and tile.  It looks like a tree stump.  I'm so excited about one day putting it into the bathroom that I might have to take pictures and put it on here just to show it off!

Homeschooling

We made wampums in history class last month.  It was a Native American currency.  Usually made from polished stone, ours was made from colored pasta.

 

With the leftover dye (food coloring and rubbing alcohol), I made some colored rice for Eli to play with.

Sensory play!  I've since made a whole lot more, and he loves it. 

Daddy's Happy Birthday

Daddy's 34th birthday passed by without a lot of fanfare, but he kind of likes it that way. 

Present opening in the morning (with lots of English goodies).

Silas made him a great card. 

Eli dressed up as Batman.

So did Silas.

He opened all of his presents from his family overseas.

He got pounds from Great Nan!

And lots of hugs from his family.  

52-Pickup Kind of Faith

Faith in Jesus sometimes feels like the game of 52-pickup.  Instead of the nice clean shuffle that we like - you know, an organized home, ordered finances, job security - God asks us to throw them all in the air and trust in Him that they will fall in the correct place.  I've often felt God calling for the 52-pickup at different times in my life, to trust Him wholly in certain areas - missions, finances, pregnancies, moves, etc.  There is always this feeling of insanity and rush of adrenaline you get from not being in control anymore.  But then God proves Himself faithful again and again.  The latest call for 52-pickup is with my children's salvation.  I can shuffle those cards as neatly as possible.  I can read all the books, be consistent with my discipline, say the right words, take them to church, homeschool them - and it still won't guarantee my child's salvation.  It does guarantee me 20 years of angst, fretting, sleepless nights, fear, and anxiety.  But by throwing that deck in the air, I'm saying I trust God that He is good and that He alone can save my children.   I want them to have faith in Christ alone - not faith in their parents' ways.

Does that mean I toss out those things?  Do I stop homeschooling?  Do I forget about consistent discipline?  No.  God calls me (and in some instances commands me) to do those things.  But those things are only going to, hopefully, create good people. And does salvation rest on our goodness?  Of course not, thank the Lord.  Salvation rests in the work of Jesus of Christ on the cross.  At best, my card shuffling will be used by God to help bring my children to Him.  At best.

So I will toss my deck and rejoice that my children's salvation is not up to me.  It's not my responsibility.  It's God's.   And He is so much more responsible than me.