Monday, April 30, 2018

Their New Bathroom... Worth the Wait

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Oh my goodness. My daughters didn't have their bathroom since last early July! We decided to do it ourselves (with a plumber) and it took EIGHT months! Yes, eight months!

Here's where it all started!

Here is the post when the project first started. Awful. Just awful. And here are a few photos from last July!

Here are a few of the BEFORE! (and here is a post from waaaay back showing some of the way it looked before)

Before 1

Before 2

Before 3

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And here come the AFTER photos:

Here's a post when I talk about the project and all the stress it brought us.

Here's what it looked like in November.

Here's demolition...

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demo 1


demo 2

This was the sound of last summer.



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And one night in late February Scott was done. After the last of the tiles were put up (with Abigail by her daddy's side the entire time) we were done!

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Here are are few photos of our finished bathroom! And adore it!

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The sink was very important to us (and the tub) We wanted to have a brand new bathroom but wanted to 'restore' it to it's original Connecticut Colonial 1952 state. Everything at Home Depot and Lowes was just so modern and just wasn't what we were looking for. We were thrilled when we found a bathroom store that carried so many beautiful options. And we are thrilled with the sink!

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Loved the molding above the vanity and lots of room inside for the girls special things. I love that there is hardly anything on the sink... it's all tucked inside that vanity!

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Sweet little shelves for pretty things.

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We chose a grey tile floor... love the 'wood' look of it. And it goes so well with the pink in the bathroom.

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Now it's a tiny bathroom so it's really hard to get a good photo of the whole thing. But in this photo you can see the 'cath kidston' shower curtain and in the back the built - ins that Scott made for the shower and tub.

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I love the tile in the back of the built - ins. The entire bathroom is white subway tile but the built ins are this pinky- mother of pearl tile look. So feminine.

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Now the tub was a big decision. Originally we were going to keep the tub and have it re glazed. But after much consideration and we decided that we wanted to have all of the bathroom pipes redone so that meant taking out the tub.

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And choosing a new one was easy when we found the right store.

The new one is porcelain over steel. Heavy, solid, pretty, so 1952!

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The bathroom is all white and it makes it seem so much bigger than it was! All that bright makes it perfect for a dark, snowy night and a hot bath!

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The back of the door that is open to the hallway is the perfect place for bows.

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Yes, so worth the wait!





Friday, April 27, 2018

Anna and the Cherry Tree

I've photographed Anna in front of this tree each spring for as long as she's been able to stand. I love to see the changes over the years. And each year I marvel in the fact that she is mine and I am hers. I will never ever take for granted the miracle of adoption. My heart is full.

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"Aren't you lovely in all your heart conveys." Iva St.J-Whitman












Thursday, April 26, 2018

I Took These A Month Ago

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I took these photos in March, just one month ago. I'm amazed at how much can change in one little month.

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Time changes the weather and changes my daughters.

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And no matter how much I say "just stay little, just stay little, just stay little"

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She won't be little forever. I am grateful, beyond grateful for every single day with my family. I will never forget waiting. I will always remember the faithfulness of God and His perfect timing in my life. For my daughters and for everything.






Wednesday, April 25, 2018

Anna these Days

I'm bursting with love for this daughter of mine, now fourteen.

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I asked her to come out and test some lighting for me. And she did!

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I'm so very proud of her this year, her first year in high school.

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This week I'm praying for her

Psalm 102:28

The children of your people will live in security. Their children's children will thrive in your presence.



Tuesday, April 24, 2018

65 and Sunny

It was the kind of day a teacher is really happy to have recess duty. After freezing all those months out there on Monday afternoons today felt like a piece of Heaven. With my little dress and cardigan, flats and a huge smile for the sunshine on my face.

Also, the perfect day for Abigail to wear this shirt... because TODAY felt like spring!

0A6A1773





Monday, April 23, 2018

Currently Reading

Well the last time I blogged was Tuesday.  School started up again and after April vacation week off it sure was hard getting back into the swing of things.  Up at 4:30 and asleep by 10:30 is one looooong, hard working, happy, exhausting, exhilarating day.  And by Friday when I got home I felt like I wasn't going to live.

But I miss putting up a few photos her and there.  And so this week I'm going to try.  Let's start with books.  Because books make me happy.  Here's what I'm currently reading and what's to come soon.

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Let me start by telling you about this one.

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Such a good mommy/parenting book. No guilt, just good ideas for being the best you can be. What kids need. My favorite chapters so far are:

Kids need their Mom to never stop touching them

Kids need their Mom to pray with the Door Wide Open

Kids need their Mom to Turn their Beds Down at Night

Kids need their Mom to Talk to them Like They're Fascinating

Kids need their Mom to keep a Family Blog

Kids need their Mom to Be a Passionate, Alive, Spiritual Lover of God

Kids need their Mom to Make a Big Deal out of God

(maybe I love that particular chapter because it feels like out of 40 chapters that's the one I already do... that & turn their beds down at night)

"in our home I want it to feel normal to be prayed for. To have spiritual conversations. To begin every meal with a grateful prayer. In our house church trumps most everything. ... We learned to never take a vacation from God. If we're out of town we're tracking down a place where God is worshiped, the Bible is believed, and the family of God gets together."

And then there's THIS book... a novel based on the thoughts and life of Laura's mother... Caroline. I read it twice already since I got it for Christmas from my parents.

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Oh to understand the Little House 'story' from Ma's point of view. Beyond lovely.

Books bring such comfort to me. I love them with all my heart. A collector of Children's chapter book and vintage children's books we are full to overflowing with books in our house. And to me books {and the people who read them} are part of what makes a house a home.









Tuesday, April 17, 2018

Our Favorite Place to Be is Together

Have you seen that on a sign?  I love that!  That was our April break.  We didn't go away and it was marvelous.  I used to love to go away for a few nights on April vacation week.  Now that I'm back to the classroom I love to stay home and nest.  And be just with the four of us.  And that's just what we did.  I don't have photos from our week home.  But I want to remember the sweet mixture of getting things done, relaxing, all while being all together.

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a quiet morning house
the girls catching up on sleep
no activities
fun dinners while watching movies
reading (how I've loved seeing my girls reading all the time this week because they weren't in their activities and too much homework)
catching up on my memories on this blog
passport photos and mailing away those passports for a trip this summer
shopping and eating out
laughing around our kitchen table
redoing our living room
cleaning out the girls drawers
shopping on line
immersing myself in God's Word for longer than a school day allows me
walking through a favorite antique store
finding Abigail's elementary graduation dress
talking late into the night
no agenda
enjoying the good weather
tea, lots of extra time for extra tea
working out
resting
thinking, daydreaming
all four of us being together even just at Whole Foods shopping for fun ingredients and snacks



It was a wonderful slow week.

On Sunday night Abigail prayed "Dear God, I thank you that you will fill our hearts with good things so that we don't miss each other too much."

She whispered in the dark all cozy in her bed, "I'm gonna miss you."

"Me too, me too".











Monday, April 16, 2018

Calling Me

On Friday before this wonderful at home vacation week it snowed.  It's April and it snowed.  It was so so pretty fluttering down while we were learning and working in the classroom.  It was Friday afternoon and they were doing Reading Workshop! They were cozy with books doing work in their own reading.
I turned the 'fireplace' on the smart board.

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And I looked around this special room. And felt such gratitude.

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How did I get so blessed to be one who gets to help them 'bloom and grow'?

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I could stay home forever. I am first a wife and a mother. But I am also a teacher. And the work I do in room 124 is important and it for those precious children that I am anxious to see on Monday morning. Their smiles, their hugs, their learning.

Friday, April 13, 2018

Concert

Last night we went to a Steven Curtis Chapman concert. All four of us. Scott and I have been to so many of his concerts and love him so so much!  (here's one we went to last summer) His story and his music is deeply rooted in our story. From our last slow dance at our wedding, to leading our hearts toward adoption, to the work he and his wife do with Show Home and how that's impacted our family (big post on that back here) ... has a been a big part of our walk with God. And we are grateful for a sweet evening worshiping as a family together.

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There is so much God speaks to our hearts when we are together like this, so much He reminds us of...

Thursday, April 12, 2018

Science Fair

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Abigail started talking about the Science Fair as soon as the school year started this year, and her daddy said he would do it with her.

She chose to do some 'real' science and focused on Eosinophilic Esophogitis. In a simple nutshell, there is {as of now} no cure for this disease. And there has been no medicine found/made that is specifically for this disease. The best way to manage EoE is food avoidance {foods a person is allergic to}. But in some rare cases {Abigail}, even after years of "elimination diet" of taking her off foods and reintroducing them one at time, we still haven't found the foods she's for sure allergic to. {it's complicated, I know}

But doctors have found that one medicine that is meant for asthma patients {meant to be breathed in with an inhaler}, if swallowed by EoE patients with a sticky liquid can coat the esophogus and help with inflammation when eosinophils are too high.

It's not a perfect, life long solution, but it helps.

So, since she was 22 months old, Abigail has been taking 7 splenda or honey with this liquid medicine. It's mixed into a 'slurry' and then swallowed before bedtime.

Her experiment was to replicate an esophogus and use different types of sticky liquid to see what would hold the medicine on to the esophagus the best.

Here is what she found:

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It's pretty clear that the splenda works to hold the medicine on the esophagus the best. And that honey doesn't work well at all.

We so proud that Abigail takes an active role in this disease and wants to help find a cure. She felt empowered through this project. And that is so amazing since many days she simply feels like a victim.

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Those are the teacher judges looking over and scoring her project.

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And guess what? She won!!!

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Finding a way to manage a disease is purposeful science and we all learned so much from this experience!

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So proud of you Abigail!