A Pea Gravel Patio!

When we tore off the decks to add the basement, I told Paul that rather than build the huge wraparound deck that we had previously, I wanted to replace the deck outside each door, but build a patio between them.
I'm not sure he quite agreed with me, but he designed and built two beautiful decks.

We laid gravel with plans to pour concrete within a year.
Well..... 3 years later.....  It still looked the same.  Part was due to finances - concrete is a lot more expensive than it was 10 years ago when we installed our sidewalk!  But a lot was due to indecisiveness.....  Neither of us wanted a square chunk of gray concrete.  But flagstones, staining, texturing - all added to the cost!
And then I read an article online that said you can use pea gravel as an affordable alternative to concrete.  Just that; no pictures, links, or anything.
So I tore the internet apart trying to find inspiration.  I did find a couple of blogs that made very basic, very tiny patios using pea gravel.  But I couldn't find any ideas that we could use on our space.  So I imagined, talked to Paul, did some price checking, and then.... We started work.

We leveled the area and used 5x5 timbers to frame it, secured to the ground with re-bar pounded through drilled holes.

We laid down landscape fabric (on the windiest week in April, I think!) to keep the weeds from sprouting through the gravel.

Slave labor.  11 tons moved in 3 hours.

View from the corner by the house and back deck.  I'm standing in the flowerbed we designed to edge it on 2 sides (against the house).

I decided I wanted a solid transition from the stairs to the patio (not to mention it was a giant step down!)  I had slightly under-estimated the amount of gravel needed, also, so we laid rocks at the base of both sets of stairs that served both purposes - solid landing, plus several square yards worth of filler!

 

I love how the "transition area" turned out.

Paul used leftover rock to outline our tiny bit of grass in the front, making it look very nice an tidy.

I priced patio furniture, and decided we couldn't afford it - at least not the style I wanted.  Paul took some measurements and built us some!  Here we have the first couch he built and the 2 cushions that actually did arrive with the "free 2 day shipping."

And this is the finished project!  We had to wait to stain it because the lumber was still very wet. 
(And it's a good thing we did, or the hail would have destroyed it!)

Add some flowers for perfection!

The purple cow is an ongoing family joke.  We confused the heck out of one of my dad's milk route drivers when we were young, by leaving a note for him on the fuel tank (just for randomness sake):
I never saw a purple cow.
I never hope to see one.
But I can tell you, anyhow:
I'd rather see than be one!

I don't have a completed completion photo of all the deck furniture Paul built, with the flowers growing in the beds (actually, cabbage and kale, as the flowers were destroyed by hail).  Paul built us two full-length couches, a loveseat, chair, and footrest table for our outdoor oasis - all matching, and sized for standard "deep seating" patio cushions.
Despite not having a photo inspiration, the whole area turned out exactly how I had imagined.  It is the perfect place to relax in the evening, and has plenty of seating for all of our large family, plus guests.

The only drawback is that we got cats about the same time as we made the patio.  And they like to dig and....you know.  So there is that consideration if you are interested in tackling a gravel patio as your own project.

One "Hail" of a Storm!

Back in May, we got the hail storm of a lifetime.  We heard weather reports of hail - which never amount to anything.  We did move our vehicles under the trees, just in case, but I didn't move any of my potted plants.  I'd moved them 3 or 4 times already that month, and nothing ever materialized.

And then we got this:

Remember - this was taken May 31, not in January!

This was average size.  The smallest were about nickel-size.

It got very foggy as the cold rose from the hail (ice!) covering the ground.  And those puddles were COLD!

I had just commented on how wonderful our garden looked.  Corn was in the foreground, tomatoes in the back, peas, beans, and hill crops between.

Our roof was only 6 months old!  The insurance adjuster said this damage was the worst he'd seen in our area, and our roofer said it was the worst he'd ever seen.

It took a crew of 8 all day to rake up the mess.

Both of our vehicles were totaled.  The roof was a complete mess - obvious dents, broken shingles and debris all over the decks and yard.  The skylights in our barn were completely broken out.  Nearly every piece of siding on two sides of the house had at least one hole in it.  The screens and trim of all the windows of the north and west side were ruined - but surprisingly no broken glass!  My garden and all of our shade was obliterated.  Thankfully, though, no pets or people were injured!  (Although we did have to rescue a kitten from 6 inches of standing water in our barn!)
We have family, and friends like family, that volunteered to help with the cleanup.  They spent most of the day raking, and got it all done.  We were even able to go help our new neighbors clean up their yard as well.
Insurance paid very well on the vehicles (which we kept - what was a few more dents?), but didn't pay nearly what we'd hoped on the house.  Thankfully, the two payouts combined will cover all the repairs, plus upgrading the siding on the other two sides of the house.

Witness (Not Whining)

So, the following post could sound a lot like whining, but I am not writing it to complain.  I am writing it as a testimony.  God provides!

I'm a bit late in posting about it, as the story starts about a year ago, but here it is....

     Having a new baby always costs money.  Even before the hospital bills hit, there's the expenditures of MORE diapers, more water bills, and eating out because a sleepless mama can't bear the thought of planning meals.

     Paul's truck went in for some warranty work last February.  Initially this was a blessing, because the (FREE!) rental they supplied got better than twice the gas mileage Paul's truck did.  And then.....  A tie rod broke on Paul's truck when they were aligning it post-repair. We ended up with a $1000 mechanic bill, which kicked off the most financially stressful period of our entire marriage. 

     In addition to the baby hospital bills, we also ended up with bills from the emergency room (Gideon), another surgery (me), and procedures for treatment of my severe varicose veins. 

     Then we found out our roof needed replaced following a hail storm, and insurance was only going to pay half. Our washing machine and mower also broke down. And then I blew a tire on the van, so ended up having to buy two new tires.  In the midst of all this, our normal yearly taxes and insurance were due. 

But God supplied all our needs! About the time that all savings accounts reached empty, Paul and I had a discussion.  I felt like our finances were out of control.  But I was also being convicted because we weren't giving God his portion.  We were giving every month, but I had not been giving the FULL tithe that we had decided on a couple years ago.  (Of course, I justified it with "but I give my time" and "we give in other ways.")  Paul and I talked about it, and decided we needed to give God all of His part.  

     So.  In faith, I wrote a check.  It's faith, to write a check for a couple hundred dollars, when you know you have several thousand dollars in bills coming due within the next couple months, and that we didn't have enough in savings to cover them.

      The same day I put the check in the offering, Paul was offered a part time job helping a man with roofing, which paid for gas and groceries those few months. We had to learn humility in admitting we couldn't afford certain things, and in taking assistance through free food that was offered us. It was tight, but we made it, and continued to give our full tithe the rest of the year.  We still had Christmas!  And the children got a chance to see the blessing of passing along blessings that have been given us when we were able to help a needy woman.

     "My God shall supply all your needs, according to his riches in glory."  (Philippians 4:19)  We all know there's so much more that he supplies, things of eternal value, but this is one instance of him providing for our physical needs - because He's such a great God!

Bedroom Makeover, Continued

Do you remember when we moved the bed into the closet?

  Well, that was three years ago. Basically, nothing in our room has changed.

We filled the shelves with junk. (All of the "grown up" - can't say "adult" - DVDs, CDs, and Xbox games got moved in and away from children.) I got a new bed spread a year ago. I added a few second-hand pillows that I was tired of the kids taking outside.
Let's see...... What did I say I was going to do "soon" in that post? Hmmm...... Refinish a dresser. (It's still sitting in the shop.) And add some art over the bed.
Well, after 3 years, I can finally say that I've gotten the art for over the bed. And I love it!

I was in Hobby Lobby last weekend picking up some stuff for our Awana Grand Prix. I walked by the wall plaque and it caught my eye. It is the verse we put on our wedding invitations and programs. (So true for our feelings for each other - then and now!) I made a note to mention it to Paul, but didn't get it.
I looked it up online a few days later, and saw it was on sale for half price. So it was only $15! I wanted to pick up a shelf, to give the wall the feel of a headboard, since we don't have one. This one was 40% off, so I paid $30 for it. (Which some would say was too much given the level of distressing it's received.) But the colors matched our quilt, and I loved the rustic look.
The items on the shelf are all from "shopping the house." I'm constantly moving things around.
I've found out takes me quite some time to get used to the feel and function of a room before I know how I want to decorate it. (It's taken me 10 years to figure out "my" decor style.) Then it comes down to time and money, both of which I'm usually short of.
But sometimes, it's worth the wait. I am so pleased with how this project turned out! (Even if trying to level that shelf had me wanting to scream!)

I Stopped Caring

One of the best things - and biggest challenges - about having so many young kids, is that it's made me focus on what really matters.
Which means I've had to stop caring about a lot of things......

I used to care that my kids were dressed in nice, new-looking clothes any time we went to town.  I didn't want to look like "one of those" low-income families.
Now I'm just happy if they are wearing clothes at all (Gideon), or at least have clothes on that don't have holes and stains.

I used to think I needed a closet full of nice clothes so I would have choices when I go out.  After all, having lots of clothes shows the world I am classy.
I go out so little, I could wear a different outfit every time I go out, and not repeat for a year.  So bit by bit I'm paring it down to only clothes that I love.  (And having to finally retire my 20-year-old t-shirts.)

I used to pride myself that I was "green" before it was cool.
Now I see that sometimes it's okay to make life easier for myself, and do things like use disposable diapers.  (After all, which is worse - throwing a few paper diapers in the trash every day, or wasting so many gallons of water washing tiny, incomplete loads of laundry several times per week to keep the flies from infesting the diaper pail?)

I used to care that my kids be "perfect" at church, so everyone would know what a great mom I am.
My boys' shirts are always untucked, with crooked collars.  Zadie's hair is usually doing some crazy thing, and I have to pull them down out of a tree when it's time to go home. (Usually while they're simultaneously staging an army invasion with toy guns they smuggled into the van.)
Now I see that the illusion of perfection doesn't matter.  What people see of my family is how we are all the time.  Imperfect but real.

I used to want my kids to have a chance to be involved in all those things that kids "have" to experience:  sports, reading clubs, 4-H, homeschool co-ops.
Now I see that the "home" part of "homeschool" is more important than anything else.  What values do they learn by being herded to the van constantly?

I used to want all my kids to be proficient in a musical instrument.
But forced daily practicing and arguing was killing our love for music.
Now I see that having kids that sing their hearts out in praise to God is more important.

I used to care that my kids would be the brightest, most-advanced student for their age.
Then we had a delay in reading.
Now I see that there is so much more to life and learning than what is learned in the schoolroom.  (How many 8-year-olds do you know that can build a deck, frame a room, and hang sheet rock?)

I used to care that my house was perfect whenever anyone came to to visit.
Now I want people to know that I'm real.  My house isn't always perfect.  I try to make an effort, as a way of honoring our guests, but my house always looks lived in.  Lived in by 7 people.  It will never be a Better Homes & Gardens feature.  But people know that they are welcome in our home any time.

I used to want my kids to just blend in.
But now I want them to be spiritual leaders and be willing to take a stand.  I want my boys to be men, and my girls to be feminine, and not be ashamed of how God made them!

I used to worry that everyone would think my kids are weird.
They are weird.
But so are all of us.  Yet many of us shove our true selves into a box, so that the rest of the world doesn't think we are weird.  I don't want my kids to be cookie-cutter kids.

I used to think that families need to go on vacations every year.
But even though vacations are fun, memorable experiences, do they really make kids better people?  I'd rather teach them about saving and spending money responsibly.  Which means admitting to them:  vacations cost a lot of money, and we don't have a lot of money right now.  So we do things fun and memorable and free - like fishing in the neighbor's pond, and searching for geocaches.

I used to care about our "stuff."
Now I see how little stuff we actually need.  (Did you know you don't actually need a toaster?)

I used to think I needed - deserved - "girl time" and "me time."
I don't remember the last time I had girl time. My "me time" consists of watching non-animated television while folding clothes or balancing the checkbook.
But I don't miss it.
I am living the life God called me to live.  That includes my family.  Do the kids drive me nuts sometimes?  You bet they do.  But I love spending time with them when all of us can be home together.  It is when I feel most complete.  (But I do still love those rare, deep heart-to-heart chats with true friends.)

And finally.....
I used to care what people think about me.
I still do.  I want people to like me.
But I know that what God thinks about me is more important.  As long as I'm following Him, living my life according to the way He's convicted me, it really doesn't matter what anyone else thinks about me.  I don't answer to them.  I've lost friends and had people reject me because of this, and that has truly hurt.  But I can't change that.  I have to live my life for the One that matters.


So sometimes it's a good thing to just stop caring.

The Other Photos......

So I finally sent out my New Year's letter (I gave up with trying to get it out before Christmas, so calling it a "New Year's letter" takes the pressure off).
I almost didn't send a picture.  We've been plagued by various illnesses, and things have been tight financially, but then I thought.....  The pictures are my favorite part of receiving letters!  Plus, it's only like $7 to print them if you have a coupon.
I never made it to my sister's to have her take nice portraits of us.  So we herded the kids outdoors today (first day above freezing in weeks!) and tried to get a decent shot.  (And yes, Gideon is in his pajamas.  It's just normal day attire for us!)

Trying to photograph children is like herding cats - impossible!
Gideon would not stand still.  At all.  (If they held him, he screamed.  If they let him go, he charged straight at me.)

Oh, by all means, let's bring the dog in!  That will help......

And of course when Gideon does stay put, no one is looking at the camera.

Almost......

Close.....  But I was hoping for better smiles.

 

In the end, I went with the first photo I took.  I wish you could see Zadie better, but they're all real smiles, and it shows their real personalities.  And this is real life for us (chaos)!

New Cover on My Old Bible

I picked up my Bible probably about 12 years ago when I was working at the little bookstore downtown.  At that time, the appeal was the title.  I was just starting off as a worship leader, and it intrigued me.  Notes wise, there aren't a lot.  "Worship points" at the beginning of each chapter, and a few thoughts and prayers here and there.  Not a lot that I could use as a worship leader, but it did help direct my thoughts if I took the time to read them - I'm not a big notes-reader..... Give me GOD'S words!  (I tend to get distracted by the extras.)
This was my first experience with New Living Translation (I was a committed New American Standard girl), and the translation is what made me fall in love with the Bible.  NLT is so easy to read!  Things I've been reading all my life suddenly jumped out at me and smacked me in the face!  I had this Bible marked and written all over.

And then cover fell off.  The pages were intact, but the cover was not, and if I kept using it, the pages were going to start falling off.  So I had a decision to make:  get a new Bible, with a nice leather cover, and more notes for when I want them....... or, for the same price, get my old Bible, with the notes that I'd already taken re-covered with a leather cover.  Either way, it was parting with a chunk of money - something I don't do easily.
It took me 3 months to make up my mind.  Finally, I did it.  I couldn't part with the familiar.  The deciding point was - I couldn't use my Bible as is.  And if I couldn't use it, no one else could, so I couldn't give it away.  I didn't want it setting on a shelf, and I didn't think it was in bad enough shape to warrant "respectfully disposing of it."  Also, leather Bibles at the store have very thin and flimsy pages.  I liked the heavier feel of the pages of my old Bible.
When I worked at the bookstore, we dealt with Norris Bookbinding Company in Mississippi.  So I looked them up and sent off my Bible.
In about 2 weeks, I got back a brand new Bible!

I opted for a genuine leather cover.  We use this as our family Bible, so it gets used several times a day, and I wanted it to hold up.

The only thing that hints that this Bible is old are the worn and stained page edges.

My beloved notes!

I thought this verse printed on the inside cover was just perfect.  It could be said, "The pages may stain, and the cover fall off, but the Words inside are just as powerful and precious." 

Home Improvements 2014: New Basement under an Old House

I know I was not great at posting pictures of the processes, but we are done with the basement and back porch.  Finally.  And by done, I mean "we can resume life as normal" done, not our "20-year-project" done.

So here's the evolution of the basement.......

This is what we started off with.  The stone cellar that was original to our 1940 house.  Stone walls, gravel floor, about 6 feet deep.  (I had to duck my head under pipes and ducts when we went down there.)  (More about how bad it was down there in this post.)

Beams were slid under the house and sat on cribbing and jacks while the old foundation walls were knocked out from under it.  (More here.)

Footings were poured for the new foundation walls.

The new walls were formed and poured.

The walls had to cure for 3-4 weeks before they could support the weight of the house.

Since the house was above it, the new walls could not be poured to the full height (there would be no room to get the concrete in there).  The final 2 feet were completed with concrete blocks.

Then the drains for plumbing were laid, and the floor was poured.

A real floor!

We opted to have two egress windows installed.  (Only one is required.)  They are in opposite corners of the basement and supply a lot of natural light.  We decided to have two because we want the boys' bedroom to have one, but thought in case home-schooling laws get more strict at some point, it would be good to have one in our school area as well.  (We also have a small window in a 3rd corner, in the laundry room.)  

The new stairway was installed under our existing stairs to the 2nd floor (eliminating a closet in our bedroom).  

That mess of wires hanging down in the above photo is them tearing out the existing "spider web" of electrical wiring and streamlining it.

I [heart] straight lines. :)

Paul framed in walls for future rooms so that we could go ahead and put in the necessary electrical outlets and switches.

Putting walls in actually made the space seem larger.  I think it was because it defined the distance.

We stained the floors on our own.  I'll try to detail the process in a later post.

The floor after being waxed and buffed.

Ooh!  It's shiny! :)

Paul finished and painted the entire laundry room (while I wrangled babies).  He did a fantastic job, despite "not being very good at painting."  (I know the truth now!)

We splurged and added a second staircase off the back porch.  I didn't like the idea of having to tote my laundry to the south side of the house (where our main stairs come up) then back to the north side of the house to hang them.  Not to mention any messes, etc, getting tracked through the main house when we need to run to the basement to grab something.  The stairs also access the freezers.  

The stairs were made by Goddard Manufacturing in Logan, Kansas.  I can't recommend them highly enough.  They were so friendly, knowledgeable, and helpful.  We met the owner, Jerry, and the men that make the stairs when we went to pick it up.  They obviously take pride in their work and our satisfaction.

The stairs take up approximately a 5'4" circumference.  But this isn't totally lost space, as we can store things under the stairs.  And it feels very open.  I love them!

This is the opposite view of the laundry room.  There's a lot going on in this picture, but where the clothes are hanging will be the wall and doorway to the downstairs bathroom.  The sink is outside the bathroom to save space, and also so I can use it for laundry.  (We were going to get more of a utility-type sink, but I found the vanity, sink, faucet, mirror cabinet, towel ring, towel bar, toilet paper holder, and light fixture on Craigslist for $125.  I thought that was too good of a deal to pass up.)

To the right of the sink will be a "sump closet".  It has the sump pump and the sewage pump in there.  Paul put up shelves.  Right now they are kind of all-purpose shelves, but I'd like to add some over the freezers for my canning stuff, and save the sump closet for cleaning supplies.

Paul has hung sheet rock on the stairway.  It's not completely finished, but it keeps kids from falling off the stairs.  On my list of priority projects, this one is pretty low.  (Remember what I said about the 20-year-project?)  Our builder is supplying nicer treads and risers.

This is the view from the schoolroom area to the laundry room.  To give you perspective, the chairs are piled at the bottom of the stairs as a blockade to keep Gideon from climbing while I was working down there.

The brown coat is hanging in the doorway of the future bathroom.

(All the boxes are a fraction of what's left to unpack of all the curriculum and books I inherited from our parents, since we now have space to store it.)

Janice (my mother-in-law) and Elizabeth (my sis-in-law) came and primed and painted the green for the schoolroom all in one long night.  I missed getting pictures of that process.

This is the schoolroom area.  (Ugh - see all the dust floaters?  I have got to get the air purifier down there!)  We have to have two tables because Nathan feels that he has to "help" Jacob constantly.

These are my curriculum shelves.  Pretty much everything I need for now through high school, and very little of it purchased new for my kids.

(And I'm already wanting to move things around.  Once you start using a space, you figure out how it will work better, and I found that out after a week.)

 This is standing in the schoolroom area looking toward the boys' future room. 

The bed looks like the slave quarters, I realized, when the man came to hook up our thermostat and Nathan was asleep down there.  I put the bed down there so that I can split the boys up so they can actually nap.  We have kids all over the house at naptime.  Zadie and Gideon wake each other up, so she sleeps in our room, while Gideon is in the crib in her room.  One of the boys will sleep upstairs in their room, and the other in the basement.  And sometimes they will all be asleep at the same time! 

The boys' room will actually have two rooms.  Here I am standing in the outside room where they can study or play, and have it still be "their area" but can be a little more "public" if they have friends over or something.  I am looking toward the doorway (note the base boards on the floor) of where their beds-and-dressers room will be.  Under the stairs will be a closet.

For now, it's Paul's tools and materials room.

So that's the tour of the basement.  We would like to have the walls completed and the bathroom functional by next year.  We have kind of our immediate, 1-year, 5-year, and 20-year goals. :)

But for now, we are living in it, and loving it!