Basement Update

Ok, so everyone has been asking: how is the basement going? Here's the answer! This was actually helpful for me to go back and look at because it feels (to me) like this project is taking forever, but the picture evidence shows major progress has been made. :) Last time I posted about this basement (1/28), Philip had the framing mostly finished, but since then he has finished the drywalling, installed two of the three new light fixtures, painted the ceilings in the whole basement, installed crown molding in the bedroom, painted the bedroom, primed the office room, primed most of the rest of the basement and started installing the flooring in the bedroom. Once the flooring is done in the bedroom, we just need to put in the baseboards and finish painting the doors and trim and it will be basically done! Well, it still needs a light...if only Lowes would get it back in stock! :) I helped a lot with the painting to speed along the process. It was nice to feel like I was part of the project. :)
Feb 10: drywall mudding in progress

Feb 16: The office room. The ceiling has now been painted and the overhead light installed.

Feb 10: the bedroom with the walls up before painting started and then Feb 22: How the bedroom looks this morning.

It's getting there! :)

I Think He's Growing!

Caleb has been due for a growth spurt for a long time. Between his 3 year and 4 year well checks, he only grew about an inch, which is why Joshua almost caught up! Lately, however, there has been a huge increase in Caleb's eating, leading us to believe the growth spurt may finally be coming. For example, Wednesday night for dinner he ate: a bowl of pasta with chicken tomato sauce, a bowl of salad (which is where he normally would have stopped), two slices of bread, a banana, a peanut butter sandwich, an apple, and a glass of milk! Last night he woke up at midnight with leg pain, which Philip always experienced when he was growing as a little boy. So, we'll see! Maybe we'll be able to tell the boys' clothes apart again soon! :)

"I was a bush!"

I am the exclusive hair stylist for all the boys in this house, so we periodically line everyone up on the deck (when the weather's nice) or in the bathroom (when it's not) for a whack job...I mean a haircut. Typically, the haircuts come further apart than I would like and everyone starts looking a little too hairy for my liking. Both Joshua and Philip start to look a little "bushy", in my opinion. Joshua has apparently caught on to this. A few weeks ago, I told him "you need a haircut" and his response was "I look like a bush!". Well yes, you do! :) Anyway, because we've been so busy with the basement remodeling, haircuts didn't happen until a couple days ago...and everyone looks much nicer. :) Last night Philip's parents stopped by briefly and when Grandma walked in the door she commented on Joshua's newly cut hair. His response? "I was a bush!". Key word: "Was". :) It was really cute!

If You Can't Laugh At Yourself...

Ok, so everyone knows I am a cake decorator. Presumably this means I make nice looking cakes. And I do...most of the time. It just seems like I frequently have "mishaps" when making cakes that I personally serve. Maybe because it's not so high-stress and I let my guard down. Maybe it's that that's when I am more likely to try something new. Anyway, my poor family (and occasionally friends) definitely sometimes gets the short end of the stick when it comes to cakes. For example, I am so low-key about my kids' birthday cakes that we have celebrated with everything from a brownie to leftover wedding tasting samples to a store bought 2" square! Granted, there have been some nicer cakes in the bunch too (and the "Random" cake was always used at a family-only "day celebration" with something nicer usually later, but not all the time! This year, Caleb's "actual" birthday cake got decorated by his Grandpa because I was too sick to do it (thanks Grandpa!). And Philip's 30th birthday cake was an "extra" cake I baked somewhere along the line and pulled out and threw on all the extra icing I had sitting around the house. (Sorry Philip!). You get the picture.

Anyway, we had company tonight and I made a cake for dessert (I was actually planning to make something else, but wound up with extra batter for a job I am doing this weekend and turned it into a nice heart cake...since Valentine's Day is next week :)). Well, I experimented with the filling and icing and while it tasted great, the appearance was less than my usual (it was just kinda messy looking...in MY mind anyway).

It got me thinking about the one real disaster that I had while making a cake. This cake was for my small group and was a new recipe...and one that you might correctly assume I never tried again!! I just laughed and laughed as this cake happened, and then I laughed some more as I served it to our small group. There was really nothing else to do. I think you'll agree. :)


If you want to see pictures of some of my "real" cakes, you can click here.

Caleb's Big News

We are very excited to announce that yesterday Caleb prayed to ask Jesus into his heart. :) Both Philip and I have had many conversations with the inquisitive fellow over the past year about why Jesus died on the cross and about heaven and how to get there and how we all sin, etc. We had asked him several times if he wanted to pray, but he had always said no. I don't even remember how he and I got onto a related subject yesterday morning, but when I asked him if he wanted to pray, he said yes. What a blessing to be able to experience that with my son. This is the verse I was led to after we prayed:

Exodus 15:2
The LORD is my strength and my song;
he has become my salvation.
He is my God, and I will praise him,
my father's God, and I will exalt him.

We hope you can praise God with us!

Joshua's Big News

As some of you know, I have not been the only pregnant person in our house. Joshua has been expecting almost as long as I have, and also experience some morning sickness a few months ago. His morning sickness seems to be gone...mine isn't. But anyway... Today Joshua has been telling me all about the "tiny baby" in his tummy. Every time he talks about the baby, he pulls up his shirt so that I can get a good look a his belly. Earlier the baby was apparently kicking and poking him. Just a little while ago, the baby wasn't feeling good. However, then Joshua found two Valentine conversation hearts on the floor and ate them (the reward for being a human vacuum cleaner) and then announced that the baby felt much better. Just now Joshua was telling me that his baby is going to born in a few weeks...and that he will be able to talk when he's born. Apparently, he baby will be 3 years old upon arrival. Josh plans to name the baby Larry. I asked Joshua HOW the baby was going to come out, but got a pretty vague answer. Seemed like his legs and feet might have been involved. ?? We'll let you know it goes... :)