The Basement Remodel

This process started over a year ago. Since we homeschool, we try to have an area dedicated to our school room stuff. When we moved in our current house, the extra bedroom was our school room. After adding Rae to our family, the schoolroom became her bedroom. Our school stuff and all my office stuff was moved to the playroom and the basement.  Emily had to do school in the dining room, and all the other stuff was a mess and disorganized. It made doing school hard and the landing in the basement was always in a state of disarray.

Last year we came up with the idea of turning the storage area in the basement into an office and new schoolroom.  This area had been our workout space, but since joining the gym, we no longer used it as that.  It became the best solution.  I needed a place where we could be organized.  I also wanted a desk that was not a 6 ft. folding table.

This summer we decided we were going to finish what we started last year.  We had been working this past year to get our home more organized, and this was the last area to conquer.  So, this past weekend it was finished (almost).  A great deal of blood, sweat, and tears have gone into this project, but we are so happy with the results. I now have an awesome set up for school, crafting, sewing, and my office. We even have been able to get my photography lighting set up in part of the playroom.

Sealing the wall to get ready to add shelving for storage

The disorganized mess!

The walls are up.  The other side will be our storage or the "tunnel" as the girls call it.

My office area which also serves as the area for crafting and sewing.

School books and one kiddo's desk. The other one is on the other side of the short bookshelf.

This is the view from my desk.  The curtain hides all the house's mechanical stuff.  The table is for group projects and fabric cutting.

I am so thankful for this all to be done.  My hubby worked hard, and I am very thankful for him and his abilityto do little projects like this. There are a few little things left to do, but it is ready to go.  We just feel sorry for the trash man who has to pick up all the things we got rid of.

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Has it been that long?

Two years ago today, the girls and I were working on cleaning out the basement storage. We were working hard, when my phone rang. It was a call from Virginia. I thought it was odd for our agency to call out of the blue. We had been waiting several months on those late night calls when referrals would come in, but our phone never rang on the those nights. So, I answered the phone, and it was Amy our coordinator. She said that they had just received a referral for a 6 year old girl whose special need was a maybe on our list.  Did we want to look at her file? Yes, we were interested in looking at her file.  After trying to get hubby on the phone, we looked at her file and happily sad yes to this little girl whose smile we fell in love with.  What a journey it has been, but one we would do over again.

Funny that today we are still working on the basement, but it is now being turned into our new schoolroom/craft room/office (will post pics later).

Here Comes Summer !

School has kinda ended for us. There are a few things left to do, but our end of year testing is over. So, I called the official end, and we promise to work hard in August. We are also still working on finishing their 4H projects. It almost doesn't feel like summer since things haven't slowed down too much. The girls are still doing tennis. Hannah and Emily got home this past weekend from their respective camps and conferences. Rae and I had a good time at home without dad and her sisters. We did have to cut a few things out of our schedule, but we still had some fun. Emily went to Pioneer Camp at Sky View Ranch. She had a great time and made new friends. She stayed the week in "Conestoga wagons", camp under the stars, ride horses, visit an Amish farm/zoo, and learn more about Jesus. This was her second year to attend this camp, and she cannot wait to go again next year. Hannah along with Noel attended Student Leadership 101 in Orlando. She was able to learn more about becoming a Christian leader and set under some great teaching of top Christian leaders. I am happy she came back with some more focus on being the best she can be. This past Saturday, I was glad to have all my family back together after being a week apart. This week has started off with a bang. Rae had an IVIG treatment to get ready for her second eye surgery next week. This week at church is also VBS. It is fun working along side my girls and seeing Rae have fun in her class. She loves having Ms. Beth. It is had to believe Hannah and Emily are old enough to work in VBS now. I still remember their first time going to VBS - Polar Expedition. My how time flies. Rae is loving the singing and crafts. It is just fun seeing all the kids at church learning about Jesus. I will try to post pics later. I am having issues with my computer.

Tuesday Flashback Fun

I was looking thru some photos from last year and found this one. It was a nice warm day and we were getting the "redneck" slip-n-slid ready for Memorial Day. She loved playing in the scooter, but no the slid too much. She has changed so much in a year.

18 Months

Has it really been 18 months since that day in Chengdu when Yang Rui became Rae Michelle Dear. A LOT has happened in the last 18 months. There have been great days and some horrible days. God has blessed us with this amazing little girl who is full of wonder and many questions. She is making great strides in her language thanks to her awesome speech therapist. We seem to have her blood disorder more manageable, and we do not have to do weekly platelet counts.  She will have have her second eye surgery (hopefully the last)this summer. She has also been seizure free which is truly a miracle.  She has defied science and baffled doctors of how well she is doing. We do still have a medical thing or two creep in occasionally (like missing a permanent tooth and no wisdom teeth), but we mostly just laugh and move on.

Yes, we found out she is missing a permanent tooth, one of the front teeth.  I just laughed when the dentist told me, what else was I to do.  Thanks to our wonderful orthodontist, we are waiting till all her permanent teeth come in before they do an implant.  Thankfully she has plenty of space in her mouth.

Rae is an amazing little girl, and it is fun to watch her get excited about things and learn new things. Our family has been so blessed by her.  I can't wait to see what God has in store for her.

Our first family photo 18 months ago

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What to say..

I know I do well writing some weeks and others not so much. I get ready to start, but then something comes up and I don't get it typed up. I often just put a quick blurb on Facebook. Many things happen in our family each week and I need to do better writing them down, not only for me but for my girls. So here goes...

A couple of weeks ago hubby and I left on a Vision Mission trip to Italy.  Our girls did not go, but they did get to stay with my in-laws for 2 weeks.  I know your first thought - Italy - why? why not? Italy is one of the least evangelize countries in modern world.  You may think they are all Catholic - less than 10% are practicing Catholics.  Here is the shocking statistic - less than 1% are evangelical Christians! This is why Italy. Out of a country of 60 million people, less than 1% have a relationship with Jesus Christ.  It is a sad fact to think of the lostness of such a beautiful country.

For eight days we visited different areas of the country to see where our church would like to partner and help the local Christians and missionaries. We were in Rome, Naples, Arezzo, Milan (Binasco), and Torrino.  We enjoyed meeting local missionaries and pastors, and also enjoyed getting to know the people we traveled with. The main missionary we worked with was Charlie Worthy.  He is basically the coordinator for all the mission work in Italy with the IMB.  It was a crazy, busy trip being in a different city every day.  We are looking forward to seeing where God has us work and sharing with the church how they can. The trip also included getting to see sites of the country and to eat local food.

I enjoyed seeing the areas of the country where Peter, Paul and the early missionaries walked. Visiting the Vatican was amazing as well as seeing the ruins of the Roman empire. We did get to visit the Colosseum where Christians were killed for their faith for sport.  It was amazing to see a country that dates back to Biblical times and to see sites older than America, and it reminded me of when we were in China.  Here in the US we just have nothing that compare to those sites. While there I was just reminded how thankful I am that I have a direct relationship with Christ.  I can go Him on my own and not thru anyone.  He is my sole source of joy and forgiveness

Hubby and I did enjoy a little time away.  We missed our girls and were worried about being away from the little one so long.  They did great, but we did have to do a little disciplining via Facetime. It was nice getting to spend time enjoying each other and to reconnect. We enjoyed holding hands and being silly walking thru the stone streets of Italy. Getting away as a couple is something we need because life gets busy, and we need time alone together away from (almost)everything.

Hubby and I at Sant'Elmo in Naples over looking the city.  That is Mt. Vesuvius on the right.

This church represents the state of the church in Italy. It like many others are no longer in use.

Our Little Reader

We are proud of all our girls. This week all of them performed in our annual homeschool recital. I had trouble figuring out what Rae could do, so I decided she could read one of her books. She has come a long was since November and is really enjoying learning new things. She is proud of herself when she learns something she thought was previously hard. Here she is reading one of her books.