transformations: upstairs (part 5)

Random hour by random hour... late night by late night... our upstairs is coming along! Although we wanted to be able to hire out all of the renovations, the estimates we got for the trimwork were far above what we had budgeted. So, Curtis is doing all of the trimwork himself! This is fine and actually fun for him for the most part, but our life hasn't allowed for tons of time to work on it lately. Would it ever have?? What he has been able to do (with the help of several great friends), though, looks incredible!

Lots of baseboard action.

 Cooper especially loves the baseboards in his nook... and looking out his own mini-window.

 Because it is really important to us that our upstairs feel like a continuation of the house as a whole, we have done our best to mimic the style of trim that is downstairs. 

To make this happen, Curtis was forced to buy a new power tool... a router. He was devastated.

 I guess it was worth it. :)
Doesn't the window look great? It has a really deep sill, which I love. 

 Another big step forward (pun intended)... Curtis and a few friends put in the stairs! If you recall, our builders created the frame but only installed temporary stair treads.

 These are now the permanent pine stair treads, which will be stained to match the downstairs hardwood floors, and the risers, which will be painted white.

Two big things left: the banister/railing and the all of the doors. 

It won't be too long now!

happy halloween!

We rushed home from a fun weekend at Windy Gap to scarf down an early dinner and throw on our costumes. We were so excited for Cooper to have his first real experience with trick-or-treating...

Don't my little flower and Curious George look adorable?

We decided to make dressing up a family affair. Why not?!

I guess one reason might be that someone would see me looking like this. Scary.

We all had so much fun together. It's good to get out of your comfort zone every once in awhile. The Scottish mullet wig did that for me.

Cooper loved trick-or-treating. Or maybe he just loved the chocolate. I'm not sure.

This girl matched her costume perfectly... happy girl!

As we put the kids to bed that night I realized that, in the midst of all the rushing around, we didn't really get any good pictures of the kids in their costumes. So, a week later, I dressed the kids in their costumes once more and decided that no one would ever know that it wasn't October 31st. Except that I just told you.

It was worth it, though.

 Beautiful day and beautiful little ones.

Until the fearsome neighborhood cat came to play. 

Cooper's face is pure terror! Ha!

(Note: the cat has scratched him on several occasions, so it is a somewhat realistic fear)

Thankfully, though Cooper does feel every emotion strongly, he also feels them quickly. Back to smiles!

They are so precious together.

Cute Curious George.

I'm going to call this one, "drunky monkey".  :)

That smile... oh, it melts me.

They didn't really love to pose, but I was determined. I had to document "Halloween", right?!

Hope you had as much fun as we did (a month ago)!

windy gap weekend

Curtis and I love Windy Gap, Young Life's camp in the mountains of NC. It is beautiful, cozy, super-fun, and full of memories for both of us. For that reason, we were so honored and excited when Curtis' cousin and her husband asked if we would come help out with their city's weekend. So, after a quick and just-because trip to Knoxville (just the kids and me), we met up with Curtis in Weaverville for a non-stop and exhaustingly wonderful weekend.

 The great thing about our job/role for the weekend was that Curtis and I were able to not only serve together but also to enjoy time with our little family. 

 And how can you not enjoy that smile?

 

We enjoyed the gorgeous, chilly October weather with a few walks around camp (with our very authoritative walkie-talkies clipped on behind us). 

 Cooper pushed...

 ...while Annabelle chilled. 

 These boys felt right at home. 

 Cooper loved the adventure of the camp/giant playground. We even took a trip down to the horse corral!

 Cooper was about the same size as their heads. Surprisingly, he wasn't too intimidated!

Wild at Heart, right?

Scott and Susan (our cousins) provided an incredible babysitter, Jess, for the kids. While Curtis and I were heading up a leader meeting or "sweeping" through cabins looking for campers, she was entertaining and taking great care of Cooper and Annabelle. This is sadly the only picture that we have of her (she's the girl on the left)!

 Cooper especially loved getting to hang out in back of the club room (where the big group meetings happened). He was enthralled with the "silly mans" (guys who put on funny skits).

Side note: the "silly mans" often wore costumes featuring bleach blond mullet wigs. Several weeks later, while at Chick-fil-a, Cooper suddenly points his whole arm and yells out, "LOOK MOM! The silly man!!" I turned to see to whom he was pointing and then wheeled around as quickly as I could to shut him up. It was a woman. (In Cooper's defense, she was sporting a pretty intense bleach blond mullet hairstyle!) :)

I often joke that the main thing I miss about being on YL staff is having summer assignments (a month each year spent working at a YL camp). I really do wish that somehow our kids could grow up running around camp each summer as Curtis did.... exploring the outdoors, interacting with crazy teenagers, being loved on by staff-people from around the country, and experiencing Jesus. What a gift! Having the privilege of seeing our kids in that environment for even a few days truly blessed me. As did seeing Cooper's plumber crack. Ha!

sam

The kids and I took a quick trip to Knoxville to visit dear ones. It was fast and furious, but we had a few sweet visits with people that we love: definite good time with Marmee and Papa, a quick and crazy lunch with old friends at Chick-fil-a, a few other quick friend-sightings.  The most significant and meaningful visit, however, was one of the main reasons for the trip to TN in the first place... to meet Sam.

A little over a year ago, our dear friends Matthew and Emily began a glorious and relatively quick journey down the road of adoption. In October, they were able to travel to Taiwan and bring home their new baby boy, Sam.

 I was delighted that they allowed us to sneak in and spend a few minutes with precious Sam, just days after they brought him home. 

 Wouldn't you be delighted to see that face, too??

 I just kept staring at him, feeling so thankful that God gave this little one to my friends.

 Maybe even more so, I am thankful that God gave my friends to Sam. I have no doubt that he will be cherished, protected, and enjoyed.

 I know this because I know this little girl... Sam's big sister, Abby.

She is an adorable spitfire of a girl who has provided ample amounts of laughter, anxiety, love, sleeplessness, and joy for Emily and Matthew in her short two years of life.

The new siblings are cuter than cute together and I know that Abby will love this little boy fiercely.

 Cooper loved jumping into the mix and meeting this new baby friend.

 But Miss Abby is still his go-to buddy. We are hoping that is the case for a long time!

This newly expanded family is so dear to us, and they remind me of God's redemptive love... how He chose me and calls me His daughter.

My hope for Sam is that he would grow to understand the deep love that compelled his parents to pursue him and bring him home... and that, through that love, he would glimpse the Father. 

I know I have.

pumpkin farm

We had the best time last night. After wavering for a few hours, we decided to take the kids 25 minutes away to Razz & Tazz Farm for some pumpkin-hunting and fall fun. We had no idea what to expect, having never gone anywhere like this, but it was awesome! These folks really knew what they were doing. There was a huge corn maze and long hayrides that we didn't even attempt, but there was a gracious plenty for us to enjoy!

Cooper ran right to a cute little cow train pulled by a tractor.

(and we are apparently doing some marketing for Kimbers Restaurant!)

There was a big hay-bale "mountain" to climb.
The sun was setting over the cornfield and it was gorgeous.

 

A cool picture in silhouette.

I am going to try to take all of my pictures with backlight from now on... I think it takes off about 20 pounds!

Off to the next adventure!

Cooper was thrilled with basically every single part of this farm.

Even Annabelle was enjoying herself!

This, however, took the cake. It was literally a huge bin of corn to play in (think ball pit with corn kernels).

Cooper was beside himself....

the whole time. 

You could almost swim in this stuff!

Partly because it looked fun and partly because I wanted a good pic, I got in too.

I'm not sure we got the pic, but it actually was really fun.

Annabelle sat outside the Corn Bin and just squealed. I think she inherently knew it was awesome.

We tried for a family shot. True to form, it wasn't the best.

But it was something, which is more than we usually get!

 

From the moment we arrived, Cooper had begged to go on the "Thomas train", which was actually a tractor & trailers decorated to look like a train. When he finally got the okay, he sprinted all the way there, yelling the whole time!

It was about as exciting as a 5 minute tractor ride through a corn field can be.

To Cooper, it was a huge adventure. He looked like he might jump out of his seat a few times. Literally.

I told Curtis on the way home that I just enjoy our children more when we are out & about and having fun. I need to be proactive more often and take my kids on these kind of outings...
I think it brings out the best in all of us.

If only this place was open all year round!

Note: if you have small children and are in Greensboro next weekend, GO! You won't regret it.