Wordless Wednesday

The Playroom...and soon-to-be School Room

We finally have a playroom...a place to put the abundance of toys we have accumulated and a place that the kids can play as loud as they want and we can shut the doors! Although it was a lot of work, in my opinion, it's the best thing we've done to the house so far. We took out the humongous sliding glass doors leading from our living room to the back porch and replaced them with small french doors and sheet rock walls. That gave us more wall space, which needed to be painted, in the living area. (I now daydream about new furniture to arrange on the new wall space!). We completely re-did the walls and ceiling on the back porch; new studs, framed the new windows, then sheet rock. We painted one wall a deep red wine color and the other 3 a beige color. The decking was covered with subflooring and then frise' carpet and trimmed out with new base molding. Here's some pictures of the transformation of our screened porch to our playroom :
This is the entertainment center I found on craigslist for $45!This is an old cabinet I painted and found storage baskets to fit in it to store toys.And on this wall, I am planning to put a large desk and chair, a small desk and chair, and shelving/storage to be our "homeschool area". (Right now we are using the dining room table)I'll post photos of the "school room"...hopefully soon!

Change of Heart

I have been filled with joy and excitement lately. Mainly because of 2 pretty drastic incidences of a change of heart in our house.

The first instance occured several weeks back, more than a month ago. Justin said out of the blue one night that he "may be okay with the thought of a 4th child....down the road". I've shared here on my blog, maybe too much information, about Justin's thoughts on more children. We were at an impasse. I decided to let it go for now. After all, I am not in any hurry for another child! It is definately a ways down the road, but I have just felt in my heart that we will have another baby someday. Although I made a decision to never voice this to Justin again, as it came to my mind I would pray about it; that God would change my heart or his so that we would have peace about it. I was absolutely shocked when Justin told me about his change of heart! That was the first indication that God has some amazing things in store for us.

The second change of heart was two-fold. Last year, when pregnant with Ashton I was so nervous about life with 3 little ones. I wished that Anagrace was able attend kindergarten that year. thought it would have been the best thing for us, but it just was not to be. She missed the birthday cut-off by 15 days. But, boy did I wish...no hesitation in my heart. But as the date approached for Anagrace's kindergarten registration, I felt hesitation creeping in. At first I thought it was the typical "Mama's first baby leaving the nest into the big world syndrome". The thought of homeschooling came to my mind. Craziness. Absolute craziness. My best friend from high school homeschools. I remember when she made that decision several years ago thinking that it was absurd. I would never in a million years have thought that I'd consider homeschooling. Then as the thoughts of homeschooling were on my mind , I came in contact with more and more people who had made the decision themselves. Dear friends, people at the gym, my community group leader. And after voicing the thought to Justin, he met a customer whose family homeschools. I didn't consider any of this as a coincidence. After much prayer and consideration, I really felt like homeschooling was the best choice for Anagrace...for various reasons. However, Justin did not feel the same. He was against the idea from the start. We had multiple conversations, almost debates, but they were never arguements. I finally told him one night that I considered the decision to be his. We both obviously want what is best for Anagrace, but disagree on what that it. I think that allowed him to consider it a little more. That as his decision, he should look at both angles a little more in depth. To my surprise, he began researching homeschooling on his own. Long story short, we have decided to homeschool. And I am so happy about it! I don't know for how long. I'm not determined to have her home until graduation or anything like that. But, I feel like this is what we are supposed to be doing now. And I am at peace.

Change of Heart, Answered Prayer. Anticipation of what is around the corner, I have a feeling there are more surprises in store!

**An added note:

Anagrace is very excited about her "new teacher" and getting started homeschooling.

Wordless Wednesday

What I did over summer vacation....

I can't believe that summer is almost over! School starts here on August 19th. (I've got some exciting news about that, but I'll save it for another post.) I'm sure lots of students will be chatting and or writing about their summer vacation.

Anyway, here are some pictures of the highlight of our summer.....Disney World!

Everyone could see us coming...one double stroller for the boys and a single for Anagrace. Here they are lined up in front of the "Epcot Ball"

Ashton enjoyed getting out of the stroller and crawling around on the play areas. He would sit on our laps on the rides.

Everyone loved the aquarium at Epcot.I love this picture with the three of them in a row, hands on the glass, watching the dolphin swim by. Here they are in the shark's mouth from Finding Nemo (Anderson's favorite movie. He calls him "Meeno").


Here is Anagrace with one of here favorite movie characters, Ariel. We waited an hour to see her!

Anagrace was borderline obsessed with getting character's signitures in her autograph book. Anderson was somewhat apprehensive about posing with or hugging them. Check out his expression beside Minnie! Anagrace and I really loved the shows...
and the parades!

We will go back oneday! Perhaps, not in the during the summer! Despite the heat, we had a wonderful time and will definately make a trip to see the castle and all the magic that comes along with it!