A New (to us) Bed!

I was so excited one day when my mom called and said that my grammie was selling the bed that she and my grandpop owned since I was 2! It is a beautiful queen sized 4 poster/canopy bed...solid wood and just gorgeous! She sold it to us for a great price (such a blessing!) as she just really wanted to have the money to purchase a full sized bed for herself (as my grandpop passed away almost 14 years ago). Grammie was so glad to know it would still be in the family. :) Mom called to tell me about it the very evening I had to put Ruthie down. I was having a horrible, tear-filled day and that little excitement actually brought a smile to my face that evening! :) 

My grammie lives on the other side of Pennsylvania. My mom was going to visit her for a few days (she took Jaxson along for the trip) and took her truck so she could bring the bed home with her! :) 

Despite all of us being less-than-great in how we all feel (more about that below), we put the bed together last evening. It was sad seeing our old bed go (which is still in perfect condition). We bought it probably a year or two into our marriage. It is a queen-sized iron sleigh bed that looks like it has vines along it. It's really pretty and truly, no reason not to keep it....except this offer for this gorgeous bed was too wonderful! 

It is going to take a little bit to get used to the height though. It sits up *super* high. I love it! :)

As shown in the photos, I have a store bought quilt on the top. It lays over the beautiful quilt Chris's mama made us. I hate to cover it with the store bought quilt but the cats' claws will sometimes catch in it and we don't want the *good* quilt to be ruined. I suppose I could have taken the top quilt off for pictures....but I was just snapping a few quickly before getting ready for bed...

Thankfully, there is just enough room between two of the posts for the ceiling fan to work. :)

We've all been down and out lately with a bit of a bug. Body aches, fever, coughs, exhaustion...

I've had it since Thursday (and am still not 100% yet). Chris started feeling it Saturday night/Sunday morning...the children have been coughing too but not feeling quite as awful as Chris and I have.

I haven't left the house since Friday (and that day only because I had to). We are quite in need of groceries though and I am going to *have* to go sometime soon. I haven't taught spin or exercised since last Wednesday night! I found a sub for my class yesterday morning and I teach twice tomorrow....so I am hoping I can feel back to 100% today.

We stayed home from church on Sunday (because of feeling horrible as well as not wanting to spread our sickness) and listened to sermons by Alistair Begg and Voddie Baucham on Sermon Audio.

I've gotta run....going to make scrambled eggs for everyone for breakfast (thankfully, we always have an abundance of eggs). Then we need to get some schooling done and I suppose, venture out to get groceries...eek! Thanks for visiting!

Warmly,
Katy

From the Old to the New

Since we moved our furniture from the old living room into the new living room, it was time to transform the old living room into a library/school room. We'll still do most of our schoolwork at the table in the dining room but this will be a place to keep a lot of our books etc. 

The walls still have yet to be refinished in this room...but that will have to happen at a future date...right now, the focus is on finishing the entry way and laundry room areas in the addition. :)

Here is where my laptop is set up as well as my sticker-making things. :) We have the boys' school boxes under the table (that contain their workbooks etc.). Madelyn does most of her work up in her room.

Between moving stuff, dust and such ~ I am now congested and coughing a lot. I hope it passes quickly as it is annoying! Ha! Xavier is feeling so much better today...having that antibiotic in him, as well as some ibuprofen, has made him seem back to 100%. He's done his schoolwork and chores and has tried talking me into going for a walk or shooting hoops with him. I told him he still needs to relax a bit (plus, I have been super busy today....washing/hanging out loads of laundry, moving books, bookshelves and other furniture, dusting, dishes...and the list goes on...).

Thank you for all the sweet comments about the loss of my Ruthie-girl....as well as on our new living room. I always appreciate them so much! :)

Thanks for visiting! Have a great evening ahead!
Kindly,
Katy

And...We're In!

 So...after 12.5 years ~ I am so excited to report that we are now IN the new living room! Yay! I have not hung anything up yet nor is everything where it is totally suppose to be necessarily...as we just officially moved in this evening (Chris's brother happened to stop by at *just* the right time....he helped Chris carry in the heavy stuff! Yahoo!)...

We need a rug, ceiling fan and curtains...but that will come...

Still more to do....but for now...I am just *thrilled we are moved IN*! :) The old living room which will be a library/schoolroom for our books is a bit chaotic...I am hoping to work on it tomorrow and get it situated (hopefully)...

We found out today that this guy has strep throat...

He's on an antibiotic and ibuprofen for the pain. He's already starting to feel a bit better! We're praying the rest of us don't get it now!

I will be sure to share more as things go on. :) Thanks so much for sharing in my excitement with me!

Warmly,
Katy

April Joys & Tears...

 The past week has been busy...full of ups and downs. As the sun shines gloriously through the windows right now, I am sitting with a grateful heart to my Lord, Who is with me through it all.

I have laundry to hang out on the lines and other things I must get busy with...but quickly, here is a peek at what's been going on around here lately...

Homemade rolls for supper...

Jaxson is a munchkin in our homeschool co-op's drama performance of The Wizard of Oz. They will be performing this upcoming Friday night and Saturday afternoon. :) Another mama and I worked on these wings and shoulder pads for the flying monkeys...

This was what outside looked like a week ago....inches and inches of snow ~ in April!? Crazy spring weather here in Western PA. I am *very* happy to report it is now melted and we are *finally* expecting some warmer temperatures!

Fresh cut flowers (purchased inexpensively from Aldi) make me *happy*! They look and smell wonderful and are the perfect thing for keeping spirits up as the snow was falling outside! :)

We've been priming and painting the trim for in the new living room, entryway and laundry room (we're *almost* there!)...

Our church went rollerskating this past Saturday (it's an annual thing we all look forward to!). The pictures I have of Madelyn aren't posted because she didn't approve of them! Silly girl!

Chris skates very well...

I skate decently...I don't fall and can go a decent speed....my children, however, were on the floor...a lot. Poor dears! Every time they fell I cringed (ok...truth be told, sometimes I laughed ~ it was *funny*!....but I always made sure they were okay!). Madelyn ended up with a horrible, large bruise on her knee! Despite their lack of ability, my children *love* to skate and already want to go again!

Jaxson...taking a tumble (getting decent pictures of people skating is difficult! They were either blurry or by the time my flash went off, they had whizzed by!)...

Xavier was thrilled that, although he fell, he has improved *greatly* since skating last year!

On a sad note, I had to put my beloved Ruthie down yesterday at the vet. My constant companion for the past 11 years had developed pyometra. The surgery was really expensive and didn't have a guarantee she would even survive it. She was a sick girl...not eating, vomiting some, limping (if she would even get up). It was terrible. I just loved and loved on her! It was absolutely awful to have to have her put down but it was in her best interest as she would just get worse and worse. I cried so much yesterday that I think I cried out all my tears that I had. I miss her and keep expecting to hear her and see her. I love the photo below...she always looked at me like I was the best thing in the world (and honestly, I think I was in her eyes). She will be *greatly* missed...

Sorry to leave on such a sad note....but I must admit, the Lord has been comforting my heart through the love of my family (who is hurting over it too...but knows how close I was with my Ruthers) and friends who have had such thoughtful words of love and understanding. It's crazy how attached we can get to our pets! I just may need to get the picture above printed and framed...it makes my heart glad to look at her.

Before I start crying again...I better run. The laundry won't hang itself nor will the dishes was themselves. Thank you for visiting today.

Kindly,
Katy

"April is a promise...

 ...that May is bound to keep."

~ Hal Borland

April, April....how can it be? These months are flying furiously by me! Spring is definitely here with it's crazy temperatures (warm one week, chilly the next ~ we even had a little snow!). Although quite chilly outside today, the sun is shining and it is a welcome sight!

We have been *keepin' on* each day with life. We are so busy...and yet, not. Isn't that strange? Much of what keeps us "busy" is the normal necessities of life....school work, housework, errands and the like. Add to that our homeschool co-op days (which are only twice a month), the occasional field trip, drama practice (Jaxson is a munchkin in our co-op's production of The Wizard of Oz that will be performed later this month), church, exercise (I teach spin or workout on the ellipticals, Chris lifts in the weight room and runs and the children enjoy shooting hoops and playing a little basketball with their daddy *and sometimes mama*). And of course, there are always groceries to buy, checkbooks to balance, meals to plan/make etc. So much of our busyness is quite the normal stuff of life. We do get downtime though and it's lovely. :) I still strive to take a nap whenever I can. The afternoon hits and I am just beat!

Chris has finished the flooring in our addition...even in the laundry room (which I've shown a couple photos down). Last night, he and our brother in law put the doors in!

In the living room...

In the mudroom/entryway...this shows the door going into the laundry room...

The laundry room with finished flooring and my cleaning closet door in (we just need to put on the coat closet doors and trim...

This is in the mudroom/entryway (below). If you walk in the back door, the laundry room door is to the left and ahead is the door into the living room. We need to get knobs for the doors, paint the doors and trim and then put the trim up (along the floor, windows and doors) and then we are ready to MOVE IN! I am trying ever-so-hard to be patient but oh, I am so ready to just get everything in its place! Yay! **Please note, the floors are filthy but with the construction still going on in there, I haven't been sweeping/cleaning them diligently yet. I look forward to giving them a good cleaning and then getting all our furniture set in place! :)

I have also been making stickers and packaging up orders and sending them out. :) I have better quality sticker paper now and a great printer so I am happy with how they are turning out. I'm not getting a ton of orders, but they come in slowly but surely and I am super grateful for each one. :)

At the moment the children are doing their independent homeschool work. I had to order Chris's contacts and now I need to switch the laundry and wash up some dishes! :)

Have a great week and thanks so much for catching up with me here! :)
Warmly,
Katy