Massive Cleaning Day!

Today we decided it was time to reclaim the basement:). Removing the old freezer was quite the task. Scott had to remove doors, move furniture, take off the hand rail coming up the stairs, etc... It was a total disaster. After he hacked the freezer in order to get it out of the house, there was tar, etc... to clean off the carpet and stairs. The weekend of jackhammering left dust on everything. The good news is that you'll see in the following pictures how we've gotten it cleaned up and the blessing of extra space! I was in my favorite happy place organizing and cleaning things today. Thankfully the kids stayed out of trouble for the most part and were very excited about the end result. Here are the pics:

Kids new LEGO area downstairs.

Area they jackhammered out.

Extra storage space (labeling kids clothes:)

The other side, with space left for a chest freezer!

Elyssia's restaurant has moved to a new location:)

#1 Guest room cleaned and ready for company again.

I moved my desk for the summer.

The kids too(more open space).

The other room has been decluttered, which makes me super happy:).


Not included are pics of the clean laundry room and the window air conditioner that my wonderful husband installed for us tonight. It's been very hot the last week or so. Looking forward to a better night's sleep tonight. I also took pics of devotions tonight, but when I uploaded it they weren't on there. I checked the camera and realized that the memory card was missing. I asked Elyssia since she had a couple pics on there, but she said she never touched it. I usually just leave the camera on the desk, so praying that we find it really soon! The kids were the disciples in the boat tonight. I provided storm conditions while Jesus slept, but ceased when He said, "Peace Be Still". It was quite a fun one and Scott's set up for the boat was really good. Quite sad that there aren't any pics...
Tomorrow is Scott's 34th Birthday and it's our turn to spoil him. He's taken the past couple days off, to catch up around here and do more prep for the tent meetings. He put up posters around town, invited the people from Caleb Village and asked the Radio Station to run an ad for us. They offered to do for Free! That was an unexpected blessing.
Well, I'd better get to bed. The day's go by quickly, even though it stays light out longer now. It's close to 10 and tomorrow promises to be another busy day. Maybe we can slow it down with a picnic or something:). We shall see. I wouldn't want to spoil the surprises if Scott ends up reading this. Til next time...

a NiCe ViSit

Just thought I'd do the title a bit different:). Tonight we had a visitor. Caleb calls him Mr. Ben. Elyssia calls him Uncle Ben. He's Scott's cousin, but they all chose to call him something different. He's in the area working and had about an hour in between work, so we told him to come by. He drove his big work truck and the boys thought it was awesome! They got a bit of grease on their clothes, but thoroughly enjoyed themselves, so I don't mind. I didn't take pics, since he was just here for a short visit, but will be sure to do so if he comes back sometime soon. It sounds like he will be in the area a bit more in the days to come, so we'll see what happens. I've only seen him at family Christmas gatherings and most recently at the wedding. It was nice to get to know him better and hear about his family too. Kiersten warmed up to him pretty fast and was playing ball. She also engaged him in one of her "no" battles, which he found very funny. Thanks Grandad! It was okay that he couldn't stay too late, because the kids didn't want to go to bed while he was here. They took full advantage of the opportunity to eat more chocolate chip cookies than normal too. Parents are talking, they won't notice that I'm on my 3rd, er 4th cookie. Thankfully they were tired after a long day of helping Scott haul concrete from the basement and fell asleep rather quickly. Kiersten rolled out of bed a bit ago,but I kissed her, laid her in between Elyssia and the wall and she went right back to sleep.
When Scott was showing me all the extra space after knocking through the cistern wall I noticed a dead mouse near the entry. Not sure what killed it. I was hoping it was the dumb one that comes out in the daytime, but I just saw another one peeping out of the closet. Have I mentioned how much I despise mice. I know that God created them, but I wish that He'd keep them out of our house. Guess it's time to start looking around the outside of the house to see where they're coming in. I've put out a trap, so hopefully we'll wake up to find this one caught.
The to do list was quite long today. The house is now clean. 4 loads of dishes complete. Our room rearranged and cleaned. The floor mopped, thanks to my wonderful husband. The bathroom cleaned, thanks to some messy bathers. 4 kids bathed and wearing "mostly" clean clothes:). The adventure outside to Ben's truck came after the bath. Oh well:). A snail mail letter written to my Grandpa and just about ready to mail. He's not into e-mail, so it's about time I sent more than a card. Now I can check off the part about updating the blog:). Contacts made inviting more people to the tent meeting. We could really use extra prayer for that week. We're trying to invite as many people as possible, but so many of them don't like to commit. Prayers that souls would be saved and lives would be changed would be greatly appreciated!
Well, it's much later than usual and I really should be heading to bed. I had a good nap this afternoon, but it only helps the energy to last a little bit longer and definitely won't help if morning comes early. Will have to take pictures of the downstairs once things are cleaned up and reorganized. It's amazing how much extra space there was once the cistern wall was opened up. The freezers can go in there, freeing up the old space for the suitcases and rubbermaid totes. Elyssia said that she wants her bedroom down there. She must be crazy:) Til next time...

Weekend Whirlwind

Friday was laid back and relaxed, compared to Saturday. Scott and his dad spent the morning and a bit of the afternoon jackhammering out the old cistern downstairs. It will add a bit more storage space, but was quite a lot of work to get a small area cleared. They found all kinds of interesting things while busting out the concrete. In the old days they threw in things they had laying around to strengthen the concrete. That's what Scott tells me anyway, I don't have any personal experience with it;). There was lots of weeding done in Elyssia's garden and I helped out with the strawberry and raspberry patch. The strawberries were planted last year and they're doing REALLY well! They taste SO much better than the ones we've bought in the store too.
The kids kept asking Nana to go with them to the camper. They wanted to sleep in there too, but thankfully Nana said no, so I didn't have to be the mean one this time:). She had school papers for them to do and that kept them busy for quite a while. Thankfully Nana was also able to identify some of Elyssia's flowers, amidst the hundreds of weeds. I recognize normal weeds, but probably would have pulled up the flowers because it all looked the same to me.
After the in-laws headed home I took Kiersten for a quick trip into town. She cried when I'd get out of the car, just like she did for Scott a couple weeks ago. I think it must be that she's not used to being the only one of the kids in the car. She didn't do it today, but we had all 4. We dropped off the boxes at the Thrift shop, picked up our free carton of ice cream(coupon on back of a cereal box) and made a quick stop at the library. I haven't been there for a couple months and it was Kiersten's first time that she can remember. She was super good and it was cute the way she just sat in the little playhouse they have smiling. I picked a couple books, then we headed home. Oh, before I left I did all the prep for chicken enchiladas and Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp. We thought that Scott was going in to meet the missionaries and feed them supper, but they got a late start, so we got to eat together, which was nice since Chicken Enchiladas is Scott's favorite meal that I make:). We had maple ice cream with the crisp and it was delicious! Usually we stay with the traditional vanilla, but this was a good mix.
Today was busy as usual, but it was nice to visit with the Crossmans. They've been working in the prisons in the States and Ontario for many many years. Recently the Lord called them to move to Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. They'll be starting a Reformers Unanimous program there to help people overcome addictions. It's a program that Scott would really like to see us do here in Kindersley, but we don't have the people needed to run it. The kids were up early as usual, but Kiersten was the only one that took a short nap at church. That meant that Scott and I got nice long naps today. It was a blessing, especially since the temp was up to 34 today. I think that's close to 100 F, but I didn't take the time to figure it out. There was a bit of rain tonight, but thankfully not the thunder and hail that they were thinking might come and damage the crops. Things are looking good for the things planted, so it would be nice to see them bring in a good harvest this year.
I was blessed with 4 dozen eggs for free this weekend, so that should help with all the baking I'm doing for the tent meeting. There were two more ladies that volunteered to bring some baking, which is a blessing.
Something that was a bit of a discouragement this week was hearing that the man Scott baptized last summer is moving quite soon. He allowed work to keep him away, but Scott was still trying to disciple him each week that they could talk on the phone. There's so much potential there, but he needs to get in church on a regular basis to see the spiritual growth. Please pray that he will join a good church in Edmonton and that the pastor there will have the time to invest in helping him grow.
Tomorrow is a big day in the country of my birth. The 4th of July! I have to admit that I do miss celebrating it with friends and family. Perhaps we can take the kids back to the island someday to see the parade, BBQ, fireworks, etc... I'll be thinking of my family tomorrow and praying that they have an awesome day off. Also praying for my brother in law Kirk. He traveled to Germany for work. Sounds like he's having a nice time so far, even if the travel to get there was very exhausting. I hope he has an overall awesome experience with his time there:). Interesting how one of my brothers is stationed there and now one of Scott's brothers has gone there. Looks like a nice place to visit, not so sure I'd ever want to live there though.
That about wraps things up. Tomorrow is the family savings day, so I'll be heading out on my usual large grocery run. It'll be longer this time though because I've a long list for the church, which means I pick that up first, take it to the church, unload it, then head back for ours. Thankfully I have several good helpers to help me when I get back home. They're usually very excited to see what kinds of food I've bought for them. Oh, to be a child and get excited about opening grocery bags:))). We're very thankful that the Lord provides so well for us though and will try to be wise stewards of what He's given us.
Til next time... Wait a minute! I forgot to mention that this little baby has become a real mover over the past week. Nightime seems to be a favorite time to kick. I've also found many a kick brought on by yawns, which are a little funny and a little painful. Anyway, thought I'd write about it before it slipped my mind again. This way I can look back and remember which week the kicking started for the baby book. I'm really going now:)...