Installing Recessed Lighting in a 16-18 ft. ceiling!

I'll also post some house updates with the overdue Christmas stuff. In these pictures I'm trying to give you an idea of what Andy had to do in order to install the recessed lighting in the living room. The ceiling in the living room slopes with the roof. Where the roof meets the south wall is 8 ft. The tallest part of the ceiling is 18 ft!!! Andy borrowed ladders and aluminum planks from the siding guys to install and wire the recessed lighing in the living room. Now I'm deathly afraid of heights. Andy needed me to help hand him things. I have to tell you that I was so nervous for him that I was sick to my stomach. It was all I could do to keep from passing out or throwing up while "helping" him. I was so glad when it was all over. Only now he'll need to get back up there to install styrofoam venting stuff for the roof before the insulation guys come--Ugh!

The first picture of Andy's "scaffolding." I took the picture from where the kitchen begins looking south into the living room.

The second picture is of Andy installing recessed lighting in the 18 ft. part of the ceiling. It is also the flattest part of the ceiling. I'm standing on the 1st floor living room.

The third picture is of Andy on the "scaffolding." He did admit that even he was nervous. I'm taking the picture from the loft over the kitchen.

The last picture is another attempt to show you how high off the floor he was. I'm taking the picture from the top of the stairs. You really had to be there. I'm so glad he has that done!!!! Hopefully installing the styrofoam roof venting won't be as scary of an undertaking. I don't know that I could stand it again! :)

The Day After Christmas in Wichita, KS!

The day after Christmas I took the girls and went to Wichita, KS, to see Andy's mom, Nancy. It's about a four hour trip from here. Some family members were surprised that I made the trip with the girls by myself, but I wanted to get the heck out of Dodge!!! We didn't leave till Friday afternoon, and we arrived in Wichita around dinner time.

Unfortunately, I managed to drop my keys in the van while getting Melanie, her diaper bag, and my purse out. Of course I then locked the van not realizing I no longer had the keys in my possession. I didn't realize my mistake until we had all gotten in the house, opened Christmas gifts from Nana (Nancy), and visited for a short period of time. I was finally contemplating getting the rest of our stuff out of the van when my heart sunk realizing that I probably locked the keys in the van. We searched everywhere first, but reached the sad conclusion. I called the Honda dealership, but their service dept. had already gone home. They referred me to a locksmith, but they wanted $65 at least to help me out--No Thanks!! So we made due. Thankfully the girls had received PJs from Nana so that problem was solved easily. The next morning Nancy took me to the Honda place and they made me a "dummy" key for $5. It would only unlock the doors, but it was better than spending $65 and taking the chance of the locksmith breaking my locks in the process. I was ecstatic when the key worked!! And there were my keys; on the seat next to Melanie's carseat. I felt like a dummy! :)

We ended up having a great weekend with Nancy. Andy's sister Jennifer and her family were there until late Saturday afternoon. She and her husband have 3 girls, too. Nana took the grandgirls to the aquarium in Wichita that afternoon and then to McDonalds. They had a great time. We went to church Sunday morning, and then left after eating lunch at Village Inn. I thought about staying another day or two, but decided to go home. I didn't feel like doing laundry since I didn't really have extra clothes for the extra days. :)


















This is Jimmy, Jennifer's husband. Melanie fell asleep on him Friday evening when Nancy took me to Wal-Mart to exchange a couple of things to get the right sizes. It was so cute I had to get a picture.

Christmas at Neena and Papa Ewin's!

We usually go to my mom and dad's after we open gifts, eat breakfast, get dressed, etc. Unfortunately my dad had gotten sick on Christmas Eve and still didn't feel well Christmas day. So, we waited until about 3pm to show up for Christmas at their place. Melanie enjoyed a baby doll from her cousins. Anne and Naomi received Wii Outdoor Challenge from my parents. It's a really fun game to play. I believe it has been ranked up there with the Wii Fit. It can be quite the workout. The last 2 pictures are of soon-to-be nephews of mine, Tyler and Brad. They love the Texas Longhorns for reasons my brothers and Andy can't understand. So, I made them fleece blankets for Christmas. I can't sew, but I can cut and tie knots. :)

Just a little side note. The "spot" on Melanie's nose is from her meeting a coffee table at Aunt Marnie and Uncle Coye's the night before. I was just thankful it didn't cause her eyes to blacken.

Christmas Morning!

I know these posts are way overdue, but I hope you enjoy them none the less. I have several posts with pictures almost ready to go, but I'll pace myself instead of posting them all at once. :)

To be honest I wasn't quite sure where we were going to end up spending Christmas. We were at my parents for 2 weeks prior because of hot water heater issues. Thankfully that got resolved, but we really didn't have the space in the 2 bedrooms we're living in to put up our Christmas tree. My mom had a 3.5 footer that we put up on Christmas Eve. I didn't get out any ornaments. We just put lights (also from my mom) and our star on top. I've threatened to decorate for Christmas when the house is done because I didn't get to during the Christmas season. :) Anne was the one worried about whether or not Santa would know where we were for sure. :) Who could blame her? :)

Anne with MP3 player.














Naomi opening up gift from Santa.

Even Melanie got into tearing open presents!

Overdue Christmas Pageant Pictures!

Dec. 14th was the girls' Christmas pageant at church. It was a really good production. Both Naomi and Anne were angels. Anne is on the far right of the bottom row. Naomi is the last angel on the left on the bottom row.

I got to play offeratory at the end of the service. I played "Silent Night", and Anne sang with me the last time I played it through. It was precious. I wanted to start crying when she started singing. Such a good mother/daughter moment! It's a memory I'll never forget!

A Little Randomness!

I guess it took me long enough to get back to posting. When I'm on my computer so much as school it's the last thing I want to do at home--even on break! Anyway...

I was blown away by the generosity of my students in their gift giving. I was blessed with very thoughtful things. Sometimes I think I'm crazy for going back to teaching when so much is going on with the house, let alone trying to raise 3 girls, and then of course there's #4 on the way. The official due date is July 3, 2009. I find this ironic since I'm teaching American History this year! :)

On to more randomness...
This first picture is of Naomi and Melanie. I heard them laughing and carrying on in the bathroom, and that's what I found when I walked in. Because we are living in just two bedrooms right now we have the cat's food and water in our bathroom, but the litter box is in the girls' bathroom. Thus the reason for all the Wal-Mart sacks. Naomi and Melanie had a blast playing in the tub with Wal-Mart sacks instead of water!!

The second picture is of the girls sitting on a trailer waiting for the Christmas parade in Siloam Springs to start. Upward Bound Gymnastics always has a couple of trailers for the younger gymnasts to sit on while the older ones tumble during the parade. This year I was a parent volunteer, but I got to sit on the trailer with the girls instead of walk with the tumblers.

The last picture is of another teacher who is 9 weeks ahead of me in her pregnancy. One day we wore the exact same Old Navy maternity sweater and brown slacks. It was so corny we had to take a picture. Thankfully she teaches downstairs, and I teach upstairs. I'm not showing yet, but I didn't want to spend money on regular dress code approved apparel and then have to turn around when I do start showing and spend money on dress code approved maternity clothes--Ugh!! So I'm wearing maternity clothes already, but they are much more comfortable. :)

One Semester Down!

I know that I haven't blogged since Thanksgiving Break. Now it's almost Christmas!! I'm typing this entry while waiting for the Headmaster of our school to let the teacher's know that we can finally leave...We just go the okay to leave!!! I'll finish my thoughts later! We're blowing this popcicle stand!!!