A City Life For Me

On Monday we checked the first item off our bucket list...Orchard Beach!  We hit 91 degrees that day, and we were tired after having a mission team here for a week.  The kids were thrilled to go to the beach.  The water was pretty chilly, but we arrived at low tide so the tide pools were full of "treasures" to explore.  The tide was coming in as we left, and that's when the trash washes in! Nolan found a shell while we were wading.  He stepped on it under the water, then dove to retrieve it.  It was a small shell with a hermit crab inside!  We added another shell to his bucket that I found, and by the end of our visit we had seen the crab attempt to change shells.  In the end he chose neither shell, and our prodding and watching may have been his demise.  :-( We also rememebered our sunscreen this time (how did I forget last time?!?!) and managed to return home unburned. I'm not a beach person at all - I much prefer mountains!  Re...

We're not really traveling this summer...there are a lot of ministry things going on, and we don't really have the funds for it since we're still finishing the house projects.  And we're visiting a supporting church in OH in October, and we're saving to stop at the Ark on the way home. But I have five energetic kids who no longer have school to occupy their mornings, so I knew we needed a summer plan.  I scoured some websites like Mommy Poppins and other urban bloggers for the best things to do with kids, and I limited it to the free stuff.  Mondays are Ben's "day off", so we alternated those days with outings that require Daddy's help, and with house work projects.  This coming week we are finally getting to replae our garage door!!! Tuesdays are library and reading days.  Maybe I will even get to sneak in a book or two this summer!  The kids were thrilled for summer reading program to start, and we have a great "small town feel" ...

We got just enough snow this week for a sledding day.  We have been eyeing a big hill by the reservoir but never had enough snow (or not-too-frigid temps) to give it a try.  The kids did double school lessons on Tuesday in hopes of a snow day on Wednesday.  When we woke up on Wednesday they were dreadfully disappointed that there wasn't a single snowflake on the ground!  However, the snow came that afternoon and we hurried to the sledding hill Thursday morning before it all melted. Elaine Nehemiah Henry did better with Daddy than Mommy The kids spent a lot of time belly sliding down the hill!  This is Nolan... Twins race down the hill.  Liberty won because she chose the sledding path! View of our hill from the bottom Libs

If you missed the other posts, you can find them here: UPSTAIRS (part 1) MAIN FLOOR (part 2) BASEMENT (part 3) This project was definitely a family affair, but we also had a lot of helpers.  Ben’s parents came to Bronx four weekends in a row.  My parents came from Colorado for a week.  The Jackey boys helped knock out the basement.  Alex spent 4 or 5 days assisting Ben with anything.  Freddy came to paint, and Pastor Dan helped with painting and flooring.  After we moved in, Diane helped us paint the main floor, and the Bickels helped us paint trim.  Here are some misc pictures of the process…    Ben and Nolan working on the basement bathroom sink // Kids pulling staples to prep for the new flooring.  They got a penny for every staple they cleaned up!    Elaine prepping the floor // Twins scrubbing paint off the steps   Elaine was Pastor Dan’s runner for doing the new floor // The kids also pulled a lot of nails out of the...

If you missed the other posts, you can find them here: UPSTAIRS (part 1) MAIN FLOOR (part 2) Basement – Before The basement is long and skinny, and from the front of the house to the back there is an alcove, main room with old kitchen, bedroom and bathroom, and then the furnace/laundry room.  The previous owner’s dog lived in the basement, so we had to rip everything out.  Now there are no walls, and we have poured new concrete.  The bathroom is functional but needs some tile repair.  Ben uses the alcove as his workshop. We haven’t done much changing, except for the demolition process.  The refinishing will have to be completed a little at a time, as the budget and time allows.  Ben will do most of the work himself, even the drywall mudding.  There was a drop ceiling and we’d like to put in a regular ceiling, so there is a good amount of work to be done.    Furnace room/laundry room.  We knocked out walls and doorways to make this more o...