Egg Money

The Girls have been saving their egg money all winter long, and decided that they wanted to make another big purchase.  Last fall, the made their first big purchase using their egg money, and have been so thrilled with their Carhartt's.  Now, they've decided that they want to buy a gun.  So, we did a bunch of research, talked to many people, and finally decided on one. 

 

Yesterday, we took a drive and picked up their gun.  It came in seven different colors, so there was much discussion about which color they would chose, but they finally ended up with black, only after finding out that the wood wasn't in stock.

 

They bought a little Savage, and it's going to be great for them to learn on and build their confidence!

When we got it home, and cleaned, they were itchin' to get out and start learning, and shooting gophers.  Unfortunately, it was bed time.  And there's still snow on the ground.  Hopefully soon, we'll be out and practicing!  Between the bows and the fun, the gophers won't stand a chance!

Family Day Weekend

This past weekend was a long weekend for us, which is always so wonderful!  Hannah was off for her birthday date to beloved Auntie Frieda's from Friday until Sunday.  She was so excited about it, and although I love that they get to do these special dates, I do miss each of my little chickens when they are gone. 

We worked on our ongoing renovations on Saturday (complete with a ladder falling out from under Art while he was climbing into the attic, moving electrical outlets, stacking dryers...good times on a Saturday night!)

Sunday, we had a young couple over....they used to be some of our 'youth kids', so that was fun to catch up with them.  They have 2 kids of their own now, which always makes me seem SO old!

Finally, the pièce de résistance was on Monday, when we had some new friends over, whom we have come to adore!  Our kids played with their kids, our husbands played in the shop, and her and I got to have a wonderful visit.  We ate, we laughed.... it was a great day!

Now, another weekend is upon us, and we will do much of the same - that is, work our butts off on our house!  The "reno room" is coming together, finally, and the mudding was completed this week. We started painting tonight, and tomorrow, we'll finish painting and start putting up some of the trims.

We have to move our entire upper floor of our home somewhere.....I'm not sure how that's gonna work yet.... but since we are replacing the carpet, it must be done.  It's gonna be a terrible job, that's for sure, but I keep telling myself that the end product will be worth it.  We'll see about that...

Today this is what I know.  I know that it's Friday.  And I love Fridays, because it means that I get to spend the next two days with my favorite people...my family!

Happy weekend, y'all!

A Full Life

When I think of the phrase, "A Full Life", I think of living life to the fullest.  Seizing every opportunity.  Carpe Diem.  However, it's definitely not felt that my "full life" has been "my cup runneth over" lately.  It's just felt, well, full.

We're doing a(nother) renovation upstairs, so our bedroom has been literally stripped down to studs and is slowly getting put back together.  We've been ripping off cedar siding and tile and plywood and putting back flooring and drywalling and doing electrical and mudding and painting.  We've had school work, babysitting courses, birthdays and celebrations.  That's all in addition to the regular "full-ness" of having 4 kids...4-H and Awana and riding and taking care of critters.  If you would've told me 8 years ago that this is what my life would look like these days, I would've told you that you were crazy!  But alas, it's true.  And although it's a good "full", it can also be exhausting. 

So my focus has been lately on paring down things - not only in our home, as we're going through tons of junk that's collected upstairs, but also on activities and relationships that happen around here.  I've had to be very purposeful in trying to maintain the lifestyle that we desire, and not being too "busy" (oh, how I hate that word!), but also realizing that we have 6 people living in this home, and that requires a bit of juggling.  And driving.  And dying to my desire of wanting to live in my pj's for days on end. 

I know that they day will come, and I will think, "Where has everyone gone?  The house is empty!"...and then I can live in my pajamas for days on end.  But for right now, I'm thankful for one of those days in a week.  And it's good life.  And filled with joy and laughter (and sometimes weeping and gnashing of teeth).  And full.  A full life.  A good life.  A blessed life.