I'm sorry you said what?

It's the phone call you never want to get. The middle of the night "is this Mrs. De Voe" call. The call that comes an hour after they are suppose to be home. The "your husband has been in a serious accident and you need to get to the hospital" call. So you make sure kids are taken care of, call your best friend to drive to some hospital you have never heard of and then find your way to the emergency department only to be told you want the trauma department. When did they add that? Finally you figure out where you are suppose to go and you proceed to wait and pace for three hours. You were told that the doctors are working on him and it will be awhile. WHAT!! What kind of news is that? When you finally do see him after 3 hours he is all jokes and funnies. While I begin to load the darts into my eyes and shoot them across the room. This is not a time for jokes, I have been up all night pacing a hospital floor. Some have asked to see pictures, well this is a family blog and I don't think it appropriate to post those. If you really want to see them you will need to submit a written request in triplicate and we will get back to you just as soon as we can. I believe it is enough to say that Dan was very blessed to walk away with the few injuries he has. He is a walking (ok, hobbling) miracle. God kept him in His hand. However, not being able to do any work until he is cleared may prove to be fatal. Just sayn'. For your information, when you scalp yourself, you lose feeling on your head. Makes sense right, but Dan keeps checking. Nope still can't feel that. Well duh, you scalped yourself.

It's starting to look like a kitchen

Good friends are necessary. Good friends who know how to hang kitchen cabinets are priceless!! Thank

 you Brett for helping us out with this fun little project.

Now I have to pick out a sink, counter tops, door pulls, back splash, flooring, I'm sure I am forgetting something. Oh and I need to spend some time in the dining room.

Sorry that picture is so blurry. Maybe it helps hide some of the mess a little. Ok, maybe not. Isn't it funny how you forget just how much chaos is made when you take on a major home improvement project? I am excited to see it all pulled together someday soon. That will be a very good day.

Kitchen Demo Begins!!!

There is nothing like a Monday morning, and when you add the  benefit of ripping out the kitchen cabinets and counter tops, it gets even better.

And how do kids entertain themselves help with the demo?

And now for proof that something got done. I mean other than an empty kitchen.

And here is what you do with hungry kids when you realize your kitchen has been ripped apart and it is lunch time.

SPRING IS HERE

We have been waiting and waiting for spring to arrive and now that it is here the girls are full of ideas. Planting flowers and veggies, painting rocks to put into the garden, nature walks, growing butterflies. I of course had to remind them we are moving and some of these ideas will have to be modified. The excitement however that winter is over is just more than any of us can stand. So needless to say, when the snow started to fall this morning the mood in the house shifted to complete disgust and heart wrenching sorrow. I had to go online and listen to the weather report and was further disappointed with a report of a possible four inches of snow being predicted. Maybe somebody forgot to tell mother nature that winter is over.

I know we still live in New England, but we are soooo ready for spring. Just as a note Kiah took all of these pictures. Pretty good, huh?

One whole hand!

Holy cow, my baby is 5!!! When did this happen. I am pretty sure I haven't been sleeping in some hollow some where. I remember bringing home a very tiny little baby and having to go get preemie sized clothes for the first couple of weeks. Her personality of course came larger than life and it has only grown larger still. She is quite the comical character. She is very much into wedding planning and loves the show "Say yes to the dress". We are often graced with her fashion show of dresses and her own commentary about what will and won't work for each dress and why. "I love this, but that needs to be different. No, this isn't the one." She is very inventive with the veil as well. She took a piece of mesh fabric that was left over from another project and put it on her head and used a head band to keep it on. TA DA, wedding veil. Little does she know that in my closet there is a whole wedding ensemble. White dress, white gloves, veil, bouquet, white shoes everything she needs to marry her prince charming. I always figured we would someday have this time of wedding preparation. I didn't figure it would be at five. It feels somewhat like a gypsy betrothing their daughter at birth and parading her at five so the future in laws can check out the goods. Kind of creepy. But what is a mom to do when you are told over and over that what she really wants for her  birthday is a wedding dress like Anna Kellers'. Anna Keller married Josh Duggar, Toran's other favorite TV show is 18 kids and counting. I think we can all recite the wedding show from memory. I know that this to shall pass very quickly and so I have decided to embrace the joy that is five and Toran. I am actually very grateful that she finds marriage to be so much fun and that it is even in her mind as something important for someday. I am also grateful that she recognizes the importance of modest dress and is pointing out how that dress needs to be fixed in order to be appropriate. I love that her favorite songs to sing are about Jesus and scripture power. I love that she loves to go to church and loves to go to her primary class. I love that she misses her brother but understands he is working for Jesus. I love that she has two kids, Sophie and Eloise. They even have a car seat in the car and they come everywhere. I also love the fact that Sophie and Eloise have a dad.  I love that she understands the importance of dad. You will have to ask her to share that story, it is funny. I feel bad for Logan. I love that she lives her life in her own little world with her own little story and we had better follow along. "My name is Sister O." Sorry Mandy. She has taught me much and I believe that trend will continue. She brings a light and excitement to our family that no one can match. That is our Toran Grace.

A few more pics from Paraguay

Thought I would add a few more pictures of Micah and friends from Paraguay. I don't know who the people are or the areas that he is in, I just thought they were good shots of the landscape of Paraguay and some of the people. There are also some pictures of the people he has had a hand in baptizing and some of his companions.

I would have turned this picture but I don't know how.

No, I don't know what kind of an animal it was or where the rest of it is.

Hope you enjoyed these pictures. Maybe someday soon I will figure out how to add video to this blog. Don't hold your breath.

The sound of silence

Have you ever had the privilege of coming home to an empty house? Because we choose to homeschool, that is a luxury I don't often experience. When it does happen, I truly enjoy the silence that I know will be very short lived. So what do I do when I find I have some quite time to myself? Read, sew, catch up on emails, vegetate. No, I load and start the dishwasher, sweep the kitchen floor and run a wet mop over it, clear and wash the dining room table, put away the folded clothes, vacuum the living room and hall, correct school papers and hope that I get two minutes to post about it. Looks like the troops are back. Good bye silence. It was sweet while it lasted.