Dining Room

 This dining room has had many evolutions. When Jeremy and I first got married, it was an extra space with a table cloth and candles on the table. We had a table in the kitchen that we used for eating. As our family grew, we got a table from Jeremy's parents and it became the table where we ate, held Bible studies, and did school and crafts. Then when it was time for construction, the dining room served as our kitchen for 3 months.

And we were all very happy when the table stretched out again and we had our first meal in the dining room again.

Now it was finally the dining room's turn for renovation. I'm still amazed at what a difference it has made to remove the floor heaters.

And then paint, new light fixture and curtains and it feels like a whole new room and matches the rest of the house. The school cabinet fits back in the corner without the heaters taking a few inches on each side.

That is 6 rooms finished and ONE more to go!
 

Upstairs Bathroom and Hallway

 With the upstairs bathroom and hallway painted, the entire upstairs has been painted! We updated the bathroom with some new paint, shelves and shower curtain.

The hallway and stairwell was a little bit trickier to paint. Paint was peeling in the hallway around the light.

Jeremy had to paint the top of the stairwell. That height was beyond my comfort zone.

Now it's fresh and clean...

...with new light fixtures.

I wanted to do something to clean up the back of the steps.

I decided to try stair riser decals. Mom was up for the project. We figured out a system and they went on pretty smoothly. I chose a simple shiplap type pattern since, as with everything in our house, the steps are not necessarily square. I'm happy with how it turned out. Clean and fresh--it's what makes me happy right now!

That makes 5 areas finished and leaves 2 more to do! I still cannot believe that every single area seems to take four times as long as it should to finish.
 

Joy Dare::June

 9182. Iced chai and catching up with Elizabeth
9183. Isaiah's room clean and set up
9184. The kids had fun at the beach
9185. Working outside
9186. Isaiah slept in his bed all night
9187. Talked Karen's ear off
9188. Josiah took an opportunity without hesitation
9189. Tadpoles in the mud puddle and Isaiah is so excited
9190. Some time at my mom's house
9191. Josiah came home SO happy
9192. KLOVE fan awards
9193. Tea to celebrate Mom's retirement
9194. Josiah working with his Dad

9195. Beautiful evening to be outside
9196. Pokemon connection with another family
9197. Choir concert was beautiful

9198. Josiah took a really big risk
9199. Aliza's reaction to Josiah deciding to go to camp
9200. Everyone pitched in to clean
9201. Listening
9202. Anna was my tea party prep partner
9203. Comfortably hosting in my home
9204. Mom's help
9205. Catching fireflies with Isaiah
9206. Fans on the porch
9207. A day to go slow and catch my breath
9208. Taking the heavy job

9209. Meeting some new people
9210. Some time alone
9211. Energy for the day
9212. Talking to people about homeschool
9213. A friend I haven't seen in a long time
9214. Better rest
9215. The feeling of finishing a job well
9216. Hanging out with one of my kids' favorite teachers

9217. Coming home to my family
9218. Listening to missionary stories
9219. Supper with Jeremy
9220. More customers than I was expecting
9221. Maria.
9222. Grocery shopping with Aliza
9223. Sitting on the porch to watch the storm roll in
9224. Anna figured it out on her own and was so proud
9225. A quiet afternoon so that Isaiah could snuggle close to me for house
9226. Rain made finishing the front flowerbed easier
9227. Home alllll day
9228. Delving into the next painting project
9229. Absorbed in a book--Waymaker
9230. Starting the day with Starbucks and a friend
9231. A one day painting project
9232. Aliza and Josiah had a fun night
9233. A really pretty beach day
9234. The summer to reconnect with cousins
9235. Josiah came home with a meaningful gift
9236. Another evening that was just right to be outside
9237. Helping Josiah pack
9238. Aliza is so confident and excited
9239. Getting the group picture with Josiah smiling
9240. Talking a walk with Isaiah
9241. Hugging my Dad on Father's Day
9242. A handful of fireflies

9243. Buying some extra snacks for Anna and Isaiah
9244. Camp Mama Melinda
9245. Chai with my mom on the porch
9246. S'mores
9247. The kind of texts that make a mom cry with gratitude and pride
9248. Anna and Isaiah chose their lunch
9249. Crossing off the morning's to do list
9250. Clean sheets
9251. Really resting today
9252. Friends playing together
9253. Evening walk
9254. Isaiah helping in the rain

9255. So proud of Josiah
9256. All of my children home
9257. Hearing all the stories
9258. Aunts, uncles, cousins
9259. Good attitudes
9260. Cooper wanted to sit at our table

9261. Hanging out in the children's worship class
9262. Sunday afternoon Mom calls
9263. Children that want to go to church
9264. Getting back to normal
9265. Marvel movie evenings
9266. A loud house full of teenagers and almost teenagers
9267. Anna getting to see a friend who lives far away
9268. Summer snacks

 

9269. Home movies that make me laugh
9270. Friends that love my kids
9271. When I win the Mom battle and the child is happy that I did
9272. Breeze on a hot morning
9273. Talking to a neighbor
9274. Jeremy feeling good enough to install the new upstairs hall lights
9275. Listening to Aliza and Josiah having their own conversation in the car

King Family Day

Aliza and Josiah didn't get a morning to sleep in after coming home from camp. Saturday morning we headed to Cherry Crest Adventure Farm to spend the afternoon with some of my Mom's family. Josiah got a cold as soon as he got home or got home with a cold started--not sure which way that happened. Aliza was very tired. 

This was small portion of Mom's family. Quite a few of the ones that live in the PA/MD area though. One aunt and one cousin came from Michigan. It was fun to get to see and visit with them.

Cherry Crest had a lot of farm type activities to do. The big slides were a lot of fun.

Josiah and Isaiah particularly enjoyed this (below). From breaking bricks on our front steps,My Josiah knew how to use the force of momentum correctly. Isaiah could hit the bell over and over on the smaller one which he thought was really fun.

We had supper together before we drove home. My cousin's little guy, Cooper, wanted to sit at our table. He is five years old. He got lots of attention! My heart was pretty much completely melted.

 

My family showed up as quite the motley crew. Jeremy woke up not feeling great that morning too. I told Aliza and Josiah how proud of them I was because they all had good attitudes in spite of tiredness and not feeling great. And I told Anna how proud I was of her for reaching out and including her 2nd cousins in the girls group with her. 

We skipped Sunday School that Sunday, but when you have kiddos that want to be at church, you get up and go to church no matter what!