The brisk Nebraska temperatures this week are making it feel more like winter than fall. Other than some outside chores we have been able to work on painting in our cozy new house this week. When I glance out our big picture window I’m thankful for the warmth from the furnace and the blessing of inside work. The drywall finishers were done last Friday and we were all excited to start painting. We have all looked forward to this for a long time! Since we homeschool all year around it has been no problem to take this week off of school and focus on what needs to be done. I learned Kailey is an excellent trimmer and Alena is the fastest roller I know. I confessed to her that I had to check her work since she was so fast, but found it to be done very well. A great friend of ours and her daughter came out Tuesday to help us paint. We have learned how much of a blessing it is to have help and how much more fun it is to work with others. Caleb and Aiden have been helping Cory tear out our kitchen and living room floor and whatever he needs. I am very impressed by the skills Cory has instilled in these boys. I’m thankful for the joy and laughter of the house as work is being done, although we all struggle with having the right attitude at times.
Our holiday show at the Fairgrounds went well again this year. We continue to hear stories about how people are benefiting from our products and I enjoy that part the most! I was so excited that Alena sold several of her aprons that she has been diligently making. I often hear the whir of the sewing machine after Alena has finished her school work and chores. She truly loves what she is doing! This year she dressed Annika up in one of her aprons with a kitchen scene and took a picture for the website. It turned out adorable!
I finally got our website ready to order products. After Christmas I plan to add the shipping and paypal to our website. I thoroughly enjoyed the process, but had no idea how much effort and time it would take to set up when I started. At one time, I had to spend hours simply trying to get my pictures to be the same size. I’m thankful for the time and experience I gained through this process. I have learned a lot, saved our business money, and will be able to proceed in the future more efficiently.
We hope to finish painting everything tomorrow. Cory is renting the sander and we will be refinishing the wood floor in our living room after he replaces the boards. He carefully removed the pine boards from the dinning room and kitchen to be used for the hallway, bedroom, and repair of the living room floor. We have hired the vinyl flooring to be done in the kitchen, dinning room, pantry, laundry room, and school room. There’s always something messy going on in these areas and this should make things easy to keep clean. I look forward to the ease of cleaning vinyl.
As busy as things have been, I thought it would be fun to take a little time to journal our progress. It will be fun to look back someday and recall our time in the camper and the way our family and friends worked together to create a home that we pray is filled with love, laughter, and a commitment to the Lord.