Ta-da!

Way back in December, I was wanting so badly to post pictures of the completed addition to the parsonage and the new and beautiful wood floors, but we decided to wait until we had an open house for all the congregation to see it in person first.

Well, today was the open house, so now I must post pictures.

To tease you a little more, first I'll show you pictures of our improved front flower bed. We worked to get this in shape to welcome people for the open house. The kids worked with us planting some new flowers, moving rocks away, spreading mulch, and then moving the rock edging back in place. I should also point out the lovely rustic trellis my husband made last week to replace the older and decaying one; I think our clematis is loving it as much I am.

Ignore the messy porch in back. We fixed that up, too.

Creative circles of rocks

And now, since you've been waiting for months and driven to distraction most of your days just wondering how our building project turned out on the inside. . .

Ta-da!

This picture of the hallway was taken way back in December. The following pictures I took today after our guests had left and after we'd (mostly) cleared the table.

Our dining room

The school room (from the dining room)

And, finally, part of the addition-- the playroom/sewing room/sitting area. It's a big space!

Did you notice Calvin found his way into most of these pictures?

I realize I've left large parts out of this mini-tour. I don't have a picture of our television/living area because the kids were all lounging around there when I had the camera out. Also, I decided to ask the boys for permission before posting pictures of their new bedroom online. But at least you have an idea now and can finally sleep well tonight.

Thank goodness, right? 😉

We truly love this space. We are still figuring out how to use and decorate some of the space (and you know decorating is NOT my strong suit), but it has been a joy to see the beautiful floors each day, to enjoy the sunlight streaming into the living area, and to be able to spread out a lot more.

I feel so blessed that our congregation takes such good care of us. Thank you.

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Fun Finds

We've had need of furniture since we have new rooms in the addition, so my husband and I have been taking turns shopping at the local Friday night auction frequently this year. I love the auction!

In addition to furniture, I've picked up a few lots with other things that I wanted-- some books, souvenir spoons, and cool stuff I thought I might be able to sell on Etsy. I've really enjoyed picking up items I want to sell because I can enjoy having and looking at the "stuff" without having it clutter up the house forever (as long as I'm able to sell it, that is).

Some of the finds I really liked most were the cards I picked up.

This joker cracks me up.

If anybody out there is a Hagerstown native, do you know anything about Ringer Electric Service or where the building featured on these cards is located?

Old "Remembrance" cards from Hagerstown

I think my favorite find was tucked in a box of souvenir spoons-- original cards for the game of Clue. I love the characters, and my son noticed something interesting about the revolver card. Can you see it, too?

It was Miss Scarlett with the revolver in the ballroom!

That's right. The "revolver" pictured isn't a revolver at all. Also, the versions of Clue I've always played showed the knife as a lethal looking dagger, but this version shows a regular (dull) table knife.  (If you're interested in seeing it, the picture is on my Etsy shop OR you could just google it.)

That's the kind of thing that gets me excited about my auction finds; I just have to be careful not to buy everything I'm curious about!

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Overheard

To be completely honest, while the following overheard snippets were actually heard by me (out of the mouths of my loved ones), I can't remember when. Yesterday I noticed them in a draft I had never finished.

I do hope you enjoy.

My husband noticed our son "taking care" of his baby sister and remarked incredulously:  "He wiped her hands with an English muffin!"

When asked if he wanted a balloon at the dentist's office, our dear boy said, "Hmm. I'm not sure. A balloon is a lot of personal responsibility that I'm not sure I want."

I only wish I could remember ALL of the crazy things that are done and said around here!