All about the walls!

Here you will find pictures of the walls that Mark and Robert have been working on to get all of the plaster and lathe off of!  It WILL be nice when it is all finished.... it will, it will, it will!!!  It is such a mess right now but I know that in no time it will be done...  Today the fireplace people came to measure to make sure an insert will fit into the old fireplace and to measure for one in the family room... In doing all this we have also decided to eliminate a couple of walls a Truss? guy came to see what we needed to carry the load... and tomorrow the electrician comes and our insulation we ordered will be here also!  We will have a busy weekend ahead of us to get this all done so the drywalling can begin on Monday!!!

Click on the picture above and below and you will see a couple of areas we are going to open up!

As you look at the above picture the arched doorway is going to be closed in but the wall is going to disapear that goes into the kitchen and to the left

This is as you come down the stairway the tall guys would hit their heads and now it is gone!!!

My Mother

This is my dear sweet mother who isn't doing so well.... She has lived in Assisted Living for the last 6 years...  Mom fell last week and they discovered some old and some new fractures in her spine.  Mom is 88 years old... My grandmother had 2 sets of boy and girl twins and the girls from both sets are the only living children left out of seven!  I have always said that my mother was a saint in my eyes.... She always tried to do what was right, she was a godly woman, she taught Sunday School and VBS for many years, she didn't just talk the talk she walked the walk... My mother never worked outside of the home..  she was always busy sewing and taking care of her family.   Upon coming home from school there was always cookies in the cookie jar!  (except in later years she would hide the jar when Gary would come unless she was ready to bake)  Mom always thought of others before herself and her greatest joys in life have always been her family... I was blessed to live near her when the girls were young and they would go to her house before and after school since she and Dad lived right across the street!  When my Dad passed away I didn't know how in the world she would survive but she did, so she was always sympathetic of me when I lost Gary and when she found out that I got married this past February she said she was happy for me because she knew what it was like to be alone, she said she was too old or she would!  She and Dad were just shy of being married 60 years.  She never cared much for pets, but somehow she became somewhat fond of my boston terrier, Dude! (although she always thought his name was Duke!) :)

She always told my kids "we don't have much money but we sure have a lot of love"~   In all of my years I don't think I have ever heard a curse word come from my mother's mouth!

So if you are reading this if you could say a prayer for my mother I would most appreciate it!

Some BEFORE pictures.....

This is what the Living Room and Dining Room look like at the moment.... other than shortly after taking the pictures "Ron" came and put in the new windows and Robert came and started tearing out the old plaster!  Can you hear the word Mess????

No I haven't done anything to the fireplace yet, those stripes are from glue that held the paneling on!

Seeing the big picture....

When it comes to remodeling, making something less attractive into something beautiful it is just something that I love to do.....  have done so to a number of houses my family has lived in over the years.... I have always been able to see a house,  sometimes in all of it's ugliness (girls remember the one house we bought in Van?) Gold Shag Carpeting, ugly, ugly ugly, paneling on every wall..... but somehow I looked past all of that and could envision what with a little handiwork, paint and love what could be done.   Don't you think God looks at each of us in the same way?  He looks into our hearts, no matter what we have done and can see past all of the ugliness and HE our Lord and Savior can envision what he can mold us into?

The Life's that God can change and has changed is more amazing than any paint, new floor or any cabinet that I can make!!!

All the time, money and effort we put into remodeling will not last forever, neither will our life here on earth!   Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” A “heart renovation” is an eternal renovation.

Do you know, that you know, that you know?

Today's Achievements!

Today the windows are done!!! Yes we have all new windows and they are awesome!!! YAY!!  Ron finished the windows and headed upstairs to start tearing out the walls to expand two closets in our room!  Ron also informed me we had a guest sunbathing in the front yard.... a four foot SNAKE  yuck I really do not care for snakes!  I have always said  the only good snake is a dead snake!!!!  I WILL be watching with a HOE in hand!!!   yeah yeah yeah I know they eat mice and rodents..... my husband already told me that... but I still don't like snakes!!!

YIKES I need to take some before pictures in the morning!!  Tomorrow the electrician comes to update a few things.... So things are a happening.... I will post some pictures tomorrow! If all goes as planned the drywalling will start next Monday!!!

Zoo

Friday evening we traveled to Omaha, Nebraska to go to the ZOO we met Mark's oldest son Mike, his wife Jill and their adorable little boy Christian.... I had not been to the zoo since my girls were little..... It was a rather warm day, but many of the buildings had cool air blowing so that helped a lot!  Here are a few pics of our day at the Zoo!

Nancy and Mark taking silly pictures

Christian's elevator!

Jill, Christian and Mike

Jill and Mike

Christian (isn't he the cutest?)

Mark the proud Grandpa!

Jill, Christian and Mike ready for the Imax movie!

Do you think anyone will notice us sleeping with these glasses on?

Windmills

I am fascinated with the windmills you see alot now days along the highways!  As we were traveling to Omaha on Friday evening  along I-80 this is what we saw!