The Kids

I thought it was time for an update on the little people in the house, some of which are getting to be rather big people. 

Kayla is busy working, learning to drive and studying for college entrance exams. It is hard to believe that she's a senior this year and her life will be changing quickly in the next year.

Kalli is taller than both Kayla and wears bigger shoes. She is working hard to take Kayla's place as my right arm and still enjoys baking. Just Saturday, she made a delicious peach cobbler all by herself. AND cleaned up after herself in the kitchen! 

Kammy is growing and changing rapidly right now. I notice it more in maturity and understanding than in actual size. She's had a renewed interest in art. I will post some of her work at the end of this post.

Kaite is still so tiny. It's hard to believe that she will be in first grade this fall. She's excited about that one on one school time with mommy. 

Kaderick seems to get smarter and more boyish every day. Considering some of the things he does/gets into, I find myself wondering if smart really is the right word for that sentence. He has had some very difficult days lately with his mastocytosis. Just when we think we have it licked or figured out, it throws us a curveball. 

This is just a small sampling of Kammy's recent artwork. She draws very quickly, so it stacks up fast. Her love of animals really shows through in her drawing. She's definitely got the genes for it--I can see her being a painter someday like a couple of my aunts. 

As for mommy and daddy, daddy stays busy studying and working and working on the house.

When mommy isn't busy working on the house with daddy or doing regular mom/wife stuff, she might be canning. It's getting to be that time of year. 

We haven't done a lot yet, but we did make a batch of red hot cinnamon pickles and did up 36 quarts of corn. We've also been enjoying fresh garden veggies with nearly every meal. 

Fireplace brick and mantel.

Don't you love a house with a fireplace? I do. It just seems to really amp up the "homey" feeling. 

As mentioned, I whitewashed the brick and hubby made the beautiful mantel all from scratch. 

Here is what it used to look like, sans mantel.

Lovely, eh? Kind of stark and cold.

We still plan to take the gas insert back out and convert it back to a wood burner, but one thing at a time.

While I'm sharing house projects, the finale of the bathroom is this fun little boat paddle which I sketched on an old piece of shelf board, hubby cut out and I painted. Free definitely beat the $40 price tag at Hobby Lobby....it even beats their 50% off aisles and 40% of sales of which I am so fond. 

We are currently engaged in the great kitchen re-do. I've painted more in the last few months than in all my life combined. It's moving kind of slow at this point, as we have a business trip and some other things coming up, but it's getting there, and I'm already soooo excited about how it's going to turn out!