More House Remodeling - Upstairs Hallway/Closet

The house remodeling and updating continues. It has been more of a marathon than a sprint.

Our stairs have been refinished and our hallway carpeting was removed. Underneath the old carpet we found hardwood flooring that was painted fire engine red. Why would you ever do that?

We had our handyman sand it all off and replace broken boards. We removed our banister and replaced broken stair nose flooring. Then I finished the staining and put carpeting in the walk in closet. After many years of wanting more wardrobe space, I built the second half of the closet storage. We now have an AWESOME walk in closet and storage space. 

Now it looks like this:

I am elated. Time to go shopping for more clothes. Well, let's be honest....shoes.

Our new ceiling

For those of you who have seen our house this summer, I apologize. It has been a construction zone! We took down the old tile ceiling and broken crown molding and replaced it with drywall and texture and new crown molding. Well, that was expensive and a mess, but I have wanted to do this project since the day we moved in.

Like all old house projects, we found a surprise once we opened the ceiling. Our previous owners had our heating and air conditioning vented with dryer vent tubing. What? My contractor was like: "Ummmm... come and look at THIS!"  That will increase the estimate and delay the project completion date. Yeah, no kidding! Let's make that right before we put the ceiling back together.

 I am so thankful to the Lord that we did not burn this house down with that dyer venting. If you know the layout of my house at all you know that that ceiling/floor would be the absolute worst place to have a fire in here! We would have had to jump from the boys back window (We have a fire safety ladder in that room just in case.) My goodness, what were they thinking? How much did they save by doing that? I am not a violent person, but let me tell ya, I would like to shake those people, while screaming "What were you thinking?"

Additionally, we 'scope creep' the project even more and had an electrician come and wire the room for overhead lighting and a ceiling fan. I am giddy with the result! (I bought 6 different ceiling fans until I found the "right one". I was determined to find one where the blades matched the gorgeous wood work - found it!)

The ceiling is BEAUTIFUL.  I can finally see in the living room. The detail work on the crown molding is gorgeous. I am ecstatic, I should be for what it cost. eek.

Here is the old ceiling as we began to tear it out:

 Here is the new one:

Crescent Lake Bible Camp

Today is our last day at beautiful Crescent Lake Bible Camp in Rhinelander WI. David has been here for 2 weeks, but the rest of the family has been here for one.  We have had wonderful weather with very few mosquitoes.

We have been able to enjoy boating, tubing, biking, hiking, riflery, archery, sports, skits, and some rockin' chapel worship. This place is a little piece of heaven. The counselors are mature believers (college age) who really love the kids. The boys 4-6 grade cabin stinks like teen spirit! Whew.

John and I had work responsibilities that we needed to attend to this week, but both of us are blessed to be able to complete so much of our jobs anywhere there is wifi. So we could work in the early mornings and the evenings and enjoy activities with the kiddos. I have not prepared a meal or cleaned up after one in a week. This is living! I am so grateful for the life I have. I am a blessed woman indeed.

Here are some pictures of the activities for you to enjoy:

A surprise visit

I took a quick drive to Wausau today to have lunch with my amazing grandmother.  For those of you who are grand mothering right now, never underestimate the power of your influence in your grand kids lives. This woman means the world to me. Even though we see each other one or two times a year, I think of her almost daily. I have a great deal of respect for this amazing 93 year old lady. Her life is a beautiful testimony of hard work, true faith, joy that is contagious, and a life well used for His glory. Thank you Grandma Inga for all you taught me, modeled for me, invested in me, and all the countless prayers you prayed for me. I adore you!

Happy 14th Birthday David

It is 7:41 am as I write this blog entry. It is just about 30 minutes past David's 14th birthday.

Today he is at camp, 4 hours north of our home and we are not with him.

 As I walked by his bedroom this morning I was struck by how empty it was. I reminded myself that each year I must let go more and more as he journeys from boy to man. He is getting there. I miss the little sweet boy he once was. Frequently I hear his 4 year old voice in my mind asking me if I would like to "play trains?" Being a stay at home mom during those years was an amazing gift. I soaked up all the memories I could. I was blessed to be given that gift.

Today I know that he is at camp serving some of my next favorite 4-5 year old boys. Two boys from my Cubbies class are also at camp. They are there for the first time. David and his 2 friends were caught in this picture teaching the little dudes how to use the paddle boats. I remember when I had to help David reach the pedals on a paddle boat at Lake Wingra years ago.

I was just so proud to see that my son, who is away on is birthday, is serving the next generation of boys. Immediately upon seeing this picture I though of the end of the Awana pledge. To reach boys and girls with the Gospel for Christ. and train them to serve Him.  I am so proud of the man he is becoming. I am more often pleased by his decisions than not. That helps me to let go more and more each year. 

Happy Birthday David. I am so proud of you, not because you make great choices, I am proud of you because you are my son.  I bet that is how God feels about us. 

Birthday Away - David 14 years

This year David will be at Bible camp for 2 full weeks. We will miss him so much!

He will have his 14th birthday while he is away. That will be so weird for us.

I enjoyed the best 4 hour car ride with him and his 2 buddies from church. Their voices are all more manly than last year. Their topics of conversation along the way were much weightier in subject and deepr in understanding. It was awesome to be the person privileged to drive them. I very much enjoyed the drive with them.

When we arrived at camp, we learned that their camp leader was Matthew. He was Nathan's leader last year. He is a very serious young man who should be a very good match for these guys. 

I giggle at this picture as it is difficult to tell who is the leader and who are the students here. There isn't much time before these boys will be the ones working at this camp

Momma's of young ones: It really does go by so fast!

Birthday and Baptism

Today was another big day for the Baierl family.

John turned 44 and Caleb was baptized.

What a great birthday gift to be able to baptize your son on your birthday.

I am thrilled to have spent 26 of the last 44 years God has given to John.

 I am also thrilled that Caleb has decided to follow Jesus.