Cleaning the Church

Our church remodel is getting so close to being completed!  In order to get ready for the final touches (i.e. touch up paint, mop the floors, move the statues, etc), the church needed a good cleaning!  There was such a heavy layer of dust settled on everything.

I spent my morning dusting (which is by far my least favorite thing to do) the pews.

Others worked on the pulpit area

While a few others braved the height of cleaning the alter that houses the tabernacle.

I absolutely love the blue ceiling - if I haven't mentioned that before!

I had never been in the balcony, so once my dusting was completed, I headed upstairs.  They added new carpet, pews, and railings.

I was also able to get an up-close look at the details on the pillars.

What a breath-taking view!  We are hoping to have our first Mass back in the church at the end of August.

Until next time...

End of Vacation

We woke up Sunday morning, and headed back to the fairgrounds to help tear down and clean up.  The kiddos and I were a little later than everyone else.  All the tables were down and being put away when we arrived.  I was a little surprised to even find Pa-paw sweeping the floor!

After finishing up at the fairgrounds, we all went out for lunch.  One last picture with Aunt Katie before we headed home.

We were not too far down the road when this was the scene in my mirror!

We drove to Hannibal, MO, and spent the night.  We were able to go swimming at the hotel the next morning before finishing the drive home.

Oops, Momma might have forgot to pack a swim diaper...

Until next time...

Spring Cleaning Helper

Julianne has a new favorite place to play...

Until next time...

Cleaning Windows

If you know me, you know I despise cleaning windows.  And when you have three little ones, it is even more pointless to try and keep patio doors clean.  I mean, as soon as I do clean them, things like this happen...

Until next time...

Rain, Rain, Go Away...

It's the same song everyone else is singing.  This was the radar before I went to bed last night.
The arrow is where we live :)

Good thing I didn't bother washing these girls yesterday...

...They'll just end up muddy again the next time we go out for a ride.

Until next time...

A Taste of Spring

I've been doing some "Spring Cleaning" around the house trying to get things together for a garage sale. Therefore, there are some extra boxes in the kitchen, and Dallas decided to help sort through them!
When he realized I had the camera out, he want to play with it. When I wouldn't let him, this is what happened...

So, to get back in a happy mood...we went outside to play!

We had sunshine and warm temps all day. It was awesome!

I cleaned out some flower beds, and Dallas taste-tested a stick he found.

Notice his hat? Grandma and Grandpa R got that for him last summer. It has a Dorset sheep and says Triple R Dorsets!

Dallas then realized his puppies were out in the kennel, so he decided to go see them.

End of the sidewalk.

Made it to the shadow of the tree.

He finally stopped to look back once he got to the garage! (Go ahead...scroll back up to the first picture of him crawling away. That building on the left edge of the photo...that's the garage!)

Playing with Daddy when he got home from work.

Chillin'

Until next time...

Sickness

What a day it has been. When Doug got home from work on Monday evening he did not look too great. Sure enough, he didn't feel great. He tried eating supper, but that didn't agree with him. Needless to say, he spent the night between the couch and the bathroom. He then stayed home from work today (Tuesday), and he rotated between the bathroom, the couch, and the bedroom. Thankfully, he was able to get some sleep today. On the other hand...Dallas has been rotten today. He would scream every time I would lay him down for a nap! The only way I could get him to sleep was to lay him on my chest and continuously rock. Plus, he wanted to eat every two - two and half hours. He typically goes at least three hours between feedings. I sure hope he sleeps well tonight!

In other news, my friend Laura is having a garage sale on Thursday and Friday of this week, and she invited me to bring things to add. I was going to go through some of our things yesterday and today to make a garage sale box, but I never got the chance. Oh well, there's always the next time.

Well, I gotta go...Dallas is waking up.

Until next time...

Valentine's Recap (and more)

I hope everyone had a great Valentine's Day, and that you were able to enjoy some sweets (especially some chocolates!). My house is now decorated with two lovely spring-type flower bouquets. One of them arrived at work yesterday morning...it was from my mom and dad. The other I got from Doug when he came home from work! There was even a stuffed little lamb with his bouquet! I would put a picture of them up, but I still haven't found my camera charger.

I worked until noon like most days, and then spent the afternoon cleaning the house...Doug's mom, dad, and sister are on their way to visit for the weekend. At lunch time, I had asked Doug if he wanted a "homemade" dinner or an "out-to-eat" dinner for his Valentine's present. He chose Texas Roadhouse, which was fine by me - like my friend Kristen said about her Valentine's dinner...no clean up! Plus, we hadn't been there since Christmas! We decided to go early in order to beat the holiday rush. Of course, we still called ahead, and I was so glad we did. I called at 4:30, as we left house, and there was only a 35 minute wait...perfect - it is a 30 minute drive to the Roadhouse. When we got there, they were telling people it would be a 90 minute wait! Needless to say, we got right in, and the food was absolutely delicious!

We stopped at Wal-Mart on our way home, and can you believe that it was NOT busy! I guess holidays must be the time to shop. When we got home, Doug helped me move the furniture in order to vacuum and do some other odds and ends cleaning. I even made a loaf of pumpkin bread, which made the house smell "oh-so-good".

Today, Buckwheat and I go back to the doctor. We are meeting with Dr. Patrick on this trip - another one of the doctors in the clinic just in case Dr. Smollen isn't on call when Buckwheat arrives. I'll let you know how it goes in my next post. In other Buckwheat news: Doug and I finished up our Lamaze class on Wednesday night. We were suppose to go next week because we missed a class due to weather. Shari (the nurse that lead the class) decided to not make it up because two couples have already had their babies, two more are due on Monday, and one due on Wednesday! That would only leave Doug and I!!!

Lastly, I thought I would share that I have been having dreams about Buckwheat lately. Right around Christmas I had a couple dreams about him/her. In those dreams, one time we had a boy and the other time we had a girl. I hadn't dreamed about Buckwheat since...until we chose names last week. I have dreamed almost each night that we had a girl!

I think that brings us up to date on what's happening in Iowa. Have a fabulous Friday and a great weekend.

Until next time...