A pause...

James spent all weekend finishing the dining room. By Saturday night, it looked fabulous -- the first thing in the house that we could truly label "new construction."  By Sunday night, weathermen were predicting a catastrophic tornado situation for Monday, May 20th. Turns out, they were right.  

Even now (I'm actually writing almost 4 months later), I get a sick feeling in my stomach at the thought of it.  

James was safely at work, and the girls and I headed to the Browns' to be close to their cellar, if necessary. It quickly became apparent that we needed to get below ground.  Long story short, my in-laws, the girls and I rode out the tornado in their cellar. We heard it go by us, and after we emerged from below ground, we quickly realized we had not been far from the heart of it.  The yard was full of debris, our Sequoia was caked in what I heard someone call "tornado barf," and we only had to walk down the drive and turn to the north to see the remains of a neighborhood.  Mangled playground equipment. Trees and wires everywhere.  

The Lord, in HIS grace, had spared us.  I grieved for those so near who had lost their homes.  

At one point in the cellar, I heard Gary on the weather radio, giving a warning for those ahead of the possible path -- a warning directed at OUR neighborhood, our house, our newly-finished dining room, our home.  I gasped, trying not to react for the sake of my girls, who were blissfully dancing with glow sticks. The tornado did not continue toward our house, but talk about a moment to put things in perspective. There were to be lots of those moments over the next few days...  

We are grateful, of course, for our house.  Proud of the work going on here.  But so much more grateful for the little people that live here. For the happy couple that lives here.  For the family and friends we are blessed to entertain here.  For the memories this house holds. And most of all, for the Heavenly Father who is here with us.   The One who protected us.  Who brought James safely home to us.  Who provided for us in so many ways.  And still does. The One who is working out His perfect plan in and through us. 

We'll get back to work on the house once things "settle down."  (Do they ever?)  But in the meantime, the verse I have cherished throughout life has taken on even more significance...

"For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you 

will complete it until the day of Christ Jesus." Philippians 1:6

The Brown girls, safe after the storm.

Dining Room Sheet Rock

With the insulation, HVAC duct, and can lights in place, sheet rock is next!!  Megan kept a close eye on everything. (Don't worry, she wasn't sitting under the unattached sheet rock!)

 All done!

Now to try out the lights... Loving the "finished" product!

Lighting and Insulation

Before the insulation could go in, the can lighting has to be installed. And before that could be installed, we had to decide where, how many, what size, what kind, etc.  

We looked at many pictures online and discussed the options all day, even at the dinner table.  While we were pointing out possible locations, Megan joined in by pointing out her location of choice. These poor girls. They think this is normal. :-)

We're going with LED can lights, one on each wall.

James quickly got them installed and started on the insulation.  Considering the temps are shooting up here, this is coming just in time.  

Little Things

It was a weekend of little tasks. Important, but little. 

-Tediously weaving each wire through the maze of framing. one.at.a.time.

-Adding "fingers" to the ceiling framing...

-Giving the porch ceiling a coat of paint to seal it...

Back to Work

James spend this weekend working for an older man at church. So while he wasn't home working on our house, he made JUST ENOUGH money to pay for the ceiling/back wall project.  Isn't God good?  (He is.)

Sunday afternoon was just enough time to finish up the porch ceiling -- need to keep the birds out!  

The "Shop"

The Girls at Work

Daddy's back at work at his day-job today, so it's our turn.  Time for some detailing of the dining room.  

Gwyn got to work with the shop-vac.

Charis took care of the sweeping.

 And they used almost a whole bottle of Windex "cleaning" the doors.

SO, once we were done cleaning, we headed out to the backyard to play. And we may or may not have locked ourselves out.  Nice.
The deadbolt hole was yet to be filled, so we figured it would be an easy fix -- the girls' arms fit through the hole and could reach the knob.

But each one took a turn and no one was able to turn the lock...

After a call to let Daddy know, we realized that, thankfully, I had opened a window just before we came out. So, with a ladder and a brave Charis, we got the door unlocked.  Time for lunch!!

Dining Room: Part 5 (The End. for now)

Well, the girls and I went to church while Daddy stayed home and worked.  When we came home, there was a ceiling!

And by the time we got home from church in the evening, the temporary wall was out, everything was cleaned up and the girls were giddy.

LOVING THE VIEW.

(There will be windows above and on either side of the doors)

BEFORE AND AFTER

We decided to eat dinner on the newly-wonderfully-accessible porch.  What a fun night. We had visits from Poppy and Granbee and Papa and Grandma, coming to survey the finished project.  Way to go, James!!