Poking my head out again...

Last week felt like a month!  Again and again, things went wrong.  Finally, a week after originally scheduled, the wood floors got refinished!  Stink and dust and more stink and more dust!!! 

 Roach and flea bombing helped thin out out the population.  I have only seen one flea since Wednesday and we see a few roaches a day instead of several each hour!

We spent the (bug bombing) night in the church house, and two nights were spent camping out on the floor upstairs to escape the horrible smell of stain and varnish.

  Here's our camp:

Finally on Friday, I started decorating and organizing and it feels a little more like home.  I am not nearly done and it seems everytime something gets crossed off the list, two things get added.

But, progress is progress.  Here are a few pictures of somethings I have been working on:

The mantel:

In the toy corner:

  Aerial shot (ha!) of the living room:

          On one side of the dining area:

   One of my favorite spots, especially now that the floor is done!

 Veiw from the dining room...yea we're getting blinds, just haven't got it done yet.  (Right now we entertain the neighbors through this large screen TV.)    Hey, live entertainment!

   Part of the kitchen:

I love these double doors going into our bedroom!

  And then there's this:   What do you do with a very large, ugly, cold air return?  Any ideas???

There are still plenty of things that won't go away, but I am learning to deal with them....and anyway...they really don't seem that bad, now that most of the bugs are gone.

  We have to travel a ways to get to our "closet" held up by rope and electrical tape!  :)

It's not really feeling like home yet and there are still times I want to cry and run "home" to Mt. Vernon.  I think it will take a while.

-Danville is very different and MUCH smaller than Mt Vernon!  It seems that every other vehicle has the muffler missing, stands unnaturally high and has the tailgate rusted out!  I still haven't figured out if we belong in the Redneck, or Blue Devil category.  There's got to be a third option.  :)

Pictures of the good....'cause the bad aint goin' away anytime soon! 

The bad being:

:::Roaches

:::Fleas/flea bites

:::3 Unfinished floors/and 3 floors that won't be replaced but need it

:::Cracks between the floor and wall (Over an inch)

:::Rough walls that cause the knuckles to bleed

:::No bedroom closets

:::Cabinets that smell like dogs on the inside

:::Doors with no knobs

:::Doors that won't close all the way

:::It's too depressing to list anymore...

OK here are some things I really like about the house:

    The beautiful staircase:

  The fireplace:

         A place to put my food!!!  (bigger than anything I ever had!)

   A stove with a timer, preheat function and light which I have never had.

   A bigger refrigerator with a light in the freezer and an ice maker.

                   A cute little window nook in the dining room :

.....And space, lot's of space.

  Most of the negatives can be taken care of with time and hopefully not too much money.  None of them would be a big deal if it weren't for the evil vermin crawling around! 

  I am wondering what the connection is between poverty/low income and bad hygiene practices.  Do they have to go together?  It seem like getting rid of tobacco and live-in pets would take care of a lot of it.  (Not to mention the extra money)   Just wondering....

Prayers of a child.

As I was putting Judah to bed on Monday night, I prayed for God to heal him.  Afterward, he asked, "Is God going to heal me?"

I assured him that he would be healed, maybe even tonight while he's sleeping and he said "Oh".

(A little later, with watery eyes and stuffy nose....)  "Is God coming soon?" 

~ Isn't that how we feel at times?  In our hurting hearts we ask , "God are you coming soon, hasn't it been long enough?"   "When will you heal my pain?"  "Will it be tonight?"

Blessing:

Several weeks ago, during prayer Judah prayed this way:

"Dear God, heal Mommy's back and help her feel better....and help her go to Old MacDonalds.  Amen"   :)

I wanted to laugh and cry all at the same time!  In his own way, he was praying all the blessings on me that he could think of!  :)  And since McDonalds is his favorite "going out for fun" place, he was really heaping on the blessings!

The children are doing much better, thanks to medicine and prayers!!!

It's amazing what 24 hours of antibiotics can do !    

Prayers would be appreciated. 

The children have been sick with fever since last Thursday evening.  When  I called in this morning, their doctor was booked until Thursday afternoon.  So we ended up in the ER tonight and both of the children have strep throat!  Judah had pretty much stopped eating since yesterday.  They are very miserable.   

My Honey just finished his round of antibiotics.  (We're not exactly sure what all he had...) We have 11 days left to pack (minus one for Sunday) and that leaves 10....I am not panicking or stressing much.  Just a little.  Pray for strength and health, so that I can take care of my sick children.  And calmness of mind and spirit....

Thank you so much!