camping kind of

we went camping a couple weekends ago due to the generousity of the fieldhouse family. i'm not sure if you can call is camping - i don't think we ate one meal outside of the camper. but it was my kind of camping - because i had a bed, bathroom, electricity, microwave... we stayed one night with our friends and then spent a couple days by ourselves. the boys loved it and we enjoyed having a little break before a new little one joins the family.

camping

prayer is good

sometimes it is so clear to me that God has heard me and other days not so much. this week though is one of clarity. its amazing to think about prayer, that a God who is all powerful and all knowing asks us to pray. its a mystery and my head hurts when i think about it too much... so 2 life happenings that ryan and i have been praying about are affordable housing and a charter school. these are dreams that have been on our hearts for a long time. we can look back over the last few years and recall conversations about kingdom causes' owning property in some way to bless a family with a home. we also look back and see how my involvement in urban schools in st. louis, grand rapids, chicago and los angeles led us to dream about a charter school in bellflower.

so you pray and doors close and they open and you wait and you question and you wonder and you keep on praying. then this week we both experienced how God's timing is perfect and he answers.
on monday night i met with a group of about 10 Bellflower community members: social workers, pastor, teachers, moms, psychologist, business owners, city employee...to write a mission for a new charter school. amazing to me the talented and invested people God has put together into a team to start a new school. so we pray that in the fall of 2010 there will be a new k-6 school a few blocks away from our house. a place where kids from bellflower will discover an amazing educational experience and be nurtured to their full potential in all areas of life. still a lot ahead but the dream is becoming reality.
on tuesday ryan went to court with our friend and Kingdom Causes/Our Place Housing Solutions realtor Ioana to bid on a house. the house was in probate court (the owner died didn't have a will...). so they bid against 4 other parties and they got the house below what their highest bid could be. so now there is this run down, needs A LOT of TLC, house in Bellflower that will be made into a home for a family. amazing! it's also on a block with 2 families that are already connect with Kingdom Causes.
prayer is good and we are thankful.

mud bath

i was taking a nap yesterday when my husband and son worked on the prep for the foundation. when i got up i could hear squeals of delight coming from the backyard and laughter from both boys. malachi was playing in the mud and loving it. he would run across the dirt and jump in the little hole, over and over. i've acutally paid to be at a spa and get covered in mud but now i have my own mud pit in the backyard...

abram

tonight we put abram to bed in a big boy bed. out of the crib that keeps him in and unable to get out at his leisure... not sure i was ready for this yet but we were given bunk beds by our friends (they are seperated still) and we decided we would make the move. he actually stayed in the bed after we put him down and is now sleeping soundly. abram is a little boy with few words and lots of gestures and he "told" me in his own way that he didn't even want the crib quilt but the new big duvet cover for his blanket.

he is almost 21 months old and quite the little malachi follower. he loves his big brother and tries to do everything he does - which doesn't always work out so well. he can't quite jump off things as well or run as fast...but he tries.
he has a sweet spirit and has started to reason with me using his head motions. like i said he doesn't say many words but somehow he communicates with me that he is displeased with a request and explains why. he kind of tilts his head and gives me a look. sometimes i have to look away so i don't laugh because he is so serious about what he is trying to communicate and i want to be serious about what i have asked him to do.

he loves coloring, especially with markers. he is getting really good at car noises and making his airplanes fly through the sky. he is always concerned when he hears the dogs barking in the neighborhood or our dog barking at something. his sweet tooth is coming out more and more because if something sweet is offered or in sight he gets very excited. yesterday he got into a bag and found the tic tacs and showed me his mouth full and had this look of great pleasure in his eyes. its really hard to get a 20 month old to give up candy once its already in.

i'm excited for him to become a big brother and look forward to seeing him grow into a new role in our family. and praying he likes his new bed so much he stays in it all night long and still calls for me to get him in the morning!

preschool graduation

our god-daughter paloma graduated from preschool on friday - how fun to see these little kids sing proudly, wave at their parents, and just be kids. jorge and dora became our friends shortly after we moved to california through a work connection. that led to dora and i talking about how our husbands were similar...now we have the honor of being their youngest daughter's god parents. jorge also watches our boys about once a week while i work with kingdom causes - so the boys have grown to have a special bond with tio jorge. i think its a good dose of boy for him since he is in a household of girls. we look forward to many more celebration events in paloma's life!

the living room change

we have been busy with some home remodel stuff and this project was started back before easter and i haven't given an update... we covered the fireplace and added a wall inbetween the dining area and living room. this will eventually be the boys bedroom after we finish the addition on the back. we do have carpet now as well so it is more finished than these pictures but you get the idea.


before the work started

jeff and rob replaced the slider door with this window

open air

ryan and some friends (who are amazing guys for helping, thank you!!) removed the back of our house this weekend - literally there is a huge hole in the kitchen now. we have officially started the demo for the addition on the back. there is no going back and we are hoping to have the permit to begin new construction this week. it may have been a little risky to remove the back of our house before we got the permit but its in process and we just need to resubmit the final version for approval.
a week ago ryan was flat on his back with a bulging disk and this weekend he was swinging a sledge hammer into concrete - all I have to say is God answers prayers for healing.
as i type this i have a nice breeze coming into the kitchen and can hear the birds very clearly because there is just open space. we'll keep you posted when we have a wall again because for now its a blue tarp -which also means i we have seen little gray rodents run across the floor... in the end its all worth it.


ryan removed this piece from the closet foundation - it was laid when my grandparents moved this house to the property in 87.


before the demo

surveying next steps - shaun is in the attic looking down

removing the window

the wall is gone

mark having fun with the jack hammer