How to Really Impress Them

You do want to make a really great impression, right?



Don't pretend you don't care.






So, what are you thinking about?







STOP SCROLLING.  What kind of impression are you picturing?  On whom? In what area of your life?


Okay, keep going.
 









You are already making an impression on other people. At times its a conscious effort to leave a very specific impression on a certain group or person. But even when we're not thinking about it, your words and actions are leaving some sort of an impression on others. If you're a parent - those you leave the deepest and most significant impression on is your children.

If you're a Christian parent, you cannot ignore Deuteronomy 6 because it spells out exactly what you are to impress on your children and how. Here is a selection from verses 1 - 9.

"These are the commands, decrees and laws the Lord your God directed me to teach you to observe...so that you, your children and their children after them may fear the Lord your God as long as you live by keeping all his decrees and commands that I give you, and so that you may enjoy long life...and be careful to obey so that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly in a land...Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates."

So in order to really impress them, (you still want to, right?) you have to answer these questions:

Q: WHAT is the "them" that you are to impress?
A: The commands, decrees, and laws of the Lord your God. At the time this was written, the Israelites only had a fraction of the Bible that we have now. So for us, its really all of God's Word.


Q: WHO are you impressing God's Word on?
A: Your children...so that they can impress them on their children...repeated for generations. Are you leaving this up to your child's Sunday School teacher? Don't! Christian school got it covered? Hardly! The God-given responsibility falls on you, the parent.


Q: WHY are you to impress God's commands, decrees and laws on your children?
A: 1. Because God teaches us to observe them.
     2. So you and your children can enjoy long life, that it may go well with you and so you will
         increase greatly in the land.
     3. Impressing is the means for the end of having God's Word on your children's hearts. There is no greater treasure you can give to your children than this. Are you giving them that gift?


And last but not least...


Q: HOW do you really impress them? How do you impress God's word onto the hearts of your children? The words "impress them" are found in the New International Version translation of the Bible but The New King James translation says to "teach them diligently." How do you teach your children diligently?

A: According to Deuteronomy 6, a prerequisite is that YOU need to love the Lord your God will all your heart, soul and strength. You also need to know God's Word yourself. Read it every day. Study it - on your own and with others. Not in a Bible study group? Join one right away - I can even help you find one right for you. Memorize scripture. (More on that to come.) But don't wait until you're a Bible scholar to start this process of impressing on your children's hearts. Start teaching them diligently TODAY with what you do know, and the more you learn, the more you can impress.

Verse 7 provides more details of the how. How do you teach your children diligently about God's words? Basically, it just boils down to "talk about them." Yup, that's it. Talk about the Bible - what it says, what it means, and how to live it out. Oh yeah, and God tells us when to do this.

But before I talk about WHEN, allow me to sidebar for just 3 comments.

ONE. I realized I've got a lot to share about this whole topic so I've decided to break it up into multiple posts. Each of the four distinct times that Deuteronomy mentions when to talk with your children will be covered in a separate post, so I've got at least a few more to follow. It is hard for me to find time to blog anymore - as evidenced in my recent archives - so I can't promise how quickly I'll get them out. But stay tuned, I've got the first few just about done.

TWO.  As I share how I've tried to really impress, but I don't want it to come across as a prideful ranting of "Look at me! Look what I do!" That is not my intention at all. My goal is to challenge and encourage other parents. I simply want to share what God has laid on my heart to do and give Him all the glory. I've been blessed to have Him convict me in certain areas and to have me stumble upon some amazing resources. I'd be selfish to keep them to myself. Also, I want to know how you are putting these verses into practice. I want to learn from you! Do you have some fresh, creative and effective ways that you teach your children diligently? Do tell! I'd also love for you to share with me about your favorite resources that you and your family use and love - the ones that help you as you obey the commands in Deuteronomy 6.

THREE. At least one of the other posts in this series will have an awesome {{{GIVE-A-WAY!}}} - my first ever!  One, worth over $75, it is actually priceless. I can't wait to give it to someone. Details on what and how to enter will follow in an upcoming post.

And on that note, I'm pausing here for now. Check back soon for more on each of the four times we're commanded to talk about God's Word with our children and my meager efforts for doing each.

UPDATE:
Here are links to each post in this series:
How to Really Impress Them (sitting at home)
How to Really Impress Them (along the road)
How to Really Impress Them (when you lie down)
How to Really Impress Them (when you lie down, cont)
How to Really Impress Them (when you get up)








My Time, His Time

Hello, my name is Hailey, and I can't get out of bed in the morning. No, I really hate getting out of bed.  Ever read this book by Dr. Seuss? Its a favorite around here.

"The alarm can ring. The birds can peep.
My bed is warm. My pillow is deep.
Today's the day I'm going to sleep."
 - Dr. Seuss

That's how I feel most days. Once I'm up I'm fine. Even if its at 5am. Once I'm up, I'm fine. I LOVE my first cup of coffee, but its half decaf and I can survive just fine without it. Really.  It's just the whole getting out of bed thing I have a major problem with.

And it becomes an even bigger problem when I feel majorly convicted to get up and spend my personal quiet time with God - praying, reading the Bible, and just being still and listening - before the kids wake up.

A few weeks ago I got together with some of my dear girlfriends for the purpose of sharing our current joys and struggles, holding each other accountable, and praying together. I am SOOO BLESSED beyond belief to have chicas like them in my life. I need my regular turn in the spotlight to admit my failures to those I can trust, knowing they will pray for and encourage me. I had to admit to them that since we moved (in October) I hadn't even unpacked my alarm clock. SHAME ON ME! I've become such a lazy bum. I really want to be a Proverbs 31 woman. Verse 15 says she rises also while it is still night. Ouch.

At this get together, one of my besties gave me a old light blue glass bottle she had found in the woods near her house. She knew I'd appreciate it. It was inscribed with the former contents - Arabian Balsam - and the name of an apothecary in Providence, RI - E. Morgan & Sons. We all discussed what I might do with it after I looked up more info about it on the internet. Another friend, that I'm just getting to know more and am quickly discovering is a kindred spirit of the treasure hunting type, had a great suggestion.  I should write my commitment to God, roll it up, and stuff it into the bottle. Then I should set the bottle out somewhere I will see it often to remind me of my commitment to get up early for time with God every day.

As soon as I got home that night I dug out my alarm clock and set it for just before 6:00am. That was my goal - to be out of bed by 6:00 every morning. The great thing about home schooling is that I don't have a bus or official school clock to make me get up at a certain time. The bad thing about home schooling is that I don't have a bus or official school clock to make me get up at a certain time.

The next few mornings I was up and at it early. Lovely. Well, that didn't last long before I resorted back to the old habit of hitting snooze in my sleep. Several times.  It's not my fault - I do it in my sleep! So I haven't gotten up that early many days since. SHAME ON ME! I guess I need to move the alarm clock to the other side of the room? Oh....yeah...last resort....PRAY and ask God to help me get up?? Duh!

Well, I was picking up the house the other night and still had the watch face I picked up at a Florida thrift shop laying on the counter.

Where was I going to put this? What was I going to do with it? Then I got the "Aha!"

I have a picture of me and some of the girl friends mentioned above that's been resting on the window sill above my kitchen sink. I see their faces throughout the day and I'm reminded to thank God for them, pray for them, and remember the things they are holding me accountable to. I set the little blue bottle beside it and perched up the watch face between them. 

Oops, I intended to set the clock hands at ten of six, to symbolize when my alarm is set, but I accidentally set them to ten of seven.

I know this little display isn't going to magically get me out of bed early every morning. But I think that visual reminders of what God is telling me to do or what he has done is a good thing. I'm currently in a Bible study going through the first book of the Bible, Genesis, and its had me thinking about the ways that God and those who put their faith in him would establish visual reminders of commitments.

Because I've put this "out there" I invite anyone to ask me how I'm doing - the more accountability the better. Got any helpful tips? I'd welcome those too. Or better yet, pray for me!

Do you have any commitments that you're struggling following through on?

Have you established any visual reminders of commitments you've made to God or others? I'd love to hear about them!

Sea Shells & Sand Dollars

This past holiday we managed to spend a few weeks 10 minutes away from Disney and NOT GO!! Our kids only asked about it a few times and never made a big deal about the fact that we never made it there. We're outdoors people, trying to instill that same passion for nature in our kids. Disney Shmisney. Get me to the mountains or the ocean! So in between hubby's flu and cellulitis episodes (yeah...our holiday vacation didn't go exactly as expected), we tried to spend as much time as possible as family in the great outdoors. I brought home just a few natural souvenirs this year.

I took home only one big white pine cone that one of my kids found for me on a walk around our neighborhood. I'll add it to the stash from last year that I still haven't done anything creative with yet.

Our townhouse is in the middle of the state but we drove out to the west coast a couple of times. The ocean becons me. Both days I collected as many little iridescent shells as I could while chasing a toddler around the beach. Apparently she found them as interesting as I did.

Here they are rinsed off and spread out.

I'm not sure if I'll just put them in a glass container to display or glue them onto something or what. Anyone got suggestions?

One outdoor experience in FL was kind of cool although it didn't result with anything tangible we could take home. Maybe its just the homeschool mom in me, but I get excited when life presents unexpected learning opportunities that we can actually experience and not just read about in a book.

We were taking a walk through Lake Louisa State Park and there were tons of animal prints in the sand along the paths. A sign that we passed early on indicated we were likely to see this type of evidence.

 

 

It was fun to stop and try to identify them on the spot (when the kids weren't trudging through them and ruining them before we could tell them to stop and look).

 

 

Deer tracks

 

Bobcat tracks

I'm trying to train my kids to have eagle eyes for spotting interesting things when we're outside. But they don't usually need my help. Ever since she was a baby, this kid would spot a ladybug across a room and point it out.

 

 

 

On the drive home from FL we decided to take an extra day to make some stops in South Carolina. We did an overnight on Hilton Head Island (because two days at the ocean in FL just wasn't enough) and then made a short stop in Charleston as well. Our hotel in Hilton Head (that we HIGHLY recommend and hope to revisit) was on the beach, and although the temp was only in the 60s, that didn't stop the girls from getting into their bathing suits and playing on the shore.

EEK its COLD!



It was my hubby that found a sand dollar that first afternoon and our oldest was happy to display it for the camera.

 

Of course I saved it. I did several rinses and soaked it in fresh water back at the suite and planned to take it home to bleach. The next morning we went back out to the beach again when the tide was around the same spot and this time I walked up and down the beach looking for more sand dollars. I only found two more but was happy with that. After taking them all home, soaking, rinsing, and bleaching, this is what I'm left with:

 

 

These will compliment the starfish (that originally came from South Carolina too) that were on display in my bathroom before we moved ...when its finally time to unpack them.

Thrifting in Florida

 

This just confirms why I never blog any more. Yup, a reality check. ::sniff, sniff:: A little over a month ago I had this pipe dream that I was going to set aside time as my birthday present to myself, to pump out a few posts...but that never happened! I started a few and well, just got too busy. So here's a little catching up from the holidays. I'm trying to finish what I started but don't expect too much more anytime soon.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This was our second year spending a few weeks in Florida around the holidays. Last year I braved a few antique shops with kids in tow and lived to tell about it. This year I never made it back to those antique shops like I wanted to but I did manage to do a little thrifting. The first word that comes to mind to describe the thrift shops near our townhouse down there is GROSS. But I was desperate for a little treasure hunting action so I just hoped that if the rough was that rough, the diamonds I'd find would shine that much brighter. Here's what I ended up with:

First, one of my favorite finds is this vintage chandelier that I'm going to hang in my girls' room.

The "crystals" are a light amber color.

I took these pictures before cleaning it at all. It was very dusty and dingy so it'll sparkle and shine even more when its actually clean. I'm planning to repaint and set up this {curb alert} canopy bed for my oldest daughter and I think I might hang the chandelier over/inside the top so she gets her own private fancy lighting. (I don't plan on putting up a canopy over the top of the bed, just hanging panels around the sides.)

The light fixture is unique because it has a super long chain cord that can just plug into a wall outlet - that means I don't have to mess with anything electrical to hang it and it can be easily moved if we re-arrange furniture or swap kids around (3 kids, 2 bedrooms) down the road.

I took my oldest daughter with me the first stay of thrifting and she's actually the one that found this large, slightly rusty, cast iron key for me. I should have added something to the photo to show scale, but it about 8 inches long.

I'm so proud of my girl for noticing this on her own, recognizing its potential, and bringing it to me! Apple doesn't fall far from the tree... :)

I found this huge canvas to hang in the downstairs bathroom of our FL townhouse. The bathroom walls were bare and you know how I feel about that.

For the hall bathroom upstairs, I picked up this:

Its not anything I would have set out to buy new, but I was trying to personalize our vaca house on a budget and thought it was quirky and cute. Its a long board covered/painted with sand so it feels textured. The sand and birds both sum up a lot of our FL experience this year. The blue/green color in the birds is not an exact match to the bathroom wall color but close enough to look good against it. I never even got around to hanging it before we left. (But I can when we go back in June cuz hubby snagged a Jet Blue deal where the total airfare for 4 of us ROUND TRIP is $159. That's not a typo!) Sorry, just a little giddy about that.

I think this next item is actually a boys belt but I can just barely make it fit me.   If its on the last notch. And I don't eat anything. :) (I often want to cry because I'm a 34 year old woman with the body of a 12 year old boy, but I suppose it has a few perks.) The belt is very preppy, which I'm generally not, but I like it.

I like the brass buckle, and the color of the leather and the colors but mostly I like how the belt reminds me of our FL experience this year. We took one day to meet up with my BFF's mom in Clearwater and the beach was covered in horseshoe crabs. Another day, we found ourselves back on the west coast to see the manatees that come close to shore and there were thousands of little crabs making their way back to the water:

My parents and one of my brothers are big Norman Rockwell fans. They've been to his museum several times. They have framed prints around the house. I even found some interesting pieces for my brother at a yard sale this summer. (No pics of those - it was during my blogging sabbatical. Lots of goods to be found during that period, just no posts!) Anyhoo, I came across this deck of cards at one of the really gross thrift shops in FL. Each card has the print of a Saturday Evening Post cover on the front and information/facts about it on the back.

The cardboard case was a little beat up but the cards were pristine - most of them were almost stuck together around the edge like the deck had never really been torn apart and looked at.

Come to find out they are collectibles but not worth a lot (more than I paid, but not a lot).  I ended up giving them to my dad for his birthday, figuring he might like to look and read through them.

As I was rummaging through some jewelry at the register, waiting for the shop to ring up the cards, this caught my eye.

Just an old watch face (pictured next to a nickel for scale). Not even any glass to cover it. I love the gold, the patina - everything. I asked them to add that in - I think they charged me a quarter? I'm not exactly sure what I'm doing with that yet but maybe incorporate into a piece of jewelry? Or display somewhere I'll see it often as a reminder to manage my time well. We'll see. But that's about as steampunk as I get.

Speaking of jewelry, I did find a few packages of shank buttons in one of the shops.  I scooped them up for making my button bracelets. (I need to do a post on those some day!)

I brought my oldest daughter along my first day of thrifting and she found a china doll she just begged for. We need more dolls like a hole in the head so I wasn't buying it for her, but she had money her great gram had given her for Christmas and instructed her to buy whatever she wanted in Florida. She wanted it enough to spend her own money on it so this is what she got:

Her name is Mirabelle. Anyone else who is subjected to reading lots of Fancy Nancy books will understand. I'm not sure which thrift shop doll has creepier eyes - Mirabelle or Creepy Alice.

 

I actually got a few articles of clothing during my FL thrifting excursion, despite the general GROSS factor in the shops. I buckled on a cheesy outfit my daughter begged for. It's so cheesy I can't even show you. But these little like-new sneaks for my youngest are cute enough to share.

The clothing in most of these shops were so nasty I didn't even want to touch them but one shop seemed a little classier and had fun stuff like fur coats and vintage hats.

I picked up this yellow tank top thinking it would compliment the tan I delusionally thought I would get on this trip. (Ignore the wrinkles - I pulled it out of a pile for a picture.)

I also thought this tank top would go well with the aforementioned crab belt but what I liked most about it were the details on the fabric buttons.

I did wear this, once, with the crab belt, but it was too big and looked frumpy on me.  Apparently the buttons are destined for one of my bracelets after all.

Besides the tank, I also bought a couple of dresses for a few bucks each. They were both made of stretch cotton with a flattering cross over in front.

I liked the patterned satin details on this one:

This one could be worn as a dress, beach cover up, or like a tunic with leggings.

So that brings me to the end of the Florida loot low-down. The only other thing I had to share was this wicked cool couch they had for sale at one of the shops. I don't know why but I just loved it. Probably because it had an Anthro vibe.  Some might call it "old lady," I'll call it vintage. The color green, the velvet, the tucks along the back - all so awesome.

It doesn't really go with anything else I already own but I loved it so much that if it was closer to home, for $75, I think I would have caved. Our soon-to-be-ours home will have a homeschool/playroom and I think I would have designed that room around this couch just to make it work! BBUUTT its not closer to home so never mind. 

 

 

 

Shifting Shadows

This week around the breakfast table the girls and I have been discovering what the Bible has to say about the fact that God does not change. In 1 Samuel 15:29 we find that God does not lie or change his mind (but people do!).

James 1:17 says that our Father in heaven does not change like shifting shadows. So I did a little experiment with the girls to show them how shadows shift throughout the day as the earth moves around the sun.

9:00 AM

 

12:30 PM

3:30 PM - I had to change the angle of the shot because we could only see the shadows of their heads cast on the garage doors.

"Mom! Hurry up its COLD out here!"

Last week we read Hosea 6:3-4 and talked about how God is as faithful as the sun rising every day (or actually as the earth rotating once every day).  It was interesting to contrast that with the shifting shadows that the daily rotation process creates.

What in your life seems to be changing as quickly as the day's shadows shift?

Have you recently felt the ripple effect of someone else's lies?

Place your hope and faith in the one true God who is as faithful as the daily sunrise and remains steadfast and unchangeable through all eternity.

A Mid Thirties Rambling

As I begin to write this it is the morning of my 34th birthday. Officially mid thirties. Yuck!  I've been developing plenty of wrinkles to prove it! I definitely feel like I've been looking older lately. Strange how having kids can make you feel like you're staying young but really kick-starts the old hag look.

Well, my birthday gift to myself is to indulge in a few blog posts. I'm still generally too busy to keep up at it. It's still not high enough up on my ladder of daily or long-term priorities.  But I've had such a terrible creative itch lately. And since this is one of my creative outlets I figured I'd stop in for a little while again. I've got a few thoughts and treasures to share.

Usually, when I get that creative itch, I can just scratch it with a little redecorating for a quick fix. But I'm in a long period of decorating limbo right now. Since the end of October we've been living at my in-laws' house. The plan is to officially buy it from them this spring but they won't move out until they build themselves a new place. They hope to break ground in April and then take several months to finish. So during this interim period, I'm at home, almost, but still a guest. But I have the world's best in-laws' so I can't imagine this transition period being any easier.

Most of my stuff is in storage though and sometimes I miss it. Every day I'm getting inspired for how I want to put my personal stamp on this space when I can - and I'm forced to be patient! In many ways its nice not to be distracted by my stuff and to not be jump into any changes right away but have a long time to mull them over.

There are a few spaces that I am free to fully settle us into right away - the girls' bedrooms and bathroom. So I'm hoping to redo the older girls' room before long. Most likely there will be some posts over the next few months that show before and after pics or how I've incorporated my treasures into those rooms.

Another way I like to scratch my creative itch with crafty projects - especially turning trash into treasure. It's my favorite therapeutic escape when kids are sleeping! I've got a laundry list of projects to get to - mainly painting furniture. But with everything we own taking over the basement and the room above the garage, and with the cold weather outside, I don't really have a work space at the moment.  Plus I'm still busy digging out of the post-Christmas/post-vacation/post-stomach bug mountain at home. We haven't even been home a week yet.

• I'm finally caught up on emails but not the to-do list that they created.
• I'm caught up on washing dirty clothes but still have 3 huge space saver bags full of clean clothes from vacation that need to be sorted into warm and cold weather piles and put away.
• I still have our Jesse Tree up. My oldest asked to keep it up for a while so I told her we'd review all the symbols on the ornaments once (actually I'll quiz them), then it comes down.
• I must confess the suitcase full of Christmas gifts from vaca still hasn't made it out of the back of the van and into the house yet!
• I think I've collected most other random Christmas stuff from around the house and into one box (we didn't take out much knowing we'd be gone), but that stuff needs putting away.

I'm giving myself through the end of this month to get caught up - THEN I'm working on a fresh start and diving into some projects. In the meantime, I reserve the right to schedule a few girls creative nights in or out. I'm dying to get back to making button bracelets and we're LONG overdue for a visit to Claytime. (Who's in?)

And that concludes my ramble. No point to that post, I guess I just felt the urge to ramble after being away from all my peeps for about a month. The other posts I have lined up will have a point, be more interesting, and/or have some pictures. :)

{Curb Alert!} Salvaged Barn Boards

First, allow me to backtrack to last summer, when I picked up the book Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren at a yard sale and I shared how both Pippi and I are “Thing Finders.”

Now let me backtrack to a couple weeks ago, when I finally read this (first of 3 books) out loud with the kids. We were a couple of chapters in, a few paragraphs after the quotes that I shared in my original post about the book, when I discovered some more “Pippi wisdom” that I can identify with:

...“We shall see what we shall see,” said Pippi.  “One always finds something. But we’ve got to hurry up and get going so that other Thing-finders don’t pick up all the lumps of gold around here before we get them.”

All three Thing-finders now set out. They decided that it would be best to begin hunting around the houses in the neighborhood, because Pippi said that although it could perfectly well happen that one might find a little screw deep in the woods, still the very best things were usually found where people were living.

Earlier that same week, as I was driving around the houses in my neighborhood, my eyes spied what, in some circles, is the equivalent of lumps of gold. There’s a cool old barn down the street that’s always been somewhat of a mystery. A sign on the side advertises a handmade furnishings and cabinetry business but the only times I’ve seen the door open, it looks more like a workshop for old cars. I did a double take as I was driving by and realized they were tearing down all the old boards off one side of the barn and putting up new ones.

Ummm…did I just drive by a pile of old barn boards? Be still my beating heart! 

Of course my first thought was to turn around and ask if I could take some but I was on my way to meet a friend for some long overdue thrift shopping (where I ended up getting the chair at the end of this post) so I decided I’d just stop to ask about the boards on the way back - but I forgot.

The following day I was out on the same route with kids in tow and I saw the guy working on the barn again so I decided to pull over and ask about it. At this point, my kids are finally getting used to this routine and they rarely question me anymore. J

I tried not to look too giddy when the man told me I was free to take any of the wood. But I got a little more serious when he mentioned I was the third or fourth person that had stopped to ask about it. He also kindly mentioned that the wood at the top of the barn, which he had not yet started to tear down, was even better than what he’d already taken off, if I wanted to wait. I asked if I could come back later and he told me I could come and take it any time, even if he was not there. So I got back in the car intending to go back later in the day.

Well no sooner had I gotten home and distracted with kids and house that I forgot about it, again. That is... until my daughter and I cozied up on the couch later that afternoon to continue our Pippi Longstocking experience. When we read the paragraphs I quoted above I was caught dead in my tracks. “One always finds something. But we’ve got to hurry up and get going so that other Thing-finders don’t pick up all the lumps of gold around here before we get them.” THE BARNWOOD!!!

Pippi was absolutely right! I had got to hurry up and get back to the barn so that other Thing-finders didn’t pick up all the lumps of gold before I got them! “Hunny, when we finish this chapter we’re going back to get some of that wood!” Her eyes popped out of her head with an excited gleam in them. (She totally gets it.) J

Before we headed out, I made sure to grab my work gloves in case of splinters or rusty nails. I also had to empty my van of that chair I’d gotten at Sally’s the day before. With plenty of room in the van for my “gold,” off we went. They owner was gone, but with permission, I pulled right up beside the pile and started digging through it. I found plenty of beautifully gray and weathered pieces and a handful of rusty old nails to boot. Woo hoo!!

So what the heck am I going to do with this pile of salvage? I’m not exactly sure yet. But I know I’m going to need it some day. J   I’m forever inspired by this barn board backdrop that Sweet Pickins always stages her furniture makeovers in front of. 

And here are a few other creative DIY ideas found online (Pics link to sources.):

Rustic Headboard



Birdhouses



Sign Art



Flower Planters (top pic)

Well, fast forward another week or so as the barn continued to be refaced. This time I drove by, beside a new pile of wood, there were a few windows sitting out by the road that caught my eye. Hmmm...old barn windows?! Sprinkles on the sundae! Can't not stop and check these out too! By this point, the guy recognized me and we ended up chatting about wood crafts, townies, who we both know, etc. And I'm promised he'll not only save the windows for me, but he'll even remove them from the casings and set them aside away from the road with the best of the wood in his newest pile. SWEET. When it ever stops raining long enough for my goods to dry out, I'll pick those up too. I may or may not share. I'm on blog sabbatical, remember?

Either way, when I get the 2nd round of old barn goodies, they'll just to go into storage, for now. I'm not sure who's gonna kill me first. My hubby or my in-laws...