It was a great day to have a day off of school and we made sure we enjoyed it! Ally couldn't seem to stay out of the kitchen, which is still a blessing no matter how messy of a cook she is. She had a few unrestrained moments as well. The guys hung out together and watched a long awaited movie and we even had time for some family games. 
My kids have always been some of my biggest heroes and this week was no exception. Will has been helping work cattle for his Sunday school teacher. He got up at the crack of dawn (to beat Cole in the shower) and was off to work in the freezing cold by 7am.
You don't raise heroes, you raise sons. And if you treat them like sons, they'll turn out to be heroes, even if it's just in your own eyes. ~Walter M. Schirra, Sr.
We are getting thisclose to having the kitchen finished!!! They just put the finishing stain on the cabinets. In fact, we still can't use the kitchen because they're wet, but we are soooo excited and wanted to share the photos.
What a blessing from God and our church!
Some days are a daze for our girl. Today, she was convinced that math should be banned from her life. And then she hit LANGUAGE, which didn't get any easier. Sure, she started out all smiles...
but things quickly began taking on a different view when I made her get the dictionary out. 
She even tried to be diplomatic about it.
Unfortunately, something was about to let loose. You could see life changing through her eyes... 
Fortunately for us, she's still with us and we are all okay following the minor explosion in our homeschool daze.
This girl is happy, happy, happy! They put the flooring in today! We're loving it and are thrilled that we are one step closer to completion! So, what do you think of it? If nothing else, it goes well with my shoes. :) 
This is our bedroom. Can't wait to be in it!
Can you help me find my sanity? I know it's in this renovation somewhere. And I could really use it back, if even for a few days. (I don't generally expect it to stay around for longer than that anyway.) :) Today was a long and exciting day. The remodeling project is taking on a complete existance of its own. The people were here texturing the walls while another crew was doing some wiring--complete with a startlingly huge flash of light at the hand of one of the workmen. Thankfully, other than a black hand, he's fine and the wiring is done. We made a quick trip to the floor covering store to pick flooring for the addition as well as some of the main rooms in the rest of the house. Tomorrow the painting will be done, Saturday the insulation will be blown into the attic, Monday and Tuesday the flooring is done, and Wednesday the cabinets will be put in. Whew! It's so exciting! For the moment I'm just enjoying the fact that we are moving at such a great pace. At some point between now and Monday morning, we have to figure out what we are going to do with the kitchen stuff (that's been moved into the living and dining room) as well as the contents of the dining and living rooms, so the flooring can get done. Anyone want to come help move our couch? We have no idea where we are going to put it but the front yard is looking like a possibility. It's a crazy but wonderful life, that's for sure.
Oh, yea, and today, for the first time in 11 years, we went to parent/teacher conferences. There was a little anxiety but we heard really great things about our oldest and he's getting all A's and B's!!! God is soooo good and He is definitely blessing Cole with the desires of his heart. He had a basketball meeting today so as soon as football finishes we are on to basketball.
YAY for weekends! Now, if there were just a way to make them last longer! Our weekend started out in the usual way, a football game. It was a really great game that went into a double overtime. Unfortunately, we lost, but it was still a good game in spite of all the would have's and should have's.(Kind of like the Husker game.) :(
Construction on the house continues and for obvious reasons, we are finding things to do away from home.
So, while Mom went shopping with a friend, Dad took the crew fishing at our favorite spot. Cole was needing some 'down time'. Will thinks that the spot is his second home. And Ally continues to amaze me as she is hanging out with friends at the football game and being a girly-girl one minute and the next, she is covered in mud and fish guts. So, anyone want to come over? We're having fish for supper.
As for other news, Will is now taking an online college credit class in Wildlife--and loving it. Ally is getting ready to start basketball and continuing with her Bible Quiz crew. Cole is winding down in football season and already contemplating basketball.
Fall has always meant one thing at our house. Football. At different times, fall has indicated other things in our lives like harvest, end of hurricane season, pre-holiday crunch time, etc. However, no matter where we have lived or what situation we have been in, fall has always meant football. Even tho so many things are changing right now, it's good to take comfort in one or two things that remain the same.
Dirk was researching some football information on the internet the other day and came across this photo. It was taken at Cole's first football game by someone a lot closer to the field than I was.
