I am here. We've been busy, and, well, I haven't felt so chatty lately.

Soccer season is over now. Between the two kids we were having 3 practices and two games a week. While I love their soccer games, I'm ready for the reprieve.

House update - floors are in upstairs. New, hand-scraped hardwood through the library and kids' rooms, and new carpet inthe media room. Everything freshly painted, though touch-ups here and there are necessary because the floor people dinged everything up. Peyton's room is very cute with the pink walls and new beadboard.

The library and media room are turning out awesome! I can't wait to take pictures to share, but will wait for the finishing touches. By the way, Billy bookshelves from Ikea paint up very well. Just sand them lightly and use a good quality paint.

I'm working with the missions team at church as we are rolling out out new missions strategy. It's very exciting. I'm just praying that ordinary folks from the pews will be moved to go, like I was last year. Oh, and Bud is going to Brazil next month. His first mission trip ever! Cool huh?

I'm pregnant. No changes there, except for my size of course, which is increasing rather alarmingly if you ask me. Who invented the ridiculous low-rise maternity pants? They just fall down! Don't get me wrong- I was always the first one to pull my maternity panel down off my itching belly at the end of the day, but at least my pants stayed on until then. These things now are so ridiculous. Bud's giving me the afternoon for personal errands today, which will include some breezy summer maternity wear that DOESN'T FALL OFF!

That's the quick and dirty here. Pool's open, summer's here, life is good. I hope you are enjoying life these days, too!

Now mind you, I'm a New Testament Christian and I don't believe that as Christians we are bound to the dietary restrictions of the old law.

But doesn't it seem odd to you that the resurrection of The Savior is often marked by eating a Big Ol' Ham?

Whew... we are starting to recover today.

1. Moved all of Peyton's belongings out of her room and into the misfit room that will eventually be a nursery.

2. Painted Peyton's room and turned it into a masculine office. Bud also built lots of shelves into the closet so it would function nicely for him down there.

3. Moved all of Bud's office stuff from upstairs down to his new office.

4. Emptied out Luke's room and the game room. People, this is a lot of stuff. All our books live in the gameroom, and Luke has many, many valuable collections in his room (see my last post). The upstairs is empty now.

5. On Monday the wood floor people came and ripped out the nastay shag and replaced it with beautiful wood!

6. We also managed to celebrate with our friend who finished her 3 day NCIDE exam. I'm not sure those letters are right but it basically means she is no ordinary interior designed but she can do a slamming job on designing your new commercial space for you. We are fortunate to have her helping us with all the new stuff we're doing to the house. We also had our neighborhood Easter Egg Hunt, and Bud taught Peyton to ride her bike without training wheels. It was a banner weekend!

Up during the next two weeks:

-paint Bud's old office so it will be a pretty room for a 6 year old girl
-paint the gameroom
-install beadboard paneling and chairrail in Peyton's new room
-install new baseboards throughout the upstairs
-wood floor guys come back to stain and finish the new floors
-move everything back to where it belongs upstairs
-carpet and light fixtures get installed in media room

It's a big stretch, but I'm happy to get it all done quickly. Bud has to do some traveling for work at the end of this month and beginning of next, plus he's headed to Brazil on a mission trip at the end of May. And I'm working with the mission team at church as we roll out our new missions approach beginning the week after Easter. That would be next week.

Oh, yeah, and with 3 soccer practices and two games a week and homeschooling, it doesn't leave a lot of time for pedicures and soaking in the tub - not that I do those things often anyway. But it sure is fun. I'm having a good time working on stuff with Bud. I wasn't allowed in the media room, because it was his baby (plus there are no windows and Bud doesn't want to intoxicate the baby). But with the rest of the stuff we're doing it together. This weekend I will be the one to install the beadboard and molding in Peyton's room. I'm psyched about that!

So that's what we're up to. And just to remind you, we don't have shag carpet anymore!!!