Here we were, ushering a new year with prospects of so many things on our minds and hearts.
43rd birthday-ing in style!
The first week of the year, and we're already winning! Breakfast in bed, with a crown, and a fan (in the dead of winter, but still!). This was followed by a trip to Watertown and a meal all together at Olive Garden. The kids were not aware of this, and it was fun to chat about it over dinner, back 14 years ago. Right after Ben had stated his interest in me, we all went out to dinner on my birthday, to an Olive Garden. They sat us in a room much like the room we sat in this time. That night, 14 years ago, Ben's married siblings left the kids with a sitter, and Andrea, Mom, Ben and I joined them. That was the very fist time Ben held my hand --to pray over dinner. Of course, I can't even remember who was sitting on the other side of me! There was a lot of giggling over our 2017 dinner table as Ben and I described the 14 year-old scene. It was fun! We introduced the kids to one of my favorite things from Olive Garden: zeppoli! What a special day it was!
January mornings have been slow, heavy on the snuggling and heart-to-heart conversations.
Very quickly January turned into preparation time for yet another house project. The un-decking of the halls turned into packing up of rooms to empty and get ready for finishing our house. It was much of a given since we had a date for closing with the bank. On January 11th we sat at the bank and signed our brand new mortgage!
The most important envelope we have received in 2017 - so far.
Our life has been turned upside down (to say the least) pretty much since then. Aside from specific days that were set aside for regular monthly commitments (like the Food Pantry), life turned into a "do as much school as quickly as possible and move a piece of furniture somewhere out of the way" race.
Not the newest version of our floor plan, but close.
Leo: "Mom, mom, mom, mom!" Me: "Yes, Leo?" Leo: "Call me Captain Batman" Me: "ok, Captain Batman" Leo: "What mom?" --Repeat 100 times--
Clearing this room for the last time. As I said earlier, this was our bedroom when we first moved in. Then it was our family room. Later it turned into our dining room. Finally it was our living room.
While some kids help, some others (Victoria) become a part of the object to be moved.
Pounds and pounds of ground beef were cooked in preparation for the kitchen-less season.
All to be frozen for easy crock pot meals.
In getting ready to finish the project, Ben began doing lots of research on the house. The Chipman Manse, we don't know for sure when it was built, but we know it was built for/by the Scotch Presbiterian Church here in Chipman. Manse means "the house of the pastor". The Church this house belonged to still sits across the road the house is in. The layout of the road is different than it was back when they must have built it, but you can see the church from the front of our house.
We have learned that one of the pastors from that church served the congregation for about 65 years!! We don't think he lived here originally, in fact, we're not sure he lived here at all, but it has been so interesting to learn more about the life span of the house. Ben has been able to connect via Facebook with the wife of one of the pastors who lived here, and to one lady who served as pastor to the church as well. Come to find out, we had been forever curious about a small tombstone by one of the apple trees. We always assumed it would be a pet's (it was too small to belong to a person), but never could imagine the story behind it. This lady had a cat she loved and when the cat died, she buried him here. Ben was able to snap a picture of the tombstone and send it to her.
It is exciting to see how this house was originally built to serve the people of God. Our heart in reclaiming it and restoring it after the fire has been to serve the people of God. It's funny how God works and His plans weave a beautiful tapestry were the present meets the past and His Kingdom gets established on this land!
The plan: We move out to an apartment in Potsdam during the demo. Move back in and cram ourselves upstairs after taping and mudding and until the kitchen was finished. We were on schedule and ready. A crew from Cornerstone had been hired for January 23!!