While Time is Limited....

Yes.....more pics. I really will have something worthwhile...or not so worthwhile....to say again at some point. But until then...

Nobody gave him a fork. He improvised.

 Watching Grayson get ready to fly....in the pouring rain. Nothing like the absolute joy of getting drenched, stomping in puddles and watching aircraft fly!

Flying under the rainbow.

Getting ready to go up.

Work beyond the fence.

Left side before...

Left side partially done...but making progress!

We can see the house....after about 5 hours worth of work.

And it took about 2 hours for this man size hole. Why we started randomly in the middle of the fence...not really sure. But....there is a hole and we have broken through! Plans are to plant bright pink azaleas the entire length of the fence along with some dogwoods, purple lavender in front of those and then stair step down yellow daylillies from there which will bring the landscape up to the ditch and require minimal care. All low maintenance.  

Peering out of our little hole in the woods. The view from the house looking up. To the left and a bit to the right has all been worked on...though it is, obviously, far from finished. The stuff in the middle....the untamed jungle. 

Our jungle friends. This one didn't make it as far as the last one. So entirely grateful for men who conquer the jungle lands unafraid. This is the 3rd that has shown up in the general vicinity. Hoping the activity will drive them all out. Think we traded the mice for the snakes! Where there are mice....let there also be snakes.....just not this kind.

Mailbox!

Learning to love in tangible ways....

And it floats again! The beginning of yet another flood. That bike helmet....it was in the floating box that the incoming current over turned. It is riding the current down the length of the basement. Joy!

 We found the leak! Finally. As maddening as it is there is great solace in finally being able to prove that this issue is not our fault. All of our children's names have been cleared and truth is known. This would be at the base of an underground 8 ft wall about 6 inches above the floor. It was pouring so profusely that it could be heard as soon as basement door was opened. Although....it did have a nice, peaceful, soothing water sound effect going to it. One of what we discovered to be 5 massive places it enters.

Leak 2! And the mold....yep. 

Deciding whether we need to construct an ark. It's pouring from underneath the garage door also.

Coming from here too.

 And underneath the stairs. What used to be "out of the flood plain" in no longer safe. Sooooo....here go the boxes....again! Yay!!!! 

 On the rise. It didn't stop there. Our whole basement is currently floating. Oh the memories we will have of this place and time in our lives. I will look back and laugh oneday. Actually...I'm laughing now. I thought of blowtorching it all but it seems to be a little fire retardant at the current moment. Thinking dynamite might serve my purpose a little better. I actually have a few things on the agenda needing to be blown up. 

Early morning warfare.

Land of enchantment. After leaving a rising basement I stared at this the entire drive to church to pick up youth going son. There are some day I so long to be a photographer. There is no camera that can capture this. Pastures so green they belong in story books, iridescent rainbows stretched across sky so large one picture cannot capture the magnitude or width. My promise that we will not be here forever. He has a place for us and He has a purpose. And maybe it is in cleaning up basement floods one after another, maybe it is in blistered hands and feet with scraped up knees, blacks hands due to diving from trees, bruised elbows and sore backs. And if this is our purpose....I will do it with joy. Because there is a landlord that is in awe of what we are doing for him. There is a man that has never been shown love like this. There is a family that is still together because we have not sent him to jail and ruined his career. There is a man that called my husband and stands in awe of what we are doing, and repeated 50 times in one phone conversation how amazing it looks and acknowledges how hard we are working...and said how much he likes the improvement...despite all of the months we were told not to mow or disturb anything within or without. There are neighbors that have thanked us for caring and showing love to the neighborhood. But mostly....there is a man that sees we will love him no matter what...because that's only a small portion of how He is loved by the God we know. It is really really overwhelmingly amazing to see somebody's heart change because of a little tiny way God used us in somebody's life. Perhaps he is never changed...perhaps maybe he will be. But I know my heart and that of my children's is being changed. And maybe that's what it was all about anyway. I have a promise....and it stretches across the entire sky.

....in doubles.

 She looks like some bad '80's exercise instructor gone really wrong.

Buddy love.

Pretty cool backyard waterfall. It'd be even cooler if it wasn't what was gushing into basement via garage door that sits at the bottom of the falls. But....it looks pretty awesome!

Bringing them to life on the blog! The very surprising, rowdy stuff they do before I emerge from the shower in the mornings. This was discovered a few days ago along with a few other self made videos as they entertained themselves. Pretty funny stuff. Rowdy, rowdy boys. They've definitely kept us laughing. We swam the two days previous to this morning so laundry...yeah....it's a little stacked up....and this is all taking place at 7:20 in the morning. I personally love the angry cow moo's, the fact he "ran out of hotness", the two kids scaling the shelving units and sitting at ceiling height, Aubrey torturing the trashcan in the background, and how this sums up the rowdy, happy craziness that is our's. .....at 7:20 am. I really love these children...even if they're climbing the forbidden shelves. As for music...yes, it's a lovely choice.