spring break fun

Fun at home

Fun at the roastery

Greg and Brian (Mark's Brothers) hard at work

Grace...

So I can tell Grace is feeling right at home when I walk into my kitchen and see this on my chalkboard...

She is a super confident artist, firmly believing that every piece of her original artwork deserves public acknowledgement and exposure. All she needed was to find my box of magnets.

And here is her most recent rendering of "how germs are shared" - her primary topic of conversation lately...

I thoroughly enjoyed taking her to the park today to enjoy the gorgeous spring weather. She was so happy to be in a sandbox full of wet, cool sand that she was inspired to skip and sing and dance while barefoot most of the time she was in it - pure joy expressing itself - fabulous!

Ammenities

This is my "I have a home, internet, and my camera all at the same time" post! Thank you for all of your wonderful comments and words of encouragement.

We are eagerly anticipating our first company in our new home: Jenny, Emmali, my Mom, my sweet sister Erika with new baby Stevenson hiding inside and precious now one-year-old Lucy. ALL AT THE SAME TIME! We'll be dodging boxes as we make our way around here, but I am so excited and I'm thinking it sounds like a seriously fun unpacking party in the making.

Now for some pictures, finally:

Here it is!

Grace enjoying her toys in her new room. We still haven't gotten the beds put together.

Abby working on homework at our kitchen table.

Emma crafting, of course, in her room.

Greg and I getting cozy in our computer nook; my arms are obviously not quite long enough to be taking self-portraits. That would be why it's all us and no nook, but that's okay we just started putting it together today.

One of my favorite spaces: our library/reading room with a view to the butler's pantry from the kitchen. This is one room that is almost done.

Thanks for your friendship; we can't wait to have you over!

Let the roots sink

WE HAVE MOVED INTO OUR HOUSE! We won't have normal amenities like internet access or home phone or t.v. for another week, but we love our home and feel so blessed to be in it. As soon as I feel a bit more together (and have internet access), I'll post some pictures.

Emma started at her new school yesterday and loved it! I was prepared for the terrible and scary first day, but instead I had a daughter who was so eager to go back she woke me up this morning at 6:15 a.m. fully dressed and ready for school saying, "You aren't up yet; it's already 6:15!"

"Yes, Emma, the alarm doesn't go off until 6:30. We don't have to leave for another hour and 20 minutes."

She didn't remember all of those details.

Abby starts school Tuesday. Grace is loving having her dress up clothes back. Greg is firing up his roaster, and my kitchen is completely unpacked.

God is good.

So the latest news is...

* We're painting, plumbing, cleaning, building in our lease space to be prepared for the actual coffee roasting to begin and to pass the myriad of inspections we keep finding out that we need.

* The girls are having a fabulous time in San Antonio spending some time with each set of grandparents - what could be better than that?!

* Greg's truck currently has a flat tire which he and his brother Brian did not notice until the back of the truck was loaded with lots of cedar wood they ripped out of our lease space. Hmmmmm, tricky.

* We have a beautiful bright red, shiny roaster sitting in our "shop" just screaming to be fired up. Pictures to come...

* There are bags of amazing green coffee beans sitting oh so close to our roaster just screaming to be roasted.

* The house is waiting to be closed on and then cleaned, re carpeted, and painted.

* I am having the most wonderful opportunity to connect with old friends. We had dinner the other night with Charlie and Meredith and their family who were our dear friends and Greg's boss while we were in seminary.
I had lunch a couple of days ago with one of my best friends from college, Leslie, who was also a bridesmaid in my wedding. Our lives have taken us collectively to Iowa, Kansas, Indiana, Georgia, and now here we are both in the Dallas / Fort Worth area.

* I better get a move on in case Greg needs a ride somewhere...

Score: Greg 1 Kelly -1

So, life has been fairly surreal for the past few months... A little intense, we're a slight bit off normal - you know all that. In light of this, I keep forgetting things like how old I am, what day of the week or month it is, etc.

On Valentine's Day, I had no card for my amazing husband; and I figured he didn't have one for me either until...

I walked back to the bedroom and found one laying on my pillow. I opened and read...


I would totally throw myself on a bee for you.

Totally.

The front had a picture of a cute, rather nervous looking little bee (with a ferocious looking stinger, however). It was so romantic I almost cried, and I did laugh. He wrote other wonderful things in it too which are just for me, and I will not share them.

I love my husband.

Let me introduce myself...

Has it been awhile? Time flies when you're house hunting and starting a new business.

The thing that has most occupied my thoughts and prayers (and stolen hours of my sleep) over the last weeks of my blogging void has been house hunting. No, the house in Kansas has not yet officially sold (please keep praying), but due to God's grace and loving family, we were able to start looking for a home of our own even while we wait upon the one we're selling to close.

We found a great deal on a foreclosure in a wonderful neighborhood with great schools. The closing will be at the end of Feb., and then we can get in there and paint, replace carpet, etc. It has four bedrooms - Abby can't wait; she's been sharing with a very chatty Grace the whole time we've been here- a great layout, and great space for our whole family. It also happens to be really close to our wonderful family and business partners (Brian and Melanie). The neighborhood has a lovely pool and three great parks within walking distance, several jogging/bike paths, three big ponds with catch and release fishing... More to come with pictures once we actually close.

Tomorrow we are taking the girls to spend several days with grandparents, so Greg and I can spend some much needed time together and spend some much needed time preparing for home move-in projects and preparing to function as a coffee roasterie in our lease space.

Lots of excitement and stresses... Can't wait to sink roots down!