Finally! Pictures of THE CHAIR.

Any of you who follow me on Facebook may remember me working diligently on reupholstering an overstuffed chair recently. The chair was given to me as an adoption-fundraiser-yard-sale-leftover from our friends, Dominic and Tiffany Moro a couple of months back. My good friend from long ago and still into the present, Heather, helped me, well, more like directed me in a hands-on kind of way. I couldn't have done it without her help! Really!

Also, it was fun getting to spend so much time with her this visit. She was able to come almost every day of her ten-day visit (She and her mother stayed at my mom's house). Each time we slaved over this chair. Several times we enjoyed cappuccinos first, or as Steve calls them, Redneckachinos, because they come from the gas station machine.

I remembered to take a before picture. This is a major accomplishment. (sound of me patting myself on the back).A few during pictures to tell the story:
I bought a pair of fabric scissors. I thought this was funny, I actually needed scissors to get at them! I didn't end up using my scissors anyway because Heather brought hers and they cut like a hot knife through BUTTER.

We tore that chair apart, limb from limb. We made a mess. Actually, I think I will blame Heather for the mess. Heather made a mess. There.

Paused to admire the fact that Annette could fit a whole, live chicken into that little box. And the chicken loved it! Or so she said.

Heather finally made some excuse about having to go home. And try as we might, and hammering furniture tacks until the last moment, we didn't quite finish. This left me with the back to put on, a few more tacks to tap in, and the legs to refinish. None of these things took long but it did seem to take me forever to get to each individual task!

Finally I finished the tacking, then the back, and lastly, those pesky legs! I used a gel stain so that I wouldn't have to strip the wood first. It worked well and I am pleased with the results!Here is the leg. In this picture you will enjoy the I Spy game of finding two popcorn kernels and one white chicken feather. You will not, however, see the vacuum cleaner.

The finished product!! Oh! and in this picture, more I Spy! There is a My Little Pony toy hiding under the curtains! Oops. Now I told you. Sorry....

Nobody is allowed to sit in the chair. Ever. Heather said so. So don't tell her that I let Ivy sit there today while I took a million pictures of her because she has a dress that matches the chair and I just love matchy things.

Also, she's such a cutie. Ivy, that is. Heather's okay too.



Thank you so much Heather! I sit on the couch and look at my chair while I drink my coffee in the mornings. I'd sit in the chair, it does look comfy, but I might spill and besides, you said not to. Sigh..... :-)

Every best gift, and every perfect gift, is from above,
coming down from the Father of lights,

with whom there is no change,
nor shadow of alteration.

James 1:17

A day on the farm!

We had a great time with the kids a couple weekends ago when we joined our co-op on a field trip to tour the Mayfield Dairy and then to visit a farm that was all set up to entertain families for the fall season!
We enjoyed a host of activities on the farm including a hayride, animal-feeding, learning how the milkers work, a hay jump, seeing the sunflower field in bloom, a corn box to play in(think sandbox but with corn), pretend cows to "milk", walking in a silo, a corn maze, the faceless characters painted onto plywood just begging for little faces to fill them for photos, and other exciting things that I am sure I have forgotten!Vitali in the corn box. The corn box was a big favorite!

Even the big kids enjoyed the corn--for that matter, Steve was in there too!

Children of the corn.

Steve offered to take the day off and go with us.
We were so thankful that he did. It was a great family day!

One of the things I forgot to mention--a giant stack of tractor tires.
Perfect for a little boy whose main dream in life is to be
BIG!!

The hay jump! Max's favorite spot.

Ivy enjoyed it too.

And Vitali, AKA, Tigger, also loved the hay jump.
Though he nicely paused his bouncing to pose for a picture for mommy.

Ivy in a pumpkin. I love this little pumpkin head...
See? Told you.

The hayride was a lot of fun, too. Notice all the smiles?
More hayride-prompted grinning.

I am amazed at what huge strides Misha has made since he joined our family! Anyone familiar with sensory issues will appreciate the fact that it is a giant accomplishment for this little guy to let a donkey eat out of his hand!

All the kids. Look at Vitali. That pretty much sums him up in a snapshot! Haha! That boy is all entertainment and funniness!

It was a chilly day. I didn't notice how chilly till I got into the car and realized that my fingers were stiff! But no one wanted to leave and all were chattering and smiling on the ride home, overflowing with happy memories of the day.

From the shoebox blog

A surprise in the mail!

Steve asked me to clean off the front porch today because he was expecting a package. I didn't ask what it was but made sure it got done. I was hoping that he had ordered more rags because he uses so many this time of year.

When the truck arrived, I was in the back yard taking care of the chickens. I hadn't gotten dressed yet and so I was avoiding going over to the truck to get the package, letting the kids get it instead. As I walked into garage, I called, "Do I have to sign anything?" No, I didn't.

Then, I heard the boys say, "Who is it for?"
"Melissa Eimers." the driver read.
What? Curiosity got the better of me and I abandoned my scoopful of chick food and stepped out of the garage for a better view.

There was no doubt about it, that was not a box of rags!

Around me the kids were saying, "What is it Mama?" I felt a blush creeping over my face as I stated what would have been obvious to better readers, "Daddy sent me flowers!" I looked up and saw the driver grinning in amusement at my reaction.

What a fun and sweet surprise from my honey!

As we walked into the house, Max kept a steady stream of conversation going. To me he said, "Mama, you are going to kiss Daddy?" To Misha he warned, "Mama and Daddy are going to kiss. You will have to watch them!" (Misha makes a big giggly deal of it when he sees kissing.) To everyone else, "Daddy loves Mama! He give her flowers!"

Aren't they beautiful?

The flowers are beautiful! Once before he has sent me flowers. Other times he has hand delivered them. I am not the sort of girl who requires flowers all the time, but how fun it is and how flattered I am that he thought of me, ordered them and kept the secret until I was surprised today!

ten

September 11 is a birthday at our house!

This year Hannah turned ten! I can hardly believe it!

The big news for this year was that Steve's brother Daniel and his wife Bonita welcomed a tiny 3lb, 15oz baby girl the same day!

We packed ourselves together and headed to Chattanooga just to be there. Of course, the baby went straight to the NICU. She was doing quite well and I am pretty sure she was the biggest baby there though we didn't really get to see her, just a glimpse. Tiny, just the same. The good news is that she came out crying and has been breathing on her own!
Since all looked good, we came home that afternoon and remade plans to party with G'ma and G'pa falk at their house. We stopped and got the stuff to make subs for dinner (Hannah's request) and bought a cake (Oh, happy day; I LOVE storebought cakes!). We watched Hannah's new movie, Enchanted, and ate the cake.

So, it's official now. I have a child in double digits! I think that is some kind of milestone for a parent. Unfortunately, no presents for the parents are involved. Well... there was cake...

We got Hannah a digital camera and gave it to her early in case she had a chance to take pictures of the baby. As I suspected, no such luck but she was pretty happy anyway! I love watching the kids open birthday presents. The other five all clamoring around the birthday child calling, "Open mine first!!"and "Mine next!!" I love seeing their faces light up with pride when the careful Dollar Tree selection is properly admired. I also love watching my Grandpa enjoy the show. He really gets a kick out of not being able to see a thing around the horde of small partiers! :-) He laughs and smiles the whole time. And my dad gets it all on video. Or at least he tries to. Its that way every time. And it makes for a kind of comfortable, cozy predictability that we all enjoy.

Family reunion

We had a Falk family reunion this weekend. This included 27 of us to feed and one of us eating for two (not me!). Mom sent us all home stuffed!

We played a little of the new clue game. It is really quite fun. And Beth brought this game, Fill or Bust. We played it and had a good time.
John and Jude kept score while I practiced my stylish rolling of the dice. I am not sure I am ready for Vegas....
Jude switched jobs and started helping his mommy throw the dice.
Daniel working on a good dice roll.
Evan, who won so soundly I am suspicious that he must have cheated...

Ethan enjoyed his fried ice cream from Aunt Beth while second-in-line Isaac drooled nearby.

John, Beth and Jude came to our house for a bit before they left for home and Jude met our temporary pet turtle while his dad, mom and Uncle Steve did some shooting in the yard.
Moving turtle freaked him out a bit. Closed up turtle made him alternately hungry and quarterback-like.
The front steps were a fun place to play!

Before they left, Jude got to go and see the little chickies in the back yard. He really enjoyed them. From a distance, that is. A good, safe distance. Because you can never be too careful around peeping baby chicks.

Story Blog

Hannah has started a new blog called Stories Galore! She reads a story onto the computer and, since Blogspot won't publish plain audio, she had the idea to make a Youtube video of her narration complete with pictures that she has taken herself! She is doing a great job. I recommend her first story, Little Red Riding Hood. Hmmm...doesn't that little Crimson-hooded darling look familiar?!