Painting Has Begun!

The painting contractor started work today and the house is quite a sight! He has already sanded and primed the back of the house. Winter is almost upon us, so they're moving fast. We have 10 feet of plastic around the entire house, caution tape, and lead paint hazard signs. The exterior paint contains lead, so by law they have to put up signs and cover the ground where the paint chips will be landing.

The back of the house, sanded and primed in one day!

Another shot of the back.

Plastic and caution tape on the back porch.

Some areas of the paint are being completely sanded off.

The new roof!

Our lead hazard caution sign. We may not have many visitors until the painting is done!

Front of the house.

Big Wave Day

This past weekend we heard that 30 foot waves would be hitting the coast. Ron said, "Let's get out to the beach, I won't be denied!" These large waves generally hit only once or twice per year, so when it happens we try our best to go out and catch the action. We went to the beach and the jetty where we saw spectacular enormous waves. On days like this you realize the strength of the ocean, and truly respect its force. Here are a few pics from the day:

Huge waves rolling over the jetty. Normally the water is well below the jetty rocks.

One of the biggest waves we saw.

The dunes leading to the jetty. Lots of people were standing on these to view the waves.

The huge wall of 30 foot waves.

The kids had fun running from the waves.

Beautiful sea foam

Ballet Class

Tonight I watched Sarah's ballet class and took a few pics. She is doing so well in class and loves to dance! She has come such a long way in just four years, I'm very proud. Here are a few pics of her class:

Catching some air with her leap.

I had some fun in photoshop with this one!

Stretching at the barre. I love the composition of this picture with the girls all relaxed in their stretch on the right and the teacher on the left talking to one of the girls. Sarah is to the right of her teacher doing a split stretch on the barre.

Practicing their choreography for the Christmas show as gingerbread people. Sarah is on the right.

Practicing their dance.

In attitude position, Sarah is the one in the middle on the left.

Roofing Day #2

Yesteray the roof was almost completely removed along with all of the tar paper and OSB board. I felt like I was in a 5.0 quake for most of the day...nothing has fallen off the walls yet though, phew! Today is much quieter I am happy to report. As Sarah put it, "It sounded like there was a big giant stomping around up there mom!" Here are some pics from late yesterday and today:

The roof to our play room which is below our bedroom and can be seen right outside our bedroom window. These are thick old growth redwood planks, gorgeous!

Another shot from our window. Note the porta potty in the far left corner of the yard. I never thought we'd have one, but lo and behold here it is!

The shingles arrived late morning and were unloaded on the roof with loud thuds. We didn't see hide nor hair of the cats all day yesterday, poor things!

Stay posted for the after shots in the next day or two!

Raising the Roof!

Today is the day our old roof is coming off! After seven months of planning and preparation the major work on our house is finally under way! The roofers were here at around 7:30 this morning, they don't mess around. Most of the roof should be removed today, and the new one will be installed by Thursday! I'm so glad we're having great weather, thanks God! There's not a cloud in the sky and I'm hoping it will stay this way for a few more weeks so we can get our new paint job done as well!

Justin and I took a walk down the alley and got a few pics of the roofing process.

It's a great day to lose the roof!

Sarah's Thai Backpack

A very pround girl holding her Thai backpack which arrived on Halloween.

Cute little people and animals!

When I was in Thailand I saw some adorable backpacks and purses. The designs are animae looking and they have cute little faces and animals all over them. I almost got one for Sarah, but changed my mind at the last minute. I was on a quick dash of a shopping trip with our translator Nu, the day before we left to come home. I was picking up an illustration done by a Thai artist of Sarah which turned out so amazing - I'll have to post pics of it sometime. In all the rush and hurry of shopping I didn't pick one up. Anyway, when I got home I told Sarah about the backpacks and she said, "Mom, I wish you had gotten it for me!" So I contacted one of the YWAM leaders we met, (Heather), and asked her to pick one up for me. She hunted for it in the night market and found an adorable one, thank you Heather!! It has all kinds of eco-groovy symbols on it and is perfect for our area - it even has pictures of houses with solar panels on them! Sarah loves it and I'm happy to have gotten her a one of a kind birthday present. It cost only about $10, here it would be much more!

Sunday

This is what Ron, Justin and Monkey did on Sunday afternoon. Their napping was so cute I had to snap a picture.