I found this while grading Caleb's schoolwork and thought it was sweet.  I wanted to post about it so I don't lose it. I'm sure one day Ian will get a kick out of it. 

Essay: Character Sketch

Ian

|Has two extremely different modes.
*******************************
..Happy Ian
*******************************
....Playing with a pencil and a paper.
.......Makes real good scribbles.
....Gooing
.......Says "Ah-GAAAH", and "Ooooh!".
..........ah-GAAAH might mean "Cool."
..........Oooooh means "Yada-yada. I'm bored"
....Asking for a bottle
.......He has different ways of saying it.
.........ba-BAAAH means "Can you find my bottle?"
.........mu-muh... means "I think i'm hungry!"
.........muuh-MEH means "I am hungry."
.........mu-MEH!! means "GIMME MILK!"
...........Also translated as "I WANT _____"
************************************
..Angry Ian
************************************
....Hitting stuff.
......Says "MEH!" when hits.
......Leads to In the bed.
........MEH! means MILK!!! or HUNGRY!!!!
....In the bed.
......Crying his head off.
....Delayed milk travel.
......Leads to Hitting stuff if not taken carefully.
......Or to bed.

I think my sister, Jennifer, is one of the most talented photographers there is out there. I am truly amazed and inspired every time I see her newest photography sessions. I know it takes a lot of work and effort, not only to take the pictures, but also to edit each picture after it is taken to make them look just right.  

I was so happy when Jennifer told me she would take photos of our family this year before she left the state (her husband is in the marines).    The pictures turned out incredible!    She took 419 pictures in all, but here are some of the best....


You can view more of Jennifer's photography at this link.  Please "like" her facebook page if you get a chance.

And you can also view more from this photo session at this link.

Here was the last project that I finished in the last week-



Just like last time, getting up in the lift was kind of scary...not only was it high, but I had to maneuver it a lot to get it above the awnings to the right spot.   It took me about 10 minutes each time just trying to get the lift in the right place to begin painting.   

The weather was kind of cold but it wasn't as bad as the day before.   Before I got up close to the sign, I just assumed it would be a fairly easy project. But when I saw it up close, and realized how large and long it was, it really made me scared that I wouldn't be able to meet my deadline.....look how long it stretches!



I thought, "Should I just leave it be and not start this one? It's just too large of a project for me. I can't do this!"
But I remembered the building owners saying how excited they were about the sign being done, and I just decided to try anyway, so as not to let them down.

 I just decided to work on each small part at a time and not think of it as a whole.

 I trembled in fear a lot up there in the lift, because of the way it sways back and forth. I kept thinking, "I'm going to die....I just know I'm going to fall to my death."   I'm sure that was a bit of an overreaction, but remember: I'm new to this!!

Over time, however, I got used to being up there and it didn't seem quite as frightening. Except a couple of times when I almost gave myself a heart attack using the driving joystick instead of the lift joystick.

After about 3 hours of working, this was all I had done:





And I thought to myself, "OH NO, now I've really bitten off more than I can chew. If it took me that long to do those three letters, there is NO WAY I can get it done before Sunday.  No way on earth."

I kept praying that God would somehow give me the strength to get it all done in time.

He answered my prayers, because in the next two hours (after getting lunch and feeding the baby), this is how far I had gotten:



Now I had hope that it could be done!  And I felt motivated the rest of the day...and I worked until it was dark.  Then I was absolutely exhausted- not to mention homesick.  This was the longest time that I've been apart from my kids and I was really feeling it.   I missed them so terribly.   I felt so emotional and cried when I got home.   I couldn't wait for it to all be over.  I love painting but am not used to being at it for so many days in a row, away from the kids- and my husband.   Many times, I have taken my kids with me when I'm painting, so this was just new for me.   I couldn't wait to be home on a regular schedule again!

The next day, after getting some rest, I felt energized again and worked really hard. The building owners had asked me to change the word "mart" at the end, to "est. 1914", so on a grid paper I drew out the words and used the grid to transfer it to the wall.  I was worried it wouldn't work or look good, but it ended up working out well!  I was so pleased.  I was done before 2:00 PM!

Here is the building when I finished it:


As soon as I finished, the man who owns the building asked me if I would like to paint the trim on the windows.

Since the lift would only be there till Sunday, I told him I would need to start right away...so his wife left to get the stain for the building, and I got started around 3:30 PM.   I finished the first coat on the trim above and below the windows by 5:00 PM, and this morning at 6:00 AM I started the second coat and was finished by 7:30! 

So I'm finally done with all of the painting projects for this year!  Hurray!

 Wednesday morning, bright and early, I got up and took Annah to the babysitter in town, and went to the Steele Furniture sign to get started.   As terrified as I was of getting up that high, I knew that I had already promised to do this...and I kept reminding myself that courage is being afraid to do something but doing it anyway.   I want my kids to see my example and see that I don't let fear make me quit something that I am planning to do (even though I was tempted to quit many times before I started).  Besides, if I am going to eventually do larger murals, I have to get over my fear sometime!    (Before this week, I didn't even know I had a fear of heights!) I started near the top so I could go down as I worked, not up!

Here's a video of the lift, so you can see what I was afraid of:


It was pretty cold Wednesday, and very windy...but I was wearing coveralls and had hand warmers in my pockets, and that helped a lot!    I had told James the day before that the only reason I was able to get the Cullman Banana supply mural done so soon was because I had given myself a deadline of 2 days, and somehow that is what I ended up doing- deadlines get me moving fast!  So he gave me a deadline for this one: 4 hours for each side.  He told me he knew I could do it.

To my own surprise, I ended up getting it done in 6 hours...three hours per side!   I was really shocked that it was done so quickly, because the task seemed so daunting at first.   I thought it would take about 2 days at least.

Here is a picture of the sign before I began:

 

And here is one side when I had it finished:


And the other side....

James drove the bucket lift to the next location today, and I got up on it for a little bit to feel it out and see what I was up against.  The Steele Furniture sign seems so small from far away! I thought it would be much easier than I realized it was going to be once I got up there and saw it close up.



It wasn't really the size of the sign that bothered me so much, but the height of it.  It is really, really high, and I have to extend the bucket lift way up in the air, almost as far as it can go.   For my husband, who tried it first, it wasn't much...he's used to doing stuff like that, having worked at the Cable company for years and being in lifts multiple times over the years. But for me, completely new to this...it was very scary up there in the air, shaking back and forth with the wind!  It was steady enough at first, but it got really windy all at once while I was up there, and shook the basket pretty hard - scared the living daylights out of me. lol   I will just have to get used to the shaking.  Hopefully tomorrow won't be as windy as it was today!

This was my view from the basket...


As you can see, I'm going to have to work around some messy, broken lights.  They are going to be a pain to work with, but hopefully it won't be too much trouble. 



Here's another closeup.


And here is what the sign looks like from the sidewalk.  Seems so much smaller from there.  


I'll be sure to post progress once I've started! 

I really enjoyed working on this restoration project this week!   I have never operated a bucket lift before, but once I figured out the controls, it wasn't so hard at all.   

The weather was beautiful Saturday...just a little bit chilly.  It actually turned out to be a really busy weekend to be doing my painting- It took me about 20 minutes circling the block before I could actually get in, because they were having a Christmas event in town and the mural was on a road where there were lots of people, and there were police directing the traffic.     There were Santa Clauses everywhere driving people around in horse drawn buggies, and people walking around drinking apple cider- it smelled delicious.  If I had known about this prior to scheduling the week James took off work, we probably would have chosen a different week to do it! 

Once I got in, though, I was able to get a lot of painting done.   I had to go back for the baby every couple of hours, but I managed to get halfway done with the mural in the first day!



I didn't go back Sunday because we were going to have family pictures done after church, but I got back to work Monday morning.    Thankfully, the weekend traffic was over and it was much easier getting in and out. I worked until it got dark, trying to get it finished- I knew it was going to rain the next day, and I was hoping that I could just finish the last little part. However, it got dark before I could finish. 






The next morning, I drove with the babysitter to town, while it was already raining.  My thought was that maybe the rain would go away and I could get that last little bit finished.  I was determined to get it done!   Unfortunately, it kept raining  and raining.  Reluctantly, I went back home around 10:30.   At about 2:00, though, I noticed it wasn't raining and thought that maybe if I hurried, I could get there with enough time to paint that last little part.  So I asked Bonnie if she would help me watch the baby in the truck while I painted some more.  She sat in there and took care of the baby, and I finished in about 1 1/2 hours!  

As I was almost finished, I noticed it was sprinkling rain....I prayed, "Please God, let the rain hold off till I get finished!  Please just let the rain hold off until I am finished and am able to put away the rest of the paints!"   He answered my prayer!   I finished the mural, put away the paints, took a picture of the mural...then got back in the truck, and almost immediately, the rain started pouring!      

It did not harm the mural, in case anyone wonders! 



I'm so happy to have done this in less than 3 days!  If it wasn't raining today, I'd be out working again, but I might have to wait till tomorrow to get started on the next project (I'll be restoring another old sign in town).  I might change my mind later and just work on it during a dry spot. lol  I have three projects in total that I am hoping to get completed this week.     One down, two to go!

Here is a picture of the one I'm working on next:

Above picture from this link.

Remember the Cullman Banana Supply and Jazz Feeds mural I restored about 6 months ago?  See here.

This week I'm going to restore the front side of the same building now, where there is another Cullman Banana Supply mural there. It's about 100 years old, from what I was told. 

I'll be starting on Saturday...James is (generously) going to be taking off work to watch all of the children, except Annah.   I have a babysitter who will be watching her in a building about a block or two from the mural site, and she will just bring Annah to me every couple of hours so I can feed her.  Looking forward to it! 

I

These are the moments that make life wonderful.

There is nothing more precious, in my opinion, than seeing brother and sisters loving each other.  

I was thrilled to receive an email from Michelle Duggar this morning, saying thank you for the portraits!   I am so happy to know that the portraits got there safely and that the family actually has them!

Here is part of the email that she sent:

Dear Bethany,

Wow! What a surprise!
Thank you so much for the beautiful portrait pencil drawings of our children! What a blessing & precious keepsakes!
Your sweet note & words of encouragement were greatly appreciated!
Thank you for blessing us in such a special way!
And tell the children thank you for their kind notes! We will enjoy their picture in our dining room on our prayer bulletin board.

With Gratefulness,
Michelle for the Duggars
2 Cor. 12:9

Isn't that so sweet? What an awesome way to start off the day!!!