Category Archives: Life at the Lambdins

August 4, 2008 · 8:25 am

Living Life “Outside of the Box”

No I haven’t dropped off the face of the earth – we just arrived home from two weeks away. After running the program staff for a youth summer camp, we spent the following week enjoying our annual Lambdin family & friends camping trip to Lake Tahoe.  I have lots to share with you all about our summer adventures, our “barn raising”, adoption progress and my “fat face” update – but for today before tackling the mounds of mail & messages, loads of laundry and organization for the upcoming (far too fast for me!) school year – I wanted to write a quick post about….

Living Life Outside of the Box

The particular “box” I am talking about is the one that seems to command center stage in most of our homes – the television.  Last year I came across a website that challenged us to take the month of August and “Live Life Outside the Box” – in other words unplug your TV set for a month and spend that time doing other worthwhile pursuits.  We took the challenge and added our own ban on computer games and all other electronic entertainment, media and non essential computer time(ie: mindless web surfng). We – or perhaps I should say “I” – the Momma, have decided that this “fast” should become an annual tradition for our family.  It is a perfect time of year to do it as we are winding down the summer with a couple of weeks to enjoy family activities and as we need to focus on preparing and organizing for another academic year.

Now, I do need to tell you that unplugging the “boob tube” (as my mother called it) is not a huge sacrifice for our family.  We do not have cable (and never have had it – in fact the first five years of our married life we did not even own a TV) and therefore we only get fuzzy reception on three channels if we go through the hassle of hooking up an antennae.  This alone keeps us from watching hardly any television on a regular basis.  About the only time the actual television goes on is when we are watching a sporting event (mostly football games and March Madness College Basketball).  We also have chosen to never have our TV in the main living and dining area of our home.  This keeps it from being the focus of our attention and we NEVER (yes in capital letters & bold) watch the TV while we are eating meals. (I cannot emphasize enough how important meal time conversations are to all relationships – if you do nothing else turn off your TV during dinner & eat around the table)  We do however enjoy watching movies on DVD’s, probably more often than we should.  After our month of “Living Life Outside of the Box” in 2007, we decided to continue the “habit” throughout the school year on Monday through Friday.  It was a great discipline as well as keeping us focused on more productive activities.

Can you and your family take the month and unplug the TV, video games, movies and live life “outside the box”?  Or perhaps a month might put you “over the edge” – how about a week or 10 days?  I can gaurantee you that if you think you just “couldn’t do that” – you probably need to! 🙂

Check out this statistic:

The average American watches over 4 1/2 hours of television every single day!

 

Let’s add that up. That is 31½ hours every week (almost a second job!). That also adds up to 5½ solid days per month and more than two entire months every year. By age 70 that is over 13 years watching television! Aren’t there more important things you would rather be doing with this time? For those like me saying I don’t watch that much TV – do your own math – do you watch 2 hours a day? (thats 15 hours a week, one month out of the entire year, 6+ years of your lifetime) Or maybe you just watch an hour a day – what could you do with 7 extra hours this week?  Gives you something to think about.

Worse, according to the most recent figures from Nielsen, the average American household has a TV playing somewhere in their household for 8 hours 14 minutes per day.  How is there any time available to develop meaningful relationships, pursue worthwhile endevours or make a difference in the community or world? 

The number one queston/statement I get from others about my life is this –

“How do you do it all?” or “I don’t know how you do it all.”

Well, I don’t watch TV and maybe that is a large part of the answer. (although let me be the first to admit that I don’t do it all and I certainly don’t do it all very well!)

Here is a “short list” of some fun and relaxing things you could do with your extra time this month

  • Have a family game night
  • Read a book (or write one!)
  • Have coffee with a friend
  • Go on a walk (and take your spouse or child)
  • Plant a garden
  • Begin to learn to play an instrument or learn a language (easily done with 15 hours a week put in!)
  • Take a class (or teach one)
  • Host a dinner party
  • Volunteer or do community service
  • Call your Mom, Dad, sibling, long lost friend & chat
  • Bake or cook something new
  • Do something with your priceless photos 
  •  Journal
  • Soak your feet in warm water and give yourself a pedicure
  • Go out & throw a ball or play sports with your kids
  • Write a letter (yes with a paper, pen and a stamp)

Will you join us this month (or at least a part of it) in Living Life “Outside of the Box”?

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Filed under Family Traditions, Life at the Lambdins, Time Management

June 29, 2008 · 10:38 pm

Our Weekend Barn Raising Report

What a great weekend of working hard to enlarge a room to be used as a combo – office, school room, play room & family room- with the ultimate goal of creating (and filling!) a boys bedroom.

We were blessed this weekend to have many friends join in the effort and help us save time & money.  THANK YOU with all of our hearts to:

  • Deanne, Justin & Kaitlyn Barth – for their hard work, delicious food and always uplifting fellowship (Justin your expertise and excellence  was sooooooo appreciated and needed!)
  • Andrew Colton – who came over after a full days work to use his awesome building experience to help with this room
  • Tracy & Felipe Rodriguez for bringing over pizza on Saturday for the crew and for Felipe’s wise advice & input
  • Cindy Moore for the healthy & yummy snacks she brought over to keep us nourished
  • Jennae Lambdin for her tireless hard work & buying the door
  • Aunt Eilene for the yummy (as always!) food she sent over!
  • Rachel Fichtner – for providing a delicious and full dinner on Friday night
  • Sarah Vigil Jones for bringing by a basketful of snacks Saturday morning
  • Our dear “Grandma” Gloria Grupe for the financial help and for emptying her cupboards to bless us.
  • Brandi Gaston – for helping with Home Depot “hunting”, painting, sanding and encouraging.
  • Jeff Gilbert for working hard all day long on Saturday (we are ready to return the favor when you do your garage!)
  • Donna Nelson & her children for providing two fun filled days for Joy and Daniel (and one for Grace too!) – what a blessing.

The current project status:

The room is sheet rocked, taped & “mudded” (is that a word?), sanded & mudded again. (and again) The doors are hung.

Next up:

  • Monday – last check for more sanding & mudding needed; hopefully texture will be applied and perhaps painting will begin
  • Tuesday – walls, ceiling & trim painted
  • Wednesday – windows put in (depending on Scott’s schedule)  Floor tile begins???

Help Needed

  • Floor – we may be in need of help to tile the floor.  As we get a closer to that step – we just may be asking for help with this step in the process. 🙂
  • Counter & Cabinets – we are hoping to install a long (25 foot) counter with a space for each one of the girls to do school as well as a spot for my office.  We also will need cabinet storage for homeschool curriculum & supplies as well as my Creative Memories inventory and JECHS development office supplies.  We have a friend coming over this week to give us ideas on doing this inexpensively.  We have no idea what this part of the project will entail.

Our goal will be to have everything completed and moved into the room by the time Dan goes back to work on August 5th.  (oh and I would so love to have a new baby boy by then too – we are trusting the Lord for His perfect timing) We will keep everyone posted as things progress – both with the room & the adoption.

 

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Filed under Adoption, Life at the Lambdins

June 29, 2008 · 7:34 pm

The One Year Old Portrait

We are a picture taking, album making, photo loving family!

However we take precious few professional portraits.  In fact we have yet to pay for a professional family portrait and other than the occasional church directory family picture all our family photos have been taken by a friend or family member with our personal cameras.  We do “splurge” for two professional portrait sessions per child –  a one year old baby portrait and their senior picture(we have yet to arrive at the wedding era – yikes!). And when I say splurge…I simply mean we pay the sitting fee and purchase the smallest package available. 🙂

Almost eighteen years ago when we began the baby portrait tradition, we were given the heirloom dress that I and my two sisters had worn for our one year old baby portraits.  It was a simple creme colored knit dress with puff sleeves.  I was so excited to have my daughter, Michelle wear the same dress I had worn as a baby.  When Amy came along three years later, I thought “I want her to feel just as special” and so I had her wear the dress as well!  As each daughter arrived, they too had their professional baby portrait taken…in the same dress, at the same studio, with the same background, in the same red velvet chair.  Thus a family tradition was established and the dress has become a priceless heirloom in the Lambdin family.

My hallway is now lined with six 11×14 framed baby portraits of each of our beautiful daughters.  My Mom recently passed on to me my baby portrait as well which is hung across the hall for all to see and compare.

Daniel turned one this spring and it was time to take his professional portrait.  Of course we were NOT going to put him in the dress!  Since my husband did not have an outfit to pass on to him, we set out to find a simple, charming and special outfit that could also become a family heirloom someday for our boys.  Not an easy task. (in fact I am amazed at how hard it is to find nicer, more dressed up clothes for boys at all – an unfortunate sign of our times in my never to be humble opinion)  We finally found one at a local upscale clothing store and set the appointment with photographer, Janie McCoun who has taken every single one of the girls photos.  We called just in time as Janie is closing her studio this month and only had a few sittings available.

  • Our photographer and dear friend, Janie McCoun

Several of the sisters wanted to come watch Daniel get his portrait taken and he was by far the easiest and happiest of all our babies on picture day. (Joy was so uncooperative that she fell of the chair and bloodied her nose!)  We now are sitting with dozens of proofs that are all darling with the task of picking one to add to the hallway and start a wall of baby boy portraits opposite of the baby girls.

My favorite thing about these photos are their bare feet and little fingers and toes.  I also love the simplicity of the photos which does not distract you from looking at their distinct features, soft skin and shiny wet lips.  As a mommy I never tire of walking down my hallway and looking at each of these little lives that we have been so blessed with.  The years go by so fast and the baby stage is so short.  These photos are a sweet reminder of what a unique, special miracle that God has created in every life.

I want to remember and capture every smile, every sweet smell of baby breath, every touch of their soft skin and wiggly toes, every sparkle in their eye, every deep belly laugh, every squeal and every moment of their baby years.  If you are a mommy of a little one right now, stop & touch their soft skin, wiggle their toes, smell their breath and kiss their lips….because life is like a vapor – here for a moment and then it vanishes!

All too soon another wall in my home will be filled with senior portraits. <sigh>

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Filed under Blessings, Family Traditions, Life at the Lambdins

June 26, 2008 · 8:09 am

Choose Well

Sunday June 15 was the “perfect Father’s Day”.

First let me say that anyone who feels “sorry” for my dear darling hubby because he has six daughters needs to think again. This man is one very pampered Dad! For weeks the girls have been planning and scheming and continuing to come up with more ideas to give their Daddy an excellent Father’s Day.

The day began as the two eldest walked through the door Sunday morning (they had been house sitting the night before) with his favorite Starbucks coffee and a newspaper in hand. They then proceeded to prepare his favorite breakfast of pancakes, eggs and sausage that we enjoyed on the back porch. (although he insisted on making the pancakes – saying no one makes them as good as Dad!)

During breakfast, he was surrounded by the lively chattering of all his girls (and Daniel threw in some boy noises for good measure) as well as several dear young ladies that he has been a father figure to who joined us for the days events. Before long it was time to pile into the van and head out of town to enjoy a day at the ball game where Dans favorite team (the Oakland A’s) would take on across the bay rivals the San Fransisco Giants.

We arrived at the beautiful ball park right on the Frisco Bay with plenty of time to enjoy a leisurelytailgate party with all the fixen’s – ribs, brats, corn on the cob, fresh fruit, chips and cookies. (and yes we both took the day off from the “healthy eating plan”!) The weather was simply gorgeous  – a light breeze blew through the sunny stadium that was a perfect70 degrees. We had great seats overlooking the Bay Bridge while watching the A’s beat the Giants in a 5-3 decision. We returned home to ice cream sundaes and a movie in the family room while we soaked our feet in warm water and applied moisturizer to our lightly sunburned skin. We all slept soundly after our fun filled day.

As I was reflecting on the “perfect day” I thought about how incredibly blessed my children are to have Dan Lambdin as their father. I hope and pray that each one of my daughters will find and choose such a man to be the father to their children. 

To my dear daughters (and those who are like my daughters),

Before long you will enter into a season of life where you will choose a man to marry.  Too often young ladies concentrate on things that are shallow and even trivial when they dream of the man they will someday marry.  The “short list” I hear from many a girl is that they want them to be handsome (or I believe the current term is “hot”), physically strong, funny, romantic and earn a good living (ie: be rich).  Let me assure you that those things are the least important attributes you can look for. I am sure many wise women out there who have “been there, done that” can attest to this truth.

When I hear women complaining about their husbands and their lack of help with or interest in the children, I can’t help but think –  that is what you chose!  At least here in America your marriage is not arranged or forced on you – no, you get to choose the man who will someday be the father to your children!

  • Choose a man who likes babies.  Look for the one who is drawn to the little ones and who puts out his arms to hold them, who is comfortable with playing “peek-a-boo” and who is not too cool to change the tone of his voice and make goofy faces to make a connection with babies.
  • Choose a man who is self sacrificing – who you see regularly denying his own desires and putting others before himself. (not only giving of his time, talent & treasure to help his family and friends but also volunteering and serving others without getting anything in return)
  • Choose a man who speaks with the mindset that children are a blessing not a burden, a miracle not a mistake, an asset not an accident and a treasure not a taxing financial drain
  • Choose a man who like Jesus says – “Let the little children come to me”
  • Choose a man who is pro life – who has a heart and compassion for the unborn
  • Choose a  man who believes that every child is created by God and who does not want to limit or miss out on the children that the Lord has to give him – whether by birth or adoption into his family
  • Choose a man who loves the Lord with all his heart, soul, mind and strength

Choosing a husband, the future father of your children is the single most important decision you will ever make outside of choosing to serve the Lord.  Choose well.

Love,

Mom

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Filed under Courtship, Family Traditions, Inspiration, Life at the Lambdins, Marriage

June 23, 2008 · 1:19 pm

Barn Raising Update

We have been working steadily for the past two weeks getting bits & pieces done on the new room.  We are so thankful to all of the people who have helped with their labor, their ideas, their wisdom and their expertise.  (THANK YOUFelipe, Scott, Chris, Rick, Kim, Jennae, Jason, Josiah, Justin, DJ – we cannot tell you enough how very, very much we appreciate each of you)

Here is a peek at the progress so far:

We are gearing up to put the crew to work who have volunteered to come out either this Friday or Saturday to help us “raise the barn” – aka – finish this room.

Dan will continue to sheet rock this week as well as getting the supplies ready for the weekend activities.  We hope to complete the following:

  • Any remaining sheet rock hung
  • Taped & Textured
  • Walls & doors painted
  • Hanging doors
  • Tile floor laid
  • Possibly put in the windows (if they arrive)

That will get us to the place where we can begin to move in furniture and then work on putting up our long counter work space and cabinets as time, money and expertise permits.

We have lots of people who have inquired about being involved but we have not heard for sure.  This is who we have a commitment from for some or part of the two days (if you told me you were coming and I don’t have you on this list – please tell me again!):

  • Scott & Brandi Gaston
  • Justin & Deanne Barth
  • Jeff Gilbert
  • Felipe Rodriguez
  • Donna Nelson – babysitting our wee ones
  • Cindy Moore, Rachel Fichtner, Tracy Rodriguez, Deanne Barth – bringing food to feed the workers

If you have been thinking about possibly coming to help or you can bring food or drinks to share – let us know by Tuesday so we can get a good schedule going of who will be doing what. (but ya know if you just show up we will put you to work!)

We are hoping that if Extreme Home Makeover can re-do an entire house in a week we can add on a small room in a few days.  Here is Dan working away right now as I type this!

I will post pictures of this event over the weekend.

PS – A cool breeze blew into Stockton today making our house very comfortable today – we are praising the Lord for the relief from the heat!

 

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Filed under Adoption, Life at the Lambdins

June 23, 2008 · 1:27 am

What’s wrong with this picture?

The first photo is the thermometer on our back porch which reads 86 degrees at 7:50pm tonight.  The second photo is our thermostat inside our home which reads 91 degrees!  What’s wrong with this picture?  I’ll tell you!

It is just WRONG that it is cooler outside my house than it is inside when I have the air conditioning running full blast all day, with fans blowing in every room, every curtain drawn & all the lights turned off.  Just plain wrong!

Ok….so here we are again – the temperatures are soaring in the San Joaquin Valley and our air conditioning looks to have gone on the blitz (it runs but doesn’t cool the house….at all…obviously).  We have been here before.   Eleven years ago the original air conditioning (most likely 30 years old) died at a very inconvenient time – the very beginning of summer and dear darling hubby and I were without any source of income during a huge life changing transition.  Yikes! My Mom came to the rescue loaning us the money to get a new system that worked AWESOME.  Unfortunately a couple summers ago things began to stop working well and after an entire week of repairmen  troubleshooting to try to get it up and going again….we found ourselves $900 poorer and with an air conditioning unit that would only ever cool the house down to the low 80’s.  Although this did not make this very “hot blooded” gal too happy, I have lived with it, trying hard not to complain. (and FYI 85 actually feels cool when it is 105 outside)

That brings us to last Friday – the first extremely HOT day of the summer where the mercury hit 105 and the air conditioner decided to quit working again all together! I was miserable and mad.  It is doubly painful because while the weather in Stockton always cools down in the evenings to a very comfortable and beautiful level which I enjoy immensely (and is one of my all time favorite aspects of California summers) but despite opening all the doors and windows the inside of our house just doesn’t cool off without the help of a working air conditioner.  Thus after midnight on Friday it was still 89 degrees in my house and I could not sleep even after taking a cold shower and lying in bed soaking wet with two fans blowing in my room.  In fact the coolest it ever got all night was 84 – YUCK!

Things did not improve over the weekend!  Saturday was another whopping 105 degree day and today topped off at 98.  And the inside temperature consistently stayed in the 90’s until well after 9pm, and then only creeping down ever so slowly throughout the night.

It is so hot in my house during the day that the candles are “sweating”, the chocolate chips turned into one large blob and the butter left out after breakfast began to melt away in just minutes!

It is so hot that it just zaps everyone of all their energy.  No motivation to clean, work or even play in the hot house.

So what have we done to survive the scorching heat wave with no AC?  During the day we have –

  • hung out anywhere there was air conditioning – the grocery store, Home Depot, Target, the Mall, Starbucks, friends homes, church, even the car – you name it we have been there & lingered much longer than we needed to.
  • spent much of the day at the neighborhood swimming pool.  Even me, “the mom”…who rarely gets in the pool preferring to only take a quick dip and then sit on the deck with a cold drink and a good book…was in the water almost the entire time and to the amazement of my kids even got my hair wet! (note to self – spend more time in the water with the kids – even when the AC does work!)

  • We have escaped the hot house in the evening by setting up a make shift family room outside.  Saturday night we blew up air mattresses brought the TV & DVD player outside, made fresh ice cold lemonade and root beer floats and enjoyed the cool evening watching a movie in the backyard.  When it was still too hot after midnight to go to sleep inside our house we just slept outside on the air mattresses all night! 

At least we are making memories! 🙂

It is now 12:30am – after a slight (7 degrees) dip in the temperature today – the house is still in the mid 80’s and I am in my bathing suit in front of a fan with the back door open (listening to Dan & Rebekah watch a movie outside – the other girlies have left to an air conditioned home they are house sitting for the evening).  Here I sit pondering what to do?  If finances were flowing freely – I would have called someone out on Friday and paid to fix it immediately – but that is not the case.  Besides a two year down turn in our financial situation (and before that we were not living the “high life”)…in just the past 2 weeks we have been dealt some financial blows to the tune of several thousands of dollars –

  • Discovering termites in our garage and having to have them treated to the tune of well over $1,000. (you can’t really let that go…at least I think) Check out this picture of those little buggers

  • The fuel pump went out in Dans car (and the car AC hasn’t worked in months which would be ok except the windows wouldn’t roll down either – talk about cooking your insides)  Obviously we had to fix his car since it is his only transportation to work.  “Ching Ching” – more unexpected cash out the window. On a side note  throughout the majority of our lives together, my dear darling hubby has driven pretty well worn beat up cars that were on their “last leg”.  Several were friends “cast off” cars while others were the cheapest cars we could afford.  We always say he drives by “faith & fumes”.  His current wheels have lasted 5+ years (much to the amazement of the guy we bought it from for $2,000 in 2003) – check out this picture – after a recent accident (Dan was not driving – this was attributed to a newly licenced driver in our home) and no it will not be repaired. (Dan, if you are reading this, know that I am believing that someday I will drive the “junk car” and you can have your dream truck.  It just might not happen until we are 70!)

  • Medical bills came due from a trip to the Emergency Room in an ambulance last March while we were in Santa Cruz,  when baby Daniel had a very scary episode and trouble breathing in the middle of the night. (we have a new large deductible plan at Dans job that is not working so well for us)
  • I had a back molar break a few weeks ago and am now in need (this is not a want) of a crown. (Typically a $500-$800 bill after insurance) Not to mention my recent back problems where I sought the help of a chiropractor which is not covered under our insurance)

All of those expenses came up after we made the decision to use the remainder of our tax stimulus rebate (after donating some of it for a Jim Elliot Scholarship) to finish off our garage as inexpensively as possible to make space for a boys bedroom. (click here to read about that – I’ll be posting an update tomorrow as well. If you are new to the blog and want to know why we need a boys bedroom it is because we want to adopt a baby brother – for that whole story click here) Now we have that additon started and all the remaining rebate money has been used for these unexpected situations….but we can’t exactly leave it not completed.

 Whew!  It can all be overwhelming and if I analyze everything too long I might just feel so defeated that it paralyzes me. 

So yes….I ponder what to do about the air conditioning.

  • Do we just “live with it” – knowing that the next two months we will have mostly 90+ days and if it is a normal Stockton summer there will be at least one “heat wave” of 110+ sweltering days(what a sobering thought that perhaps the inside temp might hit over 100!)? I won’t be able to hold workshops here for my business which will result in less money coming in. I will have to find creative things for my kids to do outside of the home & still figure out how to do my JECHS development job that I do from my home. (working on my lap top at Barnes & Noble?) Cooking in an already hot home is very stressful and will have to be dealt with as well because we do not eat out.  The list multiplies as I think of living in a “hot house” all summer & throughout most of September too.
  • Do we call someone out to look at it (and pay for the service call), get an idea of what we are facing and the costs…knowing that we don’t have the money to do anything?
  • Do we just take out a loan and live on “beans & rice” for the next few years as we pay it off?
  • Does Dan look for a “night job” to pay for it?

I honestly do not know the answers to these questions.  What I do know is this:

  1. God is not shocked or surprised by this turn of events in our lives
  2. God is in control
  3. God has the answer and He will give us wisdom, if we ask Him in faith. (The Bible promises that if we ask for wisdom He WILL give it to us)

Check out this chapter from the book of James in the word of God –

Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. But the brother of humble circumstances is to glory in his high position; and the rich man is to glory in his humiliation, because like flowering grass he will pass away. For the sun rises with a scorching wind and withers the grass; and its flower falls off and the beauty of its appearance is destroyed; so too the rich man in the midst of his pursuits will fade away. Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.

With that word of encouragement, I think I will consider it “all joy” now and go to bed.  I hope that any of you out there who are facing financial hardships and needing to know what to do (and with the struggling economy, I am sure there are many) – that you are encouraged.  Let’s all ask God for wisdom and faith.

6 Comments

Filed under Attitude, Endurance, Life at the Lambdins, Lifes Challenges

June 7, 2008 · 10:38 am

Can We Have An Old Fashioned Barn Raising?

A Barn raising is a one to two day event during which a community comes together to assemble a barn for one of its households, particularly in 18th- and 19th-century rural North America.

Ok, so we don’t have a barn to raise – but we do need a boys bedroom!  As we continue to wait for the Lord to bless us with a precious baby boy (or two!) we have decided to get going on a boys bedroom.  (If you are new to this blog and need a reminder of our current home space – click here to read and see photos)  After much thought we have decided that the best solution for our needs is to increase the size of our family room (which for us is known as the CM/School room) so that we can continue to use it for school, my home based business and also put the couch, games and TV in there as well. We currently use the third bedroom as our family room (with a large couch & TV in it).  By moving those things to the CM/School room we would have ourselves a “boys” bedroom (our “girls” bedroom currently sleeps all six of the girlies and both bedrooms are the same size so we could easily sleep three or more boys in there!) Right now Daniel sleeps in a portable crib in the corner of our bedroom – but when the new little one arrives (hopefully soon!) he will need to have a place to sleep – so……we decided to start moving in that direction now!

We have spent the past couple of weeks cleaning out the garage (which is where the extra space will be added since it sits right in front of the room we are wanting to expand), cleaning out my office and school room (what a chore!) and then moving everything out of both of those areas into the living room and back porch, leaving our house looking like a disaster area!

Yesterday we began the demolition!  Dan and the girls pulled down the garage cabinets, knocked down sheet rock, pulled up carpet and then tile that was under the carpet and hauled debris to a truck to take to the dump today.  Now that we have knocked out the wall between the CM/School room and the garage there is NO turning back!  We are committed.

So far this project has cost us nothing. (but hard work and lots of sweat)  Since you are all aware that we are saving every penny towards the adoption expenses, we are really wanting to do most of the work ourselves….or with the help of those with expertise in certain areas (like electrical and cabinetry) and friends who are willing to give up a few hours to help us tape and texture,  paint the walls, glaze the floor (yes it is cement and we are going to simply use one of those garage floor kits!) and I am sure other things we are not thinking of.  And that’s where a “barn raising” comes in!  We are seeking the help of our “community” of friends and family to help us meet this need for a boys bedroom. 

We have a former student and dear friend who owns a construction company and is going to send a crew out to quickly frame out and sheet rock the new walls.  Before that happens we first need to take care of some electrical infrastructure – like adding a few outlets and overhead lighting in the garage extension area.  We have no experience with this – anyone out there willing to volunteer their expertise and teach Dan how to do this?

Ways that someone can be a part of our community for a “barn raising”:

  • Give us advice, ideas, expertise, insights on this “do it yourself” project
  • Ideas for where to get supplies inexpensively or even free (you never know!) – wood, sheet rock, paint, glaze kit, tape, a door, double pain window, insulation, nails, cabinets, counter etc…
  • Come out for a few hours (or all day) on these two “barn raising days” – Friday June 27 and Saturday June 28 (I am sure these will be just the first of many more during the summer – or call Dan and I am sure he would take your help anytime!)
  • Help provide food on our barn raising days to feed the workers
  • The electrical needs
  • Putting in a new window (or two) – anyone done this?
  • We really would like to put up a long row cabinets to store all of our school supplies, my inventory and other storage needs – anybody out there with skills in cabinet making? (doesn’t need to be fancy)
  • Putting in a long counter top (24 – 32 feet long) that we can use for each of the girls study areas
  • Pray – for wisdom, guidance, good attitudes, safety and provision

Thanks Everyone!  We will keep you posted.

 

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Filed under Adoption, Life at the Lambdins

June 5, 2008 · 6:35 pm

Our Night at the Theater

We have been looking forward to this evening for nine months.  Last summer when we found out that Phantom of the Opera was going to be performed in Sacramento, we knew we had to be there!  The Phantom is one of our family’s personal favorites and we have many a memory surrounding the movie and soundtrack. (My favorite one is when the girls and I spontaneously went to the movies very late one school night to get away from the blaring of professional fans that were trying to dry out our kitchen after a water disasater.  We were the only ones in the theater so we sang out loud to every song and got up and danced in the aisles. Great fun and laughter!)

So how do you afford to take a family our size to the theater for an evening?  I’ll tell you!  Everyone pays their own way.  While there are times that I long to be able to treat my girls to things like this, we simply can’t afford it and because of that our children have learned to not only work hard for the things they want to do but they appreciate them more too.  The girls each worked to pay for their tickets as well as dinner and everyone helped Grace (the 9 year old) hold a small yard sale and lemonade stand last summer to pay her expenses.  Since Michelle was in Australia last September when she turned 18, we all decided that this would also be her birthday celebration, so everyone pitched in for her evening as well.  The tickets have been sitting in my jewelry box for nine months as we all anxiously awaited the big night to arrive.

The girls (the first five – Joy who is just five & baby Daniel stayed home and watched the movie!) spent most of the afternoon getting beautiful!  There were blow dryers, curling irons, make up, brushes and other accessories everywhere.  There was a flurry of excitement and lots of advice flying through the air on hair styles, color choices, jewelry etc… In this day and age almost any attire is acceptable for the theater – but not for my girls – they were not settling for anything less than formal dresses for this affair. It was one of those moments that I could not have been more thrilled and rather proud of my blessings of many girls who are growing into beautiful and accomplished young ladies.

Dan (who I am sure will enjoy the A’s game on Father’s Day much more than the theater) was also very accommodating, donning a fancy vest and bow tie. He looked dashing!  I went through my dresses only to find that most were a bit too big. (I am not complaining!)  Thankfully many friends have donated dresses to us over the years so we wouldn’t have to purchase them for high school formals. (And thankfully my girls are very agreeable to wearing “hand me downs”) I finally found the perfect black dress (size 10!).

We headed up to Sacramento mid afternoon to have an incredible dinner before the show at The Melting Pot, a fondue restaurant.  It was delicious, we all enjoyed every single course served and finished every last bite.  The dessert was especially spectacular – we had four types of chocolate fondue at our table – dark, white, milk and a combination of chocolate with peanut butter crumbles.  They were served with “dippers” of pound cake, brownie bites, strawberries, bananas, rice crispy treats, marshmallows and cheesecake. Oh my! It was heavenly.

We walked from the restaurant to the theater and I am sure many wondered where we were all going “dressed to the nines”! Our friend Mark Holliday (a season ticket holder) had gotten us seats on the fourth and fifth row – what a way to experience a production.  The costumes were stunning, the sets amazing, the music inspiring, the acting excellent.  We laughed, we cried and our hearts were touched once again by this wonderful show.

The memories will last a lifetime!

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Filed under Family Traditions, Life at the Lambdins

April 6, 2008 · 12:10 pm

On my way to church….

To my dear friend Teri, mother of five boys (and any of you Mommys out there with an all boy household):

I was thinking about you this morning as I tried once again to get out the door….on time….for church. I thought of the many things you will not experience as a mother of all males. You will never –

  • Have to get out of the shower dripping wet to hunt down your razor that the girls “just had to” use during their Saturday night “shaving party” ritual. (and give the lecture for the “umteenth” time about not using my razor!)
  • Get back in the shower to find out that the shaving cream is completly empty – scream at the top of your lungs – to no avail – for someone to bring me the shaving cream from the other bathroom. (only to strip my vocal chords, finally give up & just steal Dan’s shaving cream from the medicine cabinet…thanks honey!)
  • Listen to the constant battle for the mirror, curling irons and hair accessories.
  • Watch your five year old try on four different dresses with a complete meltdown in between each one, before deciding on the “perfect” one. (that I had suggested in the first place!)
  • Once again, go and  retreive my mousse from the girls bathroom….grrrrrr!
  • Exclaim – “No! We do not have time for you to paint your nails” as I catch a wift of nail polish drifting down the hallway
  • Throw every pair of shoes out of the closet only to conclude that one of your daughters has borrowed your dress shoes and has already left with Dad for Sunday School. (my shoes are the only thing of mine that come even remotly close to fitting them – but watch out girls – another 30 pounds and I just might be raiding your closet before church!)
  • Walk through the hall and almost pass out from the fumes of hair spray, mousse, perfume and nail polish!
  • Listen to the constant Sunday morning complaint – “I have nothing to wear!” (do boys EVER say that??) – I’m not sure what their closet & drawers are filled with – but apparently it is nothing!
  • To finally get in the car only to look in the rear view mirror and realize that your youngest has not brushed her hair and looks like an orphan child. (and of course we do not have a brush in the car.) Oh well! We are already late…it will have to do. (and yes I am sure her children’s church teacher thinks my husband is a widower by the way she looks on many a Sunday morning)

Ah, the joy of daughters. Yes, I know that these days will pass all too soon (and I do live with this reality as the eldest daughter is already gone) and I will be wishing for the days of missing razors, hair products and shoes, dress meltdowns and messy hair and a bathroom that looks like a cyclone hit a hair salon.  But can I look forward to 10 years down the road when the majority of my household is male (Daddy, Daniel, and perhaps a couple more adopted boys, Lord willing) – that I just might be on time for church?

Tell me it is a possibility!

The “low maintenance” men in my life before church

 

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Filed under Life at the Lambdins

April 6, 2008 · 12:03 pm

Welcoming a child

This weekend we sat down with our family and made the decision to sponsor a child monthly through World Vision.  We reviewed the packet they sent us giving us details of the child we will sponsor and watched the DVD highlighting children from different countries who have been helped through World Vision.  It is alwaya amazing to me to see the way people live in other countries.  The things we take for granted in the United States are vast! (like having clean running water at our disposal every minute, indoor plumbing, floors that are not made of dirt, multiple bedrooms – or even beds for that matter!) 

Here is the darling little seven year old boy, Nthabana, from Southern Africa that we are sponsoring:

This is a family project – not just a “Mom & Dad” thing, so we discussed how we were going to all participate.  Here is our plan:

  1. Prayer – We will all pray for him and his family.  We will add his photo to our prayer album that we use during homeschooling to remind us to pray.  We wil pray for him during family dinner time as well as individually.
  2. Finances – It costs $35 a month to sonpsor a chld through World Vision.  We are all going to chip in!  Joy is going to contribute her change each month. Grace is going to weed the yard for an hour a month. Rebekah, Kristen, Amy & Michelle are going to each chip in each month from their personal savings.
  3. Correspondance – Once a month we will sit down and write him letters, assemble a care package and have the younger ones draw pictures.  What a great family night activity!

Jesus said “…whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name, welcomes me.”  Matthew 18:5

This is a perfect and easy way to welcome a child, in Jesus name.

 

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