main floor

It worked! Here are some pictures of the kitchen, dining and living rooms. Note my beloved William Pahlmann book flying high in a place of honor.

The door next to the hutch there is a secondary door that we don't use much. It's original to the house, so that's cool. Hopefully we'll get some trim around it soon...

View from the end of the kitchen peninsula. I went with a cream paint color in the kitchen and living room- Benjamin Moore's 'white chocolate'- just because I wasn't sure what color we were going to do for cabinets, and I thought cream sounded both warm and fresh. I'm not thrilled with it now...it looks a bit stark. Andrew wants to put built in book cases in the living room, so that'll cover up some wall space.

Here's a closer look at the shelf bracket detail. We fell for Erika Powell's brackets, so Andrew came up with a variation for ours. This kitchen was such a process of evolution. If you recall, we spent the first year in our new house using the laundry room as a kitchen. We then progressed to counter tops, lower cabinets, and a sink on the main floor. Things just happened as we thought of them or needed them or Andrew had time to build them. "Oh, we should put something in the corner. Should we do a shelf through the window? How 'bout a cabinet that the shelf sits on?..." You get the idea.

Since we're doing most of the reno ourselves, things are still just slowly coming together, but that's better than coming apart! Andrew installed the shelf through the kitchen window and the glass tile a couple weeks ago. What a cheerful addition to my morning cup of coffee- sunshine bouncing off the iridescent citrus squares. Don't be too jealous, I'm usually brought abruptly back to reality with the waking of a baby girl or two...:)

There are still many unfinished edges and lacking details- as in, only 2 interior doors installed so far...on the loo's, thankfully.:) But we'll get there yet. Rome wasn't built in a day...or a home remodeled in 3 years??

And you can see better pictures of our kitchen and others that Andrew has done here.

sweet home sweet

Since I'm not great at computers, it's of course nearly impossible for me to figure out the picture

uploading business. After many failed attempts, here are a couple shots of our house's front door. I compiled the wreath with scraps of burlap and an old wool blanket, combining a couple of ideas found on Pinterest.

Now that I've given a teaser, I hope to share some photos of the inside, as well...

Oh!

Almost forgot-- we recently had our family photographed by a dear, extraordinarily talented friend. You can get a sneak peek at www.inspireddesignandphotography.com
Also, there are some shots of kitchens that Andrew has done (ours included!), and if you scroll back to December my dear little nephew Theo's mug is on the site, too.

Cheers!

Today we celebrate!
1. Being online (with a COMPUTER...for the first time in THREE YEARS!)
2. Margot's 5 months old
3. Andrew's 30 YEARS old
A redletter day for the Toftnesses- salute!

Hello my name is: stranger

Oh. My. Word. Now coming to you live from- my new phone! Still no computer here at 14852 (hopefully that will soon follow), but with my handy dandy space phone I can access my blog. Can I get a woot!

Since my last post- nearly a year ago!- a few things have changed in our family. As in-- I had a baby. Yay! Sweet little Margot Meg came in a fast and furious fashion on October 22, 2011.

The day's events, taken from my journal:

Saturday, October 22, 2011

8am- wake up, annoyed I'm still pregnant

9am- breakfast

10-11am- Andrew works on MTB trail with Oliver while I prep the house laundry for [dreaming of] having a baby. Bruce + Bonnie here.

12pm- lunch

1-2pm- Megan comes over to keep me company/commiserate with me (Mike broke up with her last week. What a JERK).

3pm- take a Tbs. of castor oil, walk the driveway, poop. [sorry about that last part]

4:30pm- [after working in the garden] first HARD contraction.

5:30pm- arrive @ hospital after leaving the kids with B + B.

6:30- resting comfortably with epidural.

7:45- feeling need to push intensify.

8:00pm- dr. has room prepped, I push.

8:02- we welcome MARGOT MEG TOFTNESS :)

She's a regular peach...uh, do most peaches cry a lot? This one does. But there's still that fuzzy sweetness. We're all crazy about her. This does not exclude Georgi, who loves to beep M's nose, poke her eyes, and burp her head. Yikes. I spend a lot of my hours each day just protecting the poor little lamb from her foxy sister. I won't lie and say it's all strawberries and sunshine, but we have our happy moments in the midst of chaos. :) I'm thankful for God's daily grace.

That's all for now...and probably for a while. This little hand gadget is a bit frustrating to navigate with its small smudged screen and touch-keys. I'm just thrilled to not have allowed an entire year to slip away without record. Eleven months sounds so much better.

And p. s. I can't figure out how to post a picture. Margot's really cute, so imagine a cute baby while you're waiting for my PC.

Teddy Jess

It is my delight to introduce my nephew, Theodore Jeshua Gaalswyk, adopted into the family of Luke and Anna 2.19.11.
Mom and I had the privilege of welcoming the new lil trio home to their sweet home in Dayton, OH. My two babies were there as well. Oliver and George are smitten with this round little bundle of cousin joy. As well they should be. He's a peach...practically literally. Theo's little peachy, fuzzy head is a downy orange patch of gloriousness.
On the subject of adoption: I grew up thinking it was as natural a means of growing a family as birthing a baby. Now as an adult, I am more aware of that truth. Did you know that when a child is adopted, the birth certificate is re-written? In the eyes of the law it is as if they were always part of this family. It brings tears of joy to my eyes. Then I consider the parallel of entering into God's family...tissue, please. Ephesians 1:4-5 says 'He chose us in Him before the creation of the world...adopted as His sons through Jesus Christ...'

Wait...QUIETLY?!

"Yet this I call to mind
and therefore I have hope:

Because of the Lord's great love we are
not consumed,
for His compassions never fail.
They are new every morning;
great is Your faithfulness.

I say to myself, "The Lord is my portion;
therefore I will wait for Him.

The Lord is good to those whose hope is
in Him, to the one who seeks Him;
it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord."
Lamentations 3:21-26

Oh goodness. I need these words today. I cling to the hope promised.
There has been a false accusation slammed on one of my dear siblings, and it's sucking the life out of our family. I want to stand on the roof and shout the truth... but I wonder if that's what God would call me to do? Yes, truth should be known. But am I in too compulsive a state to convey said truth clearly? Probably. Do I have a hard time waiting quietly? Absolutely.
Waiting= feeling like I'm sitting around doing nothing. I think there's something deeper to this message, though. The SALVATION OF THE LORD comes when I give everything to Him. I need to pour out my heart to Him, calling on Him for justice and mercy. It's so hard. I'm not a waiter. But even more...I'm not QUIET.
QUIETLY= holding my thoughts in 'til I could burst. But quietly in this context would probably mean simply not spewing every ill thought I have, infecting everyone else involved.
The salvation of the Lord is a powerful thing. Scratch that. THE most powerful thing. So, if you need me you'll find me quiet and waiting... struggling on both accounts, but expecting something huge.