do you freecycle??

A week or so ago, a friend tipped me off to this...Freecycle. It's sort of like "craigslist" except you can only post free stuff. It's a Yahoo group that you join, based on the area in which you live. Once you join (and it is totally free), you are free to view or post things that you would like to give away, or things you are looking for. There is a moderator, and posts need to go through moderation before appearing. There is no selling, trading or bartering allowed. The point of the group is to try to keep things out of local 'dumps' and try to provide a forum for "one man's trash, another's treasure" so to speak. Today I posted for the first time, after cleaning out the bottom of my closet, and already tonight I got a response that someone could use my old clothes, and they would stop by to pick them up tonight! You simply reply via email to agree to the pick up, place the stuff outside at a given location and the receiver stops by to get it. Seems like a great idea, and gives me a lot better chance of actually getting my stuff 'gone' instead of piling up in the back of my van (and then getting unloaded and re-loaded 5 times) to go to Goodwill! I'm really excited to be using this, and am thrilled to think that someone is just as happy to get my discarded stuff as I am to get rid of it! Check it out at www.freecycle.org!

ahhhh...accomplishment!

The final bedroom, finished at last!! I'm so thrilled with how all of the rooms turned out, and I must say, I couldn't have done it all without the help of my friends. Laura did so much in Seth & Luke's room, which at the time seemed like the most difficult of the rooms. During that one, I kept saying "Bryce's will seem so easy after this...". Ha ha... By the time I got around to Bryce's he had a tall order of what he wanted. Now, keep in mind, my kids haven't been 'demanding' any of this, but telling me what their 'dream room' would be. AND, they've been willing to chip in their own money for getting things for their room that I had drawn the line and said weren't 'necessity' items...the room could be done without, and if they wanted it bad enough, they had to buy it themselves...and they did! (Or decided it wasn't that big of a priority...as was the case with Bryce and some black throw pillows he found.) Anyway, even though Bryce's was just as complicated as Seth's (or moreso), it seemed to go much quicker...maybe I was just used the workload by room number 3, I don't know. But in any case, I had drawn the line of my capabilities at measuring and taping the lines for the music on the wall...but Bets assured me we could do it, and sure enough, we did! And it wasn't nearly as difficult as I expected! So, here they are...the third and final Clemmer Kid Bedroom.

Bryce basically came up with all the 'design elements'...music notes, CDs around the top of the wall, the bedding...even chose the wall saying

Below...more volume power than he's ever had...dug out our old 'boom box' for speakers and hooked up the old 5 disc changer that was in the basement. The nearest thing to heaven for him...

We made a stencil for the music, but it didn't work to paint with it, so I traced all the music notes and painted them freehand...

The finishing touches come once I get a wall mount for his red electric guitar to be hung, and I promised to hang a set of his drumsticks on the wall tomorrow too. Oh, and apparently he's put a bid in to claim Grandpop's Elvis record to hang on the wall too... we'll see about that one... :)

Soooo...tomorrow I think I will sip some iced tea and enjoy a good book out in the yard by my fountain, and enjoy what's left of the summer (now that it's half gone! How did that happen?!?!).

growing...in so many ways

And in Clemmer Family News that is much more exciting than our remodeling projects…we did baptisms at our church picnic today, and Seth got baptized. We were able to have some good discussion with him, and he really seemed to understand, so we were happy to let him take the step. I'm always so blessed to see my children growing in their relationships with God, and it's amazing to see Him at work in such real ways even in their young lives.

check another thing off the list...

Well, another project complete! Here's Kate's room...so very grown up!!

Her furniture was all old (had been my grandmother's), an off-white with gold trim. Kate had originally been begging for new furniture, but it was absolutely NOT in the budget. So, Betsy suggested painting it, and my friend Ang recommended spray paint for the job (she had just redone some furniture this way herself) and it turned out amazingly! We were so excited!

So, here's what I was up to last week (of course after it was all constructed and the floor laid...I didn't do that stuff...just sanding and spackling and painting. MANY thanks to Luke who so graciously has been lending his time and expertise in all the construction aspects of our projects!)...

Tomorrow - on to Room #3 - Bryce's 'music' room!

Sorry, this one's a bit blurry...





The weird different colored shape on the wall is actually a reflection from the mirror somehow...that big splotch isn't actually there!

wrapped around his finger...

Bryce has a friend that is moving, and ever since he found this out, he has been asking for an email account...mainly so he can keep in touch with this friend, but is looking forward to emailing other family and friends as well. He's been pretty excited about it since we set it up yesterday.

All that is a little background info. Now, as to the real reason for this post. Today I received the best email EVER. I literally copied and pasted it below...unchanged...word for word. I have great kids...and I'm a sucker, I know. Still, I ate this up...

Mom

your the best mom in the world. their is nothing more I want. your a pastor thats cool. your allover the house cleaning. your awesome. and I love you.