WHEW! Here goes nothing! =)

Dad and I got started on the flooring okay. We soon figured out that "it's not rocket science." However, we'd probably both admit that it's not easy work - there was a reason that kneepads were for sale in the hardwood flooring isle =)


There's the Little Wife helping hold down the wood while I knock the ends together. Apparently you do NOT need the special little tool to do that. YAY!

Here are a few shots of the progression of the floor being finished up.
(lookin' in from the storage room / bathroom area)

(lookin' back towards the Den, bathroom, storage room L to R)

Meanwhile, up in the little boy's room...
Look @ that little lady go! =) Such a hard workin' mommy! WOW! What a lucky little Noah to have a Mommy who wants his room to look nice.

There's the fan up and running! We REALLY needed that for the flooring job - light was critical to seeing where the wood was completely snapped in or where it still needed to be pushed a little more. (click the pic) and check out the trim job that Andrea's dad did on the window and the little water shut off valve door! NICE lookin' eh? :) You'll also notice the paint job that her parents did in there. The previous pics only had primered walls - here's the final coat.

There lies the padding and some of the wood for the floor...oh boy...what a job...
Last shot of the primered bathroom & the paint color trimmed in above the tub and along the ceiling. Here's the finished paint job in the bathroom (with dad waving around the corner) :)

Epoxy on the storage room floor. Primered walls - no more paint for this room as it's zoned STORAGE! =) BIG Shelves to follow upon completion of the baseboard and the 5 day drying limit for heavy moving on the expoxy.

Well, my Mom and Dad just left tonight around 9:20 and we put in a good day and a half down there AND up stairs too! YEAH! That's right, Noah's room got some attention! =) He's finally kicked mommy enough that she decided that he can have a painted room too! Not really, he's been a very good boy, still! I hope he's not getting all his good behavior out of his system. =)

More updates on the grandparents' suite to follow...

40 Days and 40 Nights.
That's how much sleep we've got left (according to Noah's scheduled due date). =)

Today was the first of Mommy's weekly appointments leading up to the delivery of the boy. Noah is still growing like a good boy should, though Mommy hasn't gained any weight in the past two weeks! (I think that deep down she's enjoying that a tiny little bit) However, Mommy's concerns were calmed by the Doc when she said "You're right on track for weight and his size." Noah's heartbeat was in the 130's today. It's really amazing how strong and much more slow it sounds compared to his 20-something week heartbeat that sounded so quick and tiny! What a GROWING BOY!

The Fisher Grandparents just left today after putting a very large dent in the amount of work left to complete the grandparents' suite in the basement. And tomorrow the Tanner Grandparents arrive to hopefully put the finishing blows on the Grandparents' room. This week has been the most noticeable strides made down there w/ ceiling texture, primer, paint, floor epoxy, baseboards, & window trim all installed.

Satan is working in ceiling fans now. Apparently he's got a new scheme called "remote controlled" fans. Our encounter w/ that devious scheme was unfortunately a costly one. It cost us FOUR hours of jacking w/ the stinkin' thing. Apparently you can have EITHER the remote OR the two switch operation. NOT BOTH. DIE FAN DIE! (it's going back tomorrow - evil fan!)

The new fan is up and running. It took a WHOLE 45 minutes to put it up. And believe it or not, it's ready to roll!


Here are some pix of what's happened w/ the basement lately. Hopefully the fan will have blades 2morrow & a floor will be installed in the bedroom too! WAHOO!

ceiling drying up in the grandparents' room. no ceiling fan here yet! ;)
This just sorta gives you an idea of what kind of progress was made by the Fisher's these past few days!
Storage room ceiling drying. That texture gun got me textured too! =) Ahh well, it did a good job! ;)
This is the last look @ the beautiful Green Board in the bathroom! It's all primered, textured and painted now! =) Ready for the flooring!

Leland, painting the inside of the closet for the Grandparents' room. Finally got that 6" wide door ordered for that opening too! MAN! that's the most expensive door in our whole basement! =) Boy do I learn a lot of things doing this! =)


Well, I'll get some more pix up here later. maybe tomorrow before we start in on the floor and stuff. For now, it's time to enjoy a COMPLETE NIGHT's rest! God-willing, only 30-something left of these! =)

oh, and if your blog view doesn't look like it does @ the top, you should download and be using Firefox.

So, for those of you wondering, including myself, HERE is what HAPPENED this SUMMER! =)

June 5-10 VBS! If you're not ready now, you ain't NEVER gettin' ready!
June 11 - VBS Teacher Deco Day & last touches in the gym
June 12-16 VBS! WOW that was FUN! :) finally uploaded the pictures!
June 17 - early AM cleaning following the closing program
June 18 - Welcome VBS visitors to GCC & KIDS Church for the First time
June 22 - clean up VBS! (yes, it actually happened over the course of 12 hours)
June 24 - July 2 - Texas - Mexico Mission GREAT Pictures here! and more on the GGC Blog
July 3-7 - Tanner Family Vacation w/ Mom & Dad Tanner in Gulf Shores, AL
July 8 - Fisher Family Reunion in Salem, IL
July 9-14 - Scenic Hills Camp Intermediate II - Grant's Week - WICKED FUN! (still lookin' for pix of this)
July 15-20 Hilton Head, SC & Savannah, GA (The Official Babymoon) pix here
July 22 - "Prepared Child Birth Class" LAMAZ!
July 23 - Sports Shorts Fishing @ Patoka Lake! WAHOOO!
*** GET WICKED SICK HERE ***
July 24-28 CIY @ Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, IL
July 29 Drew & Jessica Pommert's reception in Salem, IL
July 30 KIDS Church Field Trip day to Southeast Christian Church (learned BUNCHES of stuff!)
August 1&2 Wright-Patterson AFB & the National Air Force Museum FREE! just me and Dad
August 5 - our FIFTH Wedding Anniversary! WOW! (also, Olney, IL married one of my best High School Friends, Greg Keller to his wife, Laura)
August 6 - the First Curriculum I ever Wrote launches in KIDS Church - no one died and the KIDS even SMILED! (I threatened 'em - it worked) :)
*** Able to Kiss my Wife again here *** whew! =)
August 10-12 The Summit - hosted @ Northside

maybe more pix later...and some commentary...maybe...I'm TIRED! :)

and the books...oh WOW the books! and the PODCASTS! WOW! SO MUCH TO LEARN!

This Summer's Reads:

Fictional Nonsense
White - Christopher Whitcomb

Stuff that's making a better Husband/Daddy/Minister
Blue Like Jazz - Donald Miller - wow...I need to read that again...or @ least the folded over pages - the very appropriate tagline REALLY Describes this book: Nonreligious Thoughts on Christian Spirituality

A Tale of Three Kings - Gene Edwards WOW A GREAT book on leadership. Thanks Jess & Drew!

A Life With Purpose - the Biography of Pastor "Richard" (as GCC staff refer to him) Warren. This dood clearly plans more things than I think 4 Star Generals ever even dreamed of planning! This guy is a plan-o-matic w/ a Holy Spirit Turbo built in! WOW! It is truly unreal how purposeful his entire life has been. Inspiring to try to do life that way!

Confessions of a Reformission Rev - a GREAT book about how BADLY screwed up we can be and God can STILL squeeze something GOOD out of us! :) A Mark Driscoll stand up bit IN a BOOK :) FUNNY book, nothing too new in terms of ideas really...just a really stick to your guns sorta guy :)


Stuff on the night stand
Communicating for a Change: Seven Keys to Irresistable Communication - Andy Stanley I was priveleged to hear Andy talk @ the Summit (linked above) yesterday, and got this book @ the same time - WOW! Written like Lienconi's GREAT books on teams and it's even LONGER and MORE applicable to something I do EVERY WEEKEND! =) YAY!



In The Bullpen
On the shelf:
The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference by Malcolm Gladwell
This is just the COOLEST thing. I've read SO MANY illustrations that I've heard the "big names" use! WOW! Apparently I stumbled upon one of the books that "they" read. ;) GREAT book so far! Didn't realize how much organizational stuff would be in here! hmph. OH, and I HAD it on my wishlist...'til I found it in my office! Cool! FREE BOOKS! :)

Seven Practices of Effective Ministry


On the wishlist:
The Next Generation Leader: Five Essentials for Those Who Will Shape the Future

Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking by Malcolm Gladwell
this is like scary cool...from what I hear it's not completely conclusive proof, but puddin' enough to be proof that we usually know in the first gut instinct what needs to happen! WOW!

Any good military biographies out there...haven't seen or heard of much, and Amazon doesn't seem to want to find it...wierd...

anyway, on to the podcasts:
Mars Hill - Seattle - mostly Mark Driscoll stuff

North Point Community Church - Andy Stanley

Mars Hill - Grand Rapids

and some of The Vine every now and then... podcast on bottom left

okay, that counter can't REALLY say 48 days! no WAY! I swear we just found out we were pregnant!

48 days is certainly sounding very much like a month and a half, even moreso, it sounds like less than seven weeks! Oh boy!

It's definately hitting me that a little tiny life is going to come into our home and sleep in his little bed w/ all his little everything, or should I say, little poopy everything!

Maybe it's God getting me ready for Noah, but sleeping sure isn't as easy now, I just lay there and wonder what he's going to need and how I'm going to figure out what it is that he needs. The scary part is that the easiest things to figure out are the things he needs while he's still unable to TALK! He's going to get older too! So begins our quest to become parents, even before he's here...I can now see why there are so many books and journals and doctors and psychiatrists!

It certainly changes the way we're looking at everything now. Before the summer started, it changed the way that I looked @ how I planned a summer full of youth ministry. It was basically, Andrea/Noah can't go to that (for whatever reason). Now, it's Chris/Andrea/Noah will have to travel w/ a CARAVAN (literally and figuratively) to all of these places so that Noah can be safe and healthy and stuff. Oh BOY!