Permits, Birthday Parties and The Kitchen Sink

January was full of adventure. A mission trip, a successful DMV appointment, a birthday, indoor soccer, and lots of togetherness. It was cold and cloudy but we did have some warmer, sunnier days that were so good for the soul. 

Rainy is always bringing home fun circus toys to play with. It always makes for a very entertaining afternoon, lol.

Alethia was invited to a fancy 15th birthday party. It was so sweet to watch Rainy help her get all dolled up. She was gorgeous, but alas, she didn't want me to get a picture. You'll just have to take my word for it.

I've decided that my favorite sport to watch is indoor soccer. It's like a mix of hockey and soccer. It is super fast-paced, no off sides and no out of bounds so they play off the wall and it is SO intense.  This is Cai's first time playing indoor but I'm pretty sure he's hooked!

Alethia got her level 1 permit! Now to clock those hours to get her on the road to independence.

This was the view for a week without Jude in the house. He and Josh headed to Guatemala on a mission trip and the whole house felt empty. Nobody to play hockey or keep conversation going non-stop! Even Berkley missed him.

I celebrated my 45th birthday and Josh took me to Crawford and Sons restaurant downtown Raleigh. It is the second time we've gone and it does NOT disappoint! They even reserved the window seat for us since it was my birthday. Rainy continues to bring fun circus toys to learn and practice. 

So this happened. Our sink completely came unglued and without the supports underneath (which were actually never installed) and without the proper instructions from the installer not to use the sink for at least 24 hours after installation (they said nothing after it was installed last year, so it was just a matter of time) the sink just fell through. I ran to the sink to hold it up off of the plumbing underneath, yelled to Zeke to go run out to the shed and grab a big bucket from the shed to prop it up on while we figure out what to do. So I did what every normal person does when their spouse is out of the country and a catastrophe happens...I call my friends who are pros at all the house things to come and save the day! I literally don't know what I'd do without Paul and Martha. We were back in running water order within just a couple of days.

While the boys were in Guatemala we got addicted to this fun HGTV show called Styled. It's fun to watch them transform spaces. Before and afters are our favorite and it even got our own minds thinking creatively about our own space as we learn from Nicole and Caffery.