Happy Saturday!

Hello everyone! The Harp household is going at warp speed and there is much to write about but I thought it was time for another kitchen update. At the moment not much is being done in there, well, that isn't true, I am cooking and canning up a storm. But work wise, things are on hiatus. As I went back through the pictures I have posted of this journey, I realized that the last one I showed you was pre-sink. We have gotten further along than that.
Here is a shot of the beautiful black sink Dad and Dick Pappa installed for us. I love this sink!! It is really deep with straight sides so it holds a good amount. So far the black hasn't been too bad to keep clean either.
Dad and Greg also finished installing the rest of the lighting. It is good to be able to see!! We have 2 pendants over the island and a matching light over the table. They also put in several more can lights in the key work areas. I still haven't mastered all the switches yet. Oh, and look, we have handles on all the drawers and doors. I didn't realize how much I missed handles until they were on. Way less finger prints now too, lol!
The kick plates and back panel to the island are now in as well. Greg tackled that a few weeks ago. There is also an end panel to the left of the fridge. The outlets on the island are so handy!! Greg often uses his laptop while he is eating his breakfast in the morning.
When my mother was here we found this old buffet at a yard sale. Our plan is to buy more cabinets to make a built in china hutch but the budget for now is spent. When we saw this we knew it would go nicely in the space and serve as our buffet in the mean time. We will stain a couple of shelves to install over the buffet for more display and storage space. The buffet has some repairs that need to be done on it but I really like the character it adds to the room. You can see it is holding some of my recent canning.
One of my favorite things in the kitchen is the garbage cabinet. A silly thing really, but in our old house we stored our recycling in the garage which was off the family room. Here, the garage is detached and we had no good place for the recycling. Who wants to run out in the dead of winter to put an empty milk jug in the bin?? The garbage is a pull out that houses 2 garbage cans, one for trash and one for recycling. Makes me happy!
The valance over the sink and the crown molding are still not up. The doors and windows need their casing put back on and the baseboards are still missing. And we haven't hung anything on the walls yet. Technically we still have the second coat of paint to put on. The first coat covered so well, it may never be done. Greg said my Christmas present will be a finished kitchen. But for now it works and that is a good thing.

Today at 5:07 we are adding a second worship service at church. The goal when we came was to add another service that would meet the needs of those unable to worship on Sundays as well as attract the traditionally unchurched folk. We could really use prayers! I am not even able to go tonight as Kaleb has a 5pm game.

We went to see the new movie "Fireproof" yesterday. It is by the same company that made "Facing the Giants". This one stars Kirk Cameron and is about a couple in a marriage crisis. It was really good and I encourage you to see it if you have the chance. These movies are put out by Christians and they have a definite Godly message. Powerful stuff. The budget for this film was $500,000. (Facing the Giants was a mere $100,00) The entire cast and crew were volunteers. This kind of movie making is so anti-Hollywood. I got a kick out of the credits when they showed screen after screen of thank you's for all the people and business's that donated towards this project. It is in limited release and will only get more air time if people go out to see it. I know people often complain about the lack of good movies, how the selections are so heavy into violence, sex or such. Here is a movie that IS good, IS uplifting, IS funny and without any profanity or sex or violence. Have I convinced you yet? Just go! Make a date this weekend, you will not be sorry. And if you haven't seen Facing the Giants yet, rent it, it's a good one. My boys watch it over and over and I can feel good about it.
Until next time...

R U Ready for Some Football??

It seems to me that "Harp" and "football" don't belong in the same sentence. Unless of course you are watching it on TV. I am all for rooting on the Bills and eating some snacks. But playing? On a team? For real, you might get hurt kinda playing?? My brother played one season and I don't think Greg, Jon or Thom ever played. I mean, it's rough and dirty. And probably dangerous. Of course that is all "mom" talk right?? Greg said I was being ridiculous and if our boys wanted to play then they should be encouraged to do so. Are you out of your mind?? Knowingly send my son into harms way?? You know where this is going right? I lost the battle, never even stood a chance really.
Do you recognize this kid?It is Kaleb, #56, playing on the New-Wil-Ran Predator squad. Oh what an eye opening experience this has all been. Welcome to the world of cups, girdles, pads, weigh-ins, tackles, dirt, grime..... These pictures were taken after their first game. It rained the entire day. We sat, wet and then frozen on the bleachers for 2 hours. My umbrella leaked. But it was a good game, our team won 33-6. The kids all got muddy, I think they liked it too. Weeks of practice finally paid off and for a bunch of 8-10 year olds they actually looked like they knew what they were doing. Kaleb weighs about 75 pounds and has quite a bit of speed but when the coach asked him if he wanted to carry the ball, he said no. He told me he didn't want a bunch of kids running after him with the sole purpose of tackling him to the ground. Smart kid! So instead when his team is on offense he plays on the line. Now he gets to tackle/be tackled on every play. That seemed like a better alternative? I don't get it?! He seems to manage okay. When his team is on defense he often plays safety. I had to ask what that was. The easiest way to explain it is that he is the last guy on defense and if the runner gets by him he likely will score. No pressure! He has let a couple slip away but he has also gotten some good tackles in, stopping the play. After the first game the coach presented him with this

Cool eh? Kaleb had a great tackle that took their ball carrier down before they could get a first down and got his team the ball back. It was a good confidence booster. The coach told the other kids that this is Kaleb's first year playing and that he would be looking for good tackles at the games. Their reward--a football.
The sidelines are a foreign country I think. I have never been around parents and adults who get so crazy. They tail gate at the practices. They hold "over 21" fundraisers where kids aren't welcome due to the serving of alcohol. They scream things like "hurt someone" to their kids. Do they realize what they are saying?? I can see "play tough" but I can not see telling my kid to seek to hurt someone. How does what they are encouraging translate off the field?? Things that make you go hmmmmmm. Needless to say, we are all getting quite the education this season.
Hope you are enjoying some cooler fall weather where you are.

First Day of School

The boys are back to school!! If I weren't so busy, I might have thrown a party!! We had a very good summer but things are usually pretty loosey goosey and a type A like myself can only take that for so long, lol! I think they were ready to go back too although they would never admit to it.
So I present, our seventh grader-Josh! Can you believe it?? Seventh grade?? Next thing you know he'll be driving. ACKKKKKKK!!!! When we bought sneakers this year we had to get a mens size 10. He is only a half size away from Greg now.
And then we have our fifth grader! His last year of elementary school. He is big man on campus this year with extra fun things that only the 5th graders can do. We will get to meet his new teacher next week. His big concern this year is whether or not they will get sufficient recess time. He asks a lot of questions this kid. He needs to know everything and many times he asks questions that we just can't answer. Will we get to go outside today? What will we do in music today? What kind of sneakers do you think the kids will be wearing? How much homework will we get each day? If we go out shopping he wants a detailed list of what stores we are going to and in what order. Heaven forbid we add one to the list along the way, throws him all off! We have made a joke of it really. I think he is making up for a mild case of the "why's" when he was 2.
Greg has been working on the kitchen. Yesterday he put some of the trim pieces on the cabinets. I have been busy putting it all to good use with lots more canning and baking. Tonight we had some folks from church over for dessert. It was a good test run of the space and all went well.
Our main home computer is going haywire so we are having it looked at this week. I hope it is fixable, I am lost without it. Sad really, but true. It is crazy how much information we store in a computer isn't it?? Favorite links, documents, pictures, banking and so much more. I feel so lost when it isn't working. So until it is fixed I can't post pictures to the blog. I have one post pre-loaded to share but after that I am at the mercy of Lee the computer guy.
{{{hugs}}}