Sunday, February 28, 2010

Airstream - the starting point

Well, we finally made it out to do some work on the Airstream this weekend. We've intentionally forced ourselves to take care of certain projects around the house before doing any work on the Airstream. We spent much of the afternoon cleaning the inside from top to bottom. Here are some long overdue pictures of the interior before we started. We'll update with more pictures as the interior renovation progresses (may be a couple of weeks).





Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Our new home

Well, we made our last major purchase over the weekend. A travel trailer to call home. We looked at everything from brand new to 50 year old units, 18 to 34 foot units, and fixer uppers to those ready to roll. After countless hours of scouring the midwest and looking at hundreds of trailers, we finally settled on one.

Our 30' 1963 Airstream Sovereign . . .



Yes, we are crazy. We bought a nearly 50 year old trailer that's been sitting in a barn for the past 2 years. For us though, it's the perfect unit for us to enjoy while gradually fixing up over the next few months. And though it's been sitting for a couple of years, it had been used regularly before that. The plumbing, water heater, toilet, fridge, and wall heater are all just a few years old. On the inside we'll be painting, changing fabrics, updating fixtures, putting in new flooring, all after a good deep cleaning. On the outside we'll give it the proper polishing an Airstream deserves. It's safe to say this Airstream is going to look a million times better when we're done with it. We'll do what we can before arriving in Arkansas, but this will mainly be limited to the interior due to the weather and time.

We'll post more pics in a few days once the weather lets up and we have some free time.

Monday, February 15, 2010

Pizza Cake

Following you'll find directions to make the cake Micah had for his birthday this year. If you'd like, you can easily make this cake for a celebration of your own.

Do not be intimidated, this is super simple to make and really fun!


The Pizza Cake


1. Bake a yellow cake mix [according to directions on box] in a greased and floured rimmed pizza pan. Our 13" pan took about 25 min @ 350', but watch yours for a nice browning on top. I made 2 layers and spread chocolate frosting between the two.

2. Spread top layer of cake with strawberry jam just like you would tomato sauce on a pizza crust.



3. Top generously with grated almond bark [cheese].

Cheese
Microwave the block at 12 sec. intervals [rotating block each time] to get it just soft enough to achieve a smooth curl of "cheese" as you grate. If the almond bark is not soft enough you'll get parmesan instead of mozzerella cheese.



4. Decorate with your favorite "pizza" toppings. I choose; fruit roll "pepperoni," green [store bought] cookie icing "green peppers," and dried blueberry "olives."

Pepperoni
Cut 4 fruit rolls into circles. For perfect circles, trace circle pattern [mine was our salt shaker] on the plastic peel-off side. Then cut, peel, and arrange on your pizza.



Green Peppers
Squeeze icing into pepper shapes on wax paper and freeze for 20 min. Gently remove with spatula. Gently. I broke a few.



Olives
I added a little moisture to the dried blueberries by microwaving them about 20 sec. with a splash of water added to their bowl.


The day before our Pizza Cake was made, I stopped by a local pizza place. They gladly gave me a box free of cost when I explained what I was making. Hope you find the same for yours! The box really made the cake - more confusing for all the kids at Micah's party. :0)



Let me know how your Pizza Cake turns out! And if it's your birthday, how your celebrating goes.

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Update 2/9/10

April is rapidly approaching. We sold our minivan last week to a wonderful new home in Lees Summit. We then spent several days narrowing down our list of potential replacment SUV's. The majority of the day last Saturday you could find us traveling back and forth across the city checking out vehicles. The last one we had on our list was far and away the best and we happily drove home our new vehicle that night. It's a 99 Expedition and the boys are enjoying their big new ride. Matthew is going through and giving it a full tune-up as time allows in the evenings.

We hope to purchase our new home in the next week or two. (New home being a travel trailer.) Kyla has always been a fan of Airstream travel trailers. So as we've been scouring the midwest looking at potential options, we make sure to take special notice of any Airstreams in our price range. If things go according to plan, we'll be able to check out a few travel trailers this weekend.

The house is almost complete and ready to be put on the market. We will be out of town this weekend, but hope to have it listed next week.

That's all for now.

Sunday, February 7, 2010

Birthdays


Why don't we celebrate our birthdays like we did when we were kids?

Micah recently turned 4 years old. The occasion was marked by parties, great gifts, and lots of fun with his friends and family. He said his birthday was, "Super, super, super, super, super fun!"

When was the last time your birthday was anything close to that?

Why not, as a twenty-something, fifty-something, ninty-something, celebrate what the Lord has done in our life? Why not, think on our family and friends and rejoice for the gifts they are to us? Why not look forward and dream and plan for the year ahead? Let us no longer mourn another year added to our "age" or another physical change in our once younger, less wrinkled body. Let us not pass by another birthday without much thought. Let us run this race of life joyfully and do it giving thanks for the life God has given us.

I know much has changed since we were 4, but I think we should celebrate more like a child. So, since our mom's are not planning our parties anymore, let's do it ourselves. What do you want to celebrate this year?

I have a friend that prays during the month leading up to her birthday asking God to reveal Himself in new ways to her through Scripture. She, like a child, asks her Father for a good gift. I am now doing the same. More than anything in this world what I need is more understanding of who God is and of the Cross of Jesus.

What do you want for your birthday this year? Will you ask Him for it?

~K