Crystal over at Biblical Womanhood posted today about making our homes a haven.  Her post was beautifully written and a great encouragement...but I have to admit...I can't stop thinking about her "messy" closet...  go...now...take a look at the "before" picture. 

...You haven't gone yet???

Ok...maybe it's just me...but that before picture is better than any after picture I'll ever have!!!  ...that is, if I ever could get an after picture...that presumes I actually got it done...yeah, right!

I planned to post a "before" picture here, but I was too busy ducking and covering my head as I opened up the closet...so anyway...in the interest of partial disclosure...here's part of our entry closet...

 What amazes me is that in the house we moved out of only 18 months ago...we didn't even HAVE an entry closet...where'd all this stuff come from...or where was it hidden or stacked before???

I was inspired to at least tackle the floor in the closet...there was no floor when I started...just a tall stack of summer sandals, summer church shoes, winter boots, tennis shoes...seemingly 4 pair per person, random crayons, toys, gloves, hats and scarves,  so, thank you, Crystal, for getting me that far!!...Well, honestly, it's not completely finished...most of it is still just in a pile...but it's in a pile in another place...does that count ???

Anyone care to venture a guess as to how long that floor will look like that???

While I was being industrious in the entryway, David and Julia were being industrious in the kitchen down the hall...

David got a science experiment book for Christmas from Granne and Grandad...he just cracked it open yesterday...and, well, it's a HIT...we've got science experiments coming out of our ears around here...did you know that if you keep an egg in vinegar for a week, the vinegar eats the shell and you can actually BOUNCE the egg...well, I'll let you know in 5 days, 6 hours and 46 minutes, per young Einstein David. 

One of todays experiments was to build a volcano...since I was busy transferring piles to other rooms , I gave them the thumbs up to go at it alone...how much damage can 6 cups of flour, 2 cups of salt, oil and water do???  I was a bit nervous, but they did great...they even "cleaned" up after themselves...

They waited under diress patiently until Daddy came home to set off Mt. Vesuvius...

....SUCCESS!!! 

...and while we're talking experiments...here's a few more pictures of what went on here a week or so ago...Joshua (4) is a very creative little boy...I said it in our Christmas letter and he confirms it every day...give him a cardboard box, tape and scissors and he'll build you just about anything!  Well, this particular day, he was trying to make some kind of contraption to make a balloon carry a straw or something...I'm not exactly sure...but Daddy knew what he wanted and built it for him...

David, Sr. spent an hour perfecting the experiment...the kids were all in heaven...what a great Daddy!!!

Thus ends this completely disjointed, rambling post.