My Brother's Shipping Container House

My brother has always been the kind of person who sees things differently than most. He is incredibly creative and conceives ideas for inventions from most everything he sees around him. I remember this about him from the time he was little. He would always be taking something apart just to see if he could fix it or turn it into something else. He has rebuilt classic cars, invented a brush guard out of aluminum aircraft material, and much more than I can list. I remember a few years ago we went to the medical museum here in Houston with Emily and J.Michael and he came up with at least half a dozen ideas/inventions from ordinary things used
in a different way. I had been to this museum dozens of times and I never would have seen what he saw had he not pointed it out.

My brother is just like my Dad...they can fix anything. Growing up with my brother has been good for me to learn to look outside the box. The Lord was preparing me to be married to a
man who is like this who grew up with brothers and a Dad like mine. I marvel at that in an age when the things my brother and husband were taught are so rare.

My brother's latest project is building a house from recycled shipping containers. He is doing all of the work himself. He designed this house himself also. He has started a blog to chronicle it at My Shipping Container House My boys are so excited that their Uncle Todd has started this blog as they love to check on the newest equipment he is using (hoping they will get a chance to ride on it too) and to see the progress. Over Thanksgiving they got the chance to see it live (and ride all those cool construction vehicles). It is really cool and amazing how much work he has completed so far. We are so proud of him!


The man lift is so fun.

We all had to take turns riding.

J.Michael even got to operate it.

Here is a peek in the containers.

It was really cold so we were all trying to stay warm.


Andrew and J.Michael's dream...riding in an excavator!!


View from the second story of the container house.

Nana and Dewey

Dirt piles are so fun! It is a kid magnet.

King of the mountain

Okay....now we are king of the mountain.

Riding the big boy toys!!

The man lift is like riding a carnival ride only you are

operating it yourself.

Dozers, excavators, skid steers and man lifts

my boys (all three of them) will be riding these

in their sleep dreaming about what they could

be building one day too.

Thank you, Uncle Todd for taking us on rides and sharing

your building project with us through your blog. We can't

wait to see what happens next!

Our 1st Thanksgiving as a family of 6

Heading to Garland for Thanksgiving:


The boys are geared up for the 3 1/2 hr car ride with audios
and DVD's to entertain them.

Kathlena is busy at work with her 1st leap pad.

With Charlie sick he made the trip also. If you look out the
back window you will see our trailer we are pulling to house
the beef we are bringing back in our first delivery.


We made it to Paw-Paw and Grandmommie's at last. It
is worth the drive as Grandmommie is an excellent cook,
making everything from scratch. Below are some pictures of
one of Emily's favorite photography subjects...food. These
are the best mashed potatoes ever!! When we read Cranberry
Thanksgiving and it talks about Grandma cooking "everything
with crisp edges and tender centers" It makes me think of
Grandmommie's cooking.



We break tradition and have chicken...nothing against
turkeys, Shiflet's just prefer chicken. Doesn't that make
your mouth water for some chicken?

The kids table on night 2...leftovers as good as night 1

Paw-Paw and Kathlena "fixin" something. She knows the
right one to go to for "fixin" stuff.

Kathlena's first french braid...we finally have

enough hair!

She wanted 2 braids just like Mimi's.

The braids didn't last long. Can you imagine why?

Kathlena playing toss me as high as you can

with her Uncle Steve. Which is quite high as

Uncle Steve stands at 6'5". Aunt Cecilia

and cousin Hannah watch Kathlena soar

above their heads.

Andrew and his new rrrrrobot. Uncle Steve

is the master at finding the most perfect and

coolest ever little boy gifts. Thank you Uncle

Steve...it hasn't left his sight during the day

nor his arms at night.

THANKSGIVING PART 2:

Our first Thanksgiving as 6 at Dewey and

Nana's

Kathlena and "Dewey" a.k.a Dodad,
but princess Kathlena has renamed him.

Kathlena and Nana

Kathlena and Uncle Todd

The preparations in full swing as Emily and Aunt Susie help

get things ready to serve.

Aunt Susie and Sherri taking on the task of labeling all of

the cups for all 35 guests. Yes, we are a large family-four

generations represented here today.

Mom and I finishing up the giblet gravy...well Mom mainly

I am just visiting slowing down the process really, it is

almost ready though.

The boys table...enough said.

My 3rd cousins Madeline, Millie, Mary Grace, George and

Pete Smith. We have not seen them since they adopted Pete

(from South Korea) so this was an extra special day for us to

see them and meet Pete. It was the first time for them to meet

our newest little ones also.

My cousin Amber (Blake's Mommy) blowing bubbles with

the little ones.

Madeline and Andrew playing Wii bowling.

Madeline was such a sweet heart helping Andrew play!

Thank you! He had so much fun.

Kathlena watching the golfers.

Aunt Susie up at bat...oops wrong sport.

Blake and Pete playing too.

Kathlena and Pete playing in the "clubhouse" notice the

bucket of golf balls. The caddies are resting. hehe

Daddy getting in some target practice...well trying it was

quite windy.

Our budding photographer...imagine that? She had a big

time with her cousin Lucas.

Playing drop the cup from my head.

Lucas's glasses fit just right

Much to be thankful for this year

It has been a sweet time of learning about the meaning of Thanksgiving and it's significance to our Christian heritage. Andrew and Kathlena had no idea what Thanksgiving was, but have had so much fun learning about it. We used a book called Cranberry Thanksgiving that is a cute tale set in the New England cranberry bogs, about a Grandmother and her special cranberry bread recipe. Grandmother and granddaughter invite two friends for Thanksgiving exploring the concepts of relationships, charity, honesty, and Thanksgiving. Andrew's favorite character is Mr. Whiskers. It has been so fun to learn anew through their eyes.

At dinner each night Daddy went through ThanksLiving Treasures devotional by Family Life. We learned about the six treasures: God's Word, Protection, Freedom, Health, Salvation and Provision. We talked about the hardship and perseverance of the pilgrims, and God's sovereign protection over them.

We also made our annual "Thanksgiving tree" made from hand print cut-outs everyone got to write down the things they are thankful for and put them on the tree as a reminder of all the blessing we have been given. Here are some pictures of us making our tree.

Emily helping trace Andrew's hands. Andrew was thankful
for Mommy and Daddy, sisters and J.Michael, Mema, friends,
Uncle Darrell "who is so good at catching all the fish", grandparents,
God.

Kathlena and J.Michael working on their hands.

My very thoughtful Emily filling up her hands with all she
is thankful for. Things Emily is thankful for are...Laughter, joy,
parents and grandparents, brothers and sister, country music,
that the God-given rights and liberties to worship the Lord freely and
openly are acknowledged by our government.

Some of the things J.Michael is thankful for are...pets, family
and extended family, Jump-Jump, C.S. Lewis, John R.
Erickson, Nana's Beef.


Putting the tree in place...thank you helpers.

Andrew and Kathlena gathering up their hands.

Proudly displaying them.

J.Michael handing some out to put on the tree.

Kathlena putting hers on...she was thankful for her bed,

bubbie, Andrew, Mimi, Mommy and Daddy, Mrs. Hoood, grandparents,

Uncle Todd, Happy the goat, Lucy the gecko, Chase and Charlie.

Sorting things out...vision issues update

We have completed the testing through the optometrist. While the optometrist believes that the patching will not produce better acuity and that perhaps this is lost and will not be regained, however she believes through therapy his eyes can be trained to compensate in other ways for it. She has recommended extensive therapy for both vision and a host of other issues. Unfortunately, we are not sure how accurate the findings are as much of the test weighs heavily on a concrete understanding of English. It would seem she is relying more heavily on his background and statistics in the recommendation for extensive therapy as she also commented on the English issue to the reliability of the testing. We continue to pray for wisdom and have decided to consult with a second pediatric ophthalmologist who specializes in strabismus and amblyopia...in fact if you do not have strabismus the Dr. will not see you. We have an appointment scheduled for Dec. 9th. We are so grateful for the Lord's provision as each time we "hit a wall" the Lord directs us to the new door of opportunity.

We continue to trust the Lord...believing his Word for all situations. Proverbs 11:14 tells us that "Where there is no counsel, the people fall; But in a multitude of counselors there is safety." This has been our prayer as we have sought Dr. after Dr. and test after test. Perhaps in all of these visits and "feeling" like we are doing something what we needed most was more time.

"You will guide me with Your counsel, and afterward receive me to glory. Whom have I in heaven but You? And there is none upon earth that I desire besides You. My flesh and my heart fail; But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. For indeed, those who are far from You shall perish; You have destroyed all those who desert You for harlotry. But it is good for me to draw near to God; I have put my trust in the Lord God, that I may declare all Your works." Psalm 73:24-28