And the Remodeling Continues...

Here is our "Coming Soon" sign we have hanging in our store window. We are very proud of it. We should be getting our red and white striped awnings sometime next week. And then our "The School Box" letters for the front of the building. I started painting this week. We went with TCU purple. And then I bought sticky polka dots in all colors to put on top of the purple. Casey got some doors put up and sheet rock. It is really beginning to look like a store. Next week we are picking up our slatboard for all the walls. And soon carpet and tile will be ready to be installed. Please keep me in your prayers that I actually survive this! :o) It becomes questionable at times. :o)

Georgia wanted to help paint...but instead decided to eat the roller!

I am only painting the top border of the store because we will have slatboard hanging from the floor up 8 feet.

Casey the Fireman

As some of you know, Casey joined the Lake Texoma Volunteer Fire Department. He loves being apart of it. He hasn't been called out as much as he would like (and I guess that is a good thing). His most recent call out was on a nearby bridge that crosses Lake Texoma. Two cars collided, and if that wasn't bad enough, it was incredibly foggy! Casey said all he could hear was cars screeching to come to a halt. Luckily, no one was seriously injured. Casey has responed to a few grass fires. But nothing major. Here he is in his "get-up". And someone else had to join the fun!

"Let me wear your hat, Daddy"

"Now, the whole outfit, Daddy!"

Need My Help, Daddy?

Casey spent most of Friday working on building two doorways and a wall in the store. We decided to make a wall in the hallway that leads to the bathroom, which will then only make one way to the storage area on the left side of the building. Notice Georgia felt the need to help her Daddy. She has so much fun playing at the store. Or maybe it's getting in the way. Her favorite thing so far to do at the store is to play in the dirt when Casey pulls up the old carpet. She comes home so dirty.

The room on the left in the background will be a playroom for customer's children. The doorway on the right is what leads to the bathroom. That is where Casey is building a wall.

"Wait Daddy, I'm coming to help you!"

"Where's your toolbelt, Casey?"

This is the wall that Casey built. He will put up sheetrock this week. This wall will prevent customers from wandering back the the storage area.

"Look Mom, I climbed up the step ladder again!"

Continuing to remodel the store!

This remodeling thing is for the birds!! This would be the time I wish that I could just wiggle my nose and everything would be done. I am learning that I am not a patient person. Well, maybe I already knew that! :o) Casey and I sat down and made a list of things to get done in just this week. Out of about 9 things, I think we have accomplished 5. Not bad!! Here are a few pics of the store front. Keep in mind that this building used to be a craft mall (as if that is hard to tell in the pics)...and we have not taken down the signs yet. We have ordered our carpet and tile. It should be installed in the next several weeks. We visited another teacher store in Tyler, Texas last week. It was beautiful!! Made me sick to come back and see ours. We bought a lot of their store fixtures that they had from a previous store. Casey was not able to get it all in one load, so he will be going back for the rest. More pics of the store are coming!

Our store has two front entries...we are using the one on the right.

In our 9,000 sq/ft. building, we have 6,000 sq/ft of those cool, metal ceiling tiles. And we are dying to sell them!!! $$$$

Caroline the Pioneer Girl

During the month of November, Oklahoma was celebrating its centenial. At Caroline's school, they visited Fort Washita and got to dress the part. All the girls had on dresses and bonnets, and all the boys dressed like cowboys and Native Americans. They took their lunch in metal pails and got to make necklaces. Caroline had a great time!

Caroline is standing outside her classroom.

And of course, Caroline had to strike a pose!

A New Adventure for the Dowdy's

Well, Casey and I will soon have jobs!! YEA!! Stand up and cheer for that one. We recently bought a building in downtown Madill. It once was a craft mall, and now will become a teacher supply and office supply store. The town has not had an office supply store in two years and everyone is very excited. And teachers in Madill have to travel to either Oklahoma City or Dallas to buy their teaching materials. Here are some pics from today. We are still clearing out what was there and starting from ground up. I forgot to take a pic of the front of the building. It will come soon.

This is a small showroom to the left of the front door.

This is the larger showroom.

This is Casey's warehouse. It is at the back of the building. He finally has his shop back!!

This is standing in the middle of the large showroom. There will be an office and the girl's room through that opening.

Well, I have finally joined the 21st century and started a blog. I have two friends who have blogs, and didn't want to be left out of the loop anymore. Casey and I have so much to share with family and friends. So, I am starting this adventure. Here are the most recent pictures we have of the girls.

Our Sweet Caroline, 5 years old

Georgia Girl, 18 months old