We're Moved In

This was my family's first real move... and I don't think I ever want to do it again! It's been quite an experience! We finalized our move-in on a Wednesday evening, having brought the remainder of our stuff from the old house and cleaned it all up for the new owners. We closed on that house the next day. We then left on a family trip to Ohio and Tennessee that following Saturday. Talk about a whirlwind of a week! Needless to say, when we returned from our trip late last Thursday night (almost 2 weeks later), the house was just as we'd left it - boxes and stuff EVERYWHERE. We managed to put some of it away, but you can no longer tell since yesterday, Bill and Brian emptied our storage unit into our sunroom. We're back to boxes everywhere. I'm trying to figure out where in the world I'm going to put all of it! I think the thing to remember is that for the last 4 months, I have lived without all of that stuff.... Perhaps I don't need most of it?

I'll post pictures from our trip and the move soon... I just wanted to let everyone know that My Family Zoo is still here, and if ever that title was the perfect description of my life, it's right now!

Indoor Sprinklers

My children asked me today if they could play outside in the sprinkler. I wanted to say yes because I know how tired they are of being stuck inside, and it's really too hot to play outside. But I would have to supervise them, and I just have so much to do inside right now. So I responded to their requests with, "No, not today."

While I was on the phone a short while later, Alex and Nathan came running into the kitchen to fill their cups with water. And then, as they were running back out, they stated something like, "We're going to be sprinklers." I did not make the connection until a few minutes later when I walked into the den and felt the wet carpet. Each of the kids had straws hanging out of their mouths. They were filling their mouths with water, and then as they would spin around in circles, they'd spit the water back out through the straw. Gross, I know. But it was quite ingenious. :)

Disregard the Last Post!

We ARE the owners of that house pictured below! :) A little more convincing and the owner finally agreed to pay for the necessary repairs on the house. We are so happy and so very relieved. Now it's time to do some serious packing and get things ready to move!

Still Without A Home

Well, the house in the picture at the bottom of the post below? Not our house. The inspection uncovered a lot of problems, which we expected with a 1973 house. Some of them we were prepared to take care of ourselves, others were big and needed to be handled before we could even accept the house. Unfortunately, the owner refused to fix the requested problems. So, we are out our option fee, the money for the inspection, and a home. And once again, we are quite homeless. Please pray we find a place soon!!! For now, we will be looking in the yellow pages for an apartment since we have to be out of our current house in less than 3 weeks. Do you ever wish you could go back in time and choose things differently???

Times are Changing

It's hard to believe that in just a few weeks, we will no longer be living in this house; it is all I've known since Bill and I started our little family. We've brought each of our children home from the hospital to this house. I thought last night about Christmas mornings, where they parade down the stairs and their little eyes light up as they come to the landing halfway down the staircase and are suddenly able to see into the den at the lit up Christmas tree and all of the goodies that Santa had left for them. I think about all of the birthday parties we've had in our backyard, especially over the last couple of years since Bill completed our deck. I think about the playset that my dad and Bill put together as quickly as they could before Alex's 2nd birthday. I think about when we built our garden box in the backyard and planted our seeds. I think about all of the times that the kids have awoken during the night, and we'd hear the pitter patter of their little feet coming down the hall towards our room. I think of my sweet little birds who make a nest of my hanging geranium year after year and how much I love to look out at them while I stand at the kitchen window. I think of all of the lovely updates we've done to the house, both inside and out. And most of all, I think about good friends and neighbors who live so close by and how wonderful and convenient it is to be able to get together at the last minute and to borrow needed recipe ingredients (or cake boards ;) ).

It has been a sad experience selling our house. But the time had come and we look forward to the next phase of our lives. We will still regularly see our friends and of course, we will make new friends within our new neighborhood. And just as we have done with this one, we will form wonderful memories in our new home. There will be birthday parties, get-togethers, a playset, a garden, etc. in the new house just like in our current one.

And speaking of our new home, if all goes well with the inspection today, here it is:

Coming Up For Air...

Life has been busy, crazy, hectic, stressful, and a bit over-whelming for our family this last month or more. For years now we have talked about selling our house and moving closer to Bill's work, family and church. It's not that we are all that far away from it all, but it is enough to make us think twice before participating in a church event, or making a quick trip to Granny and Paw-Paw's house.

In the Fall/Winter time frame we were seeing so many houses on the market that were in the location we wanted to live and were a nice improvement on our current house size. But we weren't ready to move at that point. So now, with it being a so-called "buyer's market", we decided to go for it. We worked really hard in March and beginning of April to get our house ready, and on my birthday it went on the market. For that first week, we had a showing every day. I'm sure many of you out there have been through it.... The quick, complete house cleaning every morning, grabbing kids and dog and racing out the door to go hang out at a park for several hours while the house is being shown, preventing the kids from hanging any of their artwork about the house, keeping the kids out of the house as much as possible to keep it neat and only allowing one toy out at a time to keep the mess under control. I wasn't exactly enjoying the whole process, but I never dreamed that after only ten days on the market, we'd get an offer. So just like that, our house was sold. But we haven't found a house yet. We are wondering if it really is a blessing that our house sold so quickly!

But the Lord works in mysterious ways. When we have seen a house we like, we've found out an offer was just placed on it that same day. We've put offers on two houses so far, and in both cases, others had also put offers on them that were higher than we could go. God was making it very clear to us that these were not the houses for us, even if we thought so. We are actually preparing to put an offer on a different house today, one that we've looked at many times and has sat on the market for awhile now. We have been aprehensive about this house, and yet loved it at the same time. I feel that God has been leading us back to it through all of our house-hunting. It will be interesting to see if it actually works out. In the meantime, we are just praying that by our closing date (less than 3 weeks away!!!!), we'll have some where to go - house or apartment, just as long as it's not a cozy spot under a bridge! ;)

And through all of this craziness, life is moving on. Baseball has continued to take much of our time. We're still trying to keep up with our school work, though not as well as I'd like. And today is Bill's birthday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SWEETHEART!!!! We're doing our best to make it fun and special, despite everything else we have going on. And tomorrow is Alex's birthday. So I also have a party to plan (just a small one this year ;) ) and a cake to bake.

I know it's all going to work out in the end. But getting through it has been and will continue to be hard. I'm just trying to keep my faith in God and know that He is in control.

The missing baseball cap...

is no longer missing. It turned up today in the van, having been stuffed into one of the compartments by Nathan's seat. Now we have two.

First Games

Today, both Alex and Nathan had their first T-ball games. Nathan's game was this morning and unfortunately, Amy and I had to miss it because of her Little Gym class. But it sounds like he had a great time. You might notice there are more pictures from his game than Alex's. That would be because I was in charge of taking pictures at Alex's game... while I kept an eye on Amy and Nathan (Bill was helping in the dugout). And though at times Amy and Nathan sat fairly happily next to me and watched the game, those moments only lasted about 2 minutes and then they were all over the place. But I did manage to get a few other shots, some where Alex was happily playing in the dirt, or looking off into the outfield while the other team was at bat. It was too cute. Kids are so easily distracted at this age. :) Oh, and you might also notice that in the picture where Nathan is fielding the ball, he is not wearing a baseball cap. That would be because we discovered it missing this morning when we getting Nathan ready for his game. A complete rampage of our entire house turned up nothing. It's vanished without a trace. Thankfully, even though his first game was played hatless, we were able to purchase another one for him later in the day. This is a very good thing because his team pictures are tomorrow!!!

Easter

I hope you all had a blessed Easter! We've been so busy lately, as you can tell by my lack of posts. But here are some pictures from our Easter activities (and yes, those are pictures of Easter morning, not Christmas :) ).

Amy on the Easter egg hunt

Alex and Nathan on the Easter egg huntNathan checking out the egg contents...Amy, wearing her chocolate bunny

Easter morning!Ready for church!Posing at Granny's houseThe whole familyTime to dye the eggs
Amy, just chillin'

A stomach bug?

That's what we're still trying to decide this morning. Amy woke yesterday morning and threw up several times. I immediately put her on the couch and covered her with a blanket, declaring to all that this was now the "sick" couch and this was the "sick" blanket, both of which were to be avoided by all but Amy. I take all precautions I can, but of course, with a stomach bug everyone usually gets it anyway.

As sick as the poor little thing was in the morning, after some lemon-lime Gatorade (thanks, Celeste!) Amy began to perk up. By 12:30 pm she informed me that she was hungry, so I began giving her oyster crackers. Not only did she keep them all down, but she downed over half of the large container of Gatorade and ate almost as many waffles for dinner as I did - plus half a banana! And other than a restless night's sleep (probably from over-eating), she didn't have anymore incidents. She's been actively playing all morning. So maybe it wasn't a stomach bug afterall? Whatever it was, I hope it's over and that we see no more of it for quite some time!

Something really cute...

A few minutes ago Alex came downstairs and told me to come upstairs with him. The way he put it was, "Mommy, come upstairs. You'll want to take a picture because you're going to see something that's really cute!". Then he took off back upstairs. So I obligingly grabbed the camera and headed upstairs where I found several somethings really cute in my bed...

Paper Art

In our house, we go through lots and lots of paper. We let the kids use the paper from our computer, and it amazes me how soon I'm having to refill the printer paper because it disappears so fast. Our downstairs is cluttered with drawings and creations out of paper. And though I'm tired of the mess, I am certainly not tired of this amazing display of creativity.

Nathan's skills at drawing and cutting out have been improving quite a bit in recent weeks. He really watches Alex and has learned to make cuts in his drawings to allow for leg movement or for the mouth to open and close. His drawings are becoming more detailed and not just the same thing every time; he's actually creating things. This morning he made a dog with spots (similar to a dalmation) and attached a leash so he could walk it. It's so fun to watch children be creative! Alex is in the kitchen right now making a book about Winnie-the-Pooh. I hear him sounding out words as he attempts to add the story with his pictures. I can't wait to see the results!

He attached the black thing (see by the head) just before I took the picture. I asked him what it was and he informed me that it's dirt. Makes sense.

The Busy Life

Here I thought my life was already busy, but I guess I didn't know the half of it! Tonight, we began a new phase in our lives... sports. Nathan had his first Mini-Tee Ball practice. And next week, Alex starts his Tee Ball practices. I never realized how seriously these people take tee ball, but both boys practice two nights a week. Alex practices for one hour each night. Nathan practices for TWO hours each night. Yes, I did say two hours. Both happen on the same nights. Both happen during the same time frame. Both are at separate fields. What a crazy schedule we are going to have starting next week! And poor Amy. Her one activity also happens to fall on one of those nights. And since there are only two adults to cart them to these three different activities that all occur at the same time each at different locations, we will have to reschedule Amy's Little Gym.

Yes, life just got even busier...

Teaching a Child to Read

As a new home schooler this year, I just assumed that the Explode the Code phonics currriculum would be enough to teach Alex how to read. I do think it helps tremendously with the process, but it is meant to be more of a supplement. And since we started with the "Before the Code" series, we especially needed some extra help.

A fellow home schooler spoke of how much they love using 100 Easy Lessons. I made a mental note of this, and when I saw that someone had a used copy for sale at only $5, I jumped on it. We started the reading program early January and I am absolutely loving it. Both boys participate and really like it, too. Alex has reached a point where he can sound out simple words, and for some he simply sees the word and immediately says it. He enjoys trying to read anything and everything. We are only on Lesson 26 of the 100 lessons so he is a tad limited by what he can read, but I am so impressed with this reading program. Nathan is really picking up on it, too! I may need to work extra with him because he is falling behind Alex, but he is still learning a great deal.

I was worried that teaching reading was going to be one of my biggest and most pain-staking challenges regarding home schooling. But what a joy it is to teach a child to read!!!

Where Does the Time Go?

In April I'll turn 33 years old. Yes, I know that is not old. Of course it's not... But my heart (and sometimes my body) tell me otherwise. I'm not going through a mid-life crisis; I'm not upset over my age at all. My concern is over the quick passage of time and how I'm spending it.

Life keeps us so busy these days with home-schooling and all of our extracurricular activities, not to mention the day-to-day chores and unexpected tasks that come our way. I keep so busy, I don't always notice how very quickly my children are growing up. My oldest is almost 6 and my youngest, who I feel like should still be crawling around on the floor, is almost 2-1/2. How did it happen? I feel like I missed something. In fact, I am so terrible at journaling that in many ways, I have missed things. None of my children's baby books are filled out very well. Poor Amy - pretty much any milestone recordings I've ever made for her were done in this blog. And I often don't get around to blogging everything. My kids will someday come to me wanting to know details about their childhood, and the only information I'll be able to share will have to come from my memory. That pretty much means they won't be hearing many details!

I've had several reminders of late at how quickly life is passing. My nephew, who I can still remember as a baby and toddler, is now a senior in high school and will be graduating this year. And then this past weekend I went to Austin for a wedding. It was a wedding of a young woman who I babysat for many years. From the time she was about 4 until she was too old to be babysat (and I felt too old to be still babysitting), I was the prime babysitter for her and her little sister. And here I was, at her wedding. And during the reception, they flashed through picture after picture up on a large screen and I saw so many pictures of the little girl I remember from so long ago. And yet, it doesn't seem so long ago. Where did the time go? The picture below is of me with these two beautiful grown up women who are now the same height as me - maybe even taller! And though they remember me and all of the games we used to play together, they are not the same little girls anymore. Where did the time go?

I remember my dad telling me a long time ago when he and I were out on a walk that the older you get, the more quickly time seems to pass you by. At the time, either in high school or a freshman in college, this information didn't seem too important or all that believable for that matter. I was complaining about wanting a stressful week to be over and he was giving me the old "don't wish your life away" speech. But now, here I am, finally seeing what it was he was talking about. It really was a "don't wish your life away" speech, and that advice should be taken seriously. I can remember when the holidays at Christmas seemed to go on and on and on and I just couldn't wait for Christmas day. Now I want Christmas day to take it's time coming, because the holidays seem so short. Summers used to feel like they lasted forever, but now they go by in the blink of an eye. It's becoming difficult to remember what year we're in. I have to think about it every time I write the date. My dad was right. Where does the time go?

There is really not much I can do about the passing of time. I can't stop all of our activities so I can keep things a little slower... a little duller. I can't stop my children from growing up. But I do plan to take in every moment and try to enjoy this time that God has given me here with my loved ones. It is often so easy to wallow in self-pity when the days get difficult or I feel too overwhelmed by life's challenges. But why waste those precious moments in feelings of sadness or depression? No one knows how much time we have here on this Earth, and what time we do have goes so fast. Every minute we have should be treasured and used wisely.

So on that note, I think I have spent enough time sitting in here at my computer. Now it's time to spend memorable moments with my children!

Back Again!

Once again, my geranium has company...

Happy Valentine's Day!

"This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins... if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us." 1 John 4:10-12

Today is a special day where we make an extra effort to show our loved ones how special they are to us. Of course, we should do this every day, but especially on this day. I used to be pretty good about sending cards to relatives and friends to let each of them know how much we love them. I even used to make my own cards! But times have changed and now I do good just to encourage and help the kids make cards for others. And this year we seem to have hit an all time low with the cards. I'm just hoping to get each of the kids to make their daddy a card before he gets home from work!

Despite our failure with greeting cards this year, I have tried to make today a little special for at least my own children. Thanks to a dear friend who loaned me two eggs this morning, I was able to make chocolate chip muffins for the kids' breakfast. We had peanutbutter and jelly sandwiches cut in the shape of a heart for lunch, with Valentine candy from Granny and Paw-Paw for dessert. And each child is going to get a small heart-shaped box of chocolates and a Webkinz once their daddy gets home (I don't want him to miss seeing them get their Valentine surprises!). Hopefully we can also fit in a little Valentine craft before the day is out. And of course, we must watch Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown at some point, too. And for dinner, leftover lasagna. Yes, sadly, leftovers. But it's been over a week since we had it (I froze the leftovers) and it's not something I make very often. So, despite being leftover and not as romantic as steak, it will still be somewhat special. :) Here are some pictures of our day so far...

And since Valentine cards did not get mailed this year...

Happy Valentine's Day from our family to yours!!!

A Picture Post

Alex and Nathan, showing off their homemade firefighter helmets.
Amy, all set for Little Gym
Nathan and Amy
Alex with his sock puppet
Nathan, posing with his lunch plate (notice the face out of food)
Amy, with her favorite lunch item

Neglectful Again

Once again, I have been neglecting my blog. The funny thing is, there have been multiple occasions where I have purposefully taken pictures of the kids with the intent to blog and just never got around to doing it. Of course, yesterday we went bowling with the Contenders - Alex's second time to bowl but Nathan and Amy's first. I remembered my camera so I could capture the moment (and blog about it), but then managed to forget the camera out in the car. And once you've paid and have everyone in their bowling shoes, it's too late to run back out to the car for the camera! So no pictures to blog for that event. I can say that they all had a wonderful time, especially once one of those special gadgets to help young kids bowl became available. They loved using that thing! Sadly, that wasn't until our game was almost over.... not that we even got to finish. When little kids bowl and the ball takes several minutes to slowly make its way down to the pins, your game takes a long time. And I learned yesterday that you actually have a time limit! Oh, well. They had a great time and I've promised we'll do it again soon.

My camera is still out in the car, but as soon as I can, I will post pictures as an update to what we've been up to these last couple of weeks. And with any luck, I will post a little more frequently from now on!

A Walk Thru the Old Testament

Today Bill and I did a Walk Thru the Old Testament Seminar at our church. It was a long, but amazing day. The first session of the seminar was given during the normal worship service, and then those who wanted to participate in the full seminar stayed for the remainder of the day, taking lunch and snack breaks throughout the day. I am so grateful to my wonderful parents who so lovingly looked after the kids while we participated in the seminar. There was childcare available at our church, but I can't even imagine how Amy would have handled such a long day!

We were literally at church the entire day, and I can honestly say it was an incredible experience. The speaker was fantastic and I feel liked I learned so much about the Old Testament in that relatively short amount of time. I've never been good about reading the Old Testament because everytime I start to read it, I get lost in all of the detail and history. This seminar did a great job of breaking it down into key points and providing a means to rememember everything. I tend to be very quiet and perhaps a bit uncomfortable when in large gatherings of people. But this seminar has you standing up and really participating - as in literally performing hand motions and speaking key terms out loud - throughout the session. You even get into smaller groups to practice what you've learned several times. And though my shyness caused me some distress during this whole process, I actually had fun and learned so much. I can honestly say that I don't remember all of the 77 pieces of information we covered today, but I certainly know a lot more than when I walked into church this morning.

If you ever hear about this being given at a church near you, I highly recommend it!