home sweet home

It was bittersweet.
We were, after all, finally beginning to realize our dream;
but we’d taken a few steps backwards to do it.
~
We fell in love with our Fort Smith house

the very first time we saw it.
Interestingly enough,
that was a Thanksgiving weekend, too.
We’d looked at several houses in our price range
(what we considered our price-range, not what the bank said it was!)
and they were all junk!
We were getting a bit discouraged.
Our realtor told us he had another one in our price range;
it had just been listed.
It hadn’t even hit the books yet.
We drove by

and it looked really nice from the street.
Tyler said it must be a real dump inside

since was actually priced less than any we’d looked at,
and we shouldn’t waste our time looking.
I rationalized,
“It’s awfully nice on the outside to be a dump on the inside…”
And so we looked.

~
As Providence would have it
the lady who owned the house
didn’t leave like homeowners usually do

when their house is being shown.
Which turned out to be a really good thing!
We reminded her of her family

when they first bought the house over sixty years earlier.
She could picture us in her home
and she liked what she saw.
We’ve always been grateful.
~
But there was always a yearning for
‘the country’.

Land and trees and water for the kids to explore.
Room to grow as much as our food as we possibly could.
(this has proven to be far more difficult than we ever imagined)
Enough space that our kids could build a house on the property

if they wanted to.
~
After years of dreaming
praying
paying off debt
fixing up our beautiful, solid old house
and
adding to the family
we finally decided it was time.
~
Tyler found the place online.
There were no photos of the house
but the land looked pretty good.
He figured we’d be able to add on to the house,

'cause it was rather small.

(less than 1,000 sq ft)
I thought

the fact that there were no pictures of the house was telling…..
Turns out
I was the one who was right
for a change.
~
We drove up on a Sunday in late May after church.
We had a list of several places to look at;
we looked at this place first
and

again,
last.

It was quite unkempt

and the house
(from what we could see)

was absolutely horrible

but the land

had potential.
It was everything we were looking for.
~
When our realtor looked at it with us

He said, “You can bulldoze the house.”
Most of our friends thought that would be a really good idea;
it really was (is!) a dump!
But we figured we could live in for a year…..
~

While I stayed home with little ones,
Tyler and the big kids came out here several times a week
to work to make the place habitable for humans.

All together,
they put in over 1,000 hours of work.
and it still wasn’t even remotely nice!
~
Three years ago
today
with the help of some dear friends
we packed up our beautiful house in Fort Smith

brought all of our ‘stuff’
that we didn’t think we could bear to part with
and began to call this tiny dump of a house
Home.

~
Somewhere between buying the house in July
and moving in in November
we had decided that we would not be living in the house
for just a year
after all.

For years
we had been telling our children to avoid debt.
We calculated with them how much money could be saved
if one would wait a few years,
be diligent with saving
and buy a house with cash.
At first
we justified planning to go into debt to build a new house.
I mean,
we did have a fairly large family
and we were jumping in in the middle of the game,
not just starting out.

But God was dealing with both Tyler & I…

Tyler came to me one day as I was cooking dinner.
I’m sure he was dreading telling me what was on his mind.
“I’ve been thinking.
What would you say if I told you
I thought we should live in the house longer than we planned ?”
He expected a fit, I imagine.
But,
as God has been so faithful to do for us,
He had already been working on my heart.
I'd been wondering how was I going to tell Tyler
that I was pretty sure we weren’t supposed to borrow
to build??
~
The road has been a bit (ok - much -) rockier
(and longer)
than we’d anticipated.
Many of our friends think we are nuts!
It would be so easy to walk into a bank,
get a loan
and begin building.
Instead, we choose to be faithful
to the path
we believe God has laid out for our family.
~
And so
today
we celebrate three years in our 'new' home
(at the same time,
We really hope
that three more years
will find us in our new, new digs!)
~

initiative

Yesterday

Jeremiah came and got me.

"Come to your room, Mom, there's a surprise for you!"

As I walked to the room

(all 10 steps)

I'm thinking

"what have they done now??"

Surprises aren't always pleasant around here...

He leads me to the closet.

I'm thinking

"hey - stay away from there - pretty soon I'll have presents in there!"

then he shows me the door.

The one Lily colored all over last Thursday with red marker.

And it's clean (pretty much)

He excitedly jumped up and down

and told me he'd cleaned it for me and Dad.

Needless to say

he was showered with praise

several times throughout the day

~

just a moment ago

" Mommy, I took initiative!!!

I cleaned the playroom without even being asked!!"

~

thank-you, Jeremiah!

Momma, Daddy and Jesus are so pleased with you!

boys .... are just boys!

Ever since reading the book

Mommy, Teach Me

I've been mildly interested in Montessori.

I certainly don't agree with all the philosophies,

but I think there is some merit in the methods Montessori teaches.

~

It also seems (to me) to be a more girly thing.

Now, my boys love scooping the laundry soap

but

that activity has a purpose.

I don't really think they'd enjoy

scooping rice from one container to another

for no good reason.

Even so,

I've kept my mind open

and am on the lookout for inexpensive preschool activities

that would be in line with some of the Montessori methods.

Today,

I found a dozen cute turtles for a buck twenty-nine.

So I bought two sets;

an inexpensive matching game

which lasted all of 5 minutes

when they went from

'Matching Turtles'
to

'Fighting Ninja Turtles' which just goes to show ya

boys will be boys!

I know...

I am too easily thrilled;
not that that's a bad thing...

~

After months of procrastinating

(for really no good reason

-I was dreading designing the snap template for the resized pattern-

is that dumb or what?!)

I finally started making Pie

a new diaper stash.

She is going to love this one!

I'm pretty tickled with it :-)

~

I tried some new things;

this one took a bit longer to make than most

and cost about a $1 more

but its just so darn cute

I don't mind a bit!

~

note to self:

when you sew on FOE

do it on the outside, not the inside!

gone

Tyler came home with a bag of these the other day

I'd never had them before.
They
are
good!
Nothing like the original Dove dark chocolates
that are best eaten s l ow l y,
just melting in your mouth,
but still delicious.

These need to be chewed
therefore
each piece doesn't last as long
and one is not content with just one chocolate...

They were sitting in the cabinet,
tempting me.
I had to get them out of the house!
So
I did what anybody would do.
I polished 'em off real quick!
~
took care of that problem

scooping laundry soap

still

a favorite job!

guess

who just went peepee

on the potty?!?

~

Ironically enough

just a few minutes ago

I was picking out more diaper fabric and snaps

'cause the poor girl is desperate for bigger diapers!

Now,

I'm wondering

if perhaps I should come up with a training pants pattern

instead...

there's a new band in town

right now

as I type,

Tony

is driving

for the very first time

by himself.

~

You go, Ton'

use your road rage if you have to.

Love you, Bud

~

sniff

perfect ways to start the day

Off the top of my head

there are four perfect ways to greet the day.

Of course,

this has changed over the years....

~

The first

would be snuggling with my hubby

but, that doesn't happen nearly often enough.

~

Not necessarily second in preference,

a steaming (pretty) cup of perfectly doctored

decaf french vanilla coffee, lovingly prepared and delivered

starts the day off pretty nicely, too.

~

Still being in bed

and getting to see that first sleepy smile

when Lily wakes up and sees that I am there.

Oh so sweet!!!

~

And now the newest -

hearing the pitter patter of Lily's bare little feet

(somewhat unsteady

as they support her weight for the first time in hours)

just before seeing her huge smile, wide eyes, and outstretched arms

as she runs to me

after getting out of bed all by herself.

mmmm

God sure knew what He was doing,

starting people off as babies!!

out of a 3 year slump

Once upon a time
in the old house
in a world that seems far far away
I decorated for seasons & holidays.
Not a ton, mind you
but you could look at the entry table
(and in the fall & winter
the stairs - oh, I miss those stairs!)
and know where we were
in the calendar.
Not so since we’ve lived here.
For starters
I’ve never really fallen into a good housekeeping groove
and we’ve been here almost 3 years!
Add to that
it’s a yucky house
and let’s not forget it’s diminutive size….
~
Yesterday
in preparation for our trip over the mountains this weekend
(which should be quite beautiful)
Tyler and I thought we’d stir up

a bit of autumn appreciation in the kids.
Actually, Tyler had the idea - it was my job to implement.
So
I sent the boys out in search of natural treasures

while Lily and I headed to the shop
to find the long neglected box of fall decorations

Nothing fancy
But it does make the place a bit cozier;
and we didn’t spend a cent!

We topped off the day with our annual
after-Halloween-when-the-pumpkins-go-on-sale-for-a-dollar
Dinner in a Shell.
oh, so good!

tickled

I am so tickled with myself!

I don't know why I didn't think of this years ago!

Actually

I probably did

and

then promptly forgot my brilliance.....

I often have great ideas

and when I tell the kids about them

they're like

"Mom, you've already told us this...."

really?!

~

anyways

I had the idea and acted on it

all in the same week.

Roller-ball bottles for Miracle Rub!

Isn't that clever?!

I never minded getting the oil on my hands,

but the bigger kids sure didn't like to.

This'll be a lot more convenient

than

grabbing the baby

sprinkling oil on her feet

rubbing them together

and then rubbing her sweet feeties on yer neck

when you have a sore throat.

~

I'm just swimming with more ideas....

Peppermint for headaches & yucky tummies.

Muscle rub

minus the beeswax, of course.

Some yummy lemon oil

just because.

Oh, the possibilities!

reassurance

Dr’s appointment today.
From now on, they’re every two weeks.
Ugh
But today’s was good.

~
See
Little Bit
isn’t much of a mover & shaker.
At all.
And while I’m not a worrier, by any stretch of the imagination,
I was actually beginning to worry.
I’d do the kick counts;
they rarely added up to 10 in 2 hours.
Not real encouraging.
My babies move
alot
But, then again, this could be my calm baby….
but then again,
10 movements is the minimum I should feel in 2 hours,
so maybe things weren’t quite right.
My belly is growing
so it would seem baby is growing properly.
So why I am I not getting kicked more?
If I’m just not feeling them, why not??
So we did a quick ultrasound to check things out.
Everything looked just great
and Baby passed the test with flying colors.
Looks like we just have us a calm little baby.

~
Oh
and since we were in there…….
and since I was already pretty sure……

isn't she a beaut??

sleepless in the south

You know those 1st trimester

can’t sleep even though you’re exhausted

and can’t even open your eyes nights?
I don’t really miss those nights.

How ‘bout the 3rd trimester

can’t sleep cause you can’t get in a comfortable position

long enough to get to sleep nights;

what with the aching back, sore hips, pelvis spreading

(even though your body no longer can use this amazing function…)

leg cramps, puffy feet, and hands & arms that fall asleep

before you do?

Goodbye second trimester
Hello third

~
Baby,
Momma’s just about ready to meet you!
Actually, Momma is ready now;
but it’s probably best if you stay put for awhile
and work on growing big and strong.
I love you, Pumpkin

unexpected promises

I just got a package!

Now

if I were like my friend Sandy

I would have waited till this evening to open it

but alas

I am not.

I am

me.

So I quickly grabbed my trusty Leatherman pocketknife

and opened the box.

I thought maybe it was going to to be a nutcracker;

the size was about right.

But it was way better than a nutcracker

(especially for nasty black walnuts!)

and if I would've waited till I was all alone to open it,

I would have missed Lily's delighted squeal

at seeing

the

chocolate!

~

Thanks, Mom!

I love you

~

um....

I shared before I saw the note;

sorry.

And to be perfectly honest,

now that they all know I have candy

I'll probably share again.

That's just what moms do.

not quite music

Tyler was 'singing'.

Rather annoyingly, in my opinion.

Of course, to be perfectly fair, it has been a long day

and my nerves and ears were shot hours ago...

I told him he was catterwallerin'.

He disagreeed

and continued his noise.

Lily came in the room

took one concerned look at Papa

and asked,

"You okay?"

they say clothes make the man

Whaddya think??

things are going to change around here

It has been a l o n g day!

Tomorrow will be even longer.
Crackdown!
To be entirely honest,
it should have come months ago
but the whole thing is just overwhelming to me.
1 kid at a time
would be okay.
But both of these little guys???
And their ever-so-observant sister??
(and the big guys aren’t entirely flawless, either….)
Meanwhile
ever so subtly
things grew worse and worse.
Not quite instant obedience.
A few too many questions.
Not outright disrespect
but
disrespect nonetheless.
Lack of discipline.
(on my part just as much, if not more, than theirs. Sigh)
Too much crying and ridiculous carrying on.
Anger.
~
I’ve been trying the mercy route.
It ain’t workin’.
Somehow
even though I was careful to express that I was showing mercy
- lest they think I was just a weenie letting things slide -
(although, again, being perfectly honest, sometimes I was)
they mistook my mercy for _________
Well, I’m not sure what exactly they mistook it for…..
Suffice it to say
There has been a lack of peace & joy in our home
and frankly
I can’t take it any longer.
So

here we are
in boot camp.
Or maybe we should call it
Booty Camp
‘cause I know 2 little guys

who are gonna have real sore ones.
~
Ya’ll pray for us!

was that fun?

"yeah"

"Do you want to do it again?"

"No!"

Not so with Josiah!
"Was that fun?"
"That was much fun!"

a tip - what not to do in church

The pregnant woman sitting in front of you

probably will not appreciate

you kicking her chair

-however gently-

throughout the service.

~

I'm just guessing.

exercise buddy

my exercisin' buddy!

I have to wait till Lily is done eating her breakfast to do my T-tapp

'cause she will decide she's finished

before she's finished

so she can exercise with Momma

I do love that girl!

but...

Lily had a messy diaper not long after waking up this morning.
So I took her in the bedroom to change it.
As we walked through the doorway
she said, "I not tired!"

initiative

One of the things I desire

is for my children to show initiative.

To see a need and fill it

without being asked.

It seems that girls are a bit better at this than boys.

But

maybe not.

Jeremiah has gotten fairly good at showing initiative.

He is often the one to realize we have no water at dinner-time

and will go get it.

I used to worry that he was getting it straight from the faucet

without using the filter;

but, no, he even uses the filter!

Just a moment ago

I was folding laundry and the timer went off.

It wasn't a big deal;

nothing was going to burn in the oven,

so I just ignored it.

It went off again.

Josiah told me, "Timer, Mom"

and I assured him it'd be okay if I got it in a sec

it was just to remind me to check the bread

to see if I needed to turn the oven on yet.

I told him I would finish folding the laundry, then get it.

And that sweet little 3 year old boy said,

"How about I finish folding the laundry for you

so you can get it now?"

~

Honey - that would explain why

it looks like I just wadded up your skivvies.....

houses, houses, houses, houses

We didn’t count as we were going along,
but we calculated today
that we looked at
between 25 and 30 houses yesterday.
We weren’t looking to buy, of course,
just looking for ideas.
~
For years
Tyler and I have enjoyed drawing up house plans.
I’ll think I have come up with the perfect house
and he’ll find some reason why it isn’t.
and vise verse.
Although
to be perfectly honest
I’m a little quicker to point out all that’s wrong with his plans

than he is with mine.
That’s sort of how we are in life, too.
I’m working on that…..
Then
we bought this land
and the whole house-plan drawing thing
became more challenging.
Now, we have to suit the house to our land.
And
we not only have to fit in everything we want in a forever house
in as few sq ft as is reasonable,
we have to have it on the ‘right’ side of the house, too!
Kitchen on the east
so the sun can help quickly thaw the bread
I forgot to get out the night before.
Then again
I’d also like the sink widow facing the north
‘cause that’d be the best view…..
~
It’s been several months since we’d done any plan-drawing.
Busy with weddings, funerals, and babies
you know.
But now that we are finally beginning to accumulate a bit of cash
in our house fund
we decided to get back at it.
The Parade of Homes was this weekend
so it was the perfect opportunity
to see
in person, not just on paper or the computer screen,
what we like.
~
Didn’t find a thing!
Oh, sure, there were a few small touches that we liked and might implement
but nothing big.
No
Living room, Dining room, Kitchen set-up
that was just
'wow - this is exactly what I want…..'
Actually, I really liked the layout of the last house we went to
but
I can’t get it to work with the garage on the west side……
~
We talked to one gal for awhile;
told her why we were looking, what we were looking for
and that we really hadn’t seen it.
She said, “Well, these houses are for the typical American family.
It would seem to me that you all are not the typical American family.”

Who told?!
~
Back to the drawing board.

~

p.s.

The kids really enjoyed looking for

'things that grabbed them' about the houses.

After we'd been at one house for a few minutes,

Jeremiah came and got me,

"Mom, there's a lot of things that grab me in the master bedroom.

You gotta come see!"

I quickly went to see what architectural treasure he'd found.

"This grabs me, and this grabs me,

and I really like this, too!"

~

The house happened to be furnished;

he was pointing to the bed, nightstand, and curtains.

You may have already known this

I did not.

Today

is,

in addition to being Kiss & Huggin' Day,

Flower Pickin' Day!

Which may explain why Lily

was so insistent

on wearing flowers on her clothes today.

I love you, Jeremiah!

Thanks for likin' things special.

bedtime battles

Last night
when Josiah came walking into the dining room at 10:30
I squeezed my eyes shut.
I buried my head in my arms;
tears burned my eyes
and threatened to spill out.

~
The boy has always been a champion sleep fighter.
If he could get paid for this ‘skill’
he’d be one rich little boy!

~
I told the boys when they went to bed
- I had them repeat it, so I knew we were clear -
Do not get out of bed
for any reason.
If you get up, you will be spanked.
We went through all the scenarios…..
45 minutes later
Josiah got up
(I forget now, why)
He got a good spanking
along with a reminder.
He stayed in bed till 10:30
and he just couldn’t stand it anymore.

~
I did not want to spank that boy!
Why did he have to get out of bed??
As I sat there with my head in my arms
I thought, “Oh God, I am so sorry!
How many times
have I caused You to want to shut your eyes
and pretend that, no, I did not just do that?”
I did not want to spank that boy!
How He must have hated punishing the Israelites
time and time again!
Tyler began singing
ever so softly
about God’s grace.
I gave him (Josiah, not Tyler) a ridiculously soft swat
and picked up that scrappy little boy and held him tight.
Then we all went to bed together
and he fell asleep holding my hand.
Which is all he really wanted (needed?) in the first place.
~
I wonder so often
When its all said and done
does it really matter??
Do I have to be right?
Does my word have to be law?
Will I ruin them forever
as Mr. Pearl suggests
if I do not ‘win every battle’?
If I did win every battle - would that amount to anything?
The bottom line is -
I want my children to obey
me, first - ultimately God
because they want to. They choose to.
Not because they fear the punishment,
but because they love me (and God)
and desire to please me (and God)
~
Lord, please, grant me wisdom.
James 1:5

bits n pieces

This morning

Josiah was reading Go Dogs Go.

He excitedly ran through the house exclaiming

"I learned to read! I was reading Go Dogs Go all by myself!"

We all congratulated him

and Jeremiah followed him into the playroom to listen

while he repeated those familiar words.

Jeremiah was so proud of his bub's new 'skill'.

"You are reading!

Oh, Josiah I love you!"

~

Thanks to just a couple minutes instruction from her brother-in-law

Lily now knows her hands and her elbows

and she has delighted in telling me about them all day long.

Such a smart little girl!

~

That smart little girl has also been a bit (and I'm being kind!)

of a stinker this week!

I told her I expect a new tooth soon

~

I heard a new song on the radio the other day

and it has stuck with me.

I think I'll make it my prayer for my 41st year.

Lord

empty me

of me

so I can be filled with You.

well, it's done

and now

I really could use some chocolate!

~

I'll miss those sweet curls

but

I actually like the new look

better than I thought I would

and I sure do love the boy sportin' it!!

sometimes

I am such a dingbat.

~

I just walked outside

to get the diapers off the line and thought,

"Mmm something smells good!"

Which is odd.

I can't remember ever smelling a neighbor's dinner

since we've lived here.

Oh, maybe the occasional grill going

but that doesn't count.

Then I realized

that's our dinner!!

I forgot for a moment

that I had dinner cooking in my summer kitchen.

Silly me.

Let's just hope I remember to start the rice that goes with it.....

she knows what she likes

Brandon told Lily,

"I don't know what I should get you for Christmas."

(He is most definitely not a procrastinator!)

She immediately told him.

Shoes.