Home, sweet home

As per your requests, here are some photos of the new abode.
There are some things that are unfinished and some things that will change, but this is pretty much the living space, for now.
I did not take pics of the bathrooms or bedrooms yet, and the two unfinished rooms are not captured on film as yet, either.
I will share those at a later date.
Enjoy!

The back entry way:

The kitchen:

The dinning room:

The living room:

Let them eat . . . fruit (or, adventures in bad parenting)

We are progressing on the house, and have a projected move in date of Monday!
How excited am I?
Very!!
While most of the time over there is spent working on unpacking boxes and finishing touches, etc., some time is spent in the back yard ("the back 40" we affectionately call it) picking apples and blackberries.
The boys love climbing the apple tree to see how high up they can get to pick the fruit.
And the blackberries are so ripe and ready to just be plucked.
Grandpa took about 20 apples from the house the other day, and has promised us a pie on Sunday.
Yum.
Daniel likes the apples.
The other day, he picked one up and carried it around for a long time, throwing it like a ball.
At some point he must have thought, "Hmmm, I bet I can eat this thing."
And that is just what he did.
Now, I know about choking hazards, and so I tried to get it away from him, but it was nothing doing! I watched him closely, and, really he ate it so nicely.
Look how cute he is, eating his apple.

And no choking.
Don't tell my mom! (Hi, Mom! =)
Can you say "skin fruit"?
While we are on the subject of bad parenting, let me do a little soul cleansing confessing here. Also, it will help you to know that not every moment of our lives are the "glossy magazine ad" moments you may think they are.
I lied in front of my kids today.
Bold face lied.
It wasn't even a good lie, and not even for a good reason (not that there EVER is a good reason to lie).
The situation was this: I dialed my mom's office this morning, to say hi and see what her plans for the day were. The problem was, somewhere between dialing and waiting for the receptionist to answer, I lost track of what I was doing.
That, and the phone slipped from my ear a bit (because I was doing something else at that point, other than just waiting for the "Good morning, law offices . . ." on the other end.
By the time I remembered that the phone was on my chest for a reason and I put the receiver back up to my ear, the receptionist, who I know quite well, was saying "Hello? Hello?"
Now, this was embarrassing to me, and I thought about just hanging up, but I did something far worse.
"Hello, Betty? (name changed to protect the innocent in this story) This is Joy . . . I'm so sorry. The baby grabbed the phone from my ear . . . you know how it is. Can I talk to my mother?"
Isaac, who was sitting on the floor, looked over at Daniel, who was across the room, playing with toys in the toy box.
Then he looked at me.
We both knew I lied.
I felt sick to my stomach, like I would throw up.
I don't even know why I did it exactly. I did not want to look foolish and so . . .
It was stupid and I haven't even done anything like that in . . . well, forever, it seems.
Anyway, I talked to mom, hung up and called the boys over to stand next to me.
I had to make things right.
"Boys, Mom just told a lie." I began, voice shaky.
They looked at me with a mix of compassion and curiosity.
"And I was wrong. What I just just did was a sin. And it was for a stupid reason! I just didn't want to look stupid in front of Betty. But I should not have done that. It was totally wrong."
I prayed then, and had them pray for me.
Not a shining parenting moment!
I projected into the future -- my boys, pathological liars, a skill they learned from dear old mom!
And then, I remembered . . . God's mercy and grace are sufficient, even when I fail and fall and don't deserve it.
It made me feel a little better.
Children know.
They know when they are seeing inconsistency.
And we -- human, fallible parents that we are -- are so prone to be inconsistent, to be poor examples at times, to act reprehensibly in front of our children (or when they are not around)!
All we can do is turn to Him in whom is no shadow of turning.
All we can do is repent (in front of our children, if that is who we have sinned in front of or against).
All we can do is cling to the mercy and grace of God, who is just and faithful to forgive us, and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
And so, I cling.
I cling for all I am worth!

Just life . . . snippets from the crazy fray

Some lovely things my kids have said recently . . .

Josiah, the other day, after riding lessons. He was sitting in the truck, drinking water, legs dangling out of the open door. He took a swig, wiped his mouth and said (out of the blue). . .
"Now, when I get my own horse, that will be a whole other story.
I have two cats and a dog.
Now I need some chicks and some chickens so we can get some eggs.
And maybe more dogs.
And some cows? Or Goats?
We need to get these animals for our farm, mom.
And maybe a lizard."

Today, upon seeing that the kittens food dish was empty, Josiah said,
"They will get foodrated, like they get dehydrated if they have no water!!"

Tonight, as Isaac was praying before bed, he prayed,
". . .And be with Daniel as he roams this wide world, discovering things. . ."
I cried when he said that.

Speaking of crying . . . my grandfather's sister, Josie, died today. She was 89 years. old.
We heard about it at dinner when his niece called with the news.
My mom cried, and grandpa was quiet and sad.
Isaac cried too. "I miss grandma and pop so much!" he wailed.
Every new death opens up the old ones for Isaac, for all of us.
Death is hard for him, and he expresses that well, which I think is good for him.
I remember my Aunt Josie in snatches. Her laugh, her deep voice. A faint recollection of a scent. Seeing her at funerals, weddings, family gatherings at Aunt Mill's when I was a little, little girl.
She walks the very edge of my memory, but she is there.
Grandpa had a big family.
Seventeen brothers and sisters.
I am sad to say that I do not know very many of them well.
My heart breaks for my grandfather, at that age where brothers and sisters and friends and wife are passing from this life, watching them go, staying behind . . . for now.
It makes me appreciate today. Makes me appreciate the breath in my lungs and the people who are here with me, breathing.
Today, I woke up early, went grocery shopping, dropped Daniel off with my mom, went to the new house and painted and picked berries, went and had dinner with Gramp and mom (the boys went fishing in the pond and Isaac caught two bass!), went to Starbucks with mom and the boys for shaken iced teas (mom and I) a frappuccino (Isaac) an organic chocolate milk (Josiah) and apple juices (Daniel and Ben, who is staying with us for a few days).
The day was so busy and full of hard work and small frustrations.
But there were moments too. Good moments.
Like when Josiah shot an arrow 50 feet with no help, a big feat for a little guy like him.
Or when Isaac caught two bass while fishing with his brother and his friend in the late afternoon sun.
Or sitting in the truck, the warm prairie wind blowing through the open windows as we all drank our cool drinks and talked about the excitements of the day.
When we got home, the boys showered and played so nicely at the table, building forts with their log cabin sets piecemeal with other toys, or whatever they could find to hook their forts up.
Isaac's fort.

Ben's fort.
Josiah's fort.
Playing so nicely.Handsome brace face.

Running with the big dogs.Daniel, God love him, will eat anything from anywhere at anytime (Did I write about the eating of the pond mud? I think not. Hmm. Probably just as well. It's too gross to recount!).
Sometimes I would swear he is the grossest baby on the planet.
Today, instead of pond mud, or his own poop, or crackers that had been swept up into a pile of dirt on the floor, or the bottom of his shoe (all things he has, in fact, eaten), he actually picked a better grade of garbage, and licked a discarded foil lid of a chocolate Jell-o pudding cup until it shone and reflected his grimy little face.
Wondering where mom was?
All the while I was obliviously putting groceries away.
I thought he was just toddling around the kitchen, happy as a clam for no reason.
Yeah, right!
He's a stealthy little fellow, when he wants to be.
So, today had it's ups and downs, like most days do, I suppose.
Now, all the boys are asleep.
Daniel is laying here beside me, clean as a whistle and cute as a button.
And for a moment, I wish it were always like this. Everyone safe and sound . . . and clean.
But that's just not how life is.
I will enjoy it this little while though.
And I will be ready to face the fray . . . tomorrow.

An update, of sorts

We have been moving right along at the new house, which is why I have not written this last week.
We are very, very close to moving in (How close? you ask. There are couches and beds inside the house!) and have about a week to a week and a half worth of work before it is completely ready. We are wanting to have everything done, done, done, so we are not looking around in six months, a year, ten years and saying, "we still have to . . . "
The family room will still be incomplete, but we can shut off that part of the house from the main part, and work on it while we are living there.
To say it has been busy would leave you with a muted understanding of what it's really been like around here.
That said, I do need to post updates on a few things, like
~the trip to Texas
~the ACCS conference
~riding lessons last week, during which I got on a horse (yes, me!), we learned some really cool things about wild mares, we acquired two new "members" of the family, and we had dinner at this totally neat pizza place called Portelli's with Rachel and Kevin
~our Fourth of July happenings
~Isaac's surprise birthday party
~blackberry picking
~the status of the house
I am not able to do this now, but let me leave you with this conversation I recently had with my kids (though I am a very minor player here). . .

Isaac: Mom, the British Empire has lost a lot of it's acquisitions.
Mom: What do you mean?
Isaac: Well, Hong Kong, India . . .
Josiah: Are we a part of the British Empire?
Isaac: That's what the Revolutionary War was about, Jo. We fought them and won our independence from them.
Josiah: Oh, good.
Mom: (feeling by now like she better read some good history books in the near future, and completely wowed by her son's vocabulary) Are Ireland and Scotland still a part? I know they fought a lot against British rule.
Josiah: IRELAND AND SCOTLAND?! NO WAY!
Isaac: Let's face it, Josiah, England just isn't the world superpower it used to be.

Ahhhhh, kids these days.

Life is good

Part I

Pardon me while I have a strange interlude.
Okay.
So it hasn’t been strange, exactly.
But it has been a busy interlude.
Thus, the lapse in blogging these past few days.
I have worked at the new house quite a bit this weekend.
There’s nothing like getting in there and getting your hands dirty to make you feel better about a project. That’s how I lovingly refer to our remodel now – our project. Somehow it sounds less monstrous that way. Almost cute in fact, really. Almost.
Seriously, we are making progress and hope to be in by the beginning of July.
My enthusiasm has in no way been curbed by the facts that Joe found a black snake in the house yesterday, and just today we witnessed a bold little mouse scampering across the new laminate floor.
It was so adorable, the way his feet slid out from under him as he was racing for the closet.
NOT.
All I could think about was the movie Mouse Hunt, which I happened to watch with the boys recently. It was not a comfort to me, even though in the movie the mouse is nice to the humans in the end.
Joe chased him with a broom, I suppose to sweep him away. Be gone, little mouse. You have no power here.
But alas, he was too quick, laminate floor and all.
Anyway, in the past few days I missed blogging about Daniel’s first foray into a baby pool and an afternoon spent with Isaac and Jo’s good friend Ben.

Daniel loved it. All my kids are part fish, it seems.

That was Friday afternoon.
Friday night was family night at VBS, and the week came to a close with a presentation for the parents and a meal for the families who participated.
I want to thank everyone who put this on. My boys loved it! Thank you for laying down your lives for the next generation. I know it is something my little “agents” will remember for a long time to come.

Here are two of God’s Kids.

Here’s another one.

Saturday, I spent a lot of time at the house, gettin’er done.
I actually used a drill. I don’t know if this impresses anyone else, but the house is still standing!!
Sunday, after church, we had lots of people over at gramp’s. Fourteen adults and three kids!
It was the first time in a long time that the house was full and bursting at the seems with not only people, but laughter and conversation and brotherhood.
After dinner, we were back at the house.
Today, after some necessary errands, we found ourselves at the house yet again.
The boys are so tired of being there, and sometimes they whine a bit, when they find it is where we are heading, “Do we have to go there again?”
I keep reminding them that since we will live there one day very soon (fingers crossed) they might as well get used to it.
Generally, they are a big help. We can always find something for them to do.
And when we are not keeping them busy, they wander out into the landscape and find toads and bunnies and animal tracks of all kinds. Yesterday they found coyote and deer tracks.
Joe and I surveyed the land later and discovered an apple tree and a couple of mulberry trees. Almost the entire property is lined with thick blackberry bushes. Very exciting.

Part II

The other day, as I was going back and forth from the new house to various other locations for cleaning supplies and lunches and such, I got behind a jeep with a tire cover that read “Life is Good."

"

Now, if I’m being honest (and I am) life wasn’t seeming very “good” to me at that moment.
For many reasons, I had had a bad week full of wrong attitudes and stinking thinking and fear and frustration.
I thought about that saying.
I stared at the people driving and riding in that jeep, respectively.
How did they know?
Sure, their hair was blowing in the wind on a God-kissed beauty of a day and their smiles were visible from my windshield, but were they happy?
I thought about myself.
I missed my dad so badly this last week, I could literally taste the sorrow of the loss of him.
Who was going to tell him that life was good?, I humphed.
Immediately, God said, not unkindly, but knowingly, “Um, eternal life is great. I’m sure Bill would agree . . . “
“Okay,” I challenged, “Let’s play this!”
One by one I went down the litany of things that had been bothering me all week, whining, “But, but what about . . . “
And one by one, he turned it around, gently, showing me the good in each situation.
It’s not that the bad doesn’t happen, doesn’t exist.
Of course it does.
God never promised that life would be easy.
But he did promise comfort and hope and joy to those who love him and keep his commands.
As I drove on, wind blowing my hair through the open window, voice of God whispering in my ear all His benefits, all the wonderful things that I have to be thankful for, my perspective began to change.
As I listened to Him, I remembered . . . small hands raised in worship of Him; small faces lifted for a kiss; friend’s hands, held while making plans for coffee; husband’s smile widening when I look at him; mother’s voice on the other end of the line, saying “hello” from down the street; grandfather, still sitting on porches to watch the sunset; tomatoes warm from the vine, bites of sunshine; cups of coffee, steaming; berries washed and sweet; sunset blazing; cool twilight hues melting into night; horses running; prairie grass blowing in the wind; crisp of autumn; chill of winter; fresh of spring; laze of summer; children’s laughter; child’s prayer; a child dancing.
Sacrifice of life so I can live.
Yeah.
Life is good.