Here are a few Easter pictures. Last year (11-07), we moved the Thursday before Thanksgiving, and this year we moved the Thursday before Easter. Hopefully this is not a new trend!!!
Monday, April 27, 2009
SOLD!
We now officially have a contract on our Alabama house! Having experienced a closing falling through the day it was supposed to happen, we know better than to count our equity before it is in our account, but we are excited to have a buyer. God is so good!
Sunday, April 19, 2009
First Impressions
We have had a great first impression of our new town. In fact, we have joked that almost everyone we have met has been "scary nice". I feel like we are in an X Files episode! It is a bessing to feel so welcomed!
We were able to go to the park with five or six other homeschooling families on Wednesday, and it was a blessing to meet some other moms. The children also really enjoyed playing with some other children. I am praying that we will make some good friends.
We have visited at a church several times, and we have enjoyed it. It is really hard to visit around to different churches with the children! We have come up with a plan. Mark is going to visit other churches on Wednesday nights to get a feel for if it is a place we would like to take the whole family to visit. We may end up staying where we have been visiting. I am still praying about it.
I have been praying that God would prepare a place for us here in our new town. He has been so faithful. I am excited to see how He answers my prayer.
We were able to go to the park with five or six other homeschooling families on Wednesday, and it was a blessing to meet some other moms. The children also really enjoyed playing with some other children. I am praying that we will make some good friends.
We have visited at a church several times, and we have enjoyed it. It is really hard to visit around to different churches with the children! We have come up with a plan. Mark is going to visit other churches on Wednesday nights to get a feel for if it is a place we would like to take the whole family to visit. We may end up staying where we have been visiting. I am still praying about it.
I have been praying that God would prepare a place for us here in our new town. He has been so faithful. I am excited to see how He answers my prayer.
Settling In
I am trying to get back in the blogging saddle! We have lived in our new house for eleven days now, and I have been very busy. I have not spent much time on the computer. There has been lots to do, and our Internet connection is s-l-o-w (I guess that is one of the downsides of living in "the country")!
My parents came the first four days we were here, and that was a huge help. We unpacked the kitchen, kids' rooms, bathrooms and living room. Dad also got started on our flower beds. There was no landscaping, other than weeds and a little grass (we can not put down weed and feed, because there would not be much left!), so it was good to get started. Mark's mom came a couple of days after my parents left, and she has been a blessing. She has spent lots of time holding Eli and doing laundry. If it weren't for her, I would have a mountain of laundry!
A contractor came out to look at the attic space where Isaac and Eli's room will be. Hopefully, we will get that done in the next few months. Right now, Isaac is sleeping in the playroom and Eli is in the guest room. I also had a fence man come out to look at our back yard. We are going to fence in a small space at the back of the house. Someday, we may fence more of the back yard if we decide to get some type of animal.
I still have lots to do, but I am happy with what we have accomplished. I feel a sense of urgency because I have learned that we are good at projects the first couple of months after we move into a new house, and then we stop seeing what needs to be done.
Here is my To Do list:
Outside:
--Plant plants in the front flower beds -- We have put down 85 bags of top soil and 30 bags of mulch so far. I need to buy plants and get them in the ground! I have lots of other yard work to do, but I want to get the plants in first.
-- Square foot garden -- I bought the materials to build my new garden boxes. I hope to get my sweet husband to build them sometime this week. I would like to get our veggies planted by the end of next week.
Inside:
-- Organize the guest room closet.
-- Better organize the playroom
-- Work on the homeschool closet (Mark has to put shelves in before I can do this one)
-- Hang more of our pictures throughout the house
-- Organize my pantry (eventually I will use part of another closet for extra pantry space)
-- Organize my closet
-- Organize the coat closet and buy some type of small bookshelf to put in it to hold videos and games.
-- I am sure there is much more, but my brain is tired!
My parents came the first four days we were here, and that was a huge help. We unpacked the kitchen, kids' rooms, bathrooms and living room. Dad also got started on our flower beds. There was no landscaping, other than weeds and a little grass (we can not put down weed and feed, because there would not be much left!), so it was good to get started. Mark's mom came a couple of days after my parents left, and she has been a blessing. She has spent lots of time holding Eli and doing laundry. If it weren't for her, I would have a mountain of laundry!
A contractor came out to look at the attic space where Isaac and Eli's room will be. Hopefully, we will get that done in the next few months. Right now, Isaac is sleeping in the playroom and Eli is in the guest room. I also had a fence man come out to look at our back yard. We are going to fence in a small space at the back of the house. Someday, we may fence more of the back yard if we decide to get some type of animal.
I still have lots to do, but I am happy with what we have accomplished. I feel a sense of urgency because I have learned that we are good at projects the first couple of months after we move into a new house, and then we stop seeing what needs to be done.
Here is my To Do list:
Outside:
--Plant plants in the front flower beds -- We have put down 85 bags of top soil and 30 bags of mulch so far. I need to buy plants and get them in the ground! I have lots of other yard work to do, but I want to get the plants in first.
-- Square foot garden -- I bought the materials to build my new garden boxes. I hope to get my sweet husband to build them sometime this week. I would like to get our veggies planted by the end of next week.
Inside:
-- Organize the guest room closet.
-- Better organize the playroom
-- Work on the homeschool closet (Mark has to put shelves in before I can do this one)
-- Hang more of our pictures throughout the house
-- Organize my pantry (eventually I will use part of another closet for extra pantry space)
-- Organize my closet
-- Organize the coat closet and buy some type of small bookshelf to put in it to hold videos and games.
-- I am sure there is much more, but my brain is tired!
Monday, March 23, 2009
The Dentist
I took Olivia and Anna Grace to the dentist on Wednesday. The dentist said that their teeth looked great. He went on to add that we needed to work on getting Olivia to stop sucking her thumb before her adult teeth come in. He said that I need to be "Consistent and Committed."
I had talked to her about is a couple of weeks ago. I had told her that she is supposed to stop when she turns five. She suggested that she stop when she turned 48. So, after our trip to the dentist, I talked to her about it again, and she honestly tried for about an hour to stop. She usually holds her blanket and sucks her thumb when she is tired. She decided that she would stop sucking her thumb and just smell her blanket. She came back in a little while later and said it was just too hard. She looked at me with that sweet face, and I decided that for now, instead of being Consistent and Committed, I would be In Denial and Indecisive. We have enough changes going on right now. After we are settled into our new house, I will come up with a game plan (and a big bribe) and get to work on those C words.
I had talked to her about is a couple of weeks ago. I had told her that she is supposed to stop when she turns five. She suggested that she stop when she turned 48. So, after our trip to the dentist, I talked to her about it again, and she honestly tried for about an hour to stop. She usually holds her blanket and sucks her thumb when she is tired. She decided that she would stop sucking her thumb and just smell her blanket. She came back in a little while later and said it was just too hard. She looked at me with that sweet face, and I decided that for now, instead of being Consistent and Committed, I would be In Denial and Indecisive. We have enough changes going on right now. After we are settled into our new house, I will come up with a game plan (and a big bribe) and get to work on those C words.
On the Market!
My sweet Mom came for a visit last week and we had "clean out the house boot camp!" Mom is a great cleaner and organizer, so we accomplished a lot. We took turns taking care of Eli and meeting the needs of the other four, while the other one worked on our detailed to do list. We packed away some of the toys and moved quite a bit of them into the garage. I decided that most house hunters do not care how neat the garage is, so the children have been playing with the toys out there. We also mulched the flower beds and cleaned up the back yard. It was an exhausting week, but it feels wonderful to have it all done!
Mom left on Friday morning, and the for sale sign went in the front yard a couple of hours later. The house was not officially in the computer until Saturday afternoon, but someone called to see on Saturday morning. I am praying that it sells soon!
We are now in "the house must be perfect whenever we leave" mode. That is a big pain when we are walking out the door, but a blessing when we walk back in. It is so nice to come home to a clean house! If only it could magically look like this on an everyday basis!
The movers are coming to pack our stuff two weeks from today. I think that I am still a bit numb from all that is happening. I am thankful that God is in control and I am just along for the ride!
Mom left on Friday morning, and the for sale sign went in the front yard a couple of hours later. The house was not officially in the computer until Saturday afternoon, but someone called to see on Saturday morning. I am praying that it sells soon!
We are now in "the house must be perfect whenever we leave" mode. That is a big pain when we are walking out the door, but a blessing when we walk back in. It is so nice to come home to a clean house! If only it could magically look like this on an everyday basis!
The movers are coming to pack our stuff two weeks from today. I think that I am still a bit numb from all that is happening. I am thankful that God is in control and I am just along for the ride!
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Ramblings
There is not much new to report here. My to-do list is long, and my motivation is short! I seem to be torn between two worlds -- the things I need to do here to get the house ready to sell and the things I need to do to prepare for our new place in Arkansas. I spent a lot of time yesterday making phone calls. I got our phone, water, insurance, and electricity set up. I also arranged to have our carpets here cleaned (I am hoping for a miraculous recovery for our carpets). I took everyone (except Mark and Eli) to get haircuts this week so that I do not have to think about that for a while. I am also trying to get some shopping (shoes for the kids and stuff for the new house) done before we move because there will be fewer stores in our new town. My mom is coming for a visit this week, which should be a huge help. She is a great cleaner and organizer, and I need to do lots of cleaning and organizing before the house goes on the market later this week or early next week.
God has blessed us so much in the past few months, and I am so thankful. He has truly been our provider during this time of job uncertainty.
God has blessed us so much in the past few months, and I am so thankful. He has truly been our provider during this time of job uncertainty.
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