We've Moved...

...we managed to get everything moved this weekend.  Now, the unpacking starts.  It is overwhelming to say the least.  Aidan is doing well with it all, surprisingly.  I thought it would be the hardest on him since he is the oldest.  I think sometimes he's just acting tough because he knows I'm sad.  Ella keeps asking about home and when we're going back.  That's hard.
I don't have the words to process it all right now...so I'll just leave you with this.  Enjoy.  :)

SpongeBob SquarePants: "Texas Music Video"
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Things I've Heard (And Seen) Lately...the Moving Edition

So, things have been really crazy around here lately.  But, there have been some very funny moments.  Here are some of my favorites related to a move.

Mark: (trying to explain stepping out on faith to Aidan)  It's like stepping off a cliff and knowing that God is going to catch you (or something along these lines...I can't remember the exact analogy, but it was about a cliff).
Aidan:  Why don't you just turn around and walk away from the cliff?  (duh)


Mark:  So what do you think about moving?
Aidan:  Well, part of me thinks it could be really bad.  And, the other part of me agrees with the first part.


Aidan:  (while driving through a small town near where we are going to live)  Wow, this town is what they call a "fixer-upper."

This one has nothing to do with moving, but is still funny:
Ella:  Are the Veggie Tales real?
Me:  No, it's a cartoon.
Ella:  Well, who's singing then?
Me:  It's just people pretending to be vegetables.
Ella:  That's really weird.

We've had many misadventures while trying to rent our house.  And they all seem to involve the restroom.

For starters, we had potential renters show up an hour early!  I should have told them to come back, but we really want to get our house rented, so I said it was fine.  I had 6 kids here and we had just gotten back from swimming, so it was a little hectic.  I rushed all the kids to the car so we could get out of here quickly.  In doing this, I forgot Anna's diaper bag.  When we got to our friends house, she was in desperate need of a diaper.  "What's the worst that could happen?" someone said.  I took her soaking wet diaper off, wrapped her in a towel and headed home...surely she could make it home without incident, right?  Wrong.  She pooped.  And it was the worst poo you can imagine...of all the times to have diarrhea.  Seriously.  All over her, all over the car seat...but surprisingly very little on the towel.  You're welcome for that visual.

When we got home, the Realtor had locked our new kittens (that's a whole other story) out of the bathroom where their litter box was.  So, guess what I got to clean up.  More poop.

So, I decided to take the kittens to Arkansas so Mark could take care of them for a bit.  While we were gone, we had a showing and the Realtor let our outside cat in the house...and left her in...all weekend.  With no litter box, food or water.  So, guess what I got to clean up?  I'm really glad she was okay.  I'm not sure how much longer she could have made it without water.  :(

And one final incident...we were getting ready for a showing this week.  I noticed that the kids had left some clothes on the bathroom floor, so I asked them to put them in the hamper.  When I walked by again, they were gone.  So, naturally, I assumed the kids had picked them up.  When we got home that afternoon, I went into the kids' bathroom and guess what I found in the toilet.  Yep, the kids' clothes, a couple of diapers and 3 bath toys.  Have I mentioned that Anna has developed a fascination with toilets lately?  I hope the potential renters enjoyed that little spectacle.  And I hope the big kids learn to pick up their clothes when asked...or else they're going in the potty.

So that's been our life lately...2 more days and NO MORE showings to get ready for...alone...with 3 kids and a half dozen pets.  Hopefully, I can make it.

And one more funny thing...would you care to guess what both Aidan and Ella have been worried about lately?  Leaving friends?  Leaving church?  Leaving family...yes, but the main worry they've been talking about the last few days?  They are worried that Santa won't be able to find them in the woods.  It IS in the middle of nowhere...and there are lots of trees.  We'll have to get a spot light for Santa.

Have a good LONG weekend...and if you don't have anything to do, I know some people that could use help moving.  :)

Ella fishing in the pond

Moving

Wow, much has happened since I last updated here.  For starters, the thing that has been consuming my life this summer is we are moving.  Ugh.  I think I've hesitated to put that into writing...I haven't even made it Facebook official yet.  It seems so real to write it down.  We are moving in 4 days.  I guess there's not much avoiding it any longer.  Everything I own is packed into boxes and I'm sitting in an almost empty house.  We're really moving.

Another reason I've hesitated to write this here, is that it's not really an exciting move for me.  Mark has taken a job that he loves.  I am excited for him.  But I am also sad.  Sad to be leaving family...my whole family lives here--parents, brother, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins.  I LOVE living close to my family.  I love the kids being close to my family. I love that my kids can play and have sleep overs with their cousins.  I love that we get to have lunch with my grandparents a couple of times a month.

 I'm also sad to be leaving friends that feel like family.  I have been seriously blessed by some amazing friendships here.  I don't know how people, especially stay-at-home mom type people, make it without friends. And we've been through a lot together...I was thinking the other day that our little life group at church has really been through it.  We've had members that have had miscarriages, lost children, lost spouses, lost jobs, been through divorce, struggled with their faith.  And we've shared the joys of new babies, healing, new jobs, and on and on...I've created some precious bonds with the people here.

I'm sad to leave my home.  I love this house.  It's not the greatest house; it's not special in anyway.  But, we have lots of memories here.  We've put lots of work into making this house our home, and I will miss it.  I will miss museums and the zoo.  We have museum and zoo memberships and we go several times a month.  We are taking a lot of special memories with us when we go.  I'm sad to leave all of my "stuff."  We will be staying in Mark's parents' house, at least for a while, so most of my stuff will go to storage.  I know it's silly to be attached to stuff, but I am.  It makes me feel at home.  Plus, I really like to decorate and make things just the way I like them, so it will be a challenge.

So, on Saturday, we will be packing up and leaving to move to the woods.  Seriously.  The woods...30 minutes from a grocery store.  Not another house in sight.  I love being in the woods...the smell, the peace and quiet, the solitude...but living there?  I feel a little claustrophobic just thinking about it.  Y'all pray for me.   And pray for our kids.  They are sad.  Watching them leave the family and friends that they love is even harder than my own leaving.

So, please keep us in your thoughts on Saturday.  It is bittersweet.  Mark has been gone since the end of July.  So, I've been here...keeping the house clean for showing with potential renters, packing, and caring for our 3 kids by myself for the better part of a month and I am tired.  So, for that reason, I am anxious for Saturday to get here.  But, Saturday is when I have to leave...it doesn't seem real yet.  Pray that we make friends quickly and settle in easily.  Pray that we find a church that we love quickly.  Pray that I am able to feel at home and relax.  Pray that someone rents our house pronto!

Sorry for the bummer of a blog update...but that's where I am now.  Now that all the sad is out there...you can anticipate all the good with me...new friendships, new experiences, etc.

To end on a happy note, some pictures of where we're moving.  It really is pretty.

The Cabin that is on the property

The View from the back porch

Compassion Homeschool

A couple of years ago our family decided that we would sponsor a child through Compassion International.  There are so many things that I LOVE about this organization.  The more I learned about their commitment to helping children in poverty---not just by providing them a meal or two, but by really changing their lives, the more hooked I became.

We sponsor a little boy in Rwanda.  We do many thing to try to teach our children about helping others, but this sponsorship is so meaningful, because it is personal to them.  They know our child by name.  They know about his family.  We read letters from him, as well as from his pastor and his mother.  We know what he likes to eat and that he wants to be a pastor when he grows up.  When we send him money for his birthday, he doesn't buy toys...he buys goats, to help his family.  We know that he has chores...like hauling water for the family.  It has been eye opening and educational for us and for our kids.  We hope we are making half the impact on him that he is making on us.  

By American standards, we don't make a lot of money.  We are a family of 5 living on one teacher's salary.  God has been so gracious and generous to always provide for all of our needs.  So, even though money is tight around here, how could we not extend that same grace and generosity to someone else?  If you have ever considered sponsoring a child, my advice is DO IT.  You will never regret it.  Whatever you have to give up in order to afford it is trivial in comparison to what you will gain.  

So that's my plug for sponsoring a child through Compassion.  The other reason I'm writing this blog is because I have lots of Homeschooling friends, and I just found the coolest thing on Compassion's web-site.  They have lesson plans especially for homeschool families!  I am so excited to start these with my kids.  Teaching my children compassion for the poor/less fortunate is a constant battle.  Where we live we are surrounded by so much...they think they have it bad because we won't buy them a WiiU AND an Xbox...they just can't comprehend what real poverty looks like.  So, I am really excited to do these lessons with my kids.  I haven't started them yet, but they look great.  You know what would be really cool is to do these lessons and sponsor a child as a part of your home school.  ;-)

Help a Child

Things I've Heard Lately

Ella:  Aidan, do you like cub scouts?
Aidan:  Yeah, you should be in girl scouts.
Ella:  No
Aidan:  You get to sell cookies.  And, if you sell the most you get a prize.
Ella:  Oh!  I hope it's a machine gun.

Heaven help the girl scouts.  :-/

Anna:  Ella!!  (when they are supposed to be going to sleep)
Ella: Yes baby?
Anna:  gobbledy gobbledy blah goo gah
Ella:  Look!  Listen to me!  I know you want to play, but I am TIRED.  My legs hurt and I need to get some sleep.  You may not want to go to sleep but I do!
Anna:  Ella!!
Ella:  (Sigh)

For All the Single Ladies...

So, this whole mess in Ohio has been making me sick all week.  I just can't comprehend it.    And it's not just Ohio---women and little girls are victimized all over the world.  All. The. Time.  If you really want to be sad and angry, start reading about the sex trade of little girls.  Do you think this is a 3rd world problem?  Americans are the largest consumers in this trade.  Disgusting.  According to the International Rescue Committee , one in three women will suffer some kind of abuse in their life time.  That's a third of all women. I've got two little girls.  This is unacceptable.  So, what I've been trying to think about all week is, how do we fix it?  What is to be done?

Well, I'm sure all the politicians out there can think of a million ways to throw billions of dollars at this problem.  Maybe that would work, but I've learned to never wait for the government to fix anything.  Seems they can't work on a problem without creating a million more.  I'm sure we could legislate it into the ground---stiffer penalties for offenders, more laws and on and on and on.  But, you know what?  We could execute the 3 men in the Ohio case right now and it wouldn't do those women a bit of good.  It would not take away the pain they suffered.  Don't get me wrong.  I do think some changes need to be made in the laws.  I mean, one of those brothers severely abused his wife.  And I don't know all of the details, but it appears to me that he walked away from that with little to no consequence.  That's a problem.

But, what can we do?  The average, "I don't have a gazillion dollars to run for Congress" person.  There is plenty I could say to men on this subject.  For starters, if I had a captive audience of young men, I would say, "the world needs you to grow up.  Like right now.  People are suffering and God has blessed you with the strength to be their protectors and defenders.  So, turn off the video games.  Get off the couch.  Stop working on your six pack and get out there and start helping.  Stop being a part of the problem and be a man and a leader.  Stop watching movies about heroes and start being a hero."

But, since only about 3 men read my blog, and two of those are my dad and my husband...and they are already good men (hey, what do you know, if you read my blog, you have a 66% chance of being a good man) I will address the women instead. If I had to guess, I would say most of the women that read my blog are already married, and I hope the man you married is amazing.  So, please pass this on to all the single ladies you know.

Girls:  Stop marrying jerks.  Stop reproducing with jerks.  Because that jerk will be the father of your children.  And that jerk will make your little girls feel like they have to do unspeakable things to gain the favor and attention of men.  That jerk will model for your little boy how to be a jerk.  If he treats you badly, he will teach your precious little boy to treat women badly.  He will teach your little girl that they deserve to be treated badly as well.  The influence of a father, for the good or the bad, is immeasurable.

So, who do you marry?  I'm no expert here, but I've done it the wrong way, and I've done it the right way, and this is what I've learned.

1. Marry a man that respects his mother.  Not just loves her, but respects her...treats her with respect, no matter what.
2. Marry a man that wants to please God above all else.  The man that wants to please God will know that he must be willing to lay down his life for his wife.
3. If a man yells at you, intimidates you, belittles you in anyway, dump him.  Did you hear me?  Dump him, do not marry him.  There is no excuse.
4.  If a man utters the words, "boys will be boys," or you find yourself uttering these words to excuse a behavior in a man, dump him.  Boys will be boys, but you're not marrying a "boy" (hopefully).  And you don't want a "boy" helping you raise a family.  Dump him and find a man.  Because our culture has been telling us for a long time now that boys will be boys and sleep around, look at pornography, go to strip clubs, etc.  Like they can't help it or something.  Yes they can.  This is a lie that we have been buying into for far too long.  You need a man that can practice some self control.  Furthermore, you're going to have kids someday and you need a man that will stand in the gap for your sons and encourage them to be pure...to turn their eyes from all the filth in this world.  Trust me---no matter how cute or cool he is, don't tolerate this behavior. Dump him.
5.  Marry a servant leader.  Think about Jesus.  He possessed all the power in the universe and could have made anyone do anything he wanted them to do.  But what did he do?  He healed.  He loved children.  He washed feet.  His heart was broken by the suffering of others.  He reached out to those no one else was willing to be near.  He loved.  We have got to change what our image of manhood looks like.  It is not weak to serve others.  If you are dating a man who talks/thinks only about himself...never concerned with lifting others up, dump him.
6.  When you are considering marrying someone, ask yourself, "If they never change from who they are today, will I be okay with that?"  Marrying you will not change someone's character.  I know you are amazing, but marrying you will not change someone's character.

I don't mean to sound harsh or unforgiving.  There is no perfect man, so of course you have to be willing to overlook some flaws.  But, let's overlook flaws like:  "he leaves his dirty socks on the floor", or "he's a little overly obsessed with baseball."  Let's stop overlooking flaws like: "he treats me like dirt," or "he makes me feel bad about myself."  Come on ladies.  Let's up our standards.  I promise you there are good men out there.  Don't get in a hurry.  If we start setting our expectations a little higher, men will learn real quick that they've got to step up or be alone.  Otherwise, they're going to keep getting away with it.  And maybe, just maybe, in a generation or two we will find that all the sick/twisted/abusive men have died sad and alone.  Maybe we can raise a generation of real men and help end the cycle of abuse.  We can at least make that stand for our own family and our own children.  I pray that we will.  For the sake of my little girls.

Anna Speaks

Anna will turn 18 months old this month.  It's hard to believe how fast it is going!  She is at that age where her language is exploding.  I love all the little things she is starting to say.  Here are her top 10 favorite phrases right now:

1.  Outside!  We hear this about a gazillion times a day.  Outside is the only place Anna wants to be...

2. Bye-Bye Car!  ...except when she wants to be in the car...the girl loves to go for a ride in the car.  And, she says Car like she's from Jersey.

3.  Daddy!  She walks around the house looking for her daddy when he's not here.  It's so cute to hear her calling for him.

4. Tovey!  Lovey is the stuffed giraffe that she sleeps with.  When she gets tired, she will walk around saying   "Tovey!" (She can't say the beginning L sound).

5.  Ella! She loves her big sister, but she usually yells her name like she's in trouble.

6.  Good Boy!  She says this every time she sees Ranger. She likes to lay her head on his tummy.

7. Bubba!  She loves her big brother too.

8.  That!  The girl knows what she wants, and when she wants something, she points and says, "that!"

9. Mommy.  Melts my heart every time.  

10.  Gone-gone.  This is what she says when her milk is all gone---and she wants more.  Now.

Recently, she has also learned to give kisses.  She gives Aidan and Ella about a hundred kisses a day.  It is so sweet to see her with them.
We are having so much fun watching this little one grow and learn.  Love her so much.