We Go Out...

Ben and I had the lovely opportunity to attend a beautiful wedding not long ago.  We got dressed up and then left all the kids in the care of Grandma and Grandpa, which means we actually enjoyed the wedding.

Fun times.

After the wedding, when I looked at these pictures, I realized I had totally skipped my eyeliner and mascara.  Whoops.  I guess it meant that nothing smeared all over my face after I cried watching my two sweet little nephews walk down the aisle as the ring bearers.  Seriously, they were so sweet I bawled.  I'm not the only one that does that?  Right?

One of the songs in the wedding was Brandon Heath's, Love Never Fails.  So now it's at the top of my playlist because it's one of my new favorites.  Even though it's not new at all.

I love weddings.  And the bride and groom were beautiful and handsome but you'll have to take my word for it because I forgot my camera.  Loser.

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Life

This Week:

• Parenting has kicked my butt.  And four kids is a lot of work. *shocking*  Some days I feel like I'm doing a great job with two and a terrible job with the other two (the number and children vary.)  Fighting that feeling of not being and doing enough as a mom.  
• Lucy and I are heading to Target today.  It has a Starbucks in it and I have a coupon for buy one get one free.  And yes: I am planning on drinking both.
• I finished off a gallon of fresh pressed apple cider...almost entirely by myself.  Diabetes is waiting around the corner.
• Remember I set that goal?  Well, I've got 28 miles in so far and I think I'll hit my goal with no problem. Who knew?  Sadly, the 50 miles of running can't begin to burn off all the cider.  But, it's fall...and the cider must be drank.  Drunk?  English...gets me every time.
• I successfully washed two wool peacoats without shrinking them.  Score. Because I have no problem spending 5 bucks on a small cup of coffee, but to clean my coat?  Nah.  Last year I just wore it all winter with it having junk all over it.  The trick was to wash on cold, with very little agitation (front loader) and air dry.  It smelled stinky when wet (wool) but fresh and clean once it dried!
• I am a guest blogger over at The Domestic Fringe today.  I love her and her blog, and I'm honored she invited me (and my bad grammar) over for a guest post.  Go tell her hi...and help her not regret her decision. ;)
• I scalded my hand on the steam from the church coffee pot that I was cleaning out with vinegar.  Genius.
• I made a pot of coffee (several times) and 4:00 in the afternoon.  Just because.  

I hope your week was as riveting as mine.

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Lucy is Colorblind

All three boys spent last week in Wisconsin at their Aunt & Uncle's house.  It was super quiet at our house, and Lucy didn't ask where they were until Thursday.  Weird.

The boys had a blast.  And got to visit Lambau Field,  home of the Green Bay Packers.  My oldest, Noah, is a huge fan.  They even got to watch practice...which I am secretly completely jealous of.  Anyways....

They got all kinds of memorabilia.  One, was a Greg Jennings (at least I think it's him) fan.

Yesterday, Lucy and I went to get groceries, and when we got out of the van, she saw the above fan laying on the floor.  She pointed and yelled "DADDY!"

It was awesome.  Even better, was when Ben got home last night and I could re-live the moment.  Hysterical.

Also, and this is just a side note, but Eli (my middlest) promised me he was going to marry a Jamaican because he watched the Olympics and they are fast runners.  I am all for this.  Middlest better keep his word.

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Bet Ya Didn't Know...

This summer was quite possibly the fastest summer ever.  My kids go back to school in 12 days.  


Yeah.


I'm a little bi-polar about that.  Happy, sad, happy, sad.  Ultimately though...it's gotta happen.


We have sucked the life out of summer this year.  Ate it up, completely and entirely.  I think we can thank The Summer List for that.


I documented it all; in my head.  And with pictures.  But somehow, it never managed to make it to the blog.  #kickmyself.  But it's stuff I don't want to forget, so I'm going to attempt to go back through the last month (or so) and catch up.  


But just for kicks, let's start with today.

• We have a drought going on.  Four years ago we had a flood, and now we have a drought.  It gives us something to talk to each other about at the post office, gas station, and any other awkward opportunity for conversation.  
• Julie is BACK.  I picked her up from the airport the other night.  But that is gonna get it's own blog post...
• I think I have hermit tendencies.  It's more fun and friendly to say I'm a "home-body"  but really I think I could live as a hermit...if people would just leave me alone.  *wink*   Now don't get me wrong.  I said hermit, and not hoarder.  I thoroughly enjoy throwing things away.  
• Next week we are taking Lucy's pacifier away.  God help us all. 
• I'm utterly addicted to the Olympics.  Gabby Douglas, she trained in Iowa.  That's right, for two Olympic's in a row, Iowa has produced two gold medalists.  Take that Russia.  

Now for the playing catch-up posts to begin...


And, if you would like, you can leave me a comment and we can discuss ever-so-awkwardly how the weather has been in real life...and it will be just like you saw me in person.  At the gas station...where I frequent often for fountain pop and fried cheese curds.  


Oh, one last thing:  I'm cooking with the convection mode on my oven tonight.    This is the exciting information you've missed out on for the past month.  Exciting.  

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Today I...

Today I...

• Before I even opened my eyes this morning, I was already praying for God's help in areas I knew I was destined to fail at as soon as my feet hit the floor.  I need His help turning opportunities and conversations and   pretty much EVERYTHING into spiritual opportunities.  Because I am missing them.  Missing them as is in:  Doing it myself and can't seem to locate them, kind of deal.    
• Can't shake this book I'm reading.  I'm half way through it, and then I'll let ya in on it so you can read it and let it mess with you too.  Good stuff.  It's got me thinking about how even as a believer in Christ, I often live as though this life on earth is the real deal and Heaven is real, but not "real, real."  Clear as mud?  I say that spiritual life is eternal, that Jesus is really the only thing that matters...and then I get distracted by some shiny object and pretend that all this stuff on earth actually matters.  Someone kick me.  Oh wait, that book just did.
• Ran hills this morning, even though I just ran hills on Sunday night and my butt still hurts.  But lately, the pain of running feels good...and it's been awhile since it felt good.  I'll take it.
• Fed Lucy three sticks of string cheese.  I'll likely need to follow that up with feeding her three glasses of prune juice tomorrow.  You do what ya gotta do.
• I'm watching the puppy chew on my shoe.   Normally I'd get up...but my backside hurts too much.  I don't really like the shoe that much anyways.  It's your lucky day, puppy.
• On Facebook there are these For Sale Groups, you all have these?  Anyways, in the past two days I've scored a sweet retro-ish sectional couch ($75)  and little brown UGG boots for Lucy for $20.  I will show you them soon.  Yay me!  Side note:  Do you see how that is in the SAME POST as bullet point #2? Ironic is my middle name.  
• I am so uber excited about The Olympics that I can hardly stand it.  July 27th.  Yippee!  I should have a party, since I'm gonna have a sectional couch now.  And then there's that new big addition.   But I'll have to have them promise to be quiet so I can watch every.single.minute.  The bios, the commercials, the background sad sob stories.  Oh I love it all.  I'm a terribly un-fun hostess.  Not even Pinterest can help me.
• I just stopped writing because I realized I hadn't checked on Lucy for a bit.  Bad idea.  I found her dumping water out of the kitchen sink and onto the floor.  Seriously, she's a destructive force.  I can't take my eyes off her for a minute.  You'd think I would learn...
• Also, I'm pretty sure I've declared that it's grilled cheese for supper.  "Make your own"  grilled cheese for supper.  And yes, I say supper and not dinner, because I'm all Midwestern like that.

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Summer Lovin'

It was just one of those picture perfect days in June.  In Iowa.  


One of those days that I dream of in January.  And February.  And March...

We played at the farm.  Ben and I both grew up about 20 minutes from where we currently live:  Tiny Town.  Ben's dad farms beef cattle and crops and we all love hanging out there...especially the kiddos.

I love you Summer.

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It is What it Is...

There's plenty of stuff I avoid blogging about.  Mostly because parts of the story are not mine to tell.  And figuring out what parts are, and what parts are not...is tricky.  And avoidance is easier.  


But lately I can't shake the feeling that it's time.  That ongoing inner dialogue with the Holy Spirit...Him nudging and me resisting...it's a dance we're both familiar with.  


So here goes.  Here goes honesty.  The unspoken thoughts turn to written-down-gone-viral-can't-be-taken-back words.


My words.  My experience.  My perspective.  Completely and utterly one-side of a story that has, possibly, a different view from every direction.  I'm not pretending to know the experience, or feelings of my other family members.  That's their story.  But I do know my thoughts.  My feelings, and my take on life. 


This is my story.  (insert that sound from Law & Order)


For eleven years now, I have been part of a step-family.  I may have just heard the whole internet mumble under their breath, who isn't?  I know, I know...it's common and old news.  Cliche.  And hard.  


Being in a step-family is odd.  And sometimes uncomfortable, even when you like them.  And during the times that it does feel comfortable, it almost always feels awkward to me, even after all this time.  Does that make sense?  


Movies are made about it all the time.  I mean, c'mon, we all know from Cinderella how mean and ugly step-mothers and step-sisters are.  There's always two options shown...the mean-evil ones, and the super nice ones where everyone loves each other...cue The Brady Bunch.  And then there's real life...


My parents divorced when I was 21ish.  My Mom remarried when I was 23.  By that time Ben and I had been married a couple years and I was very pregnant with my first-born, Noah.  My sister was a teenager, and my brother was 11ish.   


My Mom's new husband had three children as well, all in different stages of teenhood.  


Both families were sort of reeling from the loss of their nuclear family.  Mine, to a messy, painful divorce and theirs from the sudden loss of their mom (the details of which are not my story to tell.)  


Because I was the oldest, and already married, my experience of the whole combining families  is totally different than that of my siblings and step-siblings.  I missed a lot of the drama.  And because Ben and I were starting a family of our own, I was distracted enough, in all honesty, to just be content watching it all play out...from the outside.


My mom, and step-dad (whom I almost always referred to as "My Mom's Husband" rather than step-dad because I was grown when they married,  but now after 11 years I can say he is a great guy and very much a father figure to me and a grandpa to my children) wanted us all to mesh together as a single family unit.  They did not want it to be two families, but one family.  And to their credit, they did all that they could to foster that.  Their intentions were good.  


In the beginning, I think we all kind of went along with it.  Each family knew that there was no going back to their original family life...so the idea of The Brady Bunch was appealing.  We avoided using the term "step" whenever possible.  We worked hard at treating each other like real siblings.  And for me, that worked...for awhile.


And then time went on, and we all became older.  New people were added to the family by marriage, babies were born...and lines were drawn by all.  Sometimes visible one, and sometimes invisible.  Sometimes I wanted those lines there, and sometimes I didn't, but either way, the lines are there.  It's part of the complication of blending families.  Because you're family, and at the same time, you're family once-removed.  


And for me, it became too hard to treat everyone the same.  Because we are not all the same.  I care very much for my step-siblings and their families.  They are good people.  But the bond I have with them is not the same as with my sister and brother whom I share a father and mother with.  A childhood with.  A connection that just comes from being blood.  My investment in my sister and brother is fierce.  And my pretending otherwise is really beneficial to no one.  


It is what it is.  We were two families, joined into one...but we don't really become one, because you can't.  We are still two, who do their best to function as one when we need to.  And I think that's ok.  And it's not anyone's first choice.  And it's ok to say it.  Out loud. It's not disrespectful.  It's not out of anger, or apathy.  It's from the heart.  It's the truth.  


I think after 11 years, we are all learning to let it be what it is, rather than forcing it into what we wish it were.  And from what I can tell, it is sort of a never ending process.  Each person figuring it out for themselves at their own pace, with their own rules, at the same time trying to figure out each other's pace and rules...the very definition of blending.  It's tricky...which doesn't mean it's a bad thing...but it is tricky.


Sometimes the hardest thing to admit and be content with,  is that it is what it is.  
  

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His for Mine

I know technically Easter is a once a year holiday.  But around here, for me, Jesus and the cross...it's a daily thing.  Because what He did, and my faith in that, makes me who I am.  I can't separate from it.  


Remembering what He did.  Why He did it.  Where I'd be without His gift...His life for mine.  

A faith, and relationship with God...who is very much Alive.

So once a year, we get dressed up extra special for church and we take pictures.  Hunt eggs and gorge on chocolate...but the real celebration of the resurrection is so much more than that one day.


Side note:  Turns out I've been enjoying the Reeses Peanut Butter Eggs almost daily as well...that relationship needs to end...and least that's what my jeans-that-are-too-tight are trying to tell me.

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Almost Two...

Lucy has been a little gem the past few days.  I'm even saying that without a hint of sarcasm.  Sweet, and cute, and pretty compliant for a nearly two-year-old. Last week...she was the opposite of that.

For real.  Oh, she was still cute and all, but man alive she was killin' me with attitude and whining and whining and WHINING.  Everything was a battle.  I found myself questioning how I had ever survived the toddler years before.  And with my first two children, they were toddlers at the same time.  I must have blocked most of that out, because I look back on it fondly. Even the things that made me crazy at the time.

Things like them digging the poo out of their diapers and wiping it on walls, cribs, toys, carpets...the list goes on.  The training, and warning and disciplining...the crying...by all of us.  Good times.  

Lucy's girlie craziness is a whole other ball game though.  The dramatics are insane.  All you mothers of more than one girl...hats off to you!   The battle of the wills began.  Victory was mine.  Right now I'm relishing in it...before the next battle begins.

She has her own will.  Her own agendas.

She looks like her daddy...but that attitude, that determination...that love for Windex...that's from me.

Mood swings.  And tantrums.  

Some days, when the whining never ends, and my patience wears thin...I keep reminding myself...it's someday gonna be really, really entertaining.


Even today, as I watch this, it's funny.  It wasn't so much on that day.  Time brings perspective.


Sister loves her some salsa.  

Oh Lucy.  You make me smile.  And pull my hair out.  And smile again.  

I told you...it was quite the day.  I love that little toe sucker. ;)

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Around Here...

While perusing the aisles of Target recently, I bought this laundry detergent based solely on the fact that I loved the box.  It's pretty.  It cost more than the stuff I usually buy.  It brings me cheer.  

And it smells good.  

I can't get enough of this Bible study by Beth Moore.  It has me reading commentaries.  And rubbing my temples because sometimes it makes my brain hurt.  In a good way.

I've been doing a little sewing.  Nothing fancy.  I made this little cushion for the rocking chair that Lucy got for Christmas.  She insists on not sitting on the cushion...she flips it up every time she sits down. 

Baby Alive goes everywhere.. is everywhere.  Lucy loves her.  She is also always naked.  I'm not sure what Lucy has against her babies being clothed.  

The Kindle Fire...it's dreamy.

I've been working on getting things organized around here.  Again.  The funny thing about organizing is that doing it once does not keep you organized.  Apparently it's an ongoing thing.  A Lifestyle.  Shocking, huh?  


I prefer the organize then get messy then organize then get messy approach to life.  Right now, I'm in the organize phase.  Which is sort of ridiculous since I'm also in the remodel/addition phase of our home.  


By the way, the downstairs of the addition got painted last week.  EEK!  But when I try to take pictures of it, well, let's just say it looks weird.  More on that later.

Messy faces...

 Thanks to pinterest.  Again.

I recovered the dining room chairs again.  This time I used a "laminated cotton" so it's wipe-able without being to plastic feeling.  So far, I love them.  

This hangs on the fridge...bossing me around every day.  

And that there is a whole lot of random.  As is our life.

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Just Thinking...

I'm sitting on the couch, watching Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve.  I'm so cool that I don't have a clue as to who most of the performers are.

But I'll take this New Years Eve, because it's simple.  Easy.  Uneventful.  That's boring to some, but to me...it's joy.

Last year, I spent New Years Eve with four of my dear friends...at the hospice home.  Our friend's 9 year old son, Tate, had been transferred there late that afternoon.  We all knew he didn't have much time.  None of us knew what to do...how to offer support...so we just went there, and sat in the "family" room, while their family came in and out of his room.  We laughed and cried and tried to help support and distract them, for just a brief moment...all knowing there is nothing that can distract.  

What a year it has been.  

Today on my six mile run, I listened to this song.  Tate's mom shared it not long ago.  It was written by a young man with AT, which is the genetic disorder that Tate (and his sister Tessa) both have.  Brad Paisley put it to music, and all profits from the download of it go to AT research.  

It came on my ipod at about mile 5...I thought I might hyperventilate.  I keep it on my running list to remind me of the gift I've been given; the ability to run.  And to remind me that Tate, now in Heaven with his perfect body is running all over the place...like he never could here.

The message of the song...well, I think it's one of the best ways to start out the new year.  

Bring on 2012! :)

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Stuff

I really left you hanging on the mom jeans thing.  My bad.  The good news is, I've been wearing them for two weeks now and I LOVE them.  The denim was kinda itchy/scratchy at first, but after several visits with my washer and dryer (yes I dry my jeans, I don't know how you people can stand wearing air-dried jeans...so stiff) the denim is softening very nicely.  I need to hem them a little, but until then, I've just been cuffing them.
I took the picture below right after my last post, but then I decided the pic was not all that flattering, so I didn't post it.  But apparently today, my vanity is gone, so here you go:

What else...

Oh... my Christmas shopping would almost totally be done if I could afford all of the things in my Amazon shopping cart.  In reality, I've bought like two things.  The rest I just keep adding to the cart and then pray it's still available by the time I get around to placing the order.

On the other hand, I ordered my Christmas cards.  I know.  Snapfish is mailing them as we speak.  Who knows how long it will take me to actually address and mail them, but for now I have NOT procrastinated at least this one thing.  *pat on back*

Yesterday I bought the Wow 2011 Christmas album on itunes.  I justified it to the voice in my head of Dave Ramsey that I needed it because I have lots of sewing projects to get done before Christmas and I need something new to listen to.  The album is so good.  Tell Dave Ramsey you need it too.  My favorite is Deck the Halls by Tenth Ave North.  Not that it matters...but it is. ;)

That's probably enough random information for you to process.

Happy Last Day of November to You!

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My Mom Jeans

There's some things I don't want to forget...


Like the way...


I wore a new pair of jeans around the house tonight...with the tags still on.  The boys thought I was nuts.  But I needed to make sure I reeeeally liked them before I tore the tags off.  While I tucked the boys in bed(which is usually Daddy's job, except on his men's Bible Study night)during Jakob's turn to pray, he sweetly prayed for his teacher and her family (who tragically lost their 9 year old son in an accident in September,) he prayed that the lunch menu tomorrow at school would be good, and that his mom would take off the stickers from her pants.  Amen.


(I did, by the way, remove the stickers...I do like them.)


The jeans also have a story.  Thanks to Grandma and Grandpa, Ben and I had a few hours to ourselves Saturday night.  We headed to Starbucks and then the mall.  I've been in need of some jeans that fit...running + a vast reduction in sugary treats= smaller size.  FINALLY. 


Side note:  Before you get too excited about the smaller jeans, it's not a big weight loss.  And apparently not noticeable, because not one person has said anything, but it's enough for me to go from "hide my belly that's bulging over my jeans" to "comfy in the next size smaller."  Make sense?


Back to story. I'm not usually picky with jeans...which is likely why I have a closet full of ones that really don't fit right.  So this time I was being choosy.  We walked through the department store: Juniors on right and Women's on left.  In the middle is a denim display of Levis.  They look cute on the mannequin that has only legs so I decide to try them on.  The sales lady, from the women's side asks if I need a room.  She's like seventy years old.  On the way to the fitting room she says, "Have you tried "Not Your Daughter's Jeans before?"


Ummm...here's my thought process:


1 - She's kinda old, shouldn't she think I'm young still?!?  Like shouldn't she have sent me over to the junior section because she was certain I didn't belong in the old lady section?!? Givemeabreak.
2 - As she's leading us to the jeans, I turn around and mouth to Ben not your mothers jeans *eye roll*
3 - Turns out they were fine jeans, just not what I was looking for.


I tried on the Levis and liked them, although the waist IS higher than I'm used to, they were still good.  But, do to the fact I had to try them on in the Womens section, I'm still not sold.  I put them on hold.


20 minutes later, we're walking back through the store, and I head to the Womens register to make my purchase...she sees me coming.  And I turn around and head to the juniors in one last ditch effort to hold onto my youth.  Ben and I scan over the jeans. All the labels say "ultra low rise" which is code for "if you've had babies or are over age 17 your belly is gonna jingle right over it." They also had blingy-bling on the butt pockets, and I am not a blingy-bling on the butt pocket kinda gal.  I'm not against the fake plastic rhinestones...I just don't want them on my backside.  I'm Amish like that.


It's decided.  Back over to the Womens department.  I scan the aisle to the register...it's lined with elastic waist pants...which is apparently where I'm headed to next.  Sheesh.  


Which brings me back to tonight, and me wearing my jeans around the house with tags still on.  


Maybe tomorrow I'll post a picture of my skinny mid-rise women section jeans.  Oh the anticipation...

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Messy-Messerson

I sorta always thought my boys were dirty and grungy looking because, well, they were boys.  And then I had Lucy...


I can't keep this girl clean.  


Before church:

Don't let her big, sweet smile fool you.  She hates that hat.  She rips it off her head immediately.

Sunday night, Ben was putting the boys to bed, and I was sitting on the couch with the laptop...a big red chair obstructing my view of a very quiet 17 month old.

We found why she was so quiet.  We keep forgetting she can reach everything off of the table.  It was a fitting way for her to end the day, since at lunchtime she carried Jake's half-full bowl of chicken tortilla soup over to the shag rug and fed herself in the same manner pictured below.  We're still digging black beans and corn out of the rug.

Maybe our genetics just produce messy kids.  Good thing they're cute.  




PS - Don't forget to go HERE and not only register yourself for a chance to win, but spread the word so that $ can be raised for those precious kids in Africa!  Pretty please.

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Riveting Stuff

I bit the side of my cheek with my molars.  It happened about a week ago, and now I have the biggest baddest canker sore evah.  I think it may actually just eat a hole entirely through my face. Can they do that?  Wait...don't tell me if it can. I don't wanna know.


I've tried gargling warm salt water (because this is what my Grandma has made me do since I was a toddler) but it's not helping all that much.  I've also been spraying it with sore throat numbing spray, and that helps for about 1.5 seconds.


Any tips for me?


On a totally other topic about me I am on day 4(of 10) of my low sugar/carb detox. I'm less cranky, for sure.  But I'd still love me a bowl of cookie dough...and by bowl, I mean mixing bowl.  I will admit, the food I am eating now is keeping my belly full much longer than the usual junk I eat, but at the end of the day, I'm just not eating all that much because, lets face it,  if I can't have sugar, I'd rather not eat.    


Also, yesterday on my morning run, my body was like, "What the heck?!?  Where's the sugar? Where's the carbs? I quit."  It felt terrible.  So tomorrow I'm gonna give my body what it's used to having before a run: peanut butter toast and coffee.  


Wow...aren't you glad I'm blogging again...riveting stuff here folks.  Riveting.

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Playing Catch Up...

I hate playing catch up.  Do you?  It requires so much work.  Whether it's trying to catch up with people I've lost contact with (which I do, because I'm terrible at keeping in touch, unless you count Facebook as keeping in touch), or blogging...playing catch up is tiring.  And since my blogging in the past several months has been, shall we say, pathetic, I have a lot to catch up on.  And since "catching up" seems so not fun, I just do what I do best...procrastinate.  I'm like a professional at it these days.

It's impressive.  Except that it's not.

In blogging, and in life, I like to hit the ground right where I'm at.  I like to talk about what's going on now, not yesterday or last week...or months ago.  But I also can't leave this gaping whole in the last few months of our life in 2011.  After all, this blog...my blog is really for me.  To keep track of me...my life, my family, my God.  So I can process the now, and look back on the then and realize how good life really is.  It's a bonus when others join along on the journey...but I write for me...my grammar is hardly good enough to "write" for anyone else. ;)

So I don't forget:

The remodel/addition project started in June and is coming along steadily (it deserves it's own post soon), Noah played catcher on his 3rd grade little league team...and loved it, we went camping with friends, my family loved it and I didn't totally hate it, so we're good to go again next year, Lucy started walking in mid July, Noah went off to Jr. Boys camp for a week...and I survived., the first week of August was:  missionary friends from Brazil, Julie arriving back here, VBS, and missionary friends here to help for VBS.  We celebrated Jake's 6th birthday, and continued Eli's vision therapy (which also deserves it's own post)  We didn't get to the pool as often as we would have liked, but spend plenty of time there for swim lessons.  Eli being baptized.  Moved Julie into college just 15 minutes away. School started August 17th, and fall unofficially begins...for all practicality purposes.   My boys loooove AXE... Jake now calls deodorant "man smell"  and because of the awesomeness of that, the whole family calls it that.  All of that should have been about 45 posts.  But it's not.  And that's ok.

And what kind of  "cramming all things summer into one blog post" be without at least a few pictures?!?

Lucy's favorite shoes.

At the airport with Julie!

Lucy's personality keeps shining brighter and brighter ;)

Getting Julie ready for college.

Eli 3rd grade, Jake Kindergarten, Noah 4th grade...standing in the doorway of the new addition, because next year it will look so different!

There.  Caught up.  That wasn't so bad. :)

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Julie is Coming Back!

So, I forgot to tell you some big news.  Imagine that.


If you've been around awhile, you might recall that on August 1, 2009 our foreign exchange student from Norway arrived:  Julie.

The same month she arrived, we managed to conceive Lucy.  Not exactly the timing I was going for.  A teenage daughter was new territory for me...and so was a baby one.


I spent much of that year bewildered at God's timing.  I knew I couldn't see the big picture...yet that didn't stop me from complaining about how weird His timing was.  Incessant bewildered complaining about weirdness is not flattering. Trust me.


I still don't have the big picture.  I'm not meant to.  But I have more pieces of the puzzle, and when I look back on events from then until now I can smile at His way of weaving life together.  

Julie and I that November...I'm holding her stomach because her is flat and mine was not :)

Looking back, I can see Julie and I at the college visit we went to at a near by university.  We wandered around that campus that November day, joking about how she could come back here and go to college and of course meet and eventually marry the man of her dreams...her American dreams. ;)   We sat through the financial aid meeting, the question and answer time...ate in the dining hall (which made me want to enroll there and live in the dorms because the food was AMAZING...of course I was preggo so food itself was amazing.)


But I left that university that day knowing Julie would not be back here.  The idea was ludicrous.  College in Norway is practically totally paid for by their government.  And why would she come back to Iowa?  I mean really, have you seen Norway?!?  And if she was to come back to America for college, she'd certainly go somewhere new and exciting.


Looking back I see myself...overwhelmed.  One husband, three boys, one teenage daughter, one on the way, a dog, a ministry, and three bedrooms and one bathroom.  I went into survival mode, but survival mode doesn't often let you enjoy life fully...the way God intends.  


In early June of 2010, I remember standing in the airport with three boys and a 5 week old baby...saying goodbye to Julie.  She had to go through security and then sit on the other side of a window-wall.  We both sobbed.  And sobbed.  And sobbed some more.  I had such a feeling of wanting a do-over.  You know that feeling?  That feeling of knowing if you just could do it again, you'd be so much better at it.  


Late this winter, I got an email from Julie, sharing about how she was seeking out where God was leading her after she graduated from school in Norway.  She'd looked into all sorts of exciting adventures, but nothing felt quite right.  Meanwhile, God was lining up everything to fall into place for her return to Iowa.  


God does such weird things in such a great way, doesn't He?


Now...today...I am fully adjusted to the four-kid thing.  My 3 bedroom, one bath house will soon be turning into a 5 bedroom 2 1/2 bath house...and my teenage daughter is returning.  And this time, I get to be her friend...well a mom-friend anyway.  She's in charge of herself this time.  No curfews, no telling her who she can't date (although I'm sure to have an opinion ;) it's different this time...and I'm excited about that.  That year of craziness had a purpose...a purpose far bigger than me.



One month from today we will pick her up from the airport.  What an adventure.  I'm thankful for God's version of do-overs.








*and if you're new, and would like to read more about the time when Julie was here, you can click on the link titled "hosting" under "Stuff I write about"*

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Not Irish...

Monday Ben and I marked our 13 year wedding anniversary.  I tossed around several sentimental ideas for blog posts...but who am I kidding, I'm just not very sentimental.  Or gushy. I love him, I think he's the best, and it's been a crazy-fast 13 years of goodness.  It works for us.


Monday morning (anniversary day) I got a call from Ben while I was watching Jake at swim lessons (or as Jake calls them:  Pool Lessons) that the cement guys had shown up.  We both said to each other, "HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!"  Seriously, it made our day.  


That's how we roll.

Later that day, Ben was out chatting with the cement guys, and came in to tell me that it sounded like the foreman guy had an accent...it's no secret I'm totally enamored with accents.


Remember Julie?  And while I'm sidetracked for a moment, did I tell you all that Julie is coming back from Norway to Iowa on August 1st to go to college near by me?  Seriously, have I mentioned this, because I can't remember...


Back to the other story:  So yesterday Ben was home on break and went out to talk to the cement guys again and I tagged along (because it would be weird for me to go chat it up all on my own, after all) so I could listen to his accent.


While him and Ben were discussing whether or not the old wall to the basement may or may not cave in, I couldn't help but blurt out, "Where are you from originally?!?"


I, in all my infinite knowledge of accents, was guessing it sounded Irish.


He's from Yugoslavia.  


And he has quite the story of how he arrived in America...and it made me think (again) how everyone has a story.  I just wish mine had a cute accent to go with it. ;)


That's my story.

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Don't Cry for Me...

I'm hoping to blog about something other than the building project we have going on...eventually.  Sometimes, Facebook and the blog and real life all mush together and I can't remember what I've shared where.  Kinda like in real life when I start in on a story and then say, "Did I tell you this already?!?"  Because frankly, my friends, my mind is mush.

I should do more crosswords or something.

Anyways, lest you start to feel too sorry for me about living through construction, I should tell you that other than the fact that my house is somewhat smaller than normal (for the time being) life goes on as usual.  Nothing is really disrupted all that much.  Even Lucy is getting used to sleeping through the noise.

My kitchen is currently housing my washer and dryer.  My friend from England tells me I have now have an English kitchen.  I love that.  Those English people know what they're doing, because I happen to LOVE it in there.

Summer is going good so far.  I'll admit, sometimes my children make me insanely crazy with their bickering and dragging in of sand, and their eating all. day. long, and their changing of clothes 500 times, they're messy hogs really.  But they're my messy hogs, and I love them.  And in between times of ripping out my own hair, I smile and remember that someday I'm going to miss their hog-i-ness and I'll be totally bored not having to clean up all the time.  I'll find myself doing frivilous things, such as showering and wandering around Target aimlessly...which reminds me...Target is waiting for me...right now...with four kids...still worth it.

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The Parsonage is Getting Bigger

Hello poor, neglected blog of mine...I've missed you.  I think of you often.  Let's update.

My husband's a pastor in a tiny town.  We live in the parsonage next door.  The 100 year old, three bedroom, one bathroom house that I really quite adore.  This is all old news...the NEW news is that our church recently voted  to add an addition onto the parsonage.  A quite large addition, like double-the-parsonage-size type addition.

They will be tearing off the back of the house, which consists of the mud room, little tiny garage, and attic/storage room above it.


They will be adding a  24'x 24' two-story addition.  New kitchen, dining, mudroom, and bathroom downstairs and upstairs there will be two  new bedrooms, one huge master and one smaller bedroom.  Then it will be new windows and siding throughout.

It's going to be  a process.  A likely long process.  Our tiny church never ceases to amaze us, we are humbled and excited.

The section with the red door is what will be torn off and where the new addition will be.

Ok, lets keep it real.  This is at the top of the stairs, that is the tiny door to the attic/storage room.  This is where I have been the last few weeks.

This is the attic mostly emptied out.  I know.  It was completely full, like "how do I even get in here" type full.

In order to tear off the back of the house, it required me emptying the attic, which is the room I like to call "I have no idea what to do with the item so I'll just open the door, toss it in and worry about it later."  I've done that for close to 6 years now.  Let's just say it's taken me weeks and hours of my life to sort through our stuff.

Ridiculous amount of stuff, most of which is sitting in my garage waiting for tiny-town city wide garage sale tomorrow!

It's got me thinking a lot about "stuff" and why we had so much.  I never want that much stuff again.  I want less stuff in our bigger house, because the stuff  is a waste of time and energy for me.  It's a new way of thinking, and I'd love to write more about it as soon as this garage sale is over!  :)

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