On Friends

Five Minute Friday...






over the past year, Scott and I have been loved by our friends in a way that we have never experienced before.  We have seen the idea of a friend laying down their life happening, in the flesh.  We have gained a new understanding of what it looks like for the church to actively be the body of Christ.  You know this; I have typed it out again and again over the past year.  How thankful we are for friends.

When I pray for Ada and for John, I ask God to give them friends who will love them that way.  Friends who will point them towards Christ and speak truth in a loving way.  Truth that is sometimes hard to hear.  And I pray that they will be a friend.  That Scott and I will be a friend, in the biblical sense I mean.  That we, as a family, will be that to other families.  That Ada and John will learn what friendship looks like in a practical way.  That Ada will see it is more than who sits by her at children's church on Sunday morning, and that it goes way beyond who our personality naturally meshes with.  I want them to see that friendship is active, and it's a choice.

I want them to choose to be a friend.

Ada, with Abby and Hannah--two of her friends--on our first official field trip, to a train museum.  The trip was yesterday and probably deserves a post all its own.

Sunday Night

hey everyone...

I know that I am neglecting this blog.  I always have great intentions to sit down and post something, but I just can't seem to get around to it.

My plate is rather full during this season of life.  If you will recall, back when Scott was delivering furniture and we weren't sure when another job would come along, I committed to several things in order to bring in a little extra cash.  Well...another job did come along, but I am still committed to all of those little jobs.  It makes my weeks a bit crazy.  I am still thankful for extra cash, especially as we begin to follow Dave Ramsey's get out of debt plan "to a T," but it doesn't leave much time for things like blogs.

All of that to say--that is where I have been.

In the mean time, what have we been up to?

I am still trying to get everything in the rental house organized.  You know how that goes...just when I feel like things are all in place, I realize there are two boxes in the corner that have yet to be unpacked or there are pictures still to be hung or...I could go on and on.  We have tackled quite a few things this weekend, but there is still more to do, and we are seriously lacking space in our cozy little rental. 

The homemaker, nurturer in me is ready to get things as settled as possible and then get this house correctly decorated for fall.  I did hang my fall wreath on the front door today, but I still need to get a few mums for the front steps, and then in October some, duh, duh, duh...pumpkins.  I love the yearly buying of pumpkins, don't you?  I am definitely thinking this year the Moores will be purchasing ours at a proper pumpkin patch since John is at a good age to enjoy things like that along with Ada.

Speaking of my John, we decided, very spur of the moment, to take our lunch to a local park after church today--you know, to add some excitement to our PB and Js.  (It's a little depressing when all you are eating for lunch after church is peanut butter sandwiches, so we had to "spice it up" a bit).  And my big boy John was just too cute sitting there at the picnic table like he was not a baby at all.  And of course we carried on, saying things like, "look at John," and "he is such a big boy," and he was loving it.

And, by the way, Scott and Ada were there too ;)

What else have we been doing?

Lots of play time with Hannah and Grant, as Ada and John are staying at Jessica's house while I tutor every Monday and Wednesday.  And Hannah and Grant played at our house this past Friday morning, while Jessica got her house ready for Hannah's fifth birthday party.  Ada is always thrilled to get in some play time with friends--and of course, in a matter of minutes both were properly attired for a good game of "princesses."

And then on Saturday, Ada was jumping up and down with excitement as she anticipated Hannah's big Dora party.  Jessica--you did such a great job.  It was a super cute and fun party, where all the kids went on an adventure just like Dora does.

And that is us, lately.  I really hope to get back to normal posting...we'll see, I guess...

Thankful

I didn't do my thankful list this week.  But I just want to say that I am so thankful for these two kiddos. 

I love watching their little relationship develop.  They make each other laugh.  so hard.  And they already fight, and John only knows a few words.  He fights in grunts, but he sure gets his point across.  

Please Excuse the Mess, Work in Progress

If you are reading this over at my actual blog and not on a reader, you will notice that things are a bit crazy.  Bear with me as I am trying to revamp the blog a bit.  My other lay out only allowed for fairly small pictures, and since a new camera purchase is just around the corner, I am trying to update a bit to make room for larger pictures.  I am having TROUBLE with the heading, and I am not technically savvy, so who knows when I will get this thing figured out.  We'll get there...

Sad day for Auburn, right?  But War Eagle.  Always, War Eagle!!!

The Princess

to make up for today's very wordy post, I am going to post a few pictures of Ada, the princess.

When I asked her if I could take her picture, she said, "sure..." like, yeah, I get asked that all the time, and I am happy to oblige.  It's a demanding life when you're a princess.

And then the princess poses--created by Ada herself--morphed into a princess dance...

(our rug is rolled up in the corner because Scott is in the process of pressure washing our front porch)

Life Lately--the good, the bad, and the ugly (smelly?)

the Good--

I am still loving the "character" of my house--the yard, the neighborhood, the doors, the thick molding, etc. etc--it's all very uplifting.

I am loving the "smallness" of my house.  My house still gets just as out of control as my other house, but it is so much easier to get this one back under control.  I have not been joking over the years when I talked about the stress of keeping my house clean.  That stress is not here in this little house of mine.

School is going much better.  We are settling into a routine that involves both school and keeping the house straight.  This is my daily mantra--beds, kitchen, laundry, clutter.  If I have a free moment, I run through that mental check list to make sure things are in order.   It's working.  I even have a video of Ada reciting some of her stuff, but I can't get it to download.  I will keep working on that.

I am also making it a point to shower and get dressed every morning.  I never believed Fly Lady when she said that this was an important step. It turns out it is an important step for me.  I am forming a habit--no more afternoon showers for me.

On that note, with the new--much more "normal"--budget, I have plans for a much needed hair cut and a few new fall clothing items.  Now that I am getting dressed every morning, I am finding that I don't have very many clothes.  Okay, let me rephrase, I don't have very many clothes that I will wear.  So part of this process is getting rid of a lot of clothes.  It has been so long since I have been able to buy anything new, unless it was like 75% off at Target, so a few new items are much needed.  Don't get me wrong, these new clothes will still come from Target, Old Navy, Forever 21, etc. etc., but it's exciting for me all the same.  Plus, the last time I bought clothes it was for a working wardrobe.  I need a stay-at-home-mom wardrobe.  Let's face it, jeans are the dressiest I am going to get, and I need to face that and embrace that (didn't mean to rhyme).  

As for the hair cut, my hair has been very neglected over the past years due to the cost of a decent hair cut.  I was always of the mind set that I would rather not get my hair cut at all then get a bad cut.  So...I have at times gone up to a year between cuts.  I am working on that year timeline now, so I have scheduled a much needed cut.  I am very, very ready to go short again.

I am also embracing the early wake up hour and just going to bed earlier.  I decided to deal with the fact that John is going to wake us all at the crack of dawn, so we need to plan bed time accordingly.

So, things are good.  I continue to feel God answering many prayers that I have prayed over the years--and to think, the string of answered prayers began when Scott lost his job.  When we hit rock bottom.  And here we are, and I feel very "light" these days.  I am thankful to feel light versus the heavy that has often followed me around over the past couple of years.

The bad--

The very, very bad.

There is a horrible, disgusting smell currently coming from our walls?  our attic?  Where is it coming from?  I wanted to list all of the good first, so that the smell wouldn't overpower that...but the smell is sort of consuming my mind right now, so I had to blog about it.  I have talked to the landlord, and we are going to try to figure it out.  In the mean time...any tips or tricks for covering a smell?  Any other readers living in old homes have tips for this?  I know it goes with the territory, but that doesn't make it any better.  I HATE the smell.  Luckily, Scott and I tend to find humor in situations like this, so we have laughed about the most-likely-dead animal in our walls.  But underneath the laughter, I sort of want to cry;)

And that is us lately.

I apologize for the words.  So many words.

We do have our little "stash of cash" from the sell of the Altima (as God continues to provide in ABUNDANCE), that I am going to use to buy a new camera.  In fact, anyone want to recommend a user-friendly dslr?  I want to make the right decision here, and I have started researching reasonably priced, good for beginners, dslrs.  Advice?  Anyone?

Is anyone even still reading all of these words?  I promise, I will post pictures next time.

Everyday

It's Friday, and it's been a while, so I am going to take five minutes (give or take a minute or two) to write a little bit about my everyday.  Want to join me?  Head over to Gypsy Mama and join the crowd.  It's a great way to unwind at the end of the week.  Or so I think...

(Please note: when I headed over to Gypsy Mama's blog, I realized that the topic was actually "In Real Life," not everyday.  I don't have the energy to re-do this, so I'm just going to pretend that the topic was "Everyday."  Bear with me...we are all adjusting to our new 5:30 wake up call by my John-John, and the lack of sleep is showing up everywhere)

These days, every day, I am hating my kitchen.  Let's just get real.  The plumber has been here three times since we moved in, and the dishwasher still leaks.  The sink is weird, and something about it's angle causes water to go everywhere every time I was dishes by hand, which is, of course, every time I wash dishes.  And sometimes, in the midst of that everyday reality, it is easy for me to throw myself a little pity party, right in the middle of the piled up dishes and water everywhere.  And I remember my old (new) kitchen.  The one that no one had used before me. 

And when John wakes us all up at 5:30, again, I sigh loud enough to make sure God hears--I don't want him to miss my frustration--because wasn't he supposed to make this an easy transition?  Wasn't the hard over with?  (I know, washing dishes by hand and waking up at 5:30 doesn't even begin to cover hard, but in my everyday they are certainly inconveniences).  I am sleepy, and, let's be honest, I miss my old (much bigger) house.  Ada misses it too, and she tells me that a lot.  

But you know what is also included in my everyday?  This...these giant, wonderful, peaceful, move with the wind, shade from the sun trees.  They are right outside my kitchen window, and under them we spend our everyday afternoons.  And here is where we practice latin and history sentences and general family togetherness.  

I hate my kitchen, but even more than that, I love my backyard.  I love my backyard.  And guess what, my new-old kitchen can do all of the things that the other one did, but that new backyard couldn't do what this one can.  It takes a long time to grow trees like that.

This old dump truck that belonged to Scott was hidden in the garage because it was really hard to take John outside at our house.  Now, this dump truck is John's everyday.  And I am so glad.

And art is still a part of Ada's everyday.

And best of all, I am still their everyday, even when we didn't know if Scott would get another "real" job.  This house is just a tool that enables me to be with them, all the time, everyday.  And I am so thankful.

Thankful. #s 171-180

It's been a while since I've listed all of these things that God has gifted me with.

It is late on Monday night, and we have school tomorrow.  Bright and early.  Early, early.  And I should be in bed, but there is something so enticing about a quiet, lamp-lit house.

Here goes...

171.  My children adjusting to sharing a room so well.  Crazily well.  I am so, so thankful that we are all sleeping each night as if they have shared a room always.

172.  Our yard, and the time spent outside with the whole family each evening after dinner.

 Scott was throwing a ball as high up in the air as he could, and John was loving it.  I think it was his first little boy moment of, "wow, look at my dad and this cool thing he can do."  John would squat down, and then jump up and throw his arms up as Scott threw the ball.  He would literally squeal with glee over it.

 Ada said, "Let's take a silly one!"

173.  Remembering that Ada is only four, and I have to stay focused on phonics only--the other stuff is just icing on the cake.  It's okay if she doesn't get it this year.  It's okay.

174.  That tomorrow Scott starts his new job.  I want to say that I will never take a paycheck for granted again.  I probably will, though.  But for now, I do not!!!!!  


175.  Our church.  We have been so loved by the people of our church.

176.  frivolous, I know, but cable.  We have cable for the first time in four years.  We don't have a home phone here, and the internet/cable package is cheaper than our internet/phone package that we had at our house.  I am loving watching What Not To Wear again.  It's been too long;)

177.  And DVR.  We have DVR.  So, while I fold clothes at night, in my quiet, lamp-lit house, I can watch my recorded episodes of What Not To Wear.


178.  Cooler weather.  I LOVE fall.  Who doesn't, right?

179.  Another frivolous one.  Auburn's win on Saturday.  I just wasn't ready for the winning streak to be over, especially with that game.  War Eagle!!!  A win's, a win.

180.  Women's Bible Study starting back this week.  I love that one night a week to get away and study God's word with other women.  It is incredibly refreshing, and I miss it in the summer!!!

(Okay, so it's Tuesday when I am finally posting this, and I should add that I am also thankful that each week of CC gets better.  I think these four year olds are adjusting to the classroom.  Yay, thank you, Lord!!)

School Begins...

Here is miss Ada on her first day of school.  She was so eager.  So excited.  So sure that she would love school so much.

Things didn't quite go as planned.

I have the class of four year olds at CC.  Which means that for most of them this is their first experience with a classroom setting, other than Sunday School, or other settings which probably lasted, at the most, an hour.  At CC, the students are in their classrooms from 9:15-12:00.  (We have a fifteen minute large group opening).  And Ada and I got there at 8 am to get the classroom ready.  After about 30 minutes in the classroom, I started to "lose" the students, including my own child.  At one point, when Ada was supposed to do her "presentation" (the students do a short presentation every week so that by the time they graduate high school they are very comfortable speaking in front of people--you can imagine what this looks like in the 4 year old class), but she didn't want to present, she just lost it.  Tears streaming down her face, declaring that she is hungry, she wants to go home, etc. etc. I asked another mom (the moms are in the classroom with their children) to take over, and Ada and I had to step out in the hall to have a little chat.  I really didn't think she was going to be able to get it together.  In her defense, I think she was in change overload.  She had spent only two nights in the new house after being gone for a week, the day before we had begun keeping a friend's little boy, and now she was in her first day of school with her mom as a teacher, and she just had a meltdown. She pulled it together, and we managed to finish the day.

Yesterday, her second day of class, went much, much better.  I think since each of the students now knew what to expect, things naturally went much better.  And Ada even managed to present (though she was barely audible as she talked about her family).  I am crossing my fingers (and praying lots) that each week will get better.

As far as school at home, it is going well.  I just have to figure out a routine for us.  We are managing to fit in school each day, but I wish we had more of a set schedule.  I have found that I can keep Ada's complete attention for 20 minutes and after that the information is in one ear out the other.  So, we are doing school in 20 minutes increments through out the day--for now.  I assume that as she gets older, the time she can pay attention will increase.

Through CC, we are covering Latin, Math, English, Science, Geography, History, and History Timeline (which is separate from history).  On our own we are doing a phonics program.  Though that make look like a lot, most of that is just a sentence that Ada has to memorize each week.  Or, for Latin, just a few words.  It is the grammar stage--so Ada is learning the "grammar" of each subject--the building blocks, so to speak.

For example,  week 1, Latin Prepositions--Ada learned four latin prepositions, I would say the latin word, ex. apud, and she would say the English word--with.  And that was all we did with Latin.  This week she is learning three Latin conjunctions.  For History, English, and Science she memorizes a sentence each week.  So, it's really not that time consuming.  Phonics is the most time consuming at this point, but to me, also the most important--because if she can't read, it's going to be hard for her to learn ;)  So, I am being realistic with myself, since she's only four, and our two goals for this year are that Ada learns to read well and that she learns to be disciplined and work hard.  She often says she doesn't want to do school, and I want her to learn that it is a good, God-honoring thing to work hard even when we don't feel like it.

And, on a funny note, Ada loves doing her history sentence and timeline cards.  She can spout them out, no problem.  I say, "tell me about Columbus" (last week's history sentence), and she says, "in 1492, Columbus made the first of four trips to the Caribbean on three Spanish ships named the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria." No problem.  Her English sentence however, she never gets it.  She doesn't like doing it.  It's work to get through it each day.  Sad day for this English major mama.  She doesn't like English!!!  How can this be?!!!  But, it's fun to see that already she is loving History.

Okay, I could go on and on about school, so I will stop there.  If anyone ever has any questions about CC or the classical method, I would love to share more info.  I believe so strongly in the classical method, so if anyone is on the fence, I would be glad to persuade you ;)

As for John, he is loving trains and stacking cups.  That is what he spends hours on each day--playing with his trains and cups.  He has started taking a train with him everywhere--one in each hand, and I already have visions of a train themed second birthday.  What could be more perfect for a little boy?

He continues to be so moody.  


I was just looking at this on google reader, and I realized that blogger had left off an entire paragraph of my post.  I didn't mean to end the post with such a negative view of John.  Bless his heart.  He is moody, but I also talked about how I know God has given him many strengths and how I am praying that God would show me how to encourage those strengths and not let John's melancholy tendencies define him.  Anyway...I just wanted to clear that up ;)