Packing Day #1

Jumping up and down on the bubble wrap that the packers kindly gave them.

Still a lot of dumpster diving going on.

As we were putting the girls to bed tonight, SaraGrace said, "Mom, whenever I toot, my bottom hurts."
I said, 'Well, stop tooting.'
"I can't."
"Honey, I'm sure you will be fine."
"Mom," she said with a wail, "Chloe said I was going to need butt surgery."

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The three littlest kids have a new saying. They will come and find me to announce , "I hafta go potty weally bad."
"You do?"
"Yeth."
"Well, go ahead and go."
"kaay."
We go through this little ritual even when they have come in from playing outside and have dashed past the bathroom to come and find me.

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One of the kids has this exchange with me several times per week.
Me: Please go find your shoes.
Child: I don't know where they are.
Me: Please go look for them.
Child: But I don't know where they are.
Me: I don't know where they are either. That is why I am asking you to go FIND them.
Child: But I don't know where to look.
Me: rolling eyes patiently saying once again...If we knew where they were, they wouldn't be lost. Please go look for them.
Child: wanders off, whining that she doesn't know where to look.

Now I know why some animals eat their young.

Failures in Communication

My brother sent me this photo that was posted on Failblog.org. Say the name of the restaurant fast. :) Some things just don't translate well. hehe

Thoughts on the big move

Tonight is our last night here without being surrounded by boxes. We really ARE doing fine. Despite being sad at saying good-bye to friends and family, we have total peace that God is leading us in this move. We know that He is working everything for our good. It will be okay.

Jeff rented a dumpster so that we could get rid of a bunch of junk that the garbage collection service won't take.

You would think that when you are throwing things away, your own children wouldn't be going dumpster diving in your front yard.

Or bringing their friends...

They claimed they were just looking for things that they could smash or break. Okaaay.... That is one of many things I don't get about males.

And in other news....

Jake went to church today with his pants like this:

It was not discovered until we were eating lunch at a restaurant with friends.

Random Thoughts

I will really miss this porch.

Today is our last Saturday here. It still feels surreal. My brain knows that I only have a few more days here, but my heart is still numb.

The little kids are pretty clueless, so they are currently fine. They did well at the cabin last week, so I think they will probably transition pretty well. The older kids are a bit sad, and trying to say good-bye to their friends. Ryan has been gone a lot--much to Chloe's dismay. He ended up taking her with him yesterday. She had an offer to swim with us at a friend's house and she turned it down to hang out with Ryan. I was a bit shocked by that because she LOVES to swim.

The movers come in two days to start packing us up. I am thankful that I don't have to pack everything. We have some doctor and dentist visits to finish up and then we will be heading east as the truck pulls out. (sob)

The truck pulls out on Wed., and is not guaranteed an arrival until Sunday, so we need to pack enough clothes for that long. Great! It's like another vacation.

5 days of clothes + 12 people = 60 clean outfits. And let's not forget pajamas. And swimsuits. Shoes. Hairbows. Underwear. Jackets.

Our washer and dryer are staying here because the dryer outlet at the new house is electric and we have a gas dryer. We will need to buy a set in Boston and hopefully get it delivered immediately. Either that, or all the kids will get a lesson on how to pound out laundry on a rock.

I had visions of visiting friends along the way, stopping at Niagra Falls, etc. But Jeff, aka Lets-get-there-by-driving-12-straight-hours thinks not. Drat! I see his point, though. Dragging all of our stuff into a hotel is a huge undertaking and not much fun. And there IS the slim possibility of the truck getting there on Friday instead of Sunday.

A kind co-worker delivered some blow up mattresses to the house so that the ancient youthful parents' lower backs don't go out. So we will be hanging out there until the truck arrives. I have only seen a few pictures of the house online, so I want to get there before the truck to figure out furniture placement.

Some random pictures from our last week here...

The purple coneflowers are blooming in our yard

This probably sounds silly, but we see deer a lot around here and I LOVE them! Each time I see them, my camera is at home. urgh. I really wanted to be able to take some photos of them before we moved so I began to pray that God would put some in my path when I had a camera handy. Last Sunday, on the way home from church, we spotted two fawns and their Mama as we pulled into our subdivision. We watched them for a few minutes and then I decided to go get my camera and hope to find them still there. Not likely...but worth a try. To my delight, they were still there when I returned and I was able to take some photos. They are a bit blurry because the deer were farther away than my lens could handle, but they are better than nothing. God DOES care about every detail of our lives and I think He was delighted to answer my prayer. :)

Two sets of dirty feet-sies

Chloe, in Ryan's *rmy shirt that she wears to bed

The remainder of the pictures are of a sweet little boy we know. He is the child of a young, newly married couple who needed some photos taken. I needed the practice, so wah-la... We did each other a favor. :) This little guy has some of the most gorgeous blue eyes I have ever seen. AMAZING!

My kids

This morning, Jakie came into the room wearing one of the girls' Easter hats. Zoey looked at him and said, "You wook prvitty." ( That's Zoey-speak for, "You look pretty.")

Jake looked at her in disgust and said, "I not pvitty." And he wasn't. He looked absurd but I wasn't quick enough to get a photo. Rats...

This afternoon, Taylor thought it would be fun to let me smell his armpits. You know...a little mom/son bonding experience. He pinned me and rubbed his stinky armpits on my shirt. Gross. As I headed past him, I spotted a bag of dirty diapers that I was going to throw in the garbage. Perfect. I picked it up and waved it in his face. He tried to fend me off but I persisted. At some point in the fracas he accused me of pushing the bag into his mouth, which is completely untrue. He has been grumbling all evening, while I secretly gloat that I grossed him out more than he grossed me out. Bahahahaha

This evening, we were out in the backyard playing when Jillian started yelling, "Mom! Look at SaraGrace!"

I looked for her but didn't see any sign of her. "Where? Where?" I yelled.
Jillian yelled, "Up there! In the tree!"

With visions of my baby falling out of the tree and breaking her leg, I dashed over to the tree. She was not visible until I got right under it and sure enough...there she was. I had my camera in hand and she was already posing.

Rather than my kids being camera shy, I am now met with a chorus of, "Mom! Smile me!" whenever I get the camera out. It cracks me up! I'm glad they don't mind me sticking my camera in their faces at every opportunity.

I'm starting to see this expression a lot lately.

Chloe has been wanting me to curl her hair lately. It doesn't last long.

Could he look any more mischievous?

My little Chloe

Ryan and Chloe have been little buddies since Chloe came home from China at 18 months of age. She has been upset about him going into the *rmy and sleeps with--or wears--the *rmy shirt he was given when he enl*sted.

Tonight, after being put to bed, she came down about an hour later, just sobbing. When I asked her what was wrong, she gulped out, "I don't want Ryan to get hurt in the *rmy."

My heart turned over. I took her in my arms and tried to comfort her, but everything I said sounded so lame. She sobbed and sobbed and I finally offered to let her call Ryan to try to calm her down. Thankfully, he answered his cell phone right away and talked to her.

She is lying on the couch near me because she can't get to sleep, due to worrying about Ryan. Poor little punkin. Molly and I prayed with her and she nodded her head earnestly when I told her that we have to trust God and ask Him to give us courage and peace so that we don't worry every day.

I guess this will be a good time to have her memorize Matthew 6:27, 'Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?'

When he was getting senior pictures taken, he insisted on having Chloe in a few of them.

Convicting Post

Another friend directed me to this post and I am passing it on. It convicted me and gave me perspective (again).

Divine Appointments

You know...sometimes God just likes to let you know that He is amazingly detailed. We like to say that His timing is perfect, but sometimes we forget His precision.

Last night, I made an impromptu trip to WalM*rt. I got held up at the register because the stupid convenient self-check register kept saying I wasn't putting the item in the bag. I was mildly annoyed at the delay because I was in a hurry. However, as I was walking out of the store, a van was driving by and I suddenly noticed that the person in the driver's seat was waving wildly. I stopped and realized that it was a friend of mine who has been going through a very painful time lately. She really needed a shoulder to cry on last night, and God had me walk out of that store at the precise time she was driving by the entrance. Thirty seconds earlier or later and I would have missed her entirely. (In fact, my son was there at the same time and we never ran into each other.) My friend asked where I was parked so that she could pull her car nearby to continue our conversation, and wouldn't you know...there was one empty spot right next to my car for her. Every other spot around us was taken.

After ending our conversation, I traveled on to the grocery store. A few weeks ago, one of the cashier's had commented on the items I was buying and it came up that we were having a party for Ryan as he went in to the milit*ry. She said she had a friend in the service and prayed for him a lot--and then said, "I'll pray for your son." Ever since, I have been planning to return and give her a prayer card for Ryan. Last night, as I headed in, I thought, "Rats...she won't be here because it's night and she works the day shift. I hope I see her before we move." As I walked in, I was shocked to see her standing at the door. She was not at a register---she was a greeter! I have never seen her in that position--EVER. I walked up and reminded her of who I was and handed her the prayer card for Ryan. She later found me in the store and wanted his address, so she could write to him. That blessed me soooo much!

When I left, she was no longer at her post as greeter--and had been moved elsewhere in the store. God had put her where I needed to see her at the precise moment that I walked in. It was such a great reminder to me that God is NOT random. It sometimes seems like things happen without Him noticing, but He knows everything that is happening and there is purpose and meaning in it all. Just because we are often unaware of it, doesn't change the truth of who He is and what He is doing.

All About Jake

Little man, Jake, is three! We took him for a birthday lunch and then to the hardware store where he picked out a bike. He was so excited and rode it around the store. I let him skip his nap to ride it in the driveway--which ticked Zoey and Kate off a bit.

Later, we had birthday pie instead of cake...since we still have cake left over from Ryan's party. With three birthdays in one week, we get kind of birthday cake-d out.

We cannot imagine our lives without this special little guy--our only child from Guatemala. God led us to him in such an unusual way, and we are so glad we have this little blessing in our lives. He is constant entertainment. In honor of Jake's life...some pictures of him from this past week.

Cabin fun

We are home and doing laundry after our vacation at the cabin. :) It was nice to get away and spend some time as a family before hitting the ground running again as we gear up to move to the Boston area.




My nephew, who didn't want to pose for any pictures.

A little free advertising for our favorite canoe livery, Gott's Landing. We didn't canoe this year because the kids are too young.

"Mom, please don't take my picture."

Boat and canoe launch

Not far from my parents' cabin is the picturesque Au Sable river. It is a popular place to canoe, raft and draw fly fishermen from near and far. We took the kids to the river, where they spent hours wading and throwing pebbles into the water.



A sea gull that mesmerized the little kids.




This photo just doesn't do justice to the gorgeous scenery.






There are many dragonflies near the water and I can now challenge anyone to a game of Twister after twisting my body into contortions to get this shot.









My sister drove up on the weekend with my mom, and brought squirt guns for the kids. I'm plotting my revenge so touched by her thoughtfulness.

Update on my Brother-in-Law

We have received some encouraging news about my brother-in-law. He has a treatable form of leukemia and we are praying that he responds well to the medication. Thank you so much for praying.

Prayer Request

We just got a call that my brother-in-law has been diagnosed with leukemia. He is going to the hospital tomorrow and based on what the tests show, may have to stay for immediate treatment. Please pray. He is only 50 and still has one teenage child living at home. I have not had a chance to talk to him or my sister-in-law, but I know that they could use the prayer.

I'll update when we get more news.

I took this picture today as I sat at the pool with the kids. At the time, I thought about how majestic the sky looked. Whenever I see sunbeams, I think of God. It's like He shoots them directly into my heart to remind me that He is there, He is thinking about me, and He knows every detail of my life. As we digest this news about my brother-in-law, I am reminded again...that God already knew about this illness. He has a plan and He is right there beside them as they go to the hospital...as they try to sleep tonight...and will be there with them through every day ahead.

My parents have a coffee mug up here at the cabin with this saying on it:

Now, if I was saying this, it would be dripping with sarcasm. Every time I see this saying, I laugh because I love sarcastic humor. As I poured my coffee into it this morning, though, another thought came. God DOES say this to all of us ALL the time. He will drop everything to work on our problem (has actually been working on it before we were aware that we had a problem).

Thank you, God, that we can know that no matter what happens, You are there, working on our problems and holding us tight.