Tagged

Thankfully I've been tagged by my friend Tammy over at Cheerful Heart to do a photo thingy type of post (technical jargon). "Thankfully" because I either have too much to say and not enough time to say it or I have absolutely nothing of interest to post. I promise that things will settle down around here eventually - hopefully.

So here are the rules for the tag...

1) Go to your photo files…Select the 6th photo folder

2) Select the 6th photo in that folder

3) Post that photo along with the story behind it.

4) Then challenge 5 blog friends to do the same!

So here's my photo...

A frog. A frog that had been destined to die... you can read about it here. But I saved him. Because I like frogs more than I like snakes.

So I don't know who to tag - I've seen this floating around before so I'm sure most have done it at some point. Yep, that's right. I'm a rule breaker.

Ummm, Just Checking In...

I should have internet access at home by the end of the week so they say - and you know how wishy-washy they can be so stay tuned, but don't hold your breath.

I've missed the blogging stuff. I've had so many moments unpacking that I think I should go document this... and right now I can't remember a one.

So instead I will just tell you that right now I stink. I mean literally. I've been in a house without hot water for 5 days now and with good ol' MO heat and humidity outside and I've been working my tail off and sink baths just aren't cutting it anymore.

The plumbers are there today - finally, thankfully - it may be a two day job to get us hot water and our kitchen active again (the kitchen currently has no water source because of a busted pipe(s) situation from the house's vacancy period....)

Anyway - all this to tell say I will be back by the beginning of next week and hopefully smelling a lot better.

Must. Sleep.

We moved today.

2 U-Haul truckloads (yes, he finally concented to the truck)

4 other loads of stuff in trucks of various sizes.

A total of 6 movers

Probably one more truckload left for another day.

Very, very tired - but my body can't sleep.... grrr...

Left to do:

unpack

figure out what needs purchased (shower curtains, ceiling fans, felt sticky pads for bottom of furniture, etc)

get plumber to show up

clean up oven/stove

maybe fix a/c (it doesn't seem to want to cool...)

get phone/internet

So you may not hear from me for a bit - but I'll be back - with pictures at some point in the very near future.

until then - hopefully some sleep...

Poor, Poor Neglected Blog

Why write? My kids just haven't done anything cute lately...

Ok, not really. I just haven't had the time or the energy - but I'm getting better.

Last week was a whirlwind. VBS (Vacation Bible School) consumed our existence and even stole some sleep - but it's over now. And I always look forward to VBS being over... isn't that awful.

I was thinking that this week would be quite quiet around here - the myriad of contractors and home improvement people were to be finished at the new house. My work schedule would suddenly be not so full and the kiddos that stay with us during the day would be staying the week at their grandparents...

But the best laid plans...

The kiddos are with us this week after all - no big deal, just makes for a different dynamic to our day... this mother turns entertainer or the older ones are whining "I'm boooreedd...."

The painter and trim guys are still working hard at the new house, and a plumber is to join the ranks sometime this week too allegedly. Not sure if we can get everything cleaned and ready to move into by this weekend or not. And then my husband and I may have differing views on how easy-peasy this move is going to be. I haven't yet pulled the "remember when" card but I may have to - you see Steven came down with a terrible case of the flu right before we moved into this house - and he left me, then pregnant with Huston, to organize the event. U-Haul it is! Now he is talking about a truck and small trailer (or maybe even two trucks!! wow.) - and I am thinking of our poor "movers" (friends and family oblivious to what they might be getting themselves into).

I still need to do some stuff at the house too - and not sure exactly how or when I'm going to fit that in.

And then there is that job that I have - oh yeah - guess I had better remember to do something about that this week as well.

So you may not see me for a bit - but when I return I will hopefully have pictures of a moved into house.

You Can't Make This Stuff Up.

Just now I was busy getting myself ready in the bathroom. I hear Lillie screeching her displeasure about something. I call out, "Lillie why are you mad?"

Then I hear Isaiah say, "Avery stop doing that!" I ask Isaiah what's going on and he answers, "Avery was pushing Lillie down on the couch and she didn't like it."

Avery responds, "Yeah, I push her and I spank her." just as matter of fact as if he was telling you what the weather was like.

I say, "Avery, why did you spank Lillie?" and he says, and I quote...

"I was just happy to spank her."

Crossing Things Off My List

This week should see a few major things come to a close...

• The new house - the end of this week should find it with new flooring, new paint (on the main level only), a new refrigerator, new trim work, and the plumber finding and fixing any last minute issues.
• VBS - will be over on Friday night. We kept it very simple this year thankfully. And Friday will be a family worship concert led by Seeds Music! Awesome. I cannot wait for that!

The close of these events will bring on new projects and challenges...

• Getting the house ready to move into - cleaning, cleaning, cleaning and maybe antiquing the kitchen cabinets too.
• Packing - ugh, I think I'll just dump everything into boxes and deal with it later?? Oh, ok, I'll pack nicely.
• Figuring out what I'm going to do with the preschool curriculum at church for the fall - I hate what we've got now. I'm toying with the idea of just coming up with stuff myself for each week but that puts a lot on me... and it's probably not the best timing for that. But I'll have to come up with something.

I will be doing the following while trying to figure out how to keep, enjoy, care for entertain and not go crazy with 4-6 children depending on the week and if I'm babysitting.

We'll see how it goes! Can't wait to get the pictures of the house up here for you to see - but I won't do it until it's totally done - so wait patiently with me ok!

Transported

Last week was a long week. It was my first full week of watching two additional kiddos - we were goin', goin', goin' and no mommy naps at all that week. By Friday we were all tired but I especially just could not keep my eyes open when the afternoon lull hit.

I got the kids a big bag of magic nuudles from Hobby Lobby that morning, so I poured them into bowls and got them some wet washcloths and all the kids busied themselves with creativity while Lillie napped. I took the opportunity to grab a book and sit out on my rocking chair on our front porch.

Friday was absolutely gorgeous here. The temp was in the mid-70s, low humidity and a gentle breeze - all that an early summer day should be. Of course my reading didn't last long - my eyes just wouldn't allow it. I soon closed my book and closed my eyes - I was sitting there rocking, enjoying the beautiful weather - listening to the sounds of the birds and the gentle breeze rustling the trees. I smelled our supper that was cooking in the oven through the open window near my chair and then it happened. I was totally transported.

I sudenly was at Clifton and Frances' house. For those of you who don't know, Clifton and Frances were very special people in my life. They were our neighbors across the street - and older couple that I came to view as my grandparents. I grew up under their care and watchful eye and spent many, many evenings and afternoons on their front porch swing. There was something about that moment. That gentle breeze, that rocking motion, that smell of food that totally placed them into my mind.

Clifton and Frances have been gone for close to 4 years now. I can remember because I was dilated and full term pregnant with Avery when I traveled to Frances' funeral, and Clifton passed away a few months later. It is amazing to me how often they come to mind. Well, it's amazing, but then again it's not - because they were such a fixture in our family, so very special that of course they would become, essentially, a part of me as well... but really after their passing I didn't expect that I would recall them so often.

Isaiah and Lillie are both named for them (Isaiah Clifton and Lillie Frances). Isaiah is so proud of that - I am surprised that he tells people, his friends, about his and his sister's special names quite often. He will also occasionally stop out of the blue at times and say, "Mom, I remember those cookies Frances used to make..." or "I remember when you found out that Clifton had passed away..." It's again amazing to me that he experienced only 4 short years with quite a distance between them - but they made such a marked impression upon him as well.

I love being transported back to the love and memories of the past. I think it's a tiny little glimpse of how we will feel in heaven - no tears, no worries, no fears - just a since of this is where I belong, and this is how it feels to be loved. I can't wait to hook up with Clifton and Frances again someday... but until then I will impatiently wait for those times that it feels like I'm sitting on their front porch.

Hello, My Name is Jessie...

and I'm addicted to fountain Coke. It has been 3 minutes and 23 seconds since my last swallow. (I'll wait for your hello)...

Good grief, I'm pathetic. I thought that I could kick the habit - and to be honest, I could. But why? What's my incentive? Will it make me fat (eventually probably so...), will it give me cancer (well, yeah, probably this along with every other unhealthy thing I consume or do... and who ever really knows anyway), will it begin a lifelong bad habit for my children (quite possibly, but then again, maybe not)???

Why am I worried about it? Because it's a dependency issue that I really should get a grip on... probably. I mean I love it, yes. It tastes great, yes. It wastes money, ummm... ok, even if I get it on the half price happy hour clearance, yes. Do I get the shakes and want to hurt myself or others if I don't have it... ummm... let me think on that one... I guess I'll say no. (but I do at times get a doosy of a headache which could be from this or any other number of reasons - like say 10,000 lbs. of pollen and allergins in the air that I am breathing).

I really have - on average - about 5-7 fountain cokes a week and quite a few of them I set aside and lose track of only for the ice to melt them past their prime and they then are abandoned and deemed not worthy of my drinkage (enter money wasting...) - so what'd ya think... do I have issues?? Ok, let me clarify, do I have soda drinking/money wasting/fountain coke obsessing issues. Uh, yeah, on second thought don't answer that. Anyone wanna meet me a Sonic??

Future Partners in Mischief...

Lillie likes hanging out around Avery more often than not...


And Avery will tolerate Lillie quite a bit more than he used to! I remember when he wouldn't let her touch him...


Aren't they so cute!

More Critter Adventures

So last week was full of fun and adventure. The first adventure was that I started my babysitting stint for the summer. A family that is in the same church small group Bible study that we attend was in need of someone to watch their 2 kids over the summer while school was out. They are great kids, 12 and 9 years old, and the idea of some companionship for my kids as well as having a few older kiddos around to help me out with a few things sounded like a great opportunity. They are paying for my time/help... whatever... but I am most thankful that the parents have a good idea and handle on some of these home improvement projects we need to tackle at our new house and so to some extent we will be swapping services too. Awesome.

So Zach and Gracie came to start their summer days with us at the end of last week. The first day was a rainy, wet morning and the kids quickly became bored. Luckily a movie kept them going until lunch time and then after lunch Zach took his sister and my oldest two down to the neighborhood creek to explore. It's just down our hill, not too far, and they played for hours. When they returned they had brought some MO creek wildlife with them in a couple of buckets... a minnow, 4 crawdads, and 3 huge tadpoles (I think they officially might have actually been polliwogs... but I couldn't convince my boys to stop calling them tadpoles...)

The face only a mother could love... (or most little boys)

I told you they were huge (at least much bigger than I've ever seen a tadpole be) Huston is holding it in this shot - He and Avery liked holding them (and unfortunately dropping them a couple of times...) Isaiah is a "no thank you, I'll watch" type of guy.


See the tiny legs starting to sprout on the tadpole/polliwog thingy?...


Here's the whole gang of MO wildlife adventure seekers....


And finally the bucket of crawdads. The kids were trying to convince me that they were for supper, I didn't buy that for one moment. They had also discovered down at the creek that the crawdads and tadpole/polliwogs (oh heck, lets just call them baby frogs, k?) didn't get along - so that's why it was necessary to have two buckets.

They were so interesting to look at! I don't mind critters at all so I'm one of the lucky moms of boys that like to find living things, I enjoy looking at them just as much as they do. Zach told us that the baby frogs eat algae at this stage and will switch over to insects and such once they lose their tails... and I believe him, he's a boy scout - and his dad is a conservation agent...

Meanwhile, later on that week...

See this frog?

It owes us it's life. Saturday morning Steven's dad came by to give us a teeny bit more mulch to put around our trees and landscaping. While they were working on that, the gang spotted a fairly good sized something -- a something that most people would not like to ever find around their house (and that included my grandmother, so don't tell her that this was in our backyard!)


It was curled up around our compost bin - sunning itself... and right close to where it was hanging around was that little frog. The snake totally had it's eye on breakfast (lunchanddinner), better know as frog, but Isaiah burst into tears when I suggested that's probably what the snake was after. So as I would agree that in my own mind a frog is higher on the animal hierarchy than the snake, I agreed to shoo it out of harms way with a stick and release it to where it could roam freely (until another critter finds it).

I must say though, the snake is kinda pretty, but still not as cute as a frog.