This jar has become a huge entity in our home. A goal was set as to how much we needed in it and last week, that goal was met.

Why did we fill it? Well...I'm so glad you asked!

Ed has talked for years about going back to school for a counseling degree, but that is as far as it has gone. In January, different prospects were popping up job wise, and he was holding out hope for a certain job, so school was once again put on the back burner. May 31st was the deadline to apply for the upcoming fall semester at the school he had his eye on, but the paperwork was put aside with the slightest hope of that same job coming to fruition.

The job didn't come about and through a series of events, school popped back into the picture. He talked with several people who encouraged him to seek this school out as it was right up his ally.

So the paperwork was dusted off, filled out, test taken, recommendations given out and fees paid. All that was left was the interview. And for that he has to be there in person. Which of course is on the other side of the country.

November 15th, Ed and I are headed to Seattle, WA to an "Experience Mars Hill Weekend" at Mars Hill Graduate School, where he will interview, we'll meet students, profs, sit in classes, be engulfed with the sights and sounds of school and the city.

The only way we were going to be able to afford this without going into debt was to somehow save enough money in cash to pay for the tickets. And that "somehow" was in the form of selling all things that we no longer used. Toys, dishes, electronics, friend and family stuff (who so graciously said we could put their profits in our jar), odds and ends. $5 here, $90 there, $25 everywhere. Two months and a bit of an empty house later, we had enough.
Tickets have been purchased.
The jar is now empty.
But the selling hasn't stopped. We're on to Plan #2 which is saving for hotel, car and food for the weekend we're away.

Now if the house would only sell as easily as everything else has, we'd be all set!

corn, teeth and the fairy

I had two realizations last night.

1. The next time I decide to make a new recipe involving cutting corn off the cob, I should move the tooth that fell out that morning off the counter. Only because the corn makes a mess (and flies everywhere when being cut off the cob) on the counter and one tooth and one kernel of corn look really, really alike. So far, no hard kernels have been found in the corn and black bean salad I made.

2. Always have an extra tooth on hand. Thankfully, this was tooth #7 that had fallen out, so I had some "spare teeth" up on my dresser. I've heard the tooth fairy isn't too picky as to which tooth she finds under the pillow.

all that's needed is the mini-van...

Saturday was Sam's 1st soccer game. Ed and I were pretty horse after yelling for 40 minutes. "Keep going! Go THAT way!! Move up!! Kick it, kick it! Great job!! Good try!! Awesome block!" It was very entertaining. The purple people eaters won 5-1. With of course, one point being the other team scoring in their own goal. It pretty much went, kick ball...mob follows...kick ball...mob follows. Every time Sam kicked the ball, he would stop, turn around and wave at us as the game continued. All the guys did an awesome job. By the end, I think they figured out that when you kick the ball, you go after it instead of standing there.
This Saturday it's supposed to rain. I can't wait!!

huh

Who knew that when a pop can is knocked off a top shelf, when impact is made, it can explode out the side, shooting a good 15 feet into the kitchen, cover the pantry door from top to bottom, and cover four sets of legs that just happened to be standing there, trying to decide what type of fizzy to have. Obviously not that can.



Who knew that when a bowl is accidentally dropped onto the hardwood floor it doesn't break. But when accidentally dropped onto the head of a 3 year old, it breaks into five pieces, leaving a shard in her forehead, a goose egg on the side of her head and a black eye from the impact.



Who knew that pop could be so hilariously funny and kids heads so hard.

What we found last night on the way to bed.

1st grade

1st day of 1st grade. He told his grandma that it was "really hard" as they had to color a lot today. He asked if I could wash his shirt tonight so he could wear it again tomorrow. I suggested for him to pick out something different. He met a new friend who gave him his juice box since he didn't have anything to drink. He was scared and teared up when he was dropped off as he didn't know where to go. Dad was his hero by helping him out in the unfamiliar situation. He was awake at 5:45 this morning and "just couldn't go back to sleep". It is the 1st night of his 6 years of life that he has slept without bunny. The tender-hearted, care-free, not-afraid-to-hug-his-mom, thinks his dad is the ultimate coolest hero, little boy is still in there.

Seeing how some prayers change. From asking Him to keep him healthy in the womb, that he would be ok in delivery, for surgery's and doctor checkups to be positive and go well, to asking for just one full night of sleep. For him, in his child like faith, realize what Christ has done for him to asking for a good friend who will treat him kindly and not guilt him.

Soon enough he'll be going into jr. high. That literally IS how fast time goes.

It's amazing how one little person can grip your heart, sometimes squeeze it, sometimes make it burst. And no matter what, you love him with everything you have.

flying

This weekend was packed full of some fun, but mainly all work.

Friday night was BBQ with the family and then a night parade to watch my niece play in the drum line.

Saturday the parents were here and each of us accomplished so much. Ed finished re-wiring the basement and ended up with a good 10-20 yards of wire that was not being used throughout the house. He also mowed the grass (which is a two hour job). Dad patched the ceiling in the garage where the previous owner had cut a nice hole out of it and left it and painted the stairway in the garage. Mom took down the lovely border in our bedroom. I cleaned up the basement and had a nice "to sell" pile, some of which has already been sold. I also chopped down the five bushes at the end of the driveway so now people can see when pulling out!

Sunday was church, nap and more cleaning.

Today Ed pulled/dug out all the roots from the bushes I chopped down, worked some more in the basement, shampooed the carpets, and had a little bon fire in the front yard with gasoline, matches and bees. I picked up Candy Land, dropped off baby clothes and went to the store. We dropped off our very first computer (Ed's Ipod has more memory than that thing did) to Goodwill, dropped off boxes to a family that's moving and somewhere in there ate lunch.

The rest of the week consists of 1st day of school, library, grocery store, deliver meal, soccer meeting, watch the new cute little baby, practice at church (I've been dreaming about ants in my pants), drop off bags of clothes and books, sell more stuff, meet with realtor for the house, get the truck ready to sell and I think that's it.

Now it's time for bed.

final conclusion

Today I laughed. Not at the circumstances, but at the way life goes. Today was a "top off the week" day.

At church our son's number came up for a parent to come get him out of class. This is the first time this has happened in the six years he has been living. Ed dashed down there (I'm guessing as the number disappeared pretty quickly). My mind was racing. Did he get in trouble? Did he get injured?

Afterwards, I found Ed and Sam sitting on one of the steps towards the rear of the room we were attending service in and Sam wasn't looking too great. He didn't even want a cookie.

So we made it out of church in record time with only chatting to a few people and Sam was half asleep by the time Alina and I got to the truck.

It takes 10 minutes to get home. Two minutes into the drive, Sam started crying saying he felt like he was going to throw up. Sure enough. Breakfast from yesterday came up (eggs look the same before and after being eaten) with lots and lots of water. Of course we had no towels in the truck or anything to give him. And it kept coming and coming and coming. Ed pushed the speed limit hurrying to get Sam home as he was soaked and everything around him was soaked.

I stripped him down and took him to the shower. Then the fun job started. Cleaning up. Puddles. Dripping. Chunks. All in the fabric of the car seat. Thankfully the regular seat is leather so I could sop everything up. I almost did lose it. Almost, but held it together.

A good dose of Frebreeze later, everything smells lovely and all is back to normal.

Even Sam. His words getting into the shower were, "What are we going to have for lunch? I'm getting hungry".

I knew I should have knocked on wood or something along those lines before writing the last line on the post below. It has been an adventurous couple of days already!

The vehicle did get fixed. But now needs repaired again. Ed and I were up at 4:15 Thursday trying to see where the very strong odor of gasoline that was filling the house was coming from. The blue beast was sitting looking all innocent in the garage, but the puddle under it was all the evidence we needed.

It has been a very rainy week with some strong storms. One such storm knocked our power out again Thursday night right at dinner prep time. Thankfully, the pizza place was open as I was not able to make anything. So it was bon appetit by candle lite. Followed by a camp out in our room. I had forgotten how loudly Sam breathes so I was up the majority of the night and even attempted sleeping in his bed with little success. I tried to wake him up to go into his bed, but he was almost in tears as he loved the adventure of slumbering in his sleeping bag in our room and didn't want to leave.

As of right now, this weekend is looking uneventful but as always, that could change in the blink of an eye, or the flicker of lights.

wrap-up

A catch-up post if you will:

Clean-sweeping the garage that resulted in an entire bin full of garbage, a pile of freecycle items and a pile of items to sell.
Cleaning out the pantry that I kept shoving things into only to find new habitants, in the form of white worms, had set up dwellings. Bleach and a trash bag full of food later, the pantry was clean.
Waking up to an amazing thunderstorm this morning only to have the power go out, and later hearing and watching a pine tree topple in the neighbors yard.
Having the other vehicle fixed. Hopefully no more fixing anytime soon.
Seeing a door firmly close with a polite "no thank you" spoken concerning a job that may have not transpired anyway and being very ok and at complete peace with that decision.
Visiting a church that we have never been to and actually running into people we know.
Having half of the basement ceiling on the floor. Intentionally.

It has been an exciting four days. Should be interesting to see what the rest of the week holds!

friends

This past weekend was trip #3 for Ed and the final trip. To fill the days until he returned home, one day the kids and I took a trip to Lansing to visit our good friends Nathan and Kerry Lynne. We've known this fantastic couple for 10+ years and even though they moved to VA 6 months after we met them, we've kept in contact with them over the past several years. Taking trips to VA, meeting a couple times in OH for weekends and several phone calls, e-mails and now instant messaging (YAY for THAT!!). They happened to be vacationing in the great U.P. (eh!?) and stopped in Lansing on their way back and invited the kids and I to come down for lunch and visits. It's been just over 3 years that we've seen each other, so I jumped at the chance to see them when they're only an hour away!!

Their son Josh is one year younger than Sam and those two are like two identical peas in the same very small pod. It was humorous watching them and seeing how much they are alike but yet they each portrayed their uniqueness and awesome boyness. No wonder their dad's are such good friends!! We ventured to the park after the little cutie patootie Eva was put down for a nap and Nathan pulled out the camera and took some absolutely amazing shots of the kids. Which of course I need to share... Thanks for letting me copy these Nathan!!

The hours flew by and it was time to leave. Already talks of Thanksgiving in VA are being discussed.

What does $47 get you?

It is fix up time around here this week. Car, sink, door jamb, and the furnace. The furnace was our biggest worry with how expensive it was going to cost. A ticking noise could be heard through the house every time the air conditioner came on. The heating/cooling company came out yesterday morning (the last time they came here, we had no hot water resulting from a chipmunk/red squirrel deciding that the chimney was a water slide and ended up in the water heater, clogging up the air flow). The guy said, "it sounds like something is hitting the fan in there." He took off the cover and looked in. Nothing. He couldn't find a single thing wrong. He then reached both arms in up to his elbows and viola! He pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to me. It was an insurance policy. It didn't belong to us. Nor to the previous owners (who were here for 16 years). It belonged to the Werners. How much did they pay for this insurance? $2. What was the insurance for? Halloween Disaster.

Halloween Disaster Insurance
$2
This policy entitles the holder to post-Halloween relief as follows:
1. Wash soaped windows, home, auto, (etc.).
2. Clean waxed windows (except screens).
3. Remove garbage from lawns.
4. Remove "T.P." from premises (except trees, power lines, roofs).
5.General clean-up.
The Senior Youth Group is not responsible for damage done on said premises as a
result of Halloween pranksters. To schedule a clean-up crew, please call the
church office on Sunday, November 1st, between 6:30 pm and 7:30 pm. Senior
Youth Group representatives will be at the church to take calls.

Policy holder:
Address:
Youth signature (needed to be valid):

Thank you for your support.
Keep this policy to present to clean-up crew.

You never know what you'll get for $47.

growing up

Tonight a milestone was scaled in our home. To some, this may not mean a whole lot, but to a mom who has been working with her son on reading, this is a HUGE thing. Sam doesn't really like to read. He likes being read to and has started graduating from pictures books to chapter books (with some pictures). It is like pulling teeth to get him to read words, but at the library the other day, I took my time in picking out some very easy beginner books for him to read. I realized how hard it is to find books that have very few words on the pages, and yet are full sentences where every word could be sounded out. I found three. And he read an entire one, all by himself, tonight. You could see he was getting so frustrated with himself over some words, but when it clicked in his brain, he got really excited when he re-read the entire sentence. His eyes lit up and he got a huge smile on his face. Praise filled our home tonight over his huge accomplishment. I'm so very proud of him, and from this big step, I hope he sees how amazing reading can be and all the adventures he can imagine from reading books.

#2

Today Ed left on trip number two. The past days have been filled with dehydrating chicken for jerky, green peppers and onions for fajitas, apples, strawberries and blueberries to add to the morning oatmeal. Eight sandwiches were baked for lunches, noodles measured out for stroganoff, rice to accompany the fajitas, and every bag labeled for each guy. Breakfasts, snacks, lunches, snacks, dinners. The kitchen has once again exploded with foods for trail mix, oatmeal bars (which I couldn't sneak a few in as all 16 were needed), bags of packaged tuna and apple cider found on the clearance rack at a nearby grocery store. The dishwasher is getting its workout and the rest of the mess can wait until tomorrow.

To end the day after the guys left I started clearing out the shed, garage and basement for a garage sale the neighbors are having. The truck was stuffed full and so much more is going to go tomorrow.

Right now my bed is calling along with the movie I picked out for me from the library. I think a small snack is in order too.

plans

Today Ed left on his first of three backpacking trips for the men's ministry. So with him gone, we're finding things to do to keep busy until his return on Sunday.

Today was helping my dear friend sing at a kids park party by the lake. I love being by the water and the kids did too. I could've done without Ronald McDonald talking to me though (clowns give me the heebee geebees), but all was well.

Tomorrow is blueberry picking!! YAY!!! Time to stock up the freezer to last us through the fall, winter and spring until next year.

Tomorrow night is the musician bbq and Ed's mom is coming for the weekend. Me, myself and I get to indulge in an evening of adult conversation, and eat as slow as I'd like. I'm very much looking forward to it!

Saturday is undetermined as to what is going to happen.

Sunday is church and then Ed will be home by dinner time.

Right now it is time for books and bed. The kitchen that exploded with preparations of camping food for the guys, is mainly cleaned up and will still be there tomorrow morning.

thankful

Today is a day of thankfulness.
For:
A washer and dryer.
A working refrigerator.
Fans.
Clothes line.
Communication to the outside world.
Lights.
Water.
Flushing toilets.
The basics that I take advantage of every single day and not realize it.

After a 19 hour stint of having no electricity (which also means no water and no septic), I am truly thankful for the every day items in our home. It made today a really fun adventure though!!

Our holiday

It has been another great 4th holiday. It began on the 3rd with 70+ friends and family gathered at our home to eat very yummy food while chatting and playing games. The evening ended with a spectacular fireworks show across the street and thesmores around the fire pit. Our family was praying all week for the rain to hold off, and other than 30 seconds of sprinkles, it didn't start raining until we climbed into bed
last night. Thank you Jesus!!

Today was a lazy day of sleeping in, going out to breakfast with Grandma, watching a parade, going to a fair for sno-cones and inflatable rides and then out to lunch with Grandma, followed by a nice nap. Tonight is cleaning up the house and taking it easy.

What a great holiday it has been! I experienced the blessings of having a cleaning fairy yesterday who was a HUGE help, the relaxing atmosphere of a large crowd at our home and being able to celebrate our country's birth with my family.

Now the kitchen needs some loving attention and so does the newly decorated laundry room that is keeping an eye on the mountains of laundry that need to be done.

Happy 4th of July!!

blink

Have you ever seen one of those stunt drivers in the movies where their car is flying through the air on its side then lands on it's roof,smushing the car so much that you can't even pick out the windows anymore? That is the only way I can describe the horror that flew before my eyes last evening and is seared inside of my brain. Replaying over and over again. Happening in slow motion. Hearing metal collide into metal. Smelling burnt rubber. Seeing the shocked faces of those standing around me. Everyone standing stone still. Watching. Trying to comprehend what just happened before all of our eyes. Then in the blink of an eye, people running to help all involved. Parents searching frantically for their kids. It was a movie being played out. Or so it seemed.

After watching the fireworks out in a little farm town, from the lawn of a friends uncle's house with the majority of the people our family didn't know, this scene happened. We were getting ready to leave when we heard a horrible metal on metal impact, turned around to see a car hurdling through the air to land on it's roof, on
the lawn, that we were all standing on.

Amazingly, no one was seriously hurt. The 20 year old of the flying car came out with a scraped elbow. How he lived I don't think anyone will be able to comprehend as he wasn't wearing hisseat belt.

I hope I never see, hear, smell anything like this again.

And while sitting there watching the entire town's fire department take care of all that were involved, our 3 year old pipes up and says, "I think we should pray for that man. That he's ok." And we did just that.

A wake up call of how life can so swiftly change. And a reminder of the child like faith we are called to have, to go to Christ with our scraped knees, thankful hearts and crushing blows.

flying by

Sitting here working today, I realized I've been doing this job for 7 years. So I stopped and revisted the past handful of years of life.

Moved to our first house.
Sam was born.
Experiencing all the firsts of a baby, including some extras like surgery and hospitals and changing bandages and needles.
Potty training.
Backpacking trips with a toddler.
Catalyst.
Moved to our 2nd house.
2nd baby and all the firsts with her which did not include extras.
Totalling our only vehicle.
10 year anniversary.
Backpacking trip with a preschooler and toddler.
Turning 30.
Ups and downs.
1st day of school.
Growing.
Being broken.
Trusting.
Experiencing the depths of Christ.

Time lived, not lost.

ironic

It's really ironic how the post below can mean something totally different now. When I wrote that, things were not happening like we expected them too. In the weeks that have followed, life has taken several different turns, but the thoughts below still apply. I need to continue keeping my hands open, even if what is happening (or not happening) does not line up with what we like. Of course, it's not at all about what we want, but what God wants for me and us as a family, which is going to be SO much better than what we ever expected.