I Take Back My Grumblings

(Read "Argh!" post below first if you haven't already.)

Yes, writing the previous post did let off some stream, but it wasn't an hour later when I was put back in my place. As dinner was cooking, I helped Philip put away some toys while I was sitting a few feet from our stereo speaker which was playing the radio. Suddenly I realized the song, "In Christ Alone" was playing. One line says, "I find my hope, I find my strength in Christ alone." It reminded me that my frustration was self-induced. I had become overwhelmed and begun to wallow in it instead of going to my Source of all guidance.

Not only do I know Jesus is always waiting, eager to provide the strength I need ("Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." Matthew 11:28), but we are currently learning in BSF how detestable complaining is to God. When we complain about anything (especially something involving a blessing from God), it is sin. We are saying, "God, You can't bring me through this situation. God, why did You let me get in this mess?"

The Israelites spent 38 years in the desert wandering around and surviving on manna because they had not believed that God could do all He said. They grumbled several times and received the punishment for it. This week's lesson from Numbers 21 recounts the Israelites saying they detested the manna, God's perfect provision for them. He then sent poisonous snakes among them, biting many of them and causing many to die.

Here I am living in a wonderful home and actually preparing to move into a new (at least to us) home with even more space which I know will be perfectly suited for us as God will direct our decision. In my sinfulness, I began to act just like those Israelites. Then again, aren't we all daily forgetful of God's blessings which fall new every morning? Thank you Jesus for daily forgiving me of my grumblings.

Argh!!!!!!

At this moment, I want to walk out of my front door and throw away the key! We're hoping to call our realtor and say, "Our house is ready to list on the market." But the bad thing is that the condition of this house is getting worse, not better. All the furniture is moved to its proper places, but in every room there are many items just laying around. I don't know what to do with it all. Maybe a good idea would be to take a large box and gather everything to take to the dump. Also with this huge mess everywhere, I feel I'm wasting my time gluing down unstuck wallpaper edges in the bathroom and touching up kitchen cabinets with a q-tip. If someone walked in now, they wouldn't even notice the wallpaper or cabinets.

Can you tell I didn't get a nap today? Yes, that's the real problem. We're staying up until midnight trying to get things done, I'm losing track of the dishes and laundry for spending time clearing out closets and staining the deck. I was going to lay down after getting home from lunch and getting the kids to bed. Braewyn fell asleep on the way from my parents' house to lunch which means she had had her power nap and wasn't really tired when I put her in her crib. After reading books to Philip, I smelled poop to put it bluntly coming from Braewyn's room. I should have entered right away, but did so after attending to a few other things. What I found was a dirty diaper on the floor, a girl rolling around in her crib and everything in it soiled!!! Girl and all contents out of the crib. Philip comes walking out of his room about that time too and I decided it was getting too late to try to resettle them.

Oh well, there goes my nap and any chance of getting the much needed energy boost needed to get anything really productive done today. Philip and I attended Bible study this morning so I guess that counts for something. We are no closer ready to selling this house. I suppose I should find something to feed my family for dinner.

Productive Day

Between last night and today, Matthew and I (with some help from Philip too!) spread 6 Bobcat scoops of mulch and planted 114 flowers around the yard. Yesterday, a man came and pressure washed the house, front/back porches, and driveway. I was completely amazed. It looks beautiful. Having your house pressure washed while you're inside is like being in a drive-thru car wash for a few hours. I loved it! The sound of spraying water is very soothing and the end result is awesome (the absence of nine years of mildew and spider webs!!).

I've already begun praying over our flowers for God to bless them with a long and prosperous life. They'll be prosperous if they live long enough for us to get this house on the market and then entice someone to buy it! Mulch, flowers and pressure washing are now checked off the "Rappy" list. We also bought a new front door wreath from Michael's while out buying flowers this morning. Another check. As for the dishes and laundry... don't ask. I'll just say the outside of my house is looking WAY better than the inside right now.

The "Rappy" List

You may have heard of the movie, "The Bucket List" about two elderly men who create a list of things they want to do before they kick the bucket. Well, I've not posted in a while because Matthew and I are constantly working on things from our "Rappy" list. We are in full swing getting the house ready to place it on the market. On Wednesday, March 3, our realtor Rappy Williams (hence the list) came to our house to give us our first once over. He's awesome and very experienced (20 years in the business!!) -- thanks, Kelly, for recommending him! Well, we followed him around our house inside and out for an hour, all the while me scribbling down his suggestions to do to the house. He also gave us a four page print-out which he gives to all potential home sellers, "Rappy's Checklist for Preparing Your House for Showings".

And here's the breakdown. I'll start with the good news.

Things Accomplished
-- Change Kitchen fluorescent lightbulbs
-- Replace kitchen brass knobs with nickel knobs
-- Spray paint all exterior light fixtures black
-- Change lightbulbs in garage, laundry room and master closet to brightest available
-- Move hall light fixtures to bedrooms, and replace with two-bulb fixtures
-- Attach molding to bathroom mirrors to cover flaking spots
-- Clean out area above washer/dryer
-- Put extra piece of vinyl under kitchen sink area
-- Spray oven cleaner in tubs to remove soap scum (THIS REALLY WORKS WELL!!)
-- Replace shower curtain in master bath
-- Separate kids from one bedroom; clear out office to become Philip's bedroom (pictures to come; their rooms are awesome now!)
-- Empty office closet to become Philip's closet
-- Spray water stain on ceiling with bleach
-- Rearrange master bedroom for more spacious look
-- Remove multi-sort laundry basket from master bath
-- Wash globes (the decorative glass pieces around lightbulbs) of ceiling fans in dishwasher (you'd be amazed at how good they come out looking; try it with yours!)
-- Seed entire yard with a rye/fescue mix
-- Remove screens from all front windows
-- Move two bushes from front yard to side yard

Things Still Needed
-- Replace carpet in master bed
-- Pressure wash house, driveway and porches (a man is coming tomorrow to do this)
-- New mulch in flowerbeds and around trees (being delivered tomorrow also)
-- Extra colorful plants in flowerbeds (Lowe's has 3/$1 this weekend, yeah!)
-- Remove paperbox
-- Change lightbulbs in bathrooms to white instead of clear (waiting until list time)
-- Clean out master closet and Braewyn's closet
-- Clean all blinds and windows
-- Clean kitchen appliances inside and out
-- Wipe all baseboards
-- Touch up kitchen and bathrooms cabinets
-- Clean out garage
-- Empty front closet of excess coats (why do Matthew and I NEED 8 coats each? crazy!)
-- Buy front door spring wreath
-- Find time to keep up with LAUNDRY and the DISHES in the meantime

Philip is a Child Model!

Matthew's brother Jonathan is the Director of a children's museum called Imagination Station. We visited the museum while spending Thanksgiving weekend with Jonathan and Lori. We actually got a really cool behind-the-scenes VIP tour and during the time there, Philip bravely held one of the snakes. We are so excited to announce that Jonathan chose a picture of Philip and the snake to be a part of the museum's promotional flier! If you are ever in the Wilson, NC area, be sure to stop by Imagination Station. You can tell the Director you know his sister-in-law!

Updates on the Chillin's

Philip had his 4-year-old check-up on Friday. He's known for several weeks that he was getting shots at this appointment, but Friday morning he didn't show any signs of hesitancy. He did get a little anxious once our pediatrician left after examining him and he knew the next ones through the door would be the nurses with the needles. I was actually tense all morning because I had not seen him get shots in two years and was dreading it for him. He received four shots but thankfully two nurses give two rounds of two shots at the same time. Needless to say he was crying. To quote Philip telling Grandma about the experience, "I wailed." To make the situation worse, Braewyn needed a second dose of Hepatitis A vaccine also. I chose for Philip to go first as I knew his "torture" would be worse, but seeing her brother so upset really got to Braewyn. She received the one quick stick and calmed down quicker than Philip did, but it broke my heart the way she cowered behind me while I was holding Philip's hands during his shots. The upside of the appointment is the news that we have a strong, growing, well-developed 4-year-old on our hands. Philip now weighs 33.3 lbs and is 39 1/2 inches tall. These measurements make him 25th percentile for weight and height. His pediatrician said he is petite but well porportioned.

Braewyn is still doing amazing in the potty department. It's crazy because aside from putting the Pooh Bear training potty in their bathroom, she's potty-trained herself! She actually said, "Potty" while waiting for the pediatrician to come in for their check-up. I told Dr. Shelly this and she said I could take Braewyn to the bathroom while she checked Philip's eyes and ears. Braewyn went peepee in the office bathroom! Saturday morning, Matthew and I took the kids to Krispy Kreme as a treat after their shots the morning before. Again Braewyn asked to go potty and there she pee'd and pooped! Hooray, Braewyn. We're leaving her in diapers until the move as I've always heard big changes can cause regressions. However, the way she wants to go potty at home alot, those big girl pull-ups would be very helpful as she could pull them up and down by herself. She's a silly little thing. Here's the list of Braewyn's potty policies:

- Must be naked from the waist down when pottying at home (this includes socks!)
- Tells Mommy to stand in the hallway (she pats a spot on the wall where she wants me to stand!)
- After pottying in the training potty, she carries the removable pot around the house for all present to congratulate her (it's hilarious hearing Philip's response when he's not in the mood, "I know you pee'd; go take it back to Mommy.")
- The best part is that she doesn't even know reward systems exist; she is completely satisfied with verbal praise alone! (we went through MANY chocolate chips with Philip and Braewyn is even more of a sweets lover than he was so this is a VERY good thing!)

I'm Still Here!

Sorry it's been a few weeks since posting. Matthew very sweetly gave me a new camera for Valentine's Day and I've loved taking pictures with it. The catch is that I've yet to sit down and read the manual so I don't know exactly how to upload the photos to the computer. Probably would be a simple process which I'll try to get to tomorrow. I have lots of great photos from the kids playing in the snow this morning as we awoke to around 5 inches of the white stuff! Also the kids' room and living room are both "show ready"! (Remember we're getting our house ready to sell?) The frustrating part is that each of these rooms currently look very un-ready to sell. Thankfully, each room in the house is making its way to ready with just straightening needed. Many items from around the house now reside in a rented storage unit and deep cleaning (hooray for the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser!) is going on on an almost daily basis. I'm calling a realtor tomorrow to make this whole process official!! Good night.