A Moment to Treasure

This morning I saw Braewyn hit Philip. I asked her why she did that and she tapped her shoulder and said, "Bubba hit me." Well, I didn't see him hit her but I told them to hug each other and say sorry. They hugged and then Philip said the sweetest thing to her.

"We're married now, my love, my wife. And I won't forsake you."

Where do they hear these kind of things? It was precious. Philip is in that stage of wanting to play make believe relationships. Often he and I are boyfriend and girlfriend. Sometimes Braewyn is the mom (designated by Philip), he's the 8-year-old brother (that's big and cool to him) and I'm the younger sister. And occasionally, like today, he and Braewyn are married.

I tell him he really won't marry his sister, but that God will bring just the right girl for him one day.

Now if I can only get Matthew to begin speaking to me as romantically as Philip did to Braewyn!!

Philip's "School Book"

Philip's "School Book" arrived in the mail on Monday. It is actually our "Hands On Homeschooling" 2 inch binder which contains a year-long curriculum for teaching 4-K (preschool for 4-year-olds). I was so excited to take the box from the mailman, but then as I began flipping through it, especially the 17 page Planning and Preparation section, I felt anxiety begin to grow. It was somewhat overwhelming to flip though but what got me was the thought of feeling out of sorts due to many items which would be handy sitting in storage in the storage unit. We've packed that thing tight so if I need to get anything out, it will ALL have to come out. I began to frantically pray, "Please Lord, let someone buy our house so we can be settled in our new home before September when our school year begins." I didn't feel it possible to teach Philip effectively without having everything at my finger tips and sorted out.

Thankfully, I did next pray frantically for God's peace and mercifully, He has given it. Even if we begin school in this house, there was a suggestion to buy a trifold display board (remember science fair projects?) to use for displaying each week's key items (letters, Philip's crafts, etc.) and just change it out each week. Another thing which confused me at first but now has me the most excited are the folder games which we'll do each Wednesday. Basically you take one manila file folder for each week of school and the inside becomes a boardgame or matching game or sorting game. The 26 folder games are explained in detail in that 17 page Planning and Preparation section. They are quick and easy games which I know Philip will really like and most likely can teach Braewyn to play too. It is recommended that you laminate (or cover with clear contact paper) the inside of each folder and all game pieces. I know if I take the time to make them nice they will last for when I'm teaching Braewyn in preschool two years from now. Maybe they'll be used for future children too!

The curriculum is completely broken down into a year overview, month overview and then individual lesson plans for Monday thru Friday. Exactly what I needed having no formal education background. Each day is composed of four "units". Everyday has a reading portion (but more so reading readiness instead of actually learning to read), a Bible portion (somedays we read the week's store with questions, other days we read the story and make a craft relating to it), a math portion which begins with sorting/matching and continues on to learning to count to 100 and write numbers, and then an assortment of other units (physical movement, music, cooking, manners, social studies, dramatic play, etc.).

If I can get myself started on putting the folder games together and gathering pictures for our Alphabet book, the year will not be as intimidating. And then the remembrance of our house being for sale hits me and I get a little uptight again. I could ponder if it would be harder to move before school while I'm trying to get all the prep work done or after we begin school and try to maintain a consistent schedule throughout. I take a breath and realize God's ways are always better than my ways. I'll look back on this time a few years from now and still marvel at how it all fell perfectly into place. I am so excited when I do think about house hunting and how we decorate and set up the new house. These weeks of being on the market have definitely honed my cleaning skills and desire for tidyness. Can't wait to post photos of our new house, but no telling when that will be. Actually need to go mop the bathroom floors now so better bring this post to a close.

So Big, So Fast

Please continue to pray for J.B., Matthew's cousin Mollie's son. He is doing really well as far as gaining weight, and sleeping and eating, but the doctors who have seen him do not know for sure what is wrong. Mollie and Michael are told that his adrenal glands are not functioning normally and this causes problems with maintaining his sodium levels. He is on a daily routine of salt water and steroids which is keeping him normalized. All that being said, J.B. is just a beautiful baby boy who has two loving, adoring parents.


We visited with them a week ago. Philip really loved sitting silently beside me and stroking J.B.'s head. Braewyn was a little rambunctious so we had to watch her as she flipped this way and that on the couch right beside me holding J.B.

Seeing J.B. in person, I could hardly believe my two munchkins had been that size once. I am just in awe of the Lord's ability to grow children from tiny helpless infants to the energy-filled tiny tots I live with today.

Here is Philip during his first week at home.


And here is Braewyn during her first week at home.


And here they are on Matthew's Uncle Dennis' John Deere tractor during our recent visit to Kentucky.

What Imaginations!!

Here's the "conversation" Matthew and I just heard.

Braewyn: Hey, doggie, doggie! (as she tried to "pet" Philip who was crawling beside her)

Philip: Do you mind! I'm a car driving myself!

Matthew: (laughing hysterically!)

Face Painting!

This past Saturday, our neighborhood held an Ice Cream Social to promote community awareness and a chance to get to know each other. It was a lot of fun as there was ice cream to purchase which would help raise funds for a new neighborhood sign, a firetruck for the kids to sit in and spray water for the kids to run through, sidewalk chalk and a woman doing face painting.

Philip was really excited to have a Spiderman web put on his face. I was surprised when Braewyn asked for something too and then sat still as a statue while getting Bob the Tomato from Veggie Tales on her cheek. Philip asked for something else and so picked an 8 ball from her example page. I don't remember ever playing pool with Philip but I guess he just thought it looked cool. Bob the Tomato got a little smeared up into Braewyn's eyebrow before he dried.

What God Taught Me This Week

I've always known that God hears my prayers, but now I know if you pray specifically, He'll answer specifically.

So our house is still for sale. As of this last Saturday, we hadn't had anyone look at it since early June. I had let myself again get to a very frustrated point (as you could probably tell from my last post). Saturday morning I woke up in a bad mood and frankly wanted to stay in that bad mood. Obviously Matthew could tell and suggested we go for a walk over to Milliken where the kids could run free and look for ducks at the pond. We began straightening up the house just in case someone called to see it while we were out.

"I am so sick of cleaning this house for no one to see it!" I said as we headed out.

Matthew kindly said, "Would it be that bad to clean it for us?" There was really no sarcasm behind his statement and it hit my heart in a way that I knew he was right. Keeping up with the housework has never really been on my list of favorite things so the house was usually cluttered and unkept. Somehow hearing Matthew say what he did and spending the next few hours enjoying God's beautiful creation changed my heart and refreshed my spirit.

We came home and after lunch, I swept and mopped all the floors, and cleaned the kitchen. Also that evening I read my Sunday School lesson which I would teach the teenage girls the next morning. God worked on me again as the lesson was titled, "Why Does God Sometimes Say No?" This is in reference to our prayers. The lesson goes on to give three answers: God wants to grow and strengthen you, God will always glorify Himself, and God has a greater purpose. He was clearly getting my attention as this process of selling our house has done all three. Of course I wanted it to sell the first week on the market but if it had I would not have developed the housekeeping habits I now have, I would not be able to rest in His comfort knowing He knows when and who will buy our house, and I am getting more daily excited to see where God is leading us after the house does sell.

That being said, I prayed Saturday night for God to please bring someone to see the house even if they didnt' buy it. We had just gone so long with no activity that I wanted a little confirmation that our house was still in play.

Well, Sunday afternoon found us laying around enjoying God's day and the phone rings at 4:20pm. Someone is looking at our neighbor's house and wanted to come see ours... right then! We scurried around, pulled a sleeping Braewyn from her crib and drove out of our neighborhood. About 45 minutes later (we just drove around, deposited some money at the bank, etc.), the showing agency called to say the agent was done showing our house but that she and the potential buyers LOVED it and were headed to the bank the next morning! We were thrilled! Monday came and then Tuesday and Wednesday. Today I emailed my realtor Rappy to see if he had heard an update and here's what he said, "The buyer does not qualify!" From the level of interest shown, I'm really feeling sad for them because our house just might have been their dream home.

And that brings me back to the beginning. Yes, I prayed for someone to see our house but not buy it and that's exactly what God let happen. I am not mad but just reminded at how sovereign a God He is. I thank Him for this new lesson in growing my faith, but am revising my prayer.

"Lord, please bring the family You have in store to buy our house and in the meantime, please grant me patience." Yes, I know people say don't pay for patience, but I'm at the point of driving myself crazy if I don't.

Lastly, here is the promised batch of before and after pictures to remind myself primarily of how far our house has come and really what a great house we are living in for this season of our lives.

This was usually how you would find my kitchen...

but now most days it is clean when I go to bed.

Our livingroom was cozy but just full of toys...

and now it's just a livingroom instead of a toy room too.

We also went from having a catch-all office / exercise room / playroom and...

an overcrowded bedroom which Philip and Braewyn shared to...

Philip's own big-boy bedroom with a fresh coat of paint and room for toys...

and a sweet baby nursery for Braewyn that is open and spacious.

Our master bedroom was never a peaceful retreat which master bedrooms should be...

but now it is!! Even when one of the children come running through.

We also had the house and driveway pressure-washed. I had NO IDEA how clean a driveway can look after pressure-washing. Wow!

And I also stained the back porch to complete the project. We've had a busy six months, but I believe that all the hard work up front and day-to-day upkeep now, will pay off in God's timing.

Quick Recap

We spent the last week (Thurs., July 2-Wed., July 8) in Kentucky with Matthew's wonderful extended family. They have a pool and so both kids became quite brave little fish. Here's a general rundown of our family.

Matthew is enjoying his job, at least most days I believe, and praying daily for our house to sell.

I'm deliberating about potty-training Braewyn now or after we move. And that brings me to my other issue... daily wondering if our house will ever sell and trying hard (well, not as hard as I should) to keep it from slipping back into the messy state it was in prior to listing it on the market. The place looked amazing all of April and May. Now the yard is getting burned up by the heat, all the marks around the house I erased with the "Magic Eraser" are back, and little piles of clutter are beginning to grow. We should have taken that first low-ball offer, but... God's timing is perfect!!!

Philip is enjoying his summer and fully obsessed with Transformers. He did learn to swim a good bit more from taking swimming lessons again this summer. He tells the most interesting little stories, usually about Transformers, and is looking forward to school this fall. Today I ordered the curriculum we'll use as we homeschool for his K-4 year. I chose Hands On Homeschooling because each month has a key Bible verse, a different Bible story each week which ties into the verse, games with the letters and numbers, manners, physical education, social studies, crafts and even cooking. I hope to get the material in a few weeks giving me August to read through it before beginning at the first of September.

Braewyn is speaking more clearly every day and using longer sentences too. She doesn't seem too interested in potty training so I might wait until August. She has come to love her baby dolls and our out-of-service cell phones. Quite the little girly, girl. I believe she would love to wear a face full of make-up and pierced earrings if we would let her. For now, we're sticking with chapstick.

Please pray for little JB

Matthew's cousin Mollie had her first baby on Wednesday, July 1. He appeared to be a beautiful, healthy baby whom they named JB. However after some blood tests, things appeared to be a little off. JB is still in the hospital and tests are still being run. It appears his adrenal gland might be too large and is causing his levels (i.e. glucose, potassium, sodium) to go incorrectly up and down.

Please pray for Mollie, her husband Michael and new baby JB. You can read more and see photos of this precious little man on their blog, Jackson World, which is listed on my sidebar.