Fall Frenzy (and HOUSE pics)

The days in this transient state of waiting for our house (scroll to the end to see pics!) to be built so we can move out of this apartment seem to drag on forever, yet I can't believe we're already well into October.  The purpose of this post is to provide some recent snippets from daily life as we have transitioned from summer to fall in the midst of so many other life transitions.

Work...Work..Work
Ever since before our move into the apartment, my husband's workload for his job has tripled. With employees leaving for various reasons, he's had to assume the roles of three different jobs all at the same time without any changes to his salary. Thankfully, he's been able to fill one vacant position (Gift #396), but the work keeps mounting.  It seems many other friends we know are also in a constant state of feast or famine with their work.  In this uncertain economy with health care costs soaring, many companies are laying off workers or at least cutting their hours to part-time, so they don't have to provide health insurance or pay penalties.  Those who are employed are being squeezed so companies can get more work out of each employee to prevent staffing increases.  Meanwhile, others are eager and skilled to work but unable to find any gainful employment.

So my husband isn't home as much as he was before, even with the shorter commute, and when he's home, he's often working. It's been a transition for all of us.  But we are thankful that he has so much work (Gift #397), for there have been many times during his years employed by this risky start-up when we wondered if the company would make it to the next month. We try not to take each new month of employment for granted and pray for God to prosper the company under my husband's leadership as He did under Joseph's leadership in Egypt.  Each time I consider various part-time employment opportunities, my husband's job demands seem to increase as a reminder that he still needs me focused full time at home to lessen his burdens there.  I'm so thankful that he works so hard for us (Gift #398), and what a rare privilege it is to have the choice to stay home. (Gift #399)  With so much uncertainty in the current economic/political environment, we are more grateful than ever for each day that we have that choice since we don't know what tomorrow may bring. (Proverbs 27:1)

Parenting & Educating the Kiddos
Our daughter, who is notorious for finding ways to stay up too late, recently took an epic bath after gymnastics class which always runs late. She stayed in there so long we had to announce through the door that henceforth, she will only be allowed to take two minute showers on school nights. Then while cleaning up the bathroom later, I found an open science book with water stains. Apparently, her bath took too long because she got engrossed in a study of atoms and molecules which was prompted by an analogy I had used to explain the probability of any man fulfilling just 48 of the 191 literal prophecies Christ fulfilled exactly. The kids have also been heard singing Latin and history facts while sitting on the toilet. If the bathroom provides such a mentally stimulating environment, perhaps I should set up a homeschooling/study nook in the bathroom.

The kids continually amuse. (Gift #400)  I recently found myself contemplating writing a letter to the security team of our favorite grocery store.  I did not send it, but had I, it would have read:

Dear Security team,

I'm sorry that my kids felt compelled to dance the hustle and the twist whenever they saw the security cameras, but I hope you enjoyed their moves. They learned theses dances at school last year.  My son asked if he would be shown on TV this evening, so he danced with a larger audience in mind. If your cameras follow me around the store next time, you will see that those two munchkins' appetites produce large revenues for your store, so I hope you can forgive them.

Regards,
A weary mama who picks her battles

I'm recognizing more now how important it is for me to remember that I am always role modeling for my children whether I intend to or not.   One morning, my 6-year-old asked me, "Mom, why are your knees so red?" And I replied, "Because I've been praying." 

And I thought to myself, "That boy has been around me almost non-stop for close to 7-years, and he is just now noticing my red knees?" I must not be praying enough. Lord, help me to be so characterized by red knees that my boy only takes notice when they aren't.

I think this stage with my daughter has been the most challenging yet.  In some ways she's growing up so fast and asking questions I'm not prepared to answer.  In other ways, she's still my baby, afraid of failure one moment and ready to conquer any challenge the next.  Of course, considering that my 6-year-old recently wanted to do his school work while sitting in a baby umbrella stroller and then the next day wanted to trek across the complex to a playground all by himself, I could say the same for him.

I recently tried having a serious conversation about internet dangers with my daughter to explain why we restrict her access so much. I referenced Philippians 4:8, and explained that while she may be searching online for that which is true, honorable, just, pure, and praiseworthy, she could accidentally stumble upon that which is harmful and vile which could etch images in her mind that could haunt her for years. Or she could be tricked into revealing identifying information to evil people.  Evil lurks like a lion on the internet.   So she replied, "Then maybe I should not look at vegetables anymore...just in case they turn into something wicked." 

Okay - so I guess we'll try that discussion again later.  And while our conversation ended humorously, the dangers of the internet are no laughing matter.  I'm amazed by the number of families that have been torn apart and how many lives of people of all ages have been ruined by online pornography.  It happens to kids raised in some of the best homes, too.  Vulnerable children will hear a word at school or in the media that they don't recognize.  Out of curiosity, a researcher's mentality, or a desire to be in the know, they will Google the word and stumble into internet pornography.  The addiction takes control, warping their minds, isolating them, and leading them to act out all sorts of weird fantasies on anyone or anything.  Read more here.

Apartment living has exposed my daughter to more than I was prepared for her to see or hear at her age.  With homeschooling, living in the country, and now private Christian schooling, she's led a rather sheltered life, I guess, although we do try to expose her to various life conditions.  So, it's been tough seeing her watch mean kids slap each other around, manipulative kids lie and steal, daring kids defy their parents and take inappropriate risks, or curious kids ask inappropriate questions.  On the day I grew most concerned that she was hearing too much which would necessitate moving up the time table for giving her "the talk", I was, strangely enough, relieved by the procreative activities of two spiders.  She ran inside shouting, "Quick, Mom, come and see...a daddy-long-leg spider is giving birth to a baby spider!"  What I saw was certainly not a birth experience but rather something that more likely involved fertilizing some eggs.  When I reminded her that insects reproduce by eggs, not live birth (a science memory fact from 3 years ago), she asked, "Then what exactly ARE they doing?" So I promised to tell her in a year or two.  I'm so not ready for THAT stage.

Our daughter is on fall break track-out for two weeks.  Since she says she wants to work with children as a career some day, I told her she could be my apprentice by helping me teach her brother. (He does not track-out from homeschooling until it's time to move into our new house.  At that time, I will hardly have time to breathe...much less homeschool him, so he'll get a full month off while I unpack boxes and decorate the new house.)   I tried to give her plenty of opportunities to teach him, although the mess that right-brained child made in the process nearly gave me a panic attack.  After an hour or so, she decided she no longer wanted to be a teacher.  I guess such weighty decisions should not be made based on such a brief experience with her sibling as her pupil.  Perhaps she appreciates my daily challenges as a homeschooling mom a bit better now. (Gift #401)

Trying to homeschool my son with my high energy daughter on track-out has been like trying to conduct Mass at Walmart on Black Friday.  She did help him dramatize his literature assignment which was quite the production (should have charged admission), but for the most part, it's been very hard to stay on task with her here.  I had some exciting field trips planned, but many of those venues are now closed due to the latest government shut-down which the POTUS seems to want to make as painful as possible.

Our girl has kept herself entertained in some unusual ways.  She took her brother outside to catch rain.  Apparently, we are all supposed to have that on our bucket list.

What I didn't realize at the time is that she also planned to catch some fish and amphibians from the creek out back to serve as her indoor pets.  Imagine my husband's surprise when he stumbled upon a bucket filled with nasty creek water containing some scary looking fish hidden in her room one night.  At least one fish died before she could return them to the creek the next morning.

I have often shared with my kids what a great privilege it is to live in such a diverse town and have encouraged them to embrace the opportunity to share God's love with people from all over the world who now live nearby. (Gift #402)  However, my right brain child's idea of embracing the cultural diversity around us is to eat her enchiladas with chopsticks. Ugh!

After waiting with MUCH anticipation for over three years, our son finally got to attend his first Y Guides meeting.  After every meeting or outing our daughter attended with her daddy during her three years as a Y Princess, he has asked, "How much longer until I get to be a Y Guide?"  His first meeting was last Sunday, and he was over the moon excited.  Just look at the smile on his face. (Gift #403)

Church
We are still very blessed by our church involvement.  My husband is into his 13th consecutive year as a member of the choir and praise team. The worship times at church seem to just keep getting better and better as God's nearness overwhelms us. (Gift #404)  My husband still serves as deacon, and I enjoy my role as deacon wife interviewing and encouraging new members, coming alongside baptism candidates to assist and encourage them before/after their testimony & baptism, praying with the pastors' families, and preparing meals for church members who are sick or suffering loss.

My daughter's  love for special needs ministry and helping teach younger classes continues to grow, and I see God given gifts in her (Gift #405) equipping her to work effectively with children (albeit not her brother much of the time). I still occasionally write devotions for the women's ministry, which is a passion of mine.  Our Ladies A.M. Bible study continues to be a highlight of my week, and I enjoy taking my son (and daughter during track-out) to the amazing children's program which runs at the same time and presents the same Bible passages and themes their mothers are studying.

While helping with the 1-year-old class at LAMBS (Ladies AM Bible Study) one week, I marveled at how quickly and easily it was to soothe those young children by simply picking them up and carrying them in my arms and mused, "If only all our problems as adults could be instantly solved that way." Then I remembered this verse: 

"He will tend his flock like a shepherd;
he will gather the lambs in his arms;
he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young." (Isaiah 40:11)

How often do we, God's beloved children, wrap our arms tightly around our chests and refuse to be held with the false notion that we can fix it all by ourselves? I know how much mamas and nursery workers crave that cuddle time with little ones, so I can only imagine how much God, who is rich in love, yearns to hold each of us! (Gift #406)  So my lesson and prayer lately has been that we will simply allow ourselves to be held.

(I'm not saying that this will take our problems away, but it will certainly calm our hearts and give us peace & direction.)

Our daughter has joined a wonderful new ministry called Appleseeds at church. It's a discipleship program for tweens led by "grandmothers" in the faith.  With research indicating that teens who have more inter-generational mentoring relationships with people of all ages are much less likely to leave the church after high school graduation, I am especially thrilled to see our church providing this opportunity for her. (Gift #407)  After Appleseeds, both kids participate in BLAST, which is similar to AWANA.  I am thankful for every opportunity for people of all ages to sow God's word into their hearts.

And after four years of waiting for the children's choir to return to our church, it's back!  Our songbird children will be singing in the Christmas program.  Horray! (Gift #408) And they will be singing songs by their favorite recording artist, Toby Mac!  What a wonderful way to inspire our kids to make a joyful noise until the Lord!  (Gift #409)

Our life class continues to grow.  I was so thrilled when a family from our apartment complex joined us for the last class social. (Gift #410)  It was just a simple potluck in the courtyard, but what fun it was for everyone.  And after sitting through numerous basketball games for our kids, I was amused to see all the kids cheering on their dads as they played basketball and volleyball.  The kids got plenty of opportunities to play, too.

School
Helping our daughter adjust to the new school has been a major focus since we moved here.  When I do my voluntary janitorial service for her classroom each week, I chat with her teacher a bit to get a feel for how she is doing.  When I see low grades and papers marked up with lots of red ink, I assume she isn't adjusting too well (even though her answers are almost always technically correct, just not written in exact D'Nealian style or answered with correct spelling and punctuation each time).  I want to help her improve, but I'm not sure how since her handwriting looks beautiful to me, especially compared to what she turned in to me when I homeschooled her.  But her wise and calm teacher (attributes she likely developed while raising her seven kids who have blessed her with many grandchildren) assures me she's doing fine and that the best way I can help her is to simply relax.

I have enjoyed attending our Moms-in-Touch prayer group, school assemblies, and class socials. (Gift #411).  The room mom (not me this year) for our daughter's class apparently has a reputation for being the scrapbook queen.  Creative Memories sales ladies stand in awe at the scrapbook works of art she creates for her child's class each year.  Each parent can buy a copy from Shutterfly, too.  She takes thousands of photos which she uploads and shares on a private website.  So, for this scrapbook obsessed mama, I can't be more thrilled over the blessing that this room mom has already been.  Here are a few of her pics. (Gift #412)

Our girl is surviving at her new school and seemed to really enjoy her oral presentation on early Americans.   Each student had to choose a famous early American for his or her biographical report, so our girl chose a Native American in honor of her paternal relatives.  Special thanks to our young church friend who also reported on Sacagawea a few years ago and loaned our girl the costume she made for her report.   (Gift #413)

Her class also hosted a picnic social at the nicest playground I think I have ever visited. This playground was not funded by the government, but rather by a local homeowner's association. It was so large we had to take a panoramic photo to capture it all.  A childhood church friend, L,  recently moved into this beautiful community. What a privilege it was to spend several hours there on a gorgeous Saturday afternoon. (Gift #414)  Interestingly, while we were there we bumped into a couple we had recently met at church.  I just discovered the day before that they live near our new house and had mentioned to my husband that we should get to know them better. Then snap, there they were the very next day with their toddler and twin infants.  (Gift #415)

We fed the ducks and geese and looked for turtles.

And my son pushed me on both of the ziplines.

I'm feeling better about the school choice, although our daughter did not cry when school let out this time as she did at the previous school.  Rather, she did a victory dance down the school halls to celebrate surviving her first quarter.  We kicked off the beginning of her two week fall break with some games, face painting, and delicious pumpkin food at the Pumpkin Palooza held just 1/2 mile from our apartment.  I love living in the middle of town!

Celebrating Fall Break Kick-off with Scare Girl and Pumpkin Head

Apartment Life
Living conditions in our apartment have improved considerably. (#416 ) Nevertheless, new challenges present themselves each week.  Our latest maintenance issues have been another broken toilet, beeping smoke detectors, faulty water meter readings, paint peeling everywhere, and such, but most of those we just address ourselves now. It's easier than dealing with maintenance.  We have some neighbors who like to play loud music with deep banging base sounds late at night when we try to sleep, but we are trying to tune it out.  Another neighbor stole our two new tennis rackets but will not return them when confronted, so while we've tried to resolve that issue to no avail, we've had to give up the one recreational activity my husband and I enjoy doing together without needing childcare.  But compared to the first two months, it's been SO much better.

After tending to the hurts of my daughter's friend who got slapped by a bully in the neighborhood (what in the world?), my son found a baby bat on the patio that also needed some care.  Apparently he fell 30 feet from the eaves of the building.  He could wiggle, but he could not turn over or fly.  His screams were heart breaking, and that is the first time I've ever felt sorry for a bat.  We called my mother-in-law who rehabs all types of wildlife for advice.  We eventually just called the pros for help.  I have no idea if he made it or not after they removed him from the premises, but at least we don't hear those cries anymore.  And I got a nice chuckle when the removal guy nearly jumped out of his skin when the thing suddenly began wiggling around as if he just might attack.

So far we have found the following on our patio: wasps, slugs, dogs, cats, daddy-long-legs, mosquitoes, bunnies, frogs, froglets, fish in buckets our kids collected, lots of little neighborhood minions staring into our patio door to see if our kids are home and want to come outside and play (with no consideration of our own personal privacy whatsoever) and now bats, but apparently the lawn just past our patio is the gathering place for all the local geese for Sunday afternoon potlucks.

Speaking of geese...these Canadian geese are all over this town, and apparently the residents love them.  While stuck in a traffic jam one morning, I noticed that none of the other drivers seemed irate. People were smiling instead of honking horns or making rude gestures. This traffic stop wasn't caused by a wreck or someone with car trouble. It was caused by a brace of geese strutting one by one, ever so slowly, across a busy 4-lane street. I was amused but then considered what a pity it is that we people can be so courteous when inconvenienced by one of God's lesser creatures, yet fail to show any compassion whatsoever toward other sacred human beings, who were created in God's own image and bought at an infinite price, during their times of trouble when those troubles make us late.

House
The most exciting update for this post regards the house for which we we have been waiting for almost seven years if you count the time we spent trying to sell our last home.  After two months of no progress on the lot due to rain, the rain finally stopped!  (Gift #417) And then the realization that we really are building a new home kicked in, and my furniture shopping, decor planning, Pinterest pinning, swatch collecting, decor collage making, furniture and lamp updating activity went into massive overdrive.  Never before has this left-brained pragmatist ever been so excited about decorating!  While I've been super blessed with hand-me-down furnishings all my life (Gift #418), there is something very liberating about starting over with new designs and decor we selected according to our own unique preferences.  I am finding a creative side of me I never knew existed.  Thankfully, my left brain occasionally chimes in with reminders of budget constraints. (Gift #419)

Numerous grading problems were finally resolved, and they started building at last. (Gift #420)  Here are a few pics to show the rapid progress over the past six weeks.

September 1 - Footings poured (that's my family at the other end)

September 13 - Foundation complete

September 23 - 1st floor framing complete

September 27 - 2nd floor & a roof in process

As I rounded the corner to check progress on September 27, the kids flipped as soon as they saw the roof. After so many years of waiting to move, little things like this seem huge. And this is a just a standard, temporal home that will rot, rust, and break. Imagine how our jaws will drop when we first behold the finished mansion in Heaven that our Savior is building for each of His children now.

October 6 -Shingles, electrical, and lots of HVAC duct work in place

Now the plumbing and HVAC are complete, and the house is ready for inspections scheduled for Monday and Tuesday.  We have a walk-thru after inspections, and then insulation installation will begin.  We'll be living there soon!

Front view - Framed and roughed in

Rear view