Friday, July 30, 2010

In Maine

I awoke this morning to a cacophony of noises!  It was quite early, as it usually is in Maine, especially since we have no curtains in this house.  The sun rises early here so everyone else does too!!

This morning though, the sun did not wake me up – it was not the light streaming in.  It was the sound of the bats coming in for the night.  I did not know they turned in early, about 5:15am – but I do not blame them as they were out eating lots of bugs all night.

After I identified the bats I also head the lobster boats in the water off the shore.  They also start early in the morning – checking traps and getting their catch into the gut to sell.  Amidst all that noise were the ever present sea gulls letting everyone know it was morning.

So after going to bed about 9pm ( it was dark and what else do you do after a long day?) I was up at 5am snuggling under the covers to savor the “quiet” or rather the sounds of Maine while I tried to stay warm.  It was in the 80’s when we arrived, but overnight it was in the 50’s.  The kids all came in from the covered porch and slept on the floor in Great Grammie’s bedroom, and honestly I do not blame them!  Tonight I will make sure they have extra blankets and their warm PJs on.

So, all in all, life is good.  We are in Maine.  It smells amazing, it is so pretty and it is so relaxing to be here.  Mentally at least!!  I was not too relaxed yesterday unpacking the car, cleaning all the many flies off the floors, counters, tables, etc.  But is so nice to be here.

Here are some early morning pics I snapped…

maine  July 2010 166

The moon in the sky

maine  July 2010 138 

maine  July 2010 140

Someone’s boat – not sure what they found but he was hauling something – maybe clams?

 

maine  July 2010 143

My favorite view – the trees across the water from our stair – I love the reflection too!

 

maine  July 2010 159The house – what a site for our eyes when we arrived!

 

Since I started this, the kids have all run in from the woods to announce their new find!! Raspberries and Blackberries! Yeah!  So they now have a bowl and are out picking for me.  Maybe we will need to make a berry crisp tonight!!

We are off to town to pick up a few more items and check in at the library too!!

Sunday, July 25, 2010

“when things slow down …”

What a misnomer.  I guess I am really starting to realize that.

But, we live by those words.  “When things slow down, I will call that friend….”

“When things slow down I will play more games with the kids….”

“When things slow down I will have more time to…..”

But I listened to a sermon on my trip to NC, and the pastor said that we need to tell ourselves often: “Things never slow down, until you die.”

So I have been pondering, how can I apply that wisdom to my life?

Well, I will be in Maine in a few short days.  I hope to spend some time, lots of it, being still and listening. 

How often do we stop and listen?  How many of us actually likes the sound of silence?  And yet, I serve a God who often whispers into my heart.  How can I head a whisper if I am surrounded by meaningless (sometimes) noise?  Simply put : I cannot.

I need to be in the habit to find time each week to be alone and quiet.  Daily is not realistic for this phase of my life with four young children, but the phase when daily quiet moments abounding around the corner.  I need to carve out this time aside from my daily Bible reading and my prayer time, this needs to be something more than all that, I think.

I hope to find some moments next week.  I may need bug spray to battle mosquitoes.  I may need to go to bed early to beat my children up in the morning.  But my goals is to make that time a priority.  I hope to catch up on some much needed Bible reading, to sit and listen and talk to God.  Talk to him like I would a friend who I have really missed talking intimately with.  I mean, I do talk to him daily.  But life is going so fast, and my time is so short that it is not that intimate, meaningful conversation, instead it is the “hey, how are you?  I hope you are holding my hand all day as I deal with ……. please help me with patience and faith …….”  and so on. 

The kids and I have been having a fabulous trip so far.  Great days with my uncle and aunt, lots of fun in Mississippi.  Now we are thoroughly enjoying The Lewis family.  We are going to even welcome home one of our friends as he arrived stateside this weekend from Iraq!  Great timing for us!  Then we are on the road once more.  This time we head out of NC and after 1 overnight stop somewhere we will finally arrive in Maine, for some much needed relaxation and adventures!!

Friday, July 23, 2010

What we’ve been up to

mississippi 001 mississippi 005

Crossing state lines…..

mississippi 009

Looking for fun stuff @ the museum

mississippi 014Touching a shark

mississippi 034

another pic for mom

tumbling with Adam 2

Wrestling with their cousin

 

PJ running running to get to the others…

spinning PJ spinning a boy

 

spinning JB on Adam's back

 spinning PJ on Adam's back  sweet girl

 spinning PJ on Adam's back - Copy tumbling with AdamTomorrow we are off to cross more state lines and have some more fun in NC!!  Stay tuned…. 

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

On the road again

Do you think that song is about my family?  It could be! :)

 

Well, tomorrow we hit the road for our big 2010 Summer Vacation Road Trip!!  I am pretty much thrilled to hit the road tomorrow with my 4 kiddos.  We are heading to Mississippi first to see my Uncle and Aunt – then we head to NC to see the Lewis Family – and then we are on the final leg of our trip. 

Destination: Maine

The kids and I are going to be up there for a little more than a week before Robert meets us up there.  We are so excited to get our annual fill of lobster, Dorman’s Ice cream, and Amato’s Italian sandwiches.  Oh my, my mouth is watering thinking about it!

So we are pretty much packed, carting some legos up there, lots of books, and too many color pencils and coloring items to count.  I am sure we will have lots of pictures to share – since three of us will have cameras – wow!!  Seriously both my big boys are managing their own cameras for this trip.  So hopefully we will not overload my computer with too many pics.  But we will see!

The house is moving forward – it looks like we will close in August when Robert gets back from Maine.  Then we will start to redecorate (paint) for about a week and a half – then we move in just after Labor Day.  I am pretty excited to be picking paint colors and trying to decide what we will do in each room.  Not sure about anything yet, but excited!!

So…. stay tuned for updates – most likely through pics!!

Thursday, July 15, 2010

Go Cowboys!

If you know me, you know I do not love the Cowboys – I think it has to do with my ANTI-Cowboys upbringing!  However, we had a fantastic day today touring the new stadium with my Uncle and Aunt from Mississippi!  It was great!

4 kids with stadium behind

 

Here is my aunt with all the kids – in the cheerleader’s locker room!

wren and kids

The little ones with the stadium in the back!!  AG with stadium behindED with helmetHere is J with my uncle at the start of the tour!

Ed and JB

 

Here are my uncle and aunt enjoying the sweet seats in the suites!!  Big money here people!!

ed and wren in good seats

Here are 2 boys doing the same thing!

good seats

Here is my sweet little boy with a BIG jersey on!!   Ed in jersey

2 boys with the field behind them!

   JB and ED

Here is my biggest boy – still tiny in this uniform!  I think Romo would be proud!

JB as Romo

My big boy enjoying the sights!!

JB with field behind

Here is a favorite pic of the day!

 kids on c2

Here is my second son enjoying some jersey time too!

 PJ as Romo PJ in Romo's jersey

Even the helmet is huge!!

 

PJ with helmetHere he is living the dream for a couple hours!!

pj with stadium behindPS – just thought I would share how I brought my good camera, but did not check for the memory card!! Ughhh!!  But My phone stepped up and did a great job!!  Go iPhone!!  I was so glad to catch some great memories!!

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

What’s new

Well, not too much.  I do have my car back – after 2 days this week without it. 

We have not settled on the details of the house we want – and are still negotiating on all that.

But I am not sure I have gone into all the details of what is going on with us these days.

So here is a quick recap of the last 8 weeks or so.  Work at Dr Pepper quickly turned bad – Robert was working about 80-85 hours a week when we realized that this was not where we wanted to be.  Next we re-entered the job hunt world.  It did not take too long this time, and Robert was in the midst of 2 potential job offers – one in Houston with Ryland Homes – and the other was in Corsicana with Guardian Glass.  Well, Ryland was not moving and Guardian was sprinting.  So we chose the job at Guardian feeling that is was more secure than the home building market.

So Robert left Dr Pepper the end of June and started the following Monday at Guardian.  It is still early but he is really enjoying the people and the work.  He does not love the drive to Corsicana every day, but hopefully that will come to an end soon.

So, today we are trying to get a home.  I am packing us all up to head to Maine (the kids and I) to open the house, and relax.  Then my in-laws arrive, then Robert and his brother and his family arrive.  We are going to have a great time up there and lots of pictures to show for it I suspect!!

Seeing lots of family along the way in Mississippi – family/friends in North Carolina and maybe even more along the way.

So there it is, a quick recap.  Life is good – it will be better once we have a contract on a house!!  Hope it will be soon!!

Friday, July 9, 2010

taking time off

It helps the soul to get away from that which takes a toll on us. 

Some time away from everything was what we needed this week.  My kids are running amuck so to speak.  I am at the end of my rope with my kids not listening, running myself ragged and anxious over this move.

003 001 002 Here is the fruit of my labor – or lack there of – sort of.  A day off from outside influences resulted in a wonderful supper, fresh bread, and a more relaxed and happier mom.

It was good for me to just be home.  The kids spent most of the day retraining in their rooms – and that was needed too.  They have been running along side me.  And I know that when I am under stress they feel it too and it wears on them.

Then there is the house thing.  We decided to walk away from the house we thought we wanted.  Honestly I never liked the house – I just liked the idea of a pretty yard and a pool.  But we let it go.  Then this past weekend we looked again to see if there was anything new on the market and low and behold!  We found a house in a town we never heard of – Malakoff.  It is a cute older house on 6.5 acres – with a building in the back with heat, ac and a bathroom.  So we went down and checked it out on Tuesday, we met Robert after work.  It took him a little while to see beyond the “grandma decorating and smell” but he finally did realize the house is in great shape and will work. 

Can’t beat the dock by the pond (with catfish) either!!

So today we submitted our first offer, and hopefully by the end of the next week we will have a plan.  Isn’t that just like God to wait until I let go to give us that house?  To show it to us?  Yes, it is just like him – he wants us to trust him and not ourselves!

004

Today I worked to finish up my quilt so I can get it off to a friend’s mom so she can quilt it for me.  I am so excited, I love it and I think Robert has even come around to loving it as well.  I cannot wait to see it really finished!!

005

So it started out a bit stressful – but it ended wonderfully!  I am expecting great things in the weeks to come!!

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

busyness and stress

Not a good combination! 

We have been so busy these last few weeks – busy spending fun days with friends, running back and forth to Corsicana to look at houses, and having friends over to play.  I think somewhere along hte way my children lost their minds – their sense of obedience and respect for authority. 

So today we are s l o w i n g – d o w  n – and staying home.  The kids are relegated to their rooms or doing a chore or eating a meal.  We have had so many moments the last week and a half or so of kids being downright disobedient that I cannot take it anymore. 

I admit, I have been lazy.  I have not disciplined immediately and swiftly.  I have threatened, warned, and ignored too much!

So – here we are.  Home.  All day.  I expect to have a tidy & clean house at the end of the day, a clean car and clean bedrooms (including closets).  I expect to have children mind a bit better too.

And I am thinking that my increased stress level over our impending move is affecting my children as well as me, and I need to get a handle on it all.  So slowing down will be good for me too.  I am going to read some of my AMAZING book by Ted Dekker – The Bride Collector – and bake some bread, which is always therapeutic and maybe even have a cup of tea (it may need to be iced, but oh well).

On a good note, Robert is enjoying Guardian – a lot.  I think he is going to enjoy his time there and I know he is going to do well.  Our kitty is growing bigger, eating lots of solid food and playing more and more too!  So life is good aside from a few areas.  And once we get moved life will be really good.

katie cat sleeping

Here are some pics from our July 5th party:

professional diver - watch out 2 ladies jumping AG with drops of water C frick in the air Ed and Ag by the pool JB crazy jump LS in the air PJ head first

on the wrong side of the board

We did have a delightful visit with my Aunt Wren and Uncle Ed this week – they stopped by for some dinner on Monday night before they checked in to their hotel at DFW getting ready to fly to WA to catch their cruise to Alaska!  It was a great night of fellowship and fun – here is my aunt playing the piano with PJ watching!  It was great for them to show her what they know and for her to give them some great tips.

 PJ and aunt wren

When they come back through DFW we are joining them on a trip to tour the Dallas Cowboys Stadium!! Can’t wait for that!  Then we are off to Maine shortly after that.  So life is going to get better here pretty quickly as we get ready for some great visits along the way and some great time up north!!

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