How I Got Hired for This Job, I'll Never Know

A few weeks ago, we got a call from Peanut's school. That's never a good thing, is it? The only times I've received phone calls from the school was either a) The Peanut was sick and I needed to come pick her up immediately or b) She had been exposed to some infectious disease {whooping cough, chicken pox, etc} and they were giving us the legally required disclosure.

Well, they called on Peanut's scheduled day off from school, so this worrier automatically assumed she had been exposed to something once again. Nice, right? I have no idea why Hubs calls me a dooms-dayer. No clue at all.

Turns out, we were being invited to a special assembly last week. She had been chosen as Student of the Month for November. Now, because it's a Christian school they choose a student based on the monthly character trait. (I was Student of the Month many moons ago {in public school} and it wasn't based on anything like that. At least that I remember. But it could have been based on being a suck-up, because that is something I excelled in for sure.)

Anyhow, back to November's character trait.  It was loving kindness. Loving kindness. Specifically referenced from Micah 6:8~

He has told you, O man, what is good;
And what does the Lord require of you
But to do justice, to love kindness,
And to walk humbly with your God?

Let me tell you, that was humbling. Because folks, that fine quality so did not come from me. That is her daddy through and through. I am all about what is fair, what is right (in my mind!)--what is just. I guess I have the just part down, but the problem is, I don't follow that through with the love kindness part. Ouch. But our daughter? To her teacher, she stood out among her peers in her consistent, kind and loving manner.

Wow.  This was a very much needed reminder, that that precious little Peanut of ours--she isn't ours at all.  She was a gift.  A gift entrusted to us from a very loving God.

Now I know in my heart that God is good and God is sovereign in all things.  But for goodness sakes, in my head I can't help but wonder what He was thinking in trusting someone like me to be their mama?  I am poor, poor example of Christ each and every day. #utterfailure

I am impatient and probably expect far too much from their little six and two year old selves.  As I just said, I like doing the right thing and I want them to do the right thing.  And let's face it, my little sinners don't always mind their mama.  I feel like I am banging my head against the wall on most days.  But that's probably how He feels with me, right? Because I am His little sinner.

In the end, I have to remember cling to that He will work everything for good according to His purpose.  While the loving kindness trait didn't come from me, I have a sneaking suspicion that Peanut is the way she because He knew I could learn from that.


 

And just like that, the season is over

The season was just eight short weeks and just like that, it's over.  I think the Peanut enjoyed herself playing soccer, but she has some mixed emotions to be sure.  She told me more than once today that she was sad that it was over.  But then when I inferred that she would play again next year, she didn't seem too big on the idea. 

She ended up playing goalie quite a bit throughout the season.  I'd venture to guess probably 85% of the games?  There wasn't hardly any bench time for her and when she was out on the field, she was goalie.  But the thing is, while she did pretty well at it, she didn't like being goalie.  She wanted to be in on the action--part of the fun.  But then today, she got her chance (her first time in several games) to play both offense and defense and she didn't know quite what to do with that.  And in her defense, she didn't have much practice doing playing either position, so what were we expecting really?  I think if she had had more practice in playing those positions, she would definitely have more confidence out on the field.

It really is a bummer too that it was over so fast, because her team really seemed to be finding their groove.  They were really learning to play as a team and passing the ball to teammates to accomplish the goal making efforts as a team--which I think is big for 6-7 year olds!  I'm sure it always seems like that though, right?  Just as the bigger picture is figured out, the season is over. 

They had a pizza party after the game today and they got little certificates for team participation.  Several of the teams from her school went to the same pizza place and one of those teams got trophies for their participation.  I think that the certificates and/or trophies portion was coordinated by the parents of the team and I am glad our team didn't do trophies.  That probably sounds really bad, but this was a soccer league that didn't keep score.  So if they are not keeping score, then there isn't winning or loosing, right?  And to me, trophies indicate that you've won something.  Personally, I am so not in the camp of "not keeping score." 

While I am probably the least competitive person on the planet (according to my husband), I don't think not keeping score is a good idea.  Now, at this age level, it's probably not really that big of a deal.  The purpose of this league is for the kids to learn to play the game and have fun.  And that was definitely accomplished.  But while "score" wasn't kept, most of the kids totally knew which teams won each week.  So whatever "they" were trying to avoid, wasn't really avoided. 

Anyhow, I think Kristen said it very well last spring in this post.  I think in the long run, all these certificates (yes, those too!) and trophies can give today's kids an over inflated sense of self and I think that can be very dangerous, you know?  In the end, loosing can build character and it makes you learn how to do better next time.  Just like in real life, right?  You learn from your mistakes and you move forward and do better next time.  Funny how that works.....? 

There is always room for improvement, am I right? 

But for this time around, I'm glad she had fun (I think she probably enjoys the social interaction the most.....ah, yes, my little social butterfly!) and hopefully when my brother-in-law moves home, he can coach the Peanut and train her and she'll be more confident and want to give it another go next year. 



 

Random Thoughts

Just some of the randomness from the last week:

The Peanut has been asking to spend the night at Grandma and Grandpa's house for several weeks now.  I was on the phone yesterday with my mom and Peanut was waving rather wildly to get my attention.  And who am I kidding, she was whispering RATHER loudly too, about her NEED to talk to Grandma as I was getting ready to hang up.  So Peanut gets on the phone and asks Grandma when she can spend the night and I hear an "uh huh.....okay.....love you too, Grandma" and she hangs up.  I ask her what Grandma said.  Peanut tells me confidently, "Grandma said I can spend the night in the next year."

"The next year? Are you sure it wasn't before the end of the year?" knowing full well my mom would never give Peanut a 365 day window of spending the night--and even just as doubtful that she would even give a 60 day window of time.

"Nope, that's what she said."  And she went back to playing.

So I talked to my mom this morning, "So mom, what exactly did you tell Peanut about spending the night?" {We had just made specific plans for her to spend the night this weekend}  "Oh, I told her we've been really busy, but definitely in the next month or so."

While Peanut's concept of time is getting much better than it used to be, I guess we still need to work on terms like months and years.

♥

The Little Brother's newest phrase any time he sees a picture of him and his sister on the computer, a cell phone, a framed picture, etc?  "Ohhhh, that so CUTE!"

♥ 

My roots grow out is something awful right now and my mama (bless her heart!!!) is going to color those this weekend.  Why, yes, I am still trying to hang on to the vestige of my youth (blond hair).  I've never really felt like myself with the brown hair I developed in my twenties.  That said, the silver lining is that my hair is probably close to 25-30% gray now, so I can confidently say that my hair is actually starting to get lighter again.  Or not--at 35, I am not ready to throw in the towel just yet.

♥ 

I have an awful habit of biting my nails.  Yes, I know.  Tacky.  Gross.  SO unladylike {spell check tells me this is all one word.....who knew?}  It's an awful, nervous habit.  Well, I figured out if I paint my nails, I am much less likely to bite them.  So girlfriend has been keeping her nails painted for the better part of two months and my nails look so much nicer!  But of course, then I have to repaint my nails nearly every week, because while I won't mess with my newly painted nails, once that first nail chips?  All bets are off and I start picking at the polish.  See?  NERVOUS HABIT.

♥ 

The Hubs and my dad felled the two large trees in our front yard this past weekend.  Boy, was that stressful to watch.  It probably would have been a good idea to call in some professionals for peace of mind (mostly mine!), but that just wasn't in the budget and the trees sadly needed to come down.  Why, you ask?  Because we hate the leaves.  I am SO kidding!  No, really there were two major factors.  We have a VERY tiny yard and the trees were just getting to be too big.  Like many people, the prior homeowners didn't account for the fact that trees grow and they get bigger.  When that happens in such a tiny little yard, the root systems can start to cause problems with the foundation as well as any paved surfaces.  Just a couple blocks away from our house, our city went through the neighborhood and highlighted (with hot pink spray paint, no less) any damaged sidewalks from tree roots.  You can guess who gets to pay to have the sidewalks replaced--the homeowner.  Well, we are not in the position to pay $5-10K to have the sidewalks around our home repaired.  While the trees hadn't done any damage just yet, it would have happened in the next couple years, so the trees needed to come down while they were still somewhat manageable to do ourselves {you know I use that term very loosely, right?}.
 

The deer on the right was just a little visitor we had this past summer.  SO NOT normal for our little suburbia!

Anyhow, thanks to my dad's help and Hub's cautiousness (not that my dad is an idiot--he's not at all, I just think they balance each other out in some ways) both trees came down just fine.  Of course, I DIDN'T get a nice before shot to give you an idea of just how big the front tree was, but it was pretty good sized.

Enough to make this mama's heart rate sky rocket and palms sweaty during the cutting process and to make my knees/legs like Jell-O for the better part of 15 minutes after the tree was down.  

We live on a corner, so Hubs played the part of traffic control from both directions in case there were any cars coming at any point during the cutting.  The bigger of the two trees was definitely tall enough to lay across our street, so obviously we didn't want any liabilities from the whole thing.  So Hubs was cautiously darting back and forth across the street to watch for cars (and a falling tree!) while my dad was hopping around the trunk of the tree with the chainsaw going full force, doing his best to "expertly" cut the tree so it fell that way instead of this way. 


Yes, I was a little stressed.

But I couldn't NOT watch, because you know I had the full capability to stop anything bad from happening.  Ahem. 

In the end, things went great (even the weather cooperated! PTL!!)  and Hubs has nearly all the debris hauled off.  Now he gets to work on getting the trunks and roots torn out.

And silly me, I thought the hardest part was over!

Summer Update

We have been enjoying our summer to the fullest these last few weeks.  It's been consistently in the mid to high 80's with more than several 90 degree days thrown in.  So that has translated to a lot of trips to Grandma and Grandpa's to take advantage of their open house hospitality and pool.

What a blessing that has been for this no air conditioning family.

 I've said this before, but we really do live in a climate where air conditioning is not really a necessity at all--the average temp in our little neck of the woods between June and September is right around 75 degrees--which is actually quite liveable and comfortable without the luxury of AC.  But after several weeks of high 80's and low 90's, I kinda' wished we would have shelled out the $5,000 for air conditioning several years back.

I said kinda'.

But then almost as soon as I start to get sick of the hot weather, the weather starts to change and we start heading full speed into fall, and while I love all things fall, I sometimes need to remind myself to enjoy the moment and everything it has to offer.

Sweatiness and all.

While everyone was in the pool the other day (I don't really go in terribly much--it has to be Africa hot for me to indulge) I got out my macro lens that I had nearly forgotten about.  Honestly, I hadn't really forgotten about it, it's just not as practical for every day use when taking pictures of on-the-go littles.  At least I haven't found it to be, but perhaps I haven't played around with it enough?  I had the macro lens on my camera taking the photos of the Peanut the other day and I was too lazy distracted to put my every day lens on, so I went with it.

My dad puts in a garden every year {mostly for yours truly} and so I got some pictures of it's progress.  While he has at least a dozen tomato plants going strong, we are no where near to harvest like some of the other bloggers I read about.  It seems like they've been harvesting and putting up tomatoes for weeks while our are just getting started.  Here, our harvest for tomatoes is usually early to late September and then it's a roll of the dice to see how many you can let ripen on the vine before the first frost comes.  Clearly, one of the disadvantages to our nice, comfortable summertime average of 75 degrees!

Our boy has been learning the fine art of water fights as well.  Most days he is still figuring out how to fill up the water gun, but then when he does, he is so darned pleased with himself.  It's serious business for sure. 

The little Peanut has been having so much fun in the pool--and she is rocking the tan as well.   (Sidenote--I stink at taking iPhone pictures-- see below.  While very convenient at times, the smart phone so does NOT replace my DSLR.  Just sayin'.)  We affectionately call her our little Indian.  Not the most politically correct term, I am fully aware.  But in all honesty, my side of the family is quite jealous of her genes from my husband and his swarthy-esk skin.  While he is actually quite fair skinned most of time, when he gets out in the sun?  Full on tan lines in a matter of hours.

Like I said, jealous.  'Cause this pasty white girl doesn't tan very easily.  I have to get my sun in very small increments otherwise I'll be a lobster.  But the nice thing is I can rest assured that both my littles will have very nice school pictures indeed, with both sun kissed skin and hair.

And it doesn't get much better--as those pictures will be evidence of a hot, long, lazy summer. 



 

A Tisket, A Tasket

Our little Peanut (who's getting to be not so little anymore!) had her end of school year voice recital tonight. 

She did really well.  And quite honestly, I was a teensy worried, as she had a small part of the song where she seemed to get tripped up and forget her words every so often.  But in the end--our girl rocked it.  While I know I am very biased (I am her mother after all!), please know I'm not saying she's the next Carrie Underwood by ANY means.  I was just very proud of our girl. 

Oh, and a funny little story of how Peanut's solo choice came to be.   Her instructor played A Tisket, A Tasket for Peanut at her lesson in late March and Peanut didn't seem very big on it.  Truth be told, neither was I!  Which is funny because I typically LOVE anything that is 30's and 40's--I think it was that I wasn't very familiar with the song.  I mean, I had heard it, but I didn't know it really well.  Anyhow, I digress.  I asked her teacher if there was anything else she had in mind.  So she pulled out several other songs (at least three others?) and played each of those for Peanut.  Nope, she didn't like those either.  So Peanut then told her instructor, "I would rather do the first song you played."

I guess her instructor knows Peanut better than she knows herself!

And let me tell you--this song really, really grew on me these last three months.  In the end, I ended up loving it!!!  It was a very, very sweet song.  I also love it that her instructor seems to know her students and his/her abilities so well and what each of them are capable of.  I have loved every song that Peanut has done.  Her teacher just seems to pick the songs so well for the child and their age.  It's very clear she knows what she's doing!  Which is good for this no musical talent mama!!!

And yes, while I can seem to take a semi decent photo, apparently I'm as blind as a bat when it comes to taking a video.  It's TERRIBLY out of focus, but the audio is good, so there's that. 

To Mama and Dadbert

Thank you both for your love for the Lord, your dedication to your marriage and each other.  Your children and grandchildren are so blessed to have you setting a thirty-nine year example of what love and commitment look like in a society where marriages fail more often than they succeed. 

We are so grateful. 

I love you both dearly, 

 

The Afters

I had high hopes of doing "the afters" pictures with everything in it's place like a magazine spread, but that's just not going to happen.  (If you haven't seen already, see "The Befores" here.)  Here are a few during the "in progress" stage (from around the middle of May):

These were taken after "we" moved our stuff out of our storage units back into the house, but PRIOR to carpet being installed in the bedrooms/living area.  Yes, we definitely had our work cut out for us. 

We definitely had our work cut out for us, right?  
 
But I am actually okay with the we are not quite there look.  I have nearly all the stuff I can do done.  That was my biggest concern.....that I wouldn't get the stuff done I could do prior to his arrival. Then of course, with the severe sleep deprivation that is sure to come, I wouldn't have any energy to do it after and we would be looking at some time next year before all the boxes were unpacked.  But that hasn't been the case.  God has multiplied our efforts and we've had tons of help....and we are nearly almost there. 

The rest of all those little details--hanging all the curtain rods, sealing the grout, getting the utility sink running once again--will get done in time.  Some longer than others, but they will get done.  Even if eventually.  If I have started to learn anything through this process (and I have) it would be that those details aren't really that big of a deal. 

Looking back over the last two months (really about eight months), my little family has been so incredibly blessed, there is no question Who it all comes from. 

'Cause it's certainly not of our own doing, that's for sure. 

As nice as it looks already (my Dad laid that floor tile and Hubs grouted!), the counter top, back splash, sink, and faucet will all get replaced as well. 

We were able to move back home (even though stressful at the time, it went beautifully in hindsight!) and have our renters vacate without any hassle.  Then we were able to take possession back of our home, paint, clean, and replace most of the flooring with tons of help from our wonderful family and friends.  Keep in mind I was also 7 + months pregnant through the reno's.....yes, I was difficult, but my family still continued to bless me. 

And can I just share how much I missed I missed our pantry and laundry room?  In Smalltown, we did have washer and dryer hookups (for which I am extremely thankful!) but they were in the basement.....which meant climbing two LONG flights of stairs for each load of laundry.  Here in Hometown, we have a one level home....and laundry now?  It really shouldn't be this delightful!  

The laundry room had had some sort of leak at one point (prior to us even purchasing it) but as bad as it looks, there was no dry rot.  Thank goodness!  So after killing all the mold with a bleach solution and letting the moisture from the cleaning dry for a week+, the floor was good to go to begin the tiling process (starting with cement board, etc.).

In Peanut's bedroom, instead of the soft pink like last time, we decided to go with a soft green (Lowe's Valspar in Lunar Tide~Eggshell finish) in her room, as SO much of her stuff (bedding, toys, clothes.....) is already pink.   My Mom and Dad have a room for Peanut at their house that has a similar shade of green and I liked it so much, we went with it in Peanut's room at our house too. 

I decided I really liked it so much that I went with the same color in our master bedroom as well.  Hubs was a little concerned about it being too matchy-matchy with Peanut's room.  Me?

Still deciding what to hang over our bed.  I have a really nice picture, but am thinking of doing one of those vinyl decals.  I just can't decide if that is too cliche or not.  I am so indecisive, I'll probably wait three months deciding and then just go with the picture I already have.  But I might surprise even myself, so we'll see.

Not so much~we don't have any pink accents in our bedroom!

My fabulous aunt also came over and "helped" me (Who am I kidding?!? She did most of the work!) finish unpacking and decorating our living room.  She also made these photo collages in our family room and entry way.  Me likey--SO SO much! 

We are all settling in well.  Peanut has had her moments, but I keep reminding myself how much change our little girl has endured in these past few months--with the biggest change coming yet!   First, moving back from SmallTown and living with Grandma and Grandpa (and having them at her beck and call!).  Now, moving into our "new" home and not having Grandma and Grandpa just feet away--all of this coupled with the fact that she is going to have a "Baby Brother".  She knows he's coming, but of course her little mind doesn't fully understand just how much change is coming.....it's been a lot for our first little love. 

But our girl is a happy and sweet, very buoyant little girl.  She will pull through wonderfully, I am sure, being the little helper she always tries to be for me and Hubs.  I am sure it will be the same when it comes to her Baby Brother. 

All in all, it's so nice being in our home once again.  In some ways it feels like we never left, but in others it feels like it's just the three weeks that we've been back.  I am loving our new carpet (feels so nice under my feet!), the newly chosen paint colors, our beautiful tile, and coming across a bunch of little treasures I had forgotten about.  And my counter space in our kitchen--SO nice.  While our kitchen here is by no means huge, it practically was compared to before.  I got used to our little space up in SmallTown, but it's yet another reminder to be so, so thankful. 

How we became so blessed, I'll never know.....



 

Our Little Guy's Shower

My dear sweet friend threw a baby shower for our new little guy.  You know, so he wouldn't have to wear any pink.  Because with all of Peanut's things, it was practically a guarantee otherwise.

Oh, how I kid.

Sort of.

Anyhow, back to the shower.  Yes, I realize these were awhile ago (like over two weeks!) but we've been a little busy.  So this is how we are rolling, mmmkay?

Remember these pictures from TWO years ago? 

 




















Gosh, they grow fast, don't they?

Our little girl is SO excited to be a "Big Sister."

My auntie made this.....so cute, right?

Lots of sweet friends and family came to help celebrate the arrival of our sweet little guy....and we were very blessed.  With this move, I have been pretty distracted and it helped me focus on the little love we will get to meet in just a few short weeks.

He got lots of baseball "gear" (Daddy's favorite!) and my sweet, sweet friend made this awesome quilt for him.  Yes, he is spoiled already!

 

I am SO excited!

The Befores

My bloggy friend Lucy and I are at very similar stages in our life right now.  Although she is quite a bit younger than me (shhh, don't tell!), we are both preggo with our second babies and we are both due within a week of each other--right around the end of June or beginning of July.  And we are both just crazy enough to throw in a move during that time.  But very unlike me, she has been very good about posting to her sweet little blog and earlier she posted some pictures of their moving/new baby adventure progress.  That inspired me to finally get motivated and post some pictures here too. 

All these before pictures you are about to see are for those three or four loyal readers I might still have out there.  'Cuz I figure that's about all I have left (aside from family of course!) after these past few months of really sporadic posting.  

BUT, just in case you are new here to these parts, here's a fast little recap of the last two and a half years of our lives.....

1.  We moved away from our HomeTown in the early fall of 2009 for Hub's job.

2.  In HomeTown we owned a home and because we knew our move was only temporary (even if about two years temporary), we decided to rent out our home, because we WERE going to come back at some point.

3.  Fast forward two and a half years and three sets of tenants later, and we finally had the opportunity {read: Hubs was able to transfer!} to move home.

4.  Due to some timing issues, we moved back in with my parents temporarily while we gave our current tenants notice to vacate. Then, while the house has been empty, the opportunity has been taken to get some projects done on our house.

So that is where we are today....getting some projects done on our house.  Please don't be mistaken.....it hasn't been me (unless of course you count stressing out a project) getting these tasks done.  No, it would be my hard working husband, my hard working Dad and Mom, and some very gracious and generous extended family members and friends pitching in where ever needed to help move things right along. 

So far the entire interior of the house has been painted (so please keep in mind the colors you see here are all the befores).  This includes all ceilings, walls, and about 75% of the molding.  I know from most of these pictures you can't tell that paint was needed, but trust me.  After us living in the house for nearly five years and then having three different tenants/families living here, a fresh coat of paint was needed!

Badly.

Most surfaces (closet and pantry shelves, blinds, windows and window tracks, screens, kitchen cabinets and counter tops) have been cleaned.  The old carpet in the living/dining room and bedrooms has all been ripped up and hauled away and new carpet will actually be installed tomorrow.  All of our belongings that were in storage have been moved into our house and either are sitting in the garage or family room area, awaiting the new carpet.  Last, the floor in our entryway, laundry room, and main bath have all been ripped up, where new tile will be laid in it's place.  So far, the entryway tile is entirely done, the main bath has tile down, but still needs to be grouted and the laundry has most of the tile down, with just a few to go.  Let me tell you, I have a really nice Dad--yes, he has installed all the tile for us.  For free.  Let's just say that if we had to pay for the labor, there is NO way we would be getting new tile floors. 

So there you have it in a nutshell.  Or at least the part of where we've been and where we are headed.  Once the carpet is installed and the tiling is all finished and complete, I of course, will have some MAJOR nesting to accomplish in the next several weeks.   Things like moving the rest of our belongings (NO, that part won't be me!), unpacking, rearranging, and settling in to this new chapter of life. 

I am apprehensive.

I am excited. 

I am blessed. 

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Oh, and I promise to also get up a blog post showing the afters soon. 

For reals.