A Season of Change II

Little did I know two years ago when I wrote the previous post exactly how much change was really ahead for me and my family! With the most recent changes, I am feeling the urge to blog again. I don't know how long it will last, but I will do my best to post a few thoughts from time to time. It may be funny quips about my kids or my job or may be some deep thoughts about life and its ever changing, yet constant meaning.
So, today I will leave you with a verse that I am pondering.

I Thessalonians 5:16-18

Be joyful always;

Pray continually;

Give thanks in all circumstances,

for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

A season of change

Well, school begins today and there is change in the air. I think everyone in our home is experiencing some kind of change right now.
Robby begins first grade. This is a grade with a number!! He is very concerned that there are letter grades this year as well. Overall, he is excited but still a little aprehensive of the possible differences from his much beloved Kindergarten class. He really loved his teacher last year. As we dropped off school supplies, he was anxious to meet his new teacher, but really wanted to go say hi to his old one. I know he is going to do great.
Robby is also starting his first competitive sport, soccer. I've always wanted to be a "soccer" mom. Yay, now I am one. They supposedly don't keep score at his age, but who are we kidding. Those parents are keeping track of every goal.
Melanie is going to take another year before beginning Kindergarten. As a child who has a summer birthday and didn't go to school until I was 6, I understand the many advantages to waiting. I can look back now and see that the extra time allowed me to be a little bit more mature and an above average student when it really mattered most... Jr. High and High school. I hope my daughter experiences the same advantages that I did. She does get to start a new preschool program at a new "school", though. She is very excited. Somewhere she heard the term Pre-kindergarten and has self labeled her class "pre-Kin". It's very cute.
I, too, anticipate some changes this fall. I will begin a new work schedule since I work primarily with at-risk teens and their families, I have to wait till they are out of school to meet with them. I will also be developing a school program for at-risk kids for the rural schools in our area. In time I may be able to work exclusively during the school day at the local schools. But, until then I anticipate a pretty hectic schedule.
I have also added a couple of new "hobbies" if you will. I have played around with running for a couple of years now, but had never gotten hooked. I hadn't experienced that "runner's high" or the addiction that Others,ahem, HETH have illuded to. But, this last spring I began to take it more seriously and now I'm signed up to run a half-marathon. That's 13.1 miles, people. I think I must be on something. I'm not athletic and have never liked running, but somehow the bug has bit. I'm battling through some foot problems, but I've started to treat it appropriately and already feel better.
I've also taken up knitting . Yes, the old lady craft with pointy sticks and balls of yarn. I don't think I will share with you my first project, a washcloth, because it is hideous. It has double knit stitches and dropped stitches and all kinds of bumps and bulges. I'm hoping the recipient of this labor of love will appreciate each knit and purl I put into it, though. There is a lady in our community collecting washcloths to send to orphan children in Somalia with a bar of soap and literature on daily hygiene. I can just picture it now..."My washcloth isn't as nice as yours"...hopefully orphans aren't picky.
With my crazy schedule, Bill is going to end up with a couple of bedtimes a week and running Robs to his soccer practice, so he may get a little "Mr. Mom" syndrome this fall until my schedule gets more settled.
It seems like with each new school year, we as parents experience change as well. I'm looking forward to this fall and all tha tit holds for us.

Ten things that bring me JOY

This is a list I've been working on through out this summer.

1. Beautiful flowers. Gladiolas to be exact.



2. S'Mores.

3. Late Summer nights filled with friends and laughter.



4. The POOL.



5. Freshly done Kitchen.



6. Summer Camp.







7. The loving arms of my husband.







8. Sweet kisses and "I love you"'s from my little ones.


9. Brand new school supplies.

10. School starting this week!!!!

Here's What I was Thinking

A couple of weeks ago, I posed a very simple question: "What was I thinking?"
Well, here's what I was thinking. I have been thinking about redecorating my kitchen since we moved in 4 years ago this month. In fact, I was so set on redecorating the out-dated, somewhat tacky, just a little too Amish (nothing against the Amish, I love their cinnamon bread)for my taste kitchen...that I ripped down the icky, falling off the wall basket border within weeks of moving in. Thinking this would motivate me to take care of it right away, I continued to slowly peel away pieces of the Amish quilt patterned wall paper over the next couple of years. Instead of motivating me, each new layer of wall revealed simply frustrated me even more. Pretty soon the cabinet doors were even falling off their hinges right before my very eyes...literally. Thankfully, I have a handy dad who can fix almost anything. He willingly repaired the doors for me. But again, instead of motivating me, they sat in the garage, "fixed", for about a year.
I knew the general direction that I wanted to go right from the beginning, but finding the time to do it is ridiculous. I knew I wanted to put up paintable wallpaper, so that I could change the color as I wished. I actually purchased the wallpaper over a year and a half ago. With the repairs needed on the cabinet doors I knew they would need painting. This was a more difficult decision for me. Do I paint over the cream with something else light, just to freshen them up or do I go for something bold, a big change. Well, here are some fun pictures of my new "Coffee Kitchen" as Robby calls it.



I found this great border that incorporated all the colors I had already chosen to complete my "Coffee Kitchen". It is only on one wall, so it isn't too overpowering.

I decided to go with black for the cabinets. It is a "hot" color right now, yet still neutral enough if we decide to sell the house anytime soon.


Here is a close up of the quick thinking trim I came up with. I had an odd sized gap between the cabinets and the soffet above them. In some places it was very small, an eigth of an inch and in others much larger, like a half an inch. I wasn't sure what to do with this space so I hot glued a cotton-poly rope trim normally used in fabrics into that space. It seems to be working just fine and I think it looks great.

So, that is what I was thinking dumping the contents of my kitchen onto my dining room floor. It was a very long week with several late nights, but I am very happy with the results.

Tom Came to my House Yesterday

Tom came to my house yesterday. He is a hard working young man. He and his girlfriend have recently restored a 125ish years old home. His favorite part is the giant claw-foot bathtub that is big enough for two...(TMI, Tom...definitely more than I wanted to know about you, dear.) Tom is a profuse sweater. No, he doesn't HAVE a big sweater; he sweats a lot. A LOT! But, if you have met my husband you know that doesn't bother me, too much. Something else you must know. I LOVE TOM. I'm not in love with him and I will never see him ever again, but I love him.
Why, you may ask, would I love a man that I have only met just once and will never see again. Because, he brought me two boxes that look like this...


Inside those two boxes were these...



I have never been so excited to do laundry!!! And, that is why I love Tom. He brought me my big beautiful new front-load, energy efficient washer and dryer.
This is really a wonderful God thing. My Uncle has worked for the Maytag corporation for probably over 30 years. My Grandfather worked for Maytag before him for many many more years than that. Maytag was recently bought out by Whirlpool. God directed my Uncle and some friends of his to start a private Research and Development Company. This allowed them to get a contract with Whirlpool and continue doing the same kind of work with all the same people.
Anyway, with all the changes at Maytag, the company opened up their employee discount to family of employees. I am a family. Yay!!! The other wonderful thing is just how perfect God's timing is. Our washer and dryer were fairly old and although they still work, I don't think they did as good a job as they could have. Drying times seemed to be getting longer and longer. And, mysterious little holes have occasionally appeared in my clothes. It was time for something new and this opened up at just the right time.
We were able to get this Maytag Neptune for such a good price. It doesn't look super fancy. There is no viewing window. (The kids were a little disappointed in that.) But, my Uncle and my parents have the same washer and dryer and they say you can fit 18 full size bath towels or 3 sets of queen size sheets or 12 adult size pairs of jeans. I have also been told by him and a salesman that I can put dirty, grass stained clothes right in the washer without even pretreating and they will come clean. No pretreating, how will I ever restrain myself from dowsing each grassy, muddy, or PB&J spill with Oxiclean. OOOOHHH I can't wait to give it a try. As soon as my new BFF, Tom, left I gave the laundry lady a quick call. I knew that she would appreciate my joy over a new washer and dryer. Anyway, I'm just a little excited. As I sit here and type my sweet little girl has informed me that she wet the bed early this morning and I will need to wash the sheets today. YAY!!! Wet sheets. I can't wait.

P.S. Big shout out to my hubby, Shawn, Paul, Zach and Cody for removing my old washer and dryer at 10:00 the night before. Thanks for getting rid of those old beasts. My feelings for you are almost as deep as they are for Tom.

WHAT WAS I THINKING??

I'm clearly loosing my mind. Only a crazy woman would empty the contents of her kitchen cabinets onto the dining room floor, right?!

Hide and Go Seek

Just this morning, I was busying myself about the house; washing dishes, sorting laundry, making the grocery list. Every few minutes, my 6 year old, Robby, would come by and ask me to play or beg for his cousins to come over. Of course, my reply was "After my work gets done, I'll have time to play."
At some point during the morning, Rob comes bounding into the kitchen, exclaiming "Mom, someone wrote something on the chalkboard downstairs, you have to come and read it." He sounded a little concerned, "Mom, I didn't write and I don't know who did." This needed some investigation.
My summer child care is a high school girl who frequently writes and draws things on the chalkboard. I've never seen anything inappropriate, but this was curious to me. As I headed for the basement, Robby scooted the other way. HMMM, that was a little wierd. As I approached the chalkboard I could see my son's 6 year old scrawl and knew the little rascal had gotten me. This is what it said:

"I am Hideing someware in the hoas"

I began to chuckle and knew that my very clever son was hid(e)ing somewhere in the "hoas" and I must go find him. I went upstairs and loudly threw open the bathroom door. "Are you in here?" No.
Then the bathroom closet, "I'm coming for you." No.
Next the shower curtain, "You must be in the bathtub!" No.
Finally, I came to the bedroom closet. As I threw open the door, he startled, then I jumped. And, we fell on the floor laughing. We laughed and talked for a few minutes. Then I went back to my work and he went off to play.
Ya, know the little stinker didn't play again with me the rest of the morning.
Maybe, I should stop and play a little more often. I might get more work done.