In Review, God Is Still Good

Last night we gathered with our home group to do a little after-Christmas celebration. Since it is now closer to New Years than Christmas, we each shared the things we've gone through this past year and what we've learned. It was amazing to recount our stories with each other and how we all seemed to come to the same conclusion - God is Good.

As I listened to my friends share their stories I was reviewing my own in my mind, preparing for my own time to share. It truly is amazing to think back over this past year and see how the Lord was not only with me during each trial and difficult time but also that he is an amazing orchestrator in how he brings those things together with his plan for my life and makes the ugly and hard things into something beautiful.

The first major difficulty of this year really began in the fall of 2008, when Ryan began to have some nasty sleep issues. The problem got worse as he began to take Ambien to help him sleep. As it did help him sleep it also gave him really bad side effects and he began to get severe anxiety to the point of paranoia and panic attacks, among other frightening physical side effects. Even in the midst of all this, when I prayed all I could pray and was at the end of myself in anything I could do to help my husband, the Lord was still with us. When at that scary point of complete dependance upon the Lord, He was there. He knew what was going on even when I didn't, and carried me through.

Somehow, through the Lord's guidance, Ryan did research on Ambien and found that he had become dependent on it, to the point of addiction (even though his doctor disagrees with him to this day). After doing research and much prayer, Ryan found a way to step down off the drug. Even during this time I was still in awe of how even though I was unaware of what is going on and was helpless to do anything about it, the Lord is still with us and guiding me though each day. I have learned, once again, to trust Him with my life and the lives of those I love.

The other major battle I've been through, again, didn't start with 2009. It began back when we moved here three years ago. Since moving into the rental house, I had a mindset of it being temporary, that we'd soon buy a house and move out. What should have been only one year turned into to three plus. Buying a house always seemed to be six months out, just out of reach. Many times I've had to learn to be content with where the Lord had us, and for that three years and three months it was in the rental house.

Again, I am amazed at how the Lord times things to perfection. I could never, in my own way of thinking and planning, ever come to the beautiful end to this story. I continue to learn that my ways are not His ways, and his way is much better than mine could ever be!

This home-owning journey has certainly been a roller coaster for me. One day I am depressed about it because I'm not where I want be. Then the next I'm giving it up and trusting the Lord for his timing and provision. Up and down, I tell ya! Then!, then!.....we finally get to the point of 'yes! we can buy!'. Then the emotional journey of letting go truly begins. How hard it is to see a house and get attached, and all before the offer is submitted. Only to get into a battle of offers with the bank and then to get passed over because, although our offer was 20k OVER asking, it wasn't high enough. In the end, we put offers on a total of four houses. Talk about letting go and trusting God!!!

I could go into more detail on both of these journeys of faith, but in the end the conclusion is the same - God can be trusted in all areas of my life, and He is good no matter the situation. As I look forward to yet another new year, I have no idea what is ahead but I take with me what I've learned and know that each day is an opportunity to trust Him, yet again.

The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him,

and he delivers them.

Taste and see that the LORD is good;

blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.

Fear the LORD, you his saints,

for those who fear him lack nothing.

Psalm 34: 7-9

She Can't Be Trusted

The good thing about having the kids in school is that I can do some shopping without them around. It comes in really handy when getting Christmas or birthday gifts. And in our family we have both, due to Caleb's birthday being two days before Christmas.

This year we let Caleb have a birthday party, so I was super-focused on getting that together and forgot about getting him a gift until just the other day. Good thing I had a few days before we leave town to get him something! Ryan and I talked over a few ideas then I hit Costco to see what they had. Isabel was not in school at the time, so she joined me and I didn't think much of it until I picked up what would be Caleb's gift - a Bakugan set. I knelt down and talked to Isabel about this being Caleb's birthday present and that it was a secret. She assured me that she would keep the secret, though I had my doubts (but what else could I do as she knew what the gift was and understood it was for Caleb??).

Before picking up the MaeLeb, I swung home and stashed Caleb's gift away, then headed for school. After getting the kids, we weren't even in the truck but a few minutes when Isabel says "Caleb, you got Bakugan for your birthday!".

The rat! Little stinker!

Fortunately some things are difficult to understand when Isabel talks. It's not always clear what she is trying to say. In this case I stepped in and tried to save the moment. I said something like "yeah, Caleb got Bakugans at his party!". But Mae knew what Isabel was saying and tried to correct me, but I cut her off before she could spill it all. Caleb, I think, didn't pick up on what was going on. At least that is my hope.

But I think we need to work on our secret-keeping skills. Or go shopping after bedtime.

At Least I Can Stop Working On My Acceptance Speach

Yeah. So the story is that I won't be nominated for Mother Of the Year. And I was sooo close too.

The kids new school has one day a week that has an early release time. It lets out one hour earlier than normal. Thursday (today!) is that day. And me, being the front runner for Mother of the Year, forgot.

I have my new schedule down. I leave the house at 2:15 in order to get to the school in time to to score a good parking spot. But when I pulled into the should-have-been-full parking lot, it wasn't. In fact there were prime spots just sitting vacant. I began to think 'wow, this is weird. It's almost like school has already been released or something, but I'm a few minutes early. Everyone else must be running late (you know, 'those' moms who are not in contention). Yeah, that's me, a little slow in the comprehension of the situation. But then it hit me - 'School already IS out because today is the EARLY day!'.

After briskly walking by Mae and Caleb's classrooms and the playground, I headed to the office. That's where they were, waiting for me. I had told them a few weeks ago that if I was ever not there to pick them up that they should wait for me in the school office. Poor Caleb was crying as we walked to the truck. I don't blame him, I probably would have too. And Mae was quick to forgive her forgetful mother. I wonder if she'll nominate me for an Honorable Mention?

I Just Love It

One of our favorite shows is So You Think You Can Dance. It typically runs over the summer, but we have the treat to watch a rare season this fall. There are all kinds of dance displayed on the show. There's contemporary, ballroom, latin, jazz, and surprisingly, my favorite....hip hop. I don't know why it is, it just is.

The show airs twice a week and on the second night they usually have guest performers. The performers range from singers to different types of dancers/dance groups. Well, last week they featured a new dance company called The Legion of Extraordinary Dancers. And you guessed it, they are hip hop. But they are Ah. May. Zing. (and, yes, extraordinary!) Well, see for yourself....

I love how they move, their use of 'tricks', the use of strength with such fluidity, and how silent they seem to move. And....and....and.....*sigh* I just love it. It doesn't hurt that they were dancing to Coldplay either. Anyway, I hear that the group won't officially begin until next year, which is really only weeks away, but whenever they do start doing shows and touring, I hope they will perform in our area 'cause I'd love to go see them!

Old Age Comes Early

Today I heard that Modesto got snow! I'm not too surprised to hear it, although Modesto rarely sees snow. I was thinking this morning "It's snowed there before. I remember when I lived there when it snowed". It was a very exciting day! The snow didn't stick, but it was still fun to see it falling.

It was also quite a long time ago......

The winter of 1989 I was a freshman in high school and it snowed one afternoon during Christmas break. Wow...I was a freshman and it was 1989......that means it was *gasp!* 20 years ago!!! Holey mach-ah-moley.....20 years??!?!!

I'm starting to feel old.

They Do Exist!!!

Lo and behold.....look what I found at Old Navy!!!



Flip flops in winter!

Too bad they didn't have them in Caleb's size.

New Number

Dear ABC Plumbing,

I am at a loss as to why you are no longer in business. The calls that I am receiving on your behalf should have been enough to keep you afloat (no pun intended). Shall I give incoming calls a forwarding number???

Sincerely,

A Homeowner with a new number that happens to be your old one

Day 30 - whoops!!!

Did anyone realize that I missed a few days of giving thanks?? I had a feeling that would happen since we were traveling for Thanksgiving. It was my intention to do my postings while we were gone, but it just didn't happen. I wasn't about to stress over it, so I just sat back and enjoyed our families instead.

We left early on Thanksgiving morning for Modesto. And by 'early' I truly mean super-duper-pooper-scooper early! As in before-the-sun-was-up early! We were on the road by 4:00. See! Told you it was early. Anyway, since we were up before the sun, the kids got a wee tired while on the road. They don't usually sleep on these trips anymore, however, not only did they doze off, they fell asleep at the same time! It was cute so I had to take a snap to capture the moment.

Well, I didn't complete the 30 day challenge of posting every day, but I did find many things to be thankful for. While we were gone over Thanksgiving I found a few more. Here they are;

* coffee - makes super-early-morning-trips easier

* sleepy kids - makes road trips easier

* Thanksgiving meals with all the fixin's

* a boy named Jacob - my new nephew, and he's so stinkin' cute! ("stinkin'" in a good way) :)

* leftovers

* Mom's pumpkin pie (there's nothing better!)

* Thanksgiving - a fabulous reason to get together with the families I love so much!

* fully charged portable dvd player - again, makes road trips easier (aka quieter)

* being home again - as it was great to get away and spend time with our families, it's always nice to be home again.

There, that should sufficiently make up for my lack of posting over the past few days. Don'tcha think?!

Flip Flops

Living in Southern California has it's advantages. Among them is the fabulous weather! I can pretty much wear the same shoes all year around. It's great! Especially when my daily shoes are a nice pair of comfy sandals. However, this fine weather is hard the kids shoes. They don't last quite as long. But I suppose that's more the kids fault than it is the weather's.

Since this past spring, Caleb has worn out of three pairs of flip flops. My son is a flip flop kind of boy. He was certainly born to live here, that's for sure! The only thing is that you can't always get flip flops whenever you want/need them. For example, Caleb's flip flops broke just the other week and I was at a loss to replace them. Poor guy, he's been wearing his tennis shoes instead!

I looked at Wal-Mart and thought maybe I had scored. But the only flip flops they had were WWF. Sorry, but there is no way I was buying my son World Wrestling Federation flip flops, even though all of that would be covered by his foot when wearing them. Nope, not gonna do it. Sorry kid.

Then a friend told me that they had seen some at Target. So to Target I went. They did have some, but only for girls.

So I had given up and consigned myself to wait for spring.

Until I went to the dollar store to get things for our recent house warming party. I wasn't even looking for flip flops but there they were! They not only had some, they were a nice gender-neutral green. So I snatched them up right quick!

I only wish I had grabbed more than one, for I know that one pair is not going to last the winter! Maybe I'll go back next week. But there's probably some relative law of something or other that will determine that there will be none left. Alas, I will be thankful for this one last pair of flip flops found out of season.

Day 24

This week the kids do not have school due to Thanksgiving. I don't remember having the entire week off when I was a kid. But alas, mine do. And in the spirit of giving thanks, I will choose to not complain about having the kids home 24/7. Instead I will focus on the good and fun things about it!

- I don't have to get up and take the kids to school.

- thus meaning I can sleep in (depending on how 'quiet' the kids are)

- and there is also no rush to go anywhere, unless I want to.

- which also means I can stay up later and watch a few more shows (instead of letting them fill up the DVR)

- we leave for Modesto early Thursday morning so we can spend it with family! (again, I choose to not focus on the fact that this requires me to get up too-early in the morning and drive for hours on end. nope, not gonna do it! we have a dvd player and that is very helpful on trips like this! - see??....I'm so thankful!)

Day 23

Today I am thankful for play dates.

Caleb has had a rough start to his new school. It's funny because he's not the one I was concerned about with the whole school change thing. I was spending more time with Mae and talking about her transition than I was with Caleb. See, Caleb is just an easy going kind of guy that has never had problems making friends. Mae, on the other hand, is more reserved in new situations where she doesn't know anyone. So I was quite surprised to hear from Caleb that his first day went so badly. It broke my heart.

Things got better for Caleb after that first day, but it was still difficult for him to get in the groove with new kids. Actually, I thought things were going well until last week when he told me at bedtime one night that one of his 'friends' wasn't being nice to him. Again, my heart broke for my sweet boy. There wasn't much I could say to help him feel better, so I told him about a play date that I had arranged for this week with a friend of his from his old school. It helped a little

Anyway, that day was today and Caleb had a great time with his 'old' friend and it was like they'd never been apart. And I'm glad that for one day I didn't have to wonder how my boy was doing.

Last Minute Scavenger Hunt

Yesterday we had an open house for our new home, and as this past week closed in on 'party day', I had a spur of the moment thought - I think I shall put together a scavenger hunt for the kids! The idea was to give the kids something to do while the adults are busy doing boring things, like, talk. Within a few hours of my most brilliant plan, I had a list of ideas compiled.

I thought of things for the kids to go out and find, some in the house but mostly all outside in the backyard. There were only six things on the list but I think it was enough to occupy them. I took close-up pictures of certain areas or objects and then paired the picture clue with the question. These were questions;

"how many steps are there?" - partial picture of the steps at the back of the property

"what kind of fruit is on this tree?" - picture of the lemon tree

"who sleeps here?" - partial picture of Mae's bunk

"how many orange ribbons are hidden in the backyard?" - picture of one stand of orange thread on a branch (seventeen in all, this kept them very occupied!)

"find the five hidden letters around the yard and unscramble the word"

"Find this object, look inside and take one." - picture of the giant terra cotta pot in the yard

The last clue led them to the giant pot, and inside I had put goodie bags for each kid. And may I just say how much I dearly love the dollar store??? It comes in so handy on occasions like this where I don't want to spend a whole lot but still would like to give something more than a solitary piece of candy. So, anyway, I think the scavenger hunt was a hit! The kids were pretty occupied with their search that they were well entertained and not getting into trouble or getting grumpy with wanting to leave a boring party.

I am thankful for last-minute-party-saving ideas!

Celebrating the Blessing

I was home all day today. And it was a gorgeous So Cal day, too! I was up and moving before 9:00, and that's unusual for me on a Saturday. Plus, I didn't sit down once between 9:30 to about 7:00. But it's all good......we had an open house today to celebrate our new home with our friends!

We've never had an open house for any of our other homes we bought. At first I felt a little funny about having an open house since it isn't our first home purchase, but the blessing of this house isn't the house itself, it's the journey that has brought us here. And that is what we celebrated today.

It was decided that we'd host the party from 1:00 to 4:00. Ryan designed the invite and I emailed them out (we're so 'up with the times', we are). Ryan made three different appetizers (which all got rave reviews from everyone!) and I made a fabulous apple crisp (if I do say so myself). Also, I got a wild idea two days ago to put together a scavenger hunt for the kids that would be here (as if I didn't have enough on my plate with getting the house clean and ready). I was rushing around as the first guests arrived, but as our wonderful friends are, they jumped in and helped us finished getting things ready.

Other than Ryan burning his hand early on in the game, the open house was a success! Good food was had by all and we enjoyed sharing our home with our friends as a bunch of kids ran around looking for clues! I kinda like having an open house, they're fun. It's a lot of work, but totally worth it!

Hamburger

Isabel still says certain words in her own way. We love it! And in most cases we don't correct her. At. All. We like to hear these sweet mispronounced words as long as possible. It's our way of holding onto our baby as long as we can.

Lately she makes us laugh when she says 'hamburger'. Just yesterday, as Isabel and I were driving around town, she spotted a McDonalds and said something to the effect that Mickey-D's has hamburgers. But that's not what she said exactly (hee hee) so I asked her again and again and again! We were having fun saying the silly mispronounced word, and she said it many different ways but never the right way. I was just eating it up (so to speak).

Here are a few ways that she tried to say hamburger, I think she may be related to Steve Martin's Pink Panther!

bigger

ham-bigger

ham-beh-bigger (this one is most often said, and my favorite!)

Day 19

Today I am thankful for the store that is practically down the street from me. This store has a gas station attached to it and if you have a membership with this store (which I do!) then you pay three cents less per gallon. Aside from the three cent per gallon savings, it is still a good ten to fifteen cents cheaper than other gas stations around town.

Today this is what I paid (and yes, that does include my three cent savings!)

Day 18

Today I am thankful for my crock pot.

It's so nice to cook up some ground beef, italian sausage, onion and green pepper, then throw it in the good ol' crock pot along with some canned goods and a few spices. I like how I can relax through the rest of the afternoon and as 5:00 rolls around I don't have to scramble to get dinner started.

I love crock pot days!

**want the recipe?? click here, then come back and share with me one of your favorite crock pot recipes!

Day 17

Today I am thankful for:

* preschool

* bible study with God's women

* Starbucks gift cards

* visiting with a friend while all kids are at school

* driving in the truck by myself (did I just have an uninterrupted thought??)

* cooler temps that let me wear socks around the house

Ahead of Time

Last night we didn't go out on a free date as we normally do on Awana nights. But that's ok. Ryan had work to do so when it came time to take the kids to Awana I decided to go grocery shopping during my 'free time'. I know, strange huh? Well, I'm not going to have time to go today while MaeLeb are in school and we all know how important it is to eat so I had to go last night. Besides, going to the store by myself is a joy in itself (any mother knows that!).

So, today I am thankful that I took the time to think ahead and take care of that little nuisance of a chore (grocery shopping) so I could have time to play as a friend and I are going to Ikea! The extra bonus, as I've mentioned before, is that we plan to take full advantage of Ikea's free childcare.

I'm thankful for Ikea today, too.

To Do Lists

Now that we are all moved in, our To Do list is quite different. It no longer includes getting boxes, or filling them, or arranging the timing of getting them to their new destination. Nope, done with all that silliness. But now the list includes household projects. Things like (but not limited to) changing the locks, organize the garage, take boxes away (get 'em outta here!), changing the hinge direction on the fridge and washer/dryer doors, get a pool vacuum, and so on.

Friday night Ryan and made a list of things that needed to get done. The hope was that we'd get to most of them this weekend. And I'm here to say that Ryan is my hero! He completed one of the projects that I've been wanting completed since we moved in.....he moved around the fridge doors!!!! I just love my man so so much!

Our kitchen is on the small side and might be considered galley style. When the fridge door opens you have to stand in the laundry room to do so. I would feel like I was on an episode of House Hunters and displaying the inefficiency or awkwardness of the current home (I know, I watch too much HGTV!). It would make more sense if the door opened in the other direction. And so on the list it went.

But now Ryan has knocked off one big item off the list! It's a more cost efficient solution than remolding the kitchen or buying a new house to solve our issue. Don't you think?! And if you know me, I'm all for frugalness. So today I am thankful for a no-cost solution, as well as for my husband who completed the project for me.

Giving Thanks

Today is Saturday, thus the weekend.

And for that, I am thankful.