Faith

So maybe this particular house thing isn't going to happen.  It looks like we cannot get a conventional loan because of the shape the house is in and the only other option they are accepting is cash, and we can only come up with 1/3 the cash until we can get the mortgage...we need a rather large, temporary, personal loan.  Sure, like that happens every day.

I talked with my grandpa today and it is always refreshing to do that.  I was just discussing how it is in my nature to "DO."  By that I mean that I am an able bodied young woman and when I see something that needs to get done, even if it's impossible financing for a home that I really want, I do all I can to make it happen.  I went so far as to write a letter to the sellers today, explaining where we are coming from and basically asking them to consider us, even though they were burned by someone on the house already, etc.  This time around, there is nothing I can do.  I have to wait.  I have to be patient.  I have to wait and see if this is something that God will work out for me.  He may not see fit for us to live there. 

I am learning to trust wholeheartedly that NOTHING is too big for God.  Nothing.  I tend to limit Him so much and I am ashamed of that.  Why do I put the Almighty in a box and ask Him to come out only when I am requesting something I believe can happen, but on something like this house, as impossible as it humanly is for us to get money when there are people out there with the kind of cash we need in their own accounts, why don't I have faith that He can make this happen?  I don't mean to say that we will get this house if I believe God can do it.  He can do it whether I believe or not.   The point here is that I put limits on limitless God and I am grateful to be learning not to do that, even if it is taking all my energy to do so! Here I am looking at a possible "forever" home for our family and God simply sees it as a way to show me where I lack in my faith.  Thank you, God!

Kevin...our medicine of laughter at the end of the day.

It has been busy for us lately.  And crazy.  And stressful (I think).  And trying.  And tiring.  And exciting.  And adventurous.  And fun.  And I'm sure a slew of other adjectives, but due to the aforementioned adjectives, my mind cannot think of other ones.  Just know it has been a different time in our lives.

Many of you know that when we sold our beautiful 1945 Cape Cod home in Merrillville almost 7 years ago, we intended to be in the house business.  We wanted to build a house, live in it for a couple of years and then sell it to do it all over again in the hopes of working down our mortgage.  That was when we had 2 kids.  Now we have 5 kids and the same dream of working down a mortgage, but the economy and medical bills and the simple cost of kids has kind of halted our progress in that area....mostly the housing economy.  Humphf.

Still, we sit at another crossroad of sorts having just sold our home again.  We are [technically] living at the farm now and initially had no intention of looking for a house all summer.  However, we have found a house in the most unexpected area.  Actually, we didn't find the house.  A family friend told us about it a couple months ago, but the house was already marked as sold, so I wrote it off.  The other day I was looking at houses online again and accidentally did a search I didn't intend to do and this house showed up and it was active again.  We were looking at the best house (a fixer-upper) in the worst neighborhood.  Now we are looking at a fixer-upper in the best neighborhood.

We don't know if the house is going to be ours or not, but we are praying for wisdom in this area.  If we get the house, this could be our forever home.  It is also priced at well over $100,000 under the neighborhood comps, so we also have a good investment, should the housing market bounce back up.  God knows what's going on.  We don't.  We are praying!    Feel free to do the same if you think about it.

The other thing we are doing is getting a new [to us] vehicle.  Tim's grandma passed away on tax day, of all days (one thing to smile about) and she left us "a little something" that we are splitting between a house and a car.  It's quite a sucky way to get a new car, but we are thankful and wanted to use the gift as wisely as possible.  Tim may be flying out to Mannassas, VA this weekend to pick up a 2005 9 passenger Suburban with 38,000 miles.  It is a fabulous truck and I can't say as I am not excited!!!

We have never had so many decisions to make in one week, much less decisions of this importance, but again, we are praying for wisdom and plain ol' divine intervention if necessary, so feel free to pray to that end along with us.  In all of this I also lost my voice for a week and we have been waiting for our house to close.  We are now on our 3rd closing date.  Grrr.  Thankfully we have a dog who brings us something to laugh at when the kids are in bed and have already come to the bedroom door 5 times [at least] for one reason or another.  He is sound asleep and was snoring, but oh, what a site for weary, haven't laughed all month (maybe not that long) eyes!

Sneaky little someone...but who?

I have been noticing lately that I can't find my wooden spoons.  I had at least half a dozen or more and it seemed like they disappeared over night, but I thought nothing of it.  Well, being that we are moving, I was in the girl's room packing up when I decided to pull back their dresser.  This is what I found.

Much to my surprise and laughter I saw 6 spoons lying all together, nice and sweetly on the floor.  Why would anyone want to hide my wooden spoons?  Perhaps because they double as spanking spoons. There was a sneaky little someone, but who?  My guess is Titus as he rendezvous with the spoons most often.  I don't suspect I will ever find out for sure.

Micah...sweet little Micah Joy.

Somewhere along the way (like in the womb) each of my girls developed a DNA strand that draws them to shoes.  Ever since they could reach a shoe, it was on their foot.  It doesn't have to fit.  It doesn't have to be theirs.  It doesn't even have to be a girl's shoe.  It just needs to belong on the foot and they'd put it on.

With that, we were at a friend's house the other day and Micah found these plastic dress up shoes and wore them all throughout the house, even though they were too big and she almost broke her ankles at least twice.  They ended up giving her the shoes and she wore them the rest of the day and then again today.

We were getting ready to go to the store and she put on the dress up shoes, but I didn't let her keep them on because of her tendency to fall with them on, so I told her to go upstairs and get some different shoes.

She came downstairs and walked into the kitchen (wielding a can of Pringles) and said "Is this okay?"

Not one to miss a good blogging opportunity, I laughed and got my camera to snap this shot before I told her no, it was not OK to wear slippers to the store.

Knowing full well what I wanted her to do, Micah decides to come downstairs wearing Eden's pink "Dorothy" shoes, a good 5 sizes too big and asks again, "Is this okay?" then flashes me a cheesy grin.

I snapped another picture and then sent her off to get her crocs.  Once she got them on, Imelda was finally ready to go to the store.  Oh my Micah.  My sweet little Micah Joy.

The Little Red Hen graduates!

Last year at Levi's graduation, the kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Wolfe was preparing for her NEXT graduation program, The Little Red Hen and told Eden that she was going to be the Little Red Hen.  I thought that Mrs. Wolfe was just being kind, but here we are at the K5 graduation and wouldn't you know it, Eden is the Little Red Hen.  I know I'm her mom and all, but oh how cute she was!!!

OK, well THIS picture isn't the cutest, but I promise, she delivered as an adorable chicken!  For some reason, as only a mom can do, I had a fear that she would get stage fright or something.  After all, she is a lot like me.  However, that little girl didn't miss a beat and was fantastic.  

After the program, the preschool class got up to do their program while the kindergarten kids got their caps and gowns on.  I took that opportunity to snap this picture of Titus.

 I think I kept the picture because to me, I see a preteen in his face...not the indefatigable 4 year old he really is.  It was a flash-forward of sorts.  sigh.  sniff, sniff.

Here she is walking down the aisle just before she receives her diploma.  This was the best shot I could get because I was at the other end of the pew and our [wiggly] kids were in the mix of heads between Eden and me so I had limited time.  I felt like a paparazzi.  "Eden!  Over here!"

The tassel has been flipped and Eden is no longer a "future 2nd grader" but a for really real official 2nd grader, in the flesh.  Holy cow.  Where did it go?  Bigger sigh.  Bigger sniff, sniff.

Afterwards, as usual, we went to the church gym for graduate cake.  Eden was kinda out of it for most of these pictures, but we did manage a smile here.

Next are a few of the pictures we tried to take of our family.

Can you tell...

which is our compliant child...

and which one maybe...

not so much???

Mema and poppy were there...

and Grandpa G...

and grandma and grandpa...

and auntie and uncle Dave...

and of course, Eden's teacher, Mrs. Wolfe.  By this picture, Eden was done and was starting to get a little testy.

All she wanted to do was play and with that she found Levi's buddy, Ty (Elijah's friend, Bryce's younger brother) so I snapped a shot like any responsible, camera wielding mother would do.

We were sad not to see uncle John Paul and aunt Sarah, but otherwise had a great time.  We went to Steak and Shake afterwards, graduate's choice, and stayed up way too late for way too much sugar, but at least we didn't get spilled on this time!

Congratulations Eden!  We love you and are so proud of you and all your work your first year of school!  XOXO