Monday, June 30, 2008

Going Crazy!

It's been an interesting few days! I'm really struggling with Lucas. He seems to be in a rut of out-right defiance that I can't seem to break. I'm at my wits end... I want to understand what is going on in his heart and mind so I can maybe make sense of all this! It's as though he is purposefully testing me every 5 minutes or so. ARGH! I'm at a loss... so all you seasoned mommies please give me some advice! All my discipline tactics have proved useless!

Starting this past weekend he has also developed an obsession with going through each room and unplugging every cord he can find. At first I went around and plugged everything back in only to find a little while later everything unplugged again. For some strange reason this really got under my skin, but I think I'm going to have to resign myself to just plugging things in as I need them. He will also move items from room to room creating his own electrical collage. I know someday I will look back on this and smile, but right now- living in the midst of this- frustrates me.

On Saturday we were at Brian's parents home and Lucas snuck up to grandpa's office and proceeded to unplug all the cords to the fax machine and the computer. Luckily, grandpa got a chuckle out of it. At one point we even had to ask Lucas to show us where some of the cords needed to be plugged in. Little Smartie-Pants would just point to where the cord needed to go. He amazes me sometimes. The wheels are always turning!

I am taking a much needed break today. I have hired a babysitter for 3 hours and I am going to do whatever I want. This mom needs to get her heart back on track!

Saturday, June 28, 2008

Bountiful Harvest

This week the kids and I harvested the first batch of blueberries from the four blueberry bushes at our new home. They are SO good! Lydia ate every berry I tried to put in her little pink bucket. I'm surprised she didn't get a tummy ache.

Brian, his mom and myself spent an hour or so putting up the cage and netting to keep the birds from eating the berries. I was glad to have some help. It wasn't something I could do by myself. The cage is a little rickety, but it'll be fine for this summer. I think Brian is planning to build something more sturdy next summer.

This afternoon I went back over to the house to mow the lawn and was able to harvest another over-flowing pint of berries. It looks as though we will have that much or more ready to pick on Monday. What an abundant blessing!!! I am ready to pull out my recipes and whip up some pie, muffins and cobbler. Oh, I'm so excited!

Friday, June 27, 2008

40th Anniversary Celebration



Last weekend the kids and I traveled to Michigan to celebrate my mom and dad's 40th anniversary. Our family has been so blessed to have loving parents who love each other! It's not too often that we can get all five siblings together at once- maybe twice a year. We had such a special time of laughing, catching up and playing together. To me, when we are all together everything in the world seems right.

There were so many great pictures from our time together. Here are just a few of my favorites from the weekend:

My beautiful, curly headed nephew!

My precious neice! (I have another awesome picture of her and her momma, but I didn't want to post it just in case my sister wants to)


Lucas spending time with Grandpa.

Lydia loungin' with the adults.

Sunday, June 8, 2008

Exciting News Revealed

Most of you who read this blog already know the "exciting news", but I have to blog about it anyway. Brian and I recently bought a new home!!! (Actually, we don't close until Tuesday.) We've casually been looking for a home in the area we will be moving to... just waiting for the right moment to pounce. Well, that moment came Memorial Day weekend. We went to look at the house the very day it went on the market. As we drove up to the house I was drawn to it, but as I entered the back yard I was completely in love. I actually got teary eyed with the remote prospect that this house could be ours. The house belongs to a couple in their 70's and it is immaculate. Landscaping must be their passion. The back yard is very large and absolutely beautiful! It feels like a bit of country in the middle of the suburbs- which is what this country-at-heart girl has been longing for.

We placed an offer on Tuesday after Memorial Day. It was an offer I thought they would laugh at, but I prayed that if God wanted us to have this house He would have to throw it in our laps. The couple counter-offered 2 days later with an offer we couldn't pass up.

The really neat thing is I had been challenged by a friend's post (in which she was referring to someone else's post- love how we encourage one another through blogging) to make Psalm 37: 3- 7a part of my prayer life.

3 Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. 4 Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart. 5 Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this: 6 He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.7 Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him;

In this post she was talking about sharing the desires of your heart with the Lord, but also being willing to sit back patiently and wait for God's timing and being okay with His plans possibly being different from your own. She began to list her deepest heart desires in the margin of her Bible and then dating the time she began praying for this request and then the day it was given to her. She has a pretty neat list.

I decided I could pray about the next house the Lord would provide for us. My desire has alway been to have a place that seemed cozy and private, but I married a city boy so I didn't know if we could ever afford a house with a "secluded" lot. Well, the Lord provided just that in this new house. We still have neighbors within a fairly close distance (compared to country girl standards), but somehow this house gives me the feeling of privacy.

And the extra neat thing is I bought a patio blueberry bush earlier this year hoping to harvest a small amount of blueberries. I just found out that our new home has 4 or 5 blueberry bushes loaded with berries waiting to be picked! God has given me my heart's desire and added an extra special blessing!


Quote for the day...."Butterflies have strong legs!"---Lucas