Tune In Tuesdays #.3

  

 Tune in Tuesday's sounds so quirky doesn't it?

I like strange, geeky things so the title is going to stick around for a while until I can find a better way to describe what goes on around here. 

It's the end of summer and we've already begun home schooling. That's right in our part of the country children return to school the second week of August. I am technically starting late. However we have had plenty of fun out here in the country! 

It's rained a lot here and when we are not snuggling on the couch, making mud pies and bead necklaces we are barbecuing, going for long adventurous hikes throughout the woods,  dressing up,visiting with friends, attending church and enjoying every drop of hot sunshine because we know it won't last forever!!!

 Dagen Asher turned six months! This baby is such a joyful presence in our family. He is always smiling, is smothered in love and has just started to nibble on crusts of home made bread because he is still nursing full time and I don't like to introduce real food until nine or eleven months. Dagen still enjoys a ride on my back as we chase after energetic children and dogs on our walks! As you can see life here is full of nature, moss, mist, sunsets and sun rises with beautiful messages of hidden things left in cobwebs overnight. Our days are quiet with the chirping of birds, glimpses of deer and the faraway sounds of goats and chickens from across the road.

Life is sweet, peaceful and happy as we enjoy these last moments of summer.

 

Reconnecting with technology while living a country life

Reconnecting with technology while living the country life.

How else could I word this new relationship of Jersey girl meets big wide open spaces?

The last time we connected, we had just been in the heave of moving day nightmare. Things were fuzzy when we were woken up during the early morning hours to a burst pipe, a foot of water and soggy moving boxes. God tested my ability for patience and stamina. Try moving with three little ones, a nursing baby, water, and no husband. Just try it. I hope you handle it better than me.

Our tiny carpeted rental was water logged, we stuck it out for three days. Three days of being confined to the only dry spot in the house, our itty bitty kitchen. At night we were careful to dry our feet before climbing into bed and hoped our covers wouldn't trail on onto the wet floor.

Our rental began to dry out, leaving us with a terrible mildew smell, soggy books, destroyed possessions. I had closed on the house for my husband two days prior moving before after splitting off my children between friends and family while setbacks occurred which kept me at closing for five hours. This is not normal I assure you!  

 

Moving day!!!!!

By ourselves, we had help after we got to our new home, but my husband missed the action because he couldn't take off.

 

Clarity, tranquil amongst the chaos. Me, on the verge of feeling as though my limit of sense, patience and faith was being tested. Who moves with four small children, two dogs, two cats in one vehicle? We do. And we did it; just like we moved from one state to another. It could have been worse, yet here we are in the country and life has never been so sweet.

My amazing little sister came out within days; never have I been so thrilled to have her visit. 

 

This is our family lighting off fireworks for the fourth, having s'mores, bonfires and late night craziness.

 

We don't appear to have just moved from chaos do we?

We had a wonderful time with my sister's visit; lot's of food, shopping, we visited a memorial park, took lots of walks, explored, drank pots of coffee, played with crazy children, ran with dogs, hung out by the pool and talked until we couldn't keep our eyes open any more.

During this time we had barely any phone service and no internet, I enjoyed the break. But I am back; strange to be reconnected, busy with decorating, unpacking, exploring  and living our country life.

Why We Are Here Again

Crazy times in this part of the country; you know that house we've been talking about since March 6th? The dream house with land and room, closer to everything we love about this state? Well we have one week and we're going to be homeowners again!!!!!

Unbelievable; last year at this time we were anxiously hoping we could get rid of the homeowner title as fast as possible yet now we're back again, packing, planning with bouts of shrieking with excitement.(well I'm shrieking my husband just has a goofy smile on his face most of the time )

 Where we come from Houses and property are jammed together; more people less space. It's rare to have a yard bigger than a bedroom, and only the "well off" can have jacuzzis, pools, large homes, backyards, hot tubs and little extras. Leave the east coast and housing options become outrageously diverse plus extremely nice.

Enter the people who started from floor up, no joke here.

I grew up sleeping in a bunk bed, in a converted garage turned bedroom with five other people.

From there I lived on couches, to another floor because eating was more important than a mattress. From there a blow up mattress to the  first year of marriage a bed (finally) in a tiny room, then a bed in a moldy apartment. Then the bed went to a 100 year old house that needed to be renovated slightly.

The bed broke; we got a new one with a mattress that stayed in an upstairs attic like bedroom last year until we found our tiny abode in our new state.

And now this poor, (yet blessed) unassuming family who has ALWAYS been frugal and yes, not as well off as a higher income bracket tax payer from the East coast, are shocked owners of a dream location home.

Funny thing is no one puts on airs around here when they happen to have granite countertops and three bathrooms. It's very normal to have those things, again getting away from an East coast mindset is refreshing.

Also; there is a lot less emphasis on labels around here, more on that another time.

Last week I had an immensely fulfilling conversation with someone who had lived for several years in Malaysia, in a one room home with four small children. ONE room.

They were happy, they were able to properly put into perspective how much we don't need. People in other countries have six or more children on average in tiny, little homes. And this is very normal.

American's we are so gluttonous sometimes aren't we? We put each child into one room fill all four bedrooms with one human body each yet still complain it's not enough.

With that thought rubbing some people the wrong way, I will say that while our " dream home" is wonderfully unexpected. I feel guilty with the thought of all that space plus the added bonuses this home comes with. Pray that we will use it properly to serve and grow a family and it will not become an idol.

Tune in Tuesday's #.2 Edition

I think those veggie puppies are too cute to eat! My children love this kind of thing, they're really into eating fruit and green stuff with "dip." I'm just thankful they'll eat fresh food without too much fuss.

Speaking of fussing, it's so nice seeing my new one embrace tummy time like such a pro! (Minus fussing.)

Ahh the love grow between my oldest and youngest melts my mommy heart.

Since we're showing off family photos I'd like to announce that my daughter is an advertising model for U haul! Last year as we were moving the U haul company caught wind of a tagged photo of Clarity. Her picture is being displayed on thirty eight trucks! The actual link is here. This the photo they asked to use, maybe you'll see her someday on a highway!!!!

New Jersey; a lifetime ago......still just because I love Kentucky doesn't mean that a shirt like this wouldn't be worn proudly in our new home state by ME.

Just thinking about that move again brings to mind all the clutter we eradicated from our lives. I came upon this blog that could've helped me out while I was sorting and packing.

Summertime means a summer reading list and I follow this blog around mostly for the free kindle reads they recommend. Here is clean reading being advertised, I can read several things at a time when it's free on kindle. 

http://thecommonroomblog.com/2014/06/free4kindle-summer-leisure-reading.html

Also if your all about Facebook, but have acquired the habit of letting social media take over your tissue box or have been noticing its become the main topic during anger management check this out.

 This is one of my daughter's smiles. She's always giving me a sweet memory when she does this.

Making me think of this quote.

Speaking of lessons thank you and please are hard habits to impress on a child, you can always figure out what manners are demonstrated at home between spouses because their children will repeat the manners often in public with little or no prompting. This blog from my group site has something to say about bad habits and manners.

Sometimes I wonder as a Christian that I'm not doing enough mission work. You see these people out there on the streets preaching, going on elaborate missions, often they proclaim loudly to everyone within earshot that they're "leading many to Christ."

What is the definition of that term though? Isn''t the Christian life itself enough to show a difference that would " lead " others to His glory?

Aren't we supposedly "leading to Christ" every second of every day by the way we are to live according to the Bible? 

Maybe you aren't leading to Christ when you're watching that show with sex scenes, or listening to that secular music, or on the job, or on the beach in a revealing swim suit. I get it, leading to Christ is a side job. Something you do with the youth once a week or only on Sundays. (Just kidding) (kind of)

While it sounds great that you " really have a heart for Africa" , we forget that the big things with Jesus aren't the big things to us. God isn't impressed with just the overseas missionaries who win souls farther away then the neighbors next door. They are trifles compared to His glory His unfathomable glory. God uses the foolish things, the weak things, simple things to confuse the mighty, to confound the wise.

The really big thing could be some unknown Christian,alone yet in the quiet of their heart resists temptation.When God has taken someone whose only ever sinned, someone whose been a slave to sin and they resist temptation that's HUGE.

The big thing may be a Christian seeing a spouse or a child, their child, succumb to cancer; the prayers for healing unanswered and YET they continue to glorify God.

When we glorify man, when we glorify missions as though we have to get on a plane to make it count then we are playing down God.

The Christian mother striving to teach her child to have a happy heart and a good spirit that doesn't whine and complain has just as difficult a mission as someone publicly leading worship or a sermon.

The big thing could be that person who has persevered in Christ, year after year. Trial after loss after let down. Yet still they glorify God and have run the race quietly, without much popularity or anything to tweet about.

These are the big things. It's the unspoken, hidden, subconscious little stuff that only God can see. But to Him it's immense, Jesus works through the simple things unseen so He can WOW us on the inside. So don't feel as though cleaning a bathroom for an elderly invalid is tiny compared to that person spending all weekend on the youth retreat. Or that sharing the gospel to a co worker was a fail when they rejected it compared to that orphanage in Brazil your friend is volunteering at. Those quiet things are just as important if not more so because it's done from the heart without any recognition. 

Until next time when you tune in on Tuesday.

One thing at a time

I'm really good at doing a lot of things all at once. Before I had children of my own I did one thing at a time. My day would go something like this; get up, shower, clean, go to work, work, go home, shower, eat, clean, go out, sleep, read or hang out. One thing, at a time, always. When I was on vacation, I did vacation, just vacation. When I was washing dishes, or vaccuming, that's all I was doing until I became a Mother.

Now my day goes something like this; wake up, nurse baby answer text, while nursing baby, while nursing baby find husband's uniform still nursing baby while directing toddler's to take off wet overnight diapers.Change baby, feed toddlers, take out dogs between feeding toddlers, wash dishes while dressing toddlers, start laundry, make beds, change baby, make phone calls while  again nursing baby. I won't keep going on with this terrifying illustration (there's a cup of coffee in there somewhere too ) I'm sure you're get the point. I'm always doing several things at a time.

My husband is the opposite; he's really good at doing one thing at a time. When he's home or has a day off from work (very rare) he's a pro at just hanging out with our children taking pictures of them and doing that one thing all day.My husband is a one-thing-at-a-time kinda man. When he works, he's just working, when he's eating it's just eating. Not too much talk, a whole lot of chewing.

I like when he's home. True he leaves a lot of messes adding one extra mouth to feed during snack times but I like when he's home and the coziness it brings to our little nest.

We're hoping to move any day now and after a very busy winter we are trying to take as much downtime as possible. Family will be visiting at different intervals for the rest of the summer and I know September will be upon us before we can blink. This will be the first year of true homeschooling for my children, we have some groups we are joining and trips we will be taking and lots of playdates to be attending.

These sorts of things will require me to do lots of things at once.! Until then I want to soak up my babies, catch these rare moments of doing one thing at a time.

Tristan likes to give Baby Dagen rides around the backyard

Gavin " fixing" his quad

From this angle T. Looks so very little

Where would a fun day be without ice cream, sunglasses, water play and photo bombing?

A friend mentioned that these kinds of pictures are going to be the ones our children will look back on as "family photos." I wonder what sort of pictures my parents would've taken if they'd have had social media ? What a shocking and amusing  thought all at once !

Happy weekend !!!!!!