What Up People

Hey y'all. I think about being here quite often...and then life takes priority. Today has been super fun! Lots and lots of paper work and phone calls - all my very favorite things to do! (I'm completely kidding. Going to the dentist might be the only thing I like less.)

We're getting ready to upgrade our computer system so we can keep using mobileme - soon to be icloud - because it rocks and syncs our calendars and contacts. It does tons more, but those two features alone have saved us SO MANY fights and SO MUCH miscommunication! In preparing, I'm backing up the ol' computer and came across these sweet photos. They take me back.

I love this one...right before Little Bit arrived!

In other news we've had another exciting few days!

Our precious neighbors' son (from before the move) has come to stay the week.

Little Man shut down the computer at the library...claimed he typed in a secret code. Nice. That was after he squirted soap all over his hands, arms, and the bathroom floor.

Little Bit had a throw down tantrum IN the library. Made my scalp tingle.

Next we stopped at Publix.

Our friend decided to demonstrate his mad running skills and tripped and slid a good five feet on his fanny. He had a look of utter embarrassment across his face - until I told him I thought his slide rocked. Then he popped up with a smile. And I reminded the children why we don't run in Publix.

We made it to checkout and Little Man decided to scale the side of the completely loaded shopping cart...Little Bit was in the front seat. Were it not for my super ninja skills, we'd have had a complete loss. I caught the buggy just in time. And then received horrified looks from all in sight. I broke out in a sweat. The bagger didn't even offer to help me to the car. I left kind of mad - like, haven't ANY of you been in this spot before? Just a gentle look. A smile. A knowing nod of the head? Nope. I couldn't get out of there fast enough.

We went to Sams next...and the children were PERFECTLY behaved. I even had two people compliment me on my well behaved children. One man approached me and asked if they were all mine?

"No sir. This one (pointing to our friend) is visiting."

"But you keep them all?"

"Well, just for this week."

"How do you do it? Our daughter-in-law can't do this. She's not capable. This is amazing. I mean, she just can't handle it."

And I wanted to DECK the guy! Instead I said, "Sir, you didn't see us an hour ago at Publix." And I walked away. (And then thought of about eighteen things I wish I'd said instead.) And since then I've thought of how gracious God was to me during that trip to Sams.

Yesterday I saw TWO snakes in our yard! I was raking and sent one flying onto the driveway - I called the kids and we studied it from a distance. No idea what kind. I've got some research to do. And now I'm a little shy with the rake and hedge trimmer.

Here, you bag your yard debris. This is new for us, but a sure way to measure how much yard work one has completed. Yesterday I bagged nine large bags...and got a whopper of a yellow jacket sting right above my knee. Which is where I've been stung the only two other times I've ever been stung - both times in my car WHILE driving. What are the odds? I think I screamed a string of ugly words. I couldn't get baking soda on it fast enough. I smashed that sucker bare handed.

Little Man carved his name into the dining room table. I'm secretly glad he did. It's like a permanent reminder he was here...and once a little boy. Though I'd never admit my gladness to him. The Engineer says we know who will inherit the dining room table. Ha.

Little Man also wrote his name in orange marker on his desk. And traced the outline of his most prized possession - his multi-tool. (The Engineer removed the knife piece. As a result, the fingernail file stands in as a knife. And is quite warped.)

Little Bit colored a nice picture on the breakfast room table. It's sure to wear off in a few weeks. She also cut up Sister's fabric measuring tape.

Sister is making an "Egyptian Room" in her bedroom - think dolls wrapped in toilet paper as mummies...yarn strung across every surface - you've got to have spider webs, you know.

Yesterday I heard all the children screaming and I went running...Little Bit had stripped completely down to nothing and was jumping on the trampoline. Seriously.

We're almost settled. I keep saying that. This morning I caught myself enjoying our house...walking through the rooms with a smile on my face. It's good to be nearly there.

This moving business has had me thinking a lot about how temporary our time on earth is...and on how much work moving is...and how much stuff we have...and how I long for freedom from stuff, but how stuff serves a purpose, too. And about how the world is harsh and hard and this, this place we call home, this is our oasis, our shelter from the storms and our safe place to weather the storms. By God's grace and with His help, I want to make it a place of beauty for our family - and for our friends. I want it to be a sweet and safe place where our children long to be. I want it to be a place my husband longs for when he is away.

Making those desires a reality requires a lot of work. Yesterday I forgot that work is a gift from God. Adam and Eve worked in the garden before the fall. Work is a gift from God...given in a perfect world when there was no sin. God told them to "fill the earth, have dominion over it, and subdue it" and later we read God "took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it."While I'm not entirely convinced dusting and toilet scrubbing would've been part of Eve's repertoire - and I'm betting animals didn't shed pre-fall!-I am convinced, because His word tells us, that God is glorified in the mundane...that I can seek to do all things - the washing and drying and folding, washing the dishes, dusting, sweeping up another tuft of dust and dog hair, the disciplining of my children - to His glory. These tasks aren't meaningless. They are part of His grand plan.

So anyway, yesterday I forgot that work is a gift. And I was quite discontent. And I yelled at my husband for playing on his ipod instead of washing dishes. And then it hit me, "work is a gift from God."