And so it begins

I've started to collect boxes,

packing paper,

tape,

saran wrap,

bubble wrap...

On November 11, our house went under contract.

And for that we are so very thankful.

Of course, anything can happen

but the plan is to close January 3.

We rejoice that God has provided a buyer for our house 

in this kind of market,

and we trust that He will continue to provide for each step of our move

as He has done so faithfully thus far.

House Update

So we've been doing a lot of house projects.

Or I should say, Mike, Carlos and my dad have been.

Nick and Dad pulled up the carpet a few weeks ago to get ready for the wood floors.

You know I didn't shed any tears when we said goodbye to that nasty stuff!

I have covered our chairs with fun fabrics over the years, and mom gave me the great idea of re-covering them with vinyl instead of fabric so they could be cleaned.  The blue/green/yellow paisley fabric wasn't looking so blue/green/yellow anymore.  It was more like redsauce/peanutbutter/chocolate colored.  So Mom and I ran to Mill Outlet one day during naps and got this brown vinyl.   I almost went for the lime green, but I knew I'd be tired of lime green in 2 months, so I went for the very boring brown and I absolutely love it.  We christened the new chair cushions with spaghetti for dinner -- how fitting!  

Thank you for screwing the seats back in for me, Dad!

We have a gallon of grey paint left from the living room that we never opened and that we got for 40% off during Sherwin Williams paint sale, so we are going to paint the kitchen grey sometime soon.

We plan to take down the curtains, and probably will leave that window bare since it's a bay window.

I am going to accent the grey kitchen with colors for different seasons, 

like I plan to do in the living room.  

So, I'm stocking up on fun yellow plates to hang instead of the blue and whites.  

Then in the fall, I'll switch out the yellow for orange, maybe?!  

And then Christmas plates in December!

It will flow so much better, and since the floors are seamless, it will really work well.

We are LOVING these floors!

I am so glad to get rid of that white linoleum.

We will also probably paint down the hallway too, just to keep it all the same.  

I'm working on the entry way too; I don't have any great ideas yet.

Although, the only requirement is that whatever goes on that table must be unbreakable.

Heh.

I took these pictures at night, because it shows the grey color of the walls better.  

When we get our SUPER FUN rug in, I will take pictures during the daytime too.

What kind of rug is it?

I'll just have to leave you guessing!

I've ordered a boxwood wreath to hang on top of the mirror, 

so it will add some greenery to the room.

We plan to move the yellow chair that was by the front door to the back of the room where the papasan was, and I am going to cover it in a white slipcover.  

I know, yes, it will be white.  

And yes, I am aware that I have 3 very dirty kids.

But I love the magic of bleach!

I could never get the yellow chair clean again, 

but I can wash a white slipcover and it'll look good as new.

Oh, and we have gotten wood vent covers since these pics were taken.  

Don't worry, the white vent covers aren't part of the white decorations.

I also plan to add the kids profiles to the white plates hanging on the wall, 

and will hang some black and white canvas pics of the kids on the other side of the mirror.

As you can tell, it's still a work in progress!

We also had the hallway done too, and it is just fabulous.

I almost moved everything off the floor to take the pic, 

but I thought you might appreciate a real life pic.

There's a pile to go up in the attic, and there's laundry to be put away.

And there's Emmaline's dirty outfit on the floor.

Welcome to my REAL house!

The kids love the floor, and I know they'll be really bummed when 

our SUPER FUN rug arrives and they can't slide across the living room anymore.   

Ok, back to house stuff.

We also got a new dishwasher!

I think Ben Salmon is most excited about it.

For the heck of it, I put a small baking sheet in the dishwasher that had chocolate all over it from chocolate chip cookies, and it came off!

I felt like I was on a commercial.

But then I remembered I just have a dishwasher that actually works!

The kids had fun with the bubble wrap that it came in.

And just because these uploaded with the rest of the pics, 

I'll mention that I am doing the consignment sale in July like I did back in January.

I was able to sort, label and tag all of the clothes while mom and dad were here, 

which was such a lifesaver

because....

I am baking 750 cookies for MED-EL this weekend and all next week!

New Birthday Tradition

We have a new birthday tradition around our house...

Can you guess what it is?

A birthday wreath for the front door!

I plan to put this on our door at least during the week of whoever's birthday we're celebrating...maybe even the whole month?

I made it in just one night, it was super easy to do.

It's just balloons stuck in a straw wreath.

It wasn't very cheap (~$35) because I had to use 4 packs of balloons

but, if we use it for 5 birthdays a year for many years to come, it's well worth it!

Thank you for buying the supplies for me, Mom!

And in case you were wondering, it's Nick's birthday we're celebrating this month!

I got the idea here.

But of course I changed some things, or learned things along the way, as usual.

Sunday Mornings

Sunday mornings are the craziest time of the week for our family. As the wife of a pastor/minister, I have the responsibility of getting everyone ready for church by myself on Sunday mornings. I know I am not alone in this--many other wives and mothers are doing the same thing, at the same time each Sunday. While we all laugh about how crazy it is, we agree that it is well worth it, and it truly is a joy. It's such a small struggle, with such a great reward. The next time you see your minister's wives on Sunday mornings, with their little flock, give them a big high five! It's one of those things I never thought about until it was my turn to do it.

Nick leaves around 7:30, and the boys and I don't need to be at church until 9:15. I have learned ways to make it easier along the way, and I am still learning each week. This will be something I'll be doing for many years to come, although it is hardest right now with small children. I know it won't always be so crazy. But I think it'll be quite a few years before we have quiet, relaxing Sunday mornings, with no spankings, and time spent in the Word and prayer before we come to church.

Here are a few things I've learned along the way.

I always shower on Saturday night. On the weeks that I shower on Sunday mornings, I end up sweating even more, and it's as if I haven't showered at all. While our bathroom doesn't come close to looking like this, my showers on Saturday nights feel very close to sublime relaxation.

Nick and I wake up fairly early on Sunday morning. He gets dressed, and I put on my make up, dry my hair, and put in my rollers. (Contrary to popular belief, rollers are much faster than anything else for me.) Hudson wakes up at 7, and I feed him. Then he plays happily (yay!) while I make breakfast and lunch. This morning, I popped open a can of cinnamon rolls, baked them, and gave Nick two on a napkin as he walked out the door.

I got Elijah out of his bed at 8. Then, I fed Hudson his oatmeal cereal, and Elijah very excitedly ate his cinnamon roll.

I have learned that Sunday lunches are tricky. Both boys are very ready for naps when we get home at 1:00ish. Elijah has often feasted on 500 goldfish crackers in the nursery, and rarely eats much at lunch. So I know that I either have to do a crock pot meal or we do PB & J. There's nothing in between.

This morning I threw in a roast, sliced a potato, and dumped in some baby carrots into the crock pot after I fed Hudson and before Elijah woke up. (I love those new Crock Pot liners!)

Then, it's time to get everyone dressed. I have already picked out our clothes and ironed them on Saturday night. I can't try on 50 outfits like I used to on Sunday mornings, wondering if my shoes match when I walk out the door. Those days are gone. I put on whatever I've picked out the night before, and I check for ANY shoes at all when I get to the car. It's not unusual for me to put the boys in the car barefooted and then go back inside to find shoes that match. If I ever show up to church barefooted, just smile and give me a hug.

While I get dressed to and take my rollers out of my hair, I put the boys on our bed. This morning, Elijah liked to "hide" Hudson under the pillows. I don't know if Hudson signed up for that game. I did a lot of refereeing.

Sometimes, I put Elijah back in his bed to play there, and other times I put in a movie for him to watch. Hudson is almost always content wherever he is. Thank you, Jesus.

This Sunday in particular, I took chocolate-dipped strawberries as a "thank you" for Elijah's nursery workers. I made them on Saturday night. So I put those out on the counter, as a reminder to not forget. Of course I wanted to "accidentally" leave them so that I could eat all of those chocolate strawberries! Once we got to church, I called Nick to meet me in the parking lot so that I could carry the strawberries in and he could help me with everything else.

While I got Elijah dressed, I put Hudson in the exersaucer. I chuckled when I saw that Elijah had put our black baby doll in Hudson's play area. (Remember her, Roarks?)

Then I got Hudson dressed. Mr. Spit-Up is last to be dressed. I successfully get the boys into the car, with their diaper bags, which I packed on Saturday night, of course.Hudson's bag has an extra outfit, a bottle, burp cloth, diapers, wipes, and a bib.

This particular Sunday, Elijah was in a very grumpy mood. He wanted to wear his Crocs, his Elmo shirt, and he didn't want his hair brushed.

And the shoes lasted 5 seconds.

His little backpack has diapers, wipes and a sippy cup of diluted juice in it. (I love that little backpack by the way. I plan to pack it full of goodies on Sunday nights when we take him into the service.)

We made it to church, and it was well worth it!

When we got home, I noticed that the boys matched, and thought it would be cute to get a few pictures. I don't think anyone else though it was a cute idea.

Cluck

The boys were extra fussy and whiney this morning (is that a word?), so I decided to bundle them up and take them for a walk. It's about 50 degrees and gloomy today, but we just had to get out of the house for a minute for some fresh air.

Before the walk, I bundled up Hudson. I could only find a 12 month sized jacket, so that had to do. Hudson was swallowed up in the jacket with a blanket wrapped around him. Then, I found Elijah in Hudson's room, with a bunch of chickens lined up in a row. Yes. It was as odd as it sounds. (Mama Bugnar very sweetly sent her chicken collection to Elijah to borrow for his Barnyard party. So that's where the chickens came from.) Of course, Elijah insisted on taking a chicken on the walk. He chose the one whose eyes popped out when you squeeze his neck. Lovely.

So I throw on some yoga pants that I hadn't worn in a while. Obviously. I wore them when I was pregnant and then post-partum, and they were now very loose. Don't get me wrong, it was a good thing they didn't fit. But not realizing it until we were walking down the street wasn't a good thing.

Off we go. I am pushing the stroller with one hand, pulling up my pants with the other. Hudson is quickly disappearing (and probably suffocating) inside his 12 month jacket, and Elijah is squeezing the chicken's neck, eyes popping out. We pass a man in his yard, and he smiles at us. I couldn't tell if he felt pity for us, or if he was silently praying for us, or if he was grimacing at his plummeting resale value. We all know that having chickens in the neighborhood doesn't help with resale.

You can see this coming. Elijah decides he doesn't want the chicken anymore. So he "gives" it to Hudson. The 'sharing' looked a little more like 'shoving' from my angle. After telling him not to shove the chicken in Hudson's face for the 20th time, he gives it to me. So now, I am pushing the double stroller with one hand, pulling up my pants with the other, and balancing a chicken on the hood of the stroller.

By this point, I'm feeling like it's 80 degrees outside. We get home, and Elijah obeys with a "happy heart" and goes inside. Thank you, Lord. (He whined about wanting to mow outside but Hudson needed a nap.) But when I got Hudson inside, I realized he lost a sock on the walk. And it was one of my favorite ones, too.

Maybe we should have just spent those 20 minutes inside? And maybe one day, I can look back on this story and laugh?


Update: Julie found the missing sock on a walk around the neighborhood with Jonah! Thanks, Julie!