Saying Goodbye

After two long years of having our house on the market, it finally sold. When we first put it on the market, it was hard to imagine it selling and us moving and living in a different house. But we had made the decision to change from the public schools to a private Christian school. With that comes tuition. To live in a house with a large mortgage AND pay tuition just wasn't going to work. We felt an education incorporating the values we were teaching at home was more important than living in our big house on the cul-de-sac in a dream neighborhood. As we thought about it and assessed our living situation, we weren't even really using half the space we had. Why continue to clean, maintain and pay for that? However our house didn't sell month after month and we started to wonder if selling was what we were supposed to do. But nothing else was changing to make the need to sell not there. After 16 months on the market we pulled it off to take a break and get through the holidays without having to have our house "show ready" in moments notice. Ok maybe that never happened, but I was just tired of either needing to clean the house when I didn't have time or wondering why no one was calling to see the house!

We regrouped, put the house back on the market in the spring thinking we would give it another 6 month try. I had faith God would bring the perfect buyer in that time frame. If it didn't sell, then that wasn't the plan He had for us. I was content with that, the apples were finally ok if it sold, but a few of them were holding out for us to stay put. The Hub, well he never wanted to sell in the first place, but he also didn't like paying the mortgage every month, so what else can you do? In the end we all were leaning towards our house not selling... and then one day it did!
Our buyers wanted to close in 30 days. We didn't have a home we wanted to move into. The few we had liked over the months our house was for sale had already sold. It felt like we had stepped onto a speed belt. We went from one day thinking we were probably staying put to having to be out of our house with no where to go in 30 days. We looked at everything on the market that fit our needs, but none was just right. I mean we felt since we are getting the chance to start again with our home buying, this time with our family complete and our needs known, we wanted to do it right. Why just buy to buy? So we checked out some apartments planned some travel for the summer and then realized the best thing to do was move in with the grandparents and keep looking for the perfect house. So packing began, a storage unit was rented, the move was made and our adventures having only just begun.

Catching a Glimpse

I was thinking last night and something hit home with me. Simple little things can brighten up the life of our children. Something so easy as teaching them how to make something that needs to be made (cookies) can have a lasting impact on their lives. For me, it seems as if I have been baking forever. I don't even remember my mom teaching me, I just remember always knowing how. Growing up it was one of my favorite pass times. I had plenty of ready samplers in my home with 5 brothers and their friends! A tasty treat never lasted long at our house. Recently, my oldest brother was remembering how our mom always had something warm and homemade waiting for us when we got home from school. I thought it is time for me to let my apples experience the joy of creating something they can eat. So today when the oldest asked if she could make something for breakfast, I sat back and let her do it and was amazed at how much she could already do on her own. Something so simple as that was able to bring both of us so much joy. These are the moments when God lets me see and feel the joy of being a mom.

Home for the Holidays

My favorite thing is just being at home with my kids. So of course I am very happy that we are on our two week holiday break from school and activities. The best sounds are those of my kids playing with each other. Of course I prefer the happy sounds and wish we didn't have to have the sad sounds, but I know they both go hand in hand. The hardest part about being home is other kids want to play with my kids. Of course my kids want to play with them too. It's just me that doesn't want to share them. I realize though I have to give in a little and let some playing with friends happen. But deep down inside I wish I could just keep us in a bubble all to ourselves. In all honesty, I can't understand those parents that want their kids out of the house all the time. I mean, why have kids if you don't want them around? My girls are not angels by any means, they are constantly mothering each other and trying to be in control of every game they play and every toy we have. The mood swings around this house are changing every hour to say the least. I always think of Mary Poppin's when they say "a real storms a brewing at that one"...I should have that stenciled to the front of our house! But I love every minute of it, even when I say I don't, I really do. I think all the time about what it will be like when they are older and really busy and able to run to those friends with out me being the mother hen to control them. SO please know my dear Apples, it isn't that I don't want you to play, I do, I just want you to play near me and with each other during these few short years that I have you. You will have the rest of your lives to play with friends and be out of my house.

Some fun things about holiday breaks: sleeping in, singing and dancing, watching movies, hot chocolate with peppermint sticks, wearing our pajamas, fixing what ever we feel like to eat, baking, playing outdoors. These are a few of our favorite things...

Looking Back Over the Year of 2010

So I guess when I think back over this year, one of my major goals was trying to capture memories. I want my girls to remember there childhood and not have huge blank spaces of time where nothing can be recollected, like I do. I think my biggest fear is they will wonder what they did or why they did something and then I won't be here for them to ask questions. Either that or I won't be able to remember to fill in their blanks! I had apple #4 in the beginning of 2009 and so that year was crazy and I didn't take as many pictures as I wanted. Needless to say, her first year does not have the month by month photo's as her sisters do. So when 2010 came and she turned 1, I was determined to not let another year go by with only a smidgen of pictures. After all, she is amazingly adorable! Well, OK, they all are!!! We purchased a new camera and then because I didn't know how to use it, it pretty much just sat in the case. Then in the spring I went to a one day event at my mother-in-laws church and I took a small 1 hour photo class and my desire to be a great photographer and capture beautiful, unique images of my girls was born. So I took a 6 week course from the same photographer, started reading blogs by other photographers and ended up taking somewhere between 2000-3000 photos over the second half of the year. I am pretty sure that is more than all the photos I have taken between Apple #1 and Apple #4 were born. We then had the same photographer take our family photos, since that hadn't been done in a few years. Finally I have put up a photo gallery in our family room to randomly display some of my handwork. This blog has also been a goal and though I started the initial page last May, I think, this is my first post. I am not computer savvy to say the least, so the main reason I haven't done much is I can't figure out how to get pictures and all the cute stuff on my page like other bloggers. Again, another work in progress. But I know I need to start writing out some of the funny, not so funny and well, memories of my apples before they start withering and turning brown! So here is to the beginning of making my goals reality!