Starting 2013 off right!

It seems like 2012 went by in a flash! It was a year of blessing for our family. We began to get settled in our new community and looking back I can see how the Lord has worked in our hearts, growing a love for the people around us. New friendships, new opportunities to serve and more insight into His purpose for each one of us. Praying for the year ahead, that our hearts would be turned to Him and that we would grow more fully into the plans He has for us. Determined not to let the blessings of the past year make me concerned for the future. Sounds silly, I know! Sometimes I just feel unworthy. But, I am reminded of Jeremiah 29:11 and will walk confidently into 2013 expecting God's loving hand to guide and unending blessings to fill our hearts and lives.

We've been blessed to spend the last few days hanging out with my Mom, both at
her house and ours. So very thankful for the role she plays in our lives and fully committed to making relationship with her a priority even though the distance does not always make it easy. We love you Nan!!

First Fish

During our trip to Nana's house last month, Alex spent lots of his free time constructing fishing rods. His goal was to try to catch some fish in the koi pond out back.  Needless to say, this was a losing proposition.  So, when we got home, with urging from his Nan and Nana, he convinced Daddy to take him down to the creek by our house to fish.  This event happened less than 24 hours after we returned home...there would be no delaying!!!

I was gone taking Anna somewhere and missed the first fish he caught, so I hurried down to the creek when I got home.  Below are the pictures and video I captured while in attendance.  I am pretty sure Alex would have stayed til dark, if we would have let him.  Fishing is fun...when the fish are biting!!

Well hello Mom...

Telling me how big the fish he caught was.

Digging.

Found one.

Casting again.

Waiting...

More waiting...

Sweet boy!

Daddy is a great teacher!

Best dudes around.

Walking home...he was full of energy and excitement. :)

 Second fish...caught on video this time!

The view from here.

One thing we love about the new house is its level of coziness.  This is a cozy house, both in size and in feel.  I think it will feel even more cozy once I get more decorating finished!  We are not really missing the 1100 square feet we lost in the move.

For us, one of the best things is the set-up of the bedrooms. In the old house it was hard to hear the kids from their rooms, especially at night.  Add in making treks up and down the stairs in the middle of the night to check blood sugar, my paranoia about not being able to hear Anna if she had trouble during the night, and it was not a good combination.  So, a one-story house was on the top of our list while we were house hunting.  I really expected that we would probably end up with a split floor plan, master on one side of the house, bedrooms on the other.  That would have been fine.  But what we ended up with was even better! We have a long hallway off of the living room, at the end of the hallway there is an enlarged "landing" area with some built in storage, off of the landing are 3 single doors- Anna's room, Alex's room and the guest bathroom, and one double door- the master bedroom. 

The view from my door way.

Looking in on Anna.

Looking in on Alex.

Now, don't get me wrong, there are certain moments that I wish they were back upstairs. But the trade off has been worth it. More peaceful sleep for all of us.

Gosh...I sure do love those kids.

A day in the life...

...of our family.

I have talked many times about the lifestyle changes that homeschooling and our move to be close to Chris' work have brought to our family. I did not even plan to take pictures throughout a single day, but as I was downloading photos, I realized that is exactly what I had done.! So, here you go...some snapshots of a day in our life, minus a couple of important things like Daddy coming home for lunch or a run to the library.

In full disclosure, I do not always put on make-up and we sometimes stay in our sweats all day; and we have days that involve a trek across town to classes at LCCS. The majority of days, however, are spent in similar fashion as the one documented here.

With schoolwork done and Daddy home, it's time for a family movie and picnic in the living room for dinner.

I am so incredibly thankful for this season of life. Looking back on a day is a good reminder of how blessed we truly are.

Charlie

We've had a new addition to the family. Or do I even say that? I don't want to become one of "those" people who raises an animal to the same level as the humans in their family. (My apologies if you are one of "those" people...no offense intended, it's just not where I want to go.)

This is how it all began...

For Christmas Alex received, from Santa Claus, a certificate to pick out one dog with the specific stipulation that not even Dad could over rule this gift! So, the hunt for the perfect dog began. We decided that we would like to find a rescue dog, not a puppy. To say that this process was more than we bargained for would be an understatement. There were applications to fill out, home visits, trial periods, visits with foster families and more. It was craziness!

On the Friday after Christmas, we brought Confetti home with us to see if she might be a good fit. Confetti was a shy, timid part beagle/part blue tick hound mix, about 2 years old. She was sweet and cute but she did not interact AT ALL! She spent all of her time hiding out in her kennel or in one room of the house. She would not come when called, would not play, would not eat, would not go outside. Two days later we called the foster family and told her we wanted to bring her back....it just wouldn't work. We wanted a dog to play with and enjoy. Not one that apparently needed some therapy to overcome her past! To say that the foster lady was ugly would, once again, be an understatement. She would reluctantly take her back, but she couldn't do it for at least three more days. Let me tell you that lady knows what she's doing. Of course, after three more days, we felt bad for sending her back. She really wasn't getting any better but we were starting to feel sorry for her and felt that maybe she just needed a little love and attention to come around. So, we paid the (rather high) adoption fee and committed ourselves to helping this little dog.

Fast forward a month and here we are...she is much better! Still doesn't like to go in our back yard (loves the front?), but she interacts, comes when called, likes to go for walks and will play on some occasions. She is still slightly neurotic, but we love her anyway. She is house trained and crate trained (although, now that she likes us, she isn't too happy to be left in her kennel). We renamed her Charlie (from the show Good Luck Charlie) and have transitioned pretty easily into our new role as dog owners.

So...without further delay, I introduce you to Charlie.

House inspiration

As of today, we have lived in our house four months and two days, and I still have not hung anything on the walls in the entry, living room, kitchen, hallway, bathrooms or Alex's room. I take that back, in the living room there is a wooden piece with Jeremiah 29:11 on it hanging over the back door. Other than that there is nothing...zero, zilch, nada. I am not sure why I am having such a hard time decorating this house. I want it to look simple AND cozy, but not overdone and cluttered. I want it to feel casual, not dressy. Everytime I go out to look for things, I don't find anything that I really like. I also know that this is not the most important thing in the world...it is a minor detail. It will get done, when it gets done!

That being said, in an effort to get myself going, I have been searching the great world wide web for inspiration. Here are some things I have come across that I liked. Nothing translates perfectly to our space, but at least I have some inspiration. (All images from Google, unless otherwise noted.)

I have a huge wall behind one of our sofas. It is definitely going to take a grouping of things to make it look right. I haven't found any ideas I really love, but here a few that I liked.


I like this one the best...it has similar blue walls and white trim work. Biggest difference, my couches are white.

(here)

(here)

Right now, our color pallet is pretty neutral except for the light blueish gray walls. I could keep everything neutral, but I would like to add in some color. Maybe start with a vintage quilt hung over the back of the couch and then pull colors out of that to add accessories elsewhere???

Here are some examples of pops of color...


(here)

I love this hook/picture shelf for the entry way. We have a bench already and I'm thinking maybe Chris could make this to go with it?!

And, I would love to find a spot to hang a couple of these vintage game boards.

(here)

So, if you have any ideas or opinions I'd love to hear them! Hopefully it won't be too long and I can be posting about all that we've done. Until then, we'll enjoy or uncluttered space! ;)


Lissa

What does it mean to be settled?

What does it mean to be settled? That question has been swimming around in my mind for the last few days. For years we lived in a state of unsettledness. Let me be clear, unsettled does not mean unhappy. We were very happy! However, we knew that life as we knew it would not be able to continue indefinitely. We knew that we did not both want to be working high-stress jobs with long hours forever. We also knew that at some point, if Chris continued at his current employer, we would need to move...away from family, friends, school...away from our corner of the world, the place our kids had known since the day they were born.

Step 1- I quit my job to stay at home. We took a HUGE leap of faith. God honored our decision and provided for our family in ways we could not have even imagined. Praise Him! So very thankful for his guiding hand and confirmation.

Step 2- We began the process of making the move to Euless. House was put on the market. We began homeschooling to see if it would be a long-term option for our family, since we knew that the schooling options in the new part of town were not favorable.

Step-3 The house sold. We lived with Mom for a short time. We bought a house. We renovated. We moved in.

Step 4- Get settled.

What does that mean? Countless people have asked me over the last few months, "Are you getting settled in?" After living for years knowing that things would most likely be changing, I am not sure I know what it means to be settled. Over the last couple of weeks I have been wondering, "Should we keep homeschooling next year?" I get anxious thinking, "Are we doing the right thing?" Am I teaching my kids what they need to learn, how they need to learn it? And, so as I have asked the Lord to show me what His plan is, I felt Him saying to me, "Get settled." Where He has us right now is exactly where we are supposed to be. In Euless, homeschooling and spending some really great time together as a family. I need to trust Him. I need to relax...and get settled.

Does that mean that all of my doubts and worries will disappear? Probably not. But I do know that I can lay them at His feet every day and trust that if something needs to change He will show us the way. I just need to live this out.

As we move forward, I'll let you know exactly what "getting settled" means for our family.

In the meantime, what's a blog post with no pictures?! Here are a few snapshots from our lives over the last couple of months.



Mom, Anna and I. Honestly, the very hardest part of moving...not seeing Mom every day.

Alex misses his cousins just about as much as Anna and I miss Mom. :)

Piano Recital

My sweet peas!

Blessings on you and your family as you navigate this current "season" of life,