Moving and Travelling

Thanks for the prayers, we have a place to live! Put a deposit down last night on a 3 bedroom 1 1/2 bath duplex in Kentwood. The owners live next door and have a 10 month boy as well. She's due in January. God bless her. They are pretty nice people, Christians and fairly laid back about stuff. It should hopefully work out well. We have the place beginning Sunday. Let the moving/packing process kick into high gear.

To make things even more interesting around here, I fly out to Utah this afternoon. One of my best friends growing up lives out there. After 3 miscarriages she's finally had a baby and figured I needed to get out there to see her and celebrate. Half of my suitcase is filled with baby items for her that I no longer need. That means I have lots of room to bring back presents and souveniers right?

I'm excited to see my friend Myla, but it's been 2 1/2 years since we've seen each other. We catch up quickly, but there is always that breaking back in period. Catching up and getting use to each other again. It's always an adventure. She's Mormon, so when we go to church, it is a challenge to me to listen. It's interesting to step into a different faith and watch how God prompts me to know even more what the Bible has to say. I continue to pray that the truth would be revealed and known.

We've got the check in hand from selling this house and have a few weeks of living completely debt free. Then we'll sign our construction loan and be right back into the thick of it again!
Thanks so much for your prayers and your support over the past several weeks.

Rollercoasters, Flu, Laundry, & Fab Finds

Took our junior high kids to Michigan's Adventure on Saturday. I've learned that I'm getting old. I no longer enjoy wooden roller coasters - they make my back hurt. I managed to go the whole day without really getting a sunburn. That's a record for me at an amusement park, especially considering how much time we spent at the waterpark portion!

Yesterday, my husband and 3-year-old had the stomach flu. So I'm cleaning everything in sight today. All the sheets, blankets, stuffed animals, cloths... you get the picture. I'm on load 6 and have another 4 to go. I've been fitting in packing between load switches.

We still haven't secured a place to live yet. Have a couple leads that I'm praying one of which will come through soon! Your prayers for this is needed. Unfortunately people around here don't want to take 6 month renters.

I thought I deserved a blog break So here's my fabulous find ladies. Sorry that it isn't a chain store that you can replicate the purchase but head out in the neighborhood and hit the garage sales. I've been a garage sale fiend this summer. I have totes labeled for future clothing sizes for the boys and as I find great deals on garage sales and clearance racks I just tuck them away. Last week I hit a great sale for the boys and scored 6 pair of jeans (almost brand new in a variety of sizes), 2 pair of shorts, 3 books, 2 movies, and a fireman's hat for $7. The week before I got a brand new lime green/white plaid knee length lined coat for $1. I love garage sales.

I had my second garage sale of the summer and made another $160. Together with the furniture we've sold and the previous sale... we've made about $750 on stuff we don't need. The more I pack, the more I find that we have that we don't need. I'm sure by time we move into our newly built house I'll have a ton more to get rid of.

Regression

I'm a bit taken off guard this week. My 3-year-old has been potty trained for the past 6 months. Since getting the first week of training we haven't really had any accident issues. So far this week he's had 3 accidents. Some people tell me it's a stage he's going through, others the stress of moving, etc.

Any suggestions on what is going on and how to help him get re-focused?

Homeless

We're a bit frustrated with how we've been treated in the rental world so far. The duplex that I was so excited about won't be happening. We showed up Sunday night to look at it again and put down a deposit to find out that the couple had no intention of renting to us. So basically, we've lost several weeks of looking for housing. We close on this house next week with possession 2 weeks after that - then we have no place to live.

We're scouting out new rentals and have a couple of leads, but nothing is quite right yet. We're also looking at the possibility of renting our house back from the new owners until the end of July. Don't know about that yet.

We're trusting that God is going to provide just the right place at the right price in the right timing. But I'm a "realist" and a "planner." I'd really like to know right now. However, that doesn't seem to be the way that life works. Another lesson in flexibility and trust.

Generosity

I'm an independent and strong willed person. I'd like to think that I can handle things that come my way. Yet, I've learned so much from the book "The Confident Woman" about what it means to rely on God and His plan and provision rather than myself... And sometimes that means saying yes to help.

A dear old lady from our church that I usually bring meals called and offered me one. I negotiated with her and finally accepted a gift of banana bread.

I gave in and called a teenage boy from church to mow the lawn rather than trying to fit it in my list of things to do. My time was worth a little bit of money. He and his dad came over and made short work of what would have taken me hours and wouldn't let me pay a dime.

So many people have offered to help us move, pack, watch the kids, etc. I actually don't know where to start and who to take up on their offer. I want to get stuff done, but I'm hesitant to ship my kids off repeatedly either. I don't want this time to be too crazy for them. There has to be balance in it all somewhere - just not sure how to find it or create it.

Cadillac of Hospitals

Let me just tell you, that of all the hospitals to be in, we sure hit the jackpot. We've never been to St. Mary's except to visit friends who just had babies. The hospital was okay, but nothing like Spectrum that we were accustomed to. However - we had never been in the Lacks Cancer Center (which coincidentally is surgical recovery as well). There are remote controlled curtains, plasma tv (complete with internet that I'm blogging on right now). It's weird to see whatyou are typing on plasma. They have a chef that cooks to order ('m sure to tempt the cancer patients to eat). It's crazy but awesome. Andy is recovering pretty well as long as we stay on the pain meds. Should hopefully be home sometime today. Thanks for the prayers.

Exhausted

It's 10:15 PM and I'm on my way back to the hospital. We've been there all day and ended it with surgery - Andy had his appendix removed. Long story, really long day. Could use your prayers as this timing will be a challenge with packing, moving, meetings with builders, etc.

I need strength as well. Family has been a big help taking the boys today and yesterday, but this is going to be interesting. Thanks for your prayers.

Random Thoughts

Teething - I know my baby is teething because he tried to use both of my cheeks as a teething toy last night. The four 6 teeth he already has made quite an impression.

Garage sale deals - Ryan is totally in to marine wildlife. At a garage sale this week I found brand new beanie babies for $.75 each. I picked up a shark, killer whale, walrus, dolphin, and penguin. I scored some major mom points on that one.

Sunburn - I'm usually pretty careful with my very fair skin and the sun, especially since the latest skin cancer episode with my mom. We worked at my mom's house today trying to get the outside of her house up to par - it evidently took longer than planned because I've got some really pink (closer to red) skin to show for it.

Boundries - I'm struggling with healthy boundries with my mom. She's almost 70 and does need help with projects, but there are a lot of things that she can do for herself that she wants me and my siblings to do for her. I want to honor and respect her, but at what point do you draw the line?

Reception - Our neighborhood has always been fairly quiet, but tonight we are getting a hip-hop serenade from down the street. The neighbors down the way are having a backyard wedding reception and the music has been filling the air for the last several hours. We thought about crashing the party but it would probably be a giveaway that we were the only white people there. They are good neighbors so I can't complain about the music, I'm just hoping it doesn't go too late. I need all the beauty sleep I can get!

Climbing - Another safety issue to watch for, my baby decided to learn to climb up the stairs by himself this week. I came out of the office to find him on the second stair sitting there laughing with his big brother. As long as Ryan was further up the stairs, Tyler continued to climb. It took a bit (and mom staying right behind him) but he made it all the way up on his first try.

Notebook - I thrive when my thoughts and plans have organization to them. I bought a small, 3-section notebook today to keep all my lists, notes, plans, etc in one place. I have a section for the move, the rental house, and the building house. I can staple/tape random notes in there and hopefully have a one stop shopping place for my lapsing memory!

Prayer and Provision

This has been a whirl-wind week for sure. I'm so excited how God keeps providing for us every step of the way. We just got word that the house passed inspections with a couple of very minor things to fix. We also think we've found a duplex to rent. It's a 4 bedroom bi-level duplex (3 finished 1 for storage) with an attached garage. The owner is a young gal who just left for New Orleans to go back to help a church she worked with during Katrina relief efforts. I really like the idea of renting from her to help make her ministry possible. Plus the house is in really good condition.

Our final house plans are finished and will go out to bid next week. The next prayer is that our pricing comes back favorably.

We'll be closing on this house the last week in June and into the rental no later than 2 weeks after that. So forgive sporatic blogging over the next 5-6 weeks.

Disbelief

We sold our house today. The paperwork is processing and the timetables should be firmed up in the next couple of days. I'm freaking out as the reality of what is happening starts to sink in. I'm coping by making lists, lots of them. First on the list, find a rental to live in for the next 4-7 months.

So, I'll take a deep breath, thank God for providing for us, and beg for His help to make it through the next month and a half.

What a Weekend

I'm not even sure where to start. Took the boys to the bank yesterday. Sat Tyler on the floor while I was taking care of paperwork. Next thing I know I see Ryan running and sliding cuz he can't stop and basically tackling Tyler. Tyler flies into the hardwood desk from the teller and bounces off and clunks on the tile floor. We are the only ones in the bank and all the managers, mortgage brokers, etc come running to see what the commotion is. A big goose-egg on the head and lots of tears later and everyone was ok.

Actually got another date night with Andy last night (even though he was and hour & a half late coming home from work). We went out to the Parade of Homes where builders display new homes they've built. While out, we got a call from the realtor that we have an offer on the house. We'll counter the offer today and see if we can come to an agreement.

Reality is setting in right now about how much life is about to change and how much I have to do. If this deal goes through, life could get really complicated because closing/moving time could come right around the time I go to Utah for a long weekend to see a good friend that just had a baby. I'm refusing to freak out until things are finalized. It may not even go through...

Amos - do you have any rentals in West Michigan?