Settling In....

We are starting to settle in to our new house. We moved on Nov. 21. In an effort to force myself to unpack, I offered to host the "It's a Wonderful Life" cast party on Dec. 6. It was a great plan! Today is the first weekday that has been somewhat normal since we moved. The party, which was SO much fun, is over and everything that HAS to be put away, is. Now I can leisurely go through the storage room, (where everything was shoved a hour before the party!) and try to get the remaining things in their places.

I love my new home. I feel so thankful to God for blessing us with it! The view is absolutely beautiful! I'm enjoying an incredible sunset at this moment. Our previous house was surrounded by trees, which was nice since we were in town, but we NEVER could see a sunset, OR a sunrise. Now we have both! Thanks be to God!

It's A Wonderful Life--finally!

I've been sick for a month now. I'm mostly well now--as long as I keep taking my meds! It started with my voice leaving me, then I was coughing and got a sinus infection. Then the allergic reaction to my medication happened! My eyes were swollen shut. After two trips to the ER, I still had double vision and dizziness for 5 or 6 more days. Keep in mind that this was all going on during rehearsals for "It's A Wonderful Life" and trying to pack to move! What a month it has been!

We're on a 2 day break from the theatre, having already finished the first weekend of performances. It finally started to be fun on our Tuesday dress rehearsal. (since I was finally functioning close to normal.) Thankfully, I'm feeling pretty good again. Good thing, since we're moving in 4 days and I still have LOTS of packing to do.

Moving

The house has sold and we are moving in 3 weeks. I'm neck deep in play rehearsals and teaching school, so it will be interesting to see how this will all come together. Our closing date is the same day as a matinee and evening performance of the play, so by 1 in the afternoon--I'll be done moving. Kenny will have to do the rest. I'm good as long as I have a bed to fall into that night! :-)

Kenny and I went furniture shopping tonight. We need a new kitchen table and a few other things. Our current table only seats 6--and we have 7 in our family now. As long as Matthew is in the high chair, we're ok, but it won't be long until he's out of it. We thought moving would be a good time to get something bigger.

It's been a HUGE deal trying to decide who's getting what bedroom furniture. Jenna has definite ideas about what she wants her room to look like. I'm not sure why I've been letting her have first choice. I guess it's because she is the oldest. She's changed her mind about 10 times, so poor Clarissa (who is getting 2nd choice) has had things change for her 10 times. When I was a kid, we didn't even THINK about the furniture we had--we didn't think there was an option for anything else. And we were thankful to have a bed and dresser! I had a white bed with pink flowers decaled on the headboard until I got married! (Well--Mom may have painted over the decals when I was in high school.) :-) Thankfully, we don't have to buy anything new for the bedrooms. (but that means Jenna's choices were limited!)

My inheritance

Because of Grandpa Charlie's death, Grandma has been moved to a nursing home. And because of this, their household goods have been divided amongst the family. Although I was not present at the "great divide," all apparently were in agreement that my family should have Grandma's Hammond organ. We are all thrilled! Jenna especially, can hardly wait for it to be delivered! It should have arrived on Tuesday, but it was raining, so we thought it was coming today. The guys that we've hired to unload it were too busy today,(due to catching up on all the things they didn't get finished because of the rain on Tuesday), so they are SUPPOSED to be here at 9 am tomorrow! I wonder how much schoolwork will get accomplished tomorrow??????

The other exciting item that I am receiving is Grandma's refrigerator. I know that doesn't sound all that exciting, but I've REALLY been wanting an extra one so I won't have to buy milk twice each week for this big family of mine.

The girls and I went to Mom's last night to "pick and choose" from an assortment of "stuff." It's funny and cute what the kids were so excited to get! An apple peeler, corer, slicer (one of which I have somewhere, but can't find), an ice cream scoop that looks like a cow and moos when you push the button. (I wish I had a video of Meredith when she saw it--talk about a "happy dance!") Then there were glasses, silverware, vases, scarves, towels, pillows, etc.... which weren't quite as exciting, but nice to get.

I've enjoyed doing this now, more than I would if we were doing this same thing, and Grandma was already gone. I visited with Grandma on Saturday and she was so excited about us getting the organ. It was fun to talk to her about it! (and I was glad to catch her on a "good day," as they're not all good for her these days.)

Grandpa Charlie has gone on to heaven

Grandpa Charlie died today. He was 93. He went out on his tractor and didn't come back. Grandma called my aunt and uncle and they went out and found him, with the tractor still running. What a great way for an old farmer to go--on his tractor in his field. My heart is so very sad. Charlie married my grandma 26 years ago and what a blessing he has been to her and to all of our family. He's taken such good care of her as her health has failed her. Last year Mom and her siblings were looking for an assisted living home for them to move to, but Charlie said no. He said that when he married Grandma, he had promised to take care of her, and he wasn't ready to give up that responsibility to someone else yet. So they lived together at home and put off those decisions until now. I pray that Mom and her brothers and sister can make wise decisions together now. It's going to be a hard week, or month.

One of the things I appreciated most about Charlie is that he never let anything bother him much. I never saw him angry. If Grandma wasn't cooperating, he would just laugh and make her cooperate. And because of her love and respect for him, she let him! He was always so calm with her, while taking care of her every want and need. Theirs was a sweet relationship. Most importantly, Charlie loved the Lord and served him all the days of his life. He was a good man and I loved him!

Matthew is ONE!

Here's Matthew on his new John Deere ATV. ( I can't figure out how this formatting works. All the pictures are added to the top and I can't figure out how to move them. Anyone want to give me lessons on this?)

Here's Matthew eating his cake. I didn't really think about how the red frosting would stain! Thankfully, he cleaned up pretty well

This last year has been the fastest of my life! I can't believe Matthew is already a year old! We had his party at Lion's club park. As you can see it had a St. Louis Cardinals theme. (I don't think his sisters will be happy unless he plays baseball!)

School days

We are two weeks into school and so far so good. Jenna is still finishing up Biology from last year, but she should be ready to start Chemisty by the first of September. We're doing American History this year, with Jenna doing sonlight 100 and Clarissa and Rebecca doing 3+4. I love our "together" time at the beginning of the day. We tend to get way off schedule due to our lively conversations--but I figure that is why we homeschool, good family discussion on important issues!

Matthew will be one next Sunday. He is walking more than crawling now--and climbing a lot too!! He's climbing up the step stool as I type, but he knows how to get down too. Not true for the stairs. He LOVES climbing to the top, but he doesn't know how to come down. Therefore we try to keep the gate closed---but we do forget quite often! He's learning to wave bye bye--and can almost say it. His favorite word is "gish"--it means "fish." The fish are part of why he likes to climb the stairs--they reside in Rebecca's room.

Mini Vacation

Our "Mini Vacation" to St. Louis on July 22 and 23, 2008

Our trip started with a tour of the Fabulous Fox Theatre with a group of about 40 homeschoolers. The coolest thing was the backstage/dressing area. Each show that's been there has painted it's logo on the wall somewhere and everyone involved in the show has signed the wall. Jenna even got to sing on stage--well, with the rest of the group, and they just sang, "happy birthday." We got the hear the theatre organ man play. He asked for requests, and Phantom of the Opera was the song! We found out later that he loves Phantom, but it's not requested very often and he was thrilled to get to play it for us! After the Fox and some lunch, we toured the St. Louis Basilica which is decorated totally with mosaics--very cool!

That night, we went to a Cardinals game. It was a sad game--after a great start, they lost in the last two innings to the Brewers. Matthew loves baseball! He had been crying in the car and while walking to the stadium, but as soon as we got to our seats, he looked around the stadium and started laughing! This was his fourth game to attend.
On Wednesday, July 23rd, after spending the night in St.Louis, we met my sister and her daughter at Six Flags. Matthew didn't get to ride too many things, but he did learn where the handicapped entrance is for every ride. We did lots of "baby swapping" so that I could ride too.

a Break in the Action

I'm happy to have a few days off from the theatre. I love being there, but I was getting so tired! Our appoximate schedule, from last Tuesday through Saturday was noon (or 1 pm) until 11 pm with an hour and a half off for dinner. Sunday was easier with just a matinee. I actually was able to attend worship twice yesterday! :-)

Today is filled with house cleaning. Not only does it desparately need to be cleaned, but we're on the real estate agents' caravan tomorrow. This is an open house of sorts for the agents to come by and check things out so they can be aware of what's on the market. We had everything in such good order two weeks ago for our Sunday open house. But seeing as how I've been at the theatre nearly every moment since........

Music Man

Well, the play is well underway. We have 3 performances under our belt with 9 to go. It has been SOOO fun! I've made some great new friends and become better friends with some others. There's just something about being at the theatre that gives me energy! Of course that also means that it takes me some time to wind down when I get home at night, so here I am typing at 11:40 pm. I really need to remember to take my camera so I can get some pictures.

Jenna has been making cookies for the cast since she's been feeling a little left out. She went and hung out in the basement tonight. She leaves for Harding's Summer Honor Choir program on Sunday.

Dad's home

Dad arrived home yesterday after being on a 6 week cycling trip. He and 3 other guys, started in Hartford Ill, and basically travelled the Lewis and Clark Trail. The trip was cut short as the riding conditions in Montana were a little scary. They had some close calls with drivers that didn't move over. The shoulder was narrow and they were being sucked onto the highway by the wind currents of the traffic. They had a great time and I believe it has satisfied Dad's drive for adventure for a while. We had a surprise welcome home party for him last night. About 40 people from church came. My kids were especially glad to see him.

Our real estate agent held an open house on Sunday. We had 9 groups come through. Our agent said it's not unusual to only have 2 groups! We are hopeful that at least one of them is truly interested. So we pray for God's will, and wait.

stressers and joys

Well, I'm finally back after almost a week. Matthew didn't actually cry that long. :-)

I started rehearsing for Music Man last night and it was such fun. I'm still a little concerned about how I'm going to juggle everything. I haven't yet figured out how to get Jenna to Harding for the honor choir program, and I had to call and reschedule 2 appointments for today, now that we have the rehearsal schedule.

We listed our house for sale on Sunday. We've already had one looker, in addition to two families that looked, even before we had it listed. It's a little unnerving to have strangers walk through your house. I'm just praying that it will sell quickly so I'm not living like this for too long, although I like having a reason for the kids to keep everything picked up. Maybe it's not a bad thing to have it on the market for long time..... :-)

We picked cherries at mom's this week. Yum! The trees were loaded (thank you, Lord!) so Mom was more than willing to share. The girls had fun climbing the ladder, but they weren't a lot of help when it was time to pit.

We've also had a bounty of green beans in our garden. I LOVE fresh green beans! Steamed then stir fried in a little olive oil, garlic and Emril's seasoning. Mmmmm.... I could eat them all day!

Starting Out

Thought I would start a blog. But my boy is crying--so it will have to wait until later.