Life in the Country

We are so excited to be out in the country. This house is old and it's big and it's outdated, but we love it. We're starting to feel a little bit more settled. I have shades or curtains on most of the windows.... On a side note, do you know how many windows this old house has? 15 downstairs and 15 upstairs. That is 30 windows for those of you who are not skilled in mental math.

I've been having too much fun slowly choosing items to put in our house. We wanted to get a night stand for our bedroom and I found one I liked on Craigslist. When I went to look at it the "table" was bigger than I thought it was going to be. But, it was perfect for a phone table which we were also looking for. The gentleman I bought it from is retired, probably in his 70's and enjoys making furniture from old things (tables, dressers, etc) so the legs and the drawer are old, but the top is new. It's beautiful right?


But now I was left without a night stand and all the way in Ephrata. The man told me that he sells some of his furniture to a little *5 & dime* called "Treasure Nook". He warned me that they really mark up the price. I figured I was already far from home and this little place was just a mile down the road. I stopped in. I noticed the furniture that was Richard's right away. (He does beautiful work!) But, this little piece caught my fancy and the price was right. I think it fits nicely in our old farmhouse.


We were also looking for a dining room table and chairs. We never intended to take our old one with us (it was Trent's when he was living with his guy friends while in college. Need I say more??) If I had my wish (and unlimited $$$) I'd have something like THIS from Old Barn Star (only longer). A farm table, chairs & bench made from an old barn?? That sounds perfect to this old soul. But, since I'm living in real life I had to settle for something else. I found something that I think will be good for our family for several years to come.


Another perk of living in the country is the smell of manure. Okay, just kidding. But since we have an Amish landlord at least the kids get to see him plowing the fields with a team of horses. Jake (our landlord) was at our house just this morning to fix a pipe in the basement. The girls were bugging me to ask Jake if they could pet his horses (he drove down a team of 2 Belgium horses named Mike and Mack--- yes, I also had to ask this question). When Jake was cleaning up and preparing to leave, I asked if the girls could pet his horses. He said, "Yeah, of course!" So, we walked down to where they were tied and he lifted Annie up to pet them. (Did you know Belgium horses are huge?) She was so brave and excited. He lifted Abbey up next and she also was very, VERY brave. Maggie just kept saying "hause, hause!"

Then Jake said, "Do you want to sit up on his back?" Annie's eyes were shining like she had won the lottery. Jake lifted her up onto his huge back and Anne was on cloud 9. I said, "Oh man, I wish I had my camera!" Jake said, "Do you wanna run in and get it?" I couldn't believe my ears. I mean, I thought Amish didn't approve of pictures? I'll have to ask him about that someday, but not this day. I ran into the house and back out with my camera on low-battery. Jake said, "What if we put them both up there together?" Oh my, how precious would that be? He put Abbey up first and she held on tight. While he was lifting Annie the horse took a couple steps forward and Annie bumped her head on a wire holding the telephone pole up. Of course, tears ensued. I snapped a picture quick of Abbey. Can you believe this girl? I mean, she weighs 24 pounds fully dressed with her boots on. I couldn't believe it!


Jake was continually apologizing to Annie for accidentally bumping her head and was asking her forgiveness. She did forgive him, and he said, "It would make me real happy to see you get back up on that horse again. Do you want to try? Mommy can lift you up and I'll hold the horse so he doesn't move." Ummm.. did I mention my children are braver than me??? I was a little nervous being that close to the horse, but I lifted her up as best as I could (did I tell you this horse is enormous?) and she wriggled herself on so she was steady. I stepped back and snapped the picture. Can you see Jake's hand holding the horse tight as promised?


Yes, I love life in the country.

Moopsy turns 18 months

**One of my favorites. This is a very typical look for Magdalena:
A little mischievous, ready to run, grin.**

I know a lot of people don't use nick-names for their children. In fact, some people purposely choose names that cannot be shortened or request that people do not attempt to change their given names. I have no problem with that, but I'm definitely not one of those people. I think our kids each have 10 different nick-names.

(Cheese!)

Some of Magdalena's names are: Mags, Maggie, Magdie, Moopsy, Sissy, Baby, and Magda. I'm sure if A&A were awake they could think of more.

And this is a Magdalena post.

As I always say, "Where did the time go??" We have reached yet another milestone for this little girl. This precious bundle who started out so small.

Here's what Magdie likes to do:
~Run
~Chase sisters
~Play Magdie-Monster (a game in which she chases sisters)
~Close doors (this drives me crazy)
~Sleep in her toddler bed
~Climb on things that she shouldn't
~Yell (especially when she knows it is upsetting Annie)
~Wake up big sisters from their naps
~Read books
~Look at tractors out her window
~Hold Petey's leash
~Holding/sleeping with "big teddy"

(Mags and "Big Teddy")

Here's what Magdalena does not like to do:
~Sit still
~Stay in her crib
~Be looked at too closely by children who are not her siblings
~Sit at the table after she's finished eating

(Hold still?? What does that mean?)

Maggie is really starting to talk a lot. She can put about 3 words together to make a short sentence. These usually start with "I want..." and can sound like, "I want Mommy", "I want down", "I want tractor", etc. At this point she is definitely a Mama's girl, to a fault. She is really good when I'm not in the room. As soon as I come into the room she wants me to pick her up. If I don't pick her up she will usually scream and cling to my leg. So in general she's attached at the hip. I have to remind myself when I go to compare her to her siblings that they were both "big sisters" by this time, so they didn't really do what Magdalena is doing. They were already in big sister mode. I think it's high time this little girl has someone younger than her so she's no longer "Baby".

(My baby... can you see my hands in the picture?? I had to hold her because she wanted to run away!)

Trent, Annie, and Abbey often like to point out to me how big Magdie is and how she's really growing up quickly. I know it is true, but it is a little hard to swallow. Not that I want her to remain a baby forever, but it just makes me a little sad to see how quickly these years are going past.

Love those feet!

I know Maggie weighs 21 pounds since we were at the doctor last week, but I'm not sure how long (or short) she is. We'll go in a couple weeks for her 18 month check-up. I'll do a stats-comparison whenever we go!

Look at this little stinker!

Grace

We talk about "grace" a lot in our home. Trent and I have often said that many children in the church don't know what grace is. Why do young people leave the church? I think a lot of times it is because either they think they don't need grace, or because they have never experienced it.

Something that I have been doing recently when the children do something they shouldn't is to extend grace to them. I try to do it at completely random times. Sometimes it is when they deliberately disobey something I have told them to do. One day Abbey was being really testy. She was riding her tricycle and getting too close the the road. I told her several times not to go so close to the road and that if she did it again she would not get her hot chocolate when we went inside. Of course, her next trip down the sidewalk she nearly rode right off into the street. After scolding her and telling her it was now time to come in, she was completely distraught. She was crying because she knew she wouldn't be getting her hot chocolate. After I tried to explain to her that it is important to listen to Mama because Mama wants to keep her safe and it's not safe to ride out into the street she was starting to calm down...

As the tea kettle started to whistle she was starting to get upset again, knowing that she wouldn't be receiving any. I brought out the mugs and set one in front of Abbey with a packet of hot chocolate. She looked up at me so surprised and happy. I explained that I was showing her "grace", does she know what that means? Anne chimes in, "it's getting what you deserve." Well, not quite... I explain grace to the children like this: "Getting something good, that you don't deserve."

I'm not sure if it has been an effective way to get the children to learn a lesson or to obey any better. But, they do know what "grace" is. They have experienced it in small child-like ways.

This past week I started to realize how much time I spent trying to persuade our eldest child to do anything... get dressed, brush her teeth, put on her socks, etc. I was so frustrated and exhausted by the end of the day because everything was turning into an argument. I want so badly to have an awesome mother-daughter relationship, but was really getting burned out with the constant battle of the wills.

She is four and can, and really should get herself dressed in the morning. But she runs around, goofs off, and tries to avoid it like the plague. Yesterday I got her clothes out for her and told her to get dressed. She did her same old thing. While she did this I didn't talk to her or ask her again to get dressed. Instead, I quietly helped Abbey get dressed and brushed her hair, and did the same with Magdalena. Once they were both ready I took them downstairs to allow them to watch their short video. Anne started to come down to watch and I told her, "I'm sorry, you aren't dressed and don't have your hair brushed so you cannot come down until those things are done." Wow... that lit a fire under her! Who knew the child could dress herself so quickly? Today I did the same thing. I laid her clothes out for her and asked her to get dressed while I helped Abbey. It was amazing how there was no fight over it today. She did it right away and calmly. We'll see if this keeps up.

I wonder if I can incorporate the same idea into other areas where she doesn't obey..... Any suggestions of motivators other than watching something on the computer?

A Belated (But Genuine) Thanks!!

We did it! We moved! Eleven days ago, to be exact. That day could not have happened without many of you!

First of all, an enormous thanks to my mother-in-law. This move could not have happened without her!! She watched the girls all day Friday while I packed (with the help of a friend & husband), overnight, and all day Saturday while we moved and provided us dinner at her home Saturday when we picked up the girls.

Also my father-in-law for providing a huge trailer to put all our stuff in, 2 brothers-in-law, my mom & dad, 3 nieces & a nephew, friends and neighbors. Couldn't have done it without ya'll! Then a friend provided us with breakfast for Sunday morning, what a blessing! My mother-in-law brought us a meal Monday (along with a table since ours broke during the move)! We had a neighbor stop by to introduce themselves and brought a centerpiece made with holly & pine. Another neighbor (from church) brought a meal that was delicious and much appreciated since I still am figuring out where everything is in the cupboards (and I hadn't gone grocery shopping so there wasn't many options). Then just yesterday another neighbor (also from church) brought us a meal. I was especially grateful for this meal. On Monday I had all 3 girls at the doctor and all 3 have upper respiratory infections/bronchitis. I was exhausted and having one of those "Watch out, Mom's grouchy!" type of days. (Bonni-I definitely needed to hear that post!) So that meal was very timely!

I still have boxes to unpack. Things that I'm not sure where to put... I'm having fun finding a few things on Craigslist that I hope to refurbish. I found a neat hallway bench that I put in our entryway. I plan to paint the legs and reupholster the seat. (I hope to post about this whenever I do it). And we're still looking for a few odds and ends.

In the meantime, we're loving our (muddy) yard. Our landlord intends to grade/seed the yard in the Spring. The girls enjoyed making a dirty snowman in the 1/2 inch of snow that fell on Saturday. Then yesterday they enjoyed hitting the pile of melting snow with sticks (I'm not kidding, they did this for probably 15 minutes). We are loving going for "romps" through the property. The kids are sleeping well. I even got up one morning and saw the sun come up over the farmland. It was so beautiful. The girls found a ladybug in the bathroom this morning and carried her around for about an hour; taking turns holding her, putting her in the bug catcher, taking her out again, putting newspaper in the bug catcher for her to go to the bathroom on, etc.

Oh yes, and we're happy to have the internet!! There aren't really any options for us other than a wireless air card. We don't have awesome reception, but it words. I've heard that if you have good reception that this is very fast internet... However, I keep getting a little box that pops up on the side of my screen telling me that "Signal strength is low, move to a location with a better signal." I guess that's part of life in the country. :)

A Bend in the Road

Last week I celebrated my 27th birthday. I thought I would share some sweet remarks that Trent wrote down from the girls. He asked them what they love & appreciate about Mama. They said:
-That you read us books (Anne)
-Your nose and hair (Abbey)
-That you love me!! (Anne & Abbey)
-That you give me toys (Abbey)
-That you feed and dress us (Anne)
-That you sing to us (Abbey)
-That you give me night-night blankies (Abbey)
-"She's such a good Mama" (Anne)
-"I'm thankful that my mom is very kind to me" (Anne)

What wonderful words from my children! (and I never knew I had a nice nose & hair!)

What will this year hold for me? I am, as always, excited to see what is ahead. Some things are beginning to come into focus....

We're moving (in 3 days!) to a big, old farmhouse. We are so excited to be able to stretch our city legs out in the country. The girls are excited to have a yard to play in (although they were VERY happy this morning making dirt cookies out of a single flower pot on the deck) and I am excited to plant some flowers in the spring.

We will be tenants, which will be different. We're building a relationship with the home-owner and are excited to get to know him and his family better. I am especially grateful that they are very willing to allow us to paint (kitchen cabinets) and do whatever we want with flowerbeds and really make it a home.

We will be landlords. I don't know what this will look like. It is something new for us, and we're not sure if we'll like it or not. But again, we're thankful to have found what we think will be a good tenant. They will move in March 1st.

We will (Lord willing) be foster-parents and then hopefully adoptive-parents. Again, I don't know what this will look like. We will attend our training in March and have more children in our home sometime after that. (Notice how I often say children and not child? Sibling groups are something the Lord has laid on my heart in regards to fostering/adopting.) I am so thankful to have 5 bedrooms at our disposal in the farmhouse. I'm willing to give up the comforts of my dishwasher in order to make room for more children.

That's all for now. You probably won't hear from me for awhile. I'm still not sure what internet will be available to us and when we'll get connected.

The House that Built Me

God's timing and plan is always better and often different from our own.

I shared this verse on here about three weeks ago.

Isaiah 55:8-9 "My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are you ways My ways," says the Lord. "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts."

Last week on Wednesday I received a phone call from a woman from our church. She told me that she has a girl who helps clean her house who was telling her of a house that the girl's father wants to rent out. It is a big farmhouse with a yard. She was wondering if we would be interested. As we got to talking, it turned out that it was the same house that my family and I lived in for about 6 years when we first moved to this area. But, the owner wanted someone in the house in the next 2-4 weeks. That sounded really quick and we weren't planning on renting, but it was something I definitely wanted to look into.

I have many many fond memories of living in that home, and I'm sure my sisters and brother would say the same. Maybe you're familiar with the Miranda Lambert song, "The House That Built Me". <- (Click on the title for a YouTube link.) Now obviously, the house didn't build me, but this video reminds me of how it would feel to walk through my childhood home.

After much discussion between Trent and I and several conversations with the owner, we decided to go and look at the house on Saturday (3 days after hearing about it). I was a little nervous because I knew I would be going into it with "adult eyes". Some things were better than I remembered (the owner had recently taken down all the old outside of the building, right down to the logs, and put up insulation and siding and new windows, also some new carpet inside). Some things were worse than I remembered (the bathrooms - - -YIKES!) Trent compares the bathrooms to the one you would stop at at a gas station along the highway (we're not talking Sheetz, people, we're talking hole-in-the-wall, get a key from behind the counter, bathroom). Some were exactly the same (my "baby" brother's room still painted with little blue race-cars!)

So, after much prayer, discussion, financial calculators, we decided that we would like to rent the house. There is the potential to buy the house in the future.

In some ways the house is a downgrade from where we are now. Our city house is neat and tidy and updated. The country house has no dishwasher (help me!)!! But, the country house has a yard!! and trees!! and it's big!!

Of course, I'm beyond excited because I've always loved the house. But beyond that, it has 5 bedrooms!! Which means we easily have more space for more children. And it just so happens that our foster-care orientation is in March, which will give us almost 2 full months to be moved in and settled by the time we will be certified to take in more children. Yes, you read that correctly. Two months. Which means our move-in date is February 1st. Can you say "crazy"?

We decided it would make the most sense to keep our city house and rent it out. We still need to find a tenant for our house, but we are listing with a very capable friend of ours, who we trust to find someone good for us and good for the house.

Can you believe God's timing? This is not something I would have ever imagined, yet God perfectly orchestrated it. I suppose that is why the Bible tells us not to worry. Can you imagine the amount of time and energy I would have saved if I had never spent a single moment worrying about it?

Some verses:

Mark 11:22 "Have faith in God."

Hebrews 11:6 "Without faith it is impossible to please Him."

Matthew 19:26 "With God all things are possible."

p.s. I'll post pictures of the house when I can, but I may fall off the face of the earth for the next few weeks!

Something Unexpected

A couple of posts ago I had talked about having faith that God will work out all the details of our housing and moving needs. In some ways I think I may have been trying to prepare myself to wait a lot longer than I would want. However, an interesting option has recently come up, and the connections that were made seem to be just too coincidental to not be God ordained. However, we're still stuck on our end of needing to sell our house (really, really quickly) or finding a trustworthy person to rent it. To me (and especially my husband-planner-thinker), this would seem like it's too quick, but I know that God is in control, and if He wants us to move to a certain place at a certain time, He will work out.

Will you say a quick prayer for us?