Whirlwind

The whirlwind we've been living in continues this week because I am teaching 3 Lamaze classes, cleaning the house that I clean once a week and doing baby food testing 4 days. Next week should finally slow down and I look so forward to that. I have had some time though to appreciate a few things that I can share.

So living with my husband's' parents has been really great for my marriage which is exactly the opposite of normal thinking...most would expect it to be quite stressful. My inlaws are very giving, laid back, genuinely sweet people which has allowed me to see all these wonderful qualities in my husband as well. These are traits that he has had all along. In fact these are many of the traits that attracted me to him in the first place but with all the busyness of life and the way that we take others for granted these traits have been all but forgotten by me. In some cases these very traits have become annoyances at times instead of the great qualities I've been reminded of over the past few days.

It's been really great to have time to just enjoy the kids more like I used to be able to do before we sold the house and had to deal with all of that. I even found myself laughing with them which unfortunately had become totally foreign as of late. I've given hugs, cuddled, played games, read books and finally had time to pray...really pray with the kids at bedtime again. All things that I knew I was missing but could do nothing about over the past 2 weeks or so. I can't wait until next week when life slows down more and I can do even more of these things.

I've figured out that we have way too much stuff and can do without some of it. I can't wait to get all my stuff back after having lived without some of it for over 6 months by that time and decide if we really need it...Craig's list, here I come!

I think though what I've really gained over the past few days is the reminder that God really does have a plan even when it seems like He doesn't. That there is often a plan that is much better than anything we could have come up with. The reassurance that He, my Father, really does give good gifts to me just like I give good gifts to my kids. Often these are gifts that I know they need or would love unbeknown to them.

Over the past few days I've received the gift of a fresh perspective of my husband and our marriage. Over the past few years this area has really taken a beating as so much has been focused on getting through school and working as much as possible and whatever was left went to the kids all because it had to be this way. It had been really hard to find any time or energy to put anything into the marriage for both of us. What a gift just the past few days has been in this area. I am so excited to see how much more our marriage will grow over the next couple of months while we are able to continue to grow without the added pressure of a home and all that goes with it.

I have received the gift of fun and laughter where there more recently has been only stress and quite often unrealistic expectations. The kids have enjoyed having their mother back instead of the green eyed monster.

I have received the gift of my Father's love in a tangible way. I've received the gift of starting to see the exciting future that he has planned for me and my family.

I have recieved peace and the ability to sing praises in all things...especially things that are difficult and uncharted. For me, this is a huge step.

Moved

Well, we are out of our house. A big thank you to all who helped...especially our friend Mike who stuck with Jim until 2am when we were down to the wire. We could not have done it without any of you.

I don't have much to say, surprisingly. I'm very emotionally drained. My eyes are almost swollen shut due to crying, allergies and lack of sleep. But I'll post more later.

We do not have Internet at my in laws so my posts won't be quite as frequent. I'll try to do my best to post at least once a week or so.

That;s all for now...more about moving later.

Reunion

Everyone in the whole salon always used to crowd around the windows to watch them get out of the car and approach the door. First he would come around to her door and help her out of the car. Then he would close the door for her and hand in hand they would walk slowly inside as he held the door for her.

Once inside, he would carefully take off her coat and then remove his own coat and hat and fold them neatly on the seat next to him. At this point all the girls that had been watching were still watching in quiet amazement as she leaned over and gave him a peck on the cheek. "I'll be back in a little while," she said. To which he responded, "ok, dear."

After she was done she would often ask him how she looked and he would tell her she looked very nice, dear. Then the process that happened when they arrived happened exactly in reverse as they left. This happened each and every time they came.

After they left the girls always told me how cute my grandparents were and how they wished they could be like that with their husbands when they were older. They loved it when my grandparents came to the salon for me to do her hair. The rare love they shared for a lifetime was so apparent and remarkable to see lived out. I was always so proud at the loving example I had of what love could be compared to what so many of the others were missing in their own lives.

I have so many memories of them doing everything together...making meals, doing dishes, gardening, housework and so many more that I'm sure I'm not recalling at this time.

I guess it doesn't surprise me that my grandma died today, only 4 1/2 short months after he did. She had been lost in the world of Alzheimer's for quite some time and her mind didn't even realize that he was gone; that her husband, such a vital part of her existence had died...or did she?

They say that often older people that live a lifetime together can't live apart when one dies first. That they often follow one right after the other.

I'd like to think that her love for him and his love for her that was once so vibrant really was still like a magnetic force that drew her to him, so shortly after he had left her. That even though her mind which had so seemingly betrayed her for these past years really didn't fail her at all. Somehow her mind knew that she belonged with him and her body soon followed.

Of course I'm no scientist and have no proof but through these rare glimpses into their love I certainly do think it's possible.

What a reunion there must have been today. Even though death had only separated them for a short time, Alzheimer's had separated them for years. I bet they talked about all the old times that she had forgotten and the more present times that she experienced physically, but mentally missed. I bet she finally saw the legacy that their love had brought through the many great grandchildren that have been born over the past ten years that she never realized existed.

I even think that if there was a door leading into heaven he opened it for her and maybe she gave him that peck on the cheek that I so often saw. I think he showed her around and introduced her to all the saints of old that he's met over the past few months. I bet they sang some old hymns together and marveled at the glorious gardens together as gardening was always a love that they shared.

As I say goodbye to my last living grandparent tonight I have a renewed strength in the power that love has. I have a renewed vision to live out their love that they've shown me with my own husband. I hope someday I can walk hand in hand with my husband everywhere I go. That together we can draw a crowd at the window to watch something that is just as normal for us as it was for them. That my grand kids can hear how cute their grandparents are just for being in love after 60 years. That even if my mind leaves me as well, that my love can draw me where I belong, and to whom.

Prayer Request

Please pray for our family this week...especially for me. On top of all the moving this week I now have had kids with the stomach flu...only MY kids would get the stomach flu in July. But, we didn't yet fulfill the yearly quota of it 8 times like we normally do, so I guess there's no time like the present.

Back to more throw up!

Toothy

Thank goodness Annalise has finally lost this tooth. It has been dangling there for the past 2 weeks. I have no idea what it was connected with but I couldn't pull it out no matter what I did. I have been pulling teeth out for years (just ask my sisters) and have never had such trouble. Every time she smiled you were greeted with this crooked grin as this tooth sagged more on one end than the other.

Annalise has been whining about losing this tooth since she lost her last one. For those of you that are not keeping track, this was last fall. That is almost one year of whining "I think this tooth is just about ready, " almost daily. Even the dentist told her it would still be a few months when she was in during the spring.

She is convinced that the bigger the tooth, the more they are worth. Where ever did she get this mistaken notion from...certainly not me. She is also very concerned about the tooth fairy getting a forwarded address for the future loot she plans on hauling in. She is convinced that the one next to it surely will be coming out soon...hmmm, do I sense another year of daily whining? Let's hope not!

Sorry

Sorry to everyone but I just spent 1 1/2 hours uploading a new slide show of a fun block party at my parents' house but when I was just about done, I lost it all. Sorry to those of you that would like to see pictures but with how busy my life is right now I don't have time to do it again.

Slide Show of Move #1

Here are the pictures that go with the post below!

One Down, One to Go

Well, moving day #1 has come and gone, thank goodness. Monday was the day we got the truck for the first time to bring all of our boxes and some small furniture to storage. It's amazing how much stuff you have when you start trying to fit it all in boxes. Then to see it all stacked up lining the wall of the storage unit was quite amazing.

We are SO thankful that Stephanie and Ben offered and helped out. Stephanie helped all day with dealing with the kids and packing and unpacking the truck and then Ben met us at the storage place in and helped unload and stack the boxes.

We finished up the two trips to storage swimming the the neighbor's pool and ended the day on a cool and fun note. Hopefully move #2 will go as smoothly next week.

Yay!

He passed!!!!!!!!!!!!

Life

So Jim is getting ready to take his first round of National Testing on Saturday. I understand that this is a pretty serious test and it is not easy. I just talked to someone yesterday that needed to take it 3 times before passing. Ugh. Not to mention the fact that it costs $150 each time you need to take it, this would really sink as I know he is more than ready to close the "school" part of his life and get on with working in his chosen career.

I worry though that with all of this moving business and added stress that there is in his already stressful life that his being able to focus and really think through the questions will be compromised. I've tried to take care of all the packing myself and for the most part I have succeeded, but there are some things that he's done as well. At the same time I know that the distraction takes some of the pressure off always thinking and worrying about passing. Hard to say if the balance has been right. I guess we'll see.

So for all of you prayer warriors that read my blog, please remember Jim on Saturday.

I'm trying to come up with an appropriate, non-offensive nick name for Emily. She drives us crazy with the fact that EVERYTHING goes in her mouth. Crumbs, those dust bunnies in the corner of the wood floor, random strands of long hair, paper scraps, electrical cords...if you can name it, she will eat it. Hoover, Eureka, Dyson...none of these seem to fit as she is just too cute for any of these. If you come up with anything, please let me know.

Levi continues to heal his burn. Hard to say if there will be a scar. It just makes my stomach turn every time I look at his open wound and think about it all being a scar. I keep telling myself that he's a boy and scars a cool. All the same, it makes me want to cry to think of my perfect little boy maimed for the rest of his life. I guess this is a time to change my perspective and be thankful that he's only burned on his arm and not all over like the patients that Jim sees when he consults with the burn unit at the hospital about caring for Levi.

Just for the record, as I type I see my little hoover up there eating hair that she has found on the floor. Notice her scrounging around on the steps for treasures to eat. Yuck!

Fourth of July

I've decided that because I now have 4 kids and am usually husbandless I just don't have much of a chance at gatherings to take pictures. I'm lucky enough just to survive with all my children in one piece... and actually get them home in one piece.

Since it's hard to tell what we did due to lack of pictures I'll have to tell you that we went to my parents' house for awhile. We had great food, great laughs and a ton of fun playing games.

The adults played that ladders game that is all the rage apparently and the kids played around with their new super soakers. Unfortunately Levi managed to find the hot grill while he was trying to get away from Annalise shooting him, but he should heal up nicely.

He's such a boy. He hit his arm on the grill, has a second degree burn that goes from his elbow to his shoulder and he cried for about 30 seconds and them was off playing again. Even now when we have to change the bandage it doesn't seem to bother him. He just takes it all in stride. I know if this had happened to either of my girls the world surely would have ended.

Anyway, I'm off to packing.

Odds n' Ends

Just thought I'd catch y'all up on some goings on around here.

Boxes are everywhere...I'm packing up as many as I can each day. That usually ends up being around 6 or so. I have now finished packing every one's bedrooms and closets and all bathrooms of non essentials. I have also planned every one's clothing in terms of what will be going to the parents' with us for both summer and fall. That really does feel like a tremendous load off since I like to do things in an organized fashion.

We have also kept busy getting things ready to move like catching up transferring pictures to discs for ordering, backing up the computers to prepare them for moving. I have organized all my creative memory stuff since I'll be catching up on all my albums while we are there. I'm also in the process of transferring all our 8mm tapes to VHS so that is all taken care of for awhile too. I just can't imagine getting to a new house and all the work that will entail with all this mundane stuff to do as well. I'd rather just get it out of the way now.

Emily has kept busy most times while I'm preoccupied doing all this stuff. She really has gotten pretty good at just putzing around. She continues to make a mess while eating as you can see which hasn't helped the laundry load any.

Rebecca. Ah Rebecca, where to start? She continues to make us laugh everyday even if it is just the cute way she has of saying words. She still is of the age where she will use a word in the wrong context or pronounce it really goofy. She is taking everything in stride since she is the one that craves one on one time the most out of all the kids and needless to say there hasn't been much time for that lately. She does capture my heart as well by her love of corn. For those of you that may not be aware, my love of corn on the cob led me to win an eating contest a few years back at 13 ears in one sitting! Rebecca is starting to be able to keep up with me.

I've more recently caught you up on Levi so I can just get by right now with saying he just continues to be Levi.

Annalise has recently gotten her summer do and is looking way cute in it. I think she is going to be a seminarian someday as she is constantly got her nose in the Bible and is full of Christian advice. This morning I came into the girls' room to find that Annalise had gotten my Bible and was reading some verses to Rebecca. She said that Rebecca wasn't doing a good enough job making her bed and she (Annalise) was reading her some verses on perseverance to help inspire her. Yesterday she came and told me that her friends who are brother and sister were fighting and that God told her to help them make a brand new start. She suggested to her friends that they each tell each other they were sorry and start treating each other nicely. At this point I did warn her against becoming too bossy and preachy but I was impressed by her actions. Her friends did heed her advice and all was well, by the way.

The kids have been spending all day every day outside this week. For one thing, it gets them out of my hair so I can pack. But also because they are playing with their friends next door for every last moment that they can before we move. They are only here every other week since they are visiting their dad, so even though we don't move for another 3 weeks, they only have one more week with them with the way the weeks fall.

I am hoping to take the kids to see fireworks this weekend and we are all hoping to do some swimming as well. Happy 4th!

Well Done

What happened? This is what I want to know.

The other day I was feeling really guilty about the fact that with all this packing and showings and house hunting my family hasn't been cooked and baked for like they are used to. My kids and husband usually always have home made treats of some kind and I couldn't even remember the last time I made anything it's been so long.

So I set to work in the kitchen. I spent pretty much all day there making all kinds of things from desserts to baked goods to shredding cheese for easy use later. When it came to dinner, hot dogs and home made pasta salad were on the menu. The pasta salad was easy but when it came to the grilled hot dogs, watch out.

I have to say, I am not normally grilled challenged. I often make entire meals on the grill on those really hot days that I don't want to turn anything on in the kitchen. Grilled asparagus, grilled, roasted potatoes and meats of all kinds. I often make meals that are at least a little gourmet in the kitchen....food network.com is my best friend. This is why I thought hot dogs would be no exception.

They would be perfect for my dad as he loves his hot dogs "well done" but for our family they were a bit difficult to choke down at times (I'm too Dutch to throw them away!)

Perhaps I should just stick to food network.com and leave the basics for someone else!