Spotlight on Eliza

Caught this video of Eliza this morning. I just had to post it. And I'm the mom, so I can think she is a genius, right? Either way, it was cute!

In Caleb's Head

Today, Caleb was having trouble understanding a math concept. When he would get frustrated, he would shake his head, as if trying to clear his brain. I asked him what he was thinking about when he shook his head like that. He said, "It's like a birthday party is going on inside my head. The answer is trying to get in, but the door is closed and it can't." I love how that kid's mind works! :)

Settled In

Well, we are finally settled in to our new home in our new city! It was a difficult move, but we made it. Thank you, God! Fall has slipped past us this year so quickly! Here are a few pics to update you....

Eric and I in the warehouse where our belongings were stored, cleaning off mold.

The pile of stuff that was too moldy to save. We took it to a burn pile. The demolding process is finally finished and we have declared our home/stuff mold free! (We hope....)

Danny was Anakin Skywalker for Halloween. Notice the long braid over his right shoulder. Hey, we do authentic for Halloween! Danny is going to be competing in his first ever chess tournament this weekend. The info that convinced him to compete? Everyone gets a ribbon.


Caleb as little "Ani" Skywalker. Think pod racing. Yes, both of the boys were Anakin Skywalker for Halloween. We have a bit of a Star Wars craze going on right now at our house. :) Caleb likes our new house because our neighbors have a dog he can go play with any time he wants.

Sophie the Pirate. Adorable. She came home tonight from AWANA with a list of things she was thankful for. An item that made the 5 item list: Halloween candy. This girl loves dessert! An item that did not make the thankful list: Mom. Oh well. :)

My little mouse. This girl is too cute. She happily rode in the stroller during trick-or-treating and has yet to have a piece of candy. Her new words include "thank you" and "bye-bye". She also has mastered the stairs. Next up, walking.

The fam at my parents' house. See, we are all still alive and well! And yep, I chopped my hair off. And I am LOVING it. So. Easy.

Eric is really enjoying his new job teaching English!

The kids at a new park we found close to our house. It has tunnels!

And last, but not least, our new home. Please come visit us! To all of my friends that I haven't seen in a while, I miss you! Thank you for praying for us during our transition.

Mold and Other News

We are on schedule to buy our house mid September. Eric is enjoying his new job. We've started school. Everything is running really smoothly. And then the bomb drops....

All of our stuff in storage is covered with mold. We haven't been there to see it, yet, but my friend Leatha (who also has all of her worldly possessions there) says it is extensive. As in, we needed two trucks to move all of our stuff to the warehouse, but we may only need one to move it all out. Most likely, we will have to throw out all of our upholstered furniture, mattresses, and unfinished wood items (the insides of many dresser drawers are unfinished wood). We won't know about items in cardboard boxes until we open them up. All clothes, blankets, towels, curtains, and other fabrics will have to be washed. According to another friend who went through a similar situation and lived to tell about it (always encouraging, Teresa!), that is about 93 loads of laundry.

It is overwhelming.

So I'm reminding myself of all the things I have to be thankful for....my husband, kids, our health, family, friends, and most importantly, our God and the salvation offered to us though Jesus Christ. All things on this earth will burn. Mine just might burn a little sooner than I anticipated.

In other news, Caleb lost his first tooth. The toothfairy paid a whole dollar for that first tooth! Sophie's hair can now fit into pigtails (very small ones, but we'll take it). Eliza is crawling all over the place, babbling, and signs "all done" and "more". She also says "uh-oh". Danny spends a lot of time outside with his pocketknife and slingshot. He also gets in a lot of fishing with his grandpa. Eric is loving his new job, but not the 1+ hour one way commute. My mom and I have been running what we jokingly refer to as "Lea and Holly's Daycare". We've been helping out my sisters with their kids. We had to call 911 one day as my 2 week old niece was choking on mucus and wasn't breathing. Thank God I had a bulb syringe (we call them blue booger suckers) and my mom suctioned out enough mucus that by the time the paramedics arrived, she was getting air. A reminder that every day of life is a gift from God.

Pictures from summer activities to come.....

Where do we live?

You know you've been moving around a lot when in the midst of a discussion about where we will be the next few weeks, your 3 year old jumps in to reiterate the plan and says, "Yeah, and after that we'll go.....we'll go.....where do we live now, Mommy?"

We just got back from a great week of vacation, which ended with 7-9 inches of rain and the lake flooding. The town nearby was sandbagging, as they were afraid the dam on the lake wasn't going to hold. Of course we took the kids to see the water gushing over the dam, covering parking lots, and running wildly over the roads we had walked that week. The power of the water was stunning...

And as I was discussing with my dad the "back way" to get home, I began to tell him the highways I would take. Then realized, I'm not going home. My home has moved, although I'm not sure where, yet. And for a little bit (because of course, too many feelings are never good :) I let myself mourn the loss of the familiar and the loved.

But hey, our set up right now is pretty good. Tree house, sand box, huge yard, pond with fish that about jump onto your hook, cousins, and lots of space to spread out.

But there is no place like home.

It's Official!

Eric has a new job teaching ESL at the university! He starts August 3.

Our house should (I say "should" because past experience has taught us it ain't over 'till it's over.) close on July 21st.

We are moving! The last Sunday at our church for the kids and me will be this weekend. Eric won't finish work here until the end of July. I have no idea how to say goodbye to the friends who have become family over the past 15 years.

I love our city. I love our church. I love our friends. I'm nervous about what is to come.

Walking by faith.....

Trusting He'll provide......

If I don't get to say goodbye to some of you, know that I love you and expect you to come visit!

Good News

Eric received an email requesting that he interview again on the phone for a teaching job at the university. Tuesday @ 8:30a. Please be praying for him!

And thank God that He gives us encouragement when we need it! (I needed it.)

Family news:

The boys have been preparing for war with Josiah (the 12 year old boy who lives upstairs) for a couple of weeks now. Not sure when the war will take place, but the backyard is prepared! They are both covered with bug bites.

Sophie's new favorite question is: Can I go play with Brenna? Brenna is a little girl her age who lives next door to our temporary, "lower level" apartment. They are so fun to watch as they take their babies to the "store", on walks, and put them "night-night". The other day I walked into our bedroom to find two dolls, tucked in ever-so-carefully, in Eric and my spots.

Eliza is crawling, eating EVERY LITTLE BIT OF ANYTHING she finds on the floor, pulling up to standing along most anything, clapping her hands when we say "yea!", and shaking her head "no". She is a very happy baby these days.

Right now we're enjoying a family favorite to take a break from the summer heat: watching Tom and Jerry cartoons. :)

Caleb is a little daredevil. Here he is jumping his bike off a pretty big jump for his little bike. Thanks to the Sabino's for the backyard and bike ramp. *Note I made sure he was wearing a helmet before attempting this feat.

This jump was the first of four tries. The first was the only one he landed, the other three being magnificent wipeouts. (So glad I got the first on video!) No major injuries, thank God! What I can't believe is that he kept trying! What a little dude. "Pastor Paul" finally convinced him to wait until the next day to try again after the third wipeout. And the next day we built a ramp more suitable to his bike. He is living up to his name's meaning: brave.

The Crazy Life

I was wrong in my prior post....we ARE crazy.

Our family of 6 is living in our friends' 2 bedroom basement apartment......indefinitely.

We moved out of our house before our closing date and then it never closed. Yes, you read right. Our house is still for sale and we are currently not living in it. We may move back in.

We currently have no home phone and no home address. At least I have a blog address. :)

Eric did have an interview on Friday that went very well. We'll see!

School gets out tomorrow and we'll see how creatively I can entertain four kids with MINIMAL toys and space. The pool is too much to handle with all four kids and just me.

It is so crazy, you just have to laugh......or cry. Depends on the day. Today I'm trying to laugh.

Scared of the Storm

As I just wrote the title of this post another meaning flashed into my head more applicable to me, but that is a different story...

Last night Sophie woke up, crying, after a big crack of thunder. I went downstairs and she told me she was scared of the Lighting 'Queen. She meant lightning, but she was calling it Lightning McQueen.

And this is what it is like growing up with two older brothers. :)

(For those of you not up on your Disney movies, Lightning McQueen is the main character of the movie "Cars". The boys went through a "Cars" craze for a while. We even own Lightning McQueen pillow cases!)

Cool Mom

Yep, that's right....I'm a cool mom.

Today I took the day off from packing, etc, to go with Danny on his all day fieldtrip to a local nature area. (Thanks, Ranel, for watching the girls!) It was a science-y fieldtrip and I was a science major in college, so I figured it was a good fit.

We (me and three boys, including Danny) got our tubs/sample containers/nets and set off for the pond to look for different living creatures. Of course, all of the parent led groups were finding snails, clams, water bugs, and other "boring" stuff. Then we saw one group (led by a dad willing to get a little muddy) who had caught a huge tadpole. You should have seen the faces of the boys in my group as they gazed longingly at that tadpole. I determined that we would return with something even cooler to show for our work. (Yes, I'm a little competitive, did you know?) And so began our search for..... a frog. "Where would I be in this pond if I were a frog?" I thought to myself. It was a little chilly, sunny, and very windy. I decided sun and no wind would be the best frog conditions. Hey, chalk that one up to my stellar education from ISU! And we headed off to a sunny, wind blocked part of the pond.

To make a long story short, our group caught TWO frogs--a leopard frog and a bullfrog. I stalked one patiently. The other was mostly luck. Both of them were netted by yours truly. I made the boys transfer them from the net to the container, though! :) We were the only group to catch a frog. Walking back to the building, I could feel my son's glow of approval that HIS mom had caught the frogs. And of course, the three boys basked in the glory of showing all of their frogless friends not one, but two frogs. It was a day well spent.

And that makes me a cool mom.

Eliza on the move....

Eliza & Rice Cereal

Moving On

For some of you, this may be old news. For some of you, it is new news. Hey, no complaining....no matter how you look at it, it's news!

We're moving! (You know, to that OTHER college town.) When? We don't know for sure. Why? To help our church plant a church. Does Eric have a job there? No (we'd appreciate your prayers on that one). Have you sold your duplex and home? YES! Since listing our homes in January, we have sold one and the other is sale pending! As exciting as that is, it also means that on May 14, our closing date, we become indefinitely homeless.

Are we crazy? Definitely yes. Are we crazy for the right reasons? Definitely yes. Is it stressful? Definitely yes.

God is strong when our strength is gone. God gives faith to those who ask for it. I'm weak and I'm asking.

When people see us uprooting our family of six with no tangible place to go and no job, they will think we are crazy. And when God works it out, they will see HE IS GREAT!

God, may your kingdom come in that OTHER college town.

I'm going to pack some boxes....

Wednesday Schedule

4:00a-Feed Eliza. Put her back to bed. She's up again at 5:30a. Day starts early.

4:01a-Remember it will be 3+ days until Eric gets home. Day starts s...l....o...w.

6:45a-Start making lunches. Get kids ready for school.

8:00a-After feeding everyone else, I eat my bowl of cereal.

8:15a-Start cleaning for house showing at 4:00p.

10:00a-Decide to take a shower after Sophie tells me I stink.

11:00a-Make lunch for "the girls" and clean kitchen for final time before showing.

12:00p-Vacuum floors while holding Eliza. My left arm is almost asleep when I finish.

1:00p-Glorious nap time! I clean some more for an hour.

2:00p-My cleaning is going so well, I take a 1/2 hour nap. Whoopee!

2:30p-Up again and cleaning the bathrooms. My favorite.

3:20p-Turn on all lights in the house (I think it is a house showing thing.) Get Sophie up, shoes and jacket on. Load the van with stuff for evening activities.

3:35p-Boys get off the bus. They use the bathroom with warnings of "Don't leave drips!" ringing in their ears. Before they can make a mess, I send them to the van. I load up Eliza and we're off to the public library. (We have to go SOMEWHERE during a showing.)

3:45p-Boys play on computers.. Sophie does puzzles. I feed Eliza in a secluded corner.

4:30p-We leave for D6, stopping at McD's for icecream on the way because Daddy's out of town and we all need a pick-me-up. My kids now love me more that 15 minutes earlier. (Eric, we thought of you the whole time we ate the ice-cream.)

5:00p-D6 worship rehearsal. Ever try to dance, sing, and hold a baby? (Thanks for your help, Nicole.)

6:15p-Drop the kids off at classes and finally get to eat supper.

7:30p-D6 production. Wish I would have done a better job memorizing the lyrics.

8:15p-All kids in the car. Headed home.

8:30p-Jammies, snack, teeth, bed. In that order.

9:00p-Call and make playdate plan for tomorrow. I need some adult conversation.

9:30p-Watch an hour of "Dan in Real Life".

10:30p-Feed Eliza.

11:00p-Lights out. Remember that after tonight, there will only be two more nights until Eric comes home. Not an encouraging thought. Pray for sleep-request granted.

Birthday Month

March is birthday month. Three of my four kids have birthdays in March. I've baked four, that's right, FOUR cakes in the last four days. Three of them in the last 24 hours. Because when your kids attend public school, they want to take birthday cupcakes to school. And of course you must have the special birthday cake at home. I've still got one birthday to go and I'm wiped out!

And why, oh why, doesn't anyone else in my family like leftover cake? I'm daily repeating my baby-weight loss motto (thanks, Heidi!) "A moment on the lips, a lifetime on the hips." Or the more positive version, "Nothing tastes as good as thin feels." It doesn't seem to be working. I've eaten more than my share of cake. :) It is starting to look gross.

The good news of the past couple of weeks? Eliza is starting to sleep through the night. Not consistently, but enough to please her mama. Oh, glorious sleep!

The Gift

The boys came home from school on Monday excitedly waving a white piece of paper. Turns out the 3rd grade classes were holding a white elephant sale (code for "junk sale") ALL WEEK to raise money for a field trip or something. My boys have their own little stash of spending money, so I let them each take a couple of dollars. Of course, I also gave them a lecture about spending money wisely and not buying something just because you can. Classic "Mom" lecture.

The following day Danny came home with nothing. He had carefully inspected each item for sale and decided nothing was worth his hard earned cash.

Caleb came home with a stuffed monkey, a clone trooper bobble head At-At walker (Star Wars fans, did you get that?), and a plastic ninja turtle (I think we sold one just like it at our last garage sale). He spent about $0.50.

But Caleb kept his money in his bag because they were putting new items out every day! And, oh yes, the kindergarten class got to go to the sale every day. And on Thursday, he came home with a real treasure.

He pulled out a box with 9 items that looked like mock sea shells. Not a great use of the $1 they cost, but no big deal. Then he handed them to me and said, "Here, Mom, I bought these for you because you deserve them." And so, touched by my little boy's generosity (a dollar is a lot to a little kid) I took my gift.

Turns out they weren't mock sea shells. They were smelly, floating candle sea shells. And they smelled like really cheap mens' cologne. Smelly, floaty, cheap mens' cologne candles that my 5 year old bought........for me.

"Hey," I said, "Let's try these out!" And so I lit all of the candles and set them afloat in the bathtub....almost gagging at the smell.....with the exhaust fan on high, of course......and it stunk up the house.....and Caleb and Sophie watched those candles burn for a good 15 minutes! Then we "forgot" about them and they probably burnt for close to an hour.

Unfortunately, they didn't burn as quickly as I had hoped. Still plenty of wear in them. I put them all in a ziplock under the bathroom sink, but I could still smell them, so they now occupy a special place on the shelf in the garage......just in case Caleb asks me if I want to burn them again. :)

I love my Caleb. A scrub brush for Christmas, a half written card for my birthday (I think he got tired out), smelly candles because I deserve them. Gifts only a mother could love.

Funny Stuff

Check out what happens when we're bored on a Saturday afternoon. For the real "Guacamole Song" that inspired ours, go here.

I love my kids. :)

Don't tease me, Mr. Winter

There are some things I've been noticing the past few days...there is a trickle of water that has joined the ice mound at the end of our driveway.....I can see a patch of bare ground in our front yard.....there is more bare deck than ice covered deck on our screened in porch.....my boys got out their bikes when playing outside yesterday and asked to take off their snow pants....and the sun feels WARM. Don't tease me, Mr. Winter. You've had a nice, long reign this year. I'm ready for spring. Here's to March coming in like a lamb! (Never mind the saying, we'll hope it goes out like a lamb, too!)

And she's off...

Eliza started rolling over the evening of Tuesday, February 2nd. 4 months old exactly. She had been so close all day and a few minutes after I left for work, she rolled over. Of course, I missed it. From back to stomach. The kids saw it. It was really cute to watch them encouraging her. They were surrounding her saying, "Come on! Almost! Go!" Then when she wouldn't get all the way over, they would all let out a big "Awww" which would scare Eliza. Now, almost two weeks later, she rolls constantly and can go from stomach to back as well. Enjoy the video.

Oh, and I gave Eliza's hair a trim. She was losing all of the hair on the sides of her head, and it looked like she had a comb-over. I just shortened the top a little so it blended a little better. :) And no, I don't have a picture of that. I'm lucky to get the video up!

There's a New Kid in Town!

Danny got glasses! Turns out his vision was so bad that if he were an adult, he would have flunked his driving exam. Neither Eric nor I realized how bad it was and now that he has glasses, he is telling us all of the things he used to not be able to read. He loves being able to see! Of course, after Danny got home, Sophie insisted that she wear glasses, too.


Handsome Dan. Doesn't he look good!?

Too Long On The Phone

So, yesterday I was chatting with a friend on the phone, Eliza was sleeping, Sophie was....well....Sophie was quiet....and she was in my bedroom/bathroom. But, I was having a good conversation, so I let her go. I was on the phone for about 15 minutes. I hung up and out of my room walks Sophie with a guilty look. She looks like she has a dirty face, but upon closer inspection, I see that she has put on makeup. She had foundation on her cheeks, mascara (she actually got it on her eye lashes-and smeared across her nose), eye shadow, and lip gloss. The lip gloss was applied the most liberally to her eye brows, cheeks, lips, and chin. It was very cute and I had a hard time not laughing, but I firmly told her not to play with Mommy's makeup. And then I wiped it all of with a wet wipe. Only then did I think, "Oh, I should have taken a picture." Sorry. You'll have to imagine how funny she looked. :)

Cute Pics

Eliza taking a cat nap (well, me, too) the Sunday before Christmas. You may see that she has a red mark right under her right ear. The pediatrician said it was a hemo....something and would go away around age 2. And the date on the picture is wrong. Gotta change that.

Had I sent a Christmas card/birth announcement, this is the picture you would have seen. Yeah, shoulda coulda woulda. I'm lucky I got the picture taken at all. Hey, I got something done when the boys had a snow day after all! Eliza will be 4 mo. on Feb. 2, so I think this counts as a 4 mo. picture.

School....

School...to be or not to be, that is the question. We have yet to have a full week of school since Christmas break. Storm after storm after storm. Wind, ice, snow, more wind. It is crazy!!!

The other night I woke up at 3a (normal in my world) and noticed how cold it was in our house. Looking at the thermostat, I saw it was 57 degrees in our house when it was supposed to be 65 degrees. I notified Eric (the resident repairman) and he braved the cold to find out the snow had drifted over our furnace's exhaust pipe (that isn't what it's really called, but I don't know the right name). Anyway, when that happens, the furnace automatically shuts off. Nice.

Today the boys got up and having had very little or no school the past two days, Danny had to check to see if there was a delay. What he discovered instead was that the normally scheduled early out for today had been changed to a full day. The boys were not pleased.

I'm procrastinating unloading the groceries-we go through almost a gallon of milk a day, cleaning up the house, and getting supper started. But oh how I love that short time of day when everything is quiet because both girls are sleeping. Too bad there is no time for a nap. :)