Happy 2nd birthday, Daniel!

How does this small baby become a boy in such a short time?

The morning of Daniels birthday I took him to IHop to have pancakes. He didn’t really enjoy it too much; the mess on his fingers concerned him.

See? He hated it on his fingers! Strange boy!!

We went to see Dennis after we went to Target. Daniel picked out a set of 9 matchbox cars that he LOVES and is still insisting on carrying around with him through the house and even to go out. I love that he gets excited over new things.

We originally had plans to celebrate with his friends at Chuck E Cheese; but as you can see, it snowed around 6-7 inches in a matter of three to four hours, so we stayed home.

Daniel enjoyed pizza……

and CAKE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks Erin for the delicious and beautifully decorated “John Deere” tractor cake! We are still enjoying it.

After all the fun, Daniel helped his dad scrape the snow off of the driveway!

Happy Birthday sweet boy!!!

Catching up with us.

Hey friends. no pictures. just some information so that those of you that don’t get to see us or converse with us often can hear what we are up to.

#1 Daniel recently turned two! I have a post on that coming up, but I wanted to say that it was a SNOWY 2nd birthday! I celebrated with him that morning before we had pizza, and cake that evening. He is still enjoying the cake even today!

Our (Future NEW) home

We have made the final touches to the floor plan, and HOPEFULLY the ground will be broken soon. We rode by today and it was just a big soggy mess with sitting water. It’s hard to believe that vacant patch of grass, er, well, water will be our home. It’s hard to believe that when we leave church we will take a right off of turner road onto Main St and not a left. I am sure that it will all soon become real. Right now, not so much.

Our Current Abode

Things are going good at my moms. We are more comfortable than we ever expected to be. I was so worried that I would suffer from being home sick, and that I would long for the comforts of our former home, but truthfully God has been good to allow us both to fully let go and embrace our current situation. We have definitely settled into a routine, and all seem to be happy. We are so grateful and have no reason to grumble or complain. We are so thankful for gracious hosts. Living with a two year old is an adjustment if you aren’t used to it, but they don’t seem to be bothered. They seem to be enjoying the little monster!  

Speaking of routine:

To show our thanks and to serve Mom and Keith, I have assumed the position of mom/wife/nanny. I take care of the home just as if it were my own. Cleaning, cooking and grocery shopping. Grocery shopping has been an adjustment. Feeding five people certainly isn’t for the faint of heart. This is serious business. I am certainly respecting my fellow peers and elders who have or had the task of feeding a large family. It’s costly number one, and to feed everyone a healthy diet, it requires great thought and planning, and then of course, to plan it so food isn’t wasted. I know adding two more people shouldn’t seem that big of a deal, but it kind of is, especially since Daniel eats enough to satisfy a grown man! Hah!

Healthy Eating

Dennis and I made a commitment (again) to change our eating habits. This is such a cliché thing to do. But, we are convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt that the way we were eating was making us fat, and sluggish. Of course, knowing this alone will not fix anything. I have changed the way I shop, snack, and cook. It’s really just another form of slavery. I say that because, it was slavery to continue to eat food that was not good for us. It is also slavery to spend countless hours preparing the better food, and count all of the calories, to be driven by a snack schedule, etc. I was thinking: “there has got to be another way!!!”

Then a friend of mine explained something that she was doing. Something that really appealed to my heart and soul. To get to the root of the issue. Self control. Self Discipline. Saying: “No! You are full! Stop!” And though it’s harder to say “No” to a yummy Mexican dish than it is to say “No” to broccoli, both have a place in my diet. In moderation. So, this coming week, I am going to be using ALL of the information I have learned, more protein than carbs, less fried than baked, less dressing than more, I am going to listen to my body, stop when I should, and not be so indulgent. All food is given as a gift and we should enjoy it and be thankful, but it should not be abused or used as an idol. And it is, and it has been for a long time. It fulfills me when I am bored, when I am not hungry, and even when I don’t want it, but it’s just there. So, if you pray, pray for me in this on going battle with my flesh.

Thanks for reading this lengthy post!

Hugs and Kisses to you, our friends and family!

our big eater

 

He has been eating a lot lately. We are thankful for a healthy growing boy!

Resolutions

Our church put some Resolutions in our church bulletin by Jonathan Edwards. I have seen these before, but a few of them really stuck out to me that I would really love to make my 2013 resolutions.

1. Resolved, that I will live so as I shall wish I had done when I come to die. (my fav)

2. Resolved, to inquire every night, as I am going to bed, wherein I have been negligent, what sin I have committed, and wherein I have denied myself.

3. Resolved, never to speak evil of anyone, so that it shall tend to his dishonor, more or less, upon no account except for some real good.

4. Let there be something of benevolence in all that I speak

5. Resolved, to act, in all respects, both speaking and doing, as if nobody had been vile as I, and as if I had committed the same sins, or had the same infirmities or failings as others, and that I will let the knowledge of their failings promote nothing but shame in myself, and prove only an occasion of my confessing my own sins and misery to God.

There’s so many more wonderful applicable ones to mention; but for the sake of brevity and clarity, I will stop at 5. Happy New Year friends, I hope it finds you closer to the Lord than ever before.

Our new home’s floor plans

 

So, I know I have not really announced this. Not because I have been trying to be secretive, but because this is a long process, full of ups and downs, certainty, then uncertainty, then everything changes. So, without further ado; Dennis and I are building a home! Yay!!!

Townside Construction is building our family a ranch style home with a basement (unfinished until we do it) due to be finished in 6-8 months. Jerry says 6, but I think it’s wise we just settle in for the 8 month goal so that we don’t grow impatient waiting. The home will be built on the corner of Buffalo St. and Blackhawk St. in the Cherokee Hills neighborhood. I am happy about this location for a number of reasons:

1. a LOT of our dear friends live in this neighborhood.

2. It’s in a great, grown up neighborhood great for walking and our particular street is a double cul-de-sac so that Daniel will be pretty safe playing.

3. It has a great school system, should, for some CRAZY reason, Daniel HAS TO go to public school.

4. It’s on a great side of town.

It’s been the neighborhood we have kept our eyes peeled on for the past year, if not the past three!

This blue print is not 100% accurate: the kitchen and dining room are reversed. I had a small issue with walking into the house from the garage into the “dining room;” I’d rather walk in to the kitchen itself.

So, the front door is the indention in the middle between the garage and front of the house.

The last two pictures are close ups of the house, sorry the last picture is a little blurry! :/

In a nutshell:

-3 bedrooms

-2 full bathrooms

-a living room/kitchen/dining area great room with vaulted ceilings

-unfinished basement

The plans for the unfinished basement include:

-a great and awesome office for me to run my business out of with a place for my sewing materials and crafting stuff. It’ll be called the room of magic! I do create lots of magic in my office. hahah.

-a large homeschool room complete with bookshelves, tables, and everything needed to school our child(ren)

- a large 4th bedroom with a bathroom for guests. (or a third child, but that’s like, probably never going to happen at our rate, the real intention is for his parents mainly.)

- Another large living room

- a third bathroom

The time frame on finishing this basement is probably a good 5 years, doing it in spurts. In the mean time for my office, Jerry has built me a little place for my computer, etc in a section of the kitchen that will be hidden. It’s not perfect, but it will do until we can make a comfy place for me downstairs.

Thanks for reading about all of our great plans! I can’t wait to take pictures of the ground being broken in a few short weeks!

Happy New year everyone!!!

Christmas 2012

Christmas can be summed up in one word: Kitchen!

Yes, our SON received a kitchen this Christmas morning because we knew that he would LOVE LOVE it. And we were right! He really loves it. It’s been 5 days since Christmas and Daniel still wakes up in the morning and after nap and goes STRAIGHT for it to pour us coffee, and put things away! He is one busy kid!  

This year for Christmas we spent it at my moms house for two reasons: 1. because we live there now. 2. because we wanted to be surrounded by family and fun. Greg and Kyndall spent the morning with us, and it was just a fantastic morning. Afterwards, we had breakfast casserole, muffins, and milk/juice. Dennis left with Paul and his parents and spent some time with Tommy at the Rescue Mission, and I was able to take an after Christmas morning nap.

See what I mean? He adores his Christmas present.

Later on, we went to Paul and Jill’s for Christmas dinner and to spend some time with the Maggi family.

Daniel is enjoying an early birthday present here from Grandma and Grandpa.

And then after that, he enjoyed some snuggle time with Grandpa! It was sweet.

if you’re interested in what the grown ups received; I was given a ton of goodies from my parents. As usual, mom spoiled me with a ton of new fall decorations. It’s a yearly tradition. Fall has become just as big of a decorating ordeal as Christmas. So, she has done a fantastic job providing me with great décor for that. Also, I received a book I have been dying to have. It’s a book to help me unpack the wonders of Lightroom 4, my editing software. Dennis received a juicer, shoes, slippers and some undies. And, MOM, received an iPad from her children among other little things.

I have a lot to update everyone on, more posts to come.

Saying goodbye to Harper

 

First of all, since I skipped all of November, and half of December, I don’t expect that anyone is reading this, but, here’s a shot at blogging again.

We have been going through a ton of change, an one of them required saying good bye to our dog, Harper. It was a sad departure. Here is a brief recap.

Dennis and Daniel said goodbye.

I said goodbye.

And we drove him to Copper Hill, VA to be with his new people. They seemed to really adore Harper.

I already miss him, but I do think that he will get so much love there.

We have 1 day left in our home. We move out on Saturday and will wait for our home to be built on Buffalo St. in the Cherokee Hill neighborhood. We are excited, but will miss our very first home as man and wife.