Want a tour?

The house is officially on the market and the first agent came to show it on Thursday. It made this whole move seem more real than ever! But I am determined to enjoy the house while I can. (After all, how often are all the rooms neat and organized?) I am so curious about how people decorate. If you are too, come on and take a look. Keep your expectations low because I do not recall ever spending over $200 on a room before, so every room was put together on a shoestring budget! I also want to post all of these pictures because I want to remember how these rooms looked.

From the front door we have a narrow foyer:
The foyer leads to the master on the right. Our "master" bathroom is pretty tiny. Cozy, but cute.

Our bedroom:

*The view from my bed: my birthday present from Andy. We got it on ebay for $35 several years ago and he remembered the canvas and had it framed for me. The foot board is about four feet from the wall, even though it looks like it is against the wall in this picture.*

From the foyer, the kitchen is straight ahead: *Twirling girl not included in the sale of the house*
The family room is on the left of the foyer:

And behind the family room is the dining room. We have been in this house three and a half years and this room has changed five or six times. It was a dining room, play room, dining room again, school room, and now back to dining room. It has been four colors!

And this is our pantry/art closet/laundry room, all labeled and neat. This order is a miracle!:
Let's go upstairs to the kids' domain. Upstairs we have two bedrooms. The boys' space room on the left. This bedroom is one of the few rooms in the house that I would describe as big. I will miss this space for the boys!

And Lydie's pink room (my favorite room in the house):

And the there is the kids' bathroom. We painted the walls and cabinets the same color as our master bathroom. The shower curtain was from our last house, and works well with both pink and blue to represent all three kids! All of the wall decor is from Toot's nursery. I kept it all because during that very rough time in our lives when he was born, his nursery was a place of happy, sweet memories. He was the sweetest, most beautiful baby! In fact, when we renovated this bathroom a couple of months ago, we spent under $50- the cost to replace the light and bath mat.

And the last floor is the basement. One of our art displays is at the bottom of the steps. Here's a picture looking up from the basement. We keep our timeline and our baskets of shoes in here.And downstairs we have our school room:

And a bedroom (or office, in this case). It is plain and pretty ugly, but at least it has been cleaned out. It had become pretty junky. We are hoping to find a day bed to put in here soon. Maybe I'll fix it up a little if I have time. If we were staying here, I would paint this room a neutral color and fill the walls with color. Then I would move all of my craft stuff down here and take over!

(Attached to the ugly office is an unpictured very plain full bath. It's about as boring as the office room.)

I'm going to miss this quaint little piece of the world! I must remember my word! I actually made a little plate for the kitchen as a reminder:

Thanks for touring the house!! Hopefully we will feel just as comfortable in the next one!

My word for 2010

Following Heidi's lead, I have chosen a word for the year for the third year, now. I choose by praying and thinking of what I feel will be most needed, given my limited insight into what is to come.

2008: Courage

2009: Satisfaction

2010: Peace

This year will be one of big changes. My husband wrote a very bold dream down on paper four years ago, at my urging. Way too tired for a man of thirty, and completely miserable in his job, I demanded that he figure out what he really dreamed of for his life. I was blown away with his 12 page answer!

In a nutshell, he desires a big chunk of land. His dream is to begin farming crops and livestock. And once the "Farm" is off and running, he has many wonderful ideas for ministry opportunities. A few include giving our fruits and veggies to those in need, housing missionaries when they are on sabbatical, teaching science classes or field trips on our land, having college interns that are seeking an agriculture degree (we are 45 minutes away from a big university with a rather large ag dept.), having a retreat building for small church groups, and even having a small L'Abri type facility for college students who are seeking answers and quiet weeks alone with God. We have also discussed ways to incorporate my gifts and hobbies into our farm life. Art classes, women's groups, my own acre or two for flowers to sell at "the markets", starting a business with the crafts that I make, and continuing to home school. Oh, and I forgot to mention my new passion for dune buggies. Isn't that lovely?

God has very quickly provided answers to my husband's diligent prayers. We have a 180-acre piece of property in our home state of Alabama that has been given to us to share with my parents, and eventually inherit as our own. The property houses a 4 bedroom house that has been renovated for our use. The barn on the property has been completely rebuilt and holds a plethora of brand new farming equipment waiting for our use. As a result, my husband feels like God is leading us to move back to Alabama. (Wouldn't you say these gifts are a BIG nudge?)

Our farm will be called, "Back Home Farms", for the obvious reason. But the name also has a sweeter story behind it. Last year both of my grandparents died. They grew up, along with my Dad, in the same county where we will be "farming". When we went to my Grandmother's funeral, my middle son showed me a piece of paper as we left. He said, "Look Mommy, I took notes." On the paper he had written, "Back Home". My Grandmother would have LOVED his notes! I knew instantaneously it was the name for which we had prayed.

So, back to the word for the year. Why Peace? The decision to make this enormous change in our life has left me on the biggest emotional roller coaster of my life! I am honored and excited to be able to watch my husband enter into a perfect calling for him-working the land along with mercy ministry. Anyone who has ever spent any time with him outdoors knows that his love and knowledge of God's creation is astounding. I feel so blessed (and terrified) to be the wife of someone who is leaving a stable, corporate, honorable job where his name is reputable to start a farm. In Alabama, they don't even do a census of the number of small farms any more. The number is just too small to bother with. Most people do not respect the occupation of farming in the south because it is associated with poverty and the uneducated. In addition to the pride I feel for Andy's courage and humility, I am also thrilled for my Dad. He is getting ready to retire and partner with us. And my Dad has shared this dream since way before I was a glimmer in his eye. It truly is amazing to see how God has walked before us and brought this all together.

On the other hand, I have never lived anywhere besides the city. I love my house, neighborhood, home school group, friends, and just the area in general. (I admit I will miss the local stores and even Target a little more than I should admit!) And I absolutely love our church. I am pretty sure we will never be a part of such a solid, stable, loving Body of believers. I am lamenting every day the thought of leaving our "family" here. But I am reminded of the deep joy that is found in submitting to God and my husband, even when it is extremely difficult. I trust them completely with this decision and feel like obedience is the answer for me! But still, I pray for peace every day. I pray God will give me a sense of "home" within a relatively short amount of time. And I am thankful that I know a God who promises that our faith will lead to a deeper love and understanding for Him. It will be very good (albeit emotionally painful at times)to be in a situation that forces me to rely on Christ in a deeper manner than I need to right now. (Hebrews 11 has a list of many things that God has asked His people to do that were just plain crazy and required tremendous faith. The pages in my Bible for these verses may be worn to shreds by the end of the year!)

As my husband says,

"There is no growth in a comfort zone.

And there is no comfort in a growth zone."

So as I type this post, we are getting ready to put the "For Sale" sign in the yard. When our house sells, however long that takes, we will be headed back to Alabama. Lord, give me Peace!!

**If you are a friend and hearing this news for the first time, please forgive me. We made the announcement to the Youth Group at church on Sunday and I know the word will spread like wildfire now. I guess this is as good a place to hear our news than any other! And I figure much better than from a text or Facebook!

**Pictured above: weekends at the farm

Note to self: Don't forget!!

Dear Self,
Do not forget the following noteworthy moments in home schooling from the past week:

::Jaybird's hilarious journal entry (verbatim)::
"Attack of the Snowballs"
Synopsis: When young Joie was making a snow fort, he found a glowing snowball. He used it to make his fort, and now it is turning every snowball thrown at it into a merciless monster.

Coming Soon: You thought the snowballs were bad..

"Attack of the Snowman"

Sneak Peek: This time, Thomas Thompson who lives across the street gets the glowing snowball, and he throws it at Joie, who starts to be controlled by it, and then dosent obey it, and turns into a monster.

::Studying King Arthur in History::

We had a hunt for the holy grail. The kids loved this idea, especially pretending to live in the Dark Ages, swords and all!
::Studying Columba in History::

We love missionary stories, especially when they take place on foreign soil. We looked at pictures of Scotland that were beautiful. The boys made illuminated letters, too.

::Learning about volume in math::
Any math activity that involves a funnel and water turns into a fun mess. It was a joy to see Jaybird enjoying math, his least favorite subject!

::Lydie's favorite new prayer::

"Dear Jesus, Thank you that you are in heaven and not a little baby any more. You can do lots of stuff. Amen"

A day as cowboys (or cowgirls)

Our little friends turned four. He had a cowboy party with horse rides. What fun!

Speaking of winter fun...

IT SNOWED! We only get snow in our region of the south on special occasions. Some winters we do not see a single flake! So yesterday and today have been so exciting! We didn't even accumulate an inch. But it is all still very beautiful and fun!

Embracing Winter: My silver lining

"We have only this moment, sparkling like a star in our hand, and melting like a snowflake."

~Marie Beyon Ray

***I do not believe we have only this moment. I believe we need to live for the moments we will have with Christ in eternity, not for the glory of this moment. BUT, I like the reminder that these moments are precious and fleeting. In order to give Him the glory for all we have, I think we need to suck every bit of joy and wonder out of these earthly days of ours. And, I like the analogy of the star and the snowflake, especially for winter time!

20 things this hot-weather lover is loving this winter:

1. Simple but fun art projects indoors

2. The anticipation of snow

3. Quiet reading and puzzles together

4.Peaceful flames dancing in the fireplace

5. Warm, sweet drinks

6. A date set to ice skate, followed by ice cream.

7. Motivation to fix my hair nicely and avoid pulling it back (my neck gets cold!)

8. Embracing this time of year to dream and set our course anew

9. An excuse to buy fresh flowers (I seem to find an excuse every season) and plant grass seeds in indoor pots- we need color!

10. More time indoors for projects- everything is getting organized!

11. Baked goods taste even more yummy after a 30 minute walk in the freezing cold

12. Cuddling and enjoying my new Snuggie, fuzzy slippers, and my husband's flannel pj pants.

13. Candle light every night at dinner (and sometimes breakfast too!)

14. No worries about pastey, white, dry skin- it's all covered with layers of clothing. And laughing at my girl with especially bad bed head after a night with the humidifier.

15. The anticipation of everything turning green again. The reminder of life after death!

16. Seeing so many more stars in the city on a clear, cold night! The sky was wonderful last night!

17. Looking forward to breaking in my new sewing machine! Pillows, bibs for friends, spring dresses, and fabric initials galore are on my wish list!

18. Being able to enjoy our basement again! It is finally completely repaired and better than new after the 20" rainfall in September.

19. As the kids are playing more indoors, I am more available to read! I have finished two books that seemed "unfinishable" and read a third. 24 books this year is my goal!

20. Winter brings Valentine's day and Andy's birthday. Looking forward to those celebrations.

The Wonderful Mundane

I am so very glad to be back into the groove of normalcy. I was really dreading it all after the holidays. I thought teaching, housework, waking up early again, and all the rest sounded exhausting. But today has been simply wonderful. Last night we had a family meeting. Andy and I discussed with the kids the goals we have for them for the year. They added a few of their own. (Toot's #1 goal: To help Mom and Dad more. God bless his little soul!!) I typed out my resolutions and vision for myself, along with a new schedule. We pulled Lydie out of preschool and the boys have switched gears, too. Instead of a morning of enrichment classes, they have each chosen 2 types of "lessons" to take.

Toot: Karate and Lego club

Jaybird: Karate and Theatre

Lydie: ballet and swimming

Boys: Royal Ambassadors (RAs is a watered down version of Scouts, with a missions emphasis.)

All this sounds like a lot! But we still have more days spent completely at home than not.

I am really excited that we are using our budgeted money to really hone in on their gifts and interests. And somehow they still have time to play together, outside, and have family time almost every evening. Our schedule seems to have really fallen into place for the rest of the school year. Winter is looking up after all! (But I'm still counting the days until spring.)

New Year's Eve party

"Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom."

Psalm 90:12

Another year, another decade...all for His glory!