I'm pooped...

I'm pooped!! We are scheduled to have an open house in about 3 weeks....so I've been doing some "deep" cleaning this fall break. I'm tired already of going through stuff and we don't even have a contract on our house yet!! Not good at all!!

I do have some great help though....My kiddos have really helped out!! Yay for free child labor!! I feed them pretty good and they will work happily for full tummies!! So far I can cross the following off my "to do" list: painted front bathroom, changed over my closet from spring/summer to fall/winter, purging some closet stuff, kitchen drawers and cabinets cleaned out, and my frig is clean too!!! I haven't yet attempted to do any of the outside chores yet. I suppose we can do that tomorrow!!

I am really wishing that we would have some lookers at our house. I keep anticipating to get a phone call...but I haven't!! Oh well...I suppose that is more time for us to get the house in tip-top shape!!!!

Fall Breaking...

It's fall break time!! I have quite the "to do" list for this break. Most of the time I like to use fall break to do a little cleaning/organizing/purging....and switching over the closet from spring/summer to fall/winter!! However, I'm going to attempt some projects on my own that otherwise require the help of my guy. I'm going to paint our front bathroom, do some landscaping in the front and some garage cleaning. I'm anticipating that we'll have an open house soon. That makes me kind of nervous!! I'm a perfectionist...so having people milling in/out of our home and making comments that would undoubtedly get back to me makes me a little crazy. Cause I want everyone to like to everything they see!!!!

The weather has been so fall like around here. The cloudiness and cool weather (ok, cold) is a little fun!! But it has this way of making me really sleepy at all times of the day!! But I like it!!

Kevin just found out his "outage" schedule yesterday. It's kind of a bittersweet thing...because the money is always appreciated!!! But IF for some reason someone buys our house say like in the next 2 weeks and we have to close in 30 days....most of the packing will rest on my shoulders. I'm a good cleaner, purger, give away kind of gal....packing is not my forte. I do fine for about 3 boxes or tubs...then I get impatient and start pulling out the garbage bags. Cause seriously...we're not moving 700 miles away....we're just moving across town.

Well...I will do my next post when I make some progress on the "to do" list!! I like the before...but I LOVE the after!!!!

Beautiful fall!!

I love this time of year....actually I love every single season and I am always ready for the new season to come when it's time for it to come!! This fall is particularly nice. I like the crisp temps, the pretty colors of the mums and seeing the pumpkins being displayed!!

I have tried not to be so busy that I can't appreciate the beauty of it all!! But it's hard!!! We've got our house up for sale. So, I'm consumed with doing all the fine tuning to keep our house sharp for the right family to buy!!! Speaking of that....(come on...you knew I was going to find a way to write about that!!) I've been a little discouraged lately that we haven't had many lookers. And it's kind of funny...cause every time I get that discouraging feeling...I get a phone call from our realtor or have a conversation with Kevin or a friend that encourages me!! Hmmm....I suppose I can take some strength from that!! :)

I'm pretty pumped that we are out of school on Thursday and Friday!! I have my "to do" list all made out and ready to go!!!! It's a long list and it consists of some stuff like....painting our front bathroom all by myself!!!....completely re-organizing and purging all kitchen and laundry room cabinets....and of course changing over my closet from spring/summer to fall/winter.

Since my last few posts, I've become very much at peace with our decision to sell our house and to move. I have been pointed to several scriptures in my Bible and spent countless hours in prayer. Kevin and I have talked and deliberated about this from all angles. Things fell together rather quickly....like finding the house we have fallen in love with, the financing, and choosing our realtor. We've looked at several houses and have crossed many off the list...except for the 2nd one we looked at!!!! In case you don't know this about me....I tend to obsess about things like this...imagine the patience my husband has had to exercise!!!!

Anyway...I'm expectantly waiting for the next chapter to begin in this little saga.....

Hmmm....

Hmmm....I still have lots going through my tired little brain!! We are deep into this real estate stuff. I forgot how much time and energy it takes to sell/buy houses. Anyway....we haven't had any more lookers on our house yet. I'm confident though that we are going to make it through this process better than we were when we started it. Whether we buy the house we have all fallen in love with or something different....God is bringing us closer as a family in a sweet way.

One thing also that I forgot about the whole selling process is how impeccably clean one must leave their house every morning when going to work. You just never know when your house will be shown...so every bed has to be made, every towel hung up, every laundry basket needs to look sparse, every dish must be in the dishwasher or put away, pillows fluffed, crumbs swept....you get the picture. So, there is no time for lolly-gagging in the mornings. I'll have to remember this is really not a huge stretch of inconvenience...just a little extra time. So, when we move, maybe I could keep up this trend?? Nah, probably not!!

I'm taking a sick day today because Kaylyn got sick last night and it was rather nasty. Here's the deal...we are not a good throw-uppy famiy. When one of us has just one huge yack, we're down for the next 14 hours. I don't understand how a person can do a throwup so violently and then turn around the next day and be normal. My insides hurt like crazy. So, anyone out there that doesn't understand why one round of yackiness causes me to call in and take a sick day...just don't judge....just nod and know that thought it doesn't happen often...when it does, I'll be the first to call in and take a day of rest!!

Have a great day....I know I'll be disinfecting, cleaning out a drawer or cabinet or something and enjoying a little extra quiet today!!

How do you know??

We put our house on the market this week. It's already been shown once too. I'm having some anxiety issues with this too. I need some advice...some good sound Bible-based advice...wisdom. The older I get, the harder it seems for me to become at peace with decisions that are major ones to make. I mull things over and over like beating it with a dead fish or something. To the point that I know it gets on Kevin's nerves....and probably most likely the nerves of my friends too.

How do you truly know that going out on a limb to sell your house is the right move to make? How do you know that anytime making any kind of a huge purchase is the right thing to do? I'm great at giving advice to others...even when they didn't ask for it...I feel like it's my right to interject what I think others should do. But, it's a teeny bit different when it is yourself. I know God will put up the stops if He sees us doing something that is detrimental to our family's well-being. I know he puts people in our paths to guide us....I know all of this. But, I don't know if what we're doing is what God is truly desiring us to do. I've prayed and prayed and prayed. Sometimes I think I "will" things into motion and then convince myself that God has paved the way. I don't know if that makes sense....but I really need some feedback here. And here's something else that keeps floating around in my mind.... Am I wanting too much in wanting a 4 bdrm house?? Am I spoiled?? Will buying this dream house in my head lead me to contentment? Seriously....all I ever really wanted in wanting a 4 bdrm house was more in the future: when all our children are grown, I want them to come to our house and feel like they have a place here...a bit of privacy while being altogether at the same time. A home. I want our home to be their safe place from this cruel world - their haven!! I think about the last 7 years that the girls have shared their bedroom and in reflecting, I have watched a beautiful relationship get so tight that they can truly say that they are best friends. Will that be lost if we move into a bigger home?

Kevin and I have made some huge blunders in our married life when it came to making decisions. We've also reaped the blessings over and over for the wise ones we've made too. I don't like regrets. So, if you are reading this and feel inspired to respond...I'll gladly take whatever thoughts you have into consideration!!

A Month In...

It's been a long while since I last updated my blog!! Not that anyone has probably noticed, cause I doubt anyone reads it...but....it's good to put my thoughts on here, helps me to reflect later on.



Last time I updated, I was so excited that the architect was going to draw us some plans to add onto our house. Well, sad to say that it was a "no-go"...and now we're going to look at a house tomorrow after church to see if moving is what we want to do. Everyone in the family is all for it, except Big Daddy!! He's the one that makes the most and works the longest hours...so his opinion is crucial!!! But over the past month, Kevin has gone from NO I don't want to move, to well let's see what this house looks like...to even coming home the other day telling me what all we must do to get our house ready to list!! WOW!!! :)



School has been in session for over a month now with kids and almost 2 months for me counting all the hours the I put into moving into my room and getting it ready for kiddos. What a relaxing year it has been too. I have 19 kiddos....and nobody has any big issues. Learning or behavioral-wise. It's been kind of nice also to be in a different hallway. I get to greet the kids as they come off the bus and that's fun for me.



I'm learning FINALLY the art of keeping my mouth shut. My mouth gets me into all sorts of trouble and I've prayed about my mouth and when I hear God say....STOP...I've been walking away and that's been good for me. I want to live out Psalm 119:1 in my life.



I had my yearly checkup this week...that's always so much fun for me. Everything went fine, except when the doctor said for me to keep up with my blood pressure for a couple of weeks. It was a little high in his office...DUH...I hate going to the dr.!!!!! So, the commitment to working hard on the treadmill or going for walks will have to be REAL!!! I refuse to have to resort to blood pressure medication!!!! I stopped drinking pop on a regular basis a long time ago...I already drink at least 32 ounces of water while I'm at school daily.....and I stick to a pretty good diet at school with brining lunches and eating a healthy breakfast...plus I don't use table salt for anything unless baking. So.....I guess it comes down to working out and getting enough sleep!!!!



I'll post later on all of these updates.....

The Verdict is In!!

Well after almost 7 years of living in our home and dreaming of oneday adding on some more living space to make it perfect...we decided to get an architect's professional opinion on the matter. And he did. And it's not what I wanted to hear. He came to our house and drew things on graph paper and measured...he listened to Kevin and I describe to him the perfect new master suite...I felt like we were on an HGTV show!! Then a month later, after he had time to research covenants, easement lines, utility lines, planning commission bumble jumble....it won't work. At first I was ok with all of this. "At least we know" is the phrase that kept coming to mind....but now the realization of that dream never coming to life has made me very heartbroken. I love our house....most of the time. You see, I want a home that has 4 bedrooms. I want my girls to have their own space...because that's what they really want. And when looking ahead to the future...I want them to be excited to come home when they are in college, etc. I suppose the logical thing to do is to sell our house and find the perfect home....and I have. It's actually in our neighborhood a couple of streets over and it's empty!! However, I am afraid by the time I convince Kevin we should sell...someone will already have snatched it!! Moving is alot of work....I've done it quite a bit since we've been married. But everytime we've moved, it's been a cleansing process. We've purged junk, thrown away stuff that needed to be thrown, had garage sales, and taken stuff to Goodwill by the truckloads. That's the work part of moving...but after the move has taken place and the last box unpacked, there's always this sense of everything being clean and fresh!!!! That's the best feeling after moving!!!
I feel this sense of urgency that we need to do something soon like today. I think that's called an anxiety disorder...and that's where Kevin gets completely out of sorts with me. He is so laid back and relaxed and I'm so NOT!!! Perhaps, God is continueing to do a work in me....and I know He has his hands full with me!!
Anyway, I know this story isn't finished yet. Kevin and I have alot to think about and alot to talk about. We seem to process at different speeds....which is kind of frustrating....but good in the longterm. So, as we continue this new little journey called the future....I'll keep praying for God's wisdom!!