Thursday, August 30, 2012

Another One

The similarities between moving and birthing are more than I would care to discuss right now.

So instead, let's talk about the those little things we like to pepper in the middle of our crazy summer. Yep, I mean birthdays. Because after you move the day before vacation and then come home to a house piled with boxes, the most convenient thing to do a few days later is celebrate a birthday, of course! 

I hated to chince too much on poor Elijah who didn't have the world's best birthday last year. I tried to make the day a marriage of fun and easy. ("Don't you really want go see a movie and get yummy pre-made food for your birthday, sweetie?!") But my two youngest sisters and baby brother came to my rescue in a major way as they took over the birthday cake for me. And by the way the "sand castle" turned out, I'm going to try to con them into doing all my kid's cakes from now on.

DSC_1543

Photobucket

Edible shells they handmade:
Photobucket

Oh, you have allergies? How about some dairy and gluten-free "beach ball" and "sand pail" cupcakes they just whipped up on the side?
Photobucket

I told you it was amazing.

Happy 9th birthday to my favorite red-head!
Photobucket

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Beach Photo Finale

Photobucket


Photobucket

Photobucket

Photobucket

Photobucket

Photobucket

Photobucket

Photobucket

Photobucket

Photobucket

Sunday, August 19, 2012

Time To Remove The Beach Hat

Photobucket

We're headed back to real life (and dozens of unpacked moving boxes). Thanks for tuning in for some vacation fun this past week!

Grandkids

Photobucket

Saturday, August 18, 2012

The Gang

My entire family minus my brother who's rocking it out at Army boot camp right now...
Photobucket

Little Digger

Photobucket

Friday, August 17, 2012

The Making of a Merman

Photobucket

A Lively Game of Wave Tag

Photobucket

Photobucket

Photobucket

Photobucket

Photobucket

Photobucket

Thursday, August 16, 2012

Murder Mystery Night

The theme this year was "Bad Prom"...

Photobucket

Photobucket

Photobucket

Skim Boarding

Photobucket

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Sunset Time

Photobucket

Someone Missed The "Grandpa Activities" Memo

Photobucket

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

You Throw Like a Beach Babe

Photobucket

Beach Sledding

Photobucket

Monday, August 13, 2012

The Beach Isn't Everyone's Cup of Tea

Photobucket

Morning Poker

Photobucket

Sunday, August 12, 2012

Diving into Vacation

Photobucket

Feet In a Rare Position

Photobucket

Saturday, August 11, 2012

I've Had Many Busy Days Before Vacation

But moving the day before was a first for me...
Photobucket

Thursday, August 9, 2012

Lions and Tigers and Moving and Vacation, Oh My!

I shouldn't be sitting down to blog. I should be scrubbing toilets for the lady who's moving into our condo. But I'll make it quick.

We could be moving tomorrow or Saturday or Monday; at this point we just don't know. I do know, however, that our annual beach vacation starts in three days. And I have mixed feelings this year. Part of me is excited. Part of me can't stand the thought of a new house piled with boxed and no one to start unpacking and organizing the contents. But whether I want it or not, I know our family could use a vacation. Because to be honest, I feel a lot like this lately...
Photobucket

So while I'm scrubbing toilets and refrigerators (not with the same brush), I'll start trying to get excited about sand in between my toes and maybe other places...
Photobucket

And water to be enjoyed...
Photobucket

And beach walks to be taken...
Photobucket

And new surprises to enjoy...
Photobucket

And relaxing with the beach essentials...
Photobucket

So as with all our past beach vacations, I'll be posting a photo or two a day over here.

Until then- over and out.
Photobucket

Monday, August 6, 2012

Not The Post I Was Planning

I had a post in mind for today. Short and sweet. Maybe something cheesy like "Happy Homeowners" or "Home Sweet Home" with an iPhone photo of our new house. But now if I posted an iPhone photo it would simply be of a condo with box piles as high as the ceiling, some of them re-opened to get the necessities I thought I'd be unpacking in a new home.

Here's why...

I got a call from Steven two business days before our closing. I knew immediately something was wrong because my husband started out the conversation by trying to lead my heart with, "Let's remember that God is sovereign." It turns out that our buyer went through a bank that was backed by Fannie Mae whose loans, since the bailout, the government regulates. And a recently implemented regulation was that any loan given must be for a place in a neighborhood that has no more than 30% renters currently occupying the homes.

Our neighborhood has 30.6%.

Somehow this was overlooked until the very end, and the bank immediately withdrew. Our buyer is now scrambling to get another loan in place, and we're supposedly closing next week. This means my husband has to stay home while we head off to our annual beach vacation. (Is there some sort of bounty price on our beach vacation?!?)

But what was far more upsetting to me was the way I had meticulously organized every detail of childcare for four kids, painting help, moving help, timing of the groceries, packing, etc. And now all my plans were simply blown out of the water. The week we get home from the beach, my family is gone (bye-bye to most of my helpers), my husband has to get back to a full work schedule, and the school year is looming. So when the news came that my organizing and plans had come totally unraveled, I came totally unraveled. Through a tough year, only a couple of things have really, really gotten to me and this was one of them. I shut the door to my room and sobbed.

Looking back it's sort of pathetic. It wasn't the end of the world. We didn't lose the house or anything. But for about an hour, it didn't feel like such a small thing. I just wanted to know why. Why did it have to go down like that?

And it's got me thinking. How many times do we feel like we need to know why God allowed something to happen, be it something truly life-changing or just an inconvenience like our housing situation? If I can see a reason in my own finite mind, I somehow feel better. But a lack of a visible reason? Well, that just makes me angry.

But God is showing me that I must lay my "why" at Jesus' feet. There's nothing to be gained in demanding to know; and to be honest, doing so makes me feel like I'm going crazy. What if simple humility and a more childlike faith is all I should be seeking?

Charles Simeon, a pastor in the late 18th century wrote:
"Repentance is in every view so desirable, so necessary, so suited to honor God, that I seek that above all. The tender heart, the broken and contrite spirit, are to me far above all the joys that I could ever hope for in this vale of tears. I long to be in my proper place, my hand on my mouth, and my mouth in the dust...I feel this to be safe ground. Here I cannot err...I am sure that whatever God may despise...He will not despise the broke and contrite heart."

As I sat going over Scripture later that evening after the fateful call, God's tender love ministered to me as I read beautiful promises like Jeremiah 29:11, "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope."

God knows the plans He has for me, I do not. So now to learn to embrace the circumstances in my life that keep me living out that truth.

Friday, August 3, 2012

Our Temporary Pet

My mother is one of eight children, all born within ten years (no twins). If that doesn't impress you enough, let me list off some of the pets that their family had during my mom's growing years. I promise; I'm not making any of this up: horses, monkeys (2!), dogs, rabbits, a snake, a porcupine (careful how you pet that, kids!), chickens, a skunk (odor glands removed at the vet), cats, turtles, birds, and those are only the ones I can remember right now. Forget We Bought a Zoo,my grandparents made a zoo!

But, unlike the rest of her siblings, my mom was never that into animals. However, during my childhood, we did end up having a couple of birds, a guinea pig, and a chinchilla.

Then I married Steven. The man doesn't like animals at all even though dogs are somehow drawn to him (which is actually a hilarious sight to behold.) When Adriana asks for a dog, his response is, "You have brothers and that's almost the same thing."

But we did manage to get one little temporary pet in the house over the past couple of weeks. The kids named him "Jones", and we watched the miracle of this little guy going from a caterpillar to a chrysalis...
Photobucket

Photobucket

Photobucket

...to a butterfly...
Photobucket

Photobucket

Photobucket

Photobucket

Photobucket

Photobucket

A whole new take on "butterfly kisses"...
Photobucket

Photobucket

Now "Jones" has struck out on his own, but my kids have memories of their first little pet.

What about you? What pets did you have growing up?