EKjourney Backup

Bittersweet as we plan on posting the "for sale" sign in the yard tomorrow.  I am excited about our new property.  I think the benefits to the children will be amazing.  I am excited about all the space and gardening and big skies and gazing out on the beautiful view.   It took me quite a little while to fall in love with this place.  I remember complaining about it.  It was basic and boring, the yard was hard to work in because it is carved out into the hill, it is in a ravine so it takes the sun longer to light up the yard.  We have an overhead view of the sky only because of the steep tree lines on either side of us.   Living here...and I guess assuming I would always live here...I have learned to love and appreciate this little home, in this little town.  As the time draws near to make a big transition, I find myself already missing certain aspects of this little urban farm, on this quiet street. *I appreciate what my husband provides, I ...

The relators came Friday afternoon for a final walk through.  They were pleased with all that we got done and think that besides for a few misc items (grout, window washing, scrubbing the French doors clean, and pressure washing the driveway) that we are ready.  We decided to go live on Monday so we could use the weekend for the finishing touches.  They liked all the pictures that I have taken and sent and didn't take any of their own.  I just need to photograph the entry way and the outside. Saturday, we dug two trees that I wanted to take with us, pressured washed the driveway and the back patio, and took another load to my parents.  We also went and looked at some Maremma puppies (more about this later) and talked with the owners about working farm dogs.   Tina repainted out bathroom and I love the color so much, I am considering using this in the new house. The playroom doesn't photograph very well.  We only have this small couch and two chairs in ...

This week was actually quite stressful.  Phil left early 3 days this week (2 of them before 5:30).  He had a school board meeting Monday night, he worked late Tuesday night, I took the children to Awanas Wednesday night so Phil could stay home and work on the house, Thursday was truly insane with Brighton's appointment up in Portland (11:00-2:00), the girls in 4-H (1:00-3:00), Sawyer at his construction class (3:00-5:30), Phil with another after school meeting (3:30-5:00), picking up some chairs (6:30).  We were both literally driving all over and meeting in between to switch out cars depending on who had the most children to transport.  We fell into bed at 9:00 both of us thinking we should be doing more work but both being too tired.  Phil considered running the load in the trailer out to my brother and Tina's barn and then grouting.  I considered starting on the deep clean.  The relators are coming at 1:00 today and we are not going to be ready. ...

As I clean and clear off surfaces this week, I am taking pictures to send to the relator.  In real life, we do have things like dishes, waterbottles, basket with vitamins, dogs and their dishes on the floor, shoes in the entry way, and laundry on the couch.  But, hopefully, this is "picture perfect" enough to interest people in coming to look. I need to reclean and stage the children's rooms and get those pictures up and ready.  Our room and the bathroom are still being worked on.   I spent nearly 3 hours late afternoon and evening yesterday unloading another 2 yards of bark dust.  That is 5 yards so far.  It looks nice but there is little annoyance, I guess I would call it, that so much time and energy and money (100.00 in bark dust just for the front garden beds so far) has to go into making a "first" impression.  Winter gardens are not necessarily beautiful and I would never bark dust in a garden under normal circumstances because it is such a tempo...

Last week, was snowy and cold cold cold, then rainy.  I continued to work on getting the yard cleaned up.  I dug out the ponds and refilled the holes with dirt.  I loaded up rocks, pavers, and bricks.  I cleaned out the water features.  I collected the strawberry runners so I would have starts to plant.  I unloaded 2 loads of bark dust.  The children were a tremendous help.  They loaded an entire trailer of firewood all by themselves and then helped with another load of rocks and bricks.  I am amazed at how much there is to load and fix just in the yard alone.  It is a lot of work for the simple concept of "curb" appeal.   Waiting for the snow to melt so I can put down the bark dust. Even with two pairs of socks, my feet were freezing so I broke down and bought a pair of Muck Boots.  The funny thing is, 2 years ago, I really wanted to have a new pair of winter boots but I just couldn't justify paying so much money just to have ...

We have been going through the most incredible series on marriage and parenting in our small group/Sunday School at church.  I walk away every week convicted and inspired and I love it...as in, cannot-miss-a-session, love it.  A lot of it is hard to hear because I know I fall so short...I know I will fall short but I am falling shorter than I think I ought to!  We are weekly reminded of who the Lord is and what He wants from us and in my desire to know Him more and become more obedient to Him, I find myself just pouring over the information and desperately wanting to draw near to Him and become the person He wants me to be.  Today, we started a section called "Inability" as in our inability to be adequate without the Lord.  Here are a couple of points I starred and underlined in my notes: 1.  Parenting is not about exercising power for change in your children.  Parenting is about your humble faithfulness in being willing to participate in God's work of...

School table and shelving with legos and building materials, art supplies, lego magazines, a tie fighter, packing materials for our big move, a crane, and a couple of boxes containing speech and handwriting material. Brighton had his psychology evaluation for ADHD (and more) today.  He performed a bunch of tests and evaluations to get an idea of who "Brighton" is and how he learns.  A part of me wants to rebel and say NO MORE.  I have (I want to have) your run of the mill average learners, thank you very much, that is what I can handle, deal with, educate, parent, etc...  I don't want the extra challenges that come with great intelligence and great learning challenges.  Sometimes, I think the Lord finds your wants and your challenges and your abilities completely irrelevant.  LOL! So...as I already know...Brighton suffers from a language processing disorder...in the speech therapy world, this is called "auditory processing disorder", in the world of academi...

Last week, we started back to our "normal" routine.  Brighton had speech up in Portland, Awanas started back up, and we went back to homeschooling. All in all, in went fairly well.  I made sure to get school done around noon and luckily, the weather earlier in the week was dry (but oh so cold!!) so the children and I clean the yard and started to clean out the garage in the afternoons.  We had trailer loads ready for Phil to haul to storage when he got home from work.  My parents barn is now nearly full and we have a place for yard stuff and our camping trailer under the trees.   A couple of the days, we did two hauls and got back after bed time.    On Saturday, we had a snowy day (3rd snowstorm with accumulations in a month, very unusual).  We loaded up another yard load and made a Home Depot run so we could start fixing interior stuff.  My oh my, there is a lot that needs to be done when you sell a house.  Because we need a quick sale,...

I loved having a chunky thick baby.  Brighton was nearly 9 pounds and it was such a difference between him and my 7 pounder.  Brighton kind of "broke the mold".  I know I have said several times before that he is my most challenging child.  He is also just about as dyslexic as you can get (profound).  He has had challenge already in his young life with ADHD, speech (severe...less than 1% in his ability), and profound dyslexia.  Despite his challenges, he is a happy boy and is not at all inhibited by his "lack" of skills when it comes to being social.  He loves people!   I really truly believe that the Lord has something special in mind for this child (and I really truly believe that the Lord has something special in mind for all who love Him and desire to serve Him).  Sometimes, I don't feel "worthy" enough to be his mother - it requires so much patience and knowledge (of his special circumstances) and I find myself floundering.  But, th...