Summer is going to fly by so fast. Due to our upcoming move and home sale, I've decided to start our school year August 1st...meaning we've already started our last month of summer vacation! Yikes, it feels a bit like getting the short end of the stick, but I know it will help in the long run after taking breaks mid-year for selling and moving... I've been going through our curriculum and preparing things so it will be as easy for me as possible to stay on track and get school done in the midst of home showings and packing up.
This year I've tweaked our routine a little. Instead of "bible time" we will have time set aside for Faith & Character Building. We'll be reading about the life of a missionary once a week and having a morning set aside for Worship once a week.
In Science we'll do a semester on Zoology before moving on to Earth Science. I'm also excited about History this year. We'll be continuing from the Revolutionary War that we learned about in depth last year to early American History of the pioneers, abolishing slavery, and how our government works!
We're going to try a new Language Arts program this year, I'm excited for it, but uncertain of how it will play out as we do it. Only time and experience will tell. For math, we found a good program last year and are sticking to it. We've already finished the first 30 lessons during our summer school session and will continue it through the school year, hopefully starting the next math book in the spring. Since both of our girls are in the same math book, it will push our younger daughter ahead in math (she catches on quickly anyway), and help to catch our older daughter up to her public school grade level. She had some gaps in her learning due in part to her brain injury and in part due struggles with how math was taught to her previously. Math has never been easy for her, and I've enjoyed watching her grasp concepts this past year!
Next week we have VBS and I volunteered again. This year my oldest will be my co-teacher. She and I will lead a group of up to 10 elementary kiddos around to the different activities and my little guy will be in the nursery everyday for 3-ish hours. He goes to nursery during service now, so he'll be familiar with it. Going so many days in a row will be interesting to see how he handles it. My middle one will get to participate in all the VBS fun!
Tuesday, July 3, 2018
Monday, June 25, 2018
Houses, School, and Potty Training
Summer is here and we've started our summer learning routines at home. Nothing too big, but enough semblance of structure to help us prevent becoming lazy couch-potatoes, I hope!
On the housing front, after much prayer, stress, and talking over everything a million times, we found peace in signing the contract for purchasing the new construction home. Even though it could be a very scary prospect, that deep unseated peace persists. It's a peace that only God can give because not much changed within our circumstances or the pros and cons, only our perspective has changed. It's been my goal to spend daily time with God and purpose to submit to His leading vs. my own inclinations...something that is easier said than done, but well worth the commitment!
We've sent in our down payment and made appointments to visit the design center, etc. I'm not sure exactly when they will break ground, but we plan to visit the site every couple weeks to see the progress being made. Tentatively, our home will be ready around the holidays.
We'll start our school year in this home, take a break to sell, take a break to move, and then pick up our school work in the new house. It will be a challenge, but we can be flexible and adapt as needed.
We're also moving forward with potty training. I hadn't done much just in case we moved this summer. Moving is almost a guaranteed regression in potty training and I didn't want to start just to have to start over again. But, now that we have several months, and our little guy is showing signs of readiness, we are moving forward.
On the housing front, after much prayer, stress, and talking over everything a million times, we found peace in signing the contract for purchasing the new construction home. Even though it could be a very scary prospect, that deep unseated peace persists. It's a peace that only God can give because not much changed within our circumstances or the pros and cons, only our perspective has changed. It's been my goal to spend daily time with God and purpose to submit to His leading vs. my own inclinations...something that is easier said than done, but well worth the commitment!
We've sent in our down payment and made appointments to visit the design center, etc. I'm not sure exactly when they will break ground, but we plan to visit the site every couple weeks to see the progress being made. Tentatively, our home will be ready around the holidays.
We'll start our school year in this home, take a break to sell, take a break to move, and then pick up our school work in the new house. It will be a challenge, but we can be flexible and adapt as needed.
We're also moving forward with potty training. I hadn't done much just in case we moved this summer. Moving is almost a guaranteed regression in potty training and I didn't want to start just to have to start over again. But, now that we have several months, and our little guy is showing signs of readiness, we are moving forward.
Monday, June 18, 2018
Summer Fun
Summer has begun...or at least will officially be here in a few more days! We took two weeks off from school and projects. Now, we start getting into more of a routine for the summer months.
We are doing our own homemade reading program this summer. I've challenged the kiddos to read 10 books this summer...books that are at their reading level. They'll earn a prize after book 3, 6 and then after the 10th book! Basically, they are hoping to read a book each week. Their first goal is to earn a trip to Dairy Queen. ;-)
I'm also sneaking in some more history lessons with some fun audio books by Rush Limbaugh - his Rush Revere books are excellent and so much fun!
The girls have opted to continue doing math this summer. They want to get ahead in school, so I'm more than happy to help them!
House News: We are still in the negotiation stage with the new construction realtor. We finalized the major construction choices, but haven't agreed to everything in the contract yet. The contract is written mainly to protect the builder because he is constructing a home built to our specifications and we won't officially own it until closing. Some of it we want to tweak to also protect ourselves in case something doesn't go well during the process. We've seen it happen before where a builder took short cuts and the quality of the home suffered, although so far, this builder seems to be a reputable builder.
Health News: The illness my hubby has had for months now, has been determined as a staph infection, not MRSA, but a difficult to resolve one. After an initial misdiagnosis of an allergic ID reaction, he completed two separate rounds of antibiotics which have helped, but not removed the infection. Currently he is going through phototherapy for 12 weeks. Two or three times per week he goes in and stands in a special room to expose his body to special lights that are known to kill staph. According to the internet, staph doesn't have resistance to light. Although his doctor said that the treatment may only put it into remission...yay. Only God knows. We are praying this kills the infection so he doesn't have to live with it anymore.
Last night we were discussing healthcare and what happens when we move, whether he would switch to closer doctors or keep going to his current doctors. Then it dawned on me that for most people it is unusual to have 6+ healthcare professionals that you see on a regular basis. One of those things that just become normal when you live with chronic illness, I guess. On the positive side, his new diet seems to really be making a difference. He's having less pain and fewer flare-ups, and he hasn't needed his cane for a few weeks now!
We are doing our own homemade reading program this summer. I've challenged the kiddos to read 10 books this summer...books that are at their reading level. They'll earn a prize after book 3, 6 and then after the 10th book! Basically, they are hoping to read a book each week. Their first goal is to earn a trip to Dairy Queen. ;-)
I'm also sneaking in some more history lessons with some fun audio books by Rush Limbaugh - his Rush Revere books are excellent and so much fun!
The girls have opted to continue doing math this summer. They want to get ahead in school, so I'm more than happy to help them!
House News: We are still in the negotiation stage with the new construction realtor. We finalized the major construction choices, but haven't agreed to everything in the contract yet. The contract is written mainly to protect the builder because he is constructing a home built to our specifications and we won't officially own it until closing. Some of it we want to tweak to also protect ourselves in case something doesn't go well during the process. We've seen it happen before where a builder took short cuts and the quality of the home suffered, although so far, this builder seems to be a reputable builder.
Health News: The illness my hubby has had for months now, has been determined as a staph infection, not MRSA, but a difficult to resolve one. After an initial misdiagnosis of an allergic ID reaction, he completed two separate rounds of antibiotics which have helped, but not removed the infection. Currently he is going through phototherapy for 12 weeks. Two or three times per week he goes in and stands in a special room to expose his body to special lights that are known to kill staph. According to the internet, staph doesn't have resistance to light. Although his doctor said that the treatment may only put it into remission...yay. Only God knows. We are praying this kills the infection so he doesn't have to live with it anymore.
Last night we were discussing healthcare and what happens when we move, whether he would switch to closer doctors or keep going to his current doctors. Then it dawned on me that for most people it is unusual to have 6+ healthcare professionals that you see on a regular basis. One of those things that just become normal when you live with chronic illness, I guess. On the positive side, his new diet seems to really be making a difference. He's having less pain and fewer flare-ups, and he hasn't needed his cane for a few weeks now!
Sunday, June 10, 2018
Decisions, Decisions...
The prayers for discernment and wisdom continue. We have spent a weekend viewing existing homes, an afternoon driving up to meet the new construction builder, and another weekend traveling for our nieces' dance recital...everyone is tired of being in the car!
As common wisdom states: the perfect home does not exist. There is always a compromise. Of the existing homes we saw, none of them hit the mark. Perhaps we are too picky. However, we feel that we can be picky. Nothing is making us move, or we might have settled on one of those homes.
After talking to the builder, we learned a lot more about what our options are. The builder is in the process of selling the final plots of land and completing the community in our favorite small town. The town is land-locked by farmers who are highly unlikely to sell their land, so the town will not be expanding much more, if at all. We can afford to purchase a new build, but it will make finances tight the first year as we would have to put in landscaping (fence, grass, tree, etc.) within the first year of living there. We would get the floor plan of the home we really loved. We wouldn't have the money to finish the basement right away because the builder intentionally over-charges to finish the basement -he doesn't want to do that work...part of the perks of being a builder I suppose.
We started the process of "negotiating" what the home we would buy would be. Basically he talked to us about the features that we want construction-wise and then he sent us a formal bid of what each change or addition costs and how that effects the final price of the house. Then we can reply back any changes we want to make to that bid and he'll adjust it and send a new form back to us.
In the meantime we can keep house searching if we want, or we can decide that we don't want to go with the new build home after all. We really like the town and the neighborhood. The home we'd get would back to a small greenspace and be in biking distance from a park and a rec center for the kids. It's also 15 minutes from the big city for shopping. We've been praying for God lead us to the right choice. The compromise with this house is the price and timing. The house wouldn't be ready until the of the year. So does God want us to buy this home and trust Him with our finances, or let go of this home and trust Him bring us to another home, or not move at all? That's our current conversation with Him.
As common wisdom states: the perfect home does not exist. There is always a compromise. Of the existing homes we saw, none of them hit the mark. Perhaps we are too picky. However, we feel that we can be picky. Nothing is making us move, or we might have settled on one of those homes.
After talking to the builder, we learned a lot more about what our options are. The builder is in the process of selling the final plots of land and completing the community in our favorite small town. The town is land-locked by farmers who are highly unlikely to sell their land, so the town will not be expanding much more, if at all. We can afford to purchase a new build, but it will make finances tight the first year as we would have to put in landscaping (fence, grass, tree, etc.) within the first year of living there. We would get the floor plan of the home we really loved. We wouldn't have the money to finish the basement right away because the builder intentionally over-charges to finish the basement -he doesn't want to do that work...part of the perks of being a builder I suppose.
We started the process of "negotiating" what the home we would buy would be. Basically he talked to us about the features that we want construction-wise and then he sent us a formal bid of what each change or addition costs and how that effects the final price of the house. Then we can reply back any changes we want to make to that bid and he'll adjust it and send a new form back to us.
In the meantime we can keep house searching if we want, or we can decide that we don't want to go with the new build home after all. We really like the town and the neighborhood. The home we'd get would back to a small greenspace and be in biking distance from a park and a rec center for the kids. It's also 15 minutes from the big city for shopping. We've been praying for God lead us to the right choice. The compromise with this house is the price and timing. The house wouldn't be ready until the of the year. So does God want us to buy this home and trust Him with our finances, or let go of this home and trust Him bring us to another home, or not move at all? That's our current conversation with Him.
Sunday, May 20, 2018
House Hunting
We went on a full day trip to look at the new construction homes this weekend. It was a long day, but I did enjoy seeing the homes we had perused online in person. Surprisingly, one of the builders we had liked online looked awful in person. Compared to other builders, these homes were not built with the same quality at all, but their prices were just as high as the other higher quality homes.
Some homes were beautifully built, but crammed into tiny lots with itty bitty backyards. Most had small bedrooms with the majority of the square footage in the living areas. We learned a lot about what we really want and need in a home and which features in a home really were important to us. As usual, most of the ones we loved were a little out of our comfort zone financially so we aren't putting our hopes in getting a new build home. We haven't scheduled a next time for househunting, but we will go see existing homes next time.
At home, we've finished up our enrichment program for homeschool and just have two weeks left of curriculum to finish at home. I've put it all in the hands of our girls. I explained how many days of school we have left and what they need to accomplish in that time. It's been refreshing to see them take that information and become motivated to push for finishing early rather than procrastinating. Next year they will be 5th and 7th graders. Old enough to be more independent with their workload and old enough to make me feel like my time with them is fleeting.
I'm hoping that we can be moved and settled into our new home before school starts next year. Everything for starting the home search has fallen into place in better ways than we had hoped for. Now we are praying for God's timing and guidance for buying and selling. God has been generous and gracious to us and I am continually motivated to remind myself to keep close to Him. I know my own tendency to start out with God and get comfortable or excited and move out on my own power without Him. So my prayer and goal is to keep my heart willing and seeking His will for our family.
Some homes were beautifully built, but crammed into tiny lots with itty bitty backyards. Most had small bedrooms with the majority of the square footage in the living areas. We learned a lot about what we really want and need in a home and which features in a home really were important to us. As usual, most of the ones we loved were a little out of our comfort zone financially so we aren't putting our hopes in getting a new build home. We haven't scheduled a next time for househunting, but we will go see existing homes next time.
At home, we've finished up our enrichment program for homeschool and just have two weeks left of curriculum to finish at home. I've put it all in the hands of our girls. I explained how many days of school we have left and what they need to accomplish in that time. It's been refreshing to see them take that information and become motivated to push for finishing early rather than procrastinating. Next year they will be 5th and 7th graders. Old enough to be more independent with their workload and old enough to make me feel like my time with them is fleeting.
I'm hoping that we can be moved and settled into our new home before school starts next year. Everything for starting the home search has fallen into place in better ways than we had hoped for. Now we are praying for God's timing and guidance for buying and selling. God has been generous and gracious to us and I am continually motivated to remind myself to keep close to Him. I know my own tendency to start out with God and get comfortable or excited and move out on my own power without Him. So my prayer and goal is to keep my heart willing and seeking His will for our family.
Saturday, May 12, 2018
Taking Time to be Me
Every week is new with new challenges and new things to be excited about.
With the house selling/hunting we are continuing to work on checking off items on the to-do list. Today we dropped off our little dude and spent the day working on the house. I deep cleaned my kitchen cabinets and the top of the cabinets too -somewhere I haven't seen probably since we first moved in! It was one of my biggest tasks to accomplish and took most of the day. I also packed four more boxes from my cabinets too. Being ready to sell feels a lot closer...just waiting on the preapproval for the new loan still...we shall see what news that brings.
On a more personal note, it was a rough week emotionally. Having so many things on my plate got to me. I seem to have a self-preservation instinct. I handle things and handle things and push through even when it isn't easy...and then I hit a point where I simply shut down. I stop caring about making the effort for the hard stuff and I have a few nights of feeling sad until I can work through it and figure out what it is that is bugging me.
This time it was mostly about 'adulting' on my own for a long period of time. My hubby's been sick and because of his illness, I've been working on getting things done all on my own. He helps when and how he can and feels awful that he can't do the things he wishes his body would let him do. I don't mind the responsibilities; at times I just get overwhelmed and tired. I don't have a lot of free time. I am, and will increasingly be, his caregiver. Granted, he is very self-sufficient right now and mostly I only help his health by cooking him healthy food and nagging him about making wise (realistic) choices about what he can physically do.
His recent illness has been more than a lot for both of us. It has forced him to stop taking his arthritis medication so his immune system can help fight the new illness, and that has caused him an increase in pain and decreased mobility due to it. He bought himself a cane with his birthday money...he isn't even 40 yet and he has been walking with a cane. He doesn't always need it, but when his body is hurting, the cane is very helpful to him. He loves it. Me...it's the idea of it that gets to me. He knows that his later years in life will most likely be shorter and with increased disability. I understand that, but don't want to spend time concerned with what might be, and take my learned-approach of dealing with what comes our way as things happen in life.
It was also the long duration of time that we've been unable to have our normal together-time. His pain forces him to spend evenings on the heating pad in his ergonomic computer chair. Zoning into his computer games enables him to temporarily not think about how much pain he is in. It's a medication-free way to cope with pain. So I've been missing the physical closeness, the adult conversations (I'm home with kids all day), and wasn't communicating with him because I didn't want to add to his struggles with dealing with being forced to be away from his family. He doesn't enjoy these times either.
I went to mid-week church service and enjoyed the quiet kid-free time and positive message. I planned more lunches that I am looking forward to rather than simply planning meals that cater to the budget or to other nutritional needs. I spent more time watching my tv show on my phone when I had a quiet moment from the kids, and I spent more time praying and reading my bible. Basically I took some time out to focus on my own wants and needs. I give so much (and give willingly and cheerfully), but I need to refresh and refill my own cup too.
Thankfully, we had an appointment to go and his mom was watching the kids for us. Our appointment ended early and we were able to go out to lunch, just us. It was like going on a date -something we haven't done in a while. We talked and enjoyed being on our own as adults and not parenting at the same time. I was able to share some of my struggles in a way that didn't emphasize any negativity. What a difference communication makes!
It will still take time for his illness to heal, but I'm feeling better. We are also going to take a day to look at some homes with the realtor soon. I'm excited for that!
With the house selling/hunting we are continuing to work on checking off items on the to-do list. Today we dropped off our little dude and spent the day working on the house. I deep cleaned my kitchen cabinets and the top of the cabinets too -somewhere I haven't seen probably since we first moved in! It was one of my biggest tasks to accomplish and took most of the day. I also packed four more boxes from my cabinets too. Being ready to sell feels a lot closer...just waiting on the preapproval for the new loan still...we shall see what news that brings.
On a more personal note, it was a rough week emotionally. Having so many things on my plate got to me. I seem to have a self-preservation instinct. I handle things and handle things and push through even when it isn't easy...and then I hit a point where I simply shut down. I stop caring about making the effort for the hard stuff and I have a few nights of feeling sad until I can work through it and figure out what it is that is bugging me.
This time it was mostly about 'adulting' on my own for a long period of time. My hubby's been sick and because of his illness, I've been working on getting things done all on my own. He helps when and how he can and feels awful that he can't do the things he wishes his body would let him do. I don't mind the responsibilities; at times I just get overwhelmed and tired. I don't have a lot of free time. I am, and will increasingly be, his caregiver. Granted, he is very self-sufficient right now and mostly I only help his health by cooking him healthy food and nagging him about making wise (realistic) choices about what he can physically do.
His recent illness has been more than a lot for both of us. It has forced him to stop taking his arthritis medication so his immune system can help fight the new illness, and that has caused him an increase in pain and decreased mobility due to it. He bought himself a cane with his birthday money...he isn't even 40 yet and he has been walking with a cane. He doesn't always need it, but when his body is hurting, the cane is very helpful to him. He loves it. Me...it's the idea of it that gets to me. He knows that his later years in life will most likely be shorter and with increased disability. I understand that, but don't want to spend time concerned with what might be, and take my learned-approach of dealing with what comes our way as things happen in life.
It was also the long duration of time that we've been unable to have our normal together-time. His pain forces him to spend evenings on the heating pad in his ergonomic computer chair. Zoning into his computer games enables him to temporarily not think about how much pain he is in. It's a medication-free way to cope with pain. So I've been missing the physical closeness, the adult conversations (I'm home with kids all day), and wasn't communicating with him because I didn't want to add to his struggles with dealing with being forced to be away from his family. He doesn't enjoy these times either.
I went to mid-week church service and enjoyed the quiet kid-free time and positive message. I planned more lunches that I am looking forward to rather than simply planning meals that cater to the budget or to other nutritional needs. I spent more time watching my tv show on my phone when I had a quiet moment from the kids, and I spent more time praying and reading my bible. Basically I took some time out to focus on my own wants and needs. I give so much (and give willingly and cheerfully), but I need to refresh and refill my own cup too.
Thankfully, we had an appointment to go and his mom was watching the kids for us. Our appointment ended early and we were able to go out to lunch, just us. It was like going on a date -something we haven't done in a while. We talked and enjoyed being on our own as adults and not parenting at the same time. I was able to share some of my struggles in a way that didn't emphasize any negativity. What a difference communication makes!
It will still take time for his illness to heal, but I'm feeling better. We are also going to take a day to look at some homes with the realtor soon. I'm excited for that!
Monday, May 7, 2018
Waiting with God
We've been busy as expected. We signed a contract with a realtor for both selling and buying because she gave us a good discount for combining services. We haven't heard back from the lender yet about pre-approval for a new home loan, so we're waiting for God's timing on that one and whatever results it may bring.
After signing the contract with the realtor, I felt very overwhelmed. It took me a while, but after spending some time talking to God about it and hashing out all the feelings, facts, and happenings going on, I think we figured out why.
I was feeling a bit rushed to get the house ready to sell and a bit overwhelmed with how daunting a task it seems when I think of my busy days at home with three children living regular life, trying to finish our final weeks of school, and also trying to prepare the house for moving/selling/and somehow living 'normally' in the transition of the two.
God reminded me that I'm not required to meet any other person's deadlines. Just signing the contract doesn't require us to sell, it doesn't require us to list by a particular date either. It was just one more step forward. We have some minor work to do around our home for maintenance and fix-ups. I also have decluttering and cleaning left to do. One step at a time...a reminder for myself, too...one step with our hearts and minds geared towards God's will and not letting things rush us into stepping out on our own without Him.
After signing the contract with the realtor, I felt very overwhelmed. It took me a while, but after spending some time talking to God about it and hashing out all the feelings, facts, and happenings going on, I think we figured out why.
I was feeling a bit rushed to get the house ready to sell and a bit overwhelmed with how daunting a task it seems when I think of my busy days at home with three children living regular life, trying to finish our final weeks of school, and also trying to prepare the house for moving/selling/and somehow living 'normally' in the transition of the two.
God reminded me that I'm not required to meet any other person's deadlines. Just signing the contract doesn't require us to sell, it doesn't require us to list by a particular date either. It was just one more step forward. We have some minor work to do around our home for maintenance and fix-ups. I also have decluttering and cleaning left to do. One step at a time...a reminder for myself, too...one step with our hearts and minds geared towards God's will and not letting things rush us into stepping out on our own without Him.
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