The Rest of March...

in pictures!

Blog...What's That?

March 8? Seriously, that was the last time I blogged? I'm feeling like time is flying by and I'm trying to grab it by the coattails as it zooms past! Mama, you've probably fallen out of your seat by now as you see a new entry listed!

So, now I don't know what to do...updates galore again or start from this day and move forward? A few updates just so I don't forget! =)

Since April, we've had 7 birthdays to celebrate, our anniversary and Mother's Day. Steve and I both turned 30 this year, Reagan 6, Sydney 4 and Jordyn 2. And we celebrated 9 years together!

Quick updates:

Me - Yep, I really turned 30. My sweet hubby took me away for my birthday and shopping for a night and day. It was very sweet of him, but I'm not sure we'll do it again for a long, long time. The going away part I hope we get to do again soon =). The shopping together part, not so much! It was a good and revealing getaway and Friday night was a lot of fun, but come Saturday some ugliness began to exude from my heart and has continued to be revealed through multiple situations. Although I'm so thankful for revelation, the Cross of my precious Savior, being able to repent, a husband who has been patient and kind, it has been a bit of a difficult season for me personally. But God is faithful and He is answering my prayers and for that I'll gladly take the pain of seeing my sin if it means I get to see more of His holiness and goodness!

Steve - He is a man of many talents! He's been working hard at work (as always), working hard on the house, and growing - by God's grace - in many different areas. And he still finds time to make us laugh everyday! The girls and I went to Orlando for a week and he worked his regular job during the day and worked on putting in new doors, painting, putting in trim, etc. in the house at night. Amazing!

Reagan - our little LuLu finished school right before we headed to Orlando and has been enjoying her summer so far! She just turned 6 and I love her quote of the day on June 4..."This is the best 6 year old day of my WHOLE life!" She got her first bike and has surprised me by how well she is riding. She continues to be a super helper and a super talker! =) She makes breakfast in the morning for her and her sisters, dusts the stairs, living room and our room, loves reading and making mud pies! She also loves visiting our neighbors and is asking more and more questions about the Lord which has made for some precious conversations lately!

Sydney - all you have to do is say "diaper" and you'll have her rolling! She is a stinker, but a very funny stinker! She also got a bike for her 4 year old birthday and has been doing really well riding, too! The first time she rode it she flipped down our little hill, so it took her a little while to get up the courage to try again. The other day I put them in the tub after they had been outside for hours, and I went to pull out her braid and realized her hair and scalp were just full of dirt. She informed me she was just trying to bury her head in the dirt. I had to wash her hair about 10 times and I'm sure I didn't get it all out! I never know what she's going to say...or do!

Jordyn - is 2 now! She is growing and changing and I'm so grateful for the changes I've seen in her over the last few months. She is a tough cookie, but God is at work in her and in us! She hasn't been passing out for the last probably month and a half, but she has started stomping her feet and hitting. BUT she's also started responding so much quicker, and loving on her sisters more, and talking a bit, and she LOVES to dance - especially when we listen to music in the car! I love when we turn into our driveway and she yells "HOME" and gets excited. Today I took her to our neighbors to play and she and I bounced on the trampoline and I didn't want to stop because I've never seen her laugh so hard! She was snorting she was laughing so hard!!

The house - we've been enjoying our home! I've been a little antsy to finish up some of the not so fun projects (like painting trim) and move onto some more fun projects, but we are also really trying to live life too and not be consumed by the home projects. Thankfully, Steve is better at balancing that than I am and having 3 little kids has limited the time I can paint, etc.! I want to enjoy the immense blessings we've been given, be wise with our time, and one day finish the windows! =) We have really been enjoying hours in our yard. The girls will play out there as long as we'll let them, Steve loves to work in the yard and so do I (I even got to mow for hours the other day which I love!) and we love to sit on our front porch and talk and read and watch the little animals run around. I've been going out almost every morning now to drink my coffee and read and journal, and there is much to be said about being outside and being still before the Lord before the whirl of the day begins!

OK, I do believe my Starbucks is wearing off so it's time to wrap up the updates. Oh, so much more has happened, but I think I'm going to start fresh and maybe pop in some of what I've missed blogging about over the last couple of months with pictures!

A Few Pictures...

Well, I've been pretty busy and haven't kept my camera nearby, so I have very few pictures of the last couple of months, but here's a few. (They are pretty much the same ones on FB.)

Less Than 3 Weeks 'Til Move In!

I've been a pitiful blogger as of late, but I promise I'm not sitting around twiddling my thumbs! =)

Since we came back from Christmas, we've been in full swing around here. Steve has been working day and night and the girls and I have been holding down the fort here. Unfortunately, I've been a little under the weather the past several days so I'm trying to get well and pack here and there! I can't believe we have less than 3 weeks until we move again! This whole process has gone so much better than I anticipated. It's a lot of hard work and we won't have near as much done before we move in as we had hoped too, but all I can say is WE ARE SO BLESSED! We've been blessed with good workers, people who have given up days and evenings to come and just serve us, girls who have offered to babysit (and as soon as I can be of any help at the house, I'm taking them up on their offers!), deals at different stores, Steve has done amazing work and God has kept him healthy as he's worked many nights in below freezing temperatures with no heat.

So, here's where we are right now...

Last week we were able to have gas run to the house and it is all hooked up and working!

Two new A/Cs and Furnaces have been installed and work.

Stairs should be done this week.

Flooring has been picked out and will be put in the week before we move in.

We bought all of our kitchen appliances yesterday. They are all stainless steel. OH, and I was able to get a mac-daddy of a refrigerator at a steal of a price!!

The outside of the house is painted! All but the porch, which will be done when it warms up.

We hired some one to do the drywall. It is being put in as I type!

Steve is making progress on the kitchen counters and they look so good. We bought all the tile for them yesterday.

The girls' bathroom and master bath are starting to be put back together!

Prayer request: The pipes at the house are frozen and we really need them to thaw out. No tiling can be done until that happens.

So, progress is being made! I started packing this weekend and hope to get more done at night once the girls go to bed. This is by far the biggest, most expensive, hardest project we've endeavored on and we probably won't ever do it again =), but we are grateful for what we are learning and grateful that even though there is so much to do, we'll be settled in soon!

Making a House Our Home!

So, I've been off of blogging for a while and have much to catch up on! This one may be a little lengthy, but I know my brain won't remember long and I've already probably forgotten much! My goal was to update about the house frequently with lots of pictures, but that hasn't happened! So, here's the scoop!

On Friday, November 20th we closed on a home with beautiful potential in Woodstock, Georgia. It's an old farmhouse with a huge porch, a barn, a pool, a cool mudroom, beautiful trees, a little over 4 acres, 7 bedrooms, 4 1/2 baths, a keeping room, kitchen, family room, formal living and dining rooms, lots of junk in the yard, all kinds of fruit trees and who knows what's yet to be discovered! We have been so blessed! We were able to get a great deal on it, but it needs a ton of work! It has so much of what Steve and I have dreamed of in having a home and although the work it needs can be a little overwhelming at times, we are so grateful! We are grateful for all we get to learn through this process. I am grateful in thinking ahead in how we will be able to use our home to serve our family, the church, guests, etc.! I am grateful that this is one of the hardest things that Steve and I have ventured on and how it is teaching us to trust God more, be more intentional with our time, allowing us to see God's faithfulness and giving us opportunities to meet new people and learn so much. It is teaching me patience and contentment.

So, in 2 1/2 weeks since closing, here is what all has been done so far...

A new roof
20 out of 30 new windows have been installed
Reagan and Sydney's bathroom has been demolished (almost all the way)
New tub has been put in their bathroom
Stairs to master bedroom have been demolished
Ceilings in both girls' rooms and in family room have been scraped of popcorn
Ceiling in master has been scraped of popcorn
More wallpaper than can possibly be imagined in one house keeps being discovered =)
Wallpaper has been removed in both girls room
Drywall has been removed in Reagan and Sydney's room
New drywall is up in their rooms
Carpet has been removed in Jordyn's room...off the wall!
Carpet was added throughout the house so we could close, now it's being removed again
Trees have been trimmed around the house so roof could be put on and so it will be ready to be painted
Trim and ceiling in family room has been primed
New fans are up in family room
Electrical is repaired in Jordyn's room
2 new hot water heaters are in
Tons of phone calls have been made
Supplies have been bought for the new stairs
I have paint colors picked out for all the rooms we' hope to paint before we move in

Thanks to the Battaglias, Nick Campagna, Matt from work, Mom and Dad, Scott Snyder, Brad Miller, Kim Pfaller who have so kindly served us over the last couple of weeks. We are so appreciative.

We've had some great workers so far, too. If anyone in this area needs any kind of work done on your house, I can give you some great recommendations!!

Please pray for some warmer dry weather so we can get the house painted. Also, for wisdom and strength for my extremely hard working husband. This has been his busiest month so far for Steve's job, on top of that he's working so hard on the house and in taking care of all his girls. And we head to Orlando to be with our family for Christmas for a week! I am amazed at the grace I've seen in him! Please pray he does not get sick as our bodies are still not adjusted to this cold weather! Oh, and that we get a better quote for the a/c/heaters that we need. They are coming in pretty high. This is a short season and before we know it, we'll be in! We want to glorify God through this season, and although some days it seems as if we are in way over our heads, I know that in His strength we will make it through!!

This Psalm has been on my heart this last week and has been so helpful!

"I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth." Ps 121:1-2

Now for some pictures!

House Update!

Well, the Lord very clearly shut the door to the Kellogg Creek house, and although we were a little disappointed at first, we are grateful that more issues came to light before we made a big investment! We are planning on looking at more houses on Thursday! So, the hunt begins again! I am looking forward to finding where we are to settle, but I'm also grateful that we are where we are right now! So, Thursday we'll focus on houses in Woodstock and then we'll go from there. I am glad the girls are excited about looking at different houses, too! They've been so good going from place to place!

My friend Jenn emailed this quote on impatience to me. As I've thought about it multiple times today I am even more aware of how impatient I am...I want to know where we are going to live...now. I want my children to do what I want them to do...now. I want so many things right now. How grateful I am that the LORD is so patient with me! How grateful I am that He sees each moment of our day and He has them all planned out perfectly!

"Impatience is a form of unbelief. It's what we begin to feel when we start to doubt the wisdom of God's timing or the goodness of God's guidance. It springs up in our hearts when our plan is interrupted or shattered. The opposite of impatience is not a glib denial of loss. It's a deepening, ripening, peaceful willingness to wait for God in the unplanned place of obedience - and to walk with God at the unplanned pace of obedience. To wait in His place and go at His pace." (John Piper, Future Grace)

Could This NOT Be The One?!?!

We've been moving towards closing, but everything is at a stand still right now. The appraiser went to appraise the home today, and there are several things about the house that he would call "hazardous" (a bush growing the pool, plants growing through the windows on the porch, water in the basement). Since it is not appraising at the right price, we are unable to get a loan for it. So, we are calling off the inspection for tomorrow and will see what happens over the next few days. I believe we have until Monday to back out of the contract.

We both really like the house. We also like it's location and the land that it's on. We both have vision for it and at this point would even still look for ways to keep the process going. On the other hand, we really want to be seeking the Lord. A friend went by the house today and looked through it really well and just cautioned Steve that there may be a lot more work than we think. This could be God's way of protecting us from a major money pit, too!

Also, we have to give our notice to the rental company for the house we are in right now in October. We know the Lord knows exactly where we are supposed to settle, we just need wisdom!!! Even if we don't get this house, I'm grateful for the conversations that Steve and I have had about undertaking a big project together. I am grateful for what it's revealed in my heart. I'm grateful for the home we have now and that Steve takes such good care of us and is seeking to glorify the Lord with our finances! So, we could be house hunting instead of shopping for floors this weekend, but that's fun, too!

Could This Be The One?!?!

We just may have found our new home! Well, it's not quite new =), but it has lots of potential!! We looked at this home several weeks ago and to be honest, I didn't even really "look" very well. I was too concerned the girls may touch something...or that something may come out after us! Truly, I don't think I've ever seen so much stuff in one house in my life! Steve liked it after we looked at it. Me? Not so much. But I kept praying about it. And last weekend we went to look at multiple other newer, cleaner, move in ready homes...but this time I kept going back to the other one, too!

Yesterday we put an offer in on the house. Today they countered. We agreed to the counter with the addition that they remove ALL the "stuff"! So, now we are waiting again! We have to have an inspection and if everything comes back A-OK, it looks like we could be closing in 14 days! Then we have loads of work to do before we move in in January!

Here are a few details:
It's 4 sided brick, 1 1/2 stories
It's on about 2 1/2 acres and minutes away from the church property and Lake Alatoona
It's got a huge pool!! (Which right now has a bush growing in it!)
It's got character and needs a lot of care!

Here are a few pictures we took when we went to look at it yesterday. We didn't get as many as I thought we did - none of the bedrooms, bonus room, bathrooms, porch or pool. Hopefully I can get some soon! Please be praying that God will give us wisdom and that the remodeling would be able to be done well and finished by the time we need to be out of our house we are in now!