What a Three Week Move Looks Like

Yes, you read that correctly.  We drug this move, the closest door to door we have ever done, out for three weeks.

That's what happens when you close one week, live between house for the next two weeks, welcome home your husband who has been deployed for a year, and then pack out your old house and finally- move!

First, you close on a house alone with all the fun stress that entails.  You know, the little things, like sign your name and that of your husbands (as power of attorney) a ba-zillion times, and find out your kids have been in an accident just as you walk in to the closing.

Then you spend the first weekend in your new home cleaning and painting, all the while sleeping on blow up mattresses and eating at a card table.

Then you leave for a week to resume life at your old place and say a few more goodbyes.

Then you return to your new house, while once again dodging bad weather (who decided moving in the winter was a good idea?) and resuming more painting and cleaning.

Somewhere in between all that we did manage to retrieve my hubby from the airport and take him back to his new house!

After 10 days of fun living with bare necessities we returned back to our old house for some last goodbyes and to await the packers.

Four days of packing and loading all of our earthly possessions finally put us in our new home for good.

The week before Christmas.

Sounds reasonable, right?

Hey, we did manage to put up a small tree to keep the small one happy!

Blessings,

Momma's Favorite Books

Every once in a while I actually get to read for pleasure.  I know, crazy, right?  Believe it or not, I think I had more free time for reading when the kids were little, but now with mostly older ones in the house, it seems our evenings are full of family time and such.  Not that that is bad, but gone are the days of early bed times and then just quiet mommy time.

But yes, I do sneak in a few minutes of reading here and there and when on a "normal" school time schedule, I have quiet reading time in the afternoon for the kids.  The plan is for me to read at the same time.  It happens sometimes.

So what am I reading in those few stolen moments of quiet?  I am usually very hesitant to recommend books.  I truly read across many genres; Fiction, Non-Fiction, Historical Fiction, Classics, just to name a few.  I know everyone has different tastes so with that in mind, bear with me.

Faith Deployed and Faith Deployed Again-
I think these are must reads for all military wives.  If you have not gone through a deployment situation you likely know someone who has or will and these will bless you in either case.  After my husband was deployed last year I went into a downward spiral and honestly, God used these little devotional-type books to lift me out of the pit. Not being dramatic- just honest. 

Elm Creek Quilt Series-
I like historical fiction. A lot  But I do not care for scandalous scenes, bad language, or sappy romances.  This series fits the bill, containing non of that!  The various books go between a group of modern day friends and the history they find though old quilts.  May seem pretty simple, but they are rich with history about the Civil War, Slave Routes, and more.  They are books I would not hesitate to have my girls read!

Kid's books- 
We read a lot and we own a lot.  For every age!  Some of our favorites are-
Skippy John Jones
Hank the Cowdog series, 
Magic Treehouse Series,
Encyclopedia Brown series,
The Moody Family series
Little House on the Prairie series
The Mysterious Benedict Society series
The Chronicles of Narnia

Whatever you choose to read, pick at least one book to read out loud, even to your older kids.  We have created so many memories by reading a particular series together for fun.

The Bible-
Of course!  Our family reads through the Bible each year together so you will always find several copies laying around our house at any given time.  If you have never braved this endeavor, it is daunting at first I know.  I would recommend you find a One Year Bible and get started.  Having each day broken up with Old Testament and New Testament will help you not feel so overwhelmed. I assure you that you will be blessed by spending a few minutes in the Word each day.

Curriculum.-
No surprise here, right?  I homeschool my kids and work as the Product Manager for The Old Schoolhouse Magazine's Review Crew.  Much of my day is spent with my nose in curriculum for one purpose or another. It is a passion of mine, and I love being able to help point homeschoolers, new and veteran alike, to curriculum that will best fit their needs.  It is not a one size fits all deal!

And as for now, yes, as a matter of fact, I do have a stack of about 9 books in my closet waiting for me to read.  From parenting and theology to a few fiction thrown in for fun, I have made a vow not to buy any more books until that pile is depleted.  

We will see how that goes!

What are you reading these days?  What is your favorite book? 
Happy Reading!

Blessings,

Cleaning and Painting!

And did I mention more cleaning?

Yep, from the minute we closed on the house, well, after I got over the shock of the kids accident, I spent days cleaning and painting.

Umm, did I mention cleaning?  UGH!

It should be common practice for houses to be deep cleaned before being turned over to a new owner, but apparently that is not always the case.  It is certainly not that the former owners were slobs. Really.  It is just that they LIVED in their house.  With kids.  And a few pets.

And let's face it, we do not see own our messes as well as others see them.  And we do not clean behind furniture and in drawers as often as we should.

Let's just say that I now appreciate 34 Weeks of Clean even more than I ever did before.  And I am seriously thinking about writing a book with that same title.

5 rooms have now been painted and countless hours (because it would be way too depressing to count) have been spent scrubbing our new house.  I have never been so thankful that the house sat empty for a few weeks before our furniture and such was moved in.  Yes, we may have lived like sqautters for a while, but at least it gave us time to clean and paint.

And clean some more.

Thanks goodness for two of the hardest workers I know!

And for two boys who are good at entertaining themselves.

A note to you my friends- good cleaning and organizing habits are your friends!  And make the lives of others easier as well!

See what a three week move really looks like on Monday!

Blessings,

Complete Chaos!

It all seemed like a good idea on paper-

Buying a house alone.
A car accident involving two of my kids.
A husband returning from a year deployment.
Cleaning and painting said house.
A move the week of Christmas.
Christmas.
A two week Florida vacation.  Driving there, of course.
A new job for hubby.
A new job or me.
Learning a new town, finding a new church, making new friends.

You know, complete chaos.

In jest, my husband said all we needed to add was a death and divorce and we would have at least the top five life stressors all in a matter of four weeks.  Oh please, don't even!!

Life is good.  No divorces pending.  Haha.

But boy are things crazy as we work to settle into a new normal.  Whatever that is.  And wherever you find it.

When I finally come out of the fog and find my sanity, I will let you know.

If I remember! ;)

Blessings,

New Year, New Word

Each New Year, bloggers from around the globe grab a word to inspire them for the many days to come.  It seemed like a funny idea to me for a while but the past two years I have embraced the tradition with A New Word for 2015 and What's the Word?.  For me it has been a way to regroup, refresh, and motivate me onward.

This year is no different, except this year the new word, or words in my case, fell into my lap.  No doubt God knew what I needed!

2015 was a difficult and challenging year for our family.  My husband's unexpected year-long deployment rocked our world, as did several other family events.  Such is life for many.  We are not alone in our struggles, we know.  But truly, just days prior to our long awaited reunion, this verse popped up in my devotions...

Do not remember the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold. I will do a new thing...I will even make a road in the wilderness. And rivers in the desert. Isaiah 43:18-19

Probably no surprise to you that it made me suck in my breath and almost cry.  I could just hear God speaking directly to me.

Oh friends, how we need A New Thing in our lives.  Oh, how we are so ready!

And the part about "do not remember the former things?"  How we need that even more.  It is time to more forward for sure.

Just like when Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came out of the furnace "...and there was no smell of fire on them," (Daniel 3:26-27) so our family desires to come off this year with fresh hearts and minds, not even smelling of smoke.

Some things are important to remember.  Others, we need to learn from and move on with our lives, waiting for God to do a new thing!

We wait in anticipation!

How about you?

Blessings and Happy 2016!  May it be a year of New Things for you and your family as well.