Counting again

I've decided that when I'm feeling glum, I should start counting. I'm feeling kinda Eeyore-ish - mostly exhausted - so here we go again. In addition to the previous post's blessings, here are some more recent ones (i.e. the last day or two):

My blessings:

1. Little boys who get up from their naps for the third time in half an hour - he should be sleeping, but at least it means he's potty-trained (because a lot of 3-year-old boys aren't).
2. Being exhausted from being woken up twice by Dustin last night - because it means he's teething and he's developing normally.
3. Being up late tonight baking muffins for the nursery at church tomorrow (J&D are in the nursery while I volunteer at the elementary VBS), because it means my kids will have a healthy snack for tomorrow instead of the sugar-laden alternatives.
4. Baking muffins for the nursery (yeah, I know, I already said this one) - because it means I have a kitchen and a working oven and the money to buy the ingredients to make the muffins.
5. Long volunteer forms - because they make me ponder the past and reflect on how God has worked in me and through me, bringing me encouragement for the day.
6. A baby who isn't napping - when I give him some reeeeally diluted juice for the first time (like 10% juice & 90% water) to fill his tummy and hopefully encourage his nap, he makes a sweet face and says, "Mmmmm....." every 10 seconds - he makes me laugh, and laughter feeds the soul. And I get to have a moment alone with my littlest one.
7. A floor full of books that haven't been put away - because it means my boys are interested in stories and books and reading.
8. An office full of still-unpacked boxes, because it means I have an office!
9. Jesus Christ - who reminds me on days like today that service brings joy, and makes me wonder why I've been hiding all this time!
10. My hands and feet - I can walk and serve - and my pastor can't right now because he's in hospital waiting on his miracle from the God he serves and loves. And I'm reminded to pray for him.
11. A busy week of VBS ahead - because it means that my boys will get lots of non-Mommy interaction, and it will prepare Joshua for his own VBS program next week and hopefully prepare him for being in a different room for Sunday School next year.

Have you counted your blessings today?

Counting my blessings...

Here's the scoop -

I so often get sidetracked by the negatives in life. A messy basement. Friends who drop off the face of the planet. Bad relationships that I've done everything I can to restore, but the other party won't work in the reconciliation process. Sickness. Etc, etc, etc.

So, I'm going to make a goal of counting my blessings. As a well-known hymn says, "Count your blessings, name them one by one...Count your many blessings, See what God has done." When we count our blessings, the miseries and discouragements fall by the wayside. So, in an effort to counteract all the negatives flying my way, I'm going to tell the world about some of my blessings!

Here we go.

1. Graeme
2. Joshua
3. Dustin
4. My home - a roof over my head.
5. This acreage - room for the boys to run around, fresh air, and privacy.
6. Frogs to catch. Tonight, we all went outside (Curtis & Darcy, Charis, Jordan & Carly, Graeme & me, and Joshua) to catch frogs after birthday dinner.
7. Little boys who love to sing themselves to sleep.
8. Poopy bums who sing at the top of their lungs after bedtime in order to let the world know they need to be changed! (Dustin)
9. A messy kitchen - it means I've been able to host family for a birthday party.
10. Our fire pit - to relax outside after a lont day.
11. My voice - I can sing and praise God.
12. My eyes - I can see the wonder and majesty of His creation.
13. My ears - I can hear my boys giggle, and the birds sing.
14. Sorrowful boys who call for their Mommy & Daddy - because it means they love us. When Graeme and I were outside enjoying our fire tonight, we heard Joshua calling us around 10:00. Graeme went into the house and asked "Where are you, Joshua?" - and he was standing on the front porch. He had turned on every single light in the house, looking for us (even though we'd told him we'd be out by the fire pit). We ended up bringing him outside to snuggle with us and watch the fire with us.
15. My office - I have a place to craft.
16. Friends - those who reach my heart - encourage me, uplift me, pray for me, and love me in spite of myself.
17. God - His love is higher and farther-reaching than anything else in this world.
18. Music - an outlet for my soul, an outlet to worship God with.
19. Owls - I'd never seen an own SO close - he was less than 10 feet from my head tonight! Wow!! I got a picture - I'll post it once I download it from our camera.
20. The rain - it means our lawn will be watered.
21. Bats - they eat mosquitos at a rate of up to 600 per hour!

That's all for tonight - it's late and I must get some sleep. I have to be up earlier than normal for church - we have a new worship pastor and he wants the vocalists there at 9:00 instead of the usual 9:30.

Good night!

Ups & Downs

So, here I am again. Since my last post, we've already had over $1500 in expenses to fix the previous owners' messes, with another $1500-$2000 before it's all said and done and fixed. And then the carpet goes in after that.

Our house is still a disaster. I desperately want to be unpacked!

Yesterday was Graeme's birthday. I surprised him in town and took him to Montana's with the kids for dinner. We got out of there with about 3 minutes to spare before one of the kids melted down. You just know when you're about to reach *critical mass*. We got Graeme a hammock for his birthday - he and I set it up last night after the littles were in bed - we had a fabulous time!! It's a double hammock - for two people, but I have to lose about 30 pounds before our combined weight makes us "legal" for the weight restrictions of the hammock. :) BUT, it's a very cool hammock. Something totally out of left field - something we could never use in town - something just PERFECT for relaxing outside on our acreage!

I just found out a friend has a blind baby - could be genetic, not sure yet. They will find out at the end of the month. Matthew may never see.

Graeme's grandfather had a heart attack, followed by an angiogram where they couldn't do the angioplasty so they had to do triple-bypass surgery. Recovery has not been smooth, and it seems like Graeme's parents have to be "on" the nurses & doctors constantly to diagnose this symptom or that.

Our pastor had a heart attack on Sunday. He had an angioplasty done on Sunday night/Monday morning. Was recovering nicely. Then - wham - a stroke hit him early this morning. It's pretty severe - it affected the side of the brain that controls movement and speech, etc. The next 72 hours are critical. He's only 48 (or thereabouts - definitely younger than 50) years old.

I guess my "house woes" are small in comparison to these things. God, may You put things into perspective for me once again. Your hand is bigger than my basement. Your hand is bigger than Pastor Rick's stroke. Your love is bigger than my insufficiencies. Your strength is stronger than a broken heart. Your grace will be sufficient for this day - for Your love is better than all this life has to offer. Bless...protect...heal...God, You are still in the miracle business...may Your will be done....

Moved in...sort of

The "big move" happened on Saturday. We all slept here on Saturday night. The house is still an absolute disaster zone, although with help from Karen, Peter, Matthew, Melissa, Ryan, and Sharon, we had a kitchen that was set up, beds that were made, and tummies that were filled. All of our bedrooms are about 90% in order, and the kitchen is about 99% in order. Yippee!! We had our first home-cooked meal the other night - chicken breast, pasta, and sauteed zucchini. Wow. Yum. Deeee-lish!

We had some surprises, sadly. Graeme spent about 8 hours cleaning up the JUNK the previous owners left behind. It cost us $450 to have it hauled away. Then, when the carpet-layers came on the 2nd (the day after we took possession, and two days before we had the 'big move'), they pulled up the carpet and found some fairly major wet spots with some mold on the baseboards. Can you say, ****ARGH****! We were SO miffed - our inspection showed no water damage or anything, and no moisture readings, so this was obviously a problem that had happened since the time we bought the place to the time we took possession. I.e., the previous owners didn't disclose everything to us. Meaning that we now have a much bigger problem than unpacked boxes.

So, we had to have someone in to rip out all the drywall in those two areas (one was overflow from the foundation, but thankfully no cracks, and the other was a sump pump failure that we weren't told about). They had to determine the cause of the leakage and moisture, and take care of the mold. Now we have to pay someone to re-build our basement walls. Then we get to have the carpet put in at the end of August. THEN we can move into our basement.

The previous owners also let the yard go to pot. It was beautifully mowed and trimmed when we bought the place, but there are weeds upwards of 4 feet high in spots. It's very frustrating - this is not the condition we bought the place in, and as a result, we are having to do days and days of work just to get it back to square one! (Not to mention the in-house cleaning besides the junk hauling - it was quite dirty.)

So, all in all, it's been a really rocky start here. We are hoping for some sort of compensation for all of this, but the likelihood of that happening is slim to none. So, we'll be a few thousand dollars out of pocket...money we don't really have. So, feel free to donate to the "save the LaRue's basement fund". :) Ha ha, just kidding (almost). :)

In a more positive light, Joshua has already caught a frog. I'm not too keen on showing Dustin the frogs - I'm afraid he'll eat one. The kids have been sleeping relatively well here so far, and we've been doing not too badly, either. Graeme has enjoyed mowing his lawn, and we are building our office. A neighbor lady stopped by today to introduce herself and bring by some muffins she'd just made. YUMMY!

My friend Paige is expecting another baby - I'm so excited for you, dear lady! Woo hooo!! Another friend, Jen, is expecting her first baby - exciting times! And friends left, right, and centre are getting engaged! Such fun.

Graeme's grandpa is having open-heart triple-bypass surgery today. He's 83, and healthy as a horse otherwise, but has three 90% blockages from what I've been told. He should be out of surgery by now, or close to it, at least.

I'll post some pix of the house as soon as it's picture-worthy...and I'm on dial-up now, so it could take positively forever to upload pix. So I might burn them to disk and take them somewhere where it will only take half of forever to load onto here!

Cheerio - enjoy your day!

Today's the beginning...

I know I haven't blogged much lately. I suppose that packing and getting ready to move have just taken up too much of my time...oh yes, I neglected to mention the plethora of online scrabble games that are also taking just a touch of my time, too. Nah, it's not so bad, but you know how it goes. Soon enough we'll be on dial-up and e-mail and other such online endeavors will take up but a smidgen of my time.

So, today is the beginning of a dream Graeme and I have had for years and years. Today, we take possession of our new home "in the cunchwee" as Joshua says. We begin acreage life. Peace and quiet will begin. Busy-ness of traffic will cease when we're sleeping. Campfires, lawn-mowing, outdoor games, and open spaces for the children to run (without having to drive to get there).

It's exciting, but surreal. I know I'm going to love it. I'm going to miss this house we're in now - so many memories - both boys learned to walk here. Dustin's first home. Lots of birthday parties and other gatherings. I suspect I'm going to be a bit emotional leaving this house, but I am constantly reminded that we are still taking our home with us. Praise God for His faithfulness and supply!

I will try to post a few pictures once we've settled a bit. The big move happens on Saturday, and we have to be out of our current house by Tuesday. It will be a busy few days!!