Mini farm VS Suburbia

So lately there has been much talk in our house as to whether or not we are country people or neighborhood people.  I can tell you hands down I am a country girl.  I love to hunker down at home among the berries, fruit trees, chickens, and space . . . and not deal with people, except for the ones that I am legally responsible for.  ;)  For the man and the 2 oldest girls, they are pretty convinced that they are neighborhood people.  Christian likes to be around people . . . which is perfect for him and his 80 hour a week job.  So since he is rarely home, his vote doesn't count.  ;)  Taelor, likes people, doesn't like to sweat or get dirty, so obviously, she chooses the neighborhood.  Allison is torn, she loves the space, but misses pavement . . . hmm, but ultimately, she also chooses the neighborhood idea.  Last but not quietest, I mean least, is Hailee.  She LOVES and I mean LOVES the chickens and the berries.  Many times per day she is out hanging with her feather friends or picking berries.  At the very sound of neighborhood talk, and this little thing bursts into tears.  It's not so much the moving into a neighborhood that she struggles with, (she too misses pavement), it's the getting rid of the chickens part that makes her sad.  Chickens are gross.  I'll be the first to admit they are smelly, stupid little creatures.  But there is a calm about watching them.  There is an excitement about collecting eggs that were laid minutes before . . . not a month ago like in stores.  And my little chicken whisperer doesn't want to leave them.  This is why, when we moved back to Oregon, we opted to rent property.  What if we had bought property without knowing for sure it was for us.  So here we are, 9 months away from decision time.  ( That is how much longer is in our lease).  9 months to decide if we want to buy property or move into suburbia.  As a mom, I can't be selfish and stay where I am the only happy one . . . or can I? No, I am only happy where I know my family is happy.  So . . . this is just a random post to say . . . I have no idea.  Perhaps in 9 months we will be your neighbor . . . or maybe by then, we'll have alpacas and a cow!!!  :)

Purposeful

It has been on our hearts for quite some time to be more purposeful in raising our girls.  Sure, we pray together throughout the day, we have family Bible times, and we correct and instruct our girls with love in the way the Lord has shown us in the Bible.  But is that enough?  Are we purposing in not only our hearts, but through our actions as well?  So, we started a couple of new things that so far, are hitting the nail on the head.  First, since moving back from Illinois, we wanted to start serving again at church.  But instead of me serving in kids ministry, we wanted to serve together as a family.  Christian and I signed up to serve and were assigned the coffee ministry.  The first night we went alone and left the girls at home.  Coffee ministry was awesome. . . but short.  We were done within 45 minutes.  We noticed the massive clean up that needed to take place after the evening service . . . and the few people there doing this big job.  So, we came home and asked the girls what they thought about helping.  Honestly, there were some mixed reviews.  But, once we brought them with us the next week, they loved it. . . and they worked HARD.  We are only signed up for coffee ministry, not clean up afterwards, and we are only signed up for once a month. . . but we go every week.  We help out coffee ministry workers and then stay and help with the clean up and tear down.  I don't share this to toot our horn, but rather to encourage others to serve as families and to share what has gone on in our girls hearts.  They absolutely LOVE to serve at church.  It's so easy to say that once the kids are older they can find a role to serve in.  But why wait?  The girls are blessing others . . . but more than that. . . they are seeing what it feels like to work hard and bless others in a role that is unseen.  It is a sacrifice.  We don't get home from church until a bit after 9pm. . . not too late . . . except for the fact that the Littles go to bed between 7:30 and 8pm.  They know, that if they are cranky the next day, they may not get to serve as often.  Serving is something that has become important to them. . . and it's slowly changing their hearts in little ways.  :)
The second thing we started doing was Christian's idea.  The girls are constantly memorizing verses in class at church and at home during their school; but we wanted to memorize verses as a family.  So, we bought some frames and are going to be putting them all around the house with different verses in them.  The plan is a new verse every other week - long enough to have the verse down, but short enough to not get ho-hum about it.  So far we have two verses up. . . and typically, not a day goes by without one of the girls saying the verse aloud while sitting on the couch.  We want God's Word to be on the tip of our tongue throughout the day.  What better way to encourage that than to have it all over the walls?  :)
Now, if we could somehow teach how to be purposeful in picking up after one self, I may be unemployed very soon.

This one. . . .

I have 3 . . . they are all special . . . they are all loved - differently, and yet the same.  But this one . . . she scares me.  Scares me in good ways and bad ways.  She is different than the other two, in more ways than she is the same.
She loves to garden, catch butterflies, paint, ride her bike, . . . as she puts it, " I don't like toys;" and she never really has.
When she was really little, my dad teased that she was going to be just like him. . . 2.5 but a lot of fun.  (2.5 grade point average).  We would look into the future and imagine different things for each of them . . . but this one, we didn't really have a clue.
When I was pregnant with her, Christian prayed for a cuddly baby - as our first was not a cuddly baby.  Oh, but this one was.  To the extreme.  Not only did she always want to be held . . . she wanted to be held while I stood up.
When she was born, she had some health issues that kept her in the NICU for a week, kept me from being able to even hold her for her first few days of life, kept me scared.  Over the next few years, we were in and out of the ER with more breathing issues . . . once again, she kept me scared.
This one has a look about her.  A look that means I don't feel well.  A look that means I'm not necessarily sick, just tired, more tired than I should be, and I just don't feel well.  Once again, the fear creeps in.
This past year that we have been in Illinois, she has grown.  Not up, this one is still pretty short.  :)  But grown in every other way possible.  She received the "Most Improved" award at school.  Not just for academics, but personality, self confidence . . . and trust.  She has come out of her super crazy, shy shell.  She is learning to trust people - though still very difficult for her.  She trusts me (most of the time), but is cautious.  She has come out from behind her older and younger sister's shadows and realized she is her own person.  She has interests all her own.  She has talents all her own.  This is the one that we saw absolutely no athletic future for . . . and wouldn't you know it, she is the only one who can catch something thrown to her every time and thrived in ice skating lessons.  She has an amazing ability for memorization.  The scriptures she has memorized and retained this year have been fabulous.  She is, you see, an amazing little girl.  Someone we always knew was in there somewhere. . . somewhere deep down.  And yet she scares me.
She had a rough year . . . a lot of people did.  She was sick a lot.  Nothing super major . . . just different flu strains, multiple times.  She asked me a few months ago why she was always tired.  I got scared.  I've always chalked it up to her possessing a more laid back, lazy personality.  But then she told me that she is always tired and that's why she comes in from playing before her sisters do.  That's why at night, sometimes she doesn't even want me to sing to her - she just wants to go to sleep.  A little more scared.  So, we went to the doctor.  Check up went well.  First doctor she's been to where we didn't have to hold her down for an exam.  It's like she remembered all those early years of tests, blood draws, xrays . . . but this time was better.  The doctor discovered that her tonsils were really large . . . apparently something that runs in her daddy's side of the family.  So, she referred us to an ENT.  Upon examination, he responded, "wow, those are some really big tonsils."  Something that probably has contributed to her breathing issues . . . which has contributed to her lack of sleep . . . which causes her to be tired.  So, here we are 5 days away from getting her tonsils and adenoids out.  She is terrified.  I try to blow it off and let her know it is all routine and not a big thing . . . she'll be fine.  It's just tonsils for crying out loud.  I realize this.  I realize it could be SO MUCH WORSE.  I'm thankful it's not . . . and yet . . . I'm really scared.
When my other girls get sick, I'm sad and bummed and I care for them the best I can - but never scared.  But this one.  One wrong look, one wrong breath, and I'm scared.  I don't know what it is.  Maybe it's her early years.  Maybe it's a mother's intuition.  Maybe it's me being a paranoid lunatic . . . I'm hoping for the latter.
Needless to say, she is one of my 3 special specials.  I love her to bits and pieces, as I do all 3 of my littles.  And she scares me.
I truly know how pathetic this seems, and yet I know it plagues me.  I know that I need to give this up to the Lord.  So, if any of y'all think about us on Monday, the 20th of June, please say some prayers for a successful surgery and peace.  That's what I am praying for.  That and a little more faith. . . we have a big God, One who does not want me stressing and being fearful.  He would rather I trust Him, trust Him with the best of what He has given to me.
1 John 4:18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment.  But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.
I am so thankful for "perfect love" that the Father shares with us - even when we so pathetically fear . . . continually.

When she was 4 and super shy.

When I told her she should be a model - look at those eyes.  :)

With her 2 best friends!!

Last trip to the Oregon coast before moving to Illinois - she loved playing tag with the waves.  

First day of public school - 3rd grade.

Last month in our back yard in Wheaton.

This one. . . is Allison. . . my Joy Joy!!!!!

Good-bye house

Well, it's official. . . we sold our house in Oregon.  We are so thankful that our house sold. . . and in a quick 8 months time.  ;)  It's definitely bittersweet. . . we loved our home in Oregon and it served our family well for 5 wonderful years.  Now, that chapter is over and we look forward to new memories and experiences in our new town.  :)

The top photo is the morning we said goodbye to our house in Oregon and got in the moving truck to come to Wheaton, Illinois.

The bottom photo is the awesome courtyard that we built a few years ago. . . and all of the beautiful tulips that Christian planted.  We spent many evenings playing cards and watching the sunset in that courtyard.  :)

Challenges

So lately I have "challenges" for each of my children.  They each (as we all do) have annoying habits that I would rather they not possess.  And, I am easily annoyed.  So I have challenged my littles, individually, to not do these annoying habits for 2 weeks.  If they can go the full 2 weeks without slipping up even once, they get a prize of their (reasonable) choosing.  One daughter has a super annoying habit of constantly picking and biting her nails until there is basically nothing left.  But lately, I had noticed it to be a nervous and disruptive/distracting habit.  So, thus the challenges began.  Obviously the point is that these habits will officially die within the two week period.  I plan to ensure the extinction of these habits by imposing consequences if the habits return once the prize is obtained; Like loss of said prize or other privileges.  So, first "challenged" daughter succeeded and picked out a super cool prize - that I just may have to borrow.  ;)  Another daughter started her challenge today. . . it also ended today - poor thing.  When I was putting her to bed, she asked for another chance.  Her challenge is WAY harder. . . she is challenged to obey the first time she is asked, as this almost never happens.  I know it's a big challenge.  Perhaps it's as much for her as for me. . . for me to see that yes, she can do it, and I can enforce it.  For her, she will (hopefully) see that she is in control of if she chooses to obey or not - which will (again, hopefully) be eye opening to her.  Pray for this "challenged" kid - it's a tough one, for all of us.  Not to be left out, another of my littles wanted in on these challenges.  So her challenge is not to share any bodily functions at the dinner table.  You're all pretty smart people, I'm sure, if you know my kids at all, you can figure out who is who.  But in order to maintain as little embarrassment as possible, I went with anonymizing my kids, I'm sure you understand.  It is fun to see them so easily aware of their "habits" and how they don't need to be doing them.  The first challenge completer has decided to partake in another challenge.  This time around, not only does she have to complete her second challenge, but she also has to make sure that the first habit doesn't re-enter. . . does all of this make sense?  Anonymizing can get confusing.  ;)  I may want to get in on the challenge fun . . . like challenge myself not to eat sweets after 7pm . . . or at all . . . ah, we'll see.  :)

Hailee - the stinker

Do you ever have days where your kid is really, really on your nerves and you have to remind yourself that you really, truly in-fact do love your kid?  Oh. . . well I do.  Don't judge.  And today just happened to be one of those days.  Perhaps it wasn't entirely Hailee; it could have something to do with the horrible infestation of mice in our really cool house.  It could be because I came face to face with one of the mice today as it was eating through a brand new bag of Costco size veggie straws and trying to get into the cereal.  It could also be because I had to completely re-organize the cupboards and food and clean them out. . . no, actually, I love to organize.  No, it was probably because Hailee had the croup last week and then a sinus infection which resulted in a 6.5 day fever and home from school for 7 days and she has all of this built up energy - which in and of itself is super scary as she already has a crazy amount of energy.  So, this post is to remind myself how much I love my little monkey.

 She loves to run around and sing, "I love underwear!!"  This day imparticular, she really wanted to emphasize her love of underwear.  :)

 Yes, this is how and where Hailee does her homework.

 And this is how she looks when she gets caught not doing her homework and trying to sneak food out of the fridge.

 Ah, a sweet moment. . . .

 When Hailee falls, she falls with grace and style.  LOL

 I just have to laugh. . . .

 My gangster girl in her Cinderella nightgown

 After her shower, she thinks she's pretty cool. . . just look at those pursed lips.  :)

Even when she's cute, she's cute with everything in her. . . it's hard to be this cute!!
I sure do LOVE this kid!!!!!

Homeschooling

We're at it again!!  After much thought and prayer we decided to homeschool Taelor.  Today was Taelor's last day in public middle school.  I'd like to say we will NEVER put our kids in public middle school in the future - but I don't want to potentially choke on those words later.  For now, the two littles will stay put in their elementary school, where they are doing well. . . and Tae and I will be at home.  When they reach 6th grade - we will make a decision at that time.  But, for Taelor, this was and is the right decision.  Christian and I gave her the choice. . . and this was her choice - with our support of course.  I am excited and nervous.  It's only been a few months since we home schooled ( we've been doing it for years) but we thought that chapter was over.  Guess not.  :)  So today while she was at school, I rearranged the office and cleared some shelves and made a school nook for her.  Tae really liked the room when she saw it and it will be fun to personalize as we get started.  For now, we are looking into several different homeschool groups as well as art and drama classes.  She also started guitar lessons with daddy last night.  I think everyone in our family (except for me) is going to be musically inclined.
We start school tomorrow, (yes, I know it's Friday), but I want to get started, even for just one day before the weekend to maintain some normalcy of schedule.  We covet your prayers as we re-begin this fun, crazy journey!! :)
Blessings!!