What it will be like in Heaven..

The kids and I have been having a ball here lately having little dates.  Tuesday we tried to go to the library for story time and found that they are starting up a new schedule in June and that until then there is no story time.  Bummer!  We did leave with a duffel bag full of good books though.  Afterwards we I braved the Chinese buffet alone with the kids and they were perfect angels!  I couldn't have been prouder!  You should have seen them following me with their little plates with sweet and sour chicken on it.  So stinking cute!  Especially in their rain boots.


Today while driving to church to pick up my friend for lunch Anthony and Addison were commenting on the crosses atop of Churches we passed.  "Wook mommy das the cross where Jesus died!"  I talked to them a bit about it and after explaining to them that Jesus was dead for 3 days NOT 5 hours as they were exclaiming I asked them why he died.  They hunted around for the answer and I told them so that we could live with him in Heaven when we die.  Addison said "I want to go to Heaven that will be so awesome!  We won't be able to go to the library though..."  Makes me think I wonder what story time will be like in Heaven. 

We're moving!!

I hadn't mentioned it much yet because I didn't want to get my hopes up.  Vicki, James mom, has been working on getting her house payment lowered because it was unaffordable to her with the loss of income after Papaw passed.  For the past month and a half she has been turning in paperwork to try to get approved for a load that the government offers to widows.  The plan has been that if this gets approved that she will give us the house and keep it under her name and we will rent to own.  I wasn't getting too excited about it as when I do about things they usually fall apart and even if the loan did go through we would still have to find someone to buy our house so that we can get out of it.  She has now decided that she is wanting our house. Problem solved!

Today James called me and told me to not spend another dime fixing up our house.  I knew exactly what he was talking about.  "Don't play games with me! Your kidding me right?!?  Did we get it???"  He confirmed the news that 24 hours after all of the paperwork was submitted that the loan was approved.  They payment will be around what we are paying now and we will max out the interest of the load in 8 years at 4.5%.  I can't believe it!  We are going to have a real house!  I feel like Pinocchio!  "Im going to be a real boy!"

The house isn't exactly laid out the best for us currently as it only has two current bedrooms upstairs and one huge one downstairs in the BASEMENT (no more storm shelter)!!  James is already taking away my dining room and turning it into a bedroom upstairs so that we can sleep everyone upstairs. 

The house already has the kids swing set in the backyard and it is already fenced.  HUGE storage shed in the backyard that is about half the size of our current house.  Back porch that stretches across the whole back of the house with plenty of room to entertain outside!  It has a garage that James has already claimed and said I can't touch. :) No more carrying kids/groceries in the house in the pouring rain. 

The bus pulls right up to the house and that means that there will be no more having to wake up the younger ones to get them in the car so that we can take Victoria to the bus stop.  Nap time can continue while she comes home after school.  Porch on the front to watch traffic and it has a beautiful view of my father in law's rose bushes.  I have so wanted them to stay in the family.  The back yard is big enough for a garden this summer.  James has been parking his truck at his parent's house since he has had it and then driving home in the pick up.  No longer will I have to wait for him to drive home after parking the truck. He can just walk in his front door and be home! 

The house has a full basement! No more storm shelters!  The basement has a huge laundry room that is about the size of my kitchen and living room combined now.  That area is full of storage and will be converted into my laundry room/ studio.  I will have space to craft create without needing to space it in between breakfast and lunch so that I can clear off the stove.  I will have space to have multiple projects going at one time and can keep it away from the kids hands.  The thought of a craft room makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up! lol. I have ALWAYS wanted one.  The bedroom downstairs will be converted into a play room for the kids.  They can trash it!  I can finally have the space to set up a little restaurant for them and a nursery for their babies.  Oh and don't forget the race track!  The clutter of toys will be contained in this room and will be equipped with a sitting area for them to watch their movies and no longer will I have TVs in their room for this purpose. This will hopefully help with bed time.  ;)

We will have an eat in kitchen due to the loss of the dining room but hey that is what I have now and it has worked out fine!  There is a mud room right off the kitchen on the way to the garage.  I can't wait to get my hands on that either.  I have always wanted one!  The cute little cubbies with the coat hook.  Storage tubs with mittens for winter.  Oh I have color swatches dancing in my head!

 A blank canvas I have and the space to store things until I decide what I am going to do with a room.  No more, "Uh where should I put this until I refinish it?  Oh I'll just put it in the storage shower."  LOL!

When I have someone come over for hair I can have an area set up downstairs to do that too.  Oh to have space!  I feel like the genie swirling out of his lamp in Aladdin.  "Oh to be freeeeee!  No more poof 'Where do I have space to put this? Poof where do I have space to put this?'"  You are aware that this mean some serious thrifting!  Oh my Salvation Army and Goodwill be ready!  I have space to re-purpose some furniture!  OK I am starting to shake I should stop.  I just can't believe that this is happening.

If it was going to happen any place I am glad it was there.

Today I had to pick up Makenzie as she comes over to our house on Wednesdays.  I picked her up from her home and she walked out the door with a huge smile on her face. Her electricity was off from the storm last night and she was happy to being going somewhere with the ability to turn on a light or even watch TV.  I drove from her house (Clarksville) to the Kroger on Charlestown Rd (New Albany) so that I could pick up some snacks for Bible study.  While roaming around it finally hit me, "Wait when I was out earlier I noticed my gas gauge was on 8 miles left when I was coming home from running errands earlier today."  I must have made it here on fumes.  Sure enough I get in the car and it starts but my gauge is on a big fat 0!  I back up and barely tap the gas as I plan on getting gas at the Kroger gas station.  I kid you not it finally dies right in front of the pharmacy window.  If I was to ever run out of gas I am glad it is there.  I pushed the car about 50 feet to the gas pump while Makenzie steered the wheel.  God is so good to give me enough fumes to make it that close to the pump and I am such an idiot for forgetting how low my gauge was. 

Can I brag a bit?

My husband is the bestest!  What a weekend!  He went above and beyond for me by putting up the shelves that I have been wanting and filling out some paperwork I was having a hard time with.  The kids now have some shelves that they are very excited about.  I am sure that they will continue to be until the figure out that mommy wanted them up so that she can put toys out of reach so that bed time goes a bit smoother.  He would send me random little texts while he was out running errands just to say that he loved me.  Super affectionate and completely and totally home.  I know it is hard for him at times to be mentally at home when there is so many things that occupy our time when he is here and people pulling him in a thousand different directions.  I felt like a princess and the kids even though they didn't act much differently than they normally do my focus was on him alone instead of the chaos that surrounded us.  I hated for it to end but looking forward to next weekend when we see Larry the Cable guy.  Honey that extra effort is really being noticed.  Thank you so much for giving me such an amazing weekend and I can't wait to stash some toys up high so that the kids will go to sleep instead of playing.  Love you!

Happy 62nd Grandpa!

There is one thing that is almost as awesome as my Grandpa, that is cake!

Addison did not arrive in this outfit.  Dress up clothes were the hit of the party.  The older girls were in the basement most of the party while the younger ones enjoyed the big back yard to play in.

Daddy showed us how to play Frisbee.

  He showed us how to climb a tree.  It was a bit harder for some of us than others.

Some high heel wearing tom boys didn't have a problem at all.

 We went for a walk with Tyler to feed the fishies in the neighbor's pond.

Well most of us did.  One of us admired how awesome our sequins sparkled with the reflection of sunlight from the water.  :)

Perfect Love

Last night I got the privilege of participating in a conference held at my church called Perfect Love.  All I have to say is WOW!  Great turnout!  Hundreds of women came to hear God's word preached and to be encouraged.  The worship was amazing and the specials that were sung left you with tears in your eyes and goosebumps all over you body.  The speakers did an amazing job of describing "Perfect Love".  Perfect Love isn't easy love like we like to think.  Perfect doesn't mean all roses and sunshine.  Perfect is unconditional.  It embraces, disciplines, cherishes, forgives, and loves no matter what.  God's love is EVERLASTING and led Him to give his perfect Son.  He saw us when we were filthy with sin and He loved us.  Even His plan for creation shows his love for us.  How He created the world.  He didn't just drop us in the water and say "Tread water here for a bit while I separate the land and give you things to eat."  One woman that spoke made this point and although it gave us all a chuckle when you really think about it, it is amazing.  I am so filled by my church and the women in it that are not afraid to stand up for what is right and allow God to use them.  I have to say that the night was "Perfect". 

Well......

I forgot to share an embarrassing story about Serve Day earlier.  Thought you all would enjoy.

As I said before I was doing face painting and I had drawn up a little menu so to speak of things to paint.  I forgot it at home along with a mirror to show the kids how their face looked as I was painting.  :(  I didn't have any trouble with the kids thinking of what they wanted to have painted on them.  I had some crafty ones wanting a unicorn, tiger, wrestlers face mask before I got the 10 deep line of girls wanting Justin Bieber painted on them.  Too funny!  One little girl walked up with her mom and said "I want a well."  I must have looked a bit puzzled when I asked her to repeat herself because when I looked at her mom she was burying her head in her hands trying to keep from laughing. I thought to myself what a strange thing to ask for so I began to have a little convo with God.  "OK what is this about?  There has to be a reason show me what you are needing me to do here."  I smile really big and then it's hits me, tell her about the woman that gave Jesus a drink at the well!  Oh God you are so crafty!  So I began to tell her the very basic story of Jesus coming to a well and being thirsty and the Samaritan woman gave him a drink.   She looked at me a bit puzzled with the "OK lady whatever." look on her face.   Remember no mirror, she has no clue how adorable her wishing well is on her cheek.  I say "Almost finished let me put a little pail hanging from it." She gave me a sideways glance and I sent her on her way feeling proud of the opportunity to minister to this little one. 

I was telling my dad the following day about the little girl and how much fun serve day was and Victoria was sitting beside him.  She looked up at me in a matter of fact way and said "Mom I think she wanted a 'whale'.".  "Ooooooooh that makes a bit more sense." This poor kid was walking around in a sea of children with their tigers, unicorns, zebras, ladybugs, and Justin Biebers with a wishing well smacking on the side of her face.  Could you imagine her going to the bathroom to see her big "whale" on her face only to find that she had something that didn't make any sense to her from the crazy lady with the paintbrush talking about Jesus being thirsty?  Poor kid.  Maybe I should have shared the story of Jonah!  lol

Artistic Praise

Well it is official! I have business cards printed up and a banner on the way.  I am gearing up for the booth at the fairgrounds in hopes that I sell some art!  I found this image on Vista Print and thought that it was tailor made for me.  My painting (the red one) was the one that started all of this and it was of a tree with circle leaves.  Getting excited about this business venture.  Can't wait to see where it is going to lead.

Check out my Facebook page!

Serve Day

Wow what a busy but fun day!  Today was Serve Day at our church.  I had the pleasure of volunteering at the downtown campus with the Early Childhood team with Victoria and Makenzie.  The day started early with some pretty intense thunderstorms but they were over quick.  Drenched we walked into the downtown campus to find only 3 people there.  Thinking that it must have been cancelled but with hopeful hearts we unpacked our stuff out of the car and bring it in to find that the event is being held at S. Ellen Jones school a block down the street.  We load the stuff back in the car and head down the street.  The event was set up in the cafeteria and the kids started pouring in.  We had a good turn out.  I got to face paint through the event and Victoria walked around making new friends while Makenzie helped out with passing out food and hiding Easter eggs.  We "hid" 1000 eggs in the cafeteria. This basically means putting eggs on chairs and rolling them across the floor hoping we was not setting ourselves up for a lawsuit.  The kids had a ball!

A quick trip to the WC lounge and dropping off Makenzie to her sister's I flew back home to get a painting that I forgot that I needed to deliver.  I quickly drive a bracket into the back and take off to church.  Service had already started and I realize after asking a few people that the lady that I am delivering the painting to is not there this weekend.  :(

Service was great as always and afterward the kids and I head back home to eat the rest of our burgers and wait for my nephew Tyler to come and pick up our couch.  He and his buddies went to Knob Creek to the gun shoot and were all beaming from ear to ear.  They got the couch out with minimal damage and provided many laughs while here.  I teased them that the neighbors would be talking.  My husband has been home for a week and the day that he leaves 5 teenage boys show up at my house.  lol  Can't wait for the new couch to make it here!  It is going to be great. The seating area in it is 6 foot 5 inches and about 2 foot deep.  Good snuggling couch and we purchased the love seat too.  Hopefully the whole family will have a place to sit when we are all here.  Now to just figure out how we are going to fit it in our living room..

Taking a step

Big stuff ahead!  My anxiety is up a bit as I have taken a step out in faith and agreed to go half on a booth at the flea market at the Ky Expo center in May.  I have never done anything like this before and am scared to death but SUPER excited!  Ah that fear of failure or even fear of success is a bit paralyzing but I am going to get through it.  Crissy has amazing jewelry and I am still trying to find what to focus on. We have about two months to get stuff done and my painting takes time and not sure I can crank out much product in that amount of time if I only concentrated on painting.  So I am trying to focus along with figure out and brainstorm display options for our stuff.  So much to do and I usually don't work well with deadlines but as my pastor said last weekend without pressure I usually don't work at all. :)  Here's hoping.

My husband is HOME!!!!!

I couldn't be happier.  After 3 weeks of being gone my man is home!  Such an awesome sight to see him walk through the door.  The kids nearly knocked him over when he walked in.  They were so glad to see him! I got to sit by him at church and hold his hand and when I woke up I wasn't even frustrated that he was taking over my side of the bed.  I wish I could keep him but am sure that I will have to give him back to the road tomorrow sometime.