TGIF

Hey! We made it! We just got internet hooked up a half an hour ago and one of my first stops into the internet world is my good old blog:)

We moved on Monday and were reminded all over again of how much stuff we have. Yuck. We moved a ton of boxes over the weekend by ourselves and weren't sure how we would find people to help us, as most of our family is "broken." But God provided again and people came out of the woodworks, including a guy we just met at church a couple of weeks ago!

Not only did we move everything in on Monday, on Tuesday the boys started their new school and Eliana started preschool! It was totally overload for everyone and most of us were exhausted and more emotional than normal. The boys hadn't slept well our first night here (and so neither did I!) and were just overwhelmed. Thankfully, we all made it through the first day.

We had to find help getting people places this week because of our car situation~one car! We are praying that we can find a cheap second car asap. One answer to prayer is that the boys' school has a bus that stops right in front of our neighborhood! There are SOO many kids in the neighborhood that they fill up a whole bus so it's a one-stop bus that goes straight to/from school. It takes us 2 minutes to walk to the bus stop. The boys aren't thrilled with riding the bus and I do miss walking them to school, like we have the past 3 years but this is so helpful right now.

I have been working very hard the past few days unpacking and trying to make a semblance of a home for us! Pictures coming soon.....:)

For now, we are all looking forward to hanging out together in our new home this weekend. TGIF!

Closing summer and making plans.

 Our boys survived their first week at a brand-new school! This week didn't look anything like we originally thought it would, a couple months ago. I told the boys we would probably be settled in our new place long before school started and have time to scope out the area and meet some kids at the parks, etc.

Instead, we chewed our fingernails to bits (figuratively speaking, of course!), waiting and waiting for the answer to prayer that was sure to come before school started.....only to have the answer not be the one we hoped for. I am SO proud of my boys for doing as well as they did this week. They did a whole lot better than their mama, that's for sure.

The 2nd and 3rd days of school went a lot smoother than the first (the drop-off was frustratingly chaotic) and the boys had some really good things to say. Samuel even got rewarded for good listening at school on a behavior chart all the classes have. He felt really good about that!

My grandma has been hauling us all over town for the past month since Ben started his jobs. The kiddos are in a tight squeeze in the back of her little Taurus, which makes for many repeated reminders that we are in a small space together and need to keep our voices DOWN. But they are happy kiddos, even if ornery:)

Last Saturday, we got to spend some much-needed time with Grandma and the boys cousins! We had a very full day, starting with brunch! We ate, then played at a cute park, went to Target, had frozen yogurt and ended up at the river to throw rocks:)

4 boys and one little princess:) (one boy is missing from the picture!)

That's Eliana carrying her brother's pirate sword around. She's pretty ferocious, isn't she?!

They had so much fun it was hard to tear them away!! We had such a nice day:)

On Tuesday, my trio and I decided to have one last little hurrah before the busy school season started. We headed over to the pool and were one of the first to arrive! It was a pretty low-crowd kind of day, for which we were very thankful.

The boys had SUCH a good time and actually spent time swimming (finally!) and did not want to leave. I feel like they finally got the hang of swimming and relaxing at the pool, only to have the season end!

Buddies:) (Well, okay, let's be honest here. This came after some screaming on Eliana's part and a refusal to scoot over on Z's part. But finally the law won and peace was made.)

Chillin' in his own chair:) He has begged to go back to the pool every day this week!

And something fun! Guess whose book is out?! That's right. Check out that name at the top!

And it's a doozy, too, coming in at 508 pages. Yes, sirree Bob, that's a whole lotta work that went into that book. 4 years to be exact....Oh, well, 5 if you count the painful process of editing!

Don't be asking for a copy anytime soon, though. A) You probably won't understand very much of it:) and B) It costs a whopping $160 a book. Wow.

Ben likes to say that it also doubles as a fly-swatter, a cure for insomnia or a great window-holder upper. His joking aside, I am super proud of him! He accomplished what few people can with his studies and even though we can't exactly see how God will use his knowledge and giftings, we are trusting that someday we will!
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And as for other updates, Eliana got into preschool! It's been very difficult to sign up for anything at all since our whole life has been up in the air but we found a place for her 2 days a week and she is SOOO excited! She was bringing her book bag to her brothers' school open house and wanting to put her supplies inside their desks (break my heart!) so we kept assuring her we would find something soon! This just fell into place a few days ago, very easily. And as I am needing to count all of my blessings right now, however big and small, I am very thankful for this! She starts in just over a week.

Also, we are trying to learn not to be stressed out by deadlines because we are learning that our timelines and God's are apparently not the same. Boo. We only have until September 1st here before we absolutely have to leave. The only way we could get a really brief extension would be if we could tell them a specific date we were moving into a new place. The board has been gracious enough to allow us to stay here all summer but the time has come for us to move on.

Not that we haven't been trying. I admit, I have been incredibly discouraged and frustrated this week by all of the dead-ends and bizarre experiences we have had with trying to find a place to live. We have never ever had trouble like this. Some days I really want to give up and move to England. Please pray, of course, that this would be the week God would open up something for us, but most of all, for me to fix my eyes on Him and not on things that I think would make things easier. Like, I don't know.....having a place to live and being able to settle and make plans. Things like that. I'm having a hard time letting that go and keeping my eyes upwards and I really need some prayer for grace.

After all, drawing close to our Father, in the midst of trials and pain, shows us that nothing here on earth can really ever satisfy us or give us true peace. I need to learn where my true source of Peace is and draw from it (Him), instead of assuming I'll feel peace once my prayers are answered. Tough lesson to learn.

And I think I'd rather learn my lesson asap instead of feeling the way I have this past week or two....

School Days...

Well, the day we have been dreading all summer came upon us today...the first day of school! We (mostly I) agonized about what to do about school since we have no place to live (still) but finally at the end of last week, I had to submit the paperwork to start the boys in school here where we are staying. The principal was very kind to us, going out of her way to talk to me on the phone at length, answering all of my questions and telling me about the school and then showing the boys all around the building when we dropped off paperwork.

This is the school where they are going right now. It is only a few years old and very nice! We got to see the boys' classrooms on Monday night and meet their teachers, both of whom were very nice. Z's teacher is very affectionate and gives him hugs already and says she just loves his name! Samuel's teacher is very nice, although a little more reserved.

Zakkai was bouncing all around this morning, so excited to go! Samuel takes after his old mama and was a bundle of nerves:( He was very teary-eyed when he realized all his friends at home started school today, too. He barely ate any breakfast so we sent him with prayers and hugs!

It was beyond chaotic to drop them off this morning. We are used to a much more organized system so it was intimidating for us but thankfully, we found both boys' teachers and got them in their lines and off to the races. It was a long, quiet day without them! My mom came with me to pick them up this afternoon, which was really nice and both boys came out with smiles and said they had good days!

They had a lot to say about what went on today. My biggest impression is that the school is very big on being kind to others and encouraging reaching out to other students. Samuel had a couple boys in his class make a point to ask him to play with them at recess, which I was so glad to hear! It is really hard being the new kid; I remember well.

We also went to the opening night for Awana at the church we have been attending for the last month and we signed all 3 kids up! We met some very nice people there and it made us feel like we could actually get to know people and get a feeling of belonging if this keeps up.

Now if we can just find a place to live....ugh!

The Ugly Place of Discouragement.

Today we are feeling really discouraged, hence my ugly post. We have spent the last two days actively looking for a place to live and we have discovered two things about Ohio that we didn't know. a) places to live are way overpriced, often comparable to Chicago or even MORE unless they are rundown and creepy and then the price is amazing and b) you are expected to make 3 times the rent amount in income to qualify.

What in the world are we doing here? How are we in this place where nothing makes sense? Why did we think it was a good idea to pack up our life and every earthly possession and uproot our kids to move a few states away? We are in this bizarre waiting/hanging on period where God doesn't make sense. Why is it so easy for some people and we have to live like nomads with no home and no great income and no prospects for some amazing job that will get us a place to live in the first place? What is God trying to teach us???

I am just feeling so very frustrated. We only have 2 more weeks of approved time to spend at my grandparents before they have to request special permission for us to stay on longer. And who wants to have a family of 5 staying with them for a month anyways? Seriously.

We felt like God was asking us to let it all go and walk away for awhile. It's too crazy that every single job didn't pan out this year and every single door was slammed shut in our faces. He has demanded everything from us. We have nothing left to depend on. Nothing left to make our god in His place. Where is He right now?

We are looking down and there is no trampoline to break our fall. No miracles to pull out of our hat. No long-lost rich great-uncle to pass away and leave us a million dollars in his will. No rent-free home waiting empty for our family and my piano that is even now getting damaged in the storage unit that leaks from the rain.

We are waking up each morning choosing to trust that He has not left us and that He will provide for our family. But that's not easy some days! We are in a place of choosing to be thankful that we can have food to eat today and that we do have a roof over our heads for another 2 weeks and that we are all healthy and together. I know that in these uncertain trials in our lives we have a choice: We can walk away from God, choosing to believe He has abandoned us and doesn't care about our hurts and needs or we can choose to trust He loves us and that His plan is ultimately better for us, even if it doesn't make much sense in the right now.

We would definitely appreciate prayers, that we can keep our eyes fixed on what is truly important: becoming more like Jesus and trusting that all the other things will be given to us in time. How can these trials do anything but strengthen us and make us more dependent on Him?

More swimming and sweet teeth.

We are staying busy over here in Ohio. My niece has been spending lots of time with us and thinks her cousins are pretty cool:) We were a bit cooped up yesterday without a car and we were all going nuts by the time Ben got home! He had a 2 day job with my brother-in-law, which was nice.

 

Today, though, he left the car so that I could gain some sanity and get my cooped up birdies out and about!

I decided to snap some pics of our cuties while we were driving back to my grandparent's place the other day. Samuel was being moody but we coaxed a smile out of him and I took a picture to tease him:)

So then, of course, Miss E wanted a picture, too!

Zakkai insisted he wanted a picture all by himself. Poor kid gets stuck in the back of the van all the time because Samuel gets carsick very easily and claims the middle seat. Or dominates, I should say! We try to have them switch every so often, despite the grumbling from elder brother.

The two little girls had a fun bath the other day and neither one wanted to get out!! It will be so fun to see these two grow together:)

We were able to get some swimming in today before more thunderstorms came.

It's such a cute pool and the kiddos have a blast!

This is Zakkai listening to my mom telling him that if he is brave enough to go down the slide, she will go, too! That definitely peaked his interest!

Eliana's glasses matched her bathing suit perfectly!

My sweet Mama!

We had some sad news this week, too. My stepdad's brother passed away unexpectedly 2 days ago, which really shook everyone up. He was only 48 years old. It was really a tragic death and their youngest brother is suffering terribly, as they were beyond close. I will be going to the viewing/funeral on Thursday. He was a really quiet man, like my stepdad, but really nice and I was genuinely looking forward to seeing his brothers again now that we are back here. So very sad. We would definitely appreciate prayers for his brothers. (my stepdad and his youngest brother.) It will be very hard for them. Their parents also passed away at early ages and they only have a few aunts and uncles left.

Most of our family are heading out tomorrow for a family wedding so we will be all by our lonesome selves for almost a week. We keep teasing them that here we just moved to be close to everyone and they are all abandoning us! We may take some time to start hunting for a home. Ben also has a couple of interviews for some part time jobs lined up this week. We are praying things will start to come together soon.

If we stay here much longer, we will have to curb the dessert eating! My grandparents have some serious sweet teeth and it's a very bad influence on us;) We haven't minded too much, of course, as we have our own set of sugar-lovin' teeth but it will be good for us to behave!

Remind me of that when I start craving some of the Caramel Praline Pecan ice cream in the freezer tomorrow.....:)

The Thomas Socialites?

It is so hard to believe that a week ago we were killing ourselves to clean our townhouse in Chicago so we could get some rest before the big move the next day. It's been quite a week! We have received a lot of encouragement and kind thoughts and prayers from people over this past week. It still feels strange to be here but we are started to re-familiarize ourselves with the area and starting to think a little bit about where we might want to live.

Ben worked very hard this week looking for jobs. He had some really strange experiences and it isn't the way we ever envisioned him getting a job but we are trying hard to trust that something will come soon. Once that falls in place, we can get serious about finding a place to live, which will help us all the way around. The boys really need to be settled in before schools starts so we can meet people and feel a little more at home. For now, my grandparents are being more than gracious hosts to us and we are incredibly thankful for their warm hospitality!

In other news, no pun intended (or maybe so!), who said living here was boring? We were all on ABC news last night! My mom's neighbor won a party and the news station (who was running the contest) came and filmed snip-its of the party. The party was being catered by some really good local restaurants/businesses and was for 100 people so the neighbor told my mom and stepdad to invite their family. We were stars! haha. There was a big bounce house for the kids and great food. My stepdad even won a prize! We all got a kick out of watching the clips afterwards and laughing about our brief moments of fame:)

Today we spent a lot of time at a really great park with my brother-in-law and niece. She is really enjoying time with her cousins and it's fun to hear her try to say all of our names. We had lunch afterwards and then tried to acquaint ourselves with a nearby grocery store. I practically had an internal meltdown at the store. I know it sounds so silly but there was a lot going against me! a) it's really hard to go grocery shopping with the whole family. Very overwhelming! b) We didn't know our way around the store at all so it was a reminder to me of the big changes here for our family and c) it was really expensive! I was expecting the prices here to be much cheaper but that sure wasn't the case with this local chain. Boo. I will be hunting down my Aldi and Targets asap!

We are definitely being more social than we are used to, which is really tiring. Thankfully, we are mostly sleeping well at night. Eliana is in with us since there is limited space so that makes it harder for me to get full rest. She is either fighting a cold or allergic to something and is congested and coughing so she cries out for me sometimes. A few nights ago she was up for almost 2 hours in the wee hours of the morning singing softly to herself and whispering. We did smile when we heard her soft, "Oompah, loompah, doopa dee doo, I've got another puzzle for you!" (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory!) but it would've been funnier if it wasn't 4 in the morning.....

For now, we are trying to adjust and trust but still really enjoying the extra time with our families and the luxurious comfort of my grandparent's basement:) Ciao!

We made it!

We made it. It has been 6 days of crazy chaos where we pretty much never stopped. I can't even describe the last 3 days to you! Except that....I will, of course:) After I get a good night's rest.

So, Budget decided to send us the biggest truck they had because they felt like it! No extra charge:) We had plenty of room! We got rid of so much stuff in this past month but we still had plenty to put in the truck. Darn it! Guess we need to do some more purging!

 

Ben and I got up at 6 am this morning (the kids were already in Ohio) and finished the last bits of cleaning (we spent 8 hours cleaning yesterday after packing up the truck!) and packed up all the last minute things. It still took us 2 hours so we didn't get on the road until just after 8 am. Ben, a former CDL class B license holder drove this monster of a truck like a pro! Seriously, wow! (side note: Happy Father's Day, Ben! I got you this really huge truck to drive and an expensive one way ticket to Ohio!! It will be a memorable one for you!:)

I have had a hard time processing all of this and have been so focused on getting everything done that I haven't let my guard down enough to feel the emotion of this change. I started to feel it after we said goodbye to our best friends in Chicago on Friday night. We drove home and it started to hit me what we are doing and who we are leaving behind. But today, closing the door to our home for the last time was hard. I had a book on tape to listen to in the car as I followed our Monster Truck but I just needed to drive in silence for a bit and do some praying and just feeling.

I don't think it will fully hit me until we have a place of our own. For now it just feels like we are visiting like we always do. (except for the fact that all of our earthly possessions just got loaded into a storage unit!)

 

I was very bad (I know!) and snapped a couple blind shots of the skyline as we drove by...

 

 

Goodbye for now, Chicago. I promise to write you a better tribute when I unpack my brain....

I'm Ba-ack!

 I took an inadvertent blog break this past week for a few reasons, one being I couldn't sign in due to Google. Anyone else having Google issues? I had to go in through a different browser to even sign in. Weird!

We have had a busy weekend with a lot of church activities and a birthday party for Z! Yesterday our church had an event called Spirit Village where volunteers dressed up and there were different stations where you could buy things for people in poorer countries. For example, at the livery you could pay $1 and "buy" a chicken for a family or at the apothecary you might pay $10 and buy medicine for someone for a month. It's a very neat way to teach your children that Christmas is about giving, not receiving! There was also a petting zoo (inside the church!) and music, amazing balloonist and even a lunch if you stayed that long. It was really neat!

Then this afternoon we braved the snow and went to an awesome concert at our church! It was part of Handel's "Messiah" and a Carol Fest, with really beautiful renditions of Christmas carols. The performers were a mixture of people from the church who sing in the choir and professional musicians and even opera singers! The boys sat through it all; Eliana did not fare so well and I ended up running down the aisle with her having a very loud meltdown. It was very embarassing! She ended up playing with other kids in the childcare:)

Here are a few pics from last week and this week! Eliana got a belated bday gift from one of my sisters, which included a pack of lip gloss. She was completely obsessed with the lip gloss the whole weekend! I got several coats of it, Baby Anna got some and she told Samuel if he was a good boy, he could have some, too:)

Aunt Gretchen got the three youngest girls adorable Christmas outfits, which we had to try to capture on camera. Not very easy with an 18 month old, a 2 1/2 year old and a 3 year old! Aren't they sweet, though?!

Three little princesses!

Plain City has some beautiful sunsets! Maybe because the land is so flat so you can see the whole sky. I tried to capture a quick picture on our way to my Gma's one night. The sky looked like it was on fire, with swirls and artistic designs!

This was Eliana after 2 days in Ohio:) She hasn't napped well since she turned 3 but all the crazy to and fro wore this girl out! She fell asleep about 3 minutes after getting in the car from visiting Grandma. Zakkai wasn't far after....

This past week, we had Chicken Tostadas with homemade tortillas! Deeeeeelicious! Eliana saw me getting out mixing bowls and she immediately started dragging over a chair so she could help me:) She rolled out almost every tortilla! With a little bit of help...;)

Zakkai had an assignment in school to write a letter to Farmer MacNugget about why he shouldn't eat turkey for Thanksgiving. He wrote, "Dear Farmer Mac Nugget,

Please don't eat me for Thanksgiving dinner. I have worms in my stomach. I am not tasty. I eat bugs. I have no meat. Eat ham and cupcakes and macaroni and cheese and pizza. Eat cookies and cake. I have yucky things in my stomach like bugs and dirt and worms. I am dirty. Please do not eat me.

Love,
The Zakkai Turkey

Isn't he something?!

Over Thanksgiving, Papa set up a really awesome army battle for the older boy grandchildren! He seriously spent hours setting it all up, staged and ready for action! He did it in their garage and put space heaters to make it warm. I wish you could've heard their gasps and yells of delight when he opened the door and they saw it! They spent a couple hours playing and had such a great time. They couldn't stop talking about it! Papa's pretty awesome:)

And I'll leave you with a picture of Eliana napping this week with Baby Anna all tucked inside her shirt:) Sweet dreams!

Back Together

We are home again! I had a plan to leave by 10am (OH time) yesterday so I specifically would not hit traffic in Chicago. Amazingly, the kiddos and I were able to pack up and check in on my mom and leave only 20 minutes behind schedule. Not bad!

I knew we were being "prayed" home by several people and I saw very clear evidence that we were protected! One, I almost ran out of gas on the highway and thankfully and exit came just in time. Two, a semi started to swerve into my lane right in front of me but caught himself in time and swerved back. He waved an apology. Three, a huge black SUV almost crashed right into the back of me TWICE but thankfully, caught themselves in time. And I was SO very tired from a busy week and not the greatest sleep but a McDonald's frappe (first one ever and it was delicious!) and Eliana crying before giving up for a nap helped wake me up.

Anyways, we were so very thankful to arrive home safely and unscathed. I was so exhausted that I crashed on the couch around 6:45pm while B read to the boys. A couple good night's sleep and I ought to be back to normal!

I absolutely know I made the right decision to go back and help my mom and stepdad. They needed help so badly and it made me so happy to be there, even if it was tiring. My mom dropped everything to care for my family and I last year and I know she would do the same for every one of her children. I am so thankful I could do the same for her! And I got to spend extra time with my grandparents and get filled up by their love, which was special:) It was very hard to leave yesterday.

The boys helped out, too, with Winston, my mom's dog and some other small chores. They got to earn a few dollars, which made them so happy:) It helped Samuel to be distracted and have something to do, as he suffered so with being away from his Daddy. And on Wednesday B's mom came to pick them up and whisk them away for a day of fun. Boy, were they happy when they came back with all sorts of special gifts and stories! Grandma sure knows how to make their day:)

Today I started a new babysitting job! I will now be watching an adorable 2 1/2 month old baby boy a few days a week. He did great today and was duly admired by my three munchkins. Samuel could not get enough of him! He kept stopping by to talk to him and get smiles and kept telling me over and over, "He's so cute, mommy!" Eliana only had a brief period of jealously, when I put Baby C into my moby wrap. She said, "No, mommy, take him out of the mody wap!" And she cried and got so upset with me. But after he fell asleep and I got down on the ground to play with her and offer her lots of cuddles and hugs, she was totally fine. She enjoyed using his bouncy seat and car seat for Baby Anna today:)

Ben took the boys with him for a few hours while he returned a ton of library books and got a few hours of work in. They didn't want to leave their daddy again!

It's nice to be back together:)

Home.

We survived our first day home together! Poor Ben is running around like crazy managing everything but I can't say that I dislike his new penance for cleanliness!!!

Here are a few leftover pictures from our stay in OH:

Missy just loves her Papa! Everyday when he would come in the door from work, she would stop whatever she was doing if she was nearby and just start babbling to him, telling him all about her day (just like in the talking video I posted of her recently). Yesterday before we left, she was calling for her Papa up the stairs:)

 Papa also spent some good time playing army men with Z! He sets up some very nice battle scenes; I'm sure he's picked up some good tips from all the civil war documentaries he's watched!

This silly girl is soaking up her time with her Dada! She is showing off her walking, playing with all of her old/new toys, demanding food all day (she has quite an appetite!) and testing to see if she can still work her wiles on her daddy.

She can!

Unfortunately, she is on OH time and will probably wake up bright and early again tomorrow.....actually, make that dark and early:)

Good night!

Spring Time....

In February?! The weather has been SO mild, a far cry from the "worst winter in at least 60 years" that was predicted a few months ago.

Today it was over 60 degrees, albeit with lots of wind. Zakkai was out playing at least 3 times today:)

Here he is a couple of days ago having fun in the driveway! He hasn't minded being outside by himself and spends long periods of time digging up the gravel driveway. It's fun to peek out the window and watch him:)

 And finally it was warm enough for Little Miss to go outside, too! She definitely gave her Grandma a run for her money today because she is a BUSY bee.

 Zakkai did some plowing on the tractor, preparing his fields to plant tomatoes, corn, pickles and green peppers:)

 He seems to have been the least affected of all of us through these past 2 1/2 weeks, soaking in every bit of extra love and attention he has gotten from Mugga, Grandma, Papa, and a couple of my aunts. I'm totally going to be old hat when we get back home!

 My two littlest chickies:)

 Miss Thang is officially, officially a WALKER now! But she did take a break outside and did a little fancy fast crawling for old times sake:)

 Even I got to enjoy the fresh air and the still, quiet view from the front porch:)

Can't believe how big she's getting! Her daddy's going to be surprised when he sees her walking everywhere!

Samuel has made a full recovery from his flu, as of this morning. He sounded SO much better on the phone tonight. He said he can't wait to give me a big hug on Saturday when our family is finally reunited!

I wish I could say that I am headed home fully mended and walking~oh, how I wish! That may not be the case but I have made some progress and hope to begin taking small steps (with both crutches) next week. I am just so anxious to see Ben and Samuel and feel whole again. I have missed them so much!

We've really been working to find all the silver linings in this situation~ a good practice, for sure. While it has been very rough on us in many ways, a lot of good things have come from it, too. Especially extra time with our family, whom we miss all the time.

Hope your day was full of silver linings!