When you finally get around to hanging curtains...

We've lived in our current home for almost 4 years.  We never intended to live here that long, but it's just the way things worked out.  We've made it "home" as much as we could during that time, but since it's a rental we never did a whole lot.  We hung pictures and curtains on most of the windows and that's about it.  But one thing we never did was put up curtains in our dining room.  We have a long bank of three windows and I didn't have any curtains that fit.  And whenever I would mention buying curtains for those windows, Chris would grumble and say something about not wanting to spend money on a rental.  Which made sense, I guess.  So I never bought curtains.  And for three years those windows were naked.

And then we started house hunting.  Two years ago.  We had put in offers on FIVE houses and obviously came up short on each one.  The chances of us actually buying a house were looking pretty slim.  So in one sense I kept hesitating putting up curtains because, you know, we could move any time.  But with each house we didn't get, the more anxious I was to make the house we DID have more of a home.  I wanted curtains!!

Well a few months ago I was talking with a student of mine who was interested in bartering for part of her class cost.  When I found out she was a seamstress, I asked if she would sew us some curtains for our poor naked windows, and she happily agreed.  I received those curtains about a month ago and right away I bought a curtain rod and made Chris hang them up.  He still wasn't excited about hanging curtains in a rental house but he saw how happy it made me and he installed the curtain rods with a smile.

He then said jokingly "You know, now that we've hung curtains, we're going to buy a house and move, right?"

"Well, if that's all it takes!" I laughed.

We continued to house hunt, but I was mentally preparing myself to spend yet another summer in our current house, making the best of our little piece of yard on our small corner lot.  It's a good house.  We've enjoyed four summers here and we can enjoy one more.

But one Friday morning a few weeks ago we went to yet another house showing.  It was a foreclosure on the west side of town (neither of which were very appealing) but it looked big in the pictures and it was definitely in our price range.  So I bribed the kids into the van and bundled ourselves up to look at a house with no heat in March.

It was a 1978 retro looking house on a huge corner lot in a really nice neighborhood.  There actually was a back yard (not something you often see with a corner lot) and it was fenced in.  That's a good start.  Then we walked inside.  The house was dirty, the cabinets were old, and there was this funky retro rock wall in the basement.  And. we. LOVED. it!!

It really wasn't much to look at, but the more we walked around, the more we saw all the possibilities in this home.  And the more we realized that all the "work" that needed to be done was cosmetic and really not that hard to do, the more attractive the house became.  Paint and a good cleaning would go a loooong way with this house.  Plus, it's HUGE!  The house has over 2400 sq. feet, 5 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms!  Holy giant house, batman!!  It's far bigger than any other house we even looked at, let alone put an offer in on.  Our only concern was that since it was a foreclosure, you don't get a property disclosure statement.  So you never really know what you're getting into.

But we thought about it and prayed about it.  Chris went back a second time with his boss from work and their site manager to look at all the little details.  I mean, who better to "inspect" a house than the president of a construction company and his right hand man.  They climbed on the roof, looked in the attic, checked out the foundation and they both said it looked awesome.

We decided to go for it.  Let's put in an offer.  We both felt really good about the house and really loved all the space in it.  We did our best to not get our hopes up considering our lousy track record with buying houses.  But maybe, just maybe, this was "the one".

So we put in our best offer and waited.  It was a Sunday and we didn't expect to hear about the house until at least Tuesday.  We did our best to put it out of our minds and to be honest, I was already planning my pity party.  How am I going to grieve the loss of this house?  With five other offers and no houses, this was surely going to be #6 in the pile of houses we didn't get.

Well, Monday around noon Chris comes home for lunch - like he does every day.  But this day?  This day he comes in with a box of 'Oh My Cupcakes' and a stupid grin on his face.  Then he says "I have good news."

Shut up!  You're kidding, right?  RIGHT?!?  He was most definitely NOT kidding.  We got the house.  Shock.  Disbelief.  We put in offers on houses.  We don't actually buy houses.  But this one we bought.  This was OUR house.  The boys came running into the kitchen (apparently the sight of their mother squealing and throwing her arms around their Daddy's neck is cause for concern)  We told them the good news and they joined in the celebration because, they too, had been dragged to dozens and dozens of houses all over Sioux Falls in hopes that each would be "the one".  We cheered.  We jumped and danced (for real, we jumped around the kitchen like a bunch of fools).  We hugged and laughed.  And we thanked God.  Thanked Him for his provision and wisdom through the whole process.  And thanked Him for the house that we've been waiting for for so long.

We're so excited to move!  Exited to have a big back yard where the boys can run.  Excited to be in a different neighborhood.  Excited to finally have a place to call our own.

Now, I just need to find a place to hang those curtains ....

Congratulations Auntie Kayla and .... the guy that goes with Auntie Kayla

Two weekends ago we packed our van with nearly all of our earthly possessions, loaded the DVD player with movies, packed enough snacks to feed three families and hit the road to Green Bay, WI.  Why?  Because my little brother was getting married :)

My two big boys were commissioned to be ring bearers and they were SO excited to be in Uncle Adam's wedding.  We talked about it, bought matching outfits, shopped for "fancy" shoes, talked about it some more.  They couldn't wait!

And they did awesome!  They carried out their ring bearer duties with keen attention and precision.  Well, Carter had his grumpy pants on tight that day, but even so he managed to walk 20 steps down an isle without incident.  That was huge!  The ceremony was beautiful.  The reception was a blast!  All in all the wedding was fantastic.  I'm so proud of my little brother and his new wife Kayla.

But as fun as the wedding was, I will mostly remember that weekend not as the day my little brother got married, but the day my big boys fell in love with Auntie Kayla.  I mean, fell.in.love with her.  She's been dating Adam for several years and it certainly wasn't the first time they'd met her.  But this weekend was different.  Perhaps it was wedding ceremony.  Or the party.  Or the fact that she looked absolutely stunning in her dress.  But my boys were smitten.

After the wedding, we had several hours of down time before the reception,  The baby took a nap, Carter rested on the couch, and Brooks worked diligently to make wedding cards for Adam and Kayla.  He carefully folded the paper, wrote out the words and drew them pictures.  At the reception, he kept asking to give them their cards.  It was such a busy day and they were always surrounded by people that I even suggested that Brooks just drop them in the card basket on the gift table.  But he was insistent.  So we weaved through a sea of people, found the happy couple and gave them their cards.

Several times throughout the night, he found Adam & Kayla and gave them hugs.  And each time they were so gracious and took the time to talk with him.  Then the best thing happened during the dance ... Brooks got to dance with Auntie Kayla!!  He loved the dancing anyway, but with Auntie Kayla??  That kid was on cloud 9!

We danced for quite a while, but when it was sufficiently past their bedtime and Benny was running on fumes, we loaded up and headed back to Grandma & Papa's house for the night.  Carter was tired beyond words, but as I was tucking him into bed, we had this conversation.

Carter:  Mama, I want the sheet over my head.

Me: Over your head?

Carter: Yeah, like this.  (he proceeds to put the sheet over the back part of his head)

Me:  Why do you want your sheet like that?

Carter:  Because I want to be like Auntie Kayla.

Me: ??

Carter:  Auntie Kayla had that thing on her head (a veil) and I want to be like her.

I couldn't help but laugh.  And sure enough, he slept all night long with his bed sheet "veil" on his head.

Then he started talking about his birthday, because, you know, why wouldn't you discuss your September birthday at 10:00 at night??  He says to Chris:

Carter:  Daddy, do you know what I want to do for my birthday?  I want to go to Thunder Road and ride the go-karts.  And you know who I want to come with me?

Chris:  Who?

Carter:  I want you to come.  And Grandma Marty.  And Papa Dave.  And Auntie Kayla.  And ........ who's the guy that goes with Auntie Kayla??

Chris:  Uncle Adam?

Carter: Yeah, Uncle Adam.  He can come too.

We laughed.  Oh, did we laugh.  So now my brother is no longer Uncle Adam, he is "the guy that goes with Auntie Kayla" :)

(Note: In an attempt to be more "unplugged" at the wedding, I didn't take a lot of pictures.  I kinda wish I had, but I was also glad to be able to enjoy the people I was with that day without sticking my nose behind a camera or phone.  All their wedding photos are loaded here.)

What a difference a year makes

Ah, one year ago.  One year ago I woke up 40 weeks and 1 day pregnant, big as a house, in a ton of pain from a delightful case of shingles and fully convinced I was going to be pregnant for at least another week.  And one year ago, I fell asleep in my own bed with a dark haired, squeaky, beautiful baby boy snuggled next to me.  What a difference a day makes.

And what a difference a year makes!  I know everyone says this on their baby's first birthday, but seriously, I can't believe it's been a whole year!  It seems like just a few months ago Bennett was born.  And yet, I feel like he's been a part of our family forever.

Fitting right in!

But I can't imagine our family without him.  God knew we needed him in our family.  When our third boy was born, I really had no idea how he would fit into our family.  What was his role?  His personality?  But he fits perfect.

Over the last 12 months, we've had the most amazing privilege of getting to know Bennett Lee.  He loves to smile and laugh and make people around him smile and laugh.  He's the comic relief in our family and he rarely has a grumpy day.  He has definite opinions about certain things, but is mostly laid back and just rolls with the punches around here.  He's a great sleeper but a horrible snuggler and prefers to have his own space.  And we recently learned that he likes cake, but not frosting :)

And since I'm the one who gets him dressed in the morning, he's a Packer fan too :)

It's been so fun celebrating our smiley boy this weekend with friends and family.  I'm a little sad that he's not my baby anymore, but really excited to watch him grow and learn over the next year.  1 year olds are so much fun!!