I bought a banjo

Did I mention I bought Steven a banjo for Christmas? I did. And I'm not sure I thought the whole thing through before I did. I knew he really wanted one and although he had the means, had not bought one for himself. He handed over all of the "means" to me to buy Christmas presents. And so I bought a banjo for him.

But I will be honest. I don't think I'm a big fan of the banjo. In music I listen to on the radio: yes. In my living room live: not as much. Maybe because it's a bit loud. Or maybe it's because I'm used to his mad skills on the guitar. I am a big fan of the guitar. The guitar is one of the reasons we met. Steven's first words to me after English class one day were, "So, I hear you play the guitar?" And I replied, "Who did you hear that from?" {Because the term "play" was being a bit generous.} He went on to invite me to, among other things, a campus bible study. Maybe in an effort to be modest, he left out the part about how he helped lead the praise and worship for the campus ministry. And that he was pretty impressive. Or at least I was impressed:).

So now he tries to get me to play the guitar while he plays the banjo. And I think the reason I don't is the same reason I stopped playing after I met him. He's just so good. And I'm so not good. I don't feel adequate to even play with him. I'm a bit of a perfectionist too, so it's hard for me to do something when I know I'm not very good at it. I can't sing either. But he can. Really well. I miss the hours of our praise and worship nights and our Friday morning prayer times when we were in Troy. Maybe, if I'd get over some of these silly selfish insecurities, we could have some good praise and worship right here. With a guitar and a banjo.

Today

Today was one of those days. One of the "good" days. Or maybe one of the "easy parenting" days. The days where my kids play together without fighting. And they have fun together and enjoy each other. I hear them laughing and making up stories, games and adventures. There's not a lot of complaining, whining, or bad attitudes. And my name isn't being called every three minutes. I mean, how can you not have a good time with an outfit like this on:

One part butterfly, one part bumblebee, one part dancer, one part super hero. Complete with high heels and pearls. And the sidekick:

I'm really not sure what to say about this. But in his defense, {and I do feel like he needs defending in this case} he refers to himself as "Super boy". Even though Super boy's costume consists of my old competition gymnastics leotard and tights, a red sequin skirt, purple gloves and a pink plaid cape.

After lunch, we moved on from the land of make believe to the land of books. We read and then listened to the story of Ferdinand on CD while we painted pictures of Ferdinand sitting under his tree, smelling his flowers.




While the boys napped {and coughed}, Elle and I continued on our journey of Magic Tree House books. These are such great books and have inspired such creativity, curiosity and adventure in both Elle and Grady. And they are great beginning chapter books for Elle to challenge herself in reading. Now, most days, the tree house out back is the Magic Tree House and they are Jack and Annie. I love listening to them act out their adventures.

I think more days would be like this if I would let them.

Apparently...

....he wasn't finished with bath time.

I had gotten Reese out of the tub, put fresh clean pajamas and diaper on him and started straightening his room a bit. Steven walked back in to the bathroom to finish up with Grady and this is what he found.

I'm just glad to see him smiling. He woke up pretty sick yesterday, running fever, red, watery, gunky eyes, no appetite and just generally feeling crumby. There's been a good bit of flu around these parts, but I couldn't get him in to see the doctor yesterday. {Not that it really matters, because there's nothing to do but treat symptoms!} Thankfully, a sweet friend who has connections with a sweet eye doctor here got us some ointment called in for his eyes and he was able to sleep last night. And also thankfully, he tested negative for the flu today. He's definitely feeling much better. So much better that he climbed in the tub with his pajamas on.

I love homeschool

Today we made butter. We are learning about the letter C, cows, and that God's word helps us grow spiritually like milk helps us grow physically. We didn't stop with plain old butter though. We whipped up some great tasting Cinnamon Honey Butter with some honey my in-laws gave us for Christmas from the actual Whistle Stop Cafe.

My lesson plan said to put the cream in a jar and shake it for 20 minutes. The fun thing about being the teacher is that I have the freedom to go with the other book's plan that said you could use an electric mixer.

Now the fun part.

The verdict: "Yummy."

This Old House

There are a lot of differences between our current 1960's house and our previous 20th century house. For instance, our house was built before the invention of double and triple toilet paper rolls. Therefore, you cannot put a double or triple roll of toilet paper in the holder and expect to be able to unroll it. Won't happen. Just ask my children.

Another observation: The more 4x4 tile in a bathroom, the better. And preferably some color scheme like pink and maroon. Or tan and brown. Put it around the tubs. On the walls. Behind the sinks. Like I said, the more, the better.

Also, no one dried their hair, or used straighteners or any other appliance that had to be plugged in whilst in the bathroom. Because there are no outlets. Actually, that's not the whole truth. We finally found one in our bathroom. It's right next to the shower. Which, we all know, is exactly where you should be plugging up some hair appliances.

But we do have a red heating lamp right over the toilet in our bathroom. I wish I could take credit for that, but it was here.

We have a mailbox on our front porch. The mailman walks to our door and puts our mail in the box. That makes me happy.

We also have a little black street lamp post by the road with our house numbers on it. And a light switch in the kitchen controls it. This also makes me happy.

I really do like this house {the good and the bad} and am so thankful for the Lord's provision through it. I was telling a friend tonight, it was just what we needed exactly when we needed it. But really, it's even more than we need. It seems like most of the time, God gives me more than I need. And what am I doing with that abundance? I am convinced He gives to us, so that we can give to others. Elle always encourages me in this because she tries to give her friends little presents every time she sees them. It could be a little ring she had. Or a picture she colored. Or a leaf she found out back. I want to be generous. I want to give. And I hope that I do. I hope my children, husband, family and friends see me give. Of my time. Of my resources. Of my energy. Of whatever the Lord has given me. Because ultimately, I want my life to show that people are important to me than things. I'm pretty sure that's what He wants too.

Packed

Next week on TLC: Car hoarders: Mini van edition

I put the kids in their seats and packed as much as I could fit around them. And then I had to unpack before I could get them out. It was really funny. I did feel like I could be on Hoarders. The bonus was there was an elevated place to put the DVD player for better viewing pleasure. And it didn't slide around.

A Really New Year

Happy New Year! We decided to start all over this year by moving to a new city and a new house and a sort of new job all on New Year's Day. The actual move went really well considering it was pouring rain. But Steven had lots of help waiting to unload the truck when he pulled in to Dothan, and I had lots of help getting things packed and cleaned in Calera. We've been in our new house for a week now and it's beginning to feel like home. The house in Calera held a lot of memories, but I'm looking forward to new ones here. It's been weird at times, because I grew up here, from a tiny one year old to a high school senior. I've only been back one summer and then a couple times a year for the past 15 years. A lot has changed in 15 years. And a lot is the same. I'm a lot different too. And a little the same. I never thought I'd want to come back, but I'm glad to be here.

And the kids weren't too sad this was waiting for them in the new backyard.
I'm also glad to announce we have a new niece we welcomed to the world today. My sister- and brother-in-law (Steven's sister) had a precious 7 pound 14 ounce baby girl today. And I wish I could tell you her name, but she's still nameless. They've had a hard time with the name, but I understand. We did too. None of ours were named until their birth days. They are several hours away in wintry Georgia, but thank goodness for picture mail, we've seen her. And she is beautiful.