Gifts and Grace

A few days ago I found this beautiful dresser that I thought would be perfect in our nursery. Its still weird to be thinking like that but its exciting. I showed the picture to Casey and he said it was nice but no. Now isn't the right time for me to be making purchases. You see, we put in a new furnace, duct work, and air conditioning this week so that we could make a new bedroom. One large expense so we needed to cut back in other areas for a while. I get what he is saying and want to honor his words, so I told the person selling it that I wouldn't be able to buy it. To be honest, it was hard but also really good to follow Casey's lead on this. I know the stress he is under and want to do my best not to add to it.

This morning I received a message from the seller and she said that they were moving tomorrow and if we could come pick it up today, we could just have the dresser since they couldn't take it with them. I was blown away by their generosity. This is an amazing gift to us since I knew we would have to wait quite a while and pray that something would be available that we would like. So here is the beautiful dresser:

And grace, oh grace. We talk so often about showing grace to one another, especially our children. I struggle with how to do this. I want to show them grace. I also want to teach them obedience. Where is the line? Tonight we went to Chick Fil A for their Cow Appreciation Day. We had been struggling with obedience during the day and needed a specific child to really work on listening or doing what he was asked. We thought we were showing grace by going out to a free dinner tonight even though attitudes might have dictated otherwise. Dinner was great, they were well behaved and appreciative. After dinner we thought we would run to costco to get a frozen yogurt for the kids to split(thank you costco for splitting one into three cups!). Unfortunately while we were there before we bought the frozen yogurt the kids kept running around after we told them and reminded them that they needed to walk and stay with us. So, they lost their option for frozen yogurt. It was a sad moment filled with some anger due to disappointment. One child chimed in and said, "Why can't you show us grace and just get us frozen yogurt anyway?" This is a great question. Back to the balance of grace and obedience. Still don't know the right answer most of the time. I need to keep reading and praying about it. I would love others advice in this area. 

Expecting the Unexpected

Where do I even begin? I haven't posted in almost a year. Life has been busy, crazy busy. A lot of that is our own doing. One child was in Kindergarten, one in preschool and one at home with me. Lots of running around from place to place. I kept thinking that next year will start to be a little easier. Two kids at the same school, all day and then one in preschool. Still lots of back and forth driving but it would give me time to get things accomplished and it would let me have set business hours without interruptions.

Things have certainly changed now from that thought and dream. We are unexpectedly expecting our fourth baby. I still get overwhelmed saying that I'm pregnant. Three and a half years ago we made the decision to not have any more children, for a few different reasons. To say that we were mildly surprised to find out we were having another baby would be a major understatement.

How things are changing for us. The first of many things is that we have to do major remodeling work on the house. We currently have 5 of us living in a 2 bedroom house. Not so much a problem since the boys love sharing a room but there really isn't a place to put another person. Maybe the living room but that wouldn't be a good sleeping place for anyone. So, we started with gutting the basement and replacing the furnace and duct work. Something necessary so that we can add a legal bedroom for Casey and I to move to. Next is the egress window work, new walls, electrical, and all the other stuff to finish a space. All of this is overwhelming in and of itself. Then, there is still having a baby.

How we are preparing and how you can help, if you want. We need prayer so that we aren't overwhelmed and that the pregnancy goes more smoothly than any of my others. No bed rest or early delivery would be best. Next, we are planning to have a garage sale to help pay for all the expenses that go along with having this little one. Since we were unprepared to become pregnant again our needs are great in so many different areas. As for the garage sale, we need help pricing, sorting, during the sale, and donated items. Any way you can help would be amazing. Another way you can help if you want, is that we have a fund set up through "gofundme" as a place to collect funds directly. If you have other ideas for us, we are more than open to hearing them. Feel free to shoot me an email at any point or leave a comment here.

We are so appreciative of the help we have already received and we know that God is faithful. God has provided for us in so many ways in the past and we know that he will in the future.

The Ants Go Marching

The ants go marching one by one, hurrah, hurrah
The ants go marching one by one, hurrah, hurrah
The ants go marching one by one,
The little one stops to suck her thumb
And they all go marching down to the ground
To get out of the rain, BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The ants go marching two by two, hurrah, hurrah
The ants go marching two by two, hurrah, hurrah
The ants go marching two by two,
The little one stops to tie her shoe
And they all go marching down to the ground
To get out of the rain, BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The ants go marching three by three, hurrah, hurrah
The ants go marching three by three, hurrah, hurrah
The ants go marching three by three,
The little one stops to climb a tree
And they all go marching down to the ground
To get out of the rain, BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The ants go marching four by four, hurrah, hurrah
The ants go marching four by four, hurrah, hurrah
The ants go marching four by four,
The little one stops to shut the door
And they all go marching down to the ground
To get out of the rain, BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The ants go marching five by five, hurrah, hurrah
The ants go marching five by five, hurrah, hurrah
The ants go marching five by five,
The little one stops to take a dive
And they all go marching down to the ground
To get out of the rain, BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The ants go marching six by six, hurrah, hurrah
The ants go marching six by six, hurrah, hurrah
The ants go marching six by six,
The little one stops to pick up sticks
And they all go marching down to the ground
To get out of the rain, BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The ants go marching seven by seven, hurrah, hurrah
The ants go marching seven by seven, hurrah, hurrah
The ants go marching seven by seven,
The little one stops to pray to heaven
And they all go marching down to the ground
To get out of the rain, BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The ants go marching eight by eight, hurrah, hurrah
The ants go marching eight by eight, hurrah, hurrah
The ants go marching eight by eight,
The little one stops to shut the gate
And they all go marching down to the ground
To get out of the rain, BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The ants go marching nine by nine, hurrah, hurrah
The ants go marching nine by nine, hurrah, hurrah
The ants go marching nine by nine,
The little one stops to check the time
And they all go marching down to the ground
To get out of the rain, BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The ants go marching ten by ten, hurrah, hurrah
The ants go marching ten by ten, hurrah, hurrah
The ants go marching ten by ten,
The little one stops to say "THE END"
And they all go marching down to the ground
To get out of the rain, BOOM! BOOM! BOOM

I love this song, have for years and years. Probably since I was a little girl and used to listen to Lake Wobegon on tape at my grandparents house. They gave me some of the tapes and Garrison Keller sang this on one of them, I listened to it every night for the longest time.

I was thinking about this song today in relation to my kids. The "little one" in the song is doing all these things that my little ones do. Time is flying by before my eyes and it is overwhelming. 

My oldest will be starting school in a few weeks, he learned how to tie his own shoes this summer. And while I am grateful for the things he is now able to do without my help it reminds me of how he is growing, how he is becoming more independent, and how short my time with him is. 

Life with little boys is always an adventure. I'm still learning to roll with it and enjoy what life throws my way. Can't wait to see what tomorrow brings.