Preslie saying, "DADA."

house hunting...

This is definitely a buyer's market here in Arizona. House prices in many nice areas are 50% what they were just 4 years ago. With the economy in the dumps, the number of houses in forclosure are increasing every day. With new homes on the market daily it seems like it should be easy for a buyer to get a great deal fairly quickly here.
Not so for us.
We have made offers on 7 or 8 houses already in the past month, only to be squeezed out by investors with cash. On many of these homes we have offered well-above asking price in order to be competitive, but cash talks and there are apparently several investors in the area looking for the same types of homes we are.
On one hand, we are not discouraged, becasue we know that we will get the home that is supposed to be ours. God already has it all planned out and we just have to keep looking and making offers and the right one will work out. On the other hand, we are exhausted. Physically worn out from driving around every weekend and sometimes during the week, and emotionally exhausted from crunching numbers to figure out what we want to offer while calculating any improvements that need to be made and dreaming about what our lives would look like in each of the homes.
When we first started looking it was fun and exciting. Not so much anymore. This market is crazy. Since we have been married, we have bought 3 homes. All three times, we knew right away that we wanted them, made an offer, and they accepted.
It's a whole new ballgame, folks.

A Musical Family

Music is a huge part of our lives. I am amazed at how gifted a musician James is. He is one of the most talented musician's I know. He can play most instruments by ear and he writes beautiful music on guitar. Yes, I admit, sometimes he drives me crazy with it, like when I am trying to watch a movie and he is over there jamming while watching...makes it difficult to concentrate, but it is also one of the first things that attracted me to him and it makes life interesting.
Shelby already demonstrates inheriting his gifts by playing some songs on piano by ear and writing her own lyrics to songs that actually make sense sometimes. When we have family worship everyone gets involved , even if it is just to dance and sing. We have guitars, drums, tambourine, piano and keyboard and even a banjo James is going to learn to play. Our dream is to have a music room in our new house that will always be set up so we can go in there whenever we want and jam. Right now, the guitars are in the loft, drums are in Jesse's room, and piano is in the playroom.



All kids love music and Preslie is no exception. She loves to try to sing and she waves her arms and bounces to the beat. Shelby is getting her started early on the keyboard!



Today we are getting the Patridge Family season 1 in the mail from Netflix. Hopefully it is as good as I remember and the kids will enjoy it. They love Little House, The Brady Bunch and Land of the Lost, so they will probably love it as well. I have a feeling we will all be pretending to be the Partridge Family for the next few weeks, knowing our kids. Maybe it will even turn into something huge! Next thing you know we will be one of those homeschool families that have a band and play at the county fair and library summer kick off. Dreamin' Big! ; )

A Faith-building year...

The past year has been faith building to say the least. God has proven to us over and over that He is in fact in control and we are not. We have learned in tangible ways that even when our circumstances are difficult and things don't go as WE plan, God is still not only working in our lives, but He is in control and drawing us closer to Him while shaping our character and changing us into people who truly rely on Him.

It is amazing to me how strong I thought my faith was before this past year, only to come face to face with the truth that while I had faith in God for most areas of my life, I held on tightly to others. How did I discover this about myself? Worry. Worry defined is "a lack of faith." There were times I'd lay awake crying out to God that I didn't want to worry, for Him to show me how not to worry. I knew it was my lack faith that what we were going through was actually part of His plan that was causing me to doubt. Now, unfortunately, there are plenty of false teachers (and well meaning friends) who are lined up ready to tell you that if you are struggling you must be outside of God's will because everyone who is living according to God's will is happy, healthy and wealthy. What a crock! Show me a story out of His Word that does not include trials or difficult circumstances in the lives of those who love Him. Still, when I heard these comments I had to wonder what we were doing wrong. Was there some secret sin in our lives that needed to be rooted out? Had we stumbled off the path. I spent more time than I would like to admit analyzing and reanalyzing every decision we made over the past year.

Until, just when I should have lost all hope, I gained it. Huh? We came to a point in December, where our financial situation was more than grim. I won't go into details, but let me just say that our entire future was uncertain. James' job that was commission only was not supporting us and we were facing some tough decisions. The economy is horrible everywhere, but Phoenix is one of the worst in the nation. He was applying for jobs everywhere...even places that would have just been temporary to get us through until the right job came along. Weird thing is, we did not fold under the pressure and fall into despair. We weighed all of our options, prayed for God to continue to take care of us, and came to the conclusion that whatever happened we'd be okay. God had met all of our needs up until this point and we had no reason to doubt Him. We agreed that whatever opportunities He brought in front of us for employment or shelter, we'd be thankful for. We were willing to do anything that we felt was asked of us. Even with all of the uncertainty spiraling around us, we were calm...we had hope.

Then, an amazing thing happened. 5 days after the day James was supposed to hear about a job he had interviewed for...just when we had accepted the fact that even though he really felt like the job was his, he hadn't gotten it, he got the call saying that he was hired. Apparently the human resources person who was in charge of making the decision was sick for a week postponing the decision. He started an awesome new job at USAA on January 25 that he loves.

We are so thankful for this new opportunity. We are probably even more thankful that God brought us to a place of total dependence, and increased our faith once again.
I can't even explain what it feels like to truly KNOW without a doubt that God is in control. Getting to the place where you can truly say that you trust God and believe that He is in charge is worth so much more than security and comfort. It is worth more than a fabulous home, a "secure" good-paying job, a healthy body, or a beautiful face. It changes everything! He changes everything!

((side note: at a low point on November 12, I wrote a blogpost about needing to hear a story of hope. now i have one of my own, and a good friend of mine whose husband was out of a job for a long time also got a job! be encouraged.))

I'm not a baby anymore, Mom.

I never thought I'd hear these words at 7, but I guess I shouldn't be surprised. That firstborn of ours is so much like her Momma it sometimes frightens me. She is growing up and developing quite the personality. She has my strong will and determination, my sassy attitude, my passion for life, my need to be around people and have a few really good friends, my ability to read people and a keenly developed intuition. She is also creative, compassionate, and an amazing caregiver. She teaches and takes such good care of her younger siblings, without even being asked to. She also bosses them around on occasion and tries to discipline them. Definitely a firstborn! I am amazed by her everyday. I am so thankful that we get to spend so much time together and that I get to observe her growing and changing before my eyes. I get to experience those lightbulb moments firsthand when she learns something new for the first time. It is such a privilege! I love this girl, who isn't a baby anymore, so much it hurts!

Jenn's Visit

Jenn came for her quarterly visit this weekend. We realized that she has come about once a quarter since we moved. She might as well just move here!!! The kids love her like an aunt and I like a sister. Lucy was even calling her Jeka off and on all weekend. Preslie bonded with her as well. When she is around it is like having two of me here b/c she pitches in and does what needs to be done without even being asked. She changes diapers, cleans the kitchen, empties the dishwasher, comforts the crying kids, and even disciplines them when they need it. I know that being with us for a month last January created that sense of family and I am eternally grateful for that time.



Our time this weekend was short, but I treasured it. I can't wait till next quarter when she will, HOPEFULLY, bring her kids with her and we will, HOPEFULLY, have a house with a pool!

Jesse's Funny Car

James and the kids have a strong affinity for what they call "funny cars." Classic cars, hot rods, anything old and in good shape or restored gets their attention. A few weeks ago Jesse drew this picture of a funny car. The thing I love about it is that it is the first time he has actually tried to write something on his own without asking how to spell anything. It says, "Jesse Funnee Cor." Notice the line over the last e indicating it makes the long e sound. I didn't notice his title for a long time. It was hanging on the fridge and one day I read it and was so tickled to see how he sounded it all out and tried it on his own. This is a milestone for him. He is learning to read and doing really well. I wasn't going to start teaching him until next year when he is in kindergarten, but he showed an interest,so we began "Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons." He is almost half way through and able to read short sentences and stories. He has to work harder than Shelby did, but he is determined. I am so proud of that boy.

just you and me

Last night, I was having a hard time falling asleep. I was feeling lonely and missing my friends back home.
I said to James, "I guess it it just you and me. Friends move away or we move away from them. One day our parents will be gone and our kids will probably leave, but we will always have one another...just you and me." He (half) jokingly replied, "Well, maybe we can bribe at least one of the kids to stay with us or live close by."

I know that while he was joking there was some truth in the feelings behind the statement. He is such an amazing Daddy and husband. He adores, and I do mean ADORES,each of his kids. He is a strong leader and a good disciplinarian and his kids respect and ADORE him back.

While we actively work at keeping our marriage number one, we do have 4 young kids who pretty much take up a lot of our time, energy and emotion. I am so thankful that we love, trust and enjoy each other and consider each other to be best friends. We do need to spend more time alone, though. If we are already considering what it will be like when we have an empty-nest and feeling sad about it, that tells me that we are at risk of letting our relationship take a back seat to the kids. Then, when the kids are gone, what will happen?
I always want him to enjoy my company, for his eyes to light up when I walk into a room, to be the first one he wants to call when something funny happens at work, to always be the sharer of his dreams, joys and sorrows.
For this reason, I am recommitting to making date-night a priority...We have had 1 actual date in the past 6 months. Shame on us!
Sure, we stay up late talking and laughing, watching movies and our favorite tv shows on netflix, but we never get out of the house alone. Again, Shame on us!

Here is me turning over a new leaf...

Scooby Science Experiment

Poor Scooby has male pattern baldness. His hair only grew on the sides like Bozo. We scraped it off today and are starting from scratch tomorrow since we still have lots of seed left. At the ages of my kids right now, this is about the best it gets as far as science experiments go. Most "science" we do is through experience in nature, literature or at museums. I am not intentional about science yet and do not use a curriculum. That will come later, maybe even next year, we'll see.

The kids love Scooby Doo and James loves watching it with him. He used to watch it everyday after school when he was little while eating two peanut butter sandwiches he made for himself. We like Scooby because while it has mystery and suspense, in the end the bad guy is always someone dressed up like a ghost or ghoul proving that those things don't really exist. Scooby Scooby Doo!

We've been singing the theme song to Preslie lately. Preslie Preslie Poo looking for you, Preslie Preslie Poo where are ya?