Anticipation

I've been eagerly anticipating the UPS man. Not for any special trinket or new book, but for two rather large boxes. What might be in these boxes do you ask? Well, more boxes, packing tape and packing materials :-) Yes, I've been waiting for the arrival of moving stuff! And today they finally arrived!

My hubby and I don't really enjoy moving, but this move is one I am very excited about! In less than 20 days we will be loading up all of our possessions and heading to our new home. What joy...what bliss!

Despite the fact that there are a few things needed to repair and maintenance on this house, there has been nothing glaringly bad. Just to be expected of a home that is almost 50 years old. The closing process seems to be moving a long smoothly and we are awaiting the day we can get our keys.

I must say, the home buying experience has not been easy for us and really not very fun. I've had to feed off my 3 year old's enthusiasm to keep mine going ;-) But the Lord has blessed us mightily and has made things work out JUST RIGHT! Really, we couldn't have come up with anything better :-) I may share more about this once we are moved in, but suffice it to say...God knew what we needed and though we had other ideas, I can see the rightness in what we have now.

So....the packing begins! Prayers will be appreciated as we de-clutter, simplify and pare down. It feels a tad overwhelming to see all we have to pack up.

Lots of love,

Sommer

Patience Pays

It seems that when you are patient, good things often happen...or at least the right thing ;-) Dan and I have been house hunting for about a year now. We started looking in one location with a certain price range, size in mind. As time went on, the Lord gently directed us to a new location and a different price range and caused us to have willing hearts for a different size home. We had OUR ideals...but God had BETTER ones :-)

In the end, we have a home in a location that is farther away, smaller and...just right for us!

This year has been hard and I have fluctuated from being content, hopeful, discouraged and depressed. But I was learning much and I am still learning that even when I am scared, discouraged, uncertain...God is ever faithful and knows exactly what we need.

Above, you see the front of our future home! Barring any major issues found in the inspection(and we are hopeful there will not be anything horrid) we will close on this lovely August 20th!

God has truly blessed us. This home was built in 1963 and it has a lot of those fun little things that you can often find in older homes. It also has brand new paint and carpet. The kitchen(which you can see a little in the above picture) has sweet little details that I will share later. The refrigerator space is tiny and so I am doing a search to locate an appropriately sized one before we need to be there. Also..the oven is TINY! But I love it :-)

And what is more...the price was awesome! And in California that is hard to come by. The only real downside is my husband's commute. But at least he works hours that it shouldn't be as bad as we had expected.

The crowning glory of this home though...a lovely backyard. Having lived in a tiny apartment for almost 6 years with no backyard and 4 active children has been, shall we say...NUTS! But this backyard is going to be awesome! It is very big, has a lovely shed, and several trees..two which are good sized and provide splendid shade in the heat. There is a lovely pomegranate tree as well. There is also a covered patio...great for eating on and a nice spot for the dog to lay on in the heat of the day. Oh, yes, we are already planning for dogs...oh, my yes!

Here is a picture of the children on the edge of the shade provided by the largest tree. As you can see, it is much more than what we've been used to :-) The kids are very excited. I look forward to getting it green again and working on a garden of some sort.

Really, God has graciously kept us from bad choices that were too expensive. We have slowly been shown what was right for us and in being made to wait we have been blessed. I know that something could go awry in the process. But I am very much full of confidence in what God is doing and have faith that all will continue smoothly. Things have fallen into place with this house that are for certain the working of God.

As we get closer to moving in and after we have gotten into the house, I will share more pics of the home. There are cute little bits that I want to share with my friends. Thanks to all of you that have been praying for us on this journey. I would have never gotten through it without you :-)

Lots of love to you all,
Sommer

Happy Independence Day!

"Besides, sir, we shall not fight our battles alone. There is a just God who presides over the destinies of nations; and He will raise up friends to fight our battles for us. The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave...There is no retreat but in submission and slavery!"

"...Gentlemen may cry, 'Peace!peace!' - but there is no peace...Is life so dear, and peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!" ~Patrick Henry

I find myself reflecting on these words today. Not because I intend on taking up arms ;-) But because I think we all ought to remember the passion our Founding Fathers and those fighting for America's independence had. Do we have this kind of passion...for our freedoms, our inalienable rights...most importantly for Christ?

On this Independence day I think on my own passion..or lack there of some days. Would I be a Patrick Henry(albeit in a skirt ;-))? I hope so. Do I have this daily passion for my Lord? I know that I could have more. May we work on keeping our rights and freedoms(and not just sit by complaining but doing nothing), but let us also work to keep our passion for our Lord and Saviour!

Happy Independence Day my friends!!!!

Blessings,
Sommer

My Little Handyman...

A couple of months ago, my brother bought Liam a tool set. Just a kiddie one, but it is fashioned after things you might find in Home Depot(that is actually the brand of toys). He has had fun with it from day one...even sleeping with the tool box :-)

Occasionally he would ask me if he could get his tool and help me fix something. It is so sweet and I do look forward to the day that he can help with those things about the house. For now I just encourage his play!

Today, he was playing with his wagon(it was a car today). After awhile he came and told me that he had crashed and needed to fix the "car". "Mama, I need my tools...can you get me my tools?" I quickly searched them out and brought them to him...he of course got right to work.

As he sat there working, he looked up at me and said, "Mama, I LOVE my tools." And I smiled and thought he will be a very good and handy son. "Yes, you are Mama's good helper!" I think I will need to buy him some real tools as soon as he is able :-)

And of course, I must share one little picture of Rowan. She has grown just enough hair that I can sneak a little pony tail in it! Okay, it isn't much but it is sure cute :-) Fiona says it looks like a joy stick...I think it looks more like a fountain, but still...

As for life...we have just finished up our school year and are taking a little break. I am very ready for it and will enjoy the more relaxed schedule. Of course, I will have to get our school things for this coming year and plan it out, but that can be done throughout the summer.

We are still looking for a home but it has been a long road. I am hoping we will get something soon, but the Lord knows our needs better than we do and so I will continue to rest in His timing.

I will try to include some pictures of the older girls later. They amaze me at their growth and changes and I look forward to seeing more and more of their spirits/personalities appear.

Hoping you all are having a lovely week!

Blessings,

Sommer

Maturing...

Liam has been growing by leaps and bounds lately. Actually all my kids have been..it puts new meaning to the saying "time flies" if you ask me :-) Seriously, though, I am glad to see the little signs of maturity here and there in my children. But, as I was saying...Liam is just growing so much!

He is taller, talks more clearly, rides his tricycle like he was Lightening McQueen, is already thinking about being "trained to drive a backhoe and LOTS of machines", and wants to ride and run with his Daddy.

He also has made the leap to "Big Boy" underwear! This has been a long, trying experience for us..but he has finally got it and (except for at night) I have moved him out of diapers. His getting through the night dry is a bit hit and miss so we will try for two weeks of waking up with dry diapers before we try underwear at night..but he is quite excited about that :-)

Tuesday, I took him to Target to pick out his "Big Boy" underwear. Such enthusiasm :-) We came out of there with Thomas the Tank Engine, Toy Story and Cars underwear. Of course, he had to share with his sisters and showed them all the new duds. He then spread them over the table checking them all out. He told the neighbor girl that he got "big boy underwear today". But lest you think he is all grown up and quite a mature young man....

Within minutes my sweet boy had started putting his underwear on his head...what a silly boy! My girls never did this...but he just couldn't resist :-p Oh and he also started pulling them on over his clothes...kind of super hero like.

So, I guess he isn't growing up too fast ;-)

Blessings,

Sommer