Just for fun :)

I came across this picture from a couple of weeks ago and had to share it.

I'm not sure what this poor doll did, but I found her in the hallway... apparently in time-out.

Not sure who her "mommy" is, but whoever she is, she takes discipline very seriously.

This week's adventure

Disclaimer: a lot of this might sound like complaining but I'm really just... sharing. :)

Ok, so... my last update left us with boxes boxes everywhere. And now... its quite different! Lets see where to begin....

We thought we were closing... today actually. And we knew that it would be difficult to find moving help in the middle of the week when everyone was working, so we moved ALL of our stuff out of the house Sunday and Monday (most of our helpers were church staff guys who are off on Monday). The plan was to stay here with as little as possible, because its free :) until we closed. But now the closing has been pushed back to Monday, so we'll be in "camp mode" for a little longer.

What does "camp mode" look like? It looks like a completely empty house with the exception of: Mattresses on the floor in each room and Mabry in a pack n'play. The living room has just a small table with a tv on it, one laundry basket of toys, and 4 or 5 throw pillows and couple blankets on the wood floor. The kitchen has three booster seats sitting on the floor for the 3 little ones and two barstools at the counter where Ashley and Emily eat and do homework. (Jake and I stand to eat or wait til the girls are done.) I have one skillet, one pot, one mixing bowl and a couple of utensils for cooking, but we eat on paper plates, paper bowls, plastic cups, plastic forks, etc etc. I set aside 5 or 6 outfits and pajamas for each of us because they took the washer and dryer too.

The most difficult part is... well, life. :) Micah and Abby are still on spring break this week, and they are bored to death. One basket of toys is only so entertaining. And you can only watch so much "Super Why" and "Caillou" ya know? Its been cold and raining, so they can't play outside. And Micah and Abby both have way green snotty noses so I feel bad to take them to McDonalds playland or anything like that. Mabry's been incredibly clingy and I can only assume its because she's confused by these strange living arrangements and not having the comfort of her usual routines. So she won't let me out of her sight and wants me to hold her as much as possible. And because she's stressed, Abby thinks that must mean she should be too... so she'll watch Mabry fuss and then give this fake wimper and want me to hold her too! Micah could care less about the changes but wants to test all the new boundaries constantly. Like seeing how much wire comes out of the floor when he pulls on the cables, or pressing all the buttons on the TV (this is not new, its just closer to his eye level and more tempting now), or seeing what he can reach when he turns the laundry basket upside down and stands on it. This is all great fun. *insert sarcasm* As I type this, he's pulling the air vent cover off the floor and throwing little toys into the vent. Awesome.

The other thing is that its hard for me to sit in the living room with them while they play because even sitting on a throw pillow, my joints are not happy. Nor is my back. Nor is Avery. Especially when I'm cross-legged on a pillow on a hard floor with a baby in the belly, Mabry on one leg and Abby on the other. Which is how they prefer it 90% of the day. Oww.

So again, back to my disclaimer- this might all sound like I'm complaining, but I'm really not! Just giving you the low down of real life at soon-to-be old Spencer house. :) Wanna know what I'm thankful for? I'm thankful our house actually sold! I'm thankful that I don't have a washer and dryer or dishes, so there is no laundry or dishes to keep up with! REALLY thankful for that. :) I'm thankful that clean-up is quick when you only have one basket of toys in the whole house. I'm thankful that we aren't crammed into a tiny space (yet... keep reading), and that we still have mattresses to sleep on. I'm thankful that Ashley and Emily are back in school and aren't stuck here with us, bored. I'm thankful that this isn't going to last forever! :)

As for the next Spencer abode....

The short sale that we were waiting on... well, thats not going to work out. Jake just happened to the Lord divinely appointed Jake to drive by that house on the very day that the family was moving out. And they told him that they were taking it off the market and they're going to rent it. Hmm, that would be useful information to the people that are trying to buy your house... heck, even your real estate agent! Whatever. Thats okay. :) So while we were really disappointed, at least it was an answer one way or the other. And time to move on to the next thing.

So now we've found a foreclosure that we really like. Its 4 bedrooms and an office (that will work as a bedroom) and a huge bonus room. A big nice kitchen and a livingroom with lots of tall windows. The back yard is fenced in and its at the back of a culdesac. All awesome features. So we put in an offer yesterday and we're waiting to hear back.

The current plan is to go from here to my in-laws' place next week (which is where the cramming into a tiny space comes into play). But its free! Praise the Lord!! Again, thankful for free. :D And when they get home from Costa Rica, we'll go from there to... hmm, thats the part we have to figure out. :) But, this is all temporary. And in the end, we'll have a nice big house that we can stay in... forever!

And then comes the next adventure: unpacking. And the next adventure: a new baby. And the next adventure: Jake spending the summer at youth camps and mission trips while Amy is at home alone with 5 kids and a new baby!! The adventures never end, really. But... lets just take it one adventure at a time. :)

I hate boxes

Must...... update.... blog............ Too..... tired.... to.... type...............

Seriously its just about that bad! My fingers might all fall off so I'm just updating quickly to say a few things.

I hate boxes.

Moving stinks.

I haven't been out of my house since church Sunday morning... and its Friday.

I'm so thankful for my best friend who's willing to push her sleeves up with me no matter the hour or number of children hanging on to our legs.

I love that I can cry to my mom know matter how old I am.

Moving stinks.

My belly is getting really big.

My back hurts.

I'm ready for my kids to go back to school.

I need to take a shower.

I hate boxes.

Its going to be a really interesting couple of months until we move into our new house.

I hate boxes.

Moving stinks.

The bank still hasn't gotten back with us about the short-sale house.

I don't want to see another box or tape gun as long as I live.

I hate boxes.

We're basically going to be homeless for the month of April.

I hate boxes.

Oh. And moving stinks.

And ya know? Through it all, I can say God is good. And I'm still daily putting my faith in Him. But... I still hate boxes. ;)

Step by step guide: how NOT to pack to move

Pre- Packing week:

~Assume that your kids being home on Spring Break the week of your packing will make it easier because you won't have to pack lunches or deal with homework

~When people offer to help, smile and say thanks but never line anything up

~Ignore the weird blood pressure/blood sugar/dizziness/who-knows-what issues you've been having and pretend they'll disappear while you're packing

Night before you begin:

~Feed your husband bad mexican food leftovers for dinner causing him to be up all night with food poisoning. This way he'll be home, in bed, sleeping all day the first day. Double bonus: you can't get into your bedroom/bathroom AND you'll have to keep your children quiet while he sleeps

Day 1 (Monday):

~Be sure to call your friends who wanted to help you out today and tell them that they can't come now because your husband was puking all night

~Ignore your mother's advice to leave boxes where they are after you pack them (so you aren't doing heavy lifting) because you are hard headed and want the room clear

~Be a pushover and allow your kids to stay in the house instead of making them play outside, causing more stress on yourself, more clutter in the house, and keeping your husband from resting

~Leave your sharpie sitting out so your 4 year old finds it and "colors" her face

~Leave the room for 2 seconds with a fully packed but untaped box so your little ones can empty it completely

~Repeat several times

~Let your older kids make forts out of the empty boxes on the porch and trust them when they tell you that they cleaned up

~Don't take a nap, sleep is over-rated

~Forget to plan dinner and spend more than you want to on take-out that isn't even very good

~Spend the evening on the couch with Braxton Hicks, swollen feet and a bottle of water

Days 2-5 to be continued....

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ok, so I'm learning! :) But on the brighter side, I did get both of the two kids' rooms and closets (with the exception of clothes) packed up! 19 boxes packed, check!!! I feel pretty good about that. The goal is to have everything done by this weekend. (We close the middle of next week.) I also need to make the big summer/winter clothing switch for all 5 kids. In the past thats proven to be a day long process in and of its self... and since its supposed to be super nice outside all week and all my kids have in their closets are turtlenecks and sweaters ;) I think I'll do that project tomorrow and resume packing full force Wednesday-Friday. If you've offered to help me out, I've not emailed you to set a time, and you're still serious about wanting to help, please email or call me. :) I surrender, I can't do this alone!

Lastly, we're planning to put our stuff into storage because we are... yes... still waiting to hear back on the short sale. :) So we're looking to rent something in the Spring Hill area for April and/or May. If you know of anything available, please let me know. Thanks!

Ok, time for bed. I'm exhausted!!!

Energy for the day

Somehow I woke up surprisingly refreshed despite my very minimal sleep last night. Which was incredibly miserable by the way! But I think I know why I'm feeling some energy this morning. I think its because...

~I know its going to be warm today and I'm really looking forward to it. Sleeveless shirts, open windows and flipflops. Oh how I've missed you. It energizes me. :)

~None of my kids have school today. And though they all chose to wake up at the same time anyway, they're all looking especially cute and kissable today.

~Today is Jake's day off. Which means we'll spend most of the next two days together (Sundays are really a work day for him). And everything is more fun when Jake is around.

~I've got some family in from out of town, that I haven't seen in a long time (in fact I'm pretty sure they haven't met Micah, Mabry and maybe even Abby?). So my aunt and uncle, cousin, mom, grandparents, Jake, all the kids and I are having lunch today. I miss them and I'm really looking forward to spending some time with them today.

~This next one is going to sound funny, but yesterday I cleaned out the Suburban... like all the trash out, all the clothes and toys out, vacuumed the whole thing and then washed the outside (drive thru wash). And it does a Mommy's soul a lot of good to drive around in a clean vehicle! My brain feels a little less cluttered when my Suburban is clean. :)

~Jake spoke a great message last night at our young adults group. Lots of great points about taking the Lord with us where ever we are, community and believers, and drawing closer to one another as we grow closer to Christ. Good stuff that I want to chew on this weekend. (I'm so thankful for a man of God that speaks truth with boldness.)

~This coming week is spring break for all of my kids (although Micah and Abby's spring break will last the next week as well). And even though this is the week I'm going to dive hard core into packing, I'm really hopeful that the weather will be nice and I can stick them all in the backyard while I work. And it will be nice not to worry about washing uniforms, packing lunch boxes, checking folders, helping with homework, etc, etc, etc at the end of each day. Really nice actually.

~Lastly and most importantly, God is good and gives me strength when I need it.

You know, I've talked before about what I call divine anesthesia. This unexplainable peace that I have when I should be stressed. I have that right now. You know, we have no idea whats going to happen at the end of this month. We aren't 100% sure where we're putting all of our stuff, where we're going to live, if we're going to rent something and if so for how long, nothing is certain at this point. But I was thinking last night on my way home from church... I know the Lord knows the plan. And I know He'll reveal it to me as He see's that I need to know. I'd so much rather be in His hands than my own.

And I have to say that I'm impressed with my husband too because he's a planner. Like... bigtime. But he's surprisingly at peace just walking this out a day at a time. And I love that we are on the same page, just fully putting our trust in the Lord for our family.

So we'll see what the Lord does. But today, I'm excited to spend time with my kids, my husband and my family. I'm excited to breathe in the fresh spring air. I feel positive about getting some projects done this week.

Thank you Lord for your goodness. I know in my knower that I can put my trust in You alone and You will be faithful to us.

midnight cereal

dear diary.

its 1236 am. the small child currently occupying my womb refuses to sleep. she prefers to roll around and kick almost violently. therefore i cannot sleep. so i am blogging from my phone which for some reason wont let me use punctuation or capital letters. which only irritates me further. so i am drowning my sleepless sorrows in a bowl of cinnamon toast crunch alone in my silent kitchen. maybe if she is full she will sleep. the baby not me. my cereal is gone now and so back to bed i go in hopes of... sleep.