And still we wait

September 1"But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run and not be weary; and they shall walk and not faint."

Isaiah 40: 31

We are still waiting for the new house to be done so we can move in. The six of us are living with mom and dad which is such a blessing. It is fun being back in my childhood home though stressful at times because of space constrictions. Everyone is making the best of it and it is very peaceful most of the time.

While it is frustrating to be dealing with bank and contractor delays when we are so anxious to be in our new home, God has allowed us to see His hand in delaying all of our plans this year. I became very ill a couple of days after Oliver's birth and for the past seven weeks have battled with my health. Living with mom and dad enabled me to avoid hospitalization and for Josh to keep working when he had no more time off.

Everything had a purpose - from our building project falling through at the first of the year, to the 60+ houses we looked at, to the four houses we made offers on and lost, to the foreclosure we finally bought where a three week renovation turned into a 9 weeks and counting reno . . . - everything seemed to be pushing us toward the inevitability of living with mom and dad for awhile. And while He didn't have to show us, we now know why.

Mom, thank you for your tireless, perfect care while I get my health and strength back.

It isn't that complicated

August 24

The husband (Jamie) of my sister (Jayme)'s best friend (Darlene) flew Jayme (my darling sister) from Boston for her (Dar's) birthday. Did you get that? Isn't that sweet?

So we got to see Jayme again and she got more cuddle time with her newest nephew.

Making butter

August 21

step 1. skim the cream off the top of raw milk

step 2. put the cream in a jar with a tight lid

step 3. shake. alot. (or roll. Keeping the cream in constant movement, your butter should begin to form in about 10 minutes or less. The whole process, depending on the amount of cream you start with should take 30-45 minutes.)

shake
shake
shake

step 4. separate the butter from the butter milk (set buttermilk aside for a recipe that calls for it. If the milk was fresh, it should last about a week to a week and a half.)

very suddenly it seems, your butter will turn a bright yellow.

step 5. rinse the butter

step 6. spread on homemade zucchini bread that just came out of the oven

step 7. refrigerate in a glass container for future use. Keeps up to 10 days if you don't eat it all sooner!

He's one month today

August 17

making funny faces

August 16

and then . . .
Oliver thought he would try it.

He's a quick study.

Bittersweet

August 11
It's the last day in their "life house" as Noah calls it. They each say good bye to their rooms.

All projects are complete. (Not without the priceless help of family and friends).

The house is clean and ready for the tenants to move in tomorrow.

It was a day I had looked forward to for so long - and it was finally here. This day was such an answer to prayer, and yet I was a little blue (no pun intended since we're all wearing blue in this picture, a complete coincidence.)

My two eldest babies were brought home from the hospital to this house. My youngest two were born in the pale green bedroom upstairs. We lived here for ten years. It was my first home with Josh, my first place out from under the roof of my mom and dad.

Yes, it was a bittersweet day.

But I'm looking forward with great expectations.

Cookin' in the kitchen with someone special

August 5Aunt Jayme!

Home from Boston to see Oliver.

Baking brownies.

Sweet!

First bath

July 28

You can't tell it by his first bath experience, but this little water baby quickly came to love his bath time and cries whenever it's over and he's pulled out.

Too precious for words

July 27"Every good and perfect gift is from above coming down from the Father of Lights."

James 1:17

Our Reno .1

July 22Tearing down walls. We're removing the walls in the formal living room, family room and kitchen to make a more casual, open floor plan.

Getting to know you

July 26

July 17
July 23

Dear baby Oliver,

We're so glad you're our baby brother. We'll keep you and love you forever.

Coming back

I'm sitting here with my cup of coffee (enjoying this beautiful fall morning) thinking about how to come back to blogging.

I've missed you and our daily visits.

Somewhere along the way I lost the drive to press on. It could have been packing up one home and staying with mom and dad while we waited for our new home. It could have been the end of a pregnancy and the addition of a fourth precious child. It could have been poor health. But it was likely the combination of everything at once.

This past year has been a challenging one in many ways and in order to cope, some of the things that make me *me* got pushed aside. Well, maybe just gently packed away and stored until things settled down a little.

Bit by bit, I'm unpacking.

We moved into our new home two {seven, actually. . . it's been awhile since I started this post} weeks ago so I'm unpacking that too.

So, thank you for waiting for me. Maybe you didn't and have moved on! But if you did wait, thank you.

I just realized that with this post I am back! That's one less thing to think about.