The Big Gym Move

Hooray for moving on to bigger and better things! When Matt's gym lease was about to come up for renewal, we made a big decision to move just a minute or two down the road to a space twice as big as he has now. We are excited to have so much room and more opportunities at the new space.

Friday we began the move and it was POURING rain. Think there was flooding in our area that afternoon. Definitely not ideal moving conditions, but it wasn't hot and after many sweltering college move in days, I was thankful for the cooler weather. We got a lot moved that day, thanks to help from gym members and especially Stacy and Barnette. Then with continued help and much assistance from Barnette over the last couple of days, it's almost ready! I stopped by today and things were looking good. It's hard to get a good idea of the place from pictures, but here are a few from this morning. I'm very proud and looking forward to more success with this business! Matt is doing such a good job and it's hard to believe we only had a few members in our garage last year!

Getting bored with those old tunes?

Try substituting the word "bottom", "poop", or "penis" for a key word in your favorite song and voila: Brand new fun song! At least that is my boys' philosophy these days. Kinda funny, kinda driving me crazy. Here's one of my favorites:

My God is So Big reprise (by Joshua and Gray)

My bottom is so big, so strong and so mighty

There's nothing my bottom cannot do.

Oh yeah, we're going to make a fortune on that one:)

Potty Avocado Daddy Mommy

Julia's enjoying showing off her vocabulary these days and we love her cute little voice!

In need of an interior decorator?

May I humbly suggest my husband? He did this stunning arrangement of our living room furniture last night and I'm just loving it!

PS Matt says I need to say "J/K" so everyone realizes I'm kidding! He does have many great talents, but in this case, I wouldn't put interior design at the top of the list:)

Ramblings

Sorry for the lack of posting lately. This has been due to 1)blogger not letting me sign in and 2)lots of stuff to do around here and 3)not much to say!

We have been working on nailing down a lot and a floorplan this week. My how things can change in just a matter of days. Hard to believe that last week we were just getting a contract on our house! Since then, we've spent countless hours in the car looking for a place to live, adding to an ever-growing pile of packed boxes in our room, tying up loose ends with house selling stuff (inspections, paperwork, etc), and lots of praying!! Monday I finished what will hopefully be the last big clean of this house (for the inspection) and it's definitely odd not to have to worry so much about that anymore. We also haven't been doing much school lately and the boys have definitely watched a little more tv these days...I just keep telling myself that this is life (not always ideal) and this stage will be short-lived since we have less than a month to get everything done now.

Another huge thing in our lives this week is that Matt's gym is moving! I'm not sure if I mentioned this before because we just got the lease a few days ago, but it's going just a minute down the road to a space very similar to what he's in....only double. So now he'll have an office, which he's excited about, and we'll also have a room for kids to play in while parents work out, which I'm excited about. There will also be more opportunities to do things like host CrossFit seminars, which you can't do if your gym is not big enough. This move is definitely a leap of faith, but we feel like this business is a good one and God will provide the clients we need to be able to afford the extra rent. He continues to give us income in ways that we sometimes don't expect and we know that whether we face financially hard times in the future or not, he is still our loving God that can do anything and is working out things for our good and to help us and others know him better.

Score!

Gray kicks off!

So happy these boys are really running now!

Gray is ready for anything on the sidelines!

Notice Joshua's defensive stance with his chest out...he is so into soccer now!

My favorite players on the team:)

My three guys! Not sure what Joshua's strange smile is about.

We had another soccer game today and thankfully Matt was there to coach because our opponent was GOOD! They have some little short kids with some fancy footwork that I think I'd have a tough time defending myself! The Golden Dragons held their own, though, and Joshua got a score (or two?). The boys were lots of fun to watch, aside from Gray's mini fit on the sidelines of course! Funniest moment of the game: Gray was standing in the goalie position as the other team came barreling toward him with the ball. It felt like slow motion as we watched Gray standing there with his legs apart ready to defend the goal and the opposing player going for the score. And there went the ball..would Gray stop it? Nah. He just let it go right through his legs into the goal. So funny, that Gray of mine!

Where are we going to live?

This week has been about packing and trying to find a lot. I have a pile of packed boxes in our room now and feel like progress is going well on that. Helps that we've done this a time or two, though I know we have more stuff now that we have 3 kids.

We're trying to plan for lots of stuff these days: gym stuff, like kid classes, which we've never done before; finding a storage unit for our stuff; working out probably living with our parents this summer; preparing for our buyers to come back tomorrow for an inspection; figuring out our house plan (which is a little hard to do without knowing the lay of the land; and most of all trying to find a lot.

This process has been a little disheartening. I thought when we sold our house, the biggest obstacle to moving would be behind us and we could enjoy picking out somewhere else to live. It hasn't quite worked out that way. For one reason or another, the options that are are in our area just haven't panned out and it's frustrating. I so want to live near our church and friends so that we can conveniently hang out with people more, rather than church and home life being so separate. I want my kids to have friends nearby to play with and I don't want to be isolated. But the places we've found that meet this criteria just aren't affordable and that's more of a necessity than any of our other factors.

So I'm praying, but still wondering a little bit about what to pray and how to trust. For example, I don't want to pray as if I'm trying to influence God to do something that in my mind is best for me but in his infinitely wiser mind is not. But I want to come to him with my concerns because I know he cares. Also, in times of better perspective, I see how this is really no big deal compared to the life situations most of the world faces! But we still do need a place to live and just because we don't struggle like many poor people do, doesn't mean we don't have challenges that we need God to work on. And though it's easy to say I'm going to trust God to provide a place for us that we like, he might not. He doesn't always give us what we want because sometimes what we need is to go through something hard. Which will be good for us in the end, but in the meantime, it's tough to face.

So sometimes I'm feeling kind of stressed. Lots just don't come out of nowhere regularly the way houses get put on the market all the time and we don't have anything that meets all our criteria yet.

And sometimes I'm feeling fine and just focusing on what I can do, which is pack and take care of the kids and help Matt.

Though it's hard to act like it all the time, especially when I find a place that seems like it could be "it" and it turns out to not be it for whatever reason, I do know that there is nothing too hard for God and he does love us. How that plays out remains to be seen!

I think I've figured her out...

Julia has been wanting me to hold her ALL THE TIME these days and she wails at my feet if I try to do anything like cooking or laundry without her on my hip. It occurred to me that she may be having a mid-baby crisis. You know, like 40-somethings have a mid-life crisis and act like they are teenagers? Well she's about mid-way through what I'd consider the babyish years of life and she's acting just the way she did as an infant. Makes sense, huh? Sort of?

Anyway, she's no screamer in the movie below! When she's happy, she loves giving us goofy grins and she's taken to saying "Ya!" for yes in an almost 'valley girl' kind of way. Love that girl, even if she's superglued to my side:)

In other news, we signed a contract on our house today!!!! Very excited and tired and wondering where in the world we're going to live and how we're going to make it through all the craziness of these next weeks.

Catching Up

I loved making the diaper cakes and these rattle cupcakes my friend made were so cute!

It's been an eventful weekend!

Saturday bright and early I took my place as head coach of the Golden Dragons soccer team, filling in for Matt and our backup coaches who were all out. Try to contain your laughter. I know I don't know the least thing about soccer, but there were only 5 kids and I think I did alright:) I would like to thank the inventors of crackers, without which this endeavor would have never been possible!! (in other words, keeping a steady stream of snacks coming Julia's way was the only way I could keep her happy and do my job!)

The triumph of the game, which I must mention was against a very sweet team of unaggressive kids, was Gray getting the first goal of the game!! He was mostly just in the right place at the right time, but oh how proud I was! Then Joshua proceeded to get more goals than I could count and he and Gray kind of got a goal together, which Gray was very pleased about. It was a great game for us.

Then later in the afternoon, I had the privilege of helping a friend host a baby shower for two lovely ladies at church. They both have boys already and are going to welcome their first girls into the family, so my friend and I felt especially like celebrating since we know how fun it is to have boys first and then a girl. It was a laid-back, fun time and I pigged out and relaxed.

Then it was time to get down to business because today we had two showings! One was the one I mentioned--the return visit by the people that liked our house so much before. They still did like our house and actually made a verbal contingent offer! They expect to be able to sell their house to friends who are ready to move any time, so we'll see if this plays out the way they are hoping.

The next showing we just found out about this morning and they also really liked the house and stayed a really long time, giving very positive feedback. They may be getting back to us in a couple of days and it sounds like they could also want to make an offer.

We are thankful for all of this great news and just trying to be patient as everything unfolds, trusting in the Lord's power, goodness, and love for us....no matter how it turns out, which is hard!! I'll keep you posted:)

Strawberries!!

We had a short adventure going about 1 minute down the road to pick strawberries. Julia was happy for about 5 minutes and Gray was having fun for maybe 10. But we managed to get two buckets full and everyone loved seeing the baby goat and feeding the mama at the end. Of course Julia thought it was a dog, but even she was trying to pet and feed them!

First 2nd Showing!

Just a quick update to say that people that saw our house a month ago are coming back, which is a first. I think even if they decide that our house is for them (they said they are definitely motivated by our recent drop in price), they'll still have to wait to sell their house, BUT I know that God is over all things and it could happen sooner rather than later. The idea of selling our house soon is both exciting and overwhelming, particularly since we don't have a certain plan of where we'll go, but again, God is over all things and I know he is worthy of my trust, even if things don't fit my ideal!! I'll keep you posted!

This feels a little like defeat, but...

...I finally broke down and bought pullups for Gray today. I've probably mentioned his story before: daytime potty trained right at 2 yrs old, super easy (well, as easy as it can be). Began to be nighttime trained at a little over 3 and stayed dry for about 2 months. then he gradually started wetting the bed until it became an every night thing for the past 6-9 months. I resisted going back to pull ups because he will have a dry night every once in awhile and I didn't want to ruin his progress. BUT, the smell and the laundry have finally broken down my hopes (and my pride) and I think we're just going to have to wait this thing out the easiest way we can. So (big sigh), pullups it is.

There. Feels good to admit defeat sometimes!

Mother's Day Weekend!

I had such a great weekend and again, no pictures, but you'll have to take my words for it...

Friday afternoon I met two ladies and drove to Cary to the Umstead Hotel (which is a VERY upscale place that we got a discounted rate for). We met other ladies for dinner out and then all began our church retreat at a conference room at the hotel. We are in a church plant that is just a year old so many of us don't know each other well at all. The goal of the retreat was to remedy that and I think we got a great start. Much of the retreat was spent hearing each other's stories of how God has worked in our lives, how we came to know Jesus, and what is going on with us now. The stories were so touching and always just builds my faith so much to hear how God is making a difference in peoples' lives. The hotel was amazingly nice and I just had a great time.

I came home very tired on Saturday afternoon. The house was quiet as Matt hadn't yet gotten the kids up from nap and he had surprised me (really surprised because we never do gifts for Mother's Day) with an array of little gifts in my room...a few shirts, an itunes card, some candy, a sweet card from all of them, some cereal, and I may be forgetting something. It was a very nice welcome home.

Then we headed to my niece's birthday party. It was nice to be with family and have supper taken care of too. I wasn't feeling too social, but enjoyed relaxing with everyone. I came home and went to bed so early and slept so good!

Today we went to church and I really enjoyed the service, maybe in part by the connections made with so many of the women in our congregation who went on the retreat. I think that's a little of what is meant by having true fellowship with other Christians.

We went to Matt's parents' house for lunch and enjoyed a little neighborhood walk while waiting for them to come home. It was great to talk to his family and eat a nice lunch together. The kids play so well together now and I'm amazed at how a few years ago, we had to always follow the kids around because there are 5 in the family that were born in span of 1 1/2 years. It's been a great weekend and I"m so thankful for my mother and to be a mother to my sweeties!!

It's the little things...

...that make a regular ol' stay at home day a good day.

Such as:

-Pogo not running away, even after being out last night and barking like crazy

-A clean kitchen courtesy of my husband

-Julia saying "Mommy" (she used to say Mama, but even dropped that for the last few months)

-The three kids playing together and having fun doing nothing in particular

-Solving the "I want a snack" nagging by giving the boys the privilege of getting their own...and it's working!

-A ton of extra hugs from Gray

-Real, super happy laughs from Joshua

-Looking forward to our church's women's retreat tomorrow and NO COOKING this weekend:) :) :)

Um, yeah.

Just have to tack on a quick post script to my last post:) We had soccer practice last night and Joshua is sooooo back. He was literally running circles around the rest of his team (but I do note that one of our best players was not there).

You know the scene in The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants where Bridget is playing soccer and being a ball hog and getting all the goals and her teammates are bowing down before her saying "We're not worthy!"?? (Uh, what? You've never seen that movie?! Get yourself to the nearest rental place ASAP because you are sooo missing out!) Well last night's practice scrimmage was just like that, minus the "we're not worthy" part.

This boy has some serious God-given athletic ability....transported via my side of the family, obviously.

He's Baa-aak!

Yesterday we had a rare Sunday soccer game and I must report that the sport-loving Joshua is finally back. I had a feeling based on last week's almost normal soccer practice that this game may be different. He did start out kicking the ball out of bounds on purpose, which is kind of his new nervous coping mechanism--act silly and awkward. But then he straightened right up and was really into it, not even wanting to take a break when other teammates took a turn to play. I'm definitely glad he's playing now, though I know it's only a matter of time before he'll be out there scoring goals and Gray will still be struggling to get his chance among the bigger kids. Hopefully this won't play out in disappointment and jealously, though I guess that's just a part of life sometimes!

We were also able to go see Matt's grandfather yesterday to celebrate his 89th birthday. He is not doing well and it's sad to see him suddenly so frail, when it seems like just yesterday he was quite alert and moving around fairly well when they came to Joshua's birthday party.

I also have to say a late Happy Birthday to my mom, who had a birthday yesterday as well. From the pictures of her party in the park, looks like everyone had a great time. We miss you and love you, Mama! Hope your day went well!

I am feeling quite thankful for all the fun events I've been going to lately! Friday night several of us from church got together to here two ladies talk about their experiences with adoption and foster care. Their stories are just so fascinating and they both have a wonderful testimony of what God has taught them through all they have been through. It was a great evening to listen and talk and get to know them better. One has a recently adopted baby and has fostered 27 children, mostly teenage boys (I know who I'm coming to for advice when Joshua and Gray are teenagers!) and the other has been through several adoptions, international, domestic, babies, and and older child. I could have listened to them for hours on end!

Then yesterday afternoon, after church, lunch with Matt's grandparents, and the soccer game, I got to go to a baby shower, which was lots of fun. I've never played so many shower games in one party, but it was great!! Thanks, Matt, for watching the kids for these events:)

And on top of all this, I am super excited to get to go to a women's retreat this weekend and we have yet another baby shower the weekend after. It's really been great getting to have so much "girl time" these days and I feel very spoiled!

Hope you all had a great weekend. Sorry for a long post with no pictures!! (But I guess you don't have to read it if you don't want to!)