emmy: 9 months

Emmy... what a delight!  She laughs, she smiles, she picks up a cheerio with her chubby fingers, she dances, she sings, she poops - but even that is cute, she kisses, she cuddles.  Is there anything sweeter than that?  She is crawling really fast these days and is starting to get into a lot.  When she is standing, she is on tip-toes.  She has 7 teeth!  She loves to get chased and she loves to tackle me when I'm on the floor with her.  She is dropping a morning nap but that's just fine with me and she's been waking me up once or twice a night to eat - but whatever!  I can't get enough of her!

Charlie ran off to play during dinner without hardly touching his food. And after 5 minutes in bed he called me over and then whispered, 'I'm so hungry, mom'. And I was able to feed him. Just thinking of all the moms out there who aren't able to solve that problem for their sweet kids when they tuck them in at night. And then to think that for some kids, there's no one tucking them in.

jordan's 29

We had to make Jordan's last birthday of his 20s special.  So the agenda we came up with:

First order of business: no birthday is complete without a pinata.  Jordan was thrilled... he had never hit at one before.  Natalie made it difficult for him, too!

Next: gifts.  I got him some new t-shirts and his favorite candy.  Natalie made him a special card (Harry Potter- Jordan's fave!), Ruby found a bumblebee and made me catch it (and then she wrapped the container), and Charlie repeatedly asked if it was his birthday yet and tried to remember to plug Jordan's name into the happy birthday song instead of his own.  Emmy had no clue what was going on so she just smiled!

there were 3 suckers in Jordan's pinata... that's convenient!

Dinner: we kidnapped Jordan, the girls put a blindfold back on him, and we drove to get some dinner.  I drove, that is.  We went to the Side-Door Party Store to get his birthday dinner... said no one ever!  But that's just what we did.  I had pre-ordered his favorite sandwich: the Man-Handler!!  A very delicious sandwich indeed.  Jordan used to take me here on dates on the way to the beach.  So it also has some sentiment to it as well.  Then to the park to eat it.

Dessert: why, a blonde brownie, of course (another favorite of his).

Play.

Then off to the Street Performers in downtown Holland where we also had to make a trip to the Peanut Store.  Jordan knew what he was going to get!!

We're so deep in love with this man and praying for many more birthdays to come!!

we're going to....

WALT DISNEY WORLD!!! 

Jordan's parents are taking the entire family to the Magic Kingdom!  Actually, we'll be leaving Emmy behind since she won't get much out of it.  We are all so excited!  Jordan and I have been trying to figure out how to manage this for awhile and finally had decided to wait for a couple of years until Emmy would be old enough.  And maybe that plan won't change either.  But we're so happy that our girls, especially, can go now.  They are at the perfect ages to go since they're so into Disney movies and especially the princesses.  They've been asking us for years when we can go there... pretty much a couple times a week- everytime we put a Disney movie in and admire the castle.  Jordan and I went when Natalie was almost 3 and she's never forgotten that!  Jordan's parents told the kids and they were THRILLED!!!  We're really excited to fly with them, too, since none of them have ever been on an airplane either.  Charlie is crazy about airplanes.  Of course, mom and dad are pulling out all the stops.  Yes, we are so lucky!!  It'll be a long weekend and it kills me to have to leave Emmy but it does make the most sense.  So for the past couple of weeks now, Charlie tries to wear his Mickey shirt everyday and asks every morning and night if we are going to Disney World now.  So excited!!!!!

charlie's three

After a solid month of Charlie asking almost everyday if it's his birthday yet, it had finally come!  And the pressure was on to make it as exciting as he'd imagined.  The night before, Jordan took him out for a happy meal and a trip to Cabelas.  He loved it and loved going out with only Jordan.  He loves his daddy.  He will sometimes tell me that his name is Jordan.  Maybe it's because I have called him Jordan before?!  And the girls were sleeping over at grandma's so I was able to give Charlie some undivided attention the next morning.  We sang happy birthday to him every hour and he sang it to himself.  I love this little man.  And for now, I think I'm his favorite person.  A few times a week he crawls in bed with us, right by me, and I have no intentions of stopping it!  Besides cuddling, we also like to read together, I love to tickle him, he likes to help me in the garden, he loves to help Jordan with anything, when he cries he will ask me if I'll dry his tears, and lately he loves for me to draw two little eyes on his tiny little fist and then the little wrinkled 'mouth' tries to eat me!  So we celebrated this little dude and we celebrate each of our kids everyday!  Happy third birthday to Charlie!

my attempt at an airplane!

 

proverbs thirty one

It's been 8 and 9 years since my grandmas have died.  And I still miss them terribly.  Niether of them got to witness my marriage to Jordan or the birth of any of my kids.  They would so enjoy our kids.  My heart still aches for them to be with me again.  I visited one of my grandmas' graves the other day on the anniversary of her death.  This isn't something I have done often since she's been gone since I know that she's not there.  The grave isn't really of much significance to me.  But I was moved to tears when I was there.  I miss my grandmas.  They are two of the most influential people in my life.  And even though they are gone, they are still guiding me with their wisdom.  At the cemetary, I pulled out my bible and without a thought opened to Proverbs 31.  It was God's prompting.  My grandmas were 'Wives of Noble Character'.  And what I learned from them is something that I so badly want to live out to my children and grandchildren.  I was convicted that I need to put these words into practice if I am going to leave a legacy behind.  I am also blessed by our moms who also wear this title and are an encouragement to me.

So now I am reflecting again on this scripture this morning... trying to figure out how to 'master' these characteristics of a noble wife.  This question came to mind: 'what is your job?'  My first answer to that question is that I'm a stay-at-home mom.  But that's never good enough for me.  Immediately my mind searches for other 'titles' that I can use to label myself with.  I remind myself of the jobs I do to bring in an income: massage therapy, the hundreds of bags I sew each month for a lady I subcontract to, babysitting.  Why can't I just stop at SAHM?  Am I insecure with this job?  It certainly is a big job, a job that is never finished.  Do I need to be making money to feel noble and wise?  Do I need a career or a title?

On re-reading this passage, I am convicted that my heart needs to be more intentional on my mom-job.  My number one job is my family.  And this is actually my dream job so why the insecurity and lack of confidence?!  When I apply these verses to my job, I realize I am falling short.  But I am encouraged to have gained this insight.  This is what I interpret these verses to mean.  In my role as a mother, do I:

{vs 13} work with eager hands (am I actively engaged?)

{15} provide 'food' for my family (am I nourishing them physically and psychologically?)

{16} plant a vineyard out of my earnings (am I spending time and resources on things that will produce fruit, or things that will die?)

{17} go about work vigourously (am I disciplined?)

{18} see that my 'trading' is profitable (do I have an awareness of what is working and what isn't working?)

{20} opening my arms to the poor and needy (setting a good example by taking care of others?)

{21 & 22} providing clothes (meeting even their most basic, simple needs?) 

I think I occasionally feel insecure about being 'just' a SAHM because it isn't exactly what our american culture supports.  I feel like my job is sometimes discredited as being an excuse to catch up on soap-operas or sleep in.  Deep down, I guess, I wonder if the label 'SAHM' implies that I am lazy.  To think of myself as lazy is a complete blow since I really enjoy work.  And I discredit my own job by thinking that I will feel more valued if I contribute to our finances.  But my job, my teaching, instructing, disciplining, self-sacrificing job, is influencing the next generation.  And I forget how important my job as a mother is. 

And this is the goal:

vs. 25: 'She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come.  She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue.'

And the prize:

vs. 31: 'Give her the reward she has earned, and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.'

I really focused on those last couple of verses when I was at the cemetary.  My grandmas were strong, dignified, joyful, wise, faithful, and gently instructed me.  I want that.  I want to be all of these things that Proverbs 31 encourages.  I want to be the best mom I can be to my precious little ones and I want to be this as a wife.  I want to be a blessing!  Now after all of this rambling, I am wondering if the first step to being this woman is to bury these SAHM images, to be confident that I am doing what is best for me in staying home. 

And I just know that my grandmas were given a reward for it in Heaven.  I know that without a doubt.  And the crowds in heaven cheered for all that they had done here on earth.

It will be worth the self-less devotion.

our craft room

We have been dreaming of a craft room for ages now.  Ok, maybe not ages since we've only been homeowners for 8 years... but for long enough, anyway.  Since we didn't have any other big projects happening at the time, we started construction in the craft room in the miserable-middle of January.  The room was all cement, cobwebs, and 2x4s when we (and when I say 'we', I mostly mean Jordan) started to work.  And now, (sigh of satisfaction) our craft room is complete (and when I say 'complete', I mean there are still some minor things to wrap up).

So... what we did- in a nutshell:

came up with structural design, electrical, lighting, framing and insulating, drywalling (you know - tape, mud, sand, mud, sand, mud, sand, mud, sand), built-in cabinet, doors, trim, paint, flooring, countertop, more painting, and finally, organizing our crafting stuff.

And we LOVE it!  Although, to be honest, all we've done in there for crafts since its completion is playing with legos and the kids have made some cards down there.  As soon as the weather gets pleasant around here, we're outside.  Also, soon after its structural completion, we had an emergency bathroom makeover to tend to which took priority over the craft room's finishing touches.

So do you want a tour?!  Of course you do ;)  More than likely you haven't read anything of what I've just written.  Like I normally do, you are probably just scrolling through the words to get to the pictures.  So here we go!

We enter through a 'hidden doorway'.  The door to the craft room is disguised as a bookcase!  Yeah, my husband is amazing, I know!!  So from the basement family room to the craft room:

To the left is my favorite wall in the whole house.  Do you have a favorite wall in your house?  Or is it just me?  I have other walls that come close to being my favorite.  But this one is tops in our home.  And it's really simple.  What you see here are the studs in front of the wall.  And the wall is scrap wood that we used up behind the studs.  Simple but, I think, beautiful!

remember how I said it's 'completely' done... well, we still need doorknobs!

This is just a favorite spotlight found at a flea market that, for some reason, we just had to have!

Since our basement has low ceilings, we decided to just paint them how they are instead of covering up the beams and pipes and losing height.  This is the best thing to do about low basement ceilings.  I love the look of it, it's cheaper and simpler and taller.

I love lines!  To me, this look is perfection!

This column disguises a steel support rod that couldn't be moved. But Jordan made it more attractive and also ran electrical on it so our main crafting table can have easy access to power.

This is what we came up with for the built-in cabinet.  I wanted equal amounts of open, showcasing shelves but also some cupboards with doors and drawers to conceal supplies.

Our backsplash is simple: can't go wrong with chalkboard.  And we knew we wanted some direct lighting over our craft table and onto the countertop.

Most of the storage boxes in here are from Ikea.  So far, I love them :)

Stools under the counter are also from Ikea. And we're always on the look-out for the perfect stools for by the table.

There was a perfect niche in the room for a closet.  There's nothing special about it.  Eventually there will be a closet organizing system but for now we store 'untouchables' in there like some bigger prints we have and a model that Jordan is anxiously awaiting working on.  The other doorway into this room is an extension of our unfinished basement, which is where Jordan does his extra carpentry work

And this is our crafting table.  We plan to extend the sides of it with some barn wood we have on hand, to make it longer.  We'll also add some locking castors.  This table came from my deceased grandpa's barn.  I wonder what the story is behind it....  We were happy to rescue it :)

Here are some before and during pictures:

I think that is all.  Everything you're looking at was done on a budget.  Most definitely, we were able to keep the cost of it under $1000.  Granted, our carpenter worked for free, some of the cabinets were rescued from the trash a year ago, and what especially helped this project along is that we were blessed with a gift of $500 from Grandpa to 'have fun with'!  So out of pocket for us, we spent less than $500.  Mission accomplished!  Now I am feeling the anticipation growing for a snow-day where we'll all be stuck inside, forced to drink hot-cocoa and craft!