Magic Moments

We've done it all and we're comin' home!

Leaving our home and moving to a new one is bittersweet.  I am going to miss this house.  I will dearly miss our 4 season porch, the quietness of the country, and the space we have where nature abounds.  However, along with beauty, nature creates hiding places....as in places for people to hide....and by people I mean fugitives.  And when fugitives hide a manhunt takes place. And if the fugitive is hiding in your area of nature then the manhunt takes place in your neck of the woods....which is what went on here 2 nights ago. Now, I'm not sure if the manhunt was hunting a fugitive.  I also don't know proper police protocol, but we were never warned or told to stay in our house or evacuate, so I'm assuming we weren't in immediate danger.  But, when the chopper is outside your kitchen window and when the police have created a perimeter in your backyard, it's scary. Last night as I was rocking Sage a whole chain of events was unfolding.  It started with ...

 I keep telling Aiden that this will be our last nice day so we must take advantage. So, we'll spend the afternoon on a bike ride but then are blessed with yet another nice day.  I do think the bike riding weather days are getting to be fewer and farther between.  Right now I'm okay with that.  Staying in, being cozy, and making soup sounds nice.  It'll be extra nice when I'm staying cozy in our new house, which will prayerfully become officially ours in mid-November.

As if being the little brother isn't hard enough, it's got to be extra rough when you're sick. Especially if your older brother is anything like Aiden, and spends a good part of the day in your face with a flash light and a magnifying glass trying to see if you have a sore throat. It's a good thing Mama babies you...and let's you have special treats like juice.

Knights, pirates, dragons, and an honest answer. Aiden to a "T." 20121006(095921) from Jenny on Vimeo .

1. We bought a house.  We are trying to close on a house. I WAS really excited about our house but my exact words to our realtor today were, "writing a grad school thesis and giving birth with no drugs were LESS painful than working with our current lender/financial institution." I realized today that the saying, "out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks" must certainly be true. When the loan doc specialist told me today how cute she thought our house was, the response that came out of my mouth before I could even stop it was, "this whole closing process is so horrible that I'm not sure I even like the house anymore." oops. 2. Our teaching leader at bible study made this point last week, "The things we complain most about are usually our biggest blessings." God reminded me of that through a friend today when she brought it up at my bible study.  It's so true. I might be complaining about this whole closing process, but the cut...

My sweet Baby Sagey.  He turned 10 months last week.  Like every mother, I just don't know how that is possible.  I have tried so hard not to let birth order effect my children. But alas, I have failed.  Aiden is my first born and thus has been my big boy. He is type A, cautious, and likes things exact. In my efforts not to create middle child syndrome, I have babied Sage.  Rightly so since he is still a baby.  But in contrast to Aiden, Sage is my baby ...and I have no intention of thinking otherwise. I know I probably worked with Aiden more.  Truth be told, I probably pushed Aiden.  I'll teach Sage all kinds of good things too, in good time. But, Sage is my baby and since he will inevitably grow up, I'm ok letting him be just that...my sweet Baby Sagey. Although Sage is my baby, he thinks he is a big boy and he is always on the go. Sage throws caution to the wind and pursues things with reckless abandon. I could trust Aiden not to fall off ...

With the coming of Fall comes the coming of a fresh start, new routines, and some fun commitments.  I'm determined not to have over committed kids who go from one thing to the next, so our selections of where we spend our time was carefully made.   However, we've had some big things happening in these past two weeks that have made us busier than I would like.  I'm expecting things to get worse before they get better, but I'm anticipating things will slow down just in time to fully enjoy the holidays. Aside from the unexpected (which are good things...just time consuming things) our weeks are filled with meaningful engagements. School. Preschool is at home again this year. It's my cherished time with Aiden during Sage's morning nap. We've done fun things like a week with Dinosaurs, word families, and lots of time with nature...which is what school should be anyway. This is kind of our practice year as we are thinking and praying about what education will ...

I was tired of getting up in the night with Sage so I fixed that by putting him in our bed.  He still wakes sometimes, but overall we are getting a lot more sleep!  My next dilemma was that I was also still getting up with Aiden in the night.....regularly....as in every. single. night.  I can be understanding of bad dreams or bathroom needs every now and again but this was, like I said before, every. single. night.  Why, you ask?  It was because one of Aiden's four "friends" would get lost in the covers and when Aiden got up to take a drink, or roll over, or do whatever it is he does in the night, he would notice.  I think he must wake up to take roll call of his stuffed animals or something.  Anyway, I was really, really tired of getting up to search for a piece of fluff.  So, I came up with the Buddy System.  Maybe it's a little unconventional, but this way every one (or animal) is accounted for all night long. Aiden's happy because his lit...