Sometimes I just feel like Amelia Bedelia

One of my all-time favorite children's books is Amelia Bedelia. Have you ever read it before? It is THE BEST! Amelia Bedelia shows up to her first day of work, as a maid in Mr. & Mrs. Rogers' fancy house. They have left her a list of things to do and she gets right to work. With a joyful heart she takes care of everything on her list and even has time to make a lemon meringue pie. When the Rogers get back they are in for a big surprise!
She has 'changed' the towels

'Dusted' the furniture

'Drawn' the drapes

'Trimmed' the steak

And my favorite! 'dressed' the chicken

Right about the time Mrs. Rogers is about to lose it, Mr. Rogers shoves a big ol' spoonful of lemon meringue pie in her mouth. It is so fantastic that she forgets all about the crazy stuff Amelia Bedelia did.

I'm not quite as literal as sweet Amelia, but I do feel like I am constantly screwing things up. I try to cook, occasionally, but Lord have mercy if its not spaghetti, tacos, or chicken I don't know what I'm doing. I am constantly forgetting to sign homework papers, conduct grades, read at home books and 'family' projects are the worst. I always swear I will never again take my kids to the store, yet for some reason I keep doing it. If you have never been puked on in Target, then you just do not understand what I am talking about. We are working on potty training Bryce right now and... Whatever. The other day I drove home from the store, unloaded my groceries, and was about to start supper (spaghetti or tacos I can't remember) when I looked at the clock and realized I completely forgot to pick up my children from school. Yes ma'am I did. Forgot...My...Children!

But just like Amelia I have one small trick up my sleeve. I'm not a fan of lemon meringue pie, but I do make the best Nestlé Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookies ever!

Granted, I just follow the recipe on the back of the bag, but my family goes crazy over them! They make everything better, I promise, you cannot be angry while eating a warm cookie with some ice cold milk. Scientific fact. So the next time you forget your kids at school, look like a crazy person at the store, or ruin dinner yet again; just make some cookies. (Or buy some, who cares)

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 2 Corinthians 12:9

Home is where your people are

We sold our house at the end of May and have been living out on our land ever since then. For awhile I was posting lots of pictures showing the progress, and then all of a sudden I stopped. Do you want to know why? 

Pride. 

We have been out here for 5 months now and I've had to do a lot of growing up and really just getting over myself. You might have asked me "How's the shop coming" or "I'd love to come by and see it" to which you would have received a blank stare or maybe a nervous laugh as I said, "sure" having no intentions or ever following through. But if you know me well, and I mean really well. Like all of the messy, ugly, selfish, pity party kind of know me, well then, you're probably just tired of hearing about it. It was bad you guys. Seriously, at one point, I pulled up to our old house on Haynes Ave to pick up some mail and started sobbing at the sight of their beautifully mowed yard. There was a real driveway. No mud or trash or materials piled up. Just a clean suburban yard. But this was not my house anymore and I just had to put on my big girl panties and get over myself.

I am finally getting to the point where I can say that I am happy where I am. Both physically living in this shop right now and spiritually with my Jesus, cause Lord knows I have not been for awhile. I have allowed comparison to rob me of real joy. I have allowed my circumstances to control my emotions and I have felt completely validated in my whining and complaining. But NO MORE! 

I am thankful for what we have. I am thankful for what it is right now, and not just for what I hope it might be one day. 

So here it is...

The goal was to downsize, use recycled materials, and be as cost effective as possible. The walls are made of OSB and the floors are painted concrete.

   

We left the ceilings open and we are using the tops of the bedrooms for extra storage. There's also a garage door in the living room so that one day it can be used as a shop.

   

Everything is still in the process of being finished, but for now, this is my makeshift kitchen. 

We don't have cabinets or drawers yet so most of our things are still in boxes, but the necessities are stacked up on racks. We have a ton of old barn wood that we are going to put on the kitchen walls eventually and hopefully build some cabinets out of them as well. The dishwasher, microwave, and countertop/sink were all salvaged from Brandon's jobs.

   

This is the boys bedroom. They insist on all 3 sleeping in one room together and it's been kind of special. Due to limited space we have downsized their toys to just about Legos, books, and a few sports balls, but they really haven't even noticed or cared. 

   

This is the guest bedroom reserved for the few and the brave, usually just tired grandparents who have come to help for the weekend.

   

This is our bedroom and lovely blackout curtains/blanket for the time being. We've put down remnant carpet in all of the bedrooms and the plan is to use some of that recycled barn wood on the ceiling in here one day too.

   

This is one of my favorite things in the shop! It might not have a door but it is a pretty decent sized closet for me and B.

   

This is the one and only bathroom for my family of 5. (one in potty training) The walls are recycled wood siding that I pulled from the outside of a dilapidated house that was on the property. Some poison ivy came along with it, but all in all I think it looks pretty cool. The sink base is Bryce's old changing table and the sink was also a salvage piece from the old house. This is so much better than showering in the outside shower, while fighting off Mosquitos, and just praying the kids in the airboat with a floodlight don't come back by.

   

The bathroom also doubles as our laundry room so it tends to be quite the hang out.

Over the next few years we hope to save up enough to build a house in stages as we can afford it. In the meantime this is our home and you are more than welcome to come over and visit.

We can sit out back, watch the sunset, light a fire, and talk about how amazing God is. And if I start complaining you can just feel free to just slap me.

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong. 2 Corinthians 12:9-1

Have I introduced you to the best contractor in Shreveport?

He can do pretty much everything, he is honest, hard working, and extremely good looking! 

He is the one and only... Brandon Shaver!

Do you have a remodel or renovation you've been wanting to do?  Have you had a hard time finding a guy you can trust that will give you a fair price?  Well, stop looking because B is your guy!  He is a licensed contractor and he gives free estimates!

We bought our home about 4 years ago and lets just say the man had a vision!  The house had been vacant for over a year and needed a ton of work, but Brandon could see the finished product.

Here are a few before and after pictures.

 

He painted the brick, fascia, soffit, front door, and garage door. He extended the driveway with paving stones, put in a cedar fence, and installed a new roof. 

  

The kitchen was a tiny U shape so he opened it up added a custom built island, pantry, granite counter tops, tile back splash, can and pendant lights, and installed all new cabinets.

He eliminated two walls and the little half wall to open everything up and laid hard wood floors throughout the house.

(He even built this old farm table!)

The pink bathroom was next and it was the worst!

New hand stained double sink vanity, granite counter tops, tile floor, back splash, and shower.

 I am so unbelievably proud of my hubs and the work he does!

What a man, what a man, what a mighty mighty good man.

Brandon@thewayconstruction.com 

318.220.6613

Meet the new guy!

After we closed on the land it's been a mad dash to finish up all of the repairs and get our house on the market. The boys were out of school for Presidents' Day, so I decided to take them down to the farm in Effie to hang out with family and let Brandon and his guys work on the house.  This morning we rode down to the sand bar at the red river and we weren't there 5 minutes when Jaxon came running over.

He found the cutest little turtle and you know what came next..."please mom, please please please can we keep him."  Awe Jax, I don't know, what about his family.  They might miss him if he's gone. Then Kade says "Well, we can adopt him and then he can be in our family!"  Wow!  Just...wow!  

Soooooo we now have a pet turtle.

Let me be the first to introduce you to Raphael.  He rode cockpit with me all the way back to shreveport in a red solo cup. The boys were all asleep when we got home so it was up to me to find him a proper living space.  I even went outside and found a snail and a little bug since Google said they like to eat that sort of thing.

I think tomorrow maybe I'll go look for an aquarium, but the slice of pizza stays.  He is a ninja turtle after all.

The search is over!

We finally bought land in Shreveport!!!  For 10 years we've been trying to meet in the middle.  Brandon Shaver wanted acres and I wanted Target.  I never thought we would find a compromise, but here we are!

9 acres of pure awesomeness and we are only 20 minutes from Target!  I did not think it was going to happen since it took 6 long months to finally close on the land, but man what a blessing.

The boys have already chosen a spot for their treehouse, Jaxon thinks we are getting a dog the day we move out here, and Papaw should be delivering a 4-wheeler shortly after that.
(It was a bad bet Earl, but then again you already knew that)

I have boots on, it's official, I'm a country girl now.  Do rain boots count?

Sitting around the bonfire making plans.  The boys can't stop talking about camping, and fishing, and shooting guns.  And as much as that freaks me out, I am going to love watching them grow into brave little men out here.

Bryce always seems to have a stick in his hand, and he's usually swinging it around making ninja sounds.  (I wonder where he learned that from) 

You really need to come by and visit as soon as we get settled in, but first things first, we have got to sell our house... like today!

Great news!

We got some great news the other day that we have been waiting 7 months to hear.  I opened the letter from our attorney and there it was...our court date that will legally make Bryce our son!   

In the eyes of the law we have only been his guardians up until now, because the law will not allow you to file for adoption until the child has been in your home for 6 months.  Once you file with the court it takes a good month to actually get a court date set.  I have known in my heart for a long time that Bryce is our son, but there is something really special about having everything legalized.  I can remember the first time I saw Bryce laying in his crib in the NICU.  He was the tiniest baby I had ever seen!  The doctor picked him up, handed him to me, and said "here is your son."  I can't begin to put into words what I was feeling as the tears started to stream down my face.  This precious miracle of a life was being entrusted into my care from now until forever.

We brought Bryce home and the weeks and months that followed were precious, yet difficult.  Overnight I became a mom of three boys and life was not going to slow down just because we had a new baby.  There were many sleepless nights of fussing and crying, and sometimes I would just cry right along with him.  I was overwhelmed, tired, emotional, tired, and..did I mention that I was tired.  Bryce would just give me this look like, Who in the world are you and what do you think you are doing?

Yep, that's the look right there, and every time I saw that look all of my insecurities would rise up.  Who am I to be raising this child?  What qualifies me to take on such a huge responsibility?  I am a sinful mess and I am sure there are tons of people who could do a much better job than I could.  I really had to let it all go and trust that God would give me the wisdom and guidance to raise this little man the way He had planned, and know that He is in complete control.  It wasn't long before those dimples started to melt my heart and I completely fell in love!

On February 25th Bryce will have a new name.  He will be grafted into our family tree and he will legally become our son and nothing will change that.  I feel like this is such a great picture of what Jesus did for us.  "God decided in advance to adopt us into His own family by bringing us to Himself through Jesus Christ. This is what He wanted to do, and it gave Him great pleasure" Ephesians 1:5

We are children of God because He loves us and wanted to adopt us into His family.  One day we will live with Him and finally experience the fullness of His love as we worship Him for all that He has done.  Oh, what a great day that will be!