You Know It’s Bad When

your dad is asking you to update your blog because he misses his grandkids.

So Sorry!

The two major happening in the Williams fam are the puppy and our square foot garden.  The puppy is DEFINITELY more work!  Her name is Brown Sugar – Sugar, for short.  She is super smart and just about potty trained inside.  I know I am very thankful for this.  We’ve had her about a week-and-a-half, and I was up with her more the first two nights than I was when we had babies in the house.  Ugh.  Those nights are much better now, although she still thinks that 3 am is a good time for a party.  I do not.

 

Our other new endeavor is the garden.  We, a.k.a Todd, built two 4x8 beds complete with weed backing and Mel’s Mix from the book Square Foot Gardening.  So far, things are taking off.  I need to take some new pictures, actually, because the tomato plants are much taller now.  The girls have pretty much taken over this project, watering every day and picking weeds.  We can’t wait to start eating out of our own back yard!

 

The Summer Olympics?

Today for our history lesson we studied the beginnings and history of the Olympics.  The girls were really excited about this because what little Olympics we watched this winter, they were really into.  (I know that’s really bad grammar but too much in a hurry to fix it!)  I won’t even go into how frustrating it was to close on a house the day the Olympics started and the fact that once we were pseudo settled, we didn’t have a converter box to pick up any channels.  Okay, so I sort of went into it, but you gotta feel some of my pain.  And, I realize I sound like a complete whiner, but it’s the Olympics, people!

So something I didn’t know that was surprising: The last Greek Olympics were in A.D. 395 because Olympia was destroyed by an earthquake.  They weren’t reinstated until the late 1800s.  Am I the only one who missed this is my history classes?  I just assumed they’d been going on since the Greek time.  Maybe I shouldn’t publicly admit that…

We went back to the “roots” of the games and had five competitions: a foot race, arm wrestling (The Greeks just wrestled, but I figured this was safer.), jumping, discus (plastic lid throwing)  and throwing the javelin (or a really big stick).  I captured some of competitions and just love the very competitive looks on my girls’ faces.  If you know them, this won’t surprise you a bit.  They are very tenacious girls.  Very feminine, but very determined.

Notice Aubrie lost in Aubrie-land.

Here’s some of that determination in action!

The Winner’s Circle

The Sun Shines Again

So glad that the sun decided to make a lengthy appearance today! We thoroughly took advantage of such beautiful weather. We played with friends, came home to rest a little and played some more! I am loving that the girls are enjoying the back yard and have discovered all sorts of fun hiding places. I have a little chuckle every time I hear, “Ready or not, here I come!”

As a matter of fact, they’ve become rather good at hiding inside the house as well, and they had me completely stumped the other day. I was beginning to wonder if they had slipped outside. I’m still not sure how I didn’t see them in the laundry room. It’s not that big, and I LOOKED in there!

We had a really great week of homeschooling and basically stayed on-schedule which is a MAJOR feat for us. Seems like life is always interrupting our schedule. The other big news for the week is that our heater was fixed today! Oh, how I love heat when it’s cold outside. I had taken to moving the space heater to whatever room we were in. So thankful for our home warranty, too. I was trying not to complain when people were asking me how I was liking our new house because I really do love it, but I HATE being cold. Every now and then I over romanticize the Little House on the Prairie days, and then I remember that Laura did NOT have central heat and air and come back to reality!

Painting, Cleaning and Lots o’ Fun

We were able to close on our house in MS this past Friday despite the several inches of snow on the ground.  Our resident meteorologists (Poppy and Emma) tell us that there was between five and six inches.  We built snowmen, made snow ice cream and kept mom busy washing the layers and layers of clothes they got wet and dirty in the snow.  What a first day back in Clinton! 

We then went to work picking out paint colors.  I am so challenged in this area.  I know what I like, but I have no idea how to go from paint swatch to what it’s actually going to look like on a wall.  Our good friend Kristy came to our rescue with her paint samples and touch-up paint, and we have successfully painted the living room, one of the girls’ rooms and our bedroom.  I say successfully only because we’ve decided that we’re not trying to fix anything else.  I don’t know if it’s the eggshell finish, or if we’re just stinky painters, but we could NOT get rid of some of our roller lines.  Ugh.  We’re hoping that when furniture arrives and things are hung on walls that we won’t notice them so much. 

After finishing up our painting this afternoon we shifted gears to cleaning up before the truck arrives.  We have basically worked until we’re both pooped!  But, we have had so much fun getting our house ready to be a home and have not had so much “alone time” in FOREVER!  We even got to have a date Friday night.  Yahoo!  Thanks to Nan and Pops and to the Kysers who have made it possible for us to get this much done in such a little time.

We are so thankful to stand around and truly count our many blessings and are in awe of all that God has done for us.

Good News!

We got our appraisal back a day early, and we’re all set!  Yahoo!  Thanks so much for praying for this step.  So, I have new life breathed into my packing efforts which were a little slow today, to say the least.  Ugh.  So hate packing.  My goal for this evening is to have the office junk sorted through and packed away. 

Thanks so much for the office ideas so far… definitely thinking the closet may be an option.  And, a cute basket or two might help with some of our other office clutter that needs to stay handy.  I could really use my stackable drawers for homeschooling/crafty stuff which seems unending but is much more organized!

Mer, I was wondering if the book you recommended, Confessions of an Organized Homemaker, had any suggestions about office space.  I don’t think the box it’s in has been taped up…may have to take a peek this evening.

A Little Advice for a Big Mess

So, our appraisal is supposed to happen tomorrow, and I will try to remember to let you know how it goes.  Praying for God’s plan to unfold.

In the mean time, we are packing as if everything is going forward which brings me to my need for advice. Our office-type stuff is such a huge mess!   We are so hodgepodge in this area, and it’s about to drive me crazy. 

We need space for the following:

income tax records

past bills

insurance claims records

vehicle info – registration and titles

tape, staplers, calculators, envelopes, rulers, paper clips, stamps, notepads, computer paper

USB cords for cameras

software

blank CDs and DVDs  

I really want to turn over a new leaf when we move and somehow pull together a cohesive way of storing all our stuff.  So, where/how do you store your “office” type stuff?  Also, how long do you keep bills/medical records, etc.?  I tend to be a little bit of a packrat so I need some advice in this area, too.  I realize I could probably go online for this sort of advice, but I don’t have the time right now.  Maybe later.

All of our stuff is contained in a two-drawer filing cabinet, a plastic filing box, stackable drawers and a tray set I used when I taught school a million years ago.  It all looks very dorm-room somehow (not to mention messy), and for someone who has been out of college for a VERY long time, this just seems so unacceptable.  Oh, and I forgot to mention that all this junk is in our bedroom which is just a disaster.  We used to have an office nook so it wasn’t really an issue because we could easily hide it all.  We’re not sure yet where it’s going to end up in the new house, but I think I need to get my brain going on some creative solutions.  I would LOVE your suggestions because we obviously need serious help.

This Week’s Snapshot

Well, we passed inspection last week. Yeah! So, that means that we get to move on to appraisal this week. Sometime. It would really be nice to know when this is going to take place since I have a long list of things that need to get done if this part happens the way we hope it will. Change of address, utilities, etc.

Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday are pack-it-up days, and Thursday the girls and I head to Grand Prairie to take care of some stuff with my dad. Friday night is our last homegroup – lots of tissue going to be needed here, and Saturday we drive to San Antonio for Judah's first birthday party. Sunday, of course is our last service at RVCF and the Super Bowl with friends.

Sorry for the list-like post, but I want to keep folks, who are interested, in the loop. I will try to update about the appraisal as soon as I know something. Thanks for praying for us!