Grateful 2011: June Edition

Time to reflect and dream. Lunch with Micah. Haircuts. Flea markets. Beth and Zach. Gardens and good friends. Organizing and house projects complete. Getting help and some office work done. Fingerprints - DONE!. Time with Andy and Christy - two years too late! Remembering a joyful phone call. A beautiful day! BBQ and hanging with friends. Time to just sit and visit. Bike rides. Distractions. Thunderstorms and walks. Finding what I'm looking for at a much cheaper price. Remembering my passions and feeling a restoring of hope. Being back with kids. Girls time and mojitos. 9 years of marriage and painting to keep me busy. Rainbows and wildflowers. Thrift finds. Opportunities to raise money. Dinner with friends. Cooler days. Bike trailers. Entertainment for lonely evenings. Micah finishing masters classes for the summer.

Thoughts on Stuff

So we had a garage sale yesterday and were able to earn one third of a plane ticket. We are very thankful for that because every little bit helps.

But I have been thinking a lot about the amount of stuff that we have, that we consume, that we cycle through.

Frankly I am just overwhelmed at how much stuff there is. I was talking with Micah about the desire to live a simple life and how you would think that it should be an easy task, but in reality it requires much more thought. You have to be purposeful to not acquire abundant amounts of stuff, to not just constantly be bringing things into your home without determining the point and if it is really necessary.

I have been thinking a lot about the amount of stuff I have seen in the homes when I travel abroad. Some of these families are getting by on two pairs of clothes - if even that - and feel tremendous wealth if they own a donkey or bike to haul their goods on.

We have two vehicles - and some families even have more. We have closets full of clothes and cupboards full of dishes and food that extend beyond one week.

It is just so different and so easy to get caught up in what we don't have, rather than what we do have.

Ugh.

Sale Time!

"You can tell a lot about a person by what they sell at their garage sale."

Spending today trying to sell all of the donations we have gathered over the past several weeks and hoping that we make a good chunk of change for airline tickets. Wish us luck!

Maps

So today Micah and I celebrate our 9th anniversary. I would post a picture of us or about all of the exciting things we are doing to celebrate this special day, but he is currently at the library studying for his Master's program. Don't worry - I plan on doing the next best thing - hanging with the little man, enjoying a glass of wine, and painting.

Thought I would share the homemade gift that he will be opening up once he returns home. It was a super easy project and cost me a total of .... well very little, which in no way reflects what I think he deserves.

Map coasters.

I just took an old atlas, several cork coasters, traced the maps (I cut out all of the places that we have lived), glued them to the coasters and then put a layer of modge podge over them to keep them protected.

Like I said, super easy and super cheap. I like that it is also unique to us and very personal.

Santa Don't Have a Hat!

The little man wrote this original tune himself and immediately performed it for me once I returned home from work. Enjoy!

When Did This Start Happening?

Apparently the little man is self sufficient now. He can 'rock climb' up the counter and then get whatever it is that he needs: a snack, his water bottle from the cupboard, water in the bottle, a plate..... Pretty soon he will be turning the stove on and making his own dinner. Yikes!

Happy Father's Day

Feel so lucky to daily observe Micah loving on this little man. This was one of the first things he did with M. when we were in Ethiopia. They curled up together and he read M. Goodnight Moon over and over. I love seeing moments like this.

Another One

Because cutting his hair didn't make him look different enough....

Wer!

*We took this video as a little tribute to Uncle Jon.... thanks for the great memories.

A Hard Days Work

After the morning was spent giving haircuts, we headed outside to get some housework.

This is what we started with:

This is where we ended:

Still need to tackle this:

Ugh.

Summer Style

The little man started sweating profusely again while hanging out inside so I knew it was time for a summer haircut. I hate getting rid of all those curls....he is just so stinking adorable and I love him with his curls. I know that he feels miserable being so hot though. :(

He was very brave and even felt brave enough to sit in the chair all by himself!

Rebirth

We bought these hostas last year at the end of summer. We were able to get six for less than $30.00 so I was pretty excited. The north side of our garage is pretty bare and after laying mulch last summer I knew I would like to add a few plants. Hostas do well in shade, but I wasn't sure if they would make it.

I kept checking in on them as spring rolled around and nothing was happening. I was a little bummed, but thankful I hadn't spent a large chunk of money on plants. Then just this week we were out in the yard doing some work and I went to pull weeds only to discover.... the hostas came back!!!

A Personal Concert

Received my own little personal concert today from the little man. Quite cute!

A Special Delivery

We had some patio stones delivered today from Home Depot. The little man was so happy that this big truck and fork lift pulled up to his house. He didn't want to miss a minute of it so we hung out on the steps and watched them unload the truck. M. showed me his BIG muscles and explained that he could do that if he wanted to. After bragging about his muscles, the gentleman making the delivery let him sit on the forklift. He was pretty happy and stated that he plans on driving a fork lift when he gets bigger. We'll see how that goes over once he starts driving.

The Best Phone Call EVER!

Two years ago today we received the best phone call imaginable. I remember that moment as if it were just yesterday. Micah and I were enjoying our first week of summer vacation by doing what everyone does their first week of summer vacation, spring cleaning our house. Don't ask me why, because I was fixing to leave for a trip to Honduras the very next morning and had yet to pack and get things prepped for my extended leave. Apparently this is how we roll - CRAZY! I remember that the music was blaring (sorry downstairs neighbors) and I was doing two of my least favorite things, standing on a chair and dusting. Micah literally had his head in the oven and was scrubbing away.

His phone began ringing and I am pretty sure he expressed some angry thought, and almost didn't answer the phone. I carefully stepped off the chair to turn the music down and then looked back at Micah to see him sitting down in the chair. He put his hand to his head and looked as if someone had just died. This is what I thought the phone call was about. Instantly I started scheming how I could make things work for Honduras and whatever needed to happen for our family or friends. I grew anxious as I waited for Micah to indicate somehow who it was and what had happened.

Then it happened.

He said our son's name for the first time and immediately I knew that this was the phone call we had dreamed about receiving. This was the phone call that our hearts had longed for. This is the phone call that we definitely weren't anticipating on this day, but would take.

It took everything in me to hold it together, but let's be honest. I started crying immediately after I heard Micah speak his name and confirm through eye contact that this was real. Then I was the one that had to sit down. I waited for Micah to finish up and then repeat to me verbatim what our agency had just said to him.

After he finished, I thought that was it. So I just sat there soaking it all in and trying to get the tears to stop streaming down my face. Then Micah told me that they would be sending a picture. I dreaded thinking I would have to wait to see it until I returned home from Honduras. Fortunately, all the information they would be sending us would be electronically. So we put the cleaning on hold and sat down to find out more about our son and see his face for the first time.

It felt like an eternity waiting for that picture to download and my heart felt like it was beating a thousand beats per minute.

And then we saw his lovely face for the first time.

And we stared at this picture for what felt like an eternity, all the while falling in love with our son.

We speculated about his personality, what he was thinking and feeling, how he would feel about us, what he had been through in such a short lifetime, could we do a good job....

Our hearts grew so much bigger in those fifteen minutes, much bigger than we could have ever anticipated.

I left for Honduras the next morning carrying a crappy black and white printer version of this photo and I stared at it every chance I had. I was traveling Honduras after having received a grant and the opportunity to work with Heifer International. However, all my mind could think about was him. Every person, every hillside, every flower, all of it made me think of him and long for him even more. My heart swelled and I spent hours writing letters in hopes of easing some of that swelling.

Two years later our hearts are still very swollen with the love and the joy that this little man brings our family. It is hard to remember what life was like before him. He is perfect for our family - more perfect than we tend to realize. We are so thankful for that phone call that altered our lives, and even more thankful to be staring at his face in person and no longer a crappy black and white photo printing.

Love you little man.

I Am in Love

What can I say? I love peanut butter. I could eat it for every meal. Seriously. Love it, love it, love it!

So once I heard we had some company coming into town I decided to make, of course, peanut butter pie! An incredibly easy recipe and an incredibly great dessert. I suppose you could make it even better by drizzling chocolate over the top if you are into that kind of thing. I however will take mine chocolate free but might consider a little caramel or butterscotch. Mmm, peanut butter. Let's hope I can wait until our company arrives before enjoying a piece!

What Happens When I Don't Have Work...

The first week of summer should be spent sleeping in, reading, enjoying extended warm cups of coffee or tea, taking many strolls around town by bike or foot, and enjoying the calmer moments of life right? Well, apparently not for this family. Micah started grad school on Monday and the little man and I have been entertaining ourselves by doing some house projects and garden work.

M's. room was the last room to have the carpet pulled up, so how else should you spend Tuesday morning? By pulling carpet right? All the furniture was cleared, well except for the things that I couldn't lift by myself, by 8:30. By 11:30 I had everything pulled, cleaned, swept, mopped, and dusted and put back in the room. Despite the face in the lower left hand picture, M. was pretty happy to have the carpet out (and so was I).

"The Baby is Hot!"

The little man has been on a baby fix lately - he longs so badly to have a baby brother or sister to love on in person. Some day buddy, some day. So until that day, he has been totting around a variety of stuffed animals loving on them in such tender ways. Today's baby was incredibly hot (even though he/she/it stayed home on the timeout rug while we worked in the garden). So upon our return I kept hearing, "The baby is hot, so hot." Hours later I opened the fridge to make an afternoon snack and discovered the above. Logical solution, but maybe not the safest. I love that the "baby" has it's own cool off pot and everything!

Courageous MOMents

I love that this little man hasn't learned to have all of the fears that I have. I love that he just goes through life with such bravery and confidence. I hope that he always has these things in his life, and for my sake, I hope that he never gets hurt doing them. My fearful and worrisome heart can hardly handle things as they are. I would like to say that he is the incredibly courageous one and leave it at that, but I feel that it takes me just as much courage to not look away during these moments or try to scoop up my baby and protect him always.

P.S. Notice the taped hands - had to be just like Daddy and Uncle Zach for "crwack cwimbing".

Hide and Seek

Came upon this little man this evening while getting ready to do some cleaning. He was playing hide and seek with daddy and ended up scaring me to death! It was a great hiding spot and I definitely wasn't anticipating finding him in there!

Haircut photos for Melissa!

Blogstalkers - please discontinue reading.

(Thanks for being so excited about my haircut. I love that you like seeing the results even when you are in S. Korea!)

Building a House

Not sure if the lack of furniture is making the creative juices flow or creating some nervousness for the little man. He keeps pulling things together and telling us he is building a house that will never go away. His house usually consists of the random things that are laying around, but always consists of "angels and their rocks" and pictures of family. Once his house is built we are usually invited in as long as we promise not to sit on anything. What a funny little guy.

Downsizing

We sold our living room furniture to Micah's folks this weekend while they were in town. It removed the majority of seating in our living room, but worked out perfectly; they wanted new furniture for the basement and we made some cash to help us move through some important things. The little man loves running in circles in the "BIG" room now and we are looking forward to our upgrade of camp chairs.