Flowers blooming in our yard

Haircut



Today I got the boys a haircut.  Micah has had long hair for a really long time.  But today we decided to go short.  As soon as I saw him I had flashbacks to when he was 2 years old. 

 

Every time I look at him today I see that little boy and can't believe how big he is now.

Jenn VS. The Tree

Sometimes I get big ideas in my head and there is no telling me no. But usually Darrick is there to reason with me but he is such a good guy, he usually just helps me, so the job is not too overwhelming.

Well Darrick is not here and on Friday afternoon I got one of my big ideas. We have this huge bush/tree in the left side corner of our back yard. It is supposed to be the size of the hedge you can see through the chain link fence. Our neighbor, who has lived in the house next to us 50 years, told me that the last two people living in the house never even trimmed it. So I decided to give it a trim.

BEFORE

AFTER

Well as you can see from the pictures I did more then trim it. It took two days, a hand saw, a branch clipper, gloves, a ladder and a rake but I did it. But it was not easy. I was up in the tree, hanging from branches, bopped in the head by falling branches, I got leaves and other stuff down my shirt, cuts and tons of bruises. at the end of the second day, when I had a few more branches to saw, I almost cried and thought "What and why am I doing this?"

This is my pile for Darrick to chop into fire wood when he gets home!

The kids used the rest of the branches to build a fort.

Not only did I trim the tree but I cleared out all the debris under it and around it.

I found a holly bush growing and all twisted in the branches, lots of wood, a broken birdhouse, metal scraps, potted plants, bricks, chicken wire, Styrofoam, and a hanging plant basket that has grown into a tree branch! Who knew all that was hiding under those limbs!

Thank you and Sorry

1. Thank you for all the prayers and encouraging words in response to my post about the reality of moving. I am pleased to report that things are improving and bedtimes are starting to get back to normal.

2. Sorry for the way things are displayed on my posts. I have some weird virus on my computer and it is making things wacky. It drives me crazy every time I post but I don't know how to fix. My friend Nicole, a computer master and designer of my beautiful blog is coming to visit me this weekend and maybe she can help me.

Our Kitchen and Master Bedroom

It is finally time for some more pictures of our new home! First are a few shots of the breakfast nook. The kids and I eat breakfast and lunch here. We love looking out the window and watching the birds and squirrels. I actually bought the table a few years ago off of Craig's List while we lived in Hawaii and it fits so perfect in this spot.




This is some shelves in the kitchen, opposite the kitchen sink. My cookbooks are all on top (and still need a bit of organization) and my flours and sugars are on the bottom.



I have arranged my Willow Tree Figures on the top shelf of this cabinet and my glassware I inherited from Darrick's mom and the other two shelves.

When we first saw our house and went on a tour, our jaws dropped at how small the Master Bedroom is. We were not even sure if our furniture would fit. Well it is now one of my favorite rooms in the house. Our bedroom set fits perfectly and it is cozy and intimate. The paint is a peachy right now and the old curtains are still up but we will work on those things after Darrick gets home.

Then we have our closet. Since we knew the size of it before we moved, we downsized our clothes and gave away what we didn't wear anymore. I am so happy that our stuff fit perfectly with some room to spare.

Cadet-o-rama 2011

Saturday the boys attended the Cadet-o-rama with the Cadets from our church. They both expressed to me at different times that they wished Daddy was going with them or that Daddy could help them with their cars.

They had a fun day playing games and having pinewood derby car races. Jake came home the big winner this year.

His pinewood derby car "The Green Machine" took 3rd place for the cadets in 2nd grade and under.

And his special project airplane he did took home a 2nd place ribbon.

Our first unwelcomed visitor

I about freaked when I saw this huge guy crawling across the living room floor one night! He was huge!

The Reality of Moving

It is time for a reality check. Since Darrick and I have been married (14 years in August) we have now moved 9 times. And there is no doubt about it -moving stinks. I am to the point now where all the basics are out and unpacked and I am trying to find places for all our other stuff.

I miss Darrick like crazy. I cannot believe that he is not here to experience the joy of our first home and to help out.

But that is not what this post is about. It is about our daughter and the reality of what change does to her. We adopted Naomi 2 1/2 years ago and since then she has moved from Africa to Hawaii to CA for the summer, to Marysville and now to Everett and to top that all off her Daddy is deployed.

I am starting to notice a pattern in her behavior. Every time we experience a big life change she has a really hard time.

This move has triggered terrifying fears in her that her birth mom is going to find her and take her away. And with those fears comes aggression. She is pretty great during the day but right after story time it hits. She refuses to go to bed. When I put her in she comes back out and just says no. So I have been implementing the technique we were taught called "Time-In". The idea is to hold her on my lap for a time in so as to not put her in a time out when she disobeys and re-enforce the concept that you are bad and I don't want you near me. Time in says that you disobeyed but I still love you.

During these time ins I have to hold her arms and legs, avoid her mouth or she will bite and try to dodge her throwing her head back in an attempt to head butt me. She gave me a big head butt on Mother's Day and said "That is what you get for Mother's Day!" Nice. She yells that I don't love her, I'm ruining her life, I'm the meanest mom, etc. Now the reality of it is that she is not yelling those things at me, but at her birth mom but they still hurt.

Once she is calm I let her go and she (and I) are so exhausted she falls asleep. She tells me she is sorry that she said those mean things and that I am the best mom and she loves me.

There is no telling how long this phase will last but it is exhausting especially when I have to do it all by myself and there is no one to give me a break in a heated moment.

The other night as we said bedtime prayers after the episode was over I was just so overcome with sadness for her. I prayed fervently that God will heal her pain and restore her joy and carefree spirit that a 4 1/2 year old should have. What else can I do?

My Mothers Day

I miss my Mom today. I wish so much that we lived closer and that we could spend the day together. I called her on the phone but it is not the same.

Last night I was surprised with a delivery of flowers from Darrick for Mother's day. He is always so thoughtful and makes sure I know that he is thinking about me.

This morning at church they had the annual Mother's Day breakfast where the Elders and Deacons cook breakfast for the moms and the rest of the church. It was so good and they gave us each a flower to wear.

I really wanted only one thing on Mother's Day and that was to work outside in our yard. God must of heard my prayer because we had a sunny afternoon.

In the front yard I worked a bit in the front left flower bed. My friend Debbie gave me a bleeding heart plant for my new house so I wanted to put it in the ground.

She also gave me some daisies from her garden that I put in two pots on either side of our front steps.

Then I weeded the flower bed and put the kids stepping stones in the dirt.

Then I mowed the back yard.

There were some dead vines on the fence by the garden so the boys and I worked hard pulling those out to make room for other stuff.

We planted a rhubarb plant from Debbie (for making jelly), strawberries from our garden last year and a bean plant and pumpkin plant Naomi grew at Preschool.

We also tried a garden web. It is part science experiment and part practical. The idea is that a spider will build its web in the frame. Then we can study the web and its pattern. The practical part is that the spiders web will catch bugs!