~ Our home ~

I don't want it to seem like I'm complaining. I'm just writing about life so I can look back someday and call these the good ol' days. We just finished moving AGAIN. We are living in an old house that some friends own. It is humble, and little but we are calling it home. Heath and Deric painted all the walls which turned out really nice. They had to scrape off about 7 layers of wall paper in the kitchen (talk about an all day job). I just want to say that my husband is a hard worker. He is NEVER lazy, never. There are two bedrooms in our home. One of them is smaller then some bathrooms I've seen but it fits both boys. In the other room our king size bed sits on boxes of food storage. There is one closet in our home in the bigger bedroom. It holds my seasonal decor, all the extras (TP, diapers, wipes, etc), towels and stuff, 72 hour kits and the rest of the food storage not able to fit under the bed. Oh, and Heath worked his magic so we can hang a few articles of clothing in there as well. There is no carpet in our home. Our home will be heated by a pellet stove which is suppose to cost around $250 to heat for the entire winter. Until today the water pressure has been horrible. 30-45 mins to fill the bath, flush the toilet and you had to wait to wash your hands. Today Heath changed some kind of filter and bingo, water pressure. I'm pretty excited about the water pressure mostly because that means I can use the portable dishwasher. The only door inside our home opens up to the bathroom. Our water comes from a well. This made me a little nervous but a water filtration system has eased that. Our home does not have blinds but a few curtains with homemade curtains to come. We are in the country and our home in not close to stores, however, we are close to friends who live across the street. They have chickens, horses, a cow, dogs, cats, and huge blueberry bushes. They are good people that are genuine. There is no air conditioner in our home but there is love. We are so blessed. It's true that my glasses are held together with super glue and that I have to wash the chicken poop off my eggs before I crack them. We are happy and growing and learning.

Ketchup

Heath loves ketchup on his taco's. I don't know why, I think that ruins them. Well, we are finally moved. All the boxes are here but NOT put away. I decided to change my background one more time (I think this one will stay for a while). Here in PA there are lots of old farms with old barns that are neat. That's what inspired the background. Asher is gaining weight slowly and we are still making our weekly visits to Shriner's. Noah is talking so much more now. He's so cute when he says, "oh no, it's boken" (broken) and when he says,"daddy (or choo choo or shoes or anything he's looking for) where are you?" Also, when we leave from the neighbor's house he say's, "Bye chickens, bye cow, bye horse, bye trees, bye toby (the dog) and bye poo poo" (the cow and horse poop that is - encouraged by his father) then he says "ewwww!" This evening Noah went to the fair with Deric and Heidi our friend that moved here from Utah. She said she took some picture so hopefully I'll get some for a later post. They said he had fun seeing all the animals, playing games, winning a prize and riding the choo choo. It gave me a little time to put more things away and work on this blog. I love the Ence's. Anyway, better get to bed.

39 Things Every Mom Should Know

There is an article in my magazine this month titled "39 Things Every Mom Should Know". I just wanted to share a few of my favorites.

2. Don't make birthday parties a huge deal.
4. Put Band-Aids on everything your kids want you to. Why not?
6. Just throw away the poopy underwear.
8. Teach your kids not to pee outside unless you're camping - you'll be glad you did. But if other people's kids do it, don't judge the parents too harshly - it's all about karma. (if you're in the midst of potty training, all bets are off. You've gotta do what you've gotta do.)
12. Know this: that stain won't come out. And it's okay. (The sooner you accept this, the better.)
15. Answer the question: What is the worst thing that can happen if your kids sleep in their clothes?
18. Teach them to pump on the swing ASAP.
19. If your child falls asleep occasionally without brushing her teeth, don't wake her; baby teeth do eventually fall out.
23. Teach your children to make their own breakfast - and allow enough time so the can do it without pressure.
28.Do not allow the word wienies in your home.
33.Just say "NO" to any toy or doll that comes with packets that have to be mixed with water
35.Don't buy the most expensive school-picture package. It's a waste of money.
37.You're never too old to dress up and decorate your house for Halloween. And it's more fun for everyone if you are into it. It also entitles you to more candy.

THE WINDOWS OF HEAVEN.

They have been opened lately. We are so blessed. This is our story...Heath has 2 years left of grad school and we are in need of more student loans. We did some adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing and figured out the amount we would need to survive. We applied for the loan knowing that we would need a cosigner but not REALLY knowing who exactly was going to be the cosigner or who would be able to cosign. We knew that if we kept praying and having faith that in one way or another our prayers would be answered. They were answered in an unexpected way. Here's the part you've been waiting for... Last week we went over to pick blueberries at some friends house in our ward and had dinner. On the way home Heath told me that Gary (the husband) had offered to let us live in a house that they owned across the street for FREE. Yes, you read that right FREE. I couldn't believe it. It had to be too good to be true I thought. Well, it is true. Donna (the wife) told me that she kept getting the impression that we needed to live in that house and finally told her husband. The next day we called to see if we could pick blueberries. The amount we will save from not paying rent for the 2 years will be a significant chunk of what we would have needed to borrow. (The rest will be begged, borrowed, or stolen) NOOOOOO, we'll just be living on a prayer and money made from pottery sales:) To place your order please contact...No, I'm kidding again. I've been funny all day. Although my husband will probably never run with me or take me dancing, I am a happy girl. I have changed a lot and I think Heavenly Father is slowly turning me into the lady I'd like to be. Asher likes it when I sing, I will get to have chickens at this new house, a garden, and nice neighbors. I think I will learn a lot. Stay tuned for the adventures of the Papa's in the country. I think I will invest in cardboard boxes and packing tape. This is Asher catching up on some light reading.