Nathaniel has an AWESOME class!

This is what Audrey brought home to Nathaniel today from his AWESOME class!

All of his teachers and classmates wrote sweet cards to him.

What an amazing teacher to take the time for the class to support each other and bless Nathaniel during this health struggle. It was so sweet to this mommy, and Nat enjoyed reading what his classmates wrote him. Now they are all displayed on his cool lock cabinets that I finally got put in his new room.

All together now... big.... ahhhhhh... so sweet! :)

Another thing to be thankful for....

So driving home from UCSF today I decided that I am actually VERY BLESSED!

Not only is UCSF a FABULOUS hospital, they take GREAT care of my son and our family AND they are a teaching hospital (and while sometimes I get annoyed with that and just want to see the "real" doctor, I love that these "newbies" are getting hands on learning).

I also LOVE that we get to go North instead of South. I am sure that there are very nice hospitals in southern California, but I HATE Los Angeles traffic and roads.

And UCSF might be 4 1/2 hours away from our home, I have a FABULOUS car that allows the kids to watch DVDs and listen on their headphones, while I BLAST my music (today a great mix my friend left me that I really enjoy), with comfy seat (heating pads included) and cruise control. Who would mind that drive in all of that comfort?

And to top it all off??? The Lord blesses me with such beautiful scenery to look at while driving!!
All of these photos were taken today while driving home. (No, not WHILE driving... I did pull over to take them!) I could have stopped a million more times and my eyes spied something beautiful from the Lord, but I REALLY wanted to get home to my house, my bed and most of all my Audrey!

So, it might be long, and hard at times, but I am still blessed!

surgery day

Today was the day for Nathaniel's bladder surgery. It seems that in the time that he was away from me he did not get cathed properly or often enough, or a combination of the two, so he developed bladder stones. The only way to get rid of these painful, infection causing stones was to surgically remove them. All of this frustrated me to NO END, after all I have spent Nathaniel's whole life working hard to keep him healthy, but I can't dwell on the negative of how we got here, I can only focus on getting him healthy and happy again!

It was a long haul to UCSF today. I worked last night at my night job, then we left afterwards. I only made it half way up before I was falling asleep, so we stoped and napped at a Motel 6 for like four hours. It wasn't perfect, but it helped. We were back on the road by 7 this morning and checking in at UCSF at 930. Both Nat and I were really tired, as you can tell by this oh so fabulous picture of us...

Nat did well in the pre op room, and only cried a little. He is getting better at not obsessing so much. I am not so sure he has improved in his sleepy time manners though... he did not vomit on anyone today at the hospital (that is a first!), but he did punch the anesthesiologist as she was putting his mask on him. Oy Vey. The actual surgery was rather quick. They were able to completely blast all of his stones, and clean up a bunch of debris that was in his bladder. The Dr came down to tell me that he did great, he is really clean inside and we don't have to come back next week like was originally planned! (Praise the Lord, because it's not cheap to keep travelling up to UCSF!) I got to go into the recovery room right away due to his earlier violence. He was a sweet sleeping angel when I got in there.

And he actually woke up well today too. Nathaniel often wakes up from surgery in a violent, sick manner but today we had no more violence and no vomiting at the hospital. And few tantrums (one of the hardest part of anesthesia is that he can't have his behavior meds :( ) After just and hour and a half he was released. We headed home.

He was very sleepy still when we headed home, but woke up pretty quickly. Unfortunately the stress of the day and the lack of sleep caught up with me almost as quickly. We didn't make it far when I was once again falling asleep at the wheel, so we stopped at one of our favorite hotels. I was ready to splurge on comfort this time!s And I am really glad that I did. Not only was the room really nice and the bed super comfortable (I am weird about beds...) but the service was OUTSTANDING!!! I needed a room that we could get to with the wheelchair because Nathaniel still was weak and he had a Foley cath in with a bag. I also needed two queens, not one king. The wonderful manager switched another person out of this room to put us in here. Then when Nat started having trouble and I called down for a shower bench not only did she bring a shower bench for us, but also some Sprite for Nat and she came back in a cleaned up the room while we headed out to find a pharmacy. It is so nice to get great service and with a concerned smile too. She is definitely getting a thank you note when I get home :) And by the way.... in case you were wondering... peanut butter pretzels taste yummy, and are a relatively healthy snack for the boy while he watches TV and mommy sleeps, but they are NOT fun when they come back up!! GROSS texture, color and clean up!

This is what an expensive hotel bed looks like, and man was it worth it this night! And Nat loved the brand new (just installed today) flat screen TV. Sometimes a girl just has to pull out the credit card for comfort and trust that the Lord will provide a way to pay the bill!

I love that there was even the perfect place to hang his Foley bag right by the bed! How nice of them was that :)

So we are resting up and regaining our energy. We will head he rest of the way home in the morning. It was not a perfect day, there was a great deal of strife between my mother and I, and I am exhausted, but in the end what really maters is that Nathaniel is on his way to healthy again, and for that I am so thankful for! Praise the lord for bringing us through this step!

Carpet Laying 101

I am pretty handy around the house. There are many projects I have taught myself to do and really enjoy fixing things up, but I have NEVER attempted carpet before.

The sun room at our new house, which is going to house Audrey's bed and be the play room, had plain concrete floors. Brr cold, and a little hard too.

So I have been researching flooring options and how to make this room a little child friendlier. I looked at laminate flooring (which I have installed before), carpet tiles (have played with those too) and plain carpeting. The price of things was way more than I could deal with until I found a killer deal on a fairly nice, really large piece of carpeting at a garage sale last weekend. I know then that I would be figuring out how to install it.

So Saturday was the day and Josie and I decided to attack this project. We rolled the piece of carpet out to look at it and make sure there weren't any huge stains we needed to work around. Then we flipped it over to work from the back side (I thought it would be easier to cut that way, but who knows if I was right or not!)

Measure, measure, measure.... lots of measuring to make sure it was just right!

Once we had it all measured out and the picture drawn on it we started cutting it.
This was the step that killed my hands. Of course I have weak hands anyways from my health condition, but wow, that stuff hurt to cut!

We finally had the shape of the room with all of the cut outs done. Now it was time to flip it back over and give it a test run!

The fit was good, but in our excitement we forgot to sweep the floor really well. I would definitely suggest sweeping BEFORE the carpet is in the room!!

Audrey did enjoy helping with the sweeping. And that is the carpet tape on the floor. We got the floor swept up, LOTS of tape on the floor and the carpet down.

Josie and I asked for a large rolling pin, thinking that was the type of tool we needed to get the bubbles smoother.... Never in a million years did we expect Faline to decide she was a rolling pin and come in and roll on the carpet, but boy was it sure funny!

Audrey thought it looked fun in addition to being funny and joined her Aunt!

The large heavy box of laminate (which is for sale if you know anyone who needs 60 squ. ft. of flooring cheap...) with the two large girls jumping on it worked pretty good too :) Can't say we weren't creative!

All in all I think it came out well. Not perfect, but much warmer and nicer than the conceret.

And it is amazing that the carpet matches so well in this room too. Like we coordinated the carpet and paint, but in all truth we did no such thing.

Nathaniel did help some. He liked pulling the backs off of the tape a lot. He also made a good go for guy, getting us things we asked for, but mostly he like the ball breaks with Grammie best when she got there! As you can see the swing set still needs put back together... that is on today's list.

While Josie and I were finishing the carpet Faline and Audrey decided to re paint Nathaniel's desk.

This is a desk that we got off of Freecycle a few years ago that was hot pink when we got it. Re painted it at that time to match Butterfly, a dusty green color, but it was pretty grungy so we decided it needed a fresh coat of paint for the new house.

So Faline found the browns that I am doing the main areas with and started transforming the desk.

Audrey LOVES to paint and was thrilled when Faline found her painting clothes when she was getting some out of the box for herself.

Today we have lots to do on the house, but I think we made a great start yesterday and that it is going to look great after this weekend is over. Which is good since we leave on Tuesday night for UCSF!

Treasure Hunting Today!

I got up bright and early with a LONG list of things that I needed for the new house and went treasure hunting this morning...

And man was the Lord ever smiling on me today! I seriously scored on some things :) As you can see from the back of my car I had acquired A LOT of new things. And that is with the four back seats laid down! Only room for the driver and passenger (sort of tight there too..)

This was not on the need list, but my heart did a flip flop when I saw it and it gave me serious butterflies.

I have never really had a bedroom set for Audrey. I always wanted to, but what I thought was cute was out of my price range and what was affordable didn't give me butterflies. Well this is seriously butterflies in the tummy cute in my opinion AND it matches all of the fabric that I already have for her curtains (and since 24 linear feet of her room is windows, there are going to be A LOT of curtains!) So totally resigned to call it out of my price range I asked a price on it and about had a heart attack when the lady said $5.00! Seriously??? Five dollars for this sweet quilt in really good condition AND a pillow sham AND a bed ruffle??? That's all??? Well OBVIOUSLY it came home with me :) I can't wait to see it all come together in her room soon!

This little number Lorena actually found for me last night and had the woman hold it for me. So cute and it would look great in a bunch of places in my house... gonna have to decide where it goes!

Now these were NOT on the need list either. But sort of like the bedroom set for Audrey, I saw these and thought of Nathaniel right away. Our neighbors at the old house had these reindeer that they put out at Christmas last year and Nathaniel FIXATED on them so much! He would sit and look at them for HOURS. So I see these four boxes sitting there and think that I should get one for Nat. So I asked the guy "How much?" He says $5.00, so I turned to Lorena and said "they are $5.00 each, help me pick on for Nat." Then the guy said, "No, $5.00 takes all 4 of them. Want me to help you carry them to your car?" How does one say no to that???

Now in Faline's had are two real treasures.. both on the need list! On one side you see a hand held shower head. Our new house is not handicap equipped in the bathroom, and while I have permission to change that, I still have to get my own supplies. This little number was thrown in for free at Goodwill with the score of the day... In her other hand is a spinning CD tower that takes up a 10" space and holds over 200 CDs!!! I was looking for some practical storage solutions for my CDs that I could access them easily and not have them take up all of my shelves. I think this is going to be great and at the HUGE price of $2.00 even if it doesn't work I am not out much!

This was COMPLETELY on my need list. I told myself that I MUST have a over the toilet storage rack by the end of the weekend, even if it meant that I had to buy it retail. And I really wanted one that had cabinets and drawers.... God heard the desire of my heart and didn't make me pay retail either! This little guy came home with us for the whopping price of $18.00... not bad at all and COMPLETELY what I needed! (Cathing supplies must be handy, yet I tire of looking at them every time I walk into the bathroom!)

Also purchased today:
~super sweet, blitzed out jeans for Audrey (50 cents)
~ the only Casting Crowns CD that I don't own! ($1.00 and it works great!)
~A silver ware sorter rack for the kitchen ($1.00)
~a lid for my big skillet (since SOMEONE broke the other one I had) ($2.00)
~ a new to me cordless drill with 4 batteries and a charger (so I can return my father's to him and get out of trouble!) ($8.00)
~shoes for Faline (hers are gross!!!) (50 cents)
~ and the score of the day....

At Goodwill (the warehouse) I spied this little number and fell for her lines... fell HARD for her lines. She is just so darned .... butterfly worthy!!! I had to sit in her to prove to myself that while she was candy for the eye, she just couldn't be all that comfortable. Crud! I was so wrong!!! She is as comfy and she is cute. Darn it all to heck. I sent Faline to ask a price, know FULL WELL that I would spend up to about $50.00 on her. She snagged my heart hard and fast. Imagine my delight when the sales lady came over, took a glance at her and said $15.00. SOLD!!! So fast did I load her up in the car, no one was gonna take her from me, and ESPECIALLY at that price! So when I got up to the counter to pay the lady said $15.00. I told her I had the shower head too, but she looked at that and said "thanks for getting it out of here for me, $15.00 please." Holy molly! That shower head was also on my "MUST HAVE by the end of the weekend" list and was in PERFECT condition and would have cost me well over $50.00 retail!!! As Faline says, I got my shower head for less than half price and they threw this AMAZING chair in for free :)

I would definitely say that for $65.00 I did DARNED good today! I love treasure hunting!!

Mighty to Save

This week has been a weary and LONG week on me. I find myself immersed in music, and mostly worship music, to sustain my heart and soul in times like these. As I was searching out some of my favorit songs today I felt lead to share some with you all :) I hope that this speaks to your heart and brings you peace in the way that it does me!

Remember to pause the playlist at the bottom before watching! :)

on the move

It was an incredibly busy weekend! On Saturday Butterfly Boutique hosted a community wide rummage sale, which was a huge success. We personally sold lots of stuff and got a great deal cleaned up around the shop. Then on Sunday we had the big push to get all of the large furniture, appliances and the majority of our stuff over to the new house.

I was INCREDIBLY BLESSED by three men from our church who came and worked their tail ends off. I have three new heroes.... Shane, Dan and Allan! What an amazing blessing to me and my children they were and are. And it is interesting that God is showing me through men like these three and Jon that NOT all men are cut from the same fabric. While I have had he same types of men repeatedly in my life, there are other types out there. I like these new types much better :) The kindness of guys like Jon, Shane, Dan and Allan is touching a spot in me that has been abandoned for so long, and through their actions I am beginning to believe in goodness again. God is mind boggling in the ways that he teaches us lessons. So, after a FULL day of hard labor this is what our new living room looks like. That is most of the kitchen stuff in the living room (because I had to find the boxes of frozen and refrigerated foods... hope I found them all!!!) And all of the light furniture in the dining room is for Nathaniel's room, but I need to get his locked cabinets settled before I take the rest in.

The garage is even more terrifying..... stacks EVERYWHERE!!!!!

Then there is my room. Call me crazy, but Faline and I were making the bed AS SOON as the guys carried it in! I was SOOOO TIRED that I knew I had to have it ready to go so I could collapse at the end of the day.... and that is JUST what I did!

My new room seems so HUGE to me. I am not sure if it is because it is so much bigger (I don't think it is, but I haven't measured it) or if it is because I have the space in the rest of the house to put my desk and treadmill in other rooms and now my bedroom can just be for me. But whatever it is, I like it. I feels spacious and clean and not cluttered.

My kids have a large wooden swing set that doesn't come apart too easily. And our new house has small gates. The guys wanted to set the swing set up in the front yard, but I wasn't too fond of that idea. So you will NEVER BELIEVE what they came up with.

Yep... that is my ROOF! They lifted the darned thing out of the bed of the truck and carried it over the roof!! I thought they were kidding when they started talking about it (pretty sure Dan thought they were kidding too!) but nope, that is what they did.

Of course they didn't think about the getting it down off of the roof part until it was already up there! And even though one of them just thought we should add an extension on the ladder and slide and leave it up there, we got it down just fine. I even proved helpful in that endeavor (I am NOT used to guys that don't expect me to pull my weight in projects.... it was kinda funny to me that they kept looking at me like I was crazy when I was helping out!)

So this week is going to be filled with unpacking, finishing getting rest out of the other house and getting settled in before we head to UCSF for surgery next week. Oh, and learning how to cut and install carpet... that should be fun :)

random thoughts floating in my brain....

This is likely to be bouncy post with little to tie it all together, but I need to get these thoughts out of my brain :)

~

Guess what visited my house tonight?? The grocery Fairy! Yup... the little grocery fairy picked up my Harvest Bag for me today because I had a migraine and didn't have time either. Not only that, but when I was running late to work and couldn't stop where she was to get my groceries she agreed to drop them off at the house for me. I told her to just toss them in the kitchen and that I would deal with them when I got off. So around midnight tonight when I stumbled in from work I looked around the kitchen for the groceries to put away. Now I know that I am way tired, and I know that my house is in SHAMBLES (I am moving remember?) but I seriously couldn't find the groceries. So I thought I would grab a drink out of the fringe and maybe that would help me find the groceries (it's late and I was tired remember?) Guess what I found when I opened the fridge.... yes!! The Grocery Fairy PUT AWAY my groceries!!! What a blessing! It seriously brought tears to my eyes.

~

My hair has gotten REALLY long and I seriously don't have he money to deal with it, so it just is. But I have this thing about when I am working, I don't like it in my face, and I don't like it on my neck when I am working. And I have been working A LOT recently (like 18 hour days 5 and 6 days a week!) PLUS moving, so I have been seriously throwing it up. A pony tail, a knot, a bun, a hair magic, whatever... just UP. Tonight I was running late to work and actually took off with it wet and down. I had a migraine most of the day and really didn't want the weight of it on my head so I threw it in two pony tails, one just over each ear. And would you believe that I got over 20 compliments on how cute I looked tonight???? Oh My Gosh. This girl needs all the positives she can get so I think I am going to be sporting this look at work way more often :)

~

Can I tell you how much I HATE cash registers that talk back to me and make me look like a fool??? Seriously, tonight I at work I was about to throw the darned thing out the window. But I have learned to 1) laugh at myself, it make the customer more relaxed 2) blame ALL mistakes on the "silly machine thing" (especially to the guys buying beer and smokes..) and 3)smile lots. With those secret weapons MOST customers don't get mad at me for the MILLIONS of mistakes I make on the cash register :) Plus, now I even have customers that come to me and tell the other clerk "No, I will wait for her. She is more fun" I am not sure if that counts as a compliment or not.... but whatever!

~

I am seriously wondering as I lay here how I am going to get dressed in a few short hours.... all of my shirts are at one house and all of my pants are at another. The under goodies are packed in a box on the floor over there, but I am not sure where the socks or jackets are.... I could look very interesting in the morning...

~

And HOW IN THE HECK am I going to get the rest of this packed before Sunday when the guys come to help me move????? Anyone up for a packing party Saturday evening and night? I will buy the beverages and supply the music, you come help me pack boxes??? Sounds fun to me.... Anyone want to join me??

~

And the final thought of the night before I drift off to dream land (I hope.... it could just be tossing and turning land too) is that I need a night sitter SOON...and have limited funds. Anyone want to take a vacation to the WONDERFUL Central Coast... I will provide the place to stay and food, all you have to do is watch my kids a few nights a week while I work. And it's nights so they SHOULD be asleep most of it.... Anyone??? Yea. I know I am thinking WAY outside the box, but it worked with my friend who did all the house work for me not long ago.... maybe it could work for this too :) Plus they are cute kids, it would be fun!! :) I seriously thank God for this job, but will thank him EVEN MORE when things are back to "normalish" and I can quit it :)

And on that random note.... GOOD NIGHT!!!

Ever feel....

So TOTALLY overwhelmed with all you have to do that you would rather curl up and cry or sleep than do anything??? Yup. That is where I am this morning. Life is weighing on my shoulders like a on of bricks right now.

I am SO BLESSED and thankful to have found a night job so fast and in this tough job market.... But these 18 hour days are killing me! I KNOW that God provided what I needed to meet my families needs, and for that I praise Him. On the other hand my body just isn't as young as it used to be, and these are long hours. I am simply praying that this season of needing to work like this is just a short one! Butterfly goes up for sale very soon, and I should be able to resume my "regular" work soon too. I am not sure WHICH path the Lord has me on as far as providing for my family, but I have faith that He will make it clear to me soon, and I KNOW that He is providing now too. I just need to make it through this current season without my body giving out :)

It dawned on me today that Nathaniel's surgery is only 16 days away!!! Yes, I know, I haven't blogged about all that happened at Spina Bifida Clinic last week (blame it on the above mentioned long days!), but it boils down to Nathaniel needing surgery NOW... and it is on schedule for April 28th at UCSF. We are praying that the "simple procedure" works for him, and that he only has a week or two recovery, but the possibility remains that he might need the complex procedure too. I have so much to do to get ready for all that this will entail!

Then there is the whole moving thing. Boy is it overwhelming to move in the best of times... and I am not in the best of times right now! I feel like I need to get everything moved and Nathaniel's stuff all set up for him BEFORE the surgery because it is not fair to him to keep juggling him while he is recovering, but that means I have 15 days to get that done. I just don't know HOW that is even possible! There is so much stuff in this house to get packed and moved. There is so much stuff to sort because Mark never moved his stuff out of here. And I am an organization freak to boot... I don't do well in chaos, and my house is DEFINITELY in chaos right now! Well, truth be told, BOTH of my houses are in chaos! Wow... just a little hard on me!

I am still trying to figure out how to get flooring in the sun room at the new house so I can set that stuff up for Audrey too. I know HOW to lay the tile, but don't have the time. I don't know how to glue the industrial carpet, nor do I know if I know anyone who does. I also know how to put down the laminate, but that is pricey and we have that time issue again.... decisions, decisions. Man is it ever hard!

Add all of the stuff that needs done to the short time line and the working 18 hours a day thing and you end up with one overwhelmed Gretchen!

So why, you ask, am I sitting here writing when I should be working??? I don't know. It's just easier to share how I feel than to figure out where to start on the to do list!!!! Any suggestions are welcome :) But for now I am going to tackle that closet over there, change and make my bed (so I have some place to collapse tonight!), load the car and try to get to work on time. That is my next hour, and honestly that is as far ahead as I can think!

Be blessed today :)

confession....

I have a confession....
I am begining to think I have a little problem...
I seem to have this NEED....
And I have been told that it isn't the healthiest need...



But what is a girl to do????



I NEED to be hugged!!!

And I am going through a SERIOUS hug withdrawal these days!

There is just something about a good hug that makes the most unbearable day a little more bearable in my world.

There is something about someone else's arms being wrapped around me that makes me feel safe and cared for, even for just a split second.

There is something about laying my head on some one's shoulder and breathing in their essence that makes my heart beat a little happier.

There is something about the closeness and caring that goes into a hug that reminds my heart of the Lord and how close he holds us to his heart.

And I seem to have a serious shortage of hugs in my days right now.

And my heart and soul feel it.

And it makes me feel very sad...

And lonely...

And not so loved!

I know that many of my teddy bears (what I call my great hugging friends) have moved on in their lives, but I still long for those hugs! I wonder what the Lord has in store for me next?

And my second confession???

Even though I knew it wouldn't be quiet the same, or quiet what I needed, I went by my old work the other day JUST to get hugs. I didn't really want to share what was on my heart, I didn't really want to put on the mask and pretend to be ok, I didn't even really want to be THERE... I just REALLY needed a hug! Pathetic hu?

Still love me, even after my confessions???

the blessing of a new home!

So, if you saw my last post, you know that the kids and I got a new house. This is a good thing, even if it is a hard thing! But there is a great God story behind it that I wanted to share with you.

The kids and I are moving for a number of reasons. First is that I just can't deal with the stress of living in Mark's house anymore. Even though, when we bought this house, I was determined that this would be our family home where we raised our children and that my children would grow up in one home, life has dealt me another hand. With the issues in my marriage, the differences in how Mark and I value and handle money and the general destruction that we have lived in for years it is no longer possible for this to be our family home. Mark has complete control over what happens to this home, but he and I have different views on all things. I am not able to live any longer under the constant threat and reality of foreclosure. I might be weak, but it's all too much for me. Second, I firmly believe that the Lord is guiding the kids and I out of toxic living and into healthy regrowth. And that is so hard to do when surrounded by the physical memories of the toxins. A new home will help to make our healing more complete. And thirdly, even if Mark and I could get past our issues differences of opinion on the house, I simply can not longer manage the mortgage on this house. All of this lead me on the quest for a rental home for the kids and I to move into.

As you could see from the previous post we have found that, and I couldn't feel more blessed by it, but it was a long hard journey to get there! I am a single mom with a disabled child who owns her own business, has poor credit by little to no fault of mine, who has not rented in over 10 years AND who just so happens to have a dog too! As you can see, on paper, I don't look like the best rental candidate! But the truth is that I am a very hard worker, who will always do whatever necessary to provide for myself and my family, I am an honest person and I am responsible too. The trick was going to be convincing a property owner of that. I looked at MANY homes, and applied for a few before I saw this sweet little house. I INSTANTLY loved it just looking through the windows and walking around it. I didn't want to get my hopes up too high, since i had been turned down by so many other people, but I talked to the agent anyways and applied for the house. I was VERY honest with the agent when applying for the house and just prayed that God would show them what a good person I am.

The next day after applying for this house I had to head up to Spina Bifida Clinic at UCSF, and then there was the weekend, so by Monday I was a nervous wreak waiting to hear about the house. Finally, I called he agent and she had :just a few more questions". Boy did I NOT feel so great after that call. I really liked this house and felt that it would fit our needs well, so I did the only thing I could do in the situation. I hit my knees and laid it all before the Lord once again. I just turned it over and knew that His plan was the only one that I wanted to follow!

The next day I received a call from the agent with the FABULOUS news that we were approved for the house!! Not only that, but we could move in sooner than I thought and it was still in the range that I could afford! What a blessing. When I went to sign the rental contract the agent shared with me that the owner of the home had decided to google me before running the credit check and came across my blog. After reading our families story on my blog the owner decided to rent us the house! How amazingly blessed did I feel???

There is some real irony here too.... During this whole time that I was looking for and applying for rental homes I had been catching A LOT of flack in many arenas for my transparency and honesty on my blog. Many people had sort of been on my case about my honestly sharing when I am down, what is bugging me or some of the struggles that my children and I are currently going thorough. I love my blog. I love writing, it helps me process so much. And I hope and pray that something I say may help or bless another. And honestly... no one is forcing anyone to read my blog, if someone doesn't like it they can just stop reading right? But I had taken this criticism to the Lord and asked for his guidance on the issue. I think he answered me loud and clear, don't you?

Thank you Lord for an amazing new home for the kids and I, and for putting the pieces together for all of this LONG before I even knew I would need a rental home!!! You amaze me everyday Lord!

Welcome....

To our new home!!!!

I am so excited that the kids and I got a great new house!

The living room....

There looks like so much potential here... can't wait to make it ours!

The dining area...

Tiny little kitchen, but whatever!

The sun room, which is going to be a play room.

Anyone know how to do carpet in here?? I would love help with that :)

My room.

And Nathaniel's room... from two angles!

The garage even has great built in storage, which I am excited about :) And laundry hook ups too!

And a HUGE backyard for the kids and the dog :)

So we are having a moving party on Sunday April 18th, next weekend, and anyone is welcome to join us! I want to try and get everything settled before Nathaniel's surgery so he can be comfortable in his recovery.