10 Years

Tomorrow is the 10th Anniversary of our Wedding Day. What I wanted to post was a photographic trip down memory lane, a picture for each year of our marriage. But, since we were using old fashioned photo albums for the first few years, and since those albums are all packed up in boxes at the moment, I couldn't access what I wanted to scan. Oh well. Those old pictures are proof positive that we were 'nerds in love' anyway. We still are.

So, I've posted the above picture which is significant because it's one of the rare shots of Eustace and I together, and also because it's one of the last pictures we will have of the inside of our first house. We lived in 3 different apartments in 2 different cities for the first 5 years of our marriage. We then bought our first house, which we just officially sold last week. It was a bittersweet day - saying goodbye to a house and neighborhood we loved, but looking forward to end of the selling process and a new house which will be much better suited to our family's needs.

So, 10 years and 4 kids later, we're back to renting. This is a very nice house, and we are very comfortable here. I've learned that it doesn't really matter where we live as long as we're together.

Happy Anniversary, Eustace!!! Marrying you was the smartest thing I've ever done in my whole life. Hopefully in 6 months or so we will see the last of moving boxes and packaging tape until we're ready to buy into a retirement community (or hit the road in our RV). God bless you for putting up with me.

Geography Lesson

Miss 2-year-old: Mommy, I need the map!!

Me: OK, here you go.

Miss 2-y-o: Where is Armenia? ["our-menia"]

Me: Armenia is right here.

Miss-2-y-o: No, that's Grandma's - menia!!!

One Shopper's Story

He: Just run out and get something new. I can handle the kids and bedtime. It's fine.

She: (reluctantly) OK. What should I get?

He: Just get a fun top or something. You can do it.

She: Well... OK. But I feel like there are other things I should be doing.

He: Just go.

Therefore, she landed in the local shopping plaza on a mission to find something for a work- function for her husband. On paper, it sounded like fun. That is, it sounded like fun until it came time to search the closet for something to wear, found nothing suitable that fit correctly, and realized that only one hour remained until closing time.

She thought she was reasonably fashionable for someone who rarely leaves the house ('reasonably' is a very broad term, granted). Her children certainly think she looks fine, anyway. Her husband is very generous with his compliments and sees to it that she has a new outfit or two every season or so (yes, he buys them himself and does a very good job).

But the season's offerings were a mystery this time. She found it troubling to even define the concept. "Bold patterned fabric randomly pieced together over leggings" was about as close as she could come. So she wandered around the store, aimlessly choosing things to try on.

A kind salesperson approached and offered help. "Please define 'business casual' for the stay-at-home mother" was the response she received. Bless her heart. So, she guided the helpless customer to a suggestion or two.

Another saleslady also joined in the assistance (you see, this pathetic shopper needed an entire team of experts). "You need to get some color on you," was her helpful suggestion. So she steered away from the all-black displays and chose something with a more cheerful hue.

After finding something passable, she relaxed a bit and thought, "I can find something for our anniversary, too!!" But, no luck. One dress was really beautiful, but only seemed appropriate for an island vacation. Unfortunately, that's not where we're headed this year.

So, she returned home where her husband enthusiastically approved her choices. He is a kind soul, after all. And when the party's over, and nobody cares one whit what she wore anyway, if he liked how she looked, that's all that matters.

Whew!!

What a relief.

For 7 months (or more), our family life was pretty much consumed by our house.

Last August, we completed repair projects that had been on our to-do list.

In December, we ramped up our de-cluttering to an unprecedented level. We opened a storage unit and donated lots of stuff.

In January, our house went on the market. We endured 3 months of keeping the house clean, uncluttered, and 'show-ready' (no small feat for this family of pack rats). We realize that in the current economic environment, 3 months is a short time period. It was difficult, nevertheless.

Also in January, my father-in-law experienced a major health crisis and surgery, and we spent a good deal of time in Ohio. He's recovering and rehabilitating now. God is good.

In March, Daddy and Grandma spent 3 weeks in Armenia. While they were gone, we kept on showing the house, praying daily for a buyer.

Upon their return in April, we showed the house only 2 more times, and it sold!!! Not only that, but the buyers didn't want to close until mid-June, which gave us ample time to figure out a housing plan and move our stuff. God is good.

I was concerned about keeping the house in order while our family was (and remains still) in the middle of a major adjustment phase. As it turned out, the house-selling phase and the new family addition phase only overlapped by one week. God is good.

In May, we were able to start moving things bit by bit into our rental house. I had the kitchen in order and all our clothes in the closets before the official move yesterday.

This week was crazy busy, but we survived, thanks, yet again, to the generosity of my parents. We actually lived in their house for 4 days and they cared for the kids all day long for 3 days. No small sacrifice there.

Now we're settled in a very nice house with no stairs to the bedrooms and no pressure to be perfectly neat and tidy. As I unpacked books and craft supplies and placed them on bookshelves in the kitchen (the one main thing our realtor suggested we remove from our home when it was on the market), I had a huge sense of relief and return to life familiar. It was a very happy moment. I can put our world map and timeline on the wall, and no one will care.

Yes, we'll be moving again in 6 months or so. Yes, most of our stuff is packed in the basement, not to be touched until we're finally in our new house (which is under construction). I feel settled, nevertheless, because we can live our day to day lives without constant interruption.

Thanks be to God, and bring on summer. And creative clutter. :)

I confess...

...I zoned out in front of the TV for a little while last night. Little Miss 2-year-old had kept her Dad and I up for a large chunk of the previous night with a stomach bug. So, after the other kids were in bed, I sat down in the comfy chair and started channel-flipping. This is a rare guilty pleasure for me because usually either Eustace holds the remote, we're watching a movie, or I'm doing other things.

So, with Miss Felic on my lap, I absent-mindedly got sucked into the high-quality program, 'The Bachel*rette." As thoughts such as, "Are these people serious?" and "This is exactly what's wrong with the state of our Country" swam (or maybe 'dog-paddled') around in my brain, I sort of forgot about the toddler in my lap until she piped up with this hum-dinger of an observation:

"Mommy, this is weel-y, weel-y tupid!!" [translation: mommy, this is really, really stupid]

Saturday Morning Moment

I'm pausing this Saturday morning to reflect on one of my favorite things. For those whose husbands work relatively regular hours, this will probably seem like no big deal. But, for me, Saturday mornings when my husband is home (that is, not at work) are my favorite days of the week.

Coffee tastes better, chores are less pressing, and the day seems brighter (even gray, rainy days like this one). Yes, some of it has to do with an extra pair of hands helping me get through the day. But, more than that, it's just nice when Daddy is home. Even if we're not doing anything spectacular, it's just nice to be together.

Now, back to work.

Brothers

When I look back at this phase of our life ten or twenty years from now, I really want to remember clearly Victor's reaction to his new brother.

Adopting an older child is a big adjustment. With a new baby, everyone expects sleeping, crying, lots of nursing, sleepless nights. With a new child who has 7 years of development and habit-formation under his belt, you really have no idea what his personality and behavior will be like. We all have our own set patterns of behavior, too, so molding to each other is a process. I think we're getting better at understanding each other every day.

But, from the get go, our sweet 5 year has just taken it all in stride. Ignace is his brother, and that's that. If they have a disagreement about something, he states plainly his gripe and then moves on to, "hey, let's play army guys."

He explains his favorite things. He encourages him to try new things ('you're gonna LOVE it,' he often says.). He has very rarely been visibly irritated. He is proud and happy to have a brother. They talk at night after lights out and again in the morning when they wake up. They have developed a form of wrestling (called 'dino-wrestling' of course, after Victor's favorite prehistoric creatures).

In spite of a few injustices inflicted by the new brother (I don't believe there was malicious intent here, just figuring out how family life works), good ol' Vic is loyal to the core. ('Even though you lied, you still have my trust!!')

There is a purity and sincerity in his acceptance of this new sibling. I am inspired by his selflessness and touched by his readiness to love a perfect stranger.

So, maybe he is 5 and still sucks his thumb. Maybe he isn't quite ready to ride a 2-wheeler ('you know, Mom, I have seen grown-ups with training wheels!'). In the 'love one another' department, he is well on his way to maturity.