Packing up

Packing up the rental house - including the blanket given to me by the Red Cross the night of the fire.  At first, I wasn't sure if I wanted to keep this blanket - but its so darn warm!    So in the pod it goes!

As the fourth of July approaches, I am so grateful to live in a country where if your house is burning down, firefighters immediately come and at the same time, the nicest strangers put a very warm blanket around you.

Stay tuned for pictures of our new/old house!

Anticipation

As we pack up the rental house, I notice that emotions are resurfacing.  Feelings of gratitude, apprehension, victory and loss all wrapped up in a brightly colored emotional package.  We are each passing the time in different ways - Bart is counting down on his Facebook page, Caroline is coloring a giant American Girl poster in time for the move, Owen is collecting bugs to move with us and William is picking out "houses that are finished" from the real estate pictures in our local paper.  As for me, I feel that the tears could come at any moment.  I love my new house and I am so glad that we are almost there that I could burst.  Yet, moving back brings many memories of the night of the fire and I'm ready to finish healing at home, the only place where the passage of time will truly work its magic.

A few days ago, our contractor Martin, uncovered a box in the garage of switch plate covers that had been removed from the house after the fire.  In the shuffle of stuff, they had never been sent to the warehouse.   Caroline and Owen's switch plate covers were in there - the antique ones they had in their rooms since they were babies.  Caroline's little bird on the fence and Owen's penguin on a wave - both were solid black and can't be cleaned.  After four months of not seeing the black, I immediately started crying and sweet Martin, who has become part of the family, understood and wrapped them in a towel for me to decide their fate later.  I told him that the saddest part to me was that William's was gone.  I am forever grateful to these amazing men and women who have been working in our house.  You can tell that they aren't just in construction, but restoration.  They understand that this new house came at a price to our family and that even though the silver linings are shining bright in our house, the light does not yet burn as bright as the fire.

Smooch!

Dear Legos,

I love you.  I could kiss the person that invented you.  Really, a giant smooch.   We can not live without you at our house.  You were the first item that went on our "priority list to clean" inventory.  First trip to Target after the fire - we put you in our cart.  We have taken all three sizes of you on vacation, in a ziploc bag on errands and started a Lego club with Owen's friends.  We even honored you one Halloween:

 

You know that my mind, despite being somewhat creative, goes blank when I try to build with you.  My children however amaze me with their construction talents.

Caroline's 4 story hotel with elevator

William's Lego vaccum

Father's Day card for Bart

In closing, I will say that you can be quite painful when I step on you in bare feet.  I will look past this though - that is how much I love you.  Thank you for not taking batteries and for not involving the television in any way.

I am forever yours - Julie

With this bracelet, you are loved.

I love finding opportunities for my children to serve others.  One of my favorite blogs that promotes service is Craft Hope.  Caroline and I have worked on their projects before - sewing or crafting a little something that makes a big difference to someone on the other side of the world.

On Sunday, Caroline and her friends gathered to make friendship bracelets that will be given to Russia's orphans that live on the street.  I loved watching them make these bracelets, but even more, I loved the conversation between them as they wove the brightly colored threads.  The realizations that they are in a comfortable house with friends eating cupcakes while across the world a child will treasure the bracelet that they are making as their most prized possession.

Children who learn to serve will be adults who teach to serve.  What are your ideas for service?  Share them please!

Hanging on

The endless list of things that we still need to purchase is mind boggling to me.  Most are not frivilous things that can wait.  I want a new blender, but that can wait.  We need mattresses for four beds - that can't wait.  But there are smaller things on the list too - like hangers.  Yesterday, what I thought was going to be a boring errand for the kiddos, ended up being a funny reminder to all of us of how ridiculous this process really has been and how happy we are over the little things.  Here is what we filled our cart with:

The store has a whole section of colored hangers, floor to ceiling.  Every color a person could want.  It was beautiful (should have taken a picture of the wall).  Each child got busy choosing their color.  The only stipulation was that it couldn't be "country geese blue", the color of our rental hangers.  Caroline wavered between turquoise and pink but ultimately chose the stand-by pink.   Owen picked the royal blue rather easily and William....well, seeing a glimpse of myself, time stood still as he agonized over his choice and in the end, he picked two - red and navy.  We were so happy with our cart of colorful hangers.  It wasn't just the color, it was the fact that we need them because we are moving home soon.  The afternoon was spent switching clothes over and as I looked in my own closet at my clothes hanging on my cherry wooden hangers, I saw a glimpse of what is to come for us in the next few weeks - HOME!

Unsinkable

When we were expecting baby Caroline 11 years ago, Bart and I went to a local art fair.  We met the most darling couple from Minnesota who make wooden bath boats.  They stood in the middle of giant tubs in which sailed a beautiful flotilla.  We bought one for our baby that day and have ordered several more for gifts over the years.  It is my favorite kind of gift.  Beautifully made by an individual, not a large company and made with the best quality materials and craftsmanship.  Our little bath boat was manned by our three sailors for over 10 years until the fire, when it began line item # 331 on the list.  As soon as I saw it on the list, I knew we had to replace it.

Today our new boat arrived in the mail:

She's a beauty.  The shipbuilder, Dana McGill, included a note about the fire and wished us "smooth sailing in the future."  But most of all, I loved the message he added to the back-

Are you ready for the open seas?  If so, order your bath boat here.

Jumping in the deep end

Last year, Bart and I decided to join a small neighborhood pool.  The bring your own cooler, order pizza, hang out with friends old school pool.  We learned at the time that all the cool kids join their swim team - a family friendly, no screaming parents kind of swim team.  Bart and I announced to our kids that we had signed them up - much to their horror.  You see, we had never really pushed our children to achieve a physical goal.  Oh sure, they ride their bikes all of the time and they play soccer, but this would be a challenge.  Swimming laps every morning in sometimes ice cold water for 6 weeks and competing in five meets.    I had no doubt that they could do it.  They had many doubts.

Confession- beyond basic swimming and biking, I have never pushed myself in any physical pursuits and I was hoping that if I pushed my own children, just maybe they would add it to the list of life's good habits.  So, Bart and I pushed them forward and cheered them on and a very cool thing happened - they did it.  They loved being a part of a team in their matching swimsuits, they loved their races written on their arms in Sharpie marker and most important - they were proud of themselves.  It felt like one of the best parenting decisions we've ever made.

And so here we are at the threshold of another swim team session.  The water is freezing, the cicadas are swarming, but we are swimming.  In the process, my children are teaching me something.  All you need in life to succeed is your own determination and a person beside you shouting that you can do it.  Maybe its time for me to jump in the deep end of something new. Go Mommy Go!

Warning-boring post ahead!

This is my 100th post.  I can't believe it.  I can't believe that I started something and stuck with it!  The only explanation I can think of is that it isn't a chore for me.  I love to write and I love to document things for my children, so the blog seemed like something I would enjoy.

I am longing for the days of summer when we are more settled - not driving back and forth between two houses all of the time.  Not having to drag the kids on a boring errand everyday (yesterday was to buy a kitchen sink, today it's light fixtures.)  They are troopers though, but I do find myself always tacking on a yummy treat (snowcone, yogurt, etc) to the errand to keep morale up.

At the moment, the house is quiet.  The boys are lounging in the cardboard box fort in the basement reading on their bean bag chairs and Caroline is sleeping off a migraine that came quickly as an unwanted guest at swim team this morning.

Actually, the house is too quiet.  I better check and see what those boys are up to.........