'Eeping

It happens every once in awhile.  That panicky feeling when I realize it's been a long time since I've seen/heard the baby.  Then I start badgering the kids about where Tikvah is at, have they seen Tikvah, and I start nervously looking from room to room.  On this particular day, when I asked, Joey informed me "Babi in my 'oom."  As I approached the closed door I wondered why I didn't hear any crying.  Usually when Tikvah gets shut in a room she cries.  Then Joey informed me, "Babi 'eeping."  More confusion on my part.  How did they get her in her bed.  When did they put her to bed?  As I opened the door, this is what I saw.

Babi 'eeping.

Passed out, in the middle of the floor.

'eeping.

Tutus Too

Snow days are good days for jammies

and baking cookies,

and eating cookie dough,

and tutus, too.

Snow Spectacle

Our unexpected snow on April 8th turned out to be nothing compared to the blizzard that hit Bismarck on April 15th.

This spring snow dumped a mere 15-18 inches of snow on the ground.

As with most blizzards there was LOTS of wind.  That meant that some places around our house had no snow (see above)

and other places had large drifts,

the largest being just outside our sliding glass door.  We estimated this drift was about six feet tall by the end of the storm, although our picture taken a day or two later shows it much shorter.

The kids mostly enjoyed the crazy spring snow, although Joey had a mishap one afternoon getting caught in a  drift wherein he couldn't move and when he tried to move completely lost his snow boot in the drift.  This revealed that he was wearing no socks.  Theia, being a kind sister, left him alone in the drift to come tell me he was stuck and screaming.  I'm sure if anyone was watching they thoroughly enjoyed the spectacle of the pregnant lady, 7 months along, clumsily navigating the drifts all around the house to rescue her stuck and screaming at the top of his lungs two year old and then carry him bootless and still crying back around the house.  Graceful is not a word that comes to mind.  While walking around the house was difficult and long, and the sliding glass door was much closer, the only way I could fathom getting to him from the above location was to dive head first into the snow.  That's a whole other kind of spectacle even I'm smart enough to avoid.

Spring Has Sprung?

I'm learning that it can be a long winter in North Dakota.  It was refreshing, then, on April 3rd, to get to send the kids out on bikes for the first time this spring.

They thoroughly enjoyed being outside again in the near 70 degree temperatures.

And they got to share the experience

with their friend, Katelyn, who was visiting for the day.

The interesting thing about North Dakota, however, is that five days later

they were riding their bikes in the snow.

A little unexpected snow

on April 8th

didn't stop the fun.

but it did require a little warm up in front of the fireplace

when the fun was done.

Unexpected

Sometimes life doesn't go as planned.  Sometimes God places something in your path you didn't expect.  That's what He did when He gave us this house last June 30th.

 

This beautiful, spacious home

 on a corner lot

with a prayed-for swingset,

good neighbors,

and an interior that was so much more what we wanted than even we could have known ourselves.

This home has been a gift.

The day we took ownership of this home, I stood in this kitchen

thankful, overwhelmed, and promised to use this home for God as long as He would allow us to live here.

Life is full of unexpected surprises.

On March 21, just nine months after we took possession of this house we call home,

we put a For Sale By Owner sign in the front yard.

The truth is, we didn't really want to sell our home.

Not at all.

 If it were up to me, I'd take a million more baths in that bathtub

and my girls would play happily in their pink room for many years to come.

 The reality is that the Lord declared it was time for us to move on.

After one month on the market,

we signed a contract with another family to buy the home from us.

On May 31st, just eleven months after we moved in,

 

we moved out.

 

The next steps for us aren't crystal clear, yet.

So, for now, we wait at Joe's folks' place,

for the arrival of Yoshi,

 

and a clear word from God.

Life is full of unexpected surprises.

 

We don't know what comes next, but we're grateful for:

1.  Eleven months in Bismarck in a home we loved.

2.  The chance to know Aunt Evie and Uncle Paul in a greater way.

3.  A season that pushes us ever closer to one another and to God.

4.  Six healthy kids to love.

5.  Extended family who is generous and caring.

6.  Seeing God's hand even when we don't see specific answers.

I will lead the blind by ways they have not known.  Along unfamiliar paths I will guide them.  I will turn the darkness into light and make the rough places smooth.  These are the things I will do.  I will not forsake them.  Isaiah 42:16

Outnumbered

Joe's least favorite past-time may very well be hanging pictures.  Whenever he can sneak a little rebellion into the task, it gives him great satisfaction.

Several months ago when I asked him to hang these four butterfly pictures on the wall in the girls' room, I was in the middle of baths.  He balked because our arrangement was one picture hung per evening, no more, no less.  This was four pictures in one evening and he felt cheated out of our former agreement.  My very logical explanation and pleadings of how it would be more difficult to hang these one at a time over four days prevailed.  So, being the kind and indulgent man he is, he hung them, while I gave baths.  He did, however, refuse my help, supervision or input.  I should have known I was in trouble.  Here's what I saw when I returned to the room.

A crooked butterfly.  He said it was flying and remarked on how cool it looked.  The girls agreed it was neat.  I agreed it was crooked.  Then I received some lengthy explanation about the term that is being widely used these days:  meta.  Joe said this was so "meta."   Even after his explanation and the girls insistence that it was cool, I still wasn't impressed.

But I was outnumbered.