Ramble much

Ok, we are now back in the world of modern technology thanks to my smart husband. We have been blessed with free high speed wireless internet- woo hoo!

Talk about a whirlwind of activity- I mean it! I have been running to and fro dropping off and picking up kids, going back and forth to the blue house and the 'old' house, boxing and unboxing, staying up real late etc. etc. And, living here in Texas, the hot weather is arriving :( I have to prepare myself for the long summer- at least 6 months of it.

So, we are adjusting. For the first few days Sarah wasn't doing well at bedtime- she was really wanting her baby crib, but we are going to sell it, so she's in the playpen for now. I've had very whiny and gripey kids- very. We have ants in the kitchen, no home phone yet, one of the toilets was broken until yesterday and no computer. It's hard to get all these things done when dh has to go to work and I have the children.

Today I have a fourth child as well. But, overall, we are glad to be moved. Our garden is flourishing- we've picked a few cucumbers and a tomato. More than likely the house won't sell until after we get our harvest in, so I'm not worried about that. So, that's that.

I will be happy to photograph our home's setup as soon as everything gets set up, LOL. I am so very proud of the master bathroom- it's a dream and I even like the colors in there :) I plan to paint our bedroom but not anything else at this point

It has become more evident to me how important the different roles of men and women are during this move. The men are great at the heavy lifting of furniture and boxes etc. But, it's up to the women to make the house look like home. Monday I worked on fixing the rooms up a little, as much as I was able. My husband commented on how nice everything looked. He does the hard stuff, I do the pretty stuff :)

I am hoping to 'pretty up' the house some more today, but I never can tell how things are going to play out when I have my niece too. Anyways, enough rambling :)

Moved

I'm popping in to say that we are basically moved in. I am so exhausted, I have no internet or phone yet, don't know my address or new cell phone number and am at my Mom's right now. So, maybe some time later this week I will have an internet connection and can update.

Later!

Is it possible?

Can I really pack my house in day and half? Are we nuts?

You know, it's actually kind of fun to go this route. Instead of planning everything to a 'T'- we're just winging it big time. Why are we moving this weekend?

1. most of the strong men we need to help us are available this coming Saturday only
2. we are only taking the essentials and will be gradually sorting and moving the rest of the stuff to prepare for the massively huge yard sale we are planning.
3. Dh's parents are coming on the 30th, so we need to be moved somewhere by then :)

We also need a bed and some dressers, because the ones we've been using are also Matt's parents' that they want to take back to Michigan because it is highly valuable. We might be sleeping on our sleeper sofa for a week or two or three...


Whitney guessed it- the mantel decor is a window valance. I was so pleasantly pleased (ha,ha) at how it turned out that I want to recreate the whole thing with a shelf I found at our new house.

Today I went and gave the house a good cleaning. There was lots of dust, and well, other people's germs :) My littles actually did a good job of helping with the cleaning, yay! Right now I am packing up my kitchen, at least everything we can spare. Anything I don't want is going into a big cupboard to await yard sale day, whenever that will be.

I've already drank just about a whole pot of yummy tea, so I'm raring to go! I'm gonna get me some rockin' music going and get that kitchen boxed up. Don't you wish you could be doing this too, at 10pm??? Sarcasm, much? Silly me...

The Tea Party

Finally I'm getting around to posting this.

I had a blast with the tea party. It was a lot of work but it really fun. I had about 12 adult ladies and 7 little girls. I tried to have everything done 15 minutes before they arrived and popped the scones in the oven as they came in the door. (I froze them earlier in the week-BIG help- and they have to be fresh out of the oven) I made them wait in the main living room until everyone arrived, then I read off some tea etiquette. They all had a laugh over that- we are countrified east Texans, most of us, there ain't no etiquette here :) Then I took them to the tearoom, here.

The lighting was much softer, but the flash on my camera you know, and I am not skilled with the camera at all. Everything, and I mean absolutely everything except the pink flowers on the tables and the favors was stuff I already had or borrowed. I had the tables, I borrowed my mom's tablecloths and teacups and all her decorative teapots. I borrowed my grandmother's teapots and some chairs from the church. The greenery I used was from our wedding! I bought pink twin sheets to place under the white lace tablecloths at $3 each, I bought 10 bunches of silk flowers at 84 cents each, 10 tiny glass bud vases for 97 cents each and a package of shower curtain rings. Guess what the lace thing hanging from the mantel is??? I want to see guesses in the comments :) I'll tell you later...

I wrapped the shower curtain rings in either ribbon or lace and hot glued bows or flowers on them. Then I put viva paper towels in them! The roses in the vases were from down the street- wild sweet roses- totally for free :) I brought the tea mix and explained what it was and passed it around so they could sniff it while the water came to a boil. I filled the serving teapots with hot water to 'preheat'. Then I put 6-7 teaspoons of loose tea in two teapots- some that weren't so pretty- allowed to steep 5 minutes, poured the hot water out of the pretty pots, then poured through a strainer into the pretty teapots. I poured everyone a cup of tea and passed the sugar cubes and half and half around. By the time everyone had they're tea fixed and started drinking it, the scones were done and I allowed everyone to fill their plates :) Here is the buffet table :


The breakdown- the table in the middle is our desk with a large board on top. A nice white tablecloth covers it all the way down to the floor. On either side are some side tables covered with a square of tea towel and topped with a sheer rosebud curtain. My husband decided to get involved and put those two sconces on either side of the picture, then to cover the cord he (yes he did it) taped flowers and vines (most from our wedding) all around it.

On the table is the mini quiches which I purchased and the chocolate petite fours on the bottom. I cut and washed tiny viola flowers from my flower bed and put them on top. Very cute and edible. There is the strawberry cake which no one ate because they ate too much!!! The bowl with a towel is waiting for the scones, there is a platter for the cheddar dill bread, strawberry and apricot jam, a bowl of creme fraiche, a crystal bowl of grapes, platter of lemon cookies and the small table on the far end had the sandwiches. Here is another picture at a different angle, after they had eaten :)



Here is my best dressed guest. (I forgot to get a picture of myself in my Regency gown, oops)

I hung up Leiah's baby quilt on the wall behind her. Our filing cabinet got covered with some rose print cloth I had laying around, a picture of a quilt, a teapot and a candle. The computer cabinet was covered with a tablecloth, then topped with a porcelain doll, a photo of my grandmother on her wedding day, a figure about mothers and candles. Amazing what you can do with stuff around the house.

The rest of my guests, well, most of them. I am awful at pictures people!! Everyone loved the special tea I had ordered, Rose Cream tea. I made 5 pots total. I had two creamer/sugar sets so we passed them around. I used sugar cubes and half and half. Everyone had a great time and really enjoyed themselves. They stayed a long time too! I am a little sad that we are moving because this room was so perfect for hosting tea. I am planning to get dh to make a fake mantel or shelf just so I can decorate it exactly like I did on the fireplace because I love it so much.

A bit of effort and creativity and you can have a lovely gathering :)


My niece that I babysit, Emily, 13 months old.

Sarah in her tea gown and 'matching' hat :)

Big News

Well, we are moving. Like this weekend. This time last week I still thought we were going to be in this house for another year or so. Things can sure change fast.

What's going on exactly; my in-laws bought this house for a future residence and we rented it from them. They really need to sell it now because of the real estate market and just the way things are looking financially in the country. They have let us rent this place very cheaply, thus the challenge of being able to find a place we can afford.

We decided to tell Matt's parent's to go ahead and sell the house on Saturday morning. Sunday afternoon we found out that some dear friends from church have a vacant house for rent, which is only a few miles away. The price was still a bit steep for us, but we feel the peace of God and know that if this is what He planned it will work. So it's ours now.

It is a nice large blue double wide trailer with three bedrooms and two bathrooms, with a built on garage/car port and storage area, nice front porch, the largest back porch I've ever seen and access to a pool. A real inground pool. Plus we will be surrounded by people from our church.
(they're all related)

I took some pictures and then my camera died, so I will try to do that later. I will expound on it some more, but i've got my sister's little girl too, so we'll have to wait till naps for that.

Ok I have a minute :) I didn't get all of the house ,but i got the main parts except for the ultimate huge bathroom. I'd rather have a big bathroom than a big bedroom personally.

Most of the front.


The eating area. I have always wanted bay windows and a 'breakfast nook'.

Part of the kitchen.

Main part of the living room.

And that's it for now. Maybe I can do a more detailed post after we move- it has been almost a year since I did A Day in the Life of Me. Maybe I can do that after we move...

Frugality and Abundant Life

Everyone is talking frugal these days. Sky high prices on gas are causing everything to go up. All the talk about the economy and recession and so on- it's disconcerting. But it also makes me a bit, well to be blunt, angry.

Not just because of tightened wallets, but at the response of Christians. So why am I angry at Christians getting upset about the rising costs of everything?

Because, we should know without a doubt that there is no need to worry. I think that is necessary to spend money wisely; I think it is necessary to know how to do things like cooking from scratch, sewing, how to make your own whatever in case it's not available or you need something and can't buy it. Generally when you make it yourself it's cheaper.

I think it's good that people have to stay home more because of gas or to watch less TV/have less computer time etc. This is forcing people to be more creative and to actually do something with their family members, LOL.

But when I hear Christian people preach doom and gloom I get real ticked. That is not the message of the Bible. What was Jesus' whole ministry on earth about? Faith, faith, FAITH!!!! What is faith?

"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."Hebrews 11:1

A lot of people hope that God will do what He says in His word without really being convinced that He will. Faith is being fully persuaded that God will do what He said period- no matter what things look like on the surface. It is remaining steady and sure in what He has said regardless of how things look or feel.

God is not honored by poverty. It is not His will for us to barely scrape by. Look at the Israelites- God wanted them to go from poverty and slavery under Pharaoh's rule to the promised land, the land flowing with milk and honey. Abundant life.


"The thief comes to steal and to kill and to destroy, but I have come that you might have life and have it more abundantly." John 10:10


This abundant life is our physical life as well as spiritual. God wants Christians to be so prosperous and healthy that everyone will see what a good God we serve and be drawn to Him. I am not worried about the circumstances of this nation. I know that no matter how bad it looks, that all things are possible with Him. I know He will not leave us high and dry.


"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food and the body more important than clothes?...If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry...for your heavenly Father knows that you need them. " Matt 6:25-34, condensed


The Holy Spirit reminded me a moment ago of the little boy who had three loaves of bread and two fish, and from that Jesus fed the 5,000. Do we really and truly believe that God can perform miracles? Or is that just something that Jesus did? If He is living in us, then don't we have the same power? If God so loves us, then wouldn't He give us the tools we need to live in this earth? Faith, standing and believing no matter how it looks. God can multiply our funds, if we believe.


"...for verily I say unto you, if you have faith as a grain of a mustard seed, you say unto this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you." Matthew 17:20


Believe and you shall receive. You have not because you ask not. My husband and I are being stretched in our faith right now. We have to move out of this house, yet we don't seem to have enough money to rent or buy a home. My husband's job is over 30 miles away (gas) he has to have highspeed internet and special cell phone for his job. These things are costly. We barely have anything extra as it is- cut down the satellite TV and things like that already.


But, we have been faithful to give the firstfruits to the Lord, which we do with a cheerful heart. We are sowing into His kingdom, and this is what He says about that:
"Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this, ' says the Lord Almighty, ' and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it. I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not cast their fruit,' says the Lord Almighty. Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land,' says the Lord Almighty. " Malachi 3:8-12


We know that He is keeping us and is guiding us. Nothing is too hard for Him- He specializes in impossible things. (example, Jesus' birth and the resurrection of Lazarus and Jesus) So, this post is written to myself, and I hope it helps others. I am learning more and more about how to be more frugal and shave off extra things we don't really need, but I don't plan on being forced to eat only bread and water. Abundant life remember.


"And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who diligently seek Him." Hebrews 11:6


" Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves. I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in Me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things that these, because I am going to the Father." John 14:11-12

Sweet Morning

This morning I woke up with no husband beside me. The bathroom was quiet too- usually he's in there this time of the morning. Hmmm, maybe he got a call from work...back to drifting in and out of strange dreams. I finally decided to get up and sit up a little , when they walk in- Matt, Leiah and Alexa- husband carrying food, Alexa carrying a big present and Leiah carrying a card.

My husband is the great omelet maker- I'm terrible at it. So he had made me one and got the girls up early to help with it. Talk about melt the heart! My present was a single serve coffee/hot tea/ hot water maker. They had one in the room at our hotel when we went out for our anniversary and I thought it was the coolest thing. It's easy to do and made a very good cup of coffee. Dh doesn't drink coffee anymore so it's just me and I don't drink that much and don't even drink it everyday.

The 'card' was actually a love note he typed up for me, which I loved better than a card. Lucky for him, it's Mother's Day and birthday all in one! He really lucked out on that one, huh? So, I am a very blessed lady. I've not been easy to deal with this week- emotions up and down a lot, feeling stress about entertaining etc. Plus, half of the people I invited have declined the invitation to the tea party for one dumb reason or another. Honestly, they are dumb reasons- who wouldn't jump at the chance to have an elegant party with delicious food in a beautiful environment? I've even made party favors and gifts, made my dress and special ordered tea. What's up with that?????!!!!!

Oh well, if it goes well, I may do it again someday. The first one is always harder because you normally don't have all the 'stuff' and have to get it all. After that you have most everything and it's not that big of a deal. Wow I really sound like a redneck- yes, I am typing how I would speak from my mouth. For the record, I can make myself sound intelligent or I can sound extreme redneck- just depends on who I am with and my mood, LOL.