Reassurance

The anxiety of planning for a move in 6 days and yet not really knowing for certain if the move is going to take place or not finally got to me. Our closing on the house should be Friday. We've got the moving van rented for Saturday and people lined up to help. We've got the utilities turned on in our name, we've paid for repairs to the house, we even have the keys. But we don't really know for sure that it's ours. We're still waiting for some very important approvals. We should know soon...but a girl's got to make plans for moving earlier than six days, people!! I've been practical (trying not to get my hopes up). I've been excited (this is our dream property!). I've been organized (pack a few boxes a day and do a big cleaning job each day before we move should keep us on track). I've been prayerful (please, God, be in charge here! Bless us with what is best, really!) But this morning when I realized that we are supposed to move this week and still don't know if it will really happen, I felt stressed. How did you all deal with this when you ever bought a house?! It's tricky business!

This morning as Matt and I drove the kids to Cameron to visit what we hope will be our new ward, I told him, "This not knowing is getting to me. I feel really anxious." He reassured me that we'll know very soon. I thought to myself, just keep on waiting for a little bit longer. This is the hard part before the great blessing springs forth. Just keep on waiting. Just keep on waiting.

Well, we got to the church and let me tell you, this ward is FRIENDLY! Someone in the parking lot noticed us and waved! During our first meeting, I noticed how many children there were. Lots of families and lots of kids. It will be easy to make friends. Hooray! As soon as the meeting was over, a member of the bishopric was shaking hands and getting all the details out of us. He was a big friendly old man with 11 kids, homeschooled. A couple sitting behind us also spoke with us and visited. She asked us if we had a 4-year-old (which of course, we do). She was the Primary teacher for the 4-year-olds and was soon hand-in-hand with Ella walking to their primary class together. Every Primary leader we spoke to was extra-happy and friendly. By the time I sat down in Gospel Doctrine I felt like I was a part of the ward! I was touched to the point of tears because I felt like I already belonged in this ward. Isn't that amazing? I continued to meet ward members and happily shared our hopes regarding the property we want to buy. "Ten acres? Oh, that's perfect!" "With trees? Oh, the kids will love it!" "Where is it located? Oh, that's near me!" It was all so fun. As I looked around the room in Relief Society, I thought to myself, I could be best friends with all of these ladies. When the teacher got up to give the lesson she talked about doing her chores before getting showered and ready for church. I thought, how cool that these are people who do real chores like tending farm animals and such. Two of the mothers (and there were lots of pregnant bellies and babies in arms) nursed during class. I just realized how we are so totally going to fit in and how I have so much to learn from these people and how much I want to be a part of this ward.

I felt like Heavenly Father was telling me to relax. This is where you will be. This is your ward family now. Everything will work out. What a blessing.

Spiritual guidance and real estate news

So much of what I have read today in my personal study has reminded me that we are literally sons and daughters of God. Because we are His spirit children, we have the potential to become like Him. We can become more like Him now, while we're living life on earth. You already knew that, didn't you? But if you believe it and if you think about it, it might change your attitude about life.

I recently read in the scriptures about coming to Heavenly Father as a little child. When I keep that perspective as I pray, it changes the way I pray. I feel so much more trusting and submissive and thankful. I know Heavenly Father will answer my prayers by blessing me with the guidance I'm asking for. I know that by letting Him be in charge (and giving up a little of what I want) He'll give me what I need and what will make me happy. And it seems like Heavenly Father doesn't so much care about blessing us with a comfortable life. Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount that if you are persecuted and reviled you'll feel joy and be happy! And Elder Uchtdorf's message in this month's Ensign taught us that ease and luxury are not what the Lord has in mind when he offers us blessings.

Mary Ellen Edmunds in a BYU Conference talk quoted an Ensign article by Stephen Robinson who wrote that one of the great and abominable church's characteristics is that it seeks wealth and luxury. I guess I'm thinking about this a lot as Matt and I and the kids anxiously await moving into a new home. God will bless us with what we need. I know that.

Enough contemplation. On to the update on the house...

Matt and I visited the house on a trip to Cameron to sign some homeowner insurance paperwork. We wondered what it was like with snow (we got a lot of it in the last storm!) The drive was so full of snow we didn't feel safe traveling it in our car so we parked on the road and walked up to the house. It is so pretty in the snow! It is just beautiful! Later, we heard that the appraiser had been there and needed some repairs made before she could finish her appraisal. So Matt drove up there again last week and met with our real estate agent and replaced smoke detectors and installed switch plates and GFI switches and concrete steps, etc. A bunch of little things that needed to be done. He installed a new doorknob and lock to the front door and now has the keys to the house! We also turned on the utilities to the house, the water and electricity. Isn't that strange? Matt commented that it really feels like our house with the keys in his pocket and the utilities in our name! We hope, hope, hope everything works out in the next 12 days so that we can officially call it ours!

We plan on visiting the Cameron ward next Sunday so today was probably our last day in the Platte City ward. We said our goodbyes at church today. The kids got sung to in Primary. I returned my nursery manual and keys. We also have reserved the moving truck. It's so strange and exciting!

Our Dream Coming True?!

The reason we moved to Missouri was to fulfill our family's dream of living on land, growing an orchard and a garden, enjoying peace and privacy in the country, perhaps owning some animals for meat and dairy and having the room to let the kids roam free.

We've suffered through apartment life to acclimate ourselves to the area and have the chance to shop around for the perfect piece of land and to get financing in order. The plan was to live in the apartment for six months while shopping around, toward the end of November find a place and make an offer, then move in at the end of December when our lease expired.

Getting financing was tricky business. After being flatly denied, "No loan, no way!" we were deflated but not crushed. We talked with the kids about praying that we would have a miracle happen in our family. The kids took the challenge of praying very seriously. One day, we received pre-approval loan papers in the mail from a local bank Rhyetta talked to. The next day, Rhyetta called another local bank and received hopeful news regarding an even better loan. As we continued to pray for a miracle, we received one. We were pre-approved! This news was shared with the kids, and with gratitude in our hearts for this miracle, a new challenge was given to our family: to find a house that would fit our needs. With the pre-approval in our hands, we took house/land hunting more seriously. The Friday after Thanksgiving we really wanted to spend the day looking at properties and eventually found ourselves in the office of a real estate agent in Cameron, Missouri, about an hour's distance from our current dwelling but about the same distance (30 miles) from Matt's work. We had done our research and found several intriguing properties which we e-mailed to him. He was going to set up the appointments so we could look inside. Property after property he tossed aside and told us, "This one's no good." What started out as a pile of seven possible showings, was now only a short stack of three! Then it felt like he was trying to sell us a house in the city of Cameron "that was a GOOD deal" he told us. "Does it have land?" I asked. When he replied that it did not, I frankly assured him that we were not interested. I was really not liking this guy.

We sat there for an hour while he made appointments for the last three listings. (Wasn't he supposed to have done this BEFORE we got there?) Towards the end of our meeting, he told us he knew of a property we might like but was under contract. "Let me just show you anyway on the computer." Then he noticed that the contract was pending over 30 days. He noted that was strange and called on it. Oh! The contract fell through. The property was available even though it had not yet been re-listed. He asked us if we wanted to see it. Sure, why not?!

We toured a small house on 3 acres right next to a trailer park and on a busy road that was for sale for $119,000. No, it didn't feel right. We didn't like the location. As we drove further down the country road, we noticed we had been looking in this area when we first moved to Missouri and that there were other properties we had looked at online on the same road. We turned onto a gravel road and then turned onto a private driveway lined with forest, past a pond with wild ducks and we started smiling. "I like this, Matt! I love the tree-lined driveway and the privacy!" It only got better from there. The acreage! Ten acres of wooded forest, deciduous trees and evergreens, a "creek" (or ditch) full of junk which was a specific request of Kian's--that it have junk on the property!--a large backyard clearing for a place to play and garden, even trails through the woods! Matt, my brother Warren (who happened to be visiting at the time and came along with us) and I knew we liked what we were seeing!

Then we went inside the house! It was new! It had a big kitchen with a pantry and an island and red walls! In the dining room was a mural with deer, ducks, and a forest paradise! It had a laundry room! There were three large bedrooms and two bathrooms with nice clean and new carpet throughout. The rooms were painted very tastefully, a different color in each room, like sage green and beige and such.

The greatest part of all? It was in foreclosure--which meant the bank just wanted to get rid of it as soon as it could. It had previously sold for $125,000 so we could offer much lower and still have a chance! I didn't want to "fall in love" with a piece of land. I wanted to be very careful and smart about the whole house-buying process, but this house and land were so very wonderful that we could not deny it spoke to us!

We visited it once more with the kids who loved it. They loved running around outside, watching the ducks on the pond, swinging on the swing set and studying the junk in the creek/ditch. So, we made an offer. The bank countered with their offer. We countered back. And we finally agreed on $118,500! We know this is the best deal in the entire area. The land is so beautiful, we really can't believe it is at such a low price!

Now comes the waiting. We are praying all things go smoothly: the inspection and the financing and all that jazz. Oh, do you want to see pictures? Okay, here they are! The exterior of the house and garage (oh did I forget to mention there is a HUGE two-car garage) are metal which is not the most attractive exterior but it is all so new and the inside is really, really nice. Nothing a little landscaping can't fix!

Christmas Lists

Do any of your kids have funny requests on their Christmas lists? Kian's includes Lego sets and Nerf guns and some other typical boy toys as well as his own bottle of vinegar and box of baking soda! I guess so he won't have to keep asking me to mix them, he can use his own supplies! He also requested a bag of sand and rocks!?

Matt told him if he's not good, Santa will bring him coal. "Oh, wait a minute, you'd actually want coal!" Matt added. "Yes! I'll burn it and create carbon dioxide and pollute the world!" Kian replied.

Ghosts and Monks

Kian's reading books about witches and UFOs and ghosts. I didn't realize how scary they were until I looked at them AFTER he had read them. He claims they don't scare him though. Matt reviewed them and then talked to him about the Holy Ghost and how these kinds of frightening ghostly stories don't come from Heavenly Father. I made a silly comment, "When Kian was confirmed, he got the hooooooly ghost. Oooooooh!" He replied with, "The Holy Ghost is the ghost of a monk." That got us laughing.

A conversation from the day

Part of our morning devotional involves singing. We mostly sing Primary songs and activity songs for Felicity and Ella. Sometimes we sing songs in Spanish. I enjoy it. This morning we sang some Christmas songs because Abby informed me that the Primary children started practicing Christmas songs at church the day before.

So this morning we sang "Christmas Bells are Ringing..." and "Away in a Manger." Before we sang "Mary's Lullaby," I explained to the kids that these are Mary's words she's singing to her baby Jesus.

Lullaby, lullaby, my little one. Lullaby, my child so dear.
Thy precious life has just begun; Thy mother holds thee near.

My voice faltered and I had to pause and gulp back some emotion in my voice before I could continue singing.

While Joseph watches through the night, A star reflects thy light.
Lullaby, lullaby, my little one. Lullaby, my child so dear.

The beauty and tenderness of the song accompanied with the lovely melody made it too difficult to control my emotions and the tears welled up in my eyes. We finished the song (barely) and Kian asked me, "Why were you like that?" I replied, "It was a beautiful song." "Were you crying?!" he asked. "Why would you cry at that?" He then proceeded to sob dramatically in a mocking tone, "Waaah-waaah. Singing this song makes me cry!"

"Kian," I explained, "It is possible to cry for a reason other than sadness. Sometimes I cry because I'm happy or I'm filled with joy." Well, as you can imagine, this 8-year-old boy thought I was being ridiculous (having never felt this emotion, I assume).

I then described to him a possible scene in his future. "Kian, after you get married to the love of your life, you're going to have a baby. Can you imagine how you'll feel when after laboring in pain for hours, your wife gives birth to a healthy, perfect, tiny, amazing baby that you will hold with wonder and fascination and thankfulness?!!" There were lots of tears rolling down my face by this point in the lecture. I was really into it. I cry so easily.

He looked at me with a look like I was crazy and then went on to joke, "This is what I'll say when that happens: 'O God, I curse thee for dirty diapers!!' Ha ha ha."

Sigh.

Need to censor?

As the father of home schooled children, we knew that Kian would become a good reader when he was ready. He loves reading science books (and created his own schematic drawing from reading an Usborne Internet Lined Book on Electricity), Magic School Bus books, as well as some classics. He gets excited to place books on hold at the library on his own. One book that Kian has been reading is The Wind in the Willows.

Tonight as we are driving home from the Robertson's, Kian and his sisters are making up nonsense words. Rhyetta asked me where and why are they saying those things. Then she heard Kian say something that caught her immediate attention. She turned to me and asked, "Did he say what I think he said?" I replied, " I don't think so." As I continued to drive home, Rhyetta and I sat thinking to ourselves and processing what we thought we heard Kian say. I casually asked Kian, "What did you say to Abby?" Now, before I continue to retell what my eight year old son said to my 5 year old daughter I want to reassure you Rhyetta and I do not use inappropriate language in our house or elsewhere.

OK, you may be asking yourself what did Kian say!? "Oh, Abby, stop being an ass," was his reply. I then was curious where he had heard this, and continuing to be casual about it asked him where he heard this. "The Wind in the Willows."

Rhyetta and I started laughing heartily after this. Rhyetta calmly remarked, "Looks like we are going to have to watch more carefully what he reads." She then said, "After all, it is in the bible." I then commented while laughing, "Are you going to write about this or am I?"

Oh my! The truly funny thing about this is that he said it in context. He was asked if he knew what it meant and he said, "no."

As we arrived home, Rhyetta and I noticed that Abby had the book The Wind and the Willows opened across her sleeping chest. I took the book off her before carrying her inside, it was opened up to the page 38 where Mole says that to Toad. After reading what was on this page, it made more sense to me of the conversation the kids were having before our beautiful comment from Kian.

My, my; first telling another kid that she was "going to hell," and now this. We are sure in for fun times ahead.