Five Things For Friday

Hello friends. It’s been some time. Several months, a new job, and a new home later, I’m back. Now for all the juicy details… (in Five Things form, of course…)

One. 

A new job has changed our family’s direction very much for the better. Previously, Patrick had something solid but...let’s face it...dead-end. A crazy-ridiculous transition period (seriously, RIDICULOUS, maybe I’ll share the story sometime), six months of all-over-the-country training, and one final pack-up-and-move assignment has led us two hours south to central Georgia with a good, growing company and opportunities galore for growth.

At the Museum of Aviation near the Robins Air Force Base.
I don't know why my phone made Owen glow, but there you go.

We have been in transition for our entire married lives (coming up on nine years this September, thank you very much). I don’t even know how to think about this now—stable? Is that a thing we know how to be? I guess we’ll find out. And even if it still feels a little surreal, there are wonderful benefits, such as…

Two.
The house we are now making a home is finally an actual house. Not an apartment, not a duplex, and not someone’s basement.

Now, it’s hard for me to understate the advantages of apartment living, especially because of the amazing friends we made whom we miss dearly and were only steps away.

However, after corralling three kids (ages 6, 3, and 1) in a two bedroom apartment with only six feet of grass between the patio and the parking lot—well, let’s just say our little three bedroom house with a window in the kitchen, a fenced-in backyard, a shed and a playset is an upgrade.

Even now, a few months after the move, I’ll be inside watching the kids conquer some alien kingdom from their princess/pirate ship/swingset, and…it feels like heaven.

Three.
Did I mention that we’ve also embarked on another new adventure? Last October, I took Cambrie out of public school and began homeschooling. I’m sure someday I’ll expound on why, especially since her teacher was really quite nice and we have nothing against public schooling in general. But for now, I’ll just say that it was 100% the right decision at that time.

And, I’m not gonna lie, if you take the two impossible, crazy little boys out of the picture, it really is just too much fun.

Four. (And four and a half, and four and three quarters…)
When I write here, the day-to-day stories and requisite milestones sometimes fall by the wayside. So, here’s a brief catch-up on the kiddos and a sampling of their recent antics.

Cambrie is now six and a half and is in first grade. She’s having lots of fun with school, specifically the fun “projects” we get to do. Here she is working on a recipe she chose to make—mini hamburgers. She thought mixing the meat and eggs and everything else was equally disgusting and fantastic. (The end result was delicious.)

Cambrie surprises me every day with her understanding of the world and ability to assimilate and think critically about the things she’s learning. My number one motherhood high is watching these little minds learn and grow—I cannot even describe how amazing it is. It’s even better when I feel like Cambrie herself, as smart as she is, is also someone I would want as a friend.

James is now three and a half, and I think the ages he and Owen are at remain some of my favorite ages. His little mind is practically exploding with new connections, broadening understanding, and unsurpassed excitement for the world around him. Here he is with a toad we found outside our apartment. Despite his energy, he has a surprising ability to focus (when he wants to), and he was very gentle with the toad.

Similarly, he has done so well in all of the classes he’s been in, including the children’s class at church and his preschool classes with the homeschool co-op. He’s a firecracker at times, and still verifiably hilarious, but he’s shaping out to be a very attentive, kind little boy.

I predict that Owen, on the other hand, will be our delightful, troublesome, death-defying (we hope) crazy boy. When handed the aforementioned toad, he grabbed it firmly, gave me a terrifying grin, then threw it to the ground as hard as he could. Twice.

Owen is breaking the cautious streak I was blessed with in Cambrie and James. This kid will hurtle himself toward the pool and leap in, whether or not there is an adult nearby. I have, in fact, witnessed him purposefully steer away from where we were waiting with open arms to catch him. Thankfully, he survived to celebrate his second birthday in January.

Five.
I don’t know how often I’ll have to hearken back to this post I wrote two years ago, but it still so accurately describes where I am.

2015 was a very demanding year for our family, filled with so much growth. It asked a lot of me, and to the best of my abilities, I gave it. I am so glad I did. But 2016 has wrapped up all that was shifting and landed me in a place where I can pause, look around, and finally find time to be still again.

2015 was an outward year for me. But I can feel the pendulum swinging in the other direction. In 2016, I need a little more balance, a little more time to be introspective and solitary. This means finding more time to play the piano, to study and meditate, and... to write. So here I am. And while most of what I write won’t end up posted here, I think you’ll see me popping in more often than I have been.

Digging my own well deep. Filling it daily. Using what I gain from that to more effectively share with those around me. Not bad goals for a new start and a new year.