16 days

Counting down the thankfulness days.

Thankful for more steps toward a working sink and installed dishwasher, and for friends who barter services to make it less expensive!


Thankful for God's peace


Thankful for another step toward kitchen completion - knobs and pulls and baseboard were installed today! (don't you love these sneak peeks?)



Thankful for wisdom from God, in the increments we need it and in His timing


Thankful for new neighbors, which means the real estate market on our street is looking up.


Thankful for escrow account refund checks. (YAY!)



Join me in the Thanksgiving Countdown!!!

17 days

17 days until Thanksgiving, and I have a lot to be thankful for!

1. a fantastic husband who works tirelessly to provide for us - and show us he loves us in many ways
2. a short lived cold (thanks, neti pot and GSE)
3. a sweet friend who doesn't mind watching the kids for me even though she has family visiting
4. crispy fall air, and sweaters
5. the hope of a soon-installed dishwasher, and water connected to the sink.
6. These kids, singing at lunchtime. (we have a special family song based vvvvvvvery loosely on the first few bars - or really, just the title, of this. Yes, it's true. Please don't judge, just laugh, like we do.)




So, what are you thankful for today? Help me count down the days!!

18 days

There are 18 days left until Thanksgiving (including today), so I'll be counting down the days with some little lists of little/big blessings. Here are a few for today:

1. A nice warm house (we turned on the boiler and turned up the heat last week)
2. A nice warm QUIET house this morning for a few minutes before the kids woke up. Hurray!
3. Kids waking up happy and rested
4. Sleep, to heal the body
5. Delicious coffee
6. A fabulous kitchen, slowly taking shape despite my indecisiveness about the kitchen faucet. *grin*


Join me, if you like, in this pre-Thanksgiving countdown. Would you leave a link in the comments if you do??

Far Too Long

Karen likes to do brain dump posts. I shall follow suit, for it is a great idea.

1. I've been doing nothing but surviving. Sorry about the lack of posts. It's all I can do to upload pics to Facebook and update my status. The kitchen remodel took over there for awhile, and will continue. We are waiting for our kitchen sink (4 more days!) to arrive at the store, still need 2 sections of countertop done, the dishwasher needs to be installed, and we have a few finishing touches on the cabinets. I am loving our new setup, still can't wait for regular function to come back to the kitchen. I'm excited to start using real plates again and making menu choices based on things other than how many dirty dishes I will have to wash when dinner is over.

2. The kids are growing and Evan is growing into the 2's. He's been such an easy going kid but last night in the nursery he pushed over 2 kids in those play cars. And yesterday during the day he scribbled in sharpie all over the hallway walls. I strapped him into his high chair while I scrubbed the walls with Mr. Clean.

3. I have 50 daffodil bulbs that still need planting. If I don't hurry, the ground will be frozen. Ugh. And, YAY when spring comes and my yard explodes in daffodils. We also need to get the foot and a half of leaves off our grass, TruGreen keeps "yelling" at us because they can't do the final treatment due to the leaves. Obviously, I have far different priorities than TruGreen.

4. My kids are sleep deprived, which is not good. I have no idea how to fix it - they have been waking up in the middle of the night, multiple times, and refusing to take naps. We are all so grumpy. Well, Michael's not. I am hoping that it's just the fact that the house is unsettled, we've been letting them watch more TV than normal, eating more junk than usual, and we all seem to be fighting off seasonal sniffles. I hope that is all it is. I'm thinking of turning them loose in the backyard until they collapse in utter exhaustion. OK maybe not.

5. I bought a bushel of apples and I hope I have time to can some pie filling before it's too late.

6. When life is crazy, as it often does, I want to take my family and go somewhere all by ourselves, to see no one we know, hole up and just be together, and forget about the craziness. Anyone else feel this way? But then I think about how much work it would be to go away and I reconsider.

7. My new fabulous washer and dryer wash and dry clothes faster than I can fold them and put them away. This is not a new problem - I had issues with this with the old machines. There needs to be a folder-putter-awayer machine. Can I get an Amen?

More Music

I went to BSF again this morning. What a challenge, what a needed blessing! It started out great, with all of us singing "Praise My Soul, the King of Heaven" and the blessing kept on going with our group discussion of Isaiah 6 - WOW. It was awesome. And then the lecture time blessed me again.

Thank you, Lord! You are holy, perfect, pure, righteous, full of power and glory - when I see You - even a tiny glimpse of your glory - it is in stark contrast to my sinfulness, I cry, with Isaiah, "WOE IS ME! I am lost!"

But you have cleansed me. Not with a burning coal, like Isaiah, but with Christ's blood, sacrificed because of your great love for me. Not because of anything I have done, but just because You are God and You love me. I have, because of Christ's atonement ONCE for ALL on the cross, been made WHOLE and CLEAN!

You ask, "who will serve me?" and I cannot hold back - I burst out, "OOH, ooh!" I say, "pick ME!"

And then, I am busy serving, busy doing, and so quickly I forget how bright Your glory is. How easily my eyes turn from you to look on myself. My comforts have been interrupted, my ideals crushed, my expectations flattened. I am sleepless and indignant over injustice. I feel without hope because I have forgotten Your glory. I forget that You call people to serve You faithfully, and that sometimes it will feel thankless, fruitless, futile, and most of all, hard. I have forgotten that it's not about any of those things, but it is about YOU and YOUR glory.

Lord, help me see You. Help me praise You. Help me serve You. You are the King of Heaven, You have not left your throne. You are robed in glory, You are splendid, You have been and will continue to be victorious. You are God.

Praise My Soul, the King of Heaven
Henry F Lyte, public domain.

Praise, my soul, the King of heaven;
To his feet your tribute bring;
Ransomed, healed, restored, forgiven,
Evermore His praises sing;
Alleluia, alleluia!
Praise the everlasting King.

Praise Him for His grace and favor
To His people in distress;
Praise Him still the same as ever,
Slow to chide, and swift to bless:
Alleluia, alleluia!
Glorious in His faithfulness.

Father like He tends and spares us;
Well our feeble frame He knows;
In His hand He gently bears us,
Rescues us from all our foes.
Alleluia, alleluia!
Widely yet His mercy flows.

Angels, help us to adore Him;
You behold Him face to face;
Sun and moon, bow down before Him,
All who dwell in time and space.
Alleluia, alleluia!
Praise with us the God of grace.

It's a Monday Miracle!

Aaron finally let me tape him singing - and he didn't SCREAM the words, he just sang in his adorable little 4 year old voice! I love the little hop in the strangely appropriate (lyrically) place. This little boy is growing up - and I love him!! Thank you, Jesus for this gift of motherhood and for the gift described in Aaron's song.




The Gospel Song
Holy God in love became
Perfect Man to bear my blame
On the cross He took my sin
By His death I live again

Speak, O Lord

If you haven't heard this one yet, check it out here. (he talks first - try starting around 50 seconds)

Speak, O Lord, as we come to You
To receive the food of Your holy word
Take Your truth, plant it deep in us
Shape and fashion us in Your likeness
That the light of Christ might be seen today
In our acts of love and our deeds of faith
Speak, O Lord, and fulfill in us
All your purposes for Your glory

Teach us Lord full obedience
Holy reverence, true humility
Test our thoughts and our attitudes
In the radiance of Your purity
Cause our faith to rise; Cause our eyes to see
Your majestic love and authority
Words of power that can never fail
Let their truth prevail over unbelief

Speak, O Lord, and renew our minds
Help us grasp the heights of Your plans for us
Truths unchanged from the dawn of time
That will echo down through eternity
And by grace we’ll stand on Your promises
And by faith we’ll walk as You walk with us
Speak, O Lord, as Your church is built
And the earth is filled with Your glory

Copyright © 2005 Thankyou Music

and it begins

The littlest Muth is starting to assert himself. We were laughing pretty hard at Evan's little faces, but we did let him know he cannot tell us what to do.

Bedtime Routine

Here's a hilarious version of our bedtime singing. Evan climbs in bed with Aaron and we do some singing before schlepping him off to his own bed. Of course, as soon as the camera came out, Aaron's singing became obnoxious! At times it sounds like he's singing harmony, ha ha. If you watch Evan, he's trying to sing along. So cute!

winner, winner....but no chicken dinner

Congratulations to Marybeth! She wins a free drink of her choice - woo hoo! Thanks to all who participated in my giveaway!

Gluten Free Meatballs

I tried a new recipe for our freezer yesterday - meatballs. Now, prior to being gluten free, I'd make meatballs occasionally - once every 4-5 months or so, but after, not so much. I was nervous about making meatballs without my old familiar add ins that all contained gluten.

Then I found this recipe and suddenly there was nothing I wanted MORE than meatballs, except possibly meatLOAF but I think this could be adapted. It's crazy what you miss, let me tell you.

Anyway, I followed this basic recipe, but instead of adding parsely, basil, and oregano, I added 1T of that dried minced onion, just to make it more versatile later. I baked them, and froze a bunch then Michael and I snacked on a few leftovers. I'm excited to have a quick throw together on a busy night in the future.

Cute Little Cuteness

I love Etsy. LOVE it. This week I bought some salted caramel samples (made from grass-fed, organic ingredients, be still my taste buds) and a gift for a friend expecting a girl.

You've checked out Shyla's Brown Eyed Girlies shop, right? Just so happens I was over there last week to buy my friend's gift, and then again today (bought some covered hairpins for myself) and Shyla has a ton of new fun things. It's *almost* enough to make me wish I had a little girl, but I'm happy enough to have a niece to buy cute little things for!

So...do me a favor and go check this shop out, ok? If you feel that you need to purchase something, Shyla's got a deal going just for my readers - FREE SHIPPING! Woo hoo! :-) Just put "MUTH" in the message to seller and wait for the corrected invoice before you pay. What a deal, right??

As an added bonus, you'll be helping Shyla save up for her kitchen remodel, and you'll be helping me earn a discount on my next order - win/win for everyone!!

What are you still here for?? Go see the goods!!

Happy Fall Giveaway!

There are few things that give me enjoyment like a really delicious hot beverage. Especially this time of year, I'm really, really happy to drink a warm, comforting beverage. Hot tea, cider, coffee, chai, cocoa - it's all fair game to me!

Have you tried a salted caramel hot cocoa, ever? *bucks is my friend on this one. Hot cocoa, with whipped cream on top, caramel drizzle, and the best part - sea salt & raw sugar garnish. Oh, salty-sweet goodness. I have had a grand total of TWO short soy versions this fall thus far. I try to limit it to shorts due to the soy content plus, you know, it's a treat. It doesn't have to be a venti treat. :-) I suppose I could take my own raw milk for *bucks to use in the drink, but that seems to be a lot of trouble. Maybe if I visited every day. But my wallet will not allow that luxury. Nor would it be a prudent use of wallet contents, even if it DID allow.

And then of course there is a double-tall soy pumpkin spice latte, which I drank this morning. Good thing, too - I needed that extra shot of expresso to get me through the fateful trip to Dollar General for some fabric softener. DISASTER!

But I digress. This past April, I registered a *bucks gift card online. If you haven't checked out the pretty sweet rewards program, you definitely need to. I benefit from free soy milk for those occasional stops - usually it costs 50 extra cents, so it is worth it just for that - but there are other benefits too! Free drink on your birthday, and free drink every time you buy 15, etc. SOOO, I want to share!

I just got my free drink postcard in the mail and want to pass it on to one of you - all you have to do is comment on this post and let me know what you would order if you could get anything from *bucks, and what your favorite thing about fall is.

I'll go ahead and pick a winner on Friday. Unfortunately, the coupon is only valid at US stores, but it doesn't expire until December 14th, so if you will be able to use this by then and you're not in the US, feel free to enter!

Kiddo Update

We had a height/weight checkup for the kids the other day, and I was delighted to find that our boys are healthy and doing great! Praise the LORD for healthy kids. God is gracious to us - we are blessed indeed.

Evan had grown quite a bit in the last 6 months! At 2 years and a little bit, he's weighing in at 25lbs 4 oz and is 33 inches tall. He's really taking off in his speech and amazes me daily with his BUSY play, silliness and joking. I don't remember much about Aaron at this time - probably because I had a brand new baby which equaled sleep deprivation, and Aaron talked MUCH earlier so the progress wasn't as obvious at 2. Love our sweet-natured littlest boy!

Aaron weighs, at 4 years and a little bit, 36lbs 4 oz and is 41 inches tall - and is quite the kid. He cracks us up all the time with his facial expressions and "explanations" of things as well as his tall tales (we are working on making sure he remembers what he made up and what really happened!) He can count to 20 in English, and by 10's to 100 (thanks to a song tape), 10 in Spanish (with a little help) and is starting to grasp beginning reading concepts. We are looking forward to beginning K4 at our house in just a couple weeks! Aaron is really enjoying his second year of Cubbies and his 4 &5 year old class at Bible Study Fellowship.

What a privilege to have these two boys in our family. They teach me so much about myself (sinful) and my God (holy, just, loving, full of grace, ETC.). I'm so grateful!

a wink, a grin, and a thumbs up

Today I was driving down the road and saw a perfectly good (although a tad soggy from last night's rainstorm) pallet sitting there on the side of the road waiting for big trash pickup. NORMALLY it wouldn't even cross my radar, but since a friend introduced me to Ana White and her fantastic projects, pallets have new value and worth.

The pallet I got will have to dry out in the garage for awhile, so no project for me for awhile (whew! I can decide what to make!) but the real story was in what happened while I was loading it.

I was in traffic, so I put on my emergency flashers and opened the van hatch. An older lady (probably in her 70's) was hesitant to pull around me so she waited while other cars went whizzing by. I felt pretty bad, so I was hurrying. I grabbed that pallet and stuck it in the back of the van and turned to wave at her in thanks. She grinned, winked, and gave me a thumbs up. I imagined that she was happy that I was saving something that was worth saving - who knows if that was what she was thinking or not.

Either way, it totally made my day.

Before & After

I got the Facebook album done! Michael has been wanting to use our "before" pictures as a guide and take "after" photos from the same angle and position. So we did that last night after the appraiser left - probably the only time our home will be this clutter free, unfortunately. So for those of you without Facebook, here's the link to the album! Before & After

blessings!

I thought I'd update on the house refinance situation. Hoping this week for an appraisal (or maybe early next week?) but all looks well on the refinancing front! We've been pre-approved pending our appraisal.

Michael and I went to the bank last week to talk to the loan officer, and it looks like we will be paying 2.2% less on our mortgage, plus losing our PMI, plus getting a new kitchen complete with new energy efficient appliances all for the same monthly payment - now, granted, we will OWE more, but our monthly costs are projected to stay the same and (hopefully) go down! I was just looking at our energy bill today and wondering how much of a difference energy efficient appliances will make.

I'm so humbled that God has led us along - we are so blessed. And when I think of how far our little house has come? WHOA. It was so sad when we bought it - and I can look around and remember how HE provided many of the materials that we've used to renovate, some from generous friends, other from jobs that Michael has been able to salvage materials from. HE has provided funds, HE has helped us to be patient in waiting for His timing. And in the past month, we've even been able to spruce up things and decorate! I am honestly moved to tears at His incredible gifts, and I couldn't wait to share with you.

I'll be uploading some way, way before pictures to Facebook soon along with the "after" pictures, but you can get an idea from this long-ago-posted slide show. I smile when I see what the "currently" in the slides looks like - four years ago! I will probably wait to do that FB album as we have a very busy week this week! Please pray for our youth group - having a special evangelistic emphasis week - pray that God would see fit to use us and the teens to reach out to others and to consider and reconsider what God's plan is for us.

BSF also starts this week - I'm so SO excited! And I have about 1/2 bushel of tomatoes and a dozen green bell peppers sitting on my dining room table waiting for me - and windows calling my name to be washed, and floors, and preparations for this week....WHEW! I've typed too long already!!

What are YOUR blessings this week?

Hello Kitty must have grown up Baptist

Aaron woke early this morning, and as we sat on the sofa, snuggling, he was also playing with a Hello Kitty plush key chain that I'd picked up in college at some point and unearthed in the massive decluttering going on around here. The exchange went something like this:

A, as HK, to me: "Hey, wanna watch my dance?"
J: Sure!
(A proceeds to dance HK for a few seconds)
HK, frantic and panicked: "I can't dance! Nobody gave me any rhythm!"

Somehow, I can completely and totally identify.

Happy Wednesday, everybody!!

Kiddo Art

Modern/abstract art can be tricky. On the one hand, it can look kinda (super) cool. On the other hand, sometimes you are thinking things along the lines of "Really?? Someone believed this guy was an artist???" More like I wish someone would pay me to produce art like that.

So, about 6 months ago, during one of Evan's naps, I got out my watercolors - my good ones from back when I actually made time to paint - and sat down at the table with Aaron. For the first couple of paintings, I was a mean mom and restricted him to a few colors - I had a plan - and then I let him go to town on his own once I had a few paintings I really liked.

Yesterday, I framed them in frames I found at Walm*rt for $2.50 and did a little grouping on his wall. The funniest part is that he didn't even remember painting them, but he thought they were super cool.


What's that? You wanna see them up close?? I knew it.











You know, in theory I despise Walm*rt. In nice-sounding theories, I shop only at locally owned businesses, eat only locally grown produce, and would never dream of darkening the door of any mass merchant. I love the idea of community, of cooperation, of reduction of travel-related environmental and big box economical consequences. In practice? I go there. More often than I want to admit. And I eat bananas, and pineapple, and lots of other delicious fruit and vegetables, mid winter. Not grown in Michigan, last I checked.

Really it boils down to my priorities. And right now, my priority to provide my family with a cozy place to call home and delicious food is taking over my nice-sounding theories, and that is okay for me. Honestly, I can't tell you how thrilled I am that this group of awesome paintings from a very local artist cost a grand total of $7.50, framed. Oh, BTW, I know his bed is a wreck. He is very particular about the blanket/pillow placement and I don't care enough to fix it. Posterity photos, you know.

Hopefully next week, I'll be posting pictures of our bedroom makeover, and living room spruce-up, also crafted from mass merchant goods, and costing far less than I ever could have dreamed.

When Aaron is famous, I promise to frame his art in locally crafted frames. Maybe I can even talk my resident carpenter into making them. Even better.

Clean

So yesterday, our youngest had his poop escapade. Hopefully that is enough for him for LIFE. Somehow he ended up out of his crib, surrounded by blankets and poop and a very clean dry diaper. I'm not sure if he climbed out, disrobed, fell asleep, and woke up dirty, or if he woke up, climbed out, disrobed, and relieved himself. I kinda think it was the first situation, which only makes it slightly better.

Either way, we ended up calling a friend of ours from church who cleans carpets for a suggestion on how to neutralize the problem, and he ended up cleaning the carpet for us in both boys rooms. He is a total lifesaver. Well, sanity-smell-cleanliness-home appraisal saver. It was time for a cleaning regardless - off white carpet and 2 small boys do not a clean carpet make, and it has been in for at least 2 years. And the carpet was used when we put it in.

Thankfully for YOU, I didn't get before shots. But the after?? WOW. Isn't it nice???