A New Chapter...

As I sit here, I'm crying, remembering all the hard work that we put into this house along the way. I'll back up - you see, we decided almost two weeks ago that we are ready to purchase a piece of property and sell our home. We have been dreaming of building our own home since before we got married - we have always said that we wanted to find the perfect piece of property, and when we walked onto it, we would just know if it was for us or not...just like we did with this house we have made a home.

When we were looking for homes 5 years ago, we had been to SO many places and none of them were even in the ball park of what we were looking for.  When we pulled into the driveway (we hadn't even gone over the ditch that leads up to the house yet), we looked at each other and said "this is it." Honestly, I know that sounds so crazy, but we just knew! We brought our parents out the following day and put an offer in the very same day. We knew it would take a lot of work - it was a foreclosure and we actually had to personally do a few things for the house to even pass inspection BEFORE we closed on it, so to say we poured our hearts and souls into this house is an understatement. It obviously could have used many other upgrades than the ones we have done to it, but we stripped all the walls, tore down walls to open up the eating area, kitchen, and living room, laid all new flooring throughout the house, rebuilt the stairs, stripped wallpaper off the kitchen and bathrooms, put in all new bathroom fixtures, painted the kitchen cabinets, put in a tankless water heater, all new air conditioning units (both upstairs and down), built a pantry, mudded, painted every square inch of the house, and so much more.

This was take the day we closed on the home - November 23, 2010

This is the back of the house - we had to add stairs coming off the back before we could close on the land.                     

I have been decluttering now for two weeks - I haven't shed one tear - We have taken away two car loads and a trailer load of JUNK out of this house, and I have not even felt bad about eliminating so much from here, but the minute I started painting today I became overwhelmed by seeing all the little ways we have made it ours - and all the nicks and scratches that I am painting over makes me feel like I'm painting over our memories. I know this sounds silly, but honestly, that's exactly how I feel right now.

Don't get me wrong, I'm excited (and a bit scared) of the new phase of life we are hopefully about to embark on, but I can't even begin to tell you how much I love this house. Is that even possible? I love that this was the first home we ever purchased together, I love that we brought both my babies home here for the first time, I love watching my boys run through the house screaming at the top of their lungs with glee, I love seeing their sweet handprints all over my walls, and noticing that the small dents in the nursery are from so many nights of rocking sweet babies while nursing, or falling asleep in the rocking chair, and trucks being plowed into it, I love the dirt and grime that cover my doors because my boys are covered from head to toe in mud practically every night we come in for baths (and sometimes even nap times!), I love my kitchen - the one that I said I hated when we moved in and begged my hubby to let me paint the cabinets white to make them my own, I love that we have used every square inch of this place for our growing family, and I love that we have enjoyed it SO VERY MUCH along the way. I'm going to miss this place. I can't believe it, but I am. I'm going to miss all the oaks that are so beautiful on our property, our blackberry bushes, and my rose bushes I have gotten each year for mothers day. I'm going to miss our garden (I know we will have others, but this was the first home we ever worked on one together). I'm going to miss the drive going through Oakland and Somerville every day to get home, and the roads that we have been walking so often for the past 5 years. I'm going to miss the sweet memories each room holds most of all - the cuddling we have done reading thousands of books, the movie nights in our living room each Sunday night, the big oak tree with the kids swings tied to it - because the swings go so much higher than the regular play fort we built. I'm just going to miss it here...

But, I say all that to say that I am so thankful the Lord has given us a peace about moving from here into our forever home. We are not sure yet what it looks like, but we are excited about the opportunity to build, the chance to make it "ours" again, and the memories that will flood that home as well. So while I'm a little sad right now, I know that these bitter sweet days are probably not quite over. I'm so glad that God is faithful ALL the time and we can lean on him to carry us through. I don't want to dwell on the sadness, but I do want to write it down and move on, so here I'm trying to do just that. I know it will hit me again, but I still have those sweet babies, I just might have to put their handprints on a page or two for now and put them in a book instead of on my walls :) Our one and only purpose on this earth is to glorify the Lord. I pray that I do just that every day of my life, and that our marriage is a reflection of Christ. I pray that we are able to see HIS hand in all things. And I pray that our children are stronger because they see it in us and desire the Lord's will in their lives as well. So as one chapter closes, another opens. We are unsure of exactly what that will look like right now, but we know that God is in control of so much more than we can ever imagine. Thankful He has it in His hands and not me.

Happy 4th Birthday Tucker

This guy turned 4 February 11th. This was the night before...he was excited it was the last night he went to bed as a three year old...

We added a few balloons for breakfast that morning so he could feel special. I LOVE making their birthday ALL ABOUT THEM. I tell them it's the only day of the year they get to make all the decisions about what they want to do, where they want to go, and what they want to eat. It's so fun making all over them and catering to their whims for the day.

 Breakfast was french toast, sausage, and a banana. Pretty sure he is the only kid who east ezekiel bread french toast and ASKS for vanilla for his dipping sauce. Love him!

We went to Sky Zone per our four year old's request. He had a great time, but their rules seem so over the top. I was excited to go, but they wouldn't even let us jump and play. I don't believe we will be back. Hate it because we wanted to play and enjoy it together, but they weren't very nice and I was HIGHLY disappointed...especially since Jonathan took 3 hours off work that day so that we could all go together. 

Jace on the other hand hated every second of it. He did not want to jump, and I couldn't hold him, so he just cried the entire time we were there. 

Mimi came and played with us and Poppa stopped by on the way to his next job, Tucker was excited to see him and glad Mimi could come with us! We went to Chick-fil-a after and had lunch. Mimi, the 4 of us, and Papaw came to eat. We had a good time. The boys were exhausted from playing so hard, so we went home and napped and then had a delicious breakfast for dinner. He had a super fun day and I'm so glad we have him in our lives to celebrate this sweet, wild, and crazy boy.

We introduced him to Legos (Jonathan has been wanting to introduce them to him since he was two...), he is IN LOVE and does so well putting them together. 

Tucker,

I'm so thankful for the opportunity to be your mom. While we have our tough days, I never forget what an amazing blessing you are from the Lord - You are fearfully and wonderfully made by God! I know that He chose you to be in our family, and I also believe the Lord has big things planned for your life. I'm thankful I get to spend every day with you and see how you are learning, growing, and developing into a little boy. This year the verses I have chosen to pray over your life are Joshua 1:9, "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid. Do not be discouraged for the lord your God will be with you wherever you go" and Philippians 1:6, "I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus."   I have been praying Luke 2:52 over the past year "And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature in favor with God and man." And I will continue to pray this prayer over you. I pray that over the next 30 years I will have the blessing to add to these scriptures over the years and see them played out in your life. We know that God's Word will not come back void, and His grace is sufficient for us! Praise the LORD! Tucker I'm so overwhelmed with my love for you and your brother. I am so glad I get the opportunity to see your firsts in life, to kiss your boo boos, and get those sweet hugs you love to give. You have a love for life - the outdoors seem to be your home, and you would stay outside as long as we let you. You are also fascinated with birds,  animal life, tractors, monster trucks, and you LOVE LOVE to be read to - I think it might be the only time you actually sit still! You are such a big helper - always willing to lend a helping hand and you are right by your daddy's side learning everything he does - like his mini me. I'm so proud of how sweet of a big brother you are and you are learning so well to manage the anger strikes when they come. I LOVE YOU so much and I'm so thankful for your life. Don't ever forget it!

Love you sweet boy! - Mom

Emmaline's Birthday & Tucker's first visit to the Dentist

These are just a few random photos from keeping nursery a few months ago. These two are big buds as well and we really enjoy getting to keep them! Jace is in a crib here because he eats...pretty much the entire time.

Tucker and Copper taking a boat ride with daddy...it was a VERY cold day! It was only because daddy had just gotten the boat, so they had to test it out!

We enjoyed getting to celebrate with Emmaline and friends at her birthday party in November. It was a pizza theme and it was adorable!

Everyone made their own pizza and mr mark cooked them for each kid to eat their own. 

Sweet birthday girl! Happy 4th Birthday Emma!

Tucker's first dentist visit. He did a great job! He was ok with them checking his teeth, cleaning them, and he did it all with a smile. This could have gone either way -- honestly, I figured he wouldn't even consider letting them touch inside his mouth, but he did, like a champ!

So proud of this sweet boy! Can't believe how QUICKLY he is growing up. I'm trying to take it all in, but it's just slipping away so quickly. Thankful for getting to be home with them every day. Sometimes it's hard to believe that they won't be little for long, but then I blink and it's another birthday passing us by.

Texas, January 2015

We went to Texas over New Years weekend. This is the third year we have had the opportunity to go. It was a fun time of fellowship with everyone.

On the way:

The day everyone else traveled down, we went to the mall to shop. We had a good time getting to visit with Mitchell's girlfriend, Allie. She was so sweet and I really enjoyed getting to know her.

Uncle Kenneth let Tucker go feed the horses with him and he had a ball. It was absolutely freezing...

A little visiting with family.

Sweet cousins...they had a good time playing together. This was before Uncle Steve's 60th birthday party. We went to it on Saturday and had a really good time getting to visit with everyone.

I got this great little blow up bed at Walmart before we left town and it was a AWESOME investment. I can't wait to use it again. He loved that he had his own bed and he slept so much better than he would have on the floor. 

On the way home Tim called and asked Jonathan if he wanted to meet him to hunt...so I dropped them off and I went on home with Jace. They had Tim drop him off at the Golding's to get his work truck and they came on home.

We had a great time getting to visit with everyone in Texas. Thankful we were able to enjoy time with them without being so rushed.

Christmas 2014

Let's start with Thanksgiving...Jonathan and the guys in the family went to Kansas to pheasant hunt together. This way they didn't have to take off extra time from work. They left Wednesday morning (so they only had to take off Wednesday). Jonathan's birthday was Wednesday so I was bummed that I didn't get to celebrate his birthday with him, but Kansas was exactly what he wanted for his birthday! 

I usually wait until Friday or Saturday after thanksgiving to decorate for Christmas (Per Jonathan's request), but since he wasn't here, we started decorating Wednesday morning. It took me and Tucker a bit of time to get this bad boy down and put together, but we did it! He was so proud to be my big helper that day...the man of the house! :) 

 

We also decorated a tree for his room. He was THRILLED to say the least!

I always pull the nativity out when we start decorating, so the boys loved getting to play with it this year. I am so glad they enjoy getting to play with it. It also keeps their hands off my nice nativity that I don't want broken...win win!

We went to Bellevue's Bethlehem walk through and the boys really enjoyed it. I didn't take many pictures because it was a quick moving and I was trying to keep up with these two!

First Baptist Somerville also had "A Night at Bethlehem" so we also decided to check it out. It was a neat little night, and they also had tours of beautiful homes in Somerville. It was a really fun night. It was A LOT later than we thought it would be because we did't realize that there were home tours, but it was really cool to see all the beautiful homes in Somerville.

Christmas Eve Eve, we did our family night. It was the only time we could fit it in, and I didn't want us to miss out on our time because we were too busy. We read the Christmas Story, talked about it, at dinner, opened presents, and watched a Christmas movie. It was such a fun night. We did this two years ago and it's actually want started our family nights on Sundays. Love making precious memories with these boys.

Christmas Eve we had lunch at Nana and Pop's (the Walkers), and we had planned to go to church, but since the boys missed naps because of lunch, we drove around until they woke up, so we missed church that night. It was also the only night that we could all get together as the Golding family, so we had dinner after church and our share time, then gifts. It was really fun. Love having the share time with everyone each year. 

These are the only pictures I have from that night. I had taken over 150 pictures, but Jonathan purchased me a new phone at lunch, so when I got home, he decided to help me get it all changed over, and by doing that, it erased all our pictures from that night. I was SO sad, but what are you going to do? It's ok, life happens, I just don't have many pictures from Christmas Eve!

Christmas morning, we got up and enjoyed gifts, had a big breakfast, and then got ready for the day.

Very little sleep here...We went to bed around midnight or a little after and Tucker was up around 4am. We put him in our bed and I went ahead and got a shower so we would be faster getting ready after breakfast.

Sweet boys on the stairs before walking into the den for presents...

We made the boys workshops for their big Christmas gift from us. We thought they would enjoy it. We actually gave real tools for Tucker, and a few play ones for Jace. They enjoyed playing with it a lot. Jonathan did an awesome job putting them together. 

Tucker also got a BB gun, and yes, I know he is not even 4 here, but he has been shooting guns since he could walk. We aren't idiots, we just have a lot of hunting and shooting going on around here, and we want him to know gun safety, so his daddy has taken this as a way to allow him to shoot while he does, but also learn about them. He LOVES spending his time outside with daddy, and I know they will put this to good use. He won't be using it without Jonathan being in complete supervision.

We had brunch at the Gilland's at 11. The boys were so tired they actually fell asleep on the way!

After brunch we went home to nap, and then back to the Clarks (Austin and Ashley's new house), and enjoyed Christmas festivities with the Whitesides side of the family.

Here are a few other Pre-Christmas Festivities we did as well....We spent one of our family nights watching the Singing Christmas Tree Life with Bellevue. The boys really loved it. Think they would have loved going in person, but we didn't get tickets and we weren't sure about if they would sit still or not for 2-3 hours!

We took a photo with Santa at Bass Pro. The boys love any opportunity to get in the door there - they are a bit like their daddy... :) 

I think we started a new tradition this year. We drove to Mumford and looked at Christmas Lights at a place called Christmas City at the Rose of Sharon Camp.

We attempted to make hand print ornaments, but they wouldn't dry. They sat out for over a week, and were still wet, so I gave it up and threw them out...maybe next year!

We had dinner with all the Gilland's on the Friday after Christmas. Lots of Great-Grands there.