Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Closing Time!!!

We close today on our house.  Let the mayhem begin! The walk-through is at ten, and then we will zip over to the closing agent and sign about a zillion papers and then it will be all done! My mom is here this week to help with packing and watching the girls, cleaning the house, etc.... and I am SO thankful!!!
Once the house is ours, we will start with the floors- sanding, staining, sealing; then the walls, and then our stuff.  And one day at a time, this old and tired house we start to shine again.

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

What a ham!



It didn't take her long to realize this would get a reaction from us every time.  She's quite a ham.

Monday, September 12, 2011

Big News...

We have some big, awesome, life changing news....








We bought a house!!

Like, for real this time!  As in, signed on the dotted line!  It's ours!  We close October 18th!


It's old, it's tired, it needs a lot of love.  A LOT.  And paint. LOTS of paint (any volunteers??).

I turned in the final paperwork this morning, and drove away in this weird state of almost crying almost throwing up- I mean, this is probably the biggest decision we have ever made as a married couple. And it is DEFINITELY the most money we have ever spent.   

But, we are excited.  Excited to get to work and transform this old, tired, neglected house into a place of beauty, rest, welcome, and LIFE.

And, excited to spend early fall mornings out here, tucked under a blanket, with a cup of something warm.




What?  Did you think I was going to say we were expecting again?  Come on!  Give a girl a break!

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Hellllooooo!

Sooooo, almost five (FIVE!!!) months ago I posted on Charlie's birthday. This is unacceptable!  So much has happened since then!! I'm not feeling guilty for my silence- anyone with littles running around understands how much of a success it is just to have dinner on the table and clothes washed on a regular basis.  But, I do feel sad since this little blog has been a sort of journal of the past 4 years of the Benson clan, and so many important things have gone undocumented!

That being said, I'm going to attempt to get a little caught up on what we've been up to the past few months. The next few posts will be oooooold news, so feel free to scroll through!  They're mostly for my benefit (and the grandparents'), anyways!!!




So we did celebrate when Charlotte turned 1.  We had some friends over for cake and partied down!  Henry, Charlotte's future bf, turned one just a few weeks before, and his bday party got canceled due to the poor little buddy getting sick, so we honored him, too.



As you can see, Abby was totally into the whole "party" thing.




Charlotte sort of picked at the cake for a while...

...before she grabbed it and started chowing down like it was a piece of corn on the cob!


It was so much fun celebrating her, our sweet, hilarious, cuddly, adventurous little girl!

Friday, March 11, 2011

One year

My favorite part of the hospital stay after having a baby is that first evening.  Visitors have gone home, the bustle of the maternity ward has settled a bit, lights are turned down, the nurses come in slowly and quietly and leave quickly, Mommy is (hopefully) showered and changed into comfy pj's, baby is swaddled and sleeping. Finally, FINALLY, I get her all to myself.
I remember that first night with Charlotte like it was just last night. I remember what it was like to look into the hospital bassinet and see her sleeping so soundly, belly full. I remember looking at her with wonder at who this new little one was going to become. I remember scooping her up, climbing into bed, and just holding her close.  Smelling her sweet baby skin. Heart full, so in love. Nothing needing to get done but enjoy her, know her, love her.


Happy Birthday sweet one.  How we have enjoyed you this past year!  And OH, the joys that are to come!

This is not a Keurig

This evening as I was straightening up the kitchen, I noticed something new on the counter.

Me: Andy, what is this?
Andy: Oh, that's that one-cup coffee maker you said you wanted.
Me: What?  When did I say that?
Andy: A few weeks ago, when I said that I didn't need the one-cup coffee maker at my office anymore, you said you wanted it.
Me: You mean, this coffee maker that is just like the one we already have on our counter, it just holds less water and fewer grounds and therefore a smaller cup of coffee...?
Andy: Well, you loved the Weymouth's Keurig so much, and it's basically the same thing- see, you don't even need a filter!
Me: But you still have to add water and grounds...
Andy: yeah...
Me: And you have to clean it out after each use..
Andy: yeah...
Me: And we would just stick it on the counter right next to our other, bigger, holds-enough-coffee-I-can-brew-one-pot-for-my-morning-AND-afternoon-fix-coffee maker?
Andy: yeah...

Me: This is not a Keurig.
Andy: No, guess not.

(And for the record, I have absoluetely NO memory of any sort of conversation asking for this coffee maker... hahaha.)

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

repentance and faith

If you are a mom, and you ever struggle with anger and repenting before your children, you should read this post.

repenting with my children

This is my favorite quote from the article: "I went to bed with a renewed confidence in God's ability to redeem the worst of what's in me and instead of ruining my kids with it (which is a life long fear of mine), actually use it for all of our good to transform us into His image. Thy Kingdom come, O Lord."


It really spoke to me today, to exactly where I am right now in my mothering.

I have heard it said so many times that all of life is a cycle of faith and repentance.  Faith, repentance, faith, repentance, faith....  It is the same with mothering.  All of my days look like this- sin against my children (at this point, Abby), repent, receive her forgiveness, sin again, repent, forgiveness... and it can all get so, so discouraging at times.  But God is so, so faithful, and is redeeming this mess of a mother, and is bringing forth so much fruit even in the middle of desert places.  I am humbled and thankful for His work.  Without His grace, this family would be doomed.  Really, I mean that.  Without His grace I know my children would grow up to resent me, or fear me, or... I don't know what!  But somehow, he brings beauty out of even our ugliest of days, and he is knitting us together. Oh how I need Him!  Thy Kingdom come, O Lord!

Thursday, February 24, 2011

And this girl...


This girl?


She's growing more beautiful every day.  


Inside and out.  



 I can hardly stand it, she is growing up way too fast, right before my eyes.  



Oh, that I could keep her my little girl forever!



Sweet Charlie

This girl


has stolen my heart


has filled our home with so much laughter


has made our family so much fuller


has wooed us with her smile


has won us over with her sweet demeanor


She has captured us all!

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Abbyisms

In an effort to get back into the habit of writing more regularly around here, I thought I would break my two month silence with a quote from the three-year-old.

We were playing around with paper towels and water tinted with food coloring this morning (way less messy than it sounds, I promise!), and after about an half an hour Abby's hands had a few spots of color on them.

Me: "Abby, we need to wash your hands, you have dye all over them"
Abby: "they died? on the cross?"
me: "no, what? no, Jesus died on the cross, and your hands have dye on them, see all the colors?  That's called 'dye,'  but not like when someone or something 'dies.'"
Abby: "Oh.  my hands died.  And Jesus has colors on dem."
me: "Ummmm, no. what??"

How do you explain the difference between "dye" and "die" to a three-year-old?