handsful

The home we’re renting is on Lake Norman in NC…our boat is docked right down from our house on a floating dock.  For however long we’re here, we’re enjoying it :) 

Backseat drivers. 

The girls usually have the front of the boat covered. 

Someone is having a good time :)

Lainey has been asking for quite some time (with encouragement from her siblings) to have her ears pierced.  Since Marley was 4 when she had hers done, I wanted to wait till Lainey’s birthday.  Well, we were at the mall last Friday and figured a week early would work :) 

We told her it would hurt a little, so she was aware.  She said “okay” without any obvious concern. 

Waiting…Payton let her watch a cartoon for distraction. 

We went to one place, and there was another little girl having hers done.  The kids said “Quick!  Get her out of here so she doesn’t hear that girl scream!!”.  The lady working there didn’t give me warm fuzzies anyway, so we found another place. 

Randy held her hands, while I manned the camera.  This was maybe a second before the dreaded “ka-click” sound. 

Did she scream?  Cry?  Whimper?  No.  Nothing.  The girl didn’t blink.  Didn’t flinch.  Randy said her hands didn’t even jump as he held them.  She’s a rock, our Lainey. 

As hard as I campaigned for the little diamond-like ones, she chose the blue :)

Sparkly blue earrings AND a lollipop?  Does it get better? 

Admiring her new look. 

We did have some drama the NEXT day.  We were sitting down to lunch after church and Lainey came up to me.  She motioned to her right ear and there was NO earring.  Yikes!  We did a quick search and found it.  Then, spent the next 15 years minutes trying to get it put back in.  It would go in about 3/4 of the way and then didn’t budge.  We called the store and they said to aim it at the back hole (which was extremely hard to see!) and push fairly hard.  So, after Randy and I each took turns trying, Randy managed to get it through.  There were definite tears this time around, but she was so brave to let us work on her so long. 

One part was funny, though.  I’m in desperate need of an appointment with an eye doctor.  My close up vision is quickly going down hill, so when it was my turn, Randy stuck his reading glasses on me!  Ah, growing older is such fun. 

Happy almost 4th birthday, Lainey Q!

Whew.  Last week was busy.  Fun, and not so fun busy. 

It started with my flight to NJ, for my grandmom’s funeral.  It was odd to be there, knowing she wasn’t with us anymore.  I’m glad I was able to make the trip for my mom.  And, we’re just thankful that she’s out of pain and with her Lord. 

While I was at the funeral, Randy was driving the kids up to Florida.  We had this trip planned for some time…the kids were registered for a youth conference at church called Out2B.  Mornings of amazing biblical teaching by Charles Covington, afternoons of service to the community, evenings of fun and little sleep.  They were jazzed about going. 

I literally flew in to NJ, went to the funeral, and flew out – so I was at the Jax airport that same evening and Randy picked me up from the airport.  The kids were farmed out to various friends houses and Randy, Lainey and I stayed at a hotel. 

Church the next morning was wonderful…how we missed our friends!  That night, we stayed at our dear friends Jon and Anne’s house (some of the kids again farmed out to friends homes). 

The next morning, Anne took Randy to the airport.  He was due to be in Vegas Mon – Wednesday.  I took Marley and Anne’s girls to drop them off at Out2B. 

The next few days were relaxed and pretty laid back.  Lainey and I spent our days hanging out at Anne’ s house playing with the “zoo” (check out her blog on the sidebar – Life is a Zoo).  We also went by the old house to go through stuff we left in the garage…did some cleaning, took some things to charity, etc. 

Wondering where the pictures are yet?  I took almost NO pictures.  Just never got the camera out.  Until, Anne decided it was time to teach Lainey to swim.  She’d been telling me that she’d be thrilled to teach her – she taught her own girls and is fabulous with Lainey.  So, off with the floaties and…

no fear, trusting completely.

she listened intently.

Learning to walk the wall…

having a blast

and, in no time at all, she was off!

swimming underwater like she’d been doing it for years.  She’s not entirely sure what to do with her arms yet…usually gracefully holds them behind her, with her feet kicking like mad.  And, picking her big noggin up to get a breath is something she’s still working on.  But, Anne said she’s a “natural” and the easiest kid she’s ever taught to swim.  Ever.  Lainey couldn’t get enough of it.  So, as long as there is an adult supervising, she’s going no-floaties.  We’ll keep them for times when the big kids are with her down at the dock swimming in the lake.  I’m so proud of her! 

Before long, it was Wednesday and time to go to church for the end of Out2B banquet and to pick up the kids.  Charles spoke one more time to the kids, and the parents got to listen in.  He’s amazing.  Teaches Bible at a public (yes, PUBLIC) school in Mississippi.  The way he grabs the kids attention with hilarious stories that tie perfectly into his message on the Sermon on the Mount was incredible. 

So, I farmed the boys and Abbey out again (they wanted to spend AS MUCH time as possible with their friends) and Marley stayed with Lainey and I (her besties are Anne’s girls) at Anne’s house again.  Thursday morning, Jon went to the airport to pick up Randy (he had taken the red-eye so he could be back in Jax early) while I started packing us up.  We spent that day picking up a trailer to pull behind the truck, loading the trailer with items from our garage, adding more items from our rented storage rooms, and finally pulling out to head back to NC around 6:30ish.  Our intent was to drive until Randy got too tired and stay at a hotel…Randy had gotten VERY little sleep on the plane.  Turned out, he found his second wind and we arrived home at 1:20am. 

So, now you can see (if you’re still reading…) why I’m glad we’re now settling back down into our new-normal routine of living here in NC.  I’ve gotta go…more unpacking to do.  :)

My patio tomato plant that I have high hopes for. 

I love plants…I think they make a home look more fresh, and alive.  I have a few treasured ones that I’ve had for years.  My 3 african violets are still constant bloomers.  I have a baby spider plant that my sister-in-law gave me and it’s sprouting new baby fronds all over. 

The christmas cactus that I *think* I got from my mother-in-law actually wasn’t doing well at our old house.  So, I took some of the healthier looking pieces and I’ve rooted them in 2 pots.  Hoping they survive (so far so good).  I had two other large plants, don’t know the name, but they’re extremely easy to root from clippings, so I currently have one growing crazy roots in water on my kitchen counter. 

I remember doing a whole post on this clover plant.  We had wild clover growing behind our last, last house (we were there from ’01-’04) and I pulled up some to pot.  It’s always done well, and seems to LOVE it here.  It’s busting out all over the place!  And, see the aloe plant?  I used to have a huge aloe plant in a pot, and it got so big that it was actually dying.  One day, I noticed a little new sprig growing in the side of the container.  So, I pitched the big one and potted the sprig.  :)

There are some lovely plants in the yard of our rental house.  I was surprised and delighted to realize that there were 2 gardenia bushes at the front door.  They smell SO amazing. 

Don’t know what this is, but the leaves looked so pretty right after a rain shower. 

Caught this blooming in the backyard.  No idea what it is, but it’s pretty. 

There are lots more flowers at our rental house, I’ll have to take a few more pictures. 

While we’re back in Jax visiting, my plan is to bring back some of my other plants that didn’t fit in the truck the first time.  My lemon tree, small palm tree, and my geraniums.  Having my plants, especially the ones I’ve had forever, makes me feel more at home.

This morning I got the call that my grandmother in NJ passed away.  She had been sick for almost a month, enduring at least 2 heart attacks and a stroke.  Her body had had enough, and she let go.  She was 89 years old. 

The last time I saw my grandmother was in 2006, when we all flew up to NJ for her 85th birthday.  The picture above is when she came down to NC in 1998, to see the triplets after they were born. 

Since I’ve not seen her very much in my adult years, most of my memories of her are from my childhood.  Specifically during the summers that my mom and I would spend a week in NJ with her.  Spending a week in her huge house (it seemed huge to me), and always going to the NJ shore, were highlights of my summers.  She…

* loved my southern accent and showed it off to her friends

* had a room in her house full of plants and a 2-way radio that my cousin and I would play with, talking to “unknown” people.  We felt very mysterious. 

* made the most amazing display of Christmas cookies you’ve ever seen.  The ones with the silver ball sprinkles looked too pretty to eat. 

* had old copies of Miss America books that I would pour over. 

* took us to the beach everytime we visited.  I loved walking with her as she used her metal detector.  At the end of the day, we’d change out of our bathing suits under the Ocean City boardwalk. 

* lived in an old neighborhood (this was the house my mom grew up in), and we could walk around the corner to Del-Buono’s bakery.  I can almost smell it now.  If you’re ever in Haddon Heights, check it out. 

* had a crazy, loud laugh and was always joking around.  She seemed to always have the attitude that troubles were just “water off a duck’s back” to her. 

That’s how I remember her.  And, always will.  Goodbye Grandmom B.

Stands for “Dossier to China”…three little letters that I’ve been waiting to hear for a while now!  Our agency told us today that our dossier – the mounds of paperwork that we’ve been working on since mid February – was sent to China last Friday.  They should get it within 3-5 days.  A couple of weeks or so after that, we will be LID – which means China will have logged us into their system and will begin processing/reviewing our information.  

Our agency estimates travel within 4-6 months after LID.  We’re praying for the “4” side of that estimate.  While we wait, we’ll be doing MORE papework involving US immigration and an update to our home study (since we’ve had a move and job change since our last one).   

One milestone down, several more to go.  We’re coming, Dylan.

Mom…can we use a roll of toilet paper?  Lainey and I wanna do something. 

Uh…sure.  I guess.  Have fun :)