One Thing About Trenches...

They sure can be mucky.  Take, for example, the fact that my adorable baby boy pooped in the pool the other day.  Yes, he had a swim diaper on.  And swim trunks (just because they are cute).  And thank goodness for those two layers.  Chris brought him to the door so I could get him and clean him up - oh.my.goodness.  The entire inside of his swim shorts was soiled.  I suggested to Chris that maybe we should drain the pool (he had wanted to from the get-go) and then sanitize it (I love using peroxide and vinegar sprays - check out this article for more information - it's cheap and totally non-toxic!  Just make sure to use two separate spray bottles.).

So today we re-filled the pool and all went well.  Until bath time.  When Blake did his business in the tub.  With the other two in there with him.  And the toys.  Mega-ICK (I won't go into details).  So I drained the tub, got the naked kids out, sprayed all of the toys and the tub and the tub mat, scrubbed the tub, and started over.  *sigh*  And not 2 minutes after I got them out to clean up, Blake peed on the floor.  

Did I mention it was 7:00pm and we hadn't even had dinner yet?  

Some days are just like that.  At least now that it's over I can laugh about it.  

Random Update

Good grief, it's been a long time since I posted last.  This cannot continue - I must update with some regularity!  I am so behind with all of the updates.  I still need to post about the boys' 4th birthday, and Blake's last checkup, and many other things.  

I'll try to get to that, but for now I'll try to briefly highlight our goings on as of the last week or two:

*We think we found a new home church, right here in Corryton!  We feel very good about it, and we think maybe God led us here so we could become a part of this very special church.

*My parents visited this week, from Tuesday afternoon until Friday morning (they left before we got up - boohoo!).  They came here as part of a trip they were already taking to Virginia for a family reunion (which was today, and we missed it for a few different reasons).

*With extra hands and help, we got some more boxes unpacked, a couple of rooms worked on, and most of our garden is planted!  Yes, we started VERY late in the growing season, but warm weather lasts longer down here, so we should get something out of it, anyway.

*We celebrated the 4th by buying and setting off our own fireworks.  We did one batch when my parents were here, and then another one last night (Blake missed the first one entirely).  The big boys are in LOVE with fireworks (who can blame them?).  And the baby?  Not so much.  He lasted about 15 minutes, and then was crying and asking to go night-night. Maybe next year.

I haven't been very good about taking pictures lately, shame on me.  I need to get back into that habit.  I do have some that I need to post, and hopefully soon I'll get to a regular routine.  

We've been spending our time still trying to get the house organized and finish unpacking - it's going painstakingly slow since most of our time is spent caring for the little ones and just doing the daily stuff.  Not to mention all of the other projects we have to do (like putting up the shed, which is going to be a doozy!).  On top of that, we need to find (and go to) a dentist, doctor, pediatrician, dermatologist...all of that good stuff. 

Our first month here was a good one, despite the generous amounts of rain, mass quantities of bugs, and the poison ivy that Chris and I accidentally discovered was growing on the edges of our property.  We have wild blackberries (and a few of my personal favorite - black raspberries) all around here; we see wildlife and farm animals all the time, the scenery is awesome, the people are really friendly, and we love our house.  God has truly blessed us by bringing us here.  Yes, we miss our families, but we feel this is the right place for us for as long as God intends.  

Tennessee Showers Bring Big Puddles

We've been having a LOT of severe weather this week.  In fact, today is the only day that hasn't seen at least some rain.  Yesterday there was a severe storm (which we had to drive through, of course) which included high winds, pretty sizable hail, rain so hard we couldn't see, and lightning every couple of seconds.  There was a tree down at one point, so we had to turn around and go a different way.  Luckily we had the GPS to re-route us (I heart my TomTom).  Then we saw a power line down, which was pretty freaky.  And, of course, our power was out when we arrived home.  This makes the second time in the two weeks we've lived here.  Only yesterday it was out for about 5 hours (the first time was only an hour or so).  I was starting to get worried that all of our newly purchased grocery items would spoil.  But they didn't, and we managed fine.  

Chris was working for most of the day (except for when we had to pick up our van from the shop and return the rental car, which was when we went through the storm), and once he dropped us off the storm cleared and it started getting sunny out.  And hot.  

Our front section of property slopes down, and the bottom part kind of serves as a retention pond.  As such, it had collected quite a bit of rain water, and the boys saw it and asked if they could play in it after lunch.  So when the baby went down for his nap, I took the big boys out to frolic in our new redneck pool.  Observe:

And then the baby got up from his nap...

So I have concluded that the boys' new favorite toys are: sticks, rocks, dirt, mud puddles, and bugs.  Good thing we have plenty of all of them!

The Dinner Table

It is so great being a family again.  Having us all in close proximity much of the time is so bonding and...familial.  I think my favorite thing now is having all of our meals together at the table.  Granted, we need a bigger table (or at least a couple more chairs - our table does have a leaf).  But it is so awesome just dialoguing with the kids at every meal.  They are learning patience, manners, good eating habits, and we just laugh a lot at the silliness.  

My wonderful husband always makes sure to thank me for preparing the meal and makes sure the boys thank me too - what a wonderful display of affection and consideration for my efforts!  He has also starting requiring that the big boys ask (nicely) to be excused from the table when they are finished.  They ask a lot, and it gives us teaching opportunities when we explain why sometimes they must remain at the table.  Blake has started trying (and eating, in some cases) different foods, because he sees the rest of us eating them with relish.  

Tonight we had dinner by candlelight, because we had a storm pass through and it blew a transformer nearby.  It was actually fun - the boys loved all of the candles (they had baths by candlelight too), and we talked about all of the things we could not do with the power out (like COOK - we had turkey sandwiches).  The interaction we have been having this past week has been sorely missed.  I can't even tell you how many times George has said - "I'm so glad to be back with you.  We were apart for a long, LONG time."  It melts my heart.  And to see the boys with their daddy again...it is worth more than gold.  

So I need to get on the ball now and start taking pictures.  That is one area in which I have severely slacked!  But I know how fast the time goes, and I need to be diligent about documenting as much as I can, because my brain is just not reliable about remembering.  So check back soon and often, and hopefully you will get to see something fun soon.  Now back to the many boxes, bags, and tubs waiting for me...