Making It His Own

Since moving into our New Old House, we're slowly trying to regain some of our family identity and routines. One of the things we like to do is memorize Bible verses together. We all learn the same verse and we say it everyday until everyone has it memorized.

One day in July, Caleb came down to the kitchen after doing his Hand chores (more on that later) and said,

Caleb: Mom, I have my own Bible verse.

Me: Okay, son, tell me what it is.

Then I grabbed a piece of paper because I could tell by the look in his eye, this was going to be good.


Caleb: "You can love, don't do bad things. Kiss everyone you like and if you want to love someone you like, you can. You can do everything you like that is good."



Words to live by . . . From the mouths of babes . . . A child shall lead them . . .

or

Just plain HILARIOUS!!!!

Once Upon a Move-In: Day 2

There are few things in life as unsettling as the first day after moving into a new house. I thought that would remain true for moving into the New Old House. However, I was wrong. Even more unsettling was Day 2.

Things started out as blissful as ever with Lydia's get-me-out-of-this-bed-because-all-I-can-see are-towering-boxes cry at 6:00 a.m. And I'm extremely disgruntled to remember that the coffee maker still was yet to be found. Both Mark and I remember putting it into a box that we were going to plan to open right away. (If you can tell me how many different tenses of verbs I used in that sentence and why they are grammatically incorrect, I'll give you a prize.) But that was sooooo long ago, that neither of us remember where the ever-important OPEN FIRST box is.

So Day 2 also starts out with no coffee, but we did have apple juice for the kiddos thanks to a very quick trip to the grocery store in between the puking adventures of Day 1. So I'm slowly, groggily trying to round up some breakfast for the hungry children. I get the apple juice out of the fridge and start to pore glasses. I feel a drip, a small splash. In my over-exhausted, non-caffeinated morning did I somehow splash juice on myself? A quick glance to the counter confirms that No, I have not spilled juice. The drip is coming from directly above me.

Something my son said 90 seconds ago is starting to register.

"Mommy, the toilet didn't work up there."

No. NO, NO, NO, NO, NO . . .

I look up and where I should be feasting my eyes on freshly dry walled and painted ceiling accented by our 12 new can lights, there is now a steady stream of "water" flowing down through the can lights and hitting me on the head! (But of course when a person looks up, the "water" hits them in the EYE! )

No longer groggy, I throw the baby into Claire's arms and run upstairs. What I find in the bathroom drops my spirit into a deep, deep abyss. The only thing I can say is No. No, No, No, No No. And I keep repeating it over and over.

The bathroom is covered in almost 2 inches of toilet water that had very recently (98 seconds ago) been contaminated with Diarrhea. Now, I'm sorry for writing that word here on this blog. It's such an ugly, vile word most people won't even say it without looking a little squeamish and ducking their chin down a little. But I promise there is no better place to actually say the word than in the ugly, vile context of my flooded bathroom.

So the Diarrhea toilet water has flooded the bathroom, has leaked down through our brand new ceiling and lights and the toilet is still running!!!!!!

Jody does not do gross stuff. She just doesn't. Mark handles gross stuff like he's been doing it all his life because . . .well, . . . he's been doing it all his life! He grew up on a farm where he had to do gross stuff and then we got married, and all the gross stuff that happened in our house, he did that too! He's such a wonderful, thoughtful, masculine, hero type of guy! But my hero who does all the gross stuff was on the farm.

It was just me with the four, wide-eyed children, and the running diarrhea water, and the nasty, gross, smelly, vile bathroom floor.

I actually had to STEP IN THE WATER to reach the toilet to turn the water off. What I wanted to do was crawl into my closet, gather my little children around me and just wait until Mark could come take care of it. (Example)

But I didn't. I stepped in contaminated, Diarrhea-infested water and waded my way to the valve at the back of the toilet. Then I dropped to my knees and began pulling every towel we own out of boxes to start soaking up the nastiness. Without rubber gloves!

That was Day 2. I can remember nothing else of the day besides cleaning, scrubbing, and sanitizing the bathroom. Day 2/Diarrhea Toilet Water Flooding my Bathroom will remain in my memory for a long, long time.

Wait for it

Wait for it . . .

You know the thing I've learned while cruising around this photography business for a few years now, is that a lot of people don't call themselves Child Photographers. Even fewer really LIKE to take pictures of kids.


You see, kids don't stay still, stuff runs out of their noses, they cry at random moments. Some throw a tantrum if Mom walks out of the room. Other's lose their religion if Mom walks into the room.

If you say, "Smile" they make a scrunched up nose, squinty eyes face that shows all of their teeth.


If you say, "Don't smile." All kids under the age of 10 will smile, but all those above the age of 10 really won't smile again for the whole shoot because they're philosophically rebuffed that you tried to treat them like a child.

So my MO for child photography is: follow the child around, suggest lots of normal things for them to do, lots of whacky things for them to do and keep them talking.

And if you're taking pictures of any child under 1 you just have to wait for it.

Wait for it . . .
(click, click, click)Wait for it . . .

(click, click)

Wait for it . . .

(click, click, wipe runny nose, click)


There it is!
Lydia, 8 months

LifeSavers: Old, Rusty, Dirty Nail

It had to happen sooner or later. A little farm flesh wound. But in fact, it happened yesterday.

Mark put his foot half way through a 3 inch nail.

Ouch! Ouch! Ouch! Ouch! Ouch!

Pray for quick healing and wisdom.

Once Upon a Move-In: Day 1

Did I ever tell you that the 1st full day in our new house my kids started throwing up?

Yep. Not a single box was emptied, there was no food in the house, plaster dust coated every horizontal surface and the coffee pot had not yet been found.

Did you hear me? Their was NO COFFEE IN THE HOUSE! On the bright side, we did have plumbing! And its a good thing because 10 minutes after we all woke up the first vomit hit the floor.

I'll tell you what, I have never in my life been so thankful for leather furniture. Bodily fluids just wipe right off! Amazing! And who really cares about the floor anyway. The vomit and dust sorta made a nice paste . . . . I know. Too much info, but we've got to keep it light around here.

So that was day 1 of the great New Old House Move-In.

Positives:

1. Leather Couches
2. A place to call Home

Negatives:

1. No coffee
2. Vomit
3. Lots of Vomit
4. No food
5. No internet

Once Upon a Move-In : D Day

The day did finally come! After 9 months of not being in our own Home, Move-In Day arrived! The Robinson's Moved into a New Old house.

And while you know I am a redneck at heart, I'm proud to say that the mattress did not stay on my porch overnight. See I have some class. I have my limits.

So while the big, strong men were lifting all the heavy stuff that had been sitting/rotting/waiting in storage for 9 months, the women-folk were also busy.


This is my wonderful, ever-so-helpful Aunt, and two of my wonderful, ever-so-helpful sisters-in-law. They are scrubbing the dirt, plaster, drywall mud, and paint spots off the floor in Claire's room. I believe they changed the water in the buckets 12 times. It was that dirty.


When I say women folk, I use the term loosely. No! I don't mean the women-folk are loose, but that I was not scrubbing floors. I was really busy carrying the baby around and taking pictures at the same time and telling people what to do--I mean, where to put things.

But then I got out the baby seat so I could take pictures and tell people what to do more effectively. The following picture just blesses my heart.

There's Mark, building an island in our newly remodeled and expanded kitchen. Lydia is trying to be entertained with the portable baby lawn chair. And the big kids are helping themselves to juice boxes from the fridge. While we had no other food in the house, save left over ketchup packets from McDonalds, juice boxes and water bottles flowed freely.

Back in our old life in our old house, the children did not have refrigerator privileges. They couldn't just get something out of it whenever they wanted. I had standards and strong feelings and beliefs that a child shouldn't drink more than 8 oz of juice a day. My, my, my how things have changed . . . now those little blessings on legs just help themselves like they've been doin' it all their lives!

Oh, and see those boxes on top of the cabinets? Still looks like that today. Who has time to unpack china?

And while you're at it, take time to really study the picture.

Corner cabinet door. Shall we say, askew?

Blast from the Past: Fast Forward

Way back in Texas, I had a great friend named Kendra. Like me, she has 4 children, but she did hers within 5 years instead of 7 years. We met one Sunday at church and became instant friends. She was originally from the Midwest, we both loved sweet corn and the babyGap, and we each had a small mob of children.

Our fun times consisted of running errands together with all 7 children, exploring the local free entertainment like parades and community parties, and staying up WAY TO LATE playing Settlers of Catan after the kids were in bed. Oh, and going to the babyGap with all 7 children. They knew us by name, and I think they knew all the names of our kids, too!

Anyway, a couple years ago Kendra and family moved back to the Midwest and it was a VERY SAD time of my life and hers! The good news is now that we moved back to the Midwest! We live in the middle of Nowhere, Illinois and they live in the middle of Nowhere, Indiana! (Actually, she lives in a decent sized city of like 300,000 people!, but because it doesn't have the 6 million people of the Dallas metroplex AND there's only 1 Gap, she feels like it's a small town.)

So when our family decided to take a break from the New Old House and go on vacation we thought visiting Kendra and Co. would be great! It may surprise you how long it takes to get from Nowhere, IL to Nowhere, IN! Our short 6 hour drive turned into a very L-O-N-G 9 hour drive. How did we ever drive from Texas?!!

But once we got there we had the best time! It just feels wonderful to be with old friends! Comfortable, easy, fun. Sort of like a good, broken in pair of pajama pants. Know what I mean?

And this is how her beautiful little toddlers look now that they are gorgeous little kids:


Baby B
Rae-Rae

Claire's kindred spirit friend

And who could forget Miss Personality


Now, Kendra will probably kill me because I posted these pictures before she even got to see them. But I promise, they're coming soon, Kendra! I just have to paint the bathroom, unpack 17 boxes, clean out the Homeschool room, put up some pictures on my empty walls, fold laundry, make dinner, mow the yard, and play with my kids. But they're coming. I promise.

Starting from Here

I figure there's no way to really go back. Even though I have lovely, funny, make you cry and make you laugh stories surrounding move-in and our vacation (both which involve a lot of vomit and the big D), I figure there's really no way to go back and tell them all to you. Someday I'll start a series entitled, "Once Upon a Move-in . . ." just to give you random glimpses into the past two months. So for now we're starting from here.

Here.

The now. Well, okay, the last night. Last night we had friends over.

Real friends, non-family, people with their 3 children. I cooked dinner, we made blueberry pies together and it felt so nice to do something we once used to do a lot of. Right after they arrived, I asked my son to get me a mixing bowl out of the cabinet. He turned and turned and turned the lazy susan cabinet around and around saying he couldn't see one. The truth is there are probably 15 different bowls in that cabinet. Glass, plastic, stainless steel, bowls with lids, bowls without lids and even a punch bowl. I just needed a bowl, any bowl.

So I asked him to stop turning and start looking. Then I said, "Right there. That will work." To which he replied, "Oh! You mean the throw-up bowl!".

Mortification.

"Son, how 'bout we use a different bowl."