Thoughts on moving

9 years ago (as of August) we moved into our house completely penniless and unaware of the decision we just signed agreement to. I remember our realtor mentioning the presence of our neighbors dogs which we just shrugged off. He mentioned the school district (ours is considered "troubled" I'd say) but we were not even pregnant with Jaedon yet so again we just shrugged off the concern. We were thinking we MIGHT be in our house for 3-5 years.

Considering the plan to add one more child to our rather box-like and smallish house has sent me into panic mode a bit these past few months. I mean- our kids are NOT getting shorter! So we started to pursue the IDEA of moving. The problem is our house is not only not worth what we paid- it is worth less than what we owe! Never a good thing. It would still be doable if we REALLY wanted to keep pursuing it but then we have spent a long time thinking about our motivation. Why were we considering moving?
1. better school districts? well, we don't even attend our slotted school district but that brings up a whole other blog post about training and raising our kids to be missionaries- kid of strength and substance so that we might even be willing to put them in "rough" situations on purpose. Like I said, another post for another time. ;-)
2. Another reason to leave- we have weird neighbors. Ok- who doesn't? Our neighbors like (and share) their VERY loud latino pop music ... often. It's better than a few neighbors ago who liked (and shared) their very loud Metal music that had words in it I really don't want to kids to learn. I'm ok with my kids knowing the Macerena. ;)
3. We simply wanted a bigger house- when adding another child to the mix it makes sense. But really- it's more to clean, more to maintain, more furniture to buy, walls to paint but when it comes down to it- if I am not content with what I currently have - I will not find contentment in anymore more.

When it came down to our reasons I think I've discovered them to be more like excuses. As I've talked with friends about this idea of moving in the back of my mind there was a little voice saying "I know you'll go where I want you to go...but will you stay if I want you to stay?" Moving( for me) turned into SO much more than looking into school districts and landscaping. It became an issue of my motive for living. It became an issue of contentment vs. comfort, the idea of a house (being just a structure) vs. a home, an issue of the temporary vs. the eternal.
In our culture it's almost a crime to be content. Everything we see, read, hear and talk about it about getting "what you deserve" because "you're worth it". What a bunch of bunk! I'm SO thankful that I'm NOT getting what I deserve (hell!) because I am worth it. (or at least I was). I know, my mom says I think too much- perhaps that's true but I'm grateful for the insights we've had while considering this too.

I also don't want to make this seem like I am opposed to anyone who ever moves! I hope that we DO move sometime. I just found that the reasons typically go deeper than "we need more space". =)

So- all that to say- we have found unity in our decision to stay here for now. I'm not sure for how long- and I'm not all that concerned about it.
In the meantime we hope to 1. de-clutter and reorganize to help make this space all it can possibly be!
2. build a bigger shed! With no garage, our little 8X8 unit is pretty packed
3. grow deeper in contentment- not for this structure necessarily but for the provision that it is. 4. Learn some Spanish and the motions to the Macernea. ;)

Seth

It hasn't slipped my attention that I had a post about Jaedon and Owen recently. Poor little middle child ...always getting the shaft! =)
Seth has been interesting lately. I'm looking for some suggestions. He has been quite devious in several circumstances recently. Fortunately he is not good at hiding it (yet!) so I can usually tell SOMETHING is amiss but it won't take him long to discover how to "hide it better"- which, obviously I really don't want to happen!
He will hide things he shouldn't have,
not do something right but tell us he did,
and sometime outright lie about it.
Ugly huh?
Any suggestions/creative ideas on how you have dealt with lying and deviousness?

Girl update

Just thought I'd throw out an update about where we are in the fostering licensing process. We have our case worker coming next Friday morning to review all of our paperwork, check out the house (which is moderately intimidating) and to interview our kids (which is highly intimidating!). After that she begins to write a report about us that she will submit to the state for approval of becoming foster parents. So it's waiting for documents, meetings and time basically at this point.
I have had a lot of fun getting girl things though! My generous neighbor gave me bag fulls of fluff- from shoes to dresses to hats and sunglasses! So surreal!
And my Mom in law made the "Howells girls" blanket- it's too special of a blanket to give to just anyone! ;-) Isn't that beautiful?

Owen

My youngest

turns 3!

We had a really nice time celebrating Owen's birthday (which really just lends itself as a good excuse to get together with friends!)
We met Daddy and Jaedon in the park for a picnic lunch. Jaedon thought that was pretty cool to "get out of school" to eat lunch at a park.

We had some friends and family over for a party on Friday. I'm not a kid but I kinda wish I was for this night- it was a water balloon tossing, Nemo fishing, sloppy joe eating, water dumping, cupcake inhaling kind of time. Sounds just right for a 3 year old! This was some jello jigglers I made- note to self- DON'T put jello in direct sunlight. The effect was good though- it was supposed to look the fish were swimming and after about 30 minutes...they were!

Jaedon

This is the last week of school for us. I know everyone says this but it just doesn't seem possible for us to have a THIRD grader and a Kindergartener next school year!

Jaedon has done really well in school this past year. He has stayed on "green light" (aka no teacher reprimands) since the end of MARCH! Wahoo! He LOVES to learn new things- his favorite type of books are educational ones- like ones all about sharks or dinosaurs or whatever he deems worth of his interest for that day. And he REMEMBERS it too! This has come back to bite us a bit when we watch our Animal Planet movies that tell us all about these "most extreme" animals which he loves learning about- and then insists that they are all live in our backyard! =)
A buddy of his from school invited him to go camping with his family for the Memorial Day weekend. It was a weird experience but we were really excited for him to have fun with his friend. He even lost his tooth there.

I don't get to do a lot with him in school right now. Perhaps it's my own excuses but the times that I've tried and have taken my other 2 with me, it's been much more frustrating than helpful. I'm hoping next year I'll be able to be with him a bit more. I did, however, have a fun morning with him during field day a few weeks ago. It's fun to watch him on his turf. He certainly is ALL boy and wow do I ever appreciate his teacher!
I am looking forward to spending time with him- between water fights and library visits- this summer!