Home Sweet Home

I thought y'all might enjoy seeing some pictures of our home sweet home that we are trying to sell... especially since most of you have never been here to see it! I got sentimental the other day about leaving and took some pictures. We have LOVED living in this house and in this neighborhood. It has been a great first house!

This is the picture of us on our move-in day way back in 2006!
The rest of the pictures are from the other day.





Living Room



Living Room



Kitchen



Dining Room



Bath Room



Our Bedroom

Our Bedroom
(Dormer Window)



Grace's Room



Office

Office

An Afternoon With The Grace Girl

So you may be wondering what it is we do all day around our house. Well, currently it feels like I never stop cleaning. I have lost count of how many times we have shown the house. It has been on the market for a little over two weeks and I think there have only been 2 or 3 days when we haven't shown it at least once. I am so glad it seems to be getting attention, but I am also ready for somebody to make an offer! I seriously mop my kitchen floor every other day and I think I am about to run out of Pledge! It has proven to be difficult to keep the place "show ready" with a husband, almost 11 month old, and yellow lab (who is by far the hardest to clean up after). BUT we do still manage to have a good time around here while we are in house selling mode... we just have to clean up real fast afterwards.

Saturday we did NOT show the house! I find it odd that Saturday was the one day things were slow, but maybe it was because of all the Derby Festival stuff going on. Anyway, Grace and I had an awesome day just hanging out while Daddy worked. I documented the afternoon activities...

We enjoyed the great weather and went to the park!

Grace got out ALL of her toys in the living room and had a great time! We put the legs on her activity table because now she can pull up on anything. She had a wonderful time playing with the "new" toy and pushing it across the living room floor.

She enjoyed taking the fish out of the bowl and putting them back in. She has only done this about a gazillion times!

Then she did one of her favorite things... she chased a little ball around the living room! I think she is going to play soccer cause the other day I helped her walk around the room and she kicked the ball over and over and over and totally cracked up laughing every single time.

How did the ball get on the shelf?

I guess I'll just have to get it!

Hmmm..... A book!

This is when Mommy has to redirect Grace to a different activity.

So we went into the kitchen where Grace made a B-line for the cart by the refrigerator. She was origionally drawn to the cart because of the onions that I kept in it. She would seriously stand at the cart and play with the onions the whole time I did anything in the kitchen. I could do all the dishes and cook supper and she would play in the cart the whole time. So of course I let her do it until she managed to eat some onion peel and then threw up everywhere (right before we had to show the house of course). So I moved the onions and she now likes to take all of her bibs out of the bowl I keep them in cause apparently potatoes are not nearly as neat to play with as onions.

Once that task was complete she headed over to the drawers to take all of the kitchen towels out. This is what she does once she has gotten tired of playing at the cart. I figure since I am mopping my floor every other day, the towels are not getting too dirty from being thrown on the floor :)

Where to next, Grace?

Ahh! The bathroom! Grace's favorite room!

Why is it her favorite room?

Because it is where her bath toys are kept! And bath toys are her favorite toys!!!!

And her little tugboat is her favorite bath toy!

The other night when we were getting her out of the bath Jonathan told her to say "tugboat." I swear she said it! We totally cracked up! She has not repeated it since, however. What an awesome first word would that be?!?

She knocked tugboat into the tub :(

OK. Time to move on....

OOOHHHH!!!!! MAGGIE!!!!!

Hmmm.... Maggie left. (I can't imagine why). I guess I will play with these toys over here in the office.

This phone tastes pretty good.

Maybe I'll read a book!

Now, if I could only decide which one........

I think I want that one......

Yeah, the one waaaayyyyy up there......

It's A Bird... It's a Plane...

It's Balloons!!!
Hot Air Balloons!!!!

We woke up this morning to find that the annual Derby Festival Hot Air Balloon Race was not cancelled due to high winds, but it was taking place and tracking right over St. Matthew's where we live!

So of course we all went outside and had a great time watching the balloons fly by. We started by watching them from the front yard, but then realized that we could see them just as well from the deck in the back. So we spent a good while on the back deck this morning. The weather was beautiful, and I think we were the only people up and outside! What a great way to start a Sunday morning! See there are some wonderful things about always being up by 7:00 am :)

There were over 30 balloons!


That's some pretty sweet bed head my kiddo has :)


She kept on reaching up to the sky.
We'll pretend she was reaching for the balloons.


Fun morning girl!

A More Serious Note Than Usual

We are so blessed to have found such a wonderful church here in Louisville. I have truly grown to love Clifton and will miss it so much when we are gone. One of the things that I appreciate most about our church is how the leadership takes every measure possible to be honest and clear about what the scriptures say. I have learned so much, not only from the wonderful teaching (let's be honest, with Bruce Ware as your Sunday School teacher and Tom Schreiner as your preaching pastor you would have to be pretty dense or sleep through every lesson to not gain insight and understanding of the scripture) but also from the examples set by the elders, deacons, and other church leadership.

Our music minister is battling cancer and it has been a true blessing to see how he and his wife are nothing short of absolutely joyful in the Lord through all of their trials. This is not to say that they do not pray for ease and healing, but they have taken what the Lord has given them and have found joy in their lot. What a wonderful example to us all of the peace and joy that can be found when you know that you belong to Christ.

We usually have a pretty "serious" service... compared to other churches I have been to. I really do think that it is because our leadership wants us to be very aware of the words that we are saying and the things that we are reading and studying when we sing praise and study the Word. I know that in the past I personally have been misdirected into thinking that church is a place to go to just feel good. You know what I am talking about. Services that are only "happy" from beginning to end with great music and a good life lesson and no mention of my shortcomings as a Christian, no mention of the pain and struggle that is inevitably a part of life. For me there is so much more true joy when I am reminded of how completely hopeless I am in my sin, when I am truly grieved by my sin, repentant and aware that the only means of forgiveness is through Christ, and then when I am able to rejoice in my forgiveness through the power of the Lord and my ultimate salvation! Thank you Clifton for allowing me the opportunity to be reminded of these things each Sunday.

I am sorry to go off on a soap box there, it just seems like lately I have seen so many examples of people not looking to the scripture and thinking things through before they just take what somebody told them was true as Truth... they are just looking for a way to feel better.... and then they end up being very confused about it later and wonder why they feel something "missing" from their Christian life.

Anyway, all that to say.... last week at church Chip was not able to lead us in worship because he was preparing for his stem cell transplant. We were all reminded of the ultimate hope and joy that can be found in Christ, however, by the words of this song. It has been on my mind all week as I have been so grieved by the news of Lilly Clair's death and burdened for Katie and Whit as they deal with the loss of their baby. Also we have just been flat out tired here at our house... just tired. But although I am tired and know that there is pain and great suffering all around us in this world I am so hopeful and joyful (even in death!) in the salvation that is given to me and my brothers and sisters in Christ through Christ and the ultimate glory that will be given to the Lord through all things!

"It Is Not Death to Die"
Original Words by Henri Malan (1787-1864). Translated by George Bethune (1847).
Music, Chorus, and Alternate Words by Bob Kauflin

It is not death to die,
To leave this weary road,
And join the saints who dwell on high,
Who've found their home with God.
It is not death to close
The eyes long dimmed by tears
And wake in joy before Your throne,
Delivered from our fears.

O Jesus, conquering the grave,
Your precious blood has power to save.
Those who trust in You
Will in Your mercy find
That is is not death to die.

It is not death to fling
Aside this earthly dust
And rise with strong and noble wing
To live among the just.
It is not death to hear
The key unlock the door
That sets us free from mortal years
To praise You evermore.

Where's Grace?

Grace loves to play peekaboo. This evening she finally figured out how to hide her own face. Jonathan grabbed the camera and we got a little bit of it on video. She is so funny! We just can't get enough of this kid!

And yeah, she has the hiccups : )

Play Time in Grace's Room

A lot of mornings after breakfast and morning chores we have play time in Graces room. This is one of my most favorite times of the day. We play her favorite games (stacking cups and peekaboo), read her favorite books (her ABC book and anything "touch and feel"), practice walking, sing songs, and just cuddle. I usually open her blinds and we look out to see what the weather is like and what is going on down on the street. Sometimes I put up her laundry and she plays on the floor by herself. This is such a sweet time of every day. I know one day she will have to go to school or I will have to go to work, and we won't have this time together. Maybe that is why I treasure it so much. I just feel like every day I get to spend with her is such a huge gift from the Lord. The other morning I took some pictures so I will be able to remember how we spend these wonderful mornings together.

One of her new favorite activities is standing up at her table, pulling out each book, flipping through the pages, and sliding it across the table onto the floor. She does this with every single book on the table (at least 15 different books). Once they are all off the table, she plops down on the floor and starts to go through them again.

Hippity Hoppity Happy Easter Day!

Here are some pictures from our great Easter morning!

Grace wore some bunny ears in honor of the festivities.

We really don't do the whole "the Easter bunny came to visit thing " because I just don't for the life of me see how that has anything to do with Easter, but we did get Grace a swim suit and a baby Einstein DVD and a few cadbury creme eggs. Actually, the eggs were for us since Grace is still working on the rice cereal thing. Grace has never really watched TV, so I thought that the DVD would captivate her attention and I would be able to put it in when I needed to get something done around the house. However, she looked at it for about 15 seconds and then kept on playing with her toys. Oh well! Maybe she will like it more when she gets bigger.

Here she is trying on her new swimming suit! It's over her long sleeved bunny onesie just in case it didn't fit and we had to take it back. It fits great! Now we just have to get to Granny and Papa's house before they move, so she can swim in the pool for the first/last time.

Family picture

Aunt Mary Allison, Grace, and Mommy

Grace LOVES her aunt! It is really sweet.

Our house is officially for sale!

Someone actually wanted to come look at it on Easter Sunday, but they called and cancelled at the last minute. Maybe they decided to go to church instead :)