Mrs. Mama

Just before we moved to Georgia, I sat my older two children down to tell them that we would be homeschooling when we moved.  It went something like this:

Me:  Hey guys....What would you think about going to school at home when we move to Georgia?

Them:  Yea!!!!  (jumping up an down, hooping, hollering, etc.)

William:  That's awesome!  But....who would my teacher be?

Me:  Well....I will be your teacher.  What do you think about that?

{Deep thinking} 

{More thinking}

Then....

William:  (obviously very worried) ... Well, Mama....I mean....Do you know anything?

Me:  (obviously somewhat offended) ... Yeah, well, maybe one or two things.  I might be able to teach you something you don't know.  At least I'll try.

Catherine:  (speaking for the first time)   Will we call you Mrs. Mama?

Moving On

We are now settled in Georgia (and I’ll have some new posts about life here)…but I need to say that leaving Fairhope was hard.  Harder than I thought it would be.

I wasn’t just leaving a place that I love.  I was leaving behind a whole season of my life. 

See this room?

It used to look like this and have the cutest little boys curled up in the bed.  Or playing cars (or planes or monsters or pirates) in the floor.

And this room here?

I brought the sweetest baby girl home from the hospital a few years ago and laid her in this bed. 

And this big room?

Well it didn’t seem so big sometimes.  It was where we ate…watched TV…gave piggyback rides…threw temper tantrums…rocked babies…built forts with pillows and blankets…played ring around the roses…sat in time out…searched under sofas and chairs for lost pacies (and goldfish, gummies, tiny cars and remote controls)… 

Sometimes it seemed we were all on top of each other.  Especially at Christmas time when you threw in a supersized Christmas tree in the corner.

Sometimes being on top each other wasn’t so bad.

In fact, it was kinda sweet.

I think I’ll miss that little house on Myrtle Street. 

Little Things

Sometimes the stresses of the day become so big.  Just getting folks dressed and fed seem huge.  Especially the dressing part.  And especially when it’s picture day at school.  But then (after wiping away the sweat) you stand back, take a breath and realize it was worth the extra effort to try to look special.

Because it’s not every day you wear your pearls. 

And it’s not every day your little brother lets you put your arm around him.

And stand so close.

Sometimes when you feel pretty you see pretty things everywhere.

And sometimes a small, solitary flower in bloom…

becomes the perfect gift for Mama. 

And makes her day.

If Home Is Where the Heart Is…

I’m afraid I might be leaving mine here.

And here.

Or maybe under this tree…

Of course there are the flowers…

Can’t think of this place and not think about flowers.

I think I might be sitting over in Georgia late one afternoon and think about these guys too…

Or wish I could take a run along this path.

Why is it you take for granted places you love.  You say, “eh, not today….maybe tomorrow.  There’s always tomorrow.”

But sometimes there isn’t.

Now that I think about it… we do the same thing with people we love.  Don’t we?  We always think we have tomorrow.

Sometimes we don’t.

Maybe there’s a lesson here. 

And maybe it’s about something much more important and greater than moving.

A Moving Tale

I can't imagine I still have any readers left out there after my long hiatus, but I feel the need to do this post. Maybe it's just for me.

It's been a long year folks. Last February (the 24th to be exact), Andy lost his job. I know he's not the only one out there. In fact, he's one of four on our small little street who suffered the same fate last year. But like so many other things, you never think it will happen to you. In that moment so much changed for us. Our sense of security I fear has been permanently altered, as has our outlook on finances, employment, and things I shall save for another post. We knew that the chances of him finding another job doing what he loves and is good at that would allow us to stay put was slim to none.

We were right.

After ten long months of a role reversal that just did not work for our family (him as Mr. Mom and me out there working all the time) he found the perfect job. And we were relieved. And blessed. And excited.

But it's 7 hours away.

Too long to drive back and forth every day. Or even every week.

So we said "Ok God....thank You very much for this wonderful job and now if it's Your will for us to go to Douglas, Georgia....let us know. Show us in a big way. Work everything out." Basically, "work everything out" meant let us sell this house that we tried to sell for nearly all of last year and never even had anyone come back a second time.

We put the house on the market the weekend before Christmas. Before the sign was even in the yard we had some people come look at it and ask us that night if they made us an offer how quickly could we be out.

Seriously? Maybe God wanted us in Douglas. They ended up going with another house but it certainly got our attention.

So Andy moved right after New Year's and we knew in the back of our mind that a seven hour drive could possibly separate our family for months. Years even.

Since Christmas the house was only shown three times. A week and a half ago some people came to see it one Sunday afternoon. We didn't know anything about them. But we prayed for them. We stopped and prayed that God would be with them as they made their decisions and if our house was right for them, they would know.

I guess they knew because the next night they came back and the following day made us an offer. Not only was our house right for them, but they were ready to buy....needed a place to live....and needed to be in here in a matter of weeks.

Who says God doesn't answer prayer. Sometimes His timing isn't ours. Sometimes His way isn't ours. Our timing would have had Andy a job within weeks of losing his other one. It also would have given me a little more than three weeks to get ready for a major move alone. And our way for all of this to shake out would have been for a job to have opened that wouldn't have moved us so far away from "home."

But who are we to question a God who has been so present and so in control. I mean....

Wow.

I have much more news and updates about what's happening with us and I promise I am going to update more often with stuff. I got a really cool camera a few months ago that I might actually have time to learn how to use when we get settled.

For now I'm doing ok with it riding all over Fairhope taking pictures of everything I love here that I need to take with me.

Like that girl up there sitting in our favorite park.

Looking Back

So the first day of school has come and gone. I've been such a slacker with this little ol' blog here. I wanted to share these pictures with you though because I think they tell a sweet little story. About a sweet little boy who overnight went from a baby to a kindergartner. And his Mama who trailed behind him with a camera on the walk to school the very first day.

He pointed out everything along the way. And made a point to walk at least five paces ahead of his old mama.

There were birds. And dogs. And flowers. And trees. And....and....
But he stopped to pose just before we rounded the corner to the big school.
And he saw all the other kids holding their old Mamas hands. And he asked to hold mine.

I didn't want to ever let go.

Finally he made it to his class and sat there waiting on the bell. We'd already said good-bye as me and my camera made our way out. But I made a big mistake by looking back. And I didn't see a big boy with a cool new Star Wars backpack. I saw a 7 pound baby. Because it really was just yesterday.

It really was....

Come On Over....

to my other home on the web. I'm still here! Just been a little busy. Hoping that all two of you will come over and check out my new "official" Mommy, Esquire website (www.mommyesquire.com) that I've set up with my best friend from law school....what's better than one Mommy, Esq (you might ask yourself)? TWO Mommies, Esq. of course!

I'll still be posting poop stories and various and sundry embarrassing stories about my family here. Including some great new photos so stay tuned...

But bookmark my other site too and tell your friends about it. It's all about fun. That's how we roll....