Family Time | Amy Scott's Thoughts

Back on the Market August 12, 2016

Filed under: Amy's Bookshelf,Family Time,Selling, Building, Moving,Simply Me — Amy Scott @ 6:56 pm

On Wednesday, we received news that our buyers were formally backing out of the sale of our home. This was the expected outcome after we arrived at an impasse over closing costs. Almost immediately, our home was back on the market. We even have a showing tomorrow. I don’t want to take a ton of time to discuss this closed door. The main thing I can say is I feel weird. I’m still in my house. We didn’t close today. I don’t feel like I belong here. I spent so much time and energy saying good-bye. I had prepared in every way to leave and then we didn’t… Now it just feels off. Like outgrowing something… I am grateful that we didn’t move just to find out that the house wasn’t sold. I would feel awful imposing on the hospitality of my in-laws while I had a perfect good house sitting empty a few miles away. Overall, this could be for the best. While it means more time, it also means a new appraisal and hopefully a better bottom line in the end.

The rest of the week has been about moving on with life. It keeps going. Wednesday was church. Thursday, my mom and I took the boys to the park. This park happens to be right by the train tracks and Owen was delighted to see three different trains. Last night we went to the storage unit and picked up more kitchen items. I have the strong urge to bake because that is a comfort move of mine, however, it’s too hot at the moment. Once the cooler weather comes in I plan on making a couple different goodies. One being a family favorite of Hello Dollies and the other will probably be something pumpkin because pumpkin also sounds like comfort to me.

During nap times, I’ve been able to make good progress on my new book, Present Over Perfect. I love Shauna Niequist. She is one of my favorite authors. This books affirms so many decisions I’ve made. I am all about the smaller life these days. I’m trying to be intentional with my time and influence. I love being home with my boys and making my family a priority. I love serving the kiddos at Bethel and I enjoy being a part of my local MOPS group. I might not run in big circles these days, but I love the small circles I am in. I know that I am encouraging others and pointing them to Jesus. This book empowers a healthy lifestyle, healthy boundaries and a healthy priorities. It encourages stillness and shows the power of small things. It’s a good read for sure. I am also equally excited to start How to Survive a Shipwreck by Jonathan Martin. I know the title seems a bit dramatic, but I can relate the shipwreck feeling. In life there will be failure and disappointment. I’m hoping for some practical encouragement from my next read.

Jeremy spend a good part of today making the outside of the house presentable. We did some more grocery shopping. We needed to restock some key pantry items. Tomorrow I will clean the inside of the house thoroughly and pray that this showing could be the one! How awesome would it be to only have one showing back on the market before we got another offer? While that seems unlikely, I can dream. This whole process has brought out two sides of me. One is always hopeful, thinking the best is right around the corner. The other is very pessimistic and “woe is me.” It’s strange to flip flop between hope and discouragement. Especially so many times throughout the day. More than trusting in my own emotions, which are all over the place, I am trusting in God. My mom sent me a quote from Corrie Ten Boom that says, “God doesn’t have problems, he has plans.” I am reminded that my house situation isn’t a problem. It’s an opportunity. God isn’t freaking out because my house didn’t sell, so I guess I shouldn’t either.

Owen saw that I was reading my Bible. He ran and got his and read it next to me.

Owen had a toe injury this week. He didn’t want to look at the offending cut so we covered it with a towel.

Graham is loving his hand-me-down walker from Uncle Nathan & Aunt Beckie. This kid loves to go!

Playing in the park with Grandma

How did he get so big?

Watching a train from the bridge

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The Day We Didn’t Move August 9, 2016

Filed under: Amy's Bookshelf,Family Time,Selling, Building, Moving,Simply Me — Amy Scott @ 4:50 pm

We didn’t move yesterday. Things are too up in the air. The renegotiating process with our buyers doesn’t look favorable and we didn’t want to move to just have the deal fall apart a day or two later. Our buyers are meeting with their agent tomorrow. Since I don’t have the ability to read minds or see the future, I have no clue what the outcome will be. However, I won’t be surprised if we have to walk away from this contract. If that is the case then we will put our home back on the market and start at the beginning again.

I didn’t think this would happen. The closer it got to closing and the move, I thought we were in the clear. We had been warned that things could fall apart at the very end, but I just didn’t think it would. On Saturday as I was talking things through with Jeremy, I realized that things were going south. I realized we couldn’t move on Monday if we weren’t sure about the sale of our home. The last thing I would want is for our home to sit vacant while we still owned it. Now there is a chance that we might have to make a mad dash to move before Friday, but I’ll be honest and say that I doubt it.

I’m disappointed. I worked my butt off to make sure we were ready to move on Monday. The only thing left to pack up was our food. I have our house down to the bare minimum. If we end up relisting our house, we’ll have to go get boxes out of storage and unpack a few things so we can actually cook in our house. Jeremy got a few boxes for me yesterday, but I think a few more are going to be necessary.

So, what did we do instead of move? We had a family day. We went down to the Vancouver/Portland area. We ate some comfort food (for me, mac & cheese). We tried to go see waterfalls on the historic highway, but the whole of Oregon was there so we only saw one smaller waterfall to avoid the crowds. We did some shopping since we needed food. I’ve been eating everything down to nothing so we had less to move. It was a weird day. While I loved having family time, it wasn’t quite the distraction I had hoped for. My mind kept thinking through “what ifs.” If I wasn’t thinking through the future, I kept thinking about how I should be moving… how I would have been moving that day. We ended the day with dinner at Jeremy’s brother’s house. Owen got some play time with Nolan. It was a nice way to finish the day. What an unexpected day.

In other news, the baby shower on Sunday for my sister in law went well. The weather was rainy which was a bit of a bummer since I had planned a summer BBQ. The rain stalled enough for the kiddos to go out and play a bit. It was a fun day spent with family and celebrating baby number 4. I can’t wait to meet my new niece or nephew next month!

Saturday was moving my sister into her home. It was fun to explore her new home and watch her start to settle in. After many, many moves, I’m hoping that April and Andrew have many happy years in this home. The septic had to be replaced on their new home. The workers were filling the dirt around the septic when we got there. Owen sat on the back porch and intently watched the digger at work. This boy loves his diggers and moving trucks. It was a great day for Owen. I think it was a good day for April and Andrew as well.

That’s the update for now. When I realized I would be home on Tuesday, I placed an order on Amazon for two books that I’ve been wanting for a while. I used my mother’s day gift card and they arrived today. During nap time today, I took an hour to sit in silence and read. It was good soul care. I don’t get a ton of time to read these days, but these books are a priority to me. They offer hope and encouragement. They are an investment into something I love. That’s also why I’m blogging. Words are how I process life. By reading them, by writing them. Words help me through it all. Jesus does too. I’m not really sure I believe that everything happens for a reason but I do believe that you can gain something from every experience. The twists and turns of my story have not caught Jesus off guard. God knows. He is in this. I am okay. I might be unsure, but I am okay.

We love U-Haul

Auntie’s house is so cool

Celebrating my sweet sister in law and her soon to arrive new addition!

On our way to adventure

Graham was less than impressed with the waterfall

Throwing rocks in and looking over the edge

Good times at Ikea

Playing Jeeps with Nolan

Books are my love language!

Highlighting my way through Present Over Perfect

Cutest engineer ever! Owen scored some new pajamas yesterday.

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Highlights from Camping August 5, 2016

Filed under: Family Time,Selling, Building, Moving,Simply Me — Amy Scott @ 11:42 am

I have about 15 minutes of free time. Graham is down for a nap and Jeremy & Owen are on their way home from a morning of running errands together. At the point of my last post, I wasn’t in a very good place. Buggies freak me out and I felt like my house was crawling with them… After a day of intense laundry, treating the house & Owen for lice, and bug bombing to kill the fleas, I feel a bit better about things. I wasn’t expecting the extra work, but Jeremy was super helpful and together we conquered the bugs and took off for camping.

This was Graham’s first camping trip and Owen’s second. Owen loves camping. He does great. He runs around in the dirt, eats the camp food, sleeps pretty well in a tent on an air mattress. This year he even got the concept of sleeping in a sleeping bag. Graham on the other hand… He did not do so well at camping. He decided that sleeping wasn’t going to happen in the Pack’n’Play which made for a very long and loud night the first night. I deeply apologize to the whole campground. Graham took one nap on Nana’s lap and the rest were induced by driving around in the van and letting him sleep in his car seat. He also has a top tooth coming in so he spent most of his awake hours extremely fussy. On the bright side, he took about three steps on his own from Papa to Daddy. Doesn’t he know that he is only 9.5 months old? Slow down, kid!

Both boys got covered in dirt (which I totally expected). Owen loved having time to play with his cousins. Nana took the kids on many “hikes” around the neighboring empty campsites. I enjoyed my favorite camp foods (smores, pizza pockets and pop tarts). This was our first time camping at Millersylvania State Park. It’s on Deep Lake so the kids got to go swimming and fishing. Jeremy bought a small boat on clearance and enjoyed giving the kids rides. One of the nicest features of our campground was how close it was to home. The second night we stayed until bedtime and then took our crew home to sleep in their own beds. We just didn’t want to deal with another night of screaming. We took off early the next morning and made it back to camp in time for breakfast. I think it was the wisest choice for our family.

While this trip had some hiccups thanks to Graham, overall, it was a fantastic time to catch up with family and enjoy some time outside. I am excited for next year because I think it will be a home run experience for our family once Graham is older. Now I’m home conquering mountains of laundry and pulling all the details together for my sister-in-law’s baby shower. We got the food shopping done, the games are ready to go. This weekend will be a big one with moving my sister tomorrow and the shower on Sunday. I think I am as prepared as possible. The house is mostly packed up. Jeremy took another load to the storage unit this morning with Owen. I think we might have one more small load to take later today. Other than that, we are ready to move on Monday. Which reminds me, the appraisal shook things up for us. It came in lower than we expected. We are renegotiating with the buyers. I’m really praying that things don’t fall apart at this point since we are set to move in just a few days. I know that God is in control and nothing surprises him. He is in all these details. I just need to take a deep breath and trust that he’s got this. Again, I feel unsteady, but I know that he is my rock and anchor. These metaphors have taken on even deeper meaning for me this year as I have looked for sure footing and only found it in my Savior. May all this crazy be for God’s glory! Amen!

Found the campsite. About to set up.

I couldn’t be more thankful for this man. He is there for me through all of these ups and downs and puts up with all my crazy emotions!

Sleeping on the boppy which was laid across my stomach. The things we do to keep little ones asleep.

First time fishing. He lasted about 4 minutes before he wanted to go throw rocks in the lake instead.

A little dirt never slowed Graham down!

Pizza pockets cooked over a fire! My favorite camp food ever!

Such a beautiful sight!

Handsome little swimmer

He caught a fish!

Hanging at the lake while the group was swimming.

Enjoying the new boat

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Chuckling at Change (well, sort of)… July 28, 2016

Filed under: Family Time,Parenthood,Recollections,Selling, Building, Moving,Simply Me — Amy Scott @ 11:58 am

I randomly think through this last year and chuckle (or breath into a paper bag) about all the changes 2016 has brought. I actually sat down made a list yesterday afternoon while Owen napped.

2016 started off with me eating a dairy/soy free diet in order to figure out Graham’s tummy issues
We sold our car and bought a minivan
We changed phone carriers
I reached a new decade (aka turned 30)
Listed our house to sell
Got rid of satellite TV (this has totally changed the way we watch TV, which I will admit we do every day)
Gave Toby away
Said good-bye to April as my Wednesday night helper after 3 years of teaching together.
I’ve packed up my household belongs and I’m staring at blank walls and empty cabinets.
Anticipated changes right around the corner
- Moving in with my in-laws
- Selling my home
- Start building a new house

All of these changes have happened during the “baby phase.” Not only have we adapted to being a family of four and keeping a squirmy little human alive, I have lived through all these changes with postpartum hormones, adjusting to a new post-baby body, and interrupted sleep (every single night, sometimes multiple times a night). No wonder I’ve lost more hair after having Graham than I did with Owen. I’m not pulling it out, but thanks to postpartum hormones and stress, I thought I might go bald this year. I laugh about it all… sometimes…

Stability has been in short supply. For those that know me, you know that I am the queen of routine and predictability. This year has shattered that comfort zone for me. The only way I have gotten through all of this with Jesus. I don’t seek out change. In fact, all of the decisions above big and small were made with a lot of thought and prayer. As strange as it sounds, the change that has been happening in my extended family has affected me as well. We moved my parents twice in the last month. This changes the home that we visit with the boys. My sister is about to move out of state. While she will still close enough to visit, I will no longer see her on a weekly basis. She has been my partner in crime for the last three years on Wednesday nights. In seems like in a lot of ways, the whole world has turned upside down and shifted. While I know that isn’t entirely true, it feels true.

I’m doing my best to embrace an adventurous spirit. While I don’t love change, I have my eyes wide open wondering what God has next. I don’t assume anymore that things are always going to be the way they always have been. The next few months are just mid-story when it comes to selling our house and building a new home. We are finishing a chapter, but we are still in the middle of it. These days have been exhausting physically, mentally and emotionally. I often feel empty at the end of the day, like I’ve given it my all. I’m spent. Daily I thank Jesus that I am not walking through all of this alone. I know that he is there with me. As I pack every box. As I pray over what builder to use. As I correct a cranky toddler. As I soothe a crying baby. Jesus is right there. It’s comforting. While I crave stability and “normal”, I know that I have my hope anchored in the rock. Life might a whirlwind, but I know that I have a firm foundation through it all. I’m thankful that Jesus is my constant through this crazy journey!

Graham taking his Sunday morning nap in my arms

Showing me his Percy tattoo. He wouldn’t the lady put it on him on Friday for the Day Out with Thomas

Trying to get photos of these two together is always a crazy adventure!

Reading books on the new alphabet rug

April’s last Wednesday night

April’s Last Wednesday Night

April’s Last Wednesday Night

April’s Last Wednesday Night

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A Day Out with Thomas July 24, 2016

Filed under: Children's Ministry,Family Time,Selling, Building, Moving,Simply Me,Women in Ministry — Amy Scott @ 2:45 pm

This last week has moved at a remarkable pace. We are flying through our days and they are filled to the brim with activity. I left off last week saying that we would tour a Lexar home plan on Wednesday. My plan was to bake on Wednesday morning and put off my normal house cleaning until Thursday. Jeremy sent me text on Wednesday morning saying at the appraiser called and wanted to appraise the house that day. I went from having a relaxed day to cleaning the house at break neck speeds. I had barely enough time to clean the house, take a shower and get out the door. Insane! The hour drive to see the Lexar home felt like an eternity to me because it was a Wednesday and I knew that we had to make the same drive home in order to get to church on time. It was a jammed packed day. I wish I could say that I didn’t like the house, but I did. The house we saw had some upgrades that we really liked. However, with Lexar raising their prices recently, our budget really has no wiggle room for upgrades. The house we toured was really well decorated. The lady who owns it makes her own decor and furniture. She is the kind of person Pinterest was made for. It was nice to see the house set up so well and so functionally. Jeremy and I could definitely see how the home would work for us. My favorite spaces were the master bedroom and the playroom. The tour gave us lots to think about. (And in case you are wondering, we haven’t heard anything back about the appraisal…)

Before I can jump into the happy Thomas the Train update, I want to briefly touch on Thursday’s big news. Thursday, Toby left our family for a new adventure. It had been in the works to take Toby to a local humane society since the beginning of July, but due to some policies it got put off until this last week. It was a hard thing to do. When we first tried to rehome Toby in January, it was sudden and while we agreed it was the right thing to do, it left me an emotional wreck. I sobbed and had the closest thing in my life to a legitimate panic attack. It might have been the postpartum hormones, but I think it was the surprise and pace of the decision mixed with a whole lot of guilt and feeling like a failure. I was nervous about how our second attempt at giving him away would go. With everything else that I have on my plate right now, I didn’t want to have a mental breakdown over the dog. I think that having a lot of time to process the decision was good for me. Having most of the month of July to think about it and say good-bye was helpful for me. Toby’s last month with us was filled with lots of walks, treats and love. He is a sweet dog, but just not good with kids. Now he has a chance to find a family that better fits his needs. While I have not sobbed like last time, Toby is still in my thoughts throughout the day. I wonder how he is doing. I think about how he would have been a part of our day. There is a void – for good or for bad. I do miss him. I think that moving in two weeks will help since we’ll be in a new location and no longer in the home that we brought Toby home to. It’s been rough, but good in a lot of ways. Just another big change for our family. We’ve had a few lately…

On to the happy stuff! On Friday, we took off up north for a Day Out with Thomas! As we were walking up to the train station, Thomas was pulling in from his first ride of the day. Owen was thrilled to see him. The funny thing about Owen is he takes everything in and processes it quietly. His eyes were huge and he had fun, but he is barely smiling in any of the pictures. The day wasn’t great for photo opportunities, but the experience itself was worth it. We went around the site and collected coloring pages, temporary tattoos and played at the Thomas train tables they had set up. We climb up inside engines they had on display. They had all the songs from the show playing around the railway. It was a fun atmosphere. The ride itself was scenic and everyone we passed waved at us. Owen had a fun time waving back. Once our ride was over, we got in line to take our picture with Thomas. Because he had to depart for his next ride, the photo opportunity stopped right as we got to the front of the line. We got some pictures with Thomas in the background. They aren’t Christmas card worthy, but they are funny. Owen wouldn’t take his eyes off of Thomas so all you see is the back of his head in the photos. Graham on the other hand is crying because he is cranky and needs a nap. It made for a humorous photo. We left the railway feeling pretty good about our fun adventure with Thomas. Our ride home was also an adventure. An accident on the freeway had southbound I-5 crazy backed up. It was faster for us to take an extremely scenic route home and avoid the freeway all together.

I got home on Friday with just enough time to get a little dinner and then take off for my MOPS leadership retreat. I was exhausted from the big day with Thomas, but I mustered the strength. All I really wanted was my pajamas. My MOPS meetings on Friday and Saturday went well and I am excited for all we have planned for next year. Now that August is almost here, I am going to need to start working on our publications. June/July are sirt if a short break for me when it comes to publications, but I’m about to jump right back into it. After the retreat was over, I came home and packed some boxes while the boys napped. Jeremy worked on fixing a few things that came up in the home inspection. Once the boys were up, we dropped them off with Nana and Papa and took off for Olympia to talk with Adair homes. Now that Lexar has raised their prices, we need to seriously look into other options to make sure we are making the best choice financially. The meeting with Adair went well and gave Jeremy and I lots to discuss at dinner.

Today the house is looking bare as I take down the artwork on the walls and wrap it up. I’m currently out of bubble wrap, so I’m pausing to complete this blog. Jeremy is out digging up pipes to fix our septic with his father. We are moving toward closing and doing our best to be as prepared as possible for this big move and transition. Please be praying for us! We appreciate it!

Triple stacker! Silly boys!

Oh the things that happen at church. Luckily it looks like no big deal now.

Toby’s last walk with the family. Such a hard decision even though it was a good one. Despite all the crazy he brought to our lives, I do miss him. Just not the pee on my floor.. And the barking…

Playing in the yard is what being a kid in summertime is all about!

Our epic photo with Thomas! What do you think? Christmas cards?

Enjoying our time at the railway

Such a good time at the Day Out with Thomas

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Anniversary Weekend & More July 12, 2016

Filed under: Amy's Bookshelf,Children's Ministry,Family Time,Selling, Building, Moving,Simply Me — Amy Scott @ 8:50 pm

I’m just going to jump in… Our plan to visit the Lexar house plan we like fell through last Wednesday. The guy at Lexar put the wrong date in his calendar so he wasn’t available when we stopped by to meet up with him. That will now be pushed back to next week. We will also be parting ways with Toby next week and attending a Day Out with Thomas. Lots to look forward to. Not to mention this weekend is a family birthday party and then a family BBQ the following day. We like to celebrate!

Wednesday we had our home inspection. It went fairly well. Somethings we expected. Some surprised us. The buyers asked for a few things to be taken care and we countered. Mostly, we wanted Jeremy to be able to fix the majority of the issues since they were small and the buyers wanted a licensed contractor. Trust me, Jeremy’s got this. However, they don’t know how handy my hubby is so I can understand the standard ask of a contractor. We haven’t heard back from them yet if they accept our counter. In other news, our family has an offer accepted on a 12 acre piece of property south of Chehalis. We are super excited. We will do a feasibility to make sure the building there is well… feasible … If all goes well, my parents will be building on 6 acres and we will be building one the other 6 acres. Hopefully, sooner rather than later. We are ready to move this process forward. At this point, we will close a month from today on August 12th. We will move on August 8th, so we are already less an a month away from the big transition. I’ve been steadily packing boxes and pairing stuff down. I’m feeling good about what we will be taking with us to my in-laws house and what will go to storage. I should also give a shout out to my in-laws who have been making space for us. They have been so gracious and generous. I am grateful for their cheerful hearts and their willingness to take in this crazy ragtag bunch. Praying we don’t drive them nuts!

Now that the move update is out the way, let’s move on to daily life. This last weekend, we went to the beach to celebrate our 10 year anniversary! Since Graham is nursing and Owen loves the beach, the boys came along too. Romantic, I know. What was also romantic was the fact that Jeremy and I slept in separate full beds on opposite sides of the trailer stayed in. Jeremy doesn’t fit in a full bed. His feet stick off, so he sleeps diagonal. Jeremy and Owen took the bedroom and Graham and I took the living space. I’m thinking we’ll make 11 years the romantic, kid-free getaway. My friend, Maggie, owns a trailer at the beach and she offered it us free of charge. It’s an adorable 1950’s trailer with lots of wood paneling and Maggie has it decorated so cute. When we arrived there was a gift basket waiting for us. A bunch of friends and family had chipped in. There was a picture frame, chocolate, sparkling cider and gift certificates to local restaurants. It was such a surprise and sweet gesture. We felt loved and blessed. We packed our time at the beach with all our favorite things. The weather was rainy, but it made things quiet and cozy. We took advantage of breaks in the rain and got outside a few times. It was a fantastic family weekend. I love my husband more than words can say. The last 10 years have been better than I could have ever imagined. Jeremy is my best friend and partner in crime. He balances me out and encourages me in so many ways. I know that I am a better person because he is my life. He supports and loves me and values me. I am one grateful lady. God gave me the best!

After the high of the fun family weekend, Jeremy left on Sunday to go to kid’s camp for the week. Which means I am home. alone. with the boys. At this point, we are all still living. Sunday, we stayed after church to have lunch with him and say our good-byes. Then it was home for nap time, a walk with the dog and a movie. Yesterday, my mom came over in the morning, the boys had a bubble bath and then we went over to Nana & Papa’s house for dinner and playtime. Today, we went down to Portland to Powell’s City of Books. Oh my word. I wanted to buy the whole children’s section. It was bad. Books are a weakness of mine. The boys got three new books and each one got read at bed time tonight. My mom and sister joined our little clan on this outing. We had lunch out. Owen got “panda rice” (Panda Express). I got to do a little shopping. It was super helpful to have my mom and April there to distract the boys so I could take few minutes to focus on my wardrobe needs. When we got home from our adventure, we attempted to take the dog for a walk, but it started to rain so we had to turn around. Gotta love this July weather. Last summer was so hot. I am grateful for the cool weather and even the rain. I know. I’m weird. The rest of the week is filled with friends, family and church.The only day I didn’t plan anything on was Friday… Which could be a LONG day since Jeremy doesn’t get home till late. I might have to make up a Friday outing so we are just staring at the clock wondering when Daddy will get home.

That about sums up life. Oh, I read a book. It’s called It’s Just a Phase So Don’t Miss It. It’s written for leaders that work with kids and teenagers about maximizing your influence at each phase in a child’s life. Each phase is important and shouldn’t be overlooked. It was an easy read filled with good information and fun charts. There was humor and honesty spread throughout the pages. As a parent, it was helpful for me to remember to be intentional with my boys where they are now, but to have a plan for the future. I am raising adults. Since this was only the third book I’ve read in 2016, I was proud of myself. When Jeremy isn’t home and I don’t want to go to bed at 8:40pm, I actually take the time to read.

Okay. Now I’m done!

Settling in at the beach

Flashback to July 8, 2006

Graham’s first visit to the Tillamook Cheese Factory. Owen remembered it from last summer and was thrilled to visit again!

Boardwalk selfie in Long Beach

Saying our good-byes before sending Daddy off to camp.

Time for a movie and popcorn

Tubby time!

Reading one of his new books at Powell’s

Sister selfie in Powell’s

A big mouthful of Panda rice! Yum!!!

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Two Posts in One July 5, 2016

Filed under: Family Time,Selling, Building, Moving,Simply Me — Amy Scott @ 2:20 pm

I wrote a blog post on Saturday night, but the internet wasn’t agreeing with me so I abandoned ship. Now I’m blogging again, but have more to add so this will be two posts in one. Enjoy!

We are Pending – Post One

We are under contract! Our house is pending! Woo hoo! The papers have been signed and our closing date will be August 12th. Of course, things can always change with inspection and appraisal, but we are praying for the best and hoping things continue to move smoothly. Now that our house is pending, we met for the second time with Lexar Homes to talk through the building process and where to start. We are excited to do a home tour of the plan we are considering this next week. It will be great to see the floor plan in person. I’ve learned that I’m really bad at picturing things so I’m excited to see the floor plan I’ve been studying off the screen and in real life. Next week, we’ll have the septic pumped (oh goodie) and possibly the home inspection. The ball is rolling! I’ve already started packing some non-essentials and moving items into the garage. My philosophy is I’d rather pack a box or two a day instead of packing the whole house up in short time.

I promised an update on Owen! This kid… He is crazy. He has shifted to being a morning person. It’s been a rough transition for our family. I miss the days when he consistently slept past 8:00am. Those were good days. Since Graham is up multiple times in the night, I live for nap time. I can coordinate the boys both going down for an afternoon nap at the same time. Owen only naps for an hour these days, so it’s a short window to rest, but I’ll take what I can get. Sleep is a big deal in this house and it’s been lacking…

Owen loves letters, numbers and shapes. It’s been fun to watch him learn. At times I look around the house and I’m blown away that I’m surrounded by trains, cars, construction vehicles… We watch Mater’s Tall Tales daily. Owen still enjoys Winnie the Pooh and Thomas. He has also really gotten into kid’s music. I love listening to him learn songs. He is also getting into doing motions with the music. I know it will be like this in every life stage, but I love watching him learn! His world continues grow and expand.

Owen is putting sentences together like crazy these days. We were passing a section of a manufactured home on the freeway and Owen exclaimed, “Look, Mommy! There is a house on a flat bed.” He tells me to “Look, Mommy” often. He is taking it all in. The world is so interesting and he can tell me all about it these days. He is getting to that stage where kids say really funny things. We’ll have to be careful about what we say around him since he repeats everything. I love his little voice. He is certainly a chatterbox.

It’s now summer time, so we’ve been taking lots of walks to enjoy the nice weather. Owen has taken to pushing Graham in the stroller. It was sweet the first time he did it, but now it’s just annoying. He walks super slow… And I have to make sure he doesn’t run of the road… Owen is Daddy’s helper in the yard and waters the flowers. He loves his swing set and his sandbox.

Other random facts, Owen is super into pretzels right now… He can says the ABCs in order through G (he knows all the letters, but is still learning order). He can count to 5, but his favorite number is 11. Owen now has to share all his toys with a mobile Graham. This hasn’t been a development he likes. We are working with Owen to not be rough with Graham. Now that Graham is moving, Owen doesn’t view him as baby anymore. He is now competition. Sibling rivalry begins…

That’s the update for now. It’s my bedtime!

I have No Good Title for Post Two

Okay, here we are at the next update. I know I’ve mentioned it before, but I often struggle with how to much to write here on this blog. I don’t want to sound whiny and I don’t want to overwhelm the world with too many details. It’s a fine line to find balance. I’m just going to be real with you all, but try to keep it short and sweet.

Sunday, we made it up to Puyallup to celebrate some family birthdays. It had been a while since we’d seen my family so it was really important to us that we made it to the party. It was a good day to BBQ and chat. Owen ran around the cousins and attempted to eat his first popsicle. He ate the top 1/4 before losing interest. He didn’t quite get the concept of big licks or biting on it.

Yesterday was the 4th of July but it didn’t feel too much like a holiday… Our family was busy moving my parents. Again. Last weekend we moved them into what I called the storental (combination of storage and rental). It turns out the storental had tenacious fleas and some other serious issues. God opened up a new rental house and a totally better situation for my parents. After the big day of moving, the family came back to our house for dinner and pie to celebrate my Dad’s 60th birthday (which is today). Happy birthday, Dad!

Here is where the story gets interesting…. Toby was supposed to be going to the humane society tomorrow. I had told my family that this would be the last time they got to see him and to say their good-byes. I planned on blogging about Toby’s departure in advance so I wouldn’t have to write about it once it happened… I had been preparing Owen that Toby was leaving. I told him that Nana and Papa were going to take Toby and find him a new home. It’s been a year since I started looking for a new home for Toby. It was actually last 4th of July that I broke down and contacted a local dog person to see what she could do. That turned into a dead end. Then in January, we tried again to place Toby, but learned that he needed a home with no kids and no other pets. He came back to us… Now my in-laws had offered to take him the humane society for us. It was a nice gesture. With moving, it seems like now would be a good time to part ways. Toby hasn’t been a good fit for our family for a long time, but we’ve done our best to make it work…. Anyway back to the main story… April was loving on Toby and discovered that he had fleas. In all the years that we’ve owned him, he has never had fleas. Sadly, we think that the fleas from my parent’s storental may have come to visit us. My mom and TC had been walking with us a couple days last week. It all seemed innocent and yet a transfer was made. Jeremy gave Toby a bath last night and got a few off of him. It looks like he got them all and we are getting Toby a flea collar and we will bug bomb the house this weekend just to make sure that no fleas have decided to live with us… It seemed like a lot of drama for one dog who will only be with us one more day… but wait… he will stay with longer because the humane society has pet release appointments that we learned about today. My in-laws can’t Toby for us and our appointment is now scheduled for later this month.

It wouldn’t be such a big deal with the whole flea Toby situation, but things are moving quickly with our house. We had the septic pumped today and got to meet the buyers. Our home inspection is tomorrow morning and I am crazy worried that somehow the inspector will think our home is flea ridden (which it isn’t… but I am paranoid). There will be lots of cleaning and vacuuming between now and tomorrow. All these inspections have me on edge because I want them to go well and for there to be no major unforeseen issues. I’m trying to take a deep breath and not stress… It’s kind of working… Kind of not.

All that to say, if I can survive the home inspection tomorrow, we have plans to go look at a house in our favorite Lexar floor plan. I am excited to snoop and see if it’s a plan that will work for us. Thursday, we take off for the beach to celebrate our 10 year anniversary. We will be taking the boys with us. Not the most romantic trip, but I am excited to get away (from the fleas, just kidding, kind of). I am ready to have a few days away from the house and all the plates we seem to be juggling. Jeremy leaves for kid’s camp on Sunday… It will be a long week at home with the boys. I’m looking forward to some family time before the week of camp begins. I’m going to try to make some plans throughout the week as a way to keep myself busy and not go crazy at home with two little people all alone.

That about sums it up. Life has been insane. I am overwhelmed and trying not to overthink things. It’s hard for me to just focus on the moment before me and live right now. I have to refocus my thoughts away from worry and stress. God is in control. God is good. God is in the mess of life and he is the details. He’s got this. I don’t have to worry. (Repeat italicized words over and over again).

The end!

All three boys snuggled up watching Daniel Tiger

Walking baby

Graham figured out how to get under the train table, but then he couldn’t figure out how to get out!

Popsicle

Love my Grandma! She is so amazing!

Summertime fun!

Happy 4th of July

Loaded up and ready to move!

Celebrating the Big 6-0 with my awesome dad! I have a feeling 60 will be a full year for him with building a house and getting new neighbors!

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Steam Train Ride, Father’s Day, Moving Party June 26, 2016

Filed under: Family Time,Simply Me — Amy Scott @ 10:19 pm

Here are some brief highlights from our last week or so. Last Saturday, we took a steam train ride to celebrate my mom’s birthday and father’s day. Our little train lover enjoyed the ride, but I think it might have been overwhelming to him at times. Lots of sights and sounds to take in. After the steam train ride, we enjoyed dinner at our local Chinese restaurant. Owen plowed through a ton of fried rice. I’m not sure who enjoyed themselves more, Owen or my parents (who the day was celebrating).

For Father’s Day, we went over to Jeremy’s parent’s house and enjoyed some yummy BBQ steaks. It was a low key fun day. My gift to Jeremy this year was 18 holes of golf. I don’t love that golf is a 4 hour sporting event that leaves me home alone with the kids, so this gift seemed sacrificial and something I knew Jeremy would enjoy. He doesn’t get to golf nearly as much as he would like. Jeremy paid the gift forward and said he would take his dad out golfing for Father’s Day. My joke was Owen and Graham could join them and complete the foursome. That would be a win for all! Okay, the kiddos might detract from the golf game, but we can chalk it up to memory making, right?

Friday was a family day for us. We went down to the Portland area for yummy food and shopping. We started our day with breakfast at Chick-fil-A. YUM! We’ve been working on updating Owen’s wardrobe since he is growing and wearing things out. He got some new jammies and some new shoes. Lunch was at the Corner Bakery Cafe. When we visited Chicago, we ate there numerous times and it was a fun memory. The chain has made its way to the northwest now. The meal was tasty and we took home a bag of monster cookie bites to keep the yummy going!

This weekend has been a busy one as well. Yesterday, we moved my parent’s out of their home and into their new rental. I’ve nicknamed it the “storental” since it’s a combination of storage and a rental house. It was a full day of moving. I’d like to say that I was involved… Pretty much my job is hang out with Graham while Owen helps the menfolk load and unload. It’s been fun to spend time with my family and be supportive of my parents as they embark on a new adventure.

Today, Jeremy and his family went golfing. Nana was watching cousins Nolan and Bennett. After nap time, I took the boys over to hang out with the cousins. It was nice for Owen to play with a buddy his own age. It certainly kept him busy and active. I love it when he plays hard. He really enjoyed himself. Nolan is one of his BFFs. They have such a fun relationship.

And that about sums up life for the time being… I’ll keep you posted on our many adventures! I’m thinking it might be time to give a shout out blog to Owen and all his quirkiness these days. And maybe we’ll even have some house news to share in the near future. Time will tell!!!

Steam Train Ride with the fam

Open wide!

Jeremy asked Owen to cut the Play Doh cake they created and Owen ran got the chain saw!

Father’s Day!

Graham is on the move!

First s’mores of the season with my Wednesday night girls

A yummy food day!

Moving Grandpa & Grandma

Graham eats dinosaurs for lunch. He is a growing boy!

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Breezing Through June June 14, 2016

Filed under: Family Time,Parenthood,Selling, Building, Moving,Simply Me,Women in Ministry — Amy Scott @ 6:31 pm

As always, we are a busy bunch. It’s hard to capture the true level of crazy which is our everyday lives in words. The days often seem long and the nights go by too quickly. I am a tired mama. I love my boys and I enjoy our life, but I would really love more sleep. I’m sure I am not alone in that feeling.

June has been full of activity. We have celebrated three family birthdays so far. My sister and I went to see Me Before You on Friday (I read the book so naturally I wanted to see the movie. Both are equally sad). We have Father’s day quickly approaching. As well as a few graduation parties. There is a lot to celebrate in June.

The month started off hot. Our heat wave meant we celebrated my nephews’ birthdays at the Oregon Zoo in 100 degree weather. The last time we were there it was January 1st and 18 degrees. We apparently like to visit the zoo in extreme temperatures. I’m not a fan of the heat, but overall it was a fun day with family. It is certainly a day we will remember!

We’ve spent the last two weekends moving my parents into their new rental and storage unit. The first weekend was very hot and the second weekend was rainy. Lots of extremes just a week a part. Moving my parents is the beginning of the adventure ahead of us all. We are still on the search for the property of our dreams. Our house has still yet to sell. Lots still to do and look forward to. I realize that this process is going to be a bit longer than I anticipated, but that’s okay. I’m enjoying each moment in our current home. As I look around Graham’s nursery, I’m glad to spend more time in it. I know that by the time we move into our new home his nursery days will be over. We’ve been playing in the yard, going on walks and enjoying what time we have left at Moonlit Lane. I have no clue how long we will be here, but I am determined to enjoy it for what it is worth. This has been a good home to us.

This weekend we celebrated my mom’s birthday. The boys and I went to brunch with my parents after church on Sunday. The whole family gathered later that evening for pie. I’m a big fan of using the number exact candles as the birthday person’s age. Jeremy was concerned about damaging the pies with candles all over. We used a rubber band to secure the candles together. This candle brick put off quite an impressive flame.

I always wrestle when writing this blog. Part of me wants to gloss over life and present a happy picture. I want you all to think that I live a peachy existence. Life is truly good. But… there are difficult moments everyday. This mom life is not for the faint of heart. On Sunday as I was getting the boys ready for church, I knelt down on the ground to get Owen dressed and when I got up I realized my knee was wet with dog pee from the night before. I could smell the problem before bed, but couldn’t locate the issue… Well, my knee discovered it! Then Owen dropped Lamby in the toilet. Good thing Lamby has a twin that is is hidden in our home for moments like this. I made a quick Lamby swap and calmed the distraught toddler. Then there are afternoons like today where I assume both boys have napped and been fed, they should be able to play with toys while I take a few minutes to blog. However, if they are awake they seem to demand 110% of my direct focus. Owen had a place mat full of food that he requested himself and yet he is crying and opening the fridge and begging for something else. Owen’s crying upsets Graham and suddenly I have two kiddos in the midst of meltdowns… This is life. Everyday. We have good days, but even the good days are full of moments of frustration and insanity. It blows my mind that life can be so good and so hard at the same time.

We had our last official MOPS meeting for the school year last Tuesday. We announced next year’s theme with a video. The theme is Starry Eyed and in the video it talks about how we are both light and dark. And I’m feeling that these days. Light and dark. Good moments and hard moments. Life is both. God is in both. The starry eyed theme is a call to wonder and to see God in all the moments. I can relate to this. I’m sure that is why they picked it as the theme for a mom’s group.

Okay, the relative peace that I was able to recapture so I could finish this post is fading. I’m off to wrestle with the natives. Pray that I survive! They are adorable and fierce!

PS… I finished this blog about 4:00pm… I am posting it much later than 4:00pm… Mostly because the chaos level was quite high in our home so my husband just drove off in a van full of crying children so I could have a few moments peace. God bless him!

Enjoying a hot day at the Oregon Zoo and celebrating Carson and Bennett!

Cooling off in the yard

Documenting the last MOPS meeting! Here I am with my dedicated attenders, Leanna and Marielle! Missing Kim, Kate and Johnna. I love being a table leader! MOPS is the best!

Owen enjoying his prize from MOPS for being potty trained! He loved his sucker and Play Doh.

It was pouring rain when April and I left the theater on Friday. My feet were already wet so when April mentioned the big puddle ahead I thought it was no big deal. Turns out it was extremely deep. My feet were soaked the whole ride home!

Costco run

Owen supervising the moving process from Grandma & Grandpa’s lawn mower

Birthday brunch with my mom

The impressive flame from Mom’s candle brick

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Hello June! June 3, 2016

Filed under: Family Time,Selling, Building, Moving,Simply Me — Amy Scott @ 2:31 pm

It’s hard to believe that it’s June! May went by in a blink! Here are the cliff notes on our life…

The house is still for sale. I’ve stopped cleaning it. I was driving myself crazy trying to keep our house spotless at all times. I’m back to my normal cleaning schedule and I’ll do a rush cleaning job if we have a showing. The showings have been few and far between so I’ll take my chances.

Graham is close to crawling. He is currently doing a combo of army crawling and rolling to get where he wants. He never sits still. He can’t be content to sit and play with toys. He has to be always moving. It’s exciting and annoying. I sometimes wish he would just be chill and relax.

Owen is doing awesome in the potty training department. He has been wearing real underwear with no accidents. We have even taken him out on errands in real underwear. He is even dry for naps and in the morning when he wakes up. The big downside to potty training is now Owen wakes up super early having to pee. He doesn’t go back to sleep and peeing in his diaper isn’t an option anymore.

Maybe Owen getting up early wouldn’t be such a big deal, but Graham has decided to wake up 2-3 times a night and I’m back on the what feels like the newborn schedule. Since I’m up so often in the night, Jeremy has been taking the early morning shift with Owen. I really appreciate that. Normally I can’t go back to sleep after Owen screams me awake, but laying in bed is better that being upright.

As we look to June, we have a fun zoo day planned to celebrate two family birthdays. My parent’s house sold and we will be helping them move into their rental house. We have still have yet to find our new homestead. I’m guessing there will be a fair amount of time spent looking at property this month. Good thing Owen loves romping through nature. The property search is one of the highlights of his life right now.

And that about sums it up. Until next time!

This kid! He took a short fall out of our living room window the same day I found him sitting like this. I guess you have to watch a toddler every second of the day to make sure they don’t kill themselves!