Amy Scott's Thoughts

I’m so done with colds and croup. Graham started to perk up by Friday, but Owen and I were a few days behind everyone so the bug held on longer with us. As of Christmas Eve, Owen and I were still sporting low grade fevers. On Christmas day both boys were fever free, but Owen had slightly less energy than normal. I’m the last real hold out with the bug. I looked and sounded awful on Christmas day. It didn’t stop me from celebrating. Yesterday was the first day I didn’t feel too bad. My stamina isn’t 100% and I’m draining some lovely colored snot. Overall, though, I’m on my way toward being healthy again… Or so I hope. Having this yucky bug over the Christmas holiday was a bit of a bummer. Our family still managed to have a fun holiday despite the germs. I’m grateful that we are on the mend so we can fully enjoy our final Christmas celebration with Jeremy’s immediate family on Thursday!

Our holiday weekend looked a little something like this… Friday I delivered meals to two MOPS moms with new babies. I tried my best to sanitize and be quick with my deliveries. I didn’t want to spread the plague in households with such little newborns present. Saturday, Jeremy went to the Christmas Eve gatherings at our church. We did our family Christmas that morning. The boys opened their gifts and we had a yummy breakfast of baked french toast! Christmas Eve was a slower day for the boys and I to rest and play. That evening we went over to Jeremy’s cousin’s house for a family gathering. I walked away with Play Doh from the $5 gift exchange. Not to shabby since Play Doh time is a daily thing in our household. Christmas day was spent in Puyallup with my family eating good and opening gifts. Yesterday we kept up our Christmas tradition of going shopping the day after Christmas. We had a few returns to make and some Christmas cash to spend. Jeremy got some movies, I got the latest season of Once Upon a Time. The boys got more pieces for their Thomas train set, some games, books, water bottles and clothes.  Owen has been loving the games and wants to play all the time. Graham is truly turning into a train table lover. He is often found in Owen’s room pushing trains around the track.

I guess the one last final update is our house is officially back on the market. Our previous buyer is still interested in the home, so we’ll see if she secures new funding and submits another offer. We spent a little time on Friday tidying things up around the front yard and turning the heaters up so it isn’t the arctic for potential showings. There haven’t been any showings yet, but the holiday season will probably means things start off slowly. My goal in the next week or so is to go over there to wipe things down and vacuum. The house has been empty for 2 months and I don’t want it to feel dusty and musty. I joked with Jeremy that if we have enough time before a showing, I might even go over and make a batch of cookies in the oven just to warm up the house and make it smell homey. It’s sad to see our little house empty and on the market waiting for a new family, but I am trusting that God’s got this. This whole situation is growing faith in our family. Even though the timeline has been challenging for me, I know that God is with me. He knows my thoughts and emotions. He knows and he cares. I am loved and I don’t have to stress, I just have to trust.

I hope that this blog finds you all happy after a wonderful holiday spent with family and friends. This Christmas season has held so many ups and downs for me, but the true reason we celebrate and have joy is Jesus! I am so thankful for my Savior. His unconditional love never ceases to amaze me. I hope that this Christmas that same love warms your heart as well. Merry Christmas!

Not so long ago I posted that the song in my head was “All I Want for Christmas is My House to Sell” and now that song has changed to the Kit Kat tagline. Gimme a Break! This last week has been a rough one. Graham came down with a bug a week ago. This was a major bummer because he had been sick a good part of November/December. He was well for about a week before diving back into illness. Owen started to get sick Sunday afternoon and well… then Nana and I followed suit. There was been a lot of fevers, snot and coughs around this house. Today we decided to take the boys into the doctor to get checked out and it turns out they have croup. Oh goodie. The doctor gave them each an oral steroid and told us we should see improvement soon. If not, we’ll be back to the doctor’s on Christmas Eve. Here’s hoping that doesn’t happen.

Now back to the house update. If you remember, we were suppose to close on December 21st or sooner… And that’s today. And we didn’t close. I won’t go into the details, but one underwriter has determined to not fund the loan for our buyer. His decision is based on personal opinion and no matter what documentation has been shown to him, he won’t change his mind. Our buyer has asked for 24 hours before we re-list the house. We are all skeptical at what she’ll be able to accomplish in that period of time. Our guess is our house will be back on the market soon. While I know God is in control and that he’s got this, that doesn’t mean I’m happy with this development. Through all the ups and downs and extensions and delays, I really thought we were going to close this week. I am disappointed and frustrated.  I’m trying to walk the balance of feeling my emotions and acknowledging them while not being controlled by them. There are a lot of thoughts and feelings swirling around in me. My anchor and hope still remains in a God who sees the big picture when I only see a speck.

The one “bright” spot in this week (and I mean bright) is Jeremy and a team of volunteers have been working on giving our main kids classroom a face lift. Vibrant colors have been added to the walls and plans for new staging and decor are also in the works. Thanks to Nana being home with the boys, I was able to put in a couple of hours on Monday and Tuesday to help with the painting parties. I do enjoy the times where I can get out of Mommy mode and be productive in a different way than parenting. In this case, I got to paint many walls and see the transformation happen before my eyes. The only downside to my productive week has been being hit hard by the plague in our house today.

To consolidate this update – the house hasn’t sold yet and will most likely be back on the market soon, 4 out of 6 family members under our roof are hacking up a lung, but on the bright side, Jeremy is making great progress on a big project at work and it was fun to join him for part of the week. Last Saturday, was our first Christmas celebration with my immediate family. We have 3 more gatherings to look forward to in the coming week. Hopefully, we will be over this bug and in the Christmas spirit regardless of circumstances beyond our control. God is good and I am determined to have a Merry Christmas!

 

November finished up with a MOPS outing to Lattin’s Cider Mill and our house still not closing. Over the weekend, we contemplated the very serious option of putting our house back on the market. But… it seems like the buyer’s lender has since been in contact with our agent and things look hopeful. We should know by the end of the week if official paperwork is headed our way. I will admit that all these dates start to mean nothing to me since they come and go without news or action. However, I am trying to remain hopeful as the deal with our current buyer hangs on by a thread. I really don’t want to relist our house, so I’m praying we can still pull this off. If things really do pan out, our new closing date will be on or before December 21st. The tune “All I Want for Christmas is My House to Sell” rattles around in my brain.

December has treated us well so far apart from the ups and downs with our home.  Owen got a Play Doh Advent calendar from my mom and Jeremy & I got him an Advent calendar that has a chocolate a day. It’s been fun watching him get excited to open a new compartment each morning and receive a special treat. However, our Play Doh play time has tripled thanks to all new and exciting things to play with.

Friday, our family did a little Christmas shopping and Jeremy got supplies for the kid’s choir weekend. It was a big day, but nice to be out and about as a family. As we were making our way home on the freeway, our back right tire went flat. It was scary, but God was good and there was no damage done to the vehicle. Because our van is still pretty new to us, we had to call for a tow and the gentleman who gave us a tow showed Jeremy how to access our spare tire. My dad rescued the boys and I from the side of the freeway and took us home with a quick stop at the church to drop off some sound equipment for the drama rehearsal that night. Jeremy made it to the church for the practice once he was able to get a new tire on the van.

Saturday was a day around the house for the boys and I while Jeremy worked on kid’s choir commitments. Sunday was the big performance. Owen’s class has been practicing two songs to sing as the opening act of the kid’s musical. Last year Owen just stood on stage by Jeremy. He didn’t have a clue what to do. This year, Owen knew the words to the songs. He sang and danced and got the audience laughing more than once. Must be a PK (pastor’s kid) thing. They know how to ham it up.

Jeremy planned to take Monday off as a comp day for the weekend. We woke up Monday morning to snow, so Jeremy’s comp day also turned in the perfect snow day. Jeremy and Owen were outside in the snow before the sun was even up! Graham and I later joined them for a walk in the snow. Later I made cookies for MOPS while snowflakes fell outside the window and Owen introduced Jeremy to his new obsession, The Polar Express.

Tuesday was our MOPS Christmas party and I was the guest speaker. I was able to get some thoughts written down at the end of the last week and I practiced a bit this weekend. I wasn’t as practiced up as the last time I spoke, but it still turned out okay. My message was about how you are loved and God is good. I went through some of the struggles of my last year and how God’s love and goodness has been the firm foundation that has kept me going. Once I wrap up this post, I plan on posting my notes in another blog entry. It takes less than 15 minutes to read if you are interested in what I shared. I also have a video of me speaking on my Facebook page. One of the ladies at my table recorded my message for a friend who couldn’t make because her preemie is in the hospital.

And that brings us today… For my class tonight at church we’ll be doing our Gingerbread House Decorating Contest. This is always a favorite and a highlight of the Christmas season for me. We added to the 4th graders to my class because of the small group of 5th/6th graders. This will be our first week with the 4th graders. I’m praying it goes well. This a fun time of year for them to join since next week will also be our Christmas party. So much good stuff to enjoy!

As always, I will keep you posted on the house situation. We went to check on the house Sunday with the boys. They ran around through the empty great room yelling because of the echo. I’m very much hoping that I will soon to able to post more definite news instead of just “hopes”. Until then we’ll just keep enjoying the Christmas season and all the holiday cheer!

This post will be all over the place. Lots of facets of our life to share. 

The last two weeks have been spent partially up in Kirkland for pastoral care with Ministry Resources International (MRI). The first week we were there we spent the night in a local hotel. Since Graham didn’t sleep well in the hotel and the homework wasn’t too overwhelming, we decided to commute back and forth the second week. This allowed us to spend time with Owen in the evenings and we could do our homework once the boys were asleep. It was a tiring pace. I’m glad it’s completed. Our time at MRI was good. They encouraged us and gave us healthy life skills to work on. This experience is one that I would recommend to anyone. Growth is key to all of us being healthy people. We have now moved into a mentorship relationship with that will take place mostly through email. We will also probably head back in February for two weeks to check in and see what has/hasn’t been working for us. We are appreciative of the support we have received from our church, especially our lead pastor,  as they have spurred us on toward health. This time away has been a fantastic investment in our leadership skills and my prayer is that when Jeremy returns to work this next week, real transformation will be evident in his life. (I would also like to give my mom a shout out for watching Owen while we were away. Owen loved all his adventures with Grandma. Being away from him was hard but I know that he was well taken care of! Thanks, Mom!)

On top of our time away for MRI, we moved on the weekend in between. It’s been a transitional week as we adapt to life in a new home. The boys are loving living with Nana and Papa. Owen has adapted probably the best of all of us. He loves the attention and he enjoys his new room. I’m looking forward to finding our new normal over the next few weeks.Bill & Debbie have provided most of our meals so far since we’ve been traveling daily. My hope is to set up a meal schedule soon so we can know who is cooking what days. We want to contribute and be a blessing while we reside in their home. 

We have all felt the need to rest and recover. Graham appeared to have a tummy bug toward the end of the week and now Owen has spent the morning throwing up numerous times. Jeremy has a cold and all three of my boys have low grade fevers. I need a hazmat suit! I didn’t really have any productive plans in mind for the weekend and it’s looks like bugs have confirmed the need to be still and rest. 

Yesterday was supposed to be our closing date. Oh yes, supposed to be! Let’s remember that our original closing date was September 30th. Then it got extended to October 28th. Now it looks like we will be signing another extension to November 15th. Apparently the financing plan our buyer is using has many loop holes that make processing it more complicated. God must want to grow patience in us. Please continue to pray for us as we try to wrap things up with our Moonlit house. 

Finally, a small update on Jeremy’s heart health. He had a follow up appointment with the cardiologist yesterday. Nothing new came out of the echocardiogram. Now it’s recommended that he has CT scan of his chest to see if something abnormal is causing the pressure and discomfort he feels. The doctor also continued to encourage the implanted monitor idea. Jeremy will have another appointment in November to investigate what is involved with the implanted heart monitor. I know that Jeremy isn’t jazzed about the implanted monitor idea. Again, prayers would be appreciated! 

What can I say? Never a dull moment with the Scott family. This next week we look forward to participating in Fall Fest at church. We have MOPS and Red Cup day. Depending on the weather, we might attend a local cider mill and farm. Lots of good, fun things. 

This weekend we officially moved into Nana and Papa’s house. This move has been almost three months in the making. I was more than ready to take the next step in our housing journey. 

The saddest part of the move for me was taking apart the boys’ rooms. Jeremy took all the stickers off the walls. No more penguins for Graham, no more woodland creatures for Owen. We spent so much time and care assembling those rooms and dreaming about the babies that would live in them. Such a good season of life took place in those rooms. Thinking about the new rooms the boys will have in our new house has helped me handle taking down their nurseries. There will be new rooms to decorate in the future and that gets me excited. If I felt sad about any part of the moving process, I thought of the house we hope to build and it gave me the excitement I needed to move forward joyfully. This will all be worth it. 

We were able to settle in quickly at Bill & Debbie’s. All our stuff fit. This is a testamaent to how much space Bill & Debbie cleared for us. They have generously opened their home to us and given us plenty of room to make it our home too. The boys have loved living with Nana and Papa. So far things seem to be going well. Graham had a rough first night in his new room, but he did better last night. Owen has slept like a champ in his new room. His adaptability amazes me. 

Yesterday, Jeremy and I went back to the Moonlit house to clean and grab a few items we left there overnight. Jeremy made a run back to his parent’s house for coolers so we could empty our fridge. While he was away, I mopped the floor and sang old Switchfoot songs in the echoey living room. Once I finished with the floors, I went around taking pictures and selfies around the house. I want to capture the memories. 

This house has been such a blessing. It has been a gift from God and our family has loved it dearly. I remember getting the keys and walking through the door the first time it was officially ours. There was so much excitement and anticaption. We have made it a home and it has been our sanctuary and retreat. We started our family there and brought our babies home from the hospital there. I will always view this as the baby house. The place where my babies learned to crawl and walk. Good, sweet memories. 

There are so many people I would like to thank right now. Both of our families supported us through this move. From moving our stuff to watching the boys, we have been given so much help through this whole process. We couldn’t have done it alone. Thank you to my friends who have been a listening ear for me through each step of this process. Your encouragement and prayers have kept me going. Thank you to my in-laws for letting your home be invaded by our loud and zany family. And a HUGE thank you to my hubby, Jeremy, for all the hard work he has put into this move and our whole housing situation. His efforts and strategy are the reason this move went so well. He has been a support to me as I’ve processed this change. His love has been so life giving to me. Last but not least, I am so thankful to God for each blessing and even each setback that has come out of this season. Our family has grown and God has shown up time and time again. We are counting our blessings and we are thankful!