Time to Slow Down - Part 3

When we moved to Mora a year and a half ago, we were thanking God for an answer to prayer. He didn't just give us a great church to serve in, but He allowed us to live in a small town. A few years before, we had realized that we wanted to raise our family in a small town in hopes of a slower pace of life. Of course, you can be just as busy here as anywhere else, but I think the pressure of "keeping up with the Jones" is not as great. 

We've been living in a house a couple of doors down from the church, so we were right in town and it was a very handy commute for Mike, but we knew that some day we wanted to move a little ways out of town and live in the country. In May, we caught a glimpse of this house on 5 acres, 4.5 miles from town:

When we looked at it with the realtor the first time, Mike and I kept giving each other looks when the realtor wasn't watching that said, "Oh my goodness!!!" We thought it looked like a great place to slow the pace of life a little more, and raise our kids. Mike has always liked log homes and I have always said they make great cabins, but I wouldn't want to live in one. Then I got to thinking, why not feel like you are going on a vacation in the north woods every time you go home?!?

We put an offer on the house at the end of May, but didn't find out that we had officially gotten it until the day we were driving down to Apple Valley at the beginning of our 2 weeks away. We had been asked if we would want to rent it until we were able to close, so we decided that July 7th sounded like a great day to move in...the day after we got home from being gone for 2 weeks. Perfect timing, right?

Some very generous women from church offered to pack up our kitchen while we were gone and I hesitantly accepted their offer, so when we got home, everything in our kitchen was in boxes. It was a beautiful sight! Mike and I dropped the older 2 kids off at a friend's house to play/nap on that Friday afternoon that we got back in town and we packed up as much as we could in a very short amount of time. I had honestly not packed anything before we left, so there was a lot to do! Call me a procrastinator, but for so long we weren't sure if we were actually moving that I didn't want to pack anything yet.

A group of guys showed up at the house starting at about 10:00 on Saturday morning to help us move the furniture and whatever Mike and I had managed to pack up the night before. We were so thankful for the help that came to donate their time and muscles, and those who came to lend a hand with the kids and help with lunch.

For two weeks now we've been unpacking and organizing. I actually enjoy this part of moving. I like to figure out where everything is going to go and coming up with new ways to organize things. What I don't like to unpack are those miscellaneous boxes that you throw together at the last minute. They are filled with things that didn't have a place to go at your old house, so chances are that it will be hard to find a place for them at your new house. I have a box like that sitting in the kitchen right now, and I really am not looking forward to unpacking it.

So, where does this whole slowing down thing fit into the picture? These few weeks of travelling and moving weren't exactly slow, and honestly I've been pretty busy unpacking in between other daily chores (not to mention that this blog post has been a several day process - 20 minutes here, 5 minutes there). We're on a journey to slow down our lives so we can enjoy life as God allows us. If we fill our lives with activities, the only thing that's full is our calendar. It is our desire to fill our lives with God and enjoy the goodness of the things He has surrounded us with. Every once in a while I think that maybe I should sign my kids up for this or that activity, but then I am reminded that my time with them is invaluable and I want to instill in them Godly values and character more than anything else. Not that outside activities won't build character in them, but more and more activities won't equal more character either. I'll climb off my soapbox now.

One of my favorite verses is Psalm 46:10 that says, "Be still and know that I am God." I need to be still more often. I have already enjoyed several mornings and evenings sitting on our deck and looking out at the beauty around me. I've also loved going in the back yard to the raspberry bushes almost daily for a snack, or to collect some berries for a meal. I am thankful for those moments of stillness. I have a feeling I'm going to like our log house in the woods!

Time to Slow Down - Part 2

The day after Mike got home from DC, he drove home to be at church on Sunday. The kids and I stayed at my parents' house so we could chop off an hour and a half off our drive to Chicago the next day. We left for Chicago on July 2nd, which was the first time we've made the trip with 3 kiddos in tow. We have a history of not-so-great car rides...lots of screaming and crying (first from the kids and eventually from mom and dad). Needless to say, we were a little curious to see how this trip would go.

I used to be staunchly opposed to the car DVD player. Then I had kids. I will admit that there have been trips to Chicago when a DVD has been playing virtually the entire time. It was worth the sanity that it saved.  I decided to be proactive this time, so I planned ahead and made some activities for the kids to do in the car. I wrapped each one up and put them in a "surprise bag" so every so often during the trip, the kids could open them up and (in theory) play with that activity until it was time for the next one.

A couple of the most popular ones were:
  *The Rice Shaker - I took a clean peanut butter jar and filled it with rice and small things like a button, pin, lego guy, sea shell, toy lizard, etc. for the kids to find. Then I superglued the lid on to prevent a major disaster! This was fun for both kids, even just to shake for the noise.
  *4 yogurt cups that I stole from my mom. Norah stacked, restacked and stacked again for about 30 minutes straight.
  *Beanie Babies that I found in a box of old stuff in the basement.

A couple of things that I was excited about, but didn't go over as well as I thought they would:
  *A road atlas and star stickers. The intention was that we'd put stickers on the map as we passed through certain cities. We put stickers on a couple of cities, but Tate got tired of it quickly, and Norah apparently visited towns in northern WI that the rest of us missed. :)
  *Homemade Lace-ups - I took foam sheets, cut them into shapes and then punched holes in them so Tate could lace them with shoelaces. This turned out okay, but caused more arguing over the shoelaces. Overall, I think Tate played with these for 15 minutes.

Partway into the trip, Tate was complaining that his tummy hurt. Since he had been awake since like 5:15 that morning, I told him he probably just needed to take a nap. He's never been much of a car sleeper, so it was a long shot, but worth a try, right? Well, I learned that he really did have a tummy ache when he launched his cookies all over the back seat. Thankfully we were stopped at a gas station when it happened. My loving husband cleaned up the mess inside the car while I took the kids in for lunch at the attached Wendy's. After being on the road about 30 minutes after lunch (of which Tate ate very little), Tate said that he had to go to the bathroom, so we pulled off at the next exit and I rushed into the bathroom with him....just a little too late. We made it back out to the car minus one undergarment. The poor boy obviously wasn't feeling well.


The trip improved dramatically when we arrived at Grandma and Grandpa's house! Everyone was happy to be there. We were excited to be able to meet our new nephew Caleb, who was born 25 days before Anja. It's going to be so fun to watch these two grow up!



Caleb - Born on 1/5/12 and Anja - Born on 1/30/12



The bigger kids had fun in the pool and sprinkler.

 We spent the 4th of July with extended family. In the morning Mike had a chance to visit his Grandpa at his nursing home. In the afternoon we headed to his Aunt and Uncle's house. Tate had a BLAST with his 2nd cousin Jonathan. Me...I spent most of the day laying in the guest room with a headache. Thankfully I knew their were lots of people there to help out!


Grandma and Grandpa's grandchild population went from zero to 5 in 3 1/2 years! I don't think they mind!

 Just like that, our trip to Chicago was done, but what would a trip to Chicago be without mention of food? We had deep dish Chicago style pizza the first night we were there (yum) and Mike and I went to a sandwich place one day for lunch while the kids were napping. After we ordered our food, we realized that they didn't take credit, so Mike had to head back to his parents' for the cash that I had left in my purse that I had unfortunatley decided not to bring along. I stayed at the shop as collateral. It wasn't too long after Mike left that the men started harassing me (all in good fun). They were convinced that he wasn't coming back, so they wondered if they could pawn my wedding ring to pay for our meal. The best was when one guy suggested that maybe my husband had gone out and found a young girl - to which I replied, "Are you calling me old?" Maybe I do need to accept that I don't look 20 any more. When I finally got to eat my sandwich, I was not disappointed. I am rarely disappointed with food in Chicago. The only thing I was disappointed with this time was that I didn't get a Chicago style hotdog.

We decided that we'd break up the trip home with a stop in Eau Claire for a little hotel fun. Swimming was the fun we knew we'd have - everyone sleeping in the same room was something we weren't sure would be fun. Much to our surprise, all 3 kids were asleep by 8:30. Mike made a Culver's run and brought back treats to eat while we sat in the dark. Then after 4 days of waking up at 5:something a.m., Tate slept until...drum roll please...8:30! And that was only because his sisters have a hard time being quiet.

For the most part, I would say the long car ride went well. I do have to give props to parents who take cross-country trips with their small children. My neck was sore after hours of being turned around picking things up off the floor and handing out snacks and surprises. It was a lot of work, but fairly pleasant.

We got home on the afternoon of Friday July 6th. You might think we could breath a sigh of relief. I mean, who doesn't like the feeling of home after being gone for an extended period of time? That's a story for Time to Slow Down - Part 3.

Time to Slow down - Part 1

This has been a crazy few weeks, and I have been looking forward to getting a chance to sit down and write about it before I forget the things I want to say. We've made a lot of memories these past few weeks and I am going to take this chance to record some of them, and this could get long, so I'm going to make this 3 separate posts.

On June 25th, we headed down to Apple Valley to stay with my parents. Mike was headed for Washington DC for our denomination's annual convention, so my sister and I planned a garage sale for the days he was gone. I'm not sure what we were thinking, trying to do a garage sale with 8 kids and a dog in 95+ degree weather, but we had fun, we survived, and we made a little money.

Usually a trip to Apple Valley takes about 1 hr and a half. I don't remember how long it took us to get there, but I do know that 3 stops later, we finally made it. 3 stops is WAY too many to make in 90 miles. First Tate dropped his blankie on the floor (and if you know Tate, you know that this is unacceptable), so we had to stop to pick it up. Then Norah dropped her "gankeeee" on the floor and since she is becoming increasingly more and more attached to it, it was necessary to stop and pick it up. A short time later, I hear Norah saying, "Uh-oh, Uh-oh." I look back and she has thrown up. So, we must pull the car over again to get the poor girl cleaned up. Meanwhile, Anja needed to be fed, so we might as well do that too, instead of stopping again before we arrive at grandma and grandpa's house.

Tate is our early riser, especially when we're not staying at home. One morning I heard him get up, so I went over to the room he was sleeping in and saw him peeking out the window saying, "It's getting there!!! It's almost daytime!" I really dislike his early wake-up calls (that morning was somewhere around 5:30), but I do appreciate his excitement for life.

Mike was gone from Wednesday to Saturday in DC and the day henflew back had been a rough one for me and the kids, so when I left to pick Mike up at the airport my dad told me he didn't want me calling to tell them they'd re-routed the plane to Duluth. Let me tell you, it was tempting! We were all ready for a little Daddy time. I am very thankful for my husband!

While we were in Apple Valley, we had lots of time to play with cousins and I spent some good time with my sister. We got together with some friends while we were there too, which is always fun. The kids also enjoyed staying at Grandma and Grandpa's house where Grandma makes PB sandwiches before bed if they didn't eat a good supper, which by the way, is something that she NEVER would have done for us when were that age. But, she's grandma and she can, right?

The next leg of our journey was to visit Mike's family in Chicago, which I will write about (with pictures) in "Time to Slow Down - Part 2."