Grandpa's in Town

From one visit to the next Grandpa's here and although he's out of his comfort zone, he truly is helping on this house! I know he thinks I'm nuts, and I probably am, but thank you so much for all your help - I need it!

Weekend at Sesame Place

The last weekend before school started, we went to Philly to hang out at Sesame Place, it was a bit of a disappointment, but the kiddos still had fun. We enjoyed our stay at the Radisson, and that pool was a heck of a lot cleaner...

WE DID IT!!

O.k. so technically Colson did it, but my oh my was it hard on Mommy all day! I went to pick him up and this was the joyful Guy I picked up - doesn't he look even bigger this afternoon?? He said he went to Music class but he doesn't get to play instruments for a WHOLE YEAR!! He was bummed about that. He then talked about his job to do and he's the "Afternoon Lunch Count" Person. He gets to take everyone's name off the lunch list and put them back "like bricks" (on the chalkboard) he said. He came home with a book order - of course. And a fundraising packet... No thank you. But, he talked about a Gingerbread story, and he brought home a book that he read, it was about Best Friends. The School Principal just called to ask if Colson had a good first day of school, I mean what??? That was so cool! He made some friends at recess and played tag, he also ate Chicken Nuggets for lunch, Strawberry Milk, Juice, and Tator Tots. Hallie was a mess all day without her Brother, Aunt Suzanne allowed me a nap - which was the only way to get through the day. And Laila has been a sport through everything. I even managed Peanut Butter Oatmeal cookies for his first day of school. Colson also read "The Kissing Hand" and then they sent his hand home for me to write a note, and I put some lipstick on, and left him with a kiss as well, just in case he misses me. I know he won't!! Daddy, we know you wanted to be here - Hope this is a good enough explanation - We miss you!!

Here he is - on the first day!

I will give you an update, after he gets home, It was SO HARD to leave him there today! I hope he's doing well...

Big Brother and Little Sister

Time flies when you're having fun. I can't barely believe it has been almost seven years since I had Colson, and here we are, with our third little one. These two are cuties, and Colson is such a great kid to be the older sibling, he's a great example, and a great helper! Right now he's playing with Legos which is one of his favorite things to do, it keeps him occupied for a long time... So mommy loves them too. Kisses to my little ones!

Kitchen Complete

I didn't think it would ever be possible - but here it is. YEAH!!

Miss Cool, so Cool!

Yes, Colson's teacher is Miss Cool. We're so excited for him. Tonight we went in and took a tour of the school, met the teacher, and Colson picked his desk. It was so fun! I warned her about Colson's hectic summer, so she'll be prepared, but I think he'll do great!

"This is NOT Fair"

Hallie loves to say this - and these are her hands on her hips which are more like her armpits. Mother like daughter I suppose. Please disregard the oven and fridge that are still in my dining room.

Aunt Suzanne's Visit

We're lucky to have company for the next couple of weeks, my Aunt is here to give a hand with the kids, we're so glad to have her. Thanks, Suzanne!

The Beginnings of our Kitchen

These pictures are mainly for Josh - He's paying for them! :) Anyway, here are the cabinets - which I LOVE. We paid extra to have them go to the ceiling and it was so worth it. My only issue is with the countertops - why in the world would they not give us a water dripped edge. (that's the curved edge) Anyway, I'm working on getting that corrected. But hey, I no longer have to dishes in my bathtub! Speaking of bathtub I need to get a picture of that too. We have a new vanity in there. We're getting closer.

Progress

Here's the progress made so far on the windows/siding.

Also, here's what 200 bucks worth of dirt looks like, and from now on when I sweep my house I'm going to collect the dirt instead of put it in the trash, this way I can save it and when I need it I won't have to buy it.

Three cheers to the Elders for the free labor - they were great and helped me fill some major holes, they even offered to come back next week. Yeah there's a lot to do.

It was interesting they taught us a scripture from the Book of Mormon and about Ammon who was tied up before the king and instead of being killed, they offered him the king's daughter to marry, but instead, Ammon chose to be a servant to the king. This is a great story found here. However I love the scripture later on that is found in 19:14 "Now Ammon seeing the Spirit of the Lord poured out according to his prayers upon the Lamanites, his brethren, who had been the cause of so much mourning among the Nephites, or among all the people of God because of their iniquities and their traditions, he fell upon his knees, and began to pour out his soul in prayer and thanksgiving to God for what he had done for his brethren; and he was also overpowered with JOY...

Serving others brings Joy to you - what a great and perfect message for my blog.

Thanks for all the service you do for me, and for others.

Siding!

We continue the progress on the house - and this is the latest picture... one day, we'll be looking good!

Anchorage Alaska

Some of you wondered what temple this was - I thought it was such a great photo!

Hard Days Ahead

Last night was rough, but we're up and moving today, ready for the day. We're going to tackle this experience one day at a time. I think the "garden" is calling my name today and we're going to go to the grocery and to Colson's school to register him. That's exciting.

Also, a special experience for dad and Colson last night. Josh was getting some things together and couldn't find his movie case. We had a family home evening a while back about the Holy Ghost and how he can help us. I told a story about how I had lost my glasses as a little girl and we said a prayer to find them, and my big sis found them. So when we lose things around here, you often find Colson on his knees somewhere praying we'll find it. Anyway, Colson said a prayer to help daddy and sure enough, the thought pops into Josh's mind, where to look. Guess what?? He found it!! I love the faith of little children - they don't have the pessimistic life experience to interfere.

During difficult times it is our faith that gets us through, specifically the knowledge of eternal families. I've been challenged by the missionaries to give away a Book of a Mormon. So if you're reading this, and want to learn more take a minute to look at this site. And if you want one, contact me, I'll send one your way.

Remember find Joy in your Journey!

The Fridge.

Problem: Little boys and girls in the fridge. Solution: Bottom Freezer, Top Fridge.

Oh yes, this is a joy in my journey, nevermind it's in the dining room and has a red extension cord running through the living room to one of the few three hole outlets... We LOVE this fridge.

It's huge, I don't even know if I'll ever have enough food in it to keep it full. It's the largest fridge we've ever had, it's the only one where we've had an ice maker - oh what joy....

It was really the biggest splurge in the house - I didn't even go all out to get the water/ice in the door (the kids mess too much) but still a splurge.

Looks like we've had a bit of a setback... our cabinets are in, but no one to install them - so we're going to have to wait until next Tues and Wed. but then we should have a kitchen!!!!!! YEAH!!

I keep thinking though, this is saving us money because, we're not using a dishwasher and we're not using an oven... heck, we're not even using the light in the kitchen.

I find it funny how particular I am now about leaving lights on. O.k. dad and mom, your words are echoing in my head (Who left the light on??) When you're paying the bills, it makes a big difference.

Good Friends

During the past few days, I've begun to feel the effects of such a crazy month (or two). However, this blog is supposed to be "Finding Joy" in the journey. Not my frustrations. So in this I am sending a shout out to the most amazing friends, you know who you are and thank you!

1. You sent me a care package (See Photo)

2. You cried with me more than once.

3. You shoved a mattress in your Suburban.

4. You held my babies (all of them)

5. You encouraged me in my scrapbooking efforts.

6. You brought me dinner a week after I had my baby, and my other baby was in the hospital.

7. You made your son mow my yard, even in the crazy heat.

8. You sent me an email, called me, or showed up at just the right moment.

9. You fed me.

10. You forgave me.

11. You made me laugh out loud. That's all of you!!!

Thanks to all my great friends, who have lifted me. I hope to be that kind of friend. I love you guys I mean gals!!

Lucy

Exhaustion

I think it's finally settled in. I am absolutely exhausted, with a ton of work to do, Josh has established a task lisk in attempts to help me get to a decent point with him leaving, and it's just overwhelming. I suppose I just have to get used to the feelings of sleep being the only thing I want to do. I'm trying to get Laila on a decent schedule and tonight she finally went to bed at a decent time, however, I am now wondering when exactly she'll get up. sigh. Oh well, I need to get going before Josh catches me blogging instead of unpacking.

However, minuse the balloons, one look at this picture keeps me focused. I love my house. Bye Bye Military Housing.

Love ya!

The 1st Weekend Home

This has been a rough week. I will say that. Some of you know the details, and Josh and I are still working through some things. But all I have to say is we are blessed with some amazing and gracious friends who are going through some tough times, and we just hope that they are doing o.k. If you read this, we're thinking of you.

So with this horrible week we decided to come up here early and you know about the no sink issue but we're working through it, and I wanted to send you some pictures to update the progress on our move -notice a few things... Paint, Floors, and toilet/tub. This is where we are now. Oh, and obviously unpacking. The work goes on!

We hope you are doing well, we wish you the best.

Lucy

this is a test

trying another test.

Laila at 1 month

I haven't taken professional pictures since Hallie was one. That experience put me over the edge. Thus I'm left on my own to make sure to try and keep photos coming of the kids. Here is my favorite shot from my recent photo shoot with Laila. My poor kids have a future of unwanted photo shoots. It's the price they must pay for being stuck with a scrapbooking mom. I can't believe, a month has gone by. I think I did more this month than I had in the last year. I was thinking to myself, that was a quick month, but really it was just a busy one.

I know having Laila seemed like bad timing, but really she provided something for us, peace. Little ones bring peace. They've just come from their Heavenly Father's arms into ours. How lucky we are. We were sitting at the dinner table yesterday and sitting in someone else's house, and it was a little wierd to be in our situation, who would have guessed our recent road, and as I looked at our ever growing family, I thought again about our blessings. We have been so fortunate, some would say unlucky with other parts of our life, but would I trade the three healthy, beautiful children for a blissful Army life?? Never. I'll take poverty and misfortune in the Army for healthy happy children anyday.

Laila, Colson, and Hallie, my cup runneth over. I love you three. Josh, thanks for giving me three beautiful children. I love you.

Lucky Lucy.

predictions

predictions
Originally uploaded by jkheath_9

Remember that email where I asked you if it was a boy or girl?? I put the blue heart on top thinking it was a boy, but even I was wrong!! Here's the resulting layout!!

Missing my stuff...

Moves. Sigh.

It's been quite the adventure. But I have found myself thinking I wish I had that, or I can't wait to wear that. It's so wierd to have bought our first house and not really live there. We've been house sitting, which considering our cirumstances has been a great opportunity for us! We're just hoping for the homeowner thing to sink in. We pay our first mortgage payment tomorrow. And we don't even live there, yet!! :) Craziness. Anyway, I should be able to get some updated photos of the project posted this weekend, I know we have a tub, and I believe the painters came yesterday!