To The Heartbeat Under Mine

I will touch your skin

I will know you as my familiar stranger

You will delight me

You will surprise me

You will break me into a thousand pieces

And scatter me to shine as brilliant as the stars

I will be a better person for knowing you

In your eyes, I will find a treasure

I will tarnish it

I will need to beg your forgiveness

I will love you

I will scar you

I will mould you with my touch

Who you are will be completely unexpected to me

You are my enigma

The puzzle that I never want to fully solve

For then I would miss the joy of learning you

In your eyes are a thousand lessons

That you will teach me

Simply by being

Simply by dancing

Your dance will be your own

But our steps will be delicately entwined

Slow, quick, quick-quick, slow

We will dance our way through

Together

Apart

There will come a day

You will dance those steps without me

You will stumble

You will soar

And I will be your greatest fan

I will pray for you, child

I will cheer for you

But for now,

You are the heartbeat under mine

And our delicate dance

Is just beginning

Moving In

We are spending most of our time at the new house now. Beds are set up and most of the kitchen stuff is there. It has been a wonderful, peaceful few days. I unpacked all I could unpack, but the absence of a washing machine has meant that I have not been able to wash clothes - instead I have spent that time playing with the children and 'tweaking' the new house and dreaming dreams for the garden and renovations. Cleaning has even been easier with no furniture to clean around!The renovations have started with Jon starting to tear out the lining of the front room and definite steps having to be taken to prevent the repetition of the indoor pool we got with last week's rain. I look at the house and see the back outer wall missing, the front room needing re-lining, the septic needing replacing and.... well you get the idea.... and I think WORK! Then I look at it and think OURS!! We can make our home fit around our lifestyle rather than fitting around a poorly laid out, hard to heat rental in need of repairs. I suffer no illusions about how hard it is to renovate while living in a house. There will be times when I just have to take the kids away for a while when Jon is refinishing and sealing floors etc. But every step of the way, there has been God's hand in things. And the safest, easiest place in the world is in the center of God's will.

What would your last lecture say?

update and recipe

The kids are all in the same room now with Billy in a big-boy bed! I have found this means the older two are putting themselves to bed at all hours of the day now and Erin wants afternoon naps with the boys!

Erin:
still thinks moving is fun! Overall, she has been delightful and a great help with packing and cleaning.

Billy:
is loving the big-boy bed concept and puts himself to bed at any hour - but especially at nap time. He also got a big truck from Nanny and Poppy for his birthday which he loves.

Christopher:
has 2 teeth, is crawling like a pro and climbing everything as well as harassing his older brother and eating things he shouldn't.

Tea tonight:
2 cans tuna - drained
2 cans cream of ch'n soup
frozen veg
1 can pineapple - drained

all in crock pot for a couple of hours while I clean the new house then served with pasta - quick and easy!

the house (which one?!)
the new house is lovely - in spite of the fact that there is a little more rot than we realised (not bad yet though), the roof leaks over the wood heater, we are getting quotes in for the septic and we are yet to build a shed for Jon. It is OURS!! A true blessing in every way.
The rental is suffering neglect, but still livable!

I'm Busy, Lord!

I'm busy, Lord. Surely You can see
The thousand things that wait for me!
The dishes still lie in the sink-
I cannot stop to pray and think.

Lord, I know You understand.
For You gave these children to my hand;
And now they cry and need me so,
Lord, You understand. I'd better go.

Now I've got them all to sleep,
I'd better dust and mop and sweep.
I must thaw out the meat for stew,
And the ironing is long overdue!

And kindly my Lord answered me,
"Why do you from my presence flee?
I have so much for you today.
My child, I want to hear you pray.

"I love you, child; I want you here
To rest and listen- to shed a tear.
What if Paul had stopped to say,
'Lord, I'm too busy to write letters today!'?

"No, my child, I'm what you need,
Through household duties you can speed,
Yet when you're through, there's emptiness
If this quiet time you miss."

Oh, thank You, Lord, for showing me
How much I need to wait on Thee.
For what's an undone dish or two
Compared with sharing time with You?!

-Nancy Stitzel

Cinderella

This clip is made all the more heartrending when you realise that one of the little girls this song was written about was killed in an accident at the end of last month.

amid the boxes

blogging is going to take a back seat for a while. Just a few random updates while we're moving (which could take a while!) but no big posts or detailed updates for a bit.

Erin:
struggled with not taking over her brother's birthday last Sunday, but managed for the most part! She's enjoyed having Nana Julie here for a while and her reading is improving in leaps and bounds.

Billy:
is two now and has no hair. I cut his hair and forgot how short the number 3 guide for the clippers is! He loved his new lego (as does Erin and Christopher!) and spent the day telling people it was his AND Erin's birthday. He has also taken to calling Nana Julie "Grandpa" for some reason!

Christopher:
REALLY crawls and has started pulling himself up on things! He is also sleeping through the night (most of the time) still.

Jess

From the mouth of Erin

After being disciplined before going and brushing her teeth etc. before bed, Erin then returned to the lounge room muttering to herself:

"Sometimes, when they are tired and angry, you just have to agree with them!"

She then smiled at me and said "sorry Mum" and gave me a big hug

She also told me that she loves me "even when I am angry"!

I told her I love her even when she is naughty :)