Grandma and Grandpa's House

burn baby burn!

My Grandparents have this 8923859 year old toaster that burns toast if you don't watch it and eject it manually. Today marks week two of our stay with them and until this morning I had not burned a single piece. We're talking smoking, crispy, solid black toast. 

Blessed to have a Grandpa who wants to eat it anyway. 

bookworm.

Grandma and Grandpa's favorite computer game is called bookworm. My Grandpa's laptop is kept open on the counter at all times and throughout the day-- as we all walk by we love to pause life and find words in the jumbled mess of tiles. 

garden.

Life is simpler at Grandma and Grandpa's. Though busier than ever life is slower paced and I find lots of meaning in doing simple tasks like laundry. I cannot wait to begin piecing our new house together but moving out of my Grandparents is going to be bittersweet. Brady and I are truly enjoying ever moment of our time with them.

They have the most beautiful garden. They make due with the space the have and they've created something wonderful. They grow flowers in their front yard and tomatoes in the back. 

My Grandma was excited to show us how wild berries began growing in their yard. Deliciously tangy, I love picking the ripe ones in the morning. It fills a desire in my heart that I discovered recently. I really have an interest in things that grow. I am glad that the Lords timing is a little inconvenient sometimes. If closing on the duplex had been easier we wouldn't be sharing this time with them now. Today I am grateful for unanswered prayers. 

Faithful stewards of the things that they have been given-- my grandparents spend a lot of time working in their yard. It inspires me to get off my butt and do something. They keep themselves busy with meaningful tasks and take pride in their accomplishments-- it inspires me to take more pride in my own. 

day to day. 

We seem to have been doing  a lot of running back and forth lately. I enjoy the late night and early morning rides on the windy country roads. Driving through the country is a spiritual experience. There is great opportunity to sing, reflect, and worship the creator of the divine eye candy that surrounds me daily (Brady Williams... I kid. I kid.). 

  

Avey has adjusted to our new helter skelter life well enough. She likes to play with her toys, watch her Einsteins, take lots of mini naps, and be held. 

sneak peak of our new home :D

Brady and I like to sit around and talk about how awesome she is. 

sew.

Yesterday my Grandma taught me how to patch jeans and today I am learning how to hem. Maybe they'll adopt us and we'll stay with them forever. 

Fire Fire Fire!

home.
Oh boy does it feel good to sit behind a desk, editing pictures, and thinking about all the new things I have to share. It feels good to type-- the clicking of the keys is like music to my ears. Over the last two weeks Brady and I have moved in with my Grandparents, packed and moved all of our things to Blue Ridge, painted every square inch of our new home (ceilings and closets included), and last weekend we started ripping out carpet to prepare the way for our new floors.

I kid you not-- I thought we'd have the entire house painted in the first day. Obviously I've never painted anything in my life. It is coming along--slowly but surely and with every brush stroke it become a little bit more like home.

fussy bussy.
People ask me all the time "does she ever cry?"....

I always want to say something sarcastic like "No. Does yours? Something must be wrong with it."

But I don't because I'm nice. I just laugh and say "does she ever!"

The truth is that Brady and I are incredibly blessed. She is such a sweet baby. She loves to be held and tends to fuss when I put her down--but I know that's my doing. She sleeps through the night. She likes to be in her car seat, watch Baby Einstein, and be sung to.

My sweet darling turned into a little terror when it was time to start packing. About halfway through her Einsteins this is what we encountered:

She cried real tears and everything. Moving with a 5 month old isn't fun. Painting with a 5 month old isn't fun.

She cries.

It is heart breaking.

We are both very ready to get unpacked and all moved in.

fire fire fire.
My brother Kyle (number 3 of 7) graduated from the Fire Academy the day before we moved so I haven't been able to gush yet.

He has worked so hard over the past few years--trying to better himself so he can make a lovely little life for his beautiful fiance Sarah. They are getting married in July and our family can't wait to grow once more.

I am pretty sure Kyle is the smartest. He studied ruthlessly for exams and memorized countless definitions as he worked full time as a shift supervisor at a local pizza joint. He put himself through school without government grants or student loans. He succeeds at whatever he puts his mind to while dazzling others with his quirky sense of humor and boyish charm.

Obviously he was named Valedictorian of his class.

We all showed up to support him-- as is customary for out tight knit family unit.

I am so proud of my siblings and the people we are all becoming.

We ended the night with chips, salsa, and margaritas. Perfection.

Wreck

My house is a wreck. It looks like that tornado hit us after all. It started with Brady leaving his dumpster finds scattered around the living room and it ended with me literally not keeping house for a week and a half. I've been a bad house keeper lately...



There are piles of folded laundry covering the couch along with two baskets that still need to be folded, dishes piled so high in the sink that one more plate might send the whole disaster crashing to the floor, clothes at the foot of our bed that need to be hung in the closet, and then there are the random piles-- baby clothes, baby blankets, baby toys... my house has never been so messy.



I started my work on the kitchen this morning after Availeth went down for her mid-morning nap. There were so many dishes that I ran out of hot water before I finished so I sat down with a glass of ice water and a lot on my mind. I'm giving myself 15 minutes--to let the water heat back up--before I go to work again.



There is something about doing dishes that makes me very philosophical. The thoughts I have while doing the dishes rival the thoughts I have in the shower--which are always very deep and meaningful. I reflect on life while I scrub or sometimes I sing show tunes--both very good things.



On Easter morning I slipped into the shower expecting Brady to follow and got glimpse of my new hair do in the mirror. Which reminds me of Liza Minnelli, who in turn reminded me of how much I love Cabaret, and how hard I studied with my vocal coach in California to learn all of the German in Mein Herr... which reminded me how much I love to sing in German and then there was no stopping me.

In the car on the way to church Brady told me he was glad he didn't get in with me because then I would have never gotten out.



It's true. The two of us in there together is bad news because I become a silly goose. Singing louder and more enthusiastically which in turn encourages Brady to get silly and sing silly things with me--and then we're locked in this silly battle with silly voices and faces and bubbles. Lots of bubbles.



We're awesome. But we don't get a lot accomplished most days.

Hilarious picture I took the day before Easter. Spot the bunny?

Which brings me back to my wreck of a house.



Which I really should be tending to now instead of dilly dallying on the computer.




Auf wiedersehen, mein Herr.

I Love It Already

hot.

There was no winter. I think we experienced about a week of Spring and now Texas is running at a toddler sprint-- face first-- into summer. I'm dreading it already. Texas summers are the pits. 

This weekend we donned our bathing suits and took a trip (5 minutes) over to my parents house. We lathered up good, blew up Aveys floaty, and marched out to the swimming pool ready for a refreshing dip. I had the camera all ready to take glorious pictures of Aveys first swim.

The water was frigid. Ice bath frigid. Arctic ocean frigid. Too cold for momma=too cold for baby. We dipped her feet in and her eyes started to water and her chin started to quiver and that bottom lip came out. Back inside we went. 

Avey sure did like licking the sunscreen off her hands. Yum!

blue ridge.
Yesterday was inspection day. Brady got off work and we took a trip out to Blue Ridge to meet the inspectors and to get a report on what we're getting ourselves into with the piece of property we want to purchase.







Everything checked out! There were a couple little things here and there but nothing that isn't typical for a 9 year old home. We feel confident in moving forward.

Reader meet our (probably/maybe/hopefully)soon-to-be new home!

We will be living in unit b (the side without the truck). 

After doing a walk through I convinced Brady to take me on a tour of the town. There were 4 churches on the same street and little boys running around without their t-shirts on--perfect.



There is a little park around the corner from the house and baseball fields right behind it.

The grocery store is also within walking distance. Oh the benefits of a small town!

Fire Department.

The only place to get food besides the grocery.

Brady is going to kiss me here someday.

Where I'll go to get my hair did.

City Hall.

I love it already.