A Cabin on the Coast

Finding a home to purchase here in Maine has been a challenge, to put it mildly. To not put it mildly, it's been hellacious. After three failed attempts at finding a home (I swear, they should have a frequent inspector's discount---Inspect three homes with us, get one free!!), we (hopefully) found one that looks like it's going to work out. Because all the other homes we were hoping to buy all fell through (poison in the water, bats in the basement, clay in the water, undisclosed frozen pipes, and flooded basements, to name a few of the problems that inspections unearthed), we found ourselves without a place to live for a few months after the rental we were living in was sold. No big deal, right? Just find a short-term apartment lease? Nope. Not in rural Maine. No such thing exists, at least not that we could find (and we searched EVERYWHERE. And our parents searched EVERYWHERE they could online. And our friends--several of them---searched EVERYWHERE. Truly no stone was left unturned. Luckily our former landlord, upon hearing of our housing debacle, made a few phone calls and found a friend who was willing to rent us her summer home for the few months until we could find a home to purchase (which we thankfully found right after moving into this temporary rental). The farmhouse we are renting right now is almost 200 years old and is... interesting...to say the least. Despite what I'm about to write about this home, we really are so fortunate to have found it and not be homeless or living in a hotel. That was our only other option!!

We are across the street from the ocean. On windy nights, you can hear the waves crashing against the rocks if you listen closely. 

The property is located on 10 or so acres of land, but we stick mostly to the land directly surrounding the home. 

This is the old claw foot tub that supplies our only ability to get clean. Charming but so not practical. We take every chance we can to exercise or swim at the YMCA so we can shower there! I day dream about showers sometimes (every.single.day). The sad thing is, that while it's frustrating to only have a tub to get clean, the real kicker is that the water in our home is full of sulfur. In case you've forgotten , let me refresh your memory---sulfur smells like rotten eggs. So AFTER we get out of the tub, all we smell are rotten eggs. Scented bubble baths and soaps have been only mildly effective. Anytime water is used, that sulfur smell is present. Obviously we don't drink the water, but even washing dishes is so much less enjoyable because of the stinky water. It has really helped me appreciate clean water and I simply cannot wait to live in a home with odorless H2O!!

There is a real cabin-y feel to this place. I mean, it dons a man-sized Smoky the Bear, for crying out loud. What is more cabin-y than that? I know. Antlers. And there is no shortage of antlers here. Dozens of them. Not to mention antler lamps, antler chandeliers, and even a talking deer head that sings Willie Nelson and Garth Brooks songs. 

On the plus side, the school bus still comes and drops the kids of right in front of our house. On this particular day, Maddie stayed home from school sick and she and Nathan went outside to wait for the boys to get home after school. 

Posing outside the shed (cute shed, huh?) on Easter Sunday.

We are three miles from my favorite lighthouse. We love to go down there (especially at sunset) to throw rocks in the ocean and watch the sky change colors. 

Run, Forest, Run!

Having the lighthouse and the ocean so close will be missed. And we are sad to be moving outside our current church boundaries. But we simply can't wait to buy a home together after almost 11 years of marriage!

Nathan's Broken Leg

Yesterday morning in the Emergency Department.

Ryan put our yesterday like this: "Some days are better than others. Today was one of the others."

It started out by grabbing some granola bars and water bottles and heading out the door with the kids to get some exercise together. Parks in our neck of the woods aren't plentiful, so we often hit up the local elementary school. We decided to drive to a school a little bit further away to give the kids a change of scenery and find a grassy spot for Ryan and I to do a few burpees and sprints. 

Once we got to the park the kids immediately ran off to play, with Nathan right along with them. I think they were playing "Star Wars" and Nater was the Wookie. As Ryan and I passed the playground to get to the nearby grassy field, he commented on one of the slides because it didn't have any sides and looked like it was meant to be straddled instead of slid on. Kind of like this one but not as tall: 

Stupid Slide.

After 20 or so minutes of Star Wars play, Nathan took a tumble on that crazy slide. Ryan knew after just a couple of minutes that it wasn't a good diagnosis. When we told the older kids to pack up their stuff, they asked why. "We are pretty sure Nathan broke his leg, so we need to take him to the hospital right away." Immediately, my stalwart 9-year-old who rarely gets emotional just put his head down on the table and started to cry. I reassured him that everything would be fine and that Nathan would be ok, He responded through tears, "I promised him that if he slid down the slide, he would be safe, and I didn't keep him safe!!" Talk about pulling at the heart strings! I, of course, carry my own guilt about the situation because I should have been closer to him. Each one of us has felt some sense of responsibility, and even Nathan said to me yesterday, "Mommy, I sorry I went down dat swide and bonked my weg."

The truth is that it wasn't anyone's fault, and I've told the older kids over and over that sometimes accidents just happen. But next time I'll keep a closer eye on him, just in case. 

While I don't enjoy seeing my children in pain, it's never torn me up inside to see them cry themselves to sleep as babies or after vaccinations or skinning their knees. Stuff like that is just part of life and I know they'll be OK. But hearing Nathan cry and struggle to get comfortable and sleep last night just brought me to tears. I can't wait for him to be better. I keep telling him that he's brave and that he can do hard things. When I carried him to the bathroom yesterday and told him that he exclaimed, "But I can't do hard things! I can't!" But he did. And he'll keep doing them until he's healed. 

I'd be lying if I said that I'm not really disappointed about how Nathan's broken leg is going to put a wrench in our upcoming company visiting and our summer plans and our move next month and our trip to Utah. But it's such a small thing that could have been so much worse so I'm reminding myself to have a little perspective.  

Today was Fast and Testimony meeting at our church. I told the kids last night that I would be fasting for Nathan and that they could fast with me if they would like. Every single one of them said they would. And they are. They each had second thoughts about it when they woke up hungry and breakfast sounded like a good idea, but they did it anyway. I hope it's a positive, faith-building experience for them. Based on the fact that it's 11:30am and their baby brother is still asleep, I'd say their fasting and prayers are working. He'll be healed in no time. 

Our Winter in Pictures

Winter in Pictures:

A date night with her dad.

We celebrated Pi day with chicken pot pie.

Hijacking dad's winter boots. They are serious about boots here in Maine.

Our annual candle lit dinner for Valentine's day. This year was Chicken Parmesan. 

With Tuxedo strawberries for dessert. These were so fun to make!

When temperatures dip close to or below zero, the sea releases gases that hover over the water. They call it sea smoke. It's pretty spectacular in person. 

We had a flu-like virus pass through our home this winter and Nater got it twice. Falling asleep on the couch is not like him AT ALL. He looks so sweet and sickly in this photo. 

Davis @ 6 Years Old

At 6 years old:

• Davis is the most affectionate child I know. He loves giving hugs and snuggling. Sometimes we have to put a limit on how much he hugs people in public because it can get a little bit out of control. At church yesterday he hugged our branch president 8 different times during the 3-hour block. I promise I don't limit this boy's hugs at home but from the way he acts it might seem like he's not getting any TLC from his parents!
• He loves to read. So much, in fact, that he has been known to get in trouble for reading instead of doing other things he's been asked to do--like brush his teeth and get ready for school.
• He loves playing the wiiu more than just about anything.
• Davis is my biggest cheerleader. He tells me multiple times a week that I'm "the best mom ever!" or that we have "the best family ever!" or this is "the best dinner ever!" Everyone needs a Davis in their life cheering them on.
• He is a pretty good eater but hates tomatoes, avocado, beans, and squash. He loves pizza, cucumbers, green apples (he eats at least on every single day after school), chicken, and hot dogs. 
• I get to volunteer every Tuesday in his classroom and I love it. Kindergarteners are so special. There is a great energy in his classroom and I love watching him at work. He is an excellent student and his teacher told us that he does a really good job helping his peers without just giving them the answer (not an easy feat for a 6-year-old). 
• We are so proud of Davis and the big kid he is becoming!

My handsome boy on his birthday. 

Davis with Maddie on the Boston temple grounds. These two are pretty chummy most of the time. 

If Davis ever gets ahold of my phone I almost always get a memo that my icloud is dangerously full and I suddenly have 45 pictures of the bathtub with his thumb in the top right hand corner. 

Easter-egg coloring during Davy's birthday week. He thought it was pretty spectacular that he got to celebrate his birthday and Easter on the same day. 

Isaac @ 9 Years Old

A few snippets of what Isaac is like as a nine-year-old boy:

• This boy is highly (highly!) motivated by money. He loves earning money and spending it even more. Right now his pursuits usually involve some sort of wii game he's saving up to buy.
• Isaac is very patient with his little brother, Nathan. Right now their favorite game is what they like to call "Yoshi-back rides." Thanks Super Mario Bros. It is essentially a piggy-back ride with Nathan clinging to Isaac's back all while Isaac runs rampant through the house. 
• The other morning I was finishing up exercising when Isaac came down for breakfast. He caught me griping as I was finishing my last round of jump squats. "Mom?" he asked, "Are these exercises really that hard for everyone or is it just because you are so old?"
• I can get him to do any chore under the sun for a little bit of video game time. Incidentally, since buying the Wii for Christmas, I fold MUCH less laundry than I used to. It's glorious.
• I walked in on him taking a bath the other day and he immediately asked me to leave, exclaiming that it was "humiliating" for me to see him that way. 
• Isaac is a good friend to the underdog. He seems to often seek out the child without many other friends, or the kid who just moved from a different country and doesn't speak English yet. His teacher told us recently that he is always polite and always kind to everyone. This makes me very happy.
• He teases Davis and Maddie to no end. Especially Davis. He convinced Maddie some time ago that there was a new Ivy and Bean book that just came out (a series of early-reader chapter books about two best friends). "Really?" she exclaimed, since she had finished what she thought was the entire series. "Yes," he assured her, "It's called, Ivy and Bean: Friendship Ends."
• He played on a community basketball team this past winter and now he wants to play basketball all the time. 
• Isaac is a thinker. He plans and processes things and considers outcomes of situations before they take place. He lays out his clothes every night so that he can wake up and quickly get dressed and be the first one down to breakfast. He is never ever late. 
• Ike will eat anything. Anything. You'll hear murmurs of complaint with a short list of foods: sweet potatoes, zucchini, and any other type of squash. He still loves pizza, orange chicken, hot dogs, blackberries, avocados, and Cesar salad. 
• He loves spending time outside exploring, playing basketball, and running.
• We love you so much Isaac. Our family wouldn't be complete without you. 

Yoshi-Back riding.

Outside adventuring.

Blowing out his trick candles. 

Church in Bangor. I learned that I should double-check my kids' bags when I let them pack for themselves. Maddie forgot dress shoes, Isaac had only warm-up pants, and Davis only brought T-shirts.