Getting Excited!!!!

 Look at her face!!!  I mean doesn't it scream - EAT ME I AM GORGEOUS?  I am a bit biased....maybe...

 I think she could sport any outfit and it would still be ADORABLE!

 Yes, this is Jonathan in his pj bottoms (no idea where his top is)  and of course a Batman mask making a face at you :)

 These girls just beam with LOVE!!!!!

 Who is Joanna talking to? 

 This was her response when I asked....guess it was a private conversation....he he he

 OH SHOUT OUT TO MY MOM IN LOVE!!!!!  I unpacked THE BOW!!!!  (this bow may be a post all on it's own!  Some day when I am caught up on blogging.....which I am clearly NOT!)

 Ummm...yeah.....still want to kiss her all the time....oh yeah....I do!!!!!! 

 So one reason to be excited....

 NO- NOT THIS!  This is as old as me!!!!!  Look at the dials- YIKES!  This is the oven that was left here for us....ummm........Thank you tax refund.....

 This is the oven we have now!!!!  A DREAM OVEN!!!!  Dual convection ovens or one big convection oven, with a warming drawer, and touch pad- all done with sensors.  OH MY IT WORKS SOOO GREAT!!!!!  Thank you to my honey who hauled it into the house last night when I was out doing a coupon shop- and he did it BY HIMSELF!!!  No idea how, but he is AMAZING!!!

OOOOOOOOhhhhhh, AAAAWWwwwwwww.....

OK so the real thing I am EXCITED ABOUT- besides my children, and the new oven, and my new laminator (and yes I totally played with the oven and the laminator today)!!!  AND I LOVED IT!!  Those are mommy's toys thanks!

I am EXCITED because our home is starting to feel like HOME!  You know the difference.  One is a place to be....one is where you fit- you belong- you make memories- you want to be there- you love it- you feel relaxed there.........We haven't put up a whole lot of pictures yet, my homeschool isn't quite ready (although I worked all day on it today), there are still things to fix, repair, learn about, tweek.....BUT THIS- THIS IS HOME!

It feels nice to look around see all our things- our memories, our furniture, our belongings here.  It's not a matter of the stuff, but a matter of memories.  It is hard to explain, but when you look at the couch and you remember snuggling with your babes watching a movie, or reading many, many, many, many books to your kiddos on that couch.  Or you look at your dining table and think of the 1,000's of meals you have eaten together at that table.  Or you look at your computer and think of the many hours reading blogs, posting blogs, and surfing the net for the perfect homeschool curriculum :), or your dressers- you remember putting them together and seeing them day after day in your room.  I am sooo VERY THANKFUL!  For all our memories.

Even the hard ones.  I think that is something this latest journey to be in our now HOME has taught me.  The hard memories....the ones sometimes you wished to forget- they are important too, because it is a part of you.  They are a part of your core.  The endless hours of waiting by the phone for it to ring- for your referral of a child.  The many many many hours working on your homestudy, the cleaning for the social worker.  The months that you waited for your wedding day.  The hard times when you were told- No to something sooo important to you- a child, a husband, a home, a court date, whatever it is.  The times when you remember soo vividly the loss of a child, mom, dad, uncle, close friend, spouse......those times make us alive.  They also keep us moving forward just like the good times.

I pray we have many GREAT TIMES in our new HOME!  We have already started :).  But I know there will be harder times too.  It is the memories that really form us, shape us, and make us who we are.  They become your testimony.  How do your memories shape you?  What are some of those tough  times that transformed you?  Look at the stuff around you.....what memories do you have of them? 

Yep, I am soo behind and I know I haven't done my parenting post....it will come....sometime....a little later :)