It's a bright, beautiful morning

and thankfully after a very rough afternoon/evening Courtney has gone 10 hours without regurgitating Gatorade. We are staying home from church to make sure we don't pass the holiday cheer around. Bethany and I are feeling queasy, Kevin is coming down with a cold and the little boys are feeling great.

It is suppose to get down to 16* tonight. Its been a long time since we've experienced those kind of temperatures. But hey for one night how bad could it be? Saturday it was almost 70 and by Christmas it is suppose to be back in the 60s.

Here's a quick quote from Stephen, "My laughers are getting tired." Context he had been smiling a lot and his cheeks were tired.

Mornings....

Yesterday morning I stumbled to the bathroom and began my usual routine at the sink. First empty Kevin's contact case (it is usually left open, still filled with old contact solution, I know, I know, not everyone changes out their contact fluid everyday, but I do, and if I don't for Kevin his case gets all filmy and grungy), ok, next begin to put my own contacts in; however, in a horrifying moment I realize that I have just cleaned out MYcase! This is bad, very bad. Take a deep breath. Wait a minute, why was my case open? empty (I'm pretty sure it was empty)? And why is Kevin's case.....full? Yup, he was stumbling around more than me this morning! He put my contacts in! What a relief, at least I didn't wash mine down the drain. So next I did what anyone with 20/250 vision. I put my husband's contacts in. It was not a comfortable fit and a couple hours later I had to take one out because my head was hurting so bad, but I made it until he got home. Being able to see is such a blessing. I am so thankful for MY contacts.

Demolition Work

After church we went to the house to continue our painting endeavors. Courtney’s room is looking really cool. Pink and Brown. The Master Bedroom is going Chocolate. Yep, a denim and chocolate house, what could be more fitting for the Yerkes. Unless, of course, they have some sort of classic ice cream color.

While Kevin was doing prep work for painting in the living room, he discovered a little water damage, which was, well, you know, a little disconcerting. So in typical man fashion he began to tear away part of the wall, really that is a bit of an exaggeration, he was being very judicious about what he stripped away. Thankfully we decided that the water damage was explainable and not pervasive. But you know how it is once men get that demolition energy going, so the next thing you know we have decided to tear out the funky brick benches on either side of the fireplace and before it was time to eat dinner it was done. It is really going to be neat. I had been trying to figure out how we were going to put bookshelves in that area, but just couldn’t figure out how to work around those bricks. Now we don’t have to!
We started painting the LR walls this evening but decided that the “Polite White” was just a little too polite. With the rest of the house being so bold, this white just looked, well, too white. The burning question, after ripping out those brick benches, is, can we paint the remaining brick fireplace. So it is off to the paint store again tomorrow.

We Closed!

Friday was a very busy day. We were on the front steps of the bank before the doors opened. I know, you are thinking, how hard is that? Banker's hours, sheeeesh. But we are a shift work family where every day has a different beginning and ending. But anyway we got there early and then withdrew crazy amounts of money from every account that has our name on it. Scary. Then in a carefree and happy manner we drove to the Realtor's office.

You know the car and furniture places that advertise: interest free till 2009? Well for a moment it looked like we might be getting to live in our new house not only interest free, but payment free for the first YEAR! You should have seen the look on everyone's face when I pointed out that the legal document stated that the first payment was due December 1, 2009!

After signing a gazillion papers and turning over a large sum of money we were treated to great Mexician food. Isn't that great. Yes, there really is a great Mexican food restuarant right here in nowhere's ville Arkansas. Real Mexican food. My only complaint is the guac (I don't think it is real).

So as long as the giant fallen oak tree is really gone by Tuesday, then everything went smoothly and very quickly. The final contract was signed Oct. 8 and we closed Oct. 24. That is fast!

On the way home our landlady called to ask if she could show the house where we are currently living. In an hour? uuuuuggghhh, hmmm, well, uh, sure. So we relayed the info to the kids at home, who had dutifully been doing their schoolwork while we were gone all morning, yeah right ;) We actually got the house looking good by the time they arrived, which was also the time that Kevin needed to leave for work and was also the time I needed to leave to take Courtney to the pick-up point for her ride to Little Rock.

And then, Bethany, the little boys, and I drove to El Dorado for groceries (they have a super W-M and cheaper gas prices), home for a quick dinner, then off to a bowling B-day party. You know you have friends when you get invited to a B-day party (actually the pastor and his wife might have just been feeling sorry for us, but I don't think so). Then we came home and watched a movie. I know we're bad, but we just couldn't help ourselves. We are trying netflix, one month FREE! It was an interesting indie. Of course the Veggie Tales~ Pirates Who Don't Do Anything ,that we watched a few days before was TERRIFIC!

So it was an action packed day, oh, and I forgot to mention-it really started at 1 a.m. with Courtney waking me up saying she was having an allergic reaction. That lead to an ER visit and Kevin, Courtney and I not getting to bed until after 4. Thankfully Kevin had just gotten home from work. The great thing about allergic reactions is that modern medicine can reverse the effects very quickly.

So it looks like we will be living just North of Camden AR, in a community called Harmony Grove, doesn't that sound soothing. I guess I will have to change the header on my blog. We will officially NOT have to be the Fordyce Redbugs. We can choose between the Camden Cardinals and the Harmony Grove Hornets. Since I like red and birds I vote for Camden Cardinals!

An Apple Cozy

Yep, that's what I did this afternoon. I usually indulge in a nap on Sunday afternoon, but today I decided to knit an apple cozy. A friend had showed me one a while back and it was so cute, and besides I am fixin to have so many other things that I really should be doing....So I got on the internet and found a couple of free patterns and looked at some cuter examples that didn't have free patterns and came up with my first prototype. It was a fairly relaxing experience, once I got past the first 3 rows or so. I'm sorry but juggling 4 double pointed needles when you only have 9 stitches is a little tedious. It took less than 2 hours, including interruptions (if I had been taking a nap, there would have been NO interruptions!) and hardly any yarn at all. So there you go, everyone knows what their Christmas present is going to be!

Well, it looks like everything is going smoothly towards closing on our house the 24th. It is so cute, Kevin has been stopping by the house on his way home from work. I guess he is test driving the ride "home".

I enjoyed listening to Kevin read some from Little House on the Prairie to our little boys this evening. It is fun to be going back through that series, yet again. There are so many good books we have read over the years. Some day when we are old and there are no children left in the house it will be fun to read to one another.

Courtney just went by announcing that tomorrow is the day of abundant laundry. Our day of rest is always followed by an abundant laundry day. This day of rest was good. Filled with the word and song.

Moving right along....

It looks like we really will be closing on our house this Friday, the 24th. So far everything is moving along as it should or even faster. We got a favorable quote on getting the fireplace/chimney fixed. Got house insurance stuff lined out, a quote on fencing, have been looking at paint,....Fun times.

Kevin and I took a quick trip to DeGray Lake this week. It was fun to get away, relax, and just enjoy being together, just the two of us. Since the last 23 years have been cram packed full of kids, I was a little afraid we might not know what to do, but it was good. We went to see Fireproof before we came back home. It was good, I cried, they did a great job of balancing intense drama with intense dialogue.

Stephen turned 7 yesterday. Everyone has been decked out as cowboys, yes, EVERYONE, for the last 2 days. We had a little party and lots of fun. I'll try to post a picture.

It is interesting how quickly you can grow attached to an area. We have only been living down Hwy 67 for 5 months, but yesterday I was thinking I would really miss that drive when we move. It is a pretty, windy road dotted with quaint farms. I am partial to country roads and old farms. I don't know why the transition to AR is taking a whole year, but it is. This time last year there were just rumors that the Logansport mill might be closed. We would never have imagined at that time that we would be moving to AR and that it would take so long to get it done once the decision was made, but we have seen God's hand in it all. And we are content to rest there.

A Month Past

Wow, who can believe that over a month has passed since I last posted. Such good intentions, but alas. In the last month we took a family vacation to Texas. Helped Ariel and Ramses get married, while we were in Austin we recieved the phone call that verified that we had SOLD our Mobile Home in Nac, went to an Astros game with Jim Mahood, Uncle Mark and all of his family (Astros were in the middle of a winning streak, yeah!). Emptied out the last of the stuff from the MH. Got to hit a couple of services at the Mission. Kevin recieved a wonderful gift. Went on a campout with the local homeschoolers and have been house hunting. And of course we have been squeezing in normal "school" stuff.

You know how when you travel some place new, you notice everything. But then after awhile you don't notice it any more? Well, ever since we first moved to AR I have had my eye on this pawn shop that we pass everytime we go into town. I thought that would make a fun picture, but then I never would do anything about it. Then I realized a couple of days ago that I was no longer noticing it. SO, today we stopped and took pictures. You just never know where those rascally bad guys might be hiding. Thankfully I almost always have a couple of cowboys with me.

The reason we got up and et em this morning is that today was the acclaimed Big Barn Sale. 40th year of the Biggest Craft Show in south AR! So yeah, it was fun. There was all the typical craft stuff, face painting, unusual jellies and jams, some really cool metal work, and a guy with a potter's wheel doing demonstrations. That is on my list of future professions or at least I would like to learn how to throw pots. He has some jars with unusual markings on them. He said he got that effect from putting horse hair on the ware when it came out of the 2nd firing (1200 degrees). Very Interesting. We were tempted to try the alligator on a stick, but it was too early in the morning. And the parking lot attendant got us stuck in the mud, but then he got us unstuck so no harm done.

As soon as I set my bread to rise, it will be time for the little boys to get haircuts. We have our first dinner invitation this evening. Getting to know new families is really lots of fun. I think this couple is close to 20 years younger than us, their youngest is Stephen's age. We've always said Owen and Stephen would keep us young if we could just survive it.

We are very thankful for God bringing a buyer for our MH, now we need for Him to unveil our new home here in AR. Have a Blessed Lord's Day.

Monday, Monday,....

I woke up this morning to the continued downpour from last night. I shot up an arrow prayer for Kevin’s safe arrival home. And thought it might be a good day to claim I am still a bit under the weather and it isn’t even Monday!

Our school warm-up this morning was a gazillion hands of Go Fish, followed by twice as many hands of Uno. Reading lessons with crazy stories about big bugs and little bugs eating logs. Lots of Math manipulatives. I really love my job, it just doesn’t get any better than this. Hey, girls, did you do your Algebra today?

So, yeah, I went to another home school meeting this evening. This was more of an organizational meeting. You know “what are you going to do with all that spare time you have?” From the length of the list of suggested activities apparently some people actually do have spare time. Sorry I just showed up because I am desperate for a friend. And of course you know I just had to volunteer for something. So, yeah, in two weeks I am coordinating a scavenger hunt in all my spare time.

Back to School Night

Hmmmm, I guess I need to get started on recording our AR adventures. Kevin has already been here 9 months and we (me, the girls, and the little boys) have been here 2 months. How can that be? But I will spare you all the getting caught up and begin with today.

The good news is I have not been sick in a long while. The bad news is I had a terrible cold last week. I had forgotten how debilitating a cold could be. The good news for my kids is that I crawled into my bed and covered up my head for several days. The bad news for my kids is that today I was feeling better. So yeah, it was time to crack the whip ~ laundry, vacuuming, bathrooms, you know the drill.

Tonight was Back-to-School Swim night with the El Dorado home school group. Their official name is H.E.A.R.T. (Home Educated and Righteously Trained, I like that.) Our first real contact with AR home schoolers, our first real contact with families with children (not counting pleasantries in the grocery check-out line). It really felt strange being the new kid on the block. Of course word got around quickly that we had SIX children, and 2 of them had already successfully finished High School. So the new family is really a veteran family. After almost 20 years of home schooling, I really don’t need a support group. I think I have the basics figured out. But wait a minute. We are now living in a small community where I don’t have ANY friends, no connections. And worse, my teen daughters don’t have any friends.

So, yeah, we need a support group. As a matter of fact, I’m going to the Camden support group meeting tomorrow night. Will someone please be my friend?

Last Weekend

I know this is probably against some blogger etiquette rule, but I'm playing catch up. Since this is suppose to be about our move and subsequent adventures, I thought I would say that we had a very successful weekend. Taking a load to the dump is always so satisfying. Also Courtney totally defrosted and cleaned out the deep freeze! Whooohooo! I totally decluttered my sewing/craft area. And no, there are no before and after pictures on that one. If you only knew, you would be trying to sign me up for therapy, and those of you that do know, don't tell.

So at the end of a long and satisfying day I was standing at the living room window. The full moon was flooding the pasture and you could make out the details of the trees on the edge of the woods. It was going on midnight as I relaxed and lingered there a moment. Then suddenly I was gripped with anxiety. A car had pulled into the driveway and turned off its headlights. I jumped back from the window and tried to take a breath. The car crept up the driveway. No we don't have any guns, no I don't even typically lock our doors, I had obviously failed to lock the gate at the road. Where was my cell phone? a baseball bat? I was poised to call 911. Trying to think of reasonable possibilities it occurred to me that it could be our college freshman son who thinks nothing of being out and about at midnight. As the front door opened I yelled from my hiding place, "Is that you, Evan?" Kevin looked around with a confused look. What? What in deed. Do you realize you could have been meet with a baseball bat?

Two Weeks Ago

Yes, it has already been two weeks since we made our brave trek to Arkansas with the 25' RV in tow. Thankfully there were no adventures on the way up. Though I have to admit getting out of the Burger King parking lot proved more challenging then I had calculated, but once the lady realized that I was not in fact trying to cut in line, but only trying to get out of there and if she cared one little bit for the integrity of her shiny car she would be better served to back up rather than trying to nose forward to keep HER place in line. What was she thinking? What if I had wanted to cut in line? She sure wasn't going to stop me. Really I was being nice.

So we arrive and I hop out of the van to find out just where I am suppose to park this thing. Uuuuhhhh, ok guys, it looks like we have a tire that is losing air fast. and Murphy's Law begins to play a significant roll in our lives. I knew there would not be electricity when we arrived, but I was suppose to meet the water people, who I had just gotten off the phone with. So during the time that it takes me to limp around the block with a 25' RV they come and take the lock off the meter and leave. Thirty minutes later I call to find out where they are, its 5 minutes till their closing time and none of the spikets in the area are working. As I am hearing the news that they were just there and didn't see anyone and I would just have to turn the water on myself it all becomes clear, one of my dear children trips over a piece of PVC sending one end of it flying. The end that I had previously thought was somehow attached to the main water supply. That's why those guys left so quick. So, yeah, I called Kevin, told him we had all made it safely and that we were going to be staying with him at the hotel and eating Pizza one more time.

So the next morning, first stop - hardware store. Now you ladies I know will appreciate my situation. The truth is true hardware stores, where all the contractors shop, it really forbidden territory to women. But I am trying my best to be discrete, but who am I kidding? I just pulled into the parking lot in a huge, 12 passenger van (sans the RV), covered with red mud and sporting not only a TEXAS license plate but 4, count them, 4 school aged kids on a Thursday morning. I did resist the temptation to tell them to hide under the seats. While I was wandering around trying to find all the necessary items to operate on our water situation, the kids were making friends with all the local contractors coming in and out of the store.

Anyway this has gone on way too long. To wrap it up quickly, by Friday night we had fixed the water situation, locked ourselves out of the RV, pulled down the neighbor's satellite cable, changed the tire, re parked the RV, spent another night in the hotel, and found a delightful electrician (at the hardware store, of course). When Kevin came "home" that evening, we were getting ready to grill chicken and all was right in the world. Aaaahhhh.

camping in Jan

Really in this part of the country camping in January is great. And we're not even doing true camping, we are taking a borrowed travel trailer to AR to be Kevin's temporary home. If you think of us please be praying tomorrow as I haul this 25', 8000 lb. travel trailer. I have hauled various loads over the years but this is probably the biggest (and also the safest). Yes, we have many exciting family stories involving losing loads on the hiway or having loads come through the back window, all just part and parcel for the adventurous and self-employeed.

But back to our trip. After we arrive safely and set-up, we plan on driving around and scoping the place out. This will be the first time for the kids to see Fordyce. We plan on getting in touch with some of the locals to find out if there is an active homeschool group and what sort of horse related activities might be available.

Since our realtor hasn't found much in the "rural" department, I plan on driving around on the back roads to see what we can find. Not that there aren't a couple of really nice places on the market, reeeally nice, too nice$$$.

I will try and post some pictures when we return.

the land of spare oome

Well I decided not to wait on the forces of nature, so yesterday I took courage and journeyed to the land of spare oome. There I found piles of smelly clothes sprinkled with mouse poop, imagine my relief when I realized that it was only pipe tobacco. After stuffing all the clothes in an air tight rubbermaid tub, I attempted to begin vacuuming. Talk about the forces of nature, this room was like a scene from Where The Wild Things Live, well not quite. But there were numerous wasp carcasses and ladybug shells, can anyone explain that? Years from now we will be standing around saying, "Remember the ladybug invasion of 2007?" While moving one box a lizard leaped out and no I don't know where he is now. And then there were the dehydrated remains of what I can only guess was a frog. Honestly I cleaned this room a month ago. The lizard got away from me that time too.

Today we had a great time with the four youngest Rasmussen kids. Lots of fighting cowboys, Lego creations, horse rides, and playground fun. The only thing better than having 4 kids around the house is having 8!

the holidays are over

It is official, the holidays are over. Our living room already looks like a who house down in whoville after the grinch has been there. Well, maybe not that bad, but it always looks so bare after all the decorations are put away.

Now that the holidays are officially over, the focus is totally on selling the MH! Yes, I left Lowes today with my For Sale By Owner sign. That's right we are getting into aggressive marketing. I spent a couple hours on the internet filling out forms to get FREE national advertising. I know it sounds crazy, but we have a friend who swears by it. Our neighbor mowed our 7 acres, so it doesn't look quite so wild. Now if I can just get Evan to tame his room a little....

I'm not going to tell you my New Year's Resolutions because they are the same as last year's and the year before that as a matter of fact. Maybe this year I can make some progress and have new ones in 09. Like Abigail, I do love to make lists, so maybe in the near future I'll write out some of my specific short-term and long-term goals. You know, beyond the, MUST GET TO ARKANSAS GOAL.

Here I raise my Ebenezer

Today I have been doing what many of you have done over the past few days. Thinking about the joys and trials of the last year. Blessing God for His continued faithfulness. A job change, a graduation, a Wedding, a horse show, another job change, a move. That sounds so neat and tidy, what about the sweat and tears, the joy and laughter, the flat tires and dirty laundry? Its all there between the breaths and commas. But lucky for you I don't have time to enumerate all the adventures of 2007, but they were many and some unexpected.
That is what makes this New Year a little unusual, we know that we are entering into the unknown and that is the point of this blog. It is my hope that this blog will provide an excellent media where I can keep you up to speed on the goings on of our family as we embark on a new adventure.
And just as God has kept us this far, He will be faithful to continue on with us.
Ready or Not, Arkansas, here we come!