the best car ever

For Sale
1998 Chevy Metro
4 cylinder Manual Transmission
237,000 miles
$1200
The Best Car Ever!!

I'm not joking.
I'm not a salesman, but here me out here.
Let me give you a little history.
Rewind about 8 years.
Jeff and I are newly married.
Cruisin' around in a really hot 1965 mustang.
It's a muscle car.
We are so cool.
We are so in love (with each other and with the car).
We snottily make a list of all the cars we will never drive. We really did this, how lame and embarrassing.
Guess what the first car on the list was??
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A Chevy Metro!

Now fast forward back to the present time.
We grew up.
We bought the car from my Gramy.
They were the first owners.
We have had this car for 6 years.
It has never let us down.
It is in top shape.
Never been in an accident.
It has never left us stranded.
Jeff has driven it proudly to and from work.
We have changed the oil regularly.
This has been the best car, ever!

We have had our share of cars; the Mustang, the 4-Runner, the Honda, the Explorer, the Metro.

Seriously, no joke, hands down, the Metro has been the most reliable, best running, best gas mileage car of them all.

With Jeff's new business (more to come on that, later) he needed a truck and we have no room for our car. We thought about saving it for when Braxton starts to drive but that is still a ways off.

I would really love for this car to go to a good home. It's in great shape and although it has a lot of miles it has no signs of giving up. Perfect car for a new driver to learn manual on too!

"shoes"

One of Emmett's favorite words is "shoes." I wish I could attach and audio of him saying "shoes" so you could hear it because it's the sweetest little word to come out of his mouth.
He's funny though because he talks about shoes all day and grabs his shoes and patiently waits for me to put them on, only to two seconds later take them off.
I found him these shoes last weekend on my garage saling excursion. I fell in love with them and so has he.
He can't tell me this but I know the reason he is so in love with these shoes. Probably because all I wear in the summer are my one favorite pair of old navy black flip flops. He recognizes that his new shoes look like mommy's shoes and he gets really excited when I put them on him. He goes and grabs mine and we prance around with matching flip flops. It's fun.
The goal is for Emmett to acquire at flip flop tan line to match mine before the sun leaves us. I don't know though, he's gotten a late start. My typically barefoot boy has some brown little feetsies (that is what we call feet in this house)!

"Be strong and of a good courage..."

"Say School." "School!"

I had to put this picture with this post because the looks on our faces totally match our feelings.
Me; don't go! Let me hold onto you forever.
Brax; uh mom. I totally got this. I can handle it. No problem. Can we just go now?

Joshua 1:9 Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the ^aLord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.

Today was Braxton's first day of school. Sort of. His first day will actually be Monday but today we had the Kindergarten Assessment. My sister watched Emmett and Adelle so that just Braxton and I could go. We got to a classroom and the lady asked him his name. Then he got his name tag and she said, "ok, you go this way, and mom, you go down to the Library."

I was totally caught off guard at this point. The flyer I got in the mail said that the parents would stay and so I assumed we would stay together. Not the case. I asked Braxton if he was o.k, and he was, and so then I turned and as soon as he was out of sight I released the tears.

This has been quite the process for me, the whole school thing. The truth is that I feel really good about him going to school. I haven't always been able to say that.

I really carefully thought about homeschooling him. I researched it. Read the books. Talked to everyone I knew and got different opinions. I didn't ever feel good about it. Not for this kid, at least. Then I thought about transferring him to another district. One that was a little more conservative and that didn't send their Kindergartners every day. I filled out those papers. Got Jeff on board. Then, finally, I fasted and prayed and to everyone's astonishment and to my own disappointment the answer I received was that he was to go to the nice little school right by our house and that he would do just wonderfully there. The funny thing was I totally stalled praying about it because I knew the answer the whole time but it wasn't what I thought I wanted so I kept looking for escapes. Funny how we do that sometimes. After I got my answer I knew that I had to shape up. I couldn't let Braxton know my concerns. I needed to put on my big girl panties and start preparing both of us for this big step.

It hasn't been easy for me. Every day for the last while I have prayed about this and prayed for Braxton and I cry every time. Even when Jeff prays and mentions anything about school in his prayer I cry. Not because I'm worried about him. He's awesome and capable and hugely ready for this. More for me. For the help that I need in letting go. For the help I will need when I don't know who he is playing with or what the teacher is telling him or what the boy next to him is teaching him or when the bathrooms were last cleaned or what name someone called him or.....

Last night we read "The Kissing Hand" and we kissed each others hands. My Gramy bought that book for Braxton and brought it over last week for him to have before school. It was sweet but it made me cry. Then Jeff gave Braxton a father's blessing for school and this was really special and helped strengthen me by reminding me that Braxton will never be completely alone. I know and trust that the Lord never leaves us alone.

So today was one of many steps. He got up early and picked out his outfit. He ate a good breakfast of steal cut oatmeal with frozen raspberries. Then when my sister got here we were on our way. Hand in hand.

After the parent meeting in the Library and his assessment I found Braxton outside at recess. He was right next to some teacher with a bunch of other little Kindergartners and he looked a little hesitant. But, he wasn't crying, so he did a lot better than me. He was relieved to see me though and when we left he told me that he was going to miss me when he was at school. He told me it was fun and then he told me everything they asked him to do. "I had to count as high as I could so I just kept counting and counting and then they wanted me to do the alphabet and then I had to like match these shape things and when the teacher asked me what I was excited about I said reading and wrote my numbers and then I had to tell my teacher what the letters were....."

It was a good day. I am feeling more prepared than I was yesterday. Friday Braxton will know what teacher he has and he will find his classroom.

I am so excited for Braxton. I really am. I love him so much and I am grateful for the years that I have had him all to myself. Someone once told me they wouldn't last forever and they were right. I am excited to share this young lad with the world.

Garage Sale Models

I know better then to say "never" so lets just say I rarely, seldom, am extremely unlikely to ever, buy new clothes for my kids.

Or myself for that matter.

I can't justify it.

Yesterday I packed up all three kids and we were at our first garage sale at 9:00am.

We scored Braxton's new suit there complete with white dress shirt: $8.00

Next we hit up another garage sale where I found Emmett's pants for $1.00

After that I brought the kids home and fed them lunch only to get a call from a friend telling me of another garage sale up the street.

I left Jeff with the kids and fled.

Good thing I did because I found Adelle's sweet little denim dress there for $1.50!
I have a total thing for denim dresses.

So today for church my kids were garage sale models.

Thursday at the playground

We visit this playground frequently.
The big kids do their own thing.
When did they grow up?
Emmett and I play together.
Emmett usually buries himself in the rocks.
Sofie runs like the wind in the field.
Thursday the kids wanted to wear their dress-ups to the playground.
Sure, why not.

smashed peas

Due to some technical difficulty I am having trying to upload my pictures from a fun day I found this old picture.
These are my new favorite thing.
I call them smashed peas.
Boil water.
Add frozen peas.
Cook until peas are tender.
Drain most of the water.
Add a tad of butter and a ton of fresh garlic (I like 3-4 cloves)
smash together.
Serve warm or cold.
Yum!

good boys of late

So me and my littlest boy went to Utah with my brother. That is where we were. We got to drive with Brent over to school and hang out for a few days with family and friends. It was a really good experience for multiple reasons.
First, Emmett is the funniest, sweetest little boy and I was so grateful to get to spend so much one on one time with him. He sat on my lap at dinner. He slept on my tummy half the night and right beside me the other half. He had me carry him places where he would normally have walked. It was so fun. I felt like a new mom again. I didn't forget about my other kids, don't worry, but I felt like all my attention could be focused on Emmett. I needed that. I think we both needed that.
Second, my brother is a great guy and I got to know him even better on our long drive. There are six years between us so we have always been in really different stages in life. When I got married he was in middle school. Since then I have kept having babies and I have felt like both of my brothers went from being my brothers to being my kids' uncles. Interesting how that works. So it was nice to spend time with Brent and to let my womanly instincts and motherly traits help him get set up for college. I found myself wanting to protect him and hover and then reminding myself that he is a grown man and able to fend for himself.
Brent and I are a lot alike and I notice it more and more as we get older. He is very sensitive and genuine (wow, that makes me sound awesome doesn't it ). I guess I mean I can really relate to him. We think the same. The whole time he helped me with Emmett by carrying him so I didn't have to and entertaining him when he was tired or bored. On multiple occasions I noticed him opening doors for either myself or other women in grocery stores. He is such a nice boy and I am so excited for this time in his life.
Third, Jeff's brothers in Utah were so helpful and accommodating and I was so impressed by how they treated Emmett and I. One gave up his bed, actually his whole room, so we could sleep comfortably. They were constantly strapping in Emmett's car seat and hauling it from place to place and I felt so spoiled by their help. Totally voluntary.
Last, my crush. Who I love so much. Who is so gentle and kind and so helpful and considerate. True story... As I am riding down the escalator in the airport coming home I am looking out for Jeff because I want to hold him and kiss him and pass Emmett off to him. Then I see him, in the distance walking out of the airport with some other woman. Really! It is a woman and children (I don't know how many, maybe just one) and he is helping her with her load. My nose starts to flare and my head is screaming "Hey dude. I'm over here. Remember, your wife and kid. This kid is heavy too and I've been carrying him for days and guess what, he's yours so maybe you could help me..." on and on. Ruthless, I know. It's so hard being a woman and having those awful thoughts. Luckily my heart was there to convince my head not to worry. I am so blessed to be married to such a gentleman. Jeff is mine forever and he is such a gem. The bad thoughts didn't last after that. I put myself in the shoes of that woman and recognized what a blessing Jeff was to her in that moment when she needed a hand.
Jeff had everything in order when I got home because he knew that is just the way I would like it. The laundry was done. The bed was made. The fresh cherry pie he had made from scratch that morning was waiting to be eaten.
Good boys are such a blessing.