And the crazy just keeps on coming...

Last week was a crazy week. For many reasons, not the least of which is that we had to move out of our house... And this week has only begun, but looks to be even crazier. Basically, the story starts like this:

We have been planning on remodeling our bathrooms since, like, the day after we moved in. It's a pretty old house, and the bathrooms really weren't in good shape, and we had some changes we wanted to make, so it's always been a project we were planning on doing - eventually. Well, eventually got stepped up to a whole lot sooner recently!

We had finally gotten around to starting the remodel (after about 8 months of thinking about it) last week, so my husband goes in to tear up the master bathroom (which hasn't worked since the week we moved in anyway, thanks to James flushing a seashell down the potty...). And we all immediately start getting sick. Enter our evil nemesis, MOLD!

Due to some other circumstances which I can't really go into right now, it became imperative that we move out. My parents graciously let us move in with them, for what we thought would be a couple of weeks...just until everything could get fixed...or so we thought. Poor Robert has been working double-shifts trying to keep up with his customers, and demolish the bathroom on the side. Oh yes, and then he had to go out of town unexpectedly last weekend, too! I don't know how he is still sane...

Soo, yesterday he was dedicating some more time to tearing out the bathroom, and discovered that it had flooded once upon a time, long before we ever moved in, and never really got cleaned up or fixed. The mold was growing exactly up to the flood line, but it has rotted out at least one entire wall, and we're hoping NOT more than that!! There is no end yet in sight. Did I say end?? We haven't even been able to start the project yet! The plumber was supposed to come out today to fix the leaks (did I mention all our pipes are leaking, thus contributing to the mold...), but he just called and said he can't come until he gets approval to work in a moldy environment... Hello, Square One. Nice to see you again.

Sigh. I'm trying hard to re-capture some sense of calm right now, but my whole life pretty much feels like chaos. I keep reminding myself that it's just a house. Just a thing. My children and my husband are all well and safe. We have a very nice place to live right now with exceedingly gracious and pleasant company (thank you, Mom, Dad, brother and sisters!) and God is still in control. Not that He ever wasn't! I just forget that a lot of the time. Plus I can see how He can work a big blessing out of this whole situation. We will be forced to deal with the bathrooms, thus (eventually) resulting in nice clean new remodeled bathrooms! ;-) And we were always getting sick before, and there's a good chance the mold was directly responsible for that. So when we move back in...someday...we could be moving into a lovely remodeled house and actually getting to stay healthy! I guess that's worth a little - or lot of - crazy...right?

Mmmm...fudge....

Sooo, I've discovered that this gluten-free thing has its perks. I found a recipe in this magazine called Living Without for Coconut Fudge...no gluten, no dairy, just 10,000 calories of pure chocolately coconutty goodness. (Ok I exaggerated the calorie count - I hope) My husband, who in my opinion is crazy, didn't like it. This works out very well for me...or very badly, depending on whether you're talking to my mouth or my waistline. Did I mention it only took 5 minutes to make? You're killing me...

In case you want to indulge along with me, here's the recipe:

Grease an 8x8 glass pan.

In a large mixing bowl, mix:

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (Ghiridelli brand has no milkfat)

3 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1/2 cup cocoa powder (Dutch process cocoa is milk free, I believe)

In a small saucepan, melt 2 Tablespoons butter or margerine (or possibly coconut oil - haven't tried it but it might be good) and 1/2 cup coconut milk (be sure to shake the can up good first, to mix the milk with the cream, cause they tend to separate). Once the margerine is melted and small bubbles start to form on the surface, remove from heat and pour over the mixture over the other ingredients in the bowl. Wait a few minutes for the chocolate chips to melt, then stir until smooth. Add 1 teaspoon of vanilla, stir, and then pour into greased pan. Sprinkle 1 cup of shredded unsweetened coconut over the top and press down with a spatula. Let cool, then cut into squares. And (this is the hardest part) try not to eat it until your stomach hurts!

Excuse me, I have to go brush my teeth about 6 times now.

To be clean or not to be clean...that is the question

Life, they say, is a series of choices. You have to chose between different things, according to your priorities. Nothing makes this more abundantly clear than motherhood.

Children force your hand on a lot of choices. Sleep, or getting up with the baby? Piercing wails generally make that decision for you. Finish your conversation, or take the knife away from the 2-year old? well, evidemment, as the French would say! (I think that's their fancy word for "duh.") And, the most common, everyday choice that I have to make: what - or who- gets to be clean?

Personally, I like being clean. Personal-hygiene wise. I feel icky if I don't have a shower. (I think my husband also likes for me to bathe...) However, those 10-15 minutes every day come at a very high cost. The children see this unsupervised time as a personal challenge to destroy as much of the house as they possibly can in the allotted time, before Mama can emerge and stop them. Essentially, either I can be clean, or my house can.

This morning, for example, I emerged from my shower to find my son, his blanket, and the couch all coated with a thick layer of peanut butter. Believe it or not, this was actually one of the most tame cleanups I've experienced lately. There was none on the carpet, thank goodness! Son to the shower, blanket to the washing machine, and wet rag applied to the couch...fairly easy, relatively speaking! Unlike the day when I had to steam clean the entire house...

So the decision remains, each day: do I want to be clean, or to have a clean house? Clearly both is not an option. Maybe someday. For now, I usually chose personal hygiene, for the sake of my own dignity and to save the senses of those around me. ;-)

The fascination of diversity

Our little family includes two boys and a girl, and I love how incredibly different they all are. I wouldn't have thought their personalities would have emerged so distinctly, so soon, but anyone who knows them will agree that they have!

I have Joseph, 3 1/2, highly intelligent, an intellectual (he begs to do schoolwork every day), extremely talkative and articulate, and very artistic - he loves to draw.

Then we have James, 2 1/2, very physical (he walked at 8 months), strong, silent type, loves outside, nature, his favorite toys are sticks, rocks, bugs, and of course dirt! He is also fascinated by mechanical things, and is constantly trying to use Daddy's tools.

And finally, Gabriella, the baby, 11 months, the people lover and people pleaser, very interactive, always smiling, and happy as long as she has someone around to adore her; also very "chatty" in her baby babble.

Don't believe me? Here is an example from the other day to illustrate:

It had just rained the day before, and all 3 kids were playing outside, with me observing and sometimes interacting. Each child had picked an activity that perfectly displayed his/her personality:

Joseph had an old paintbrush and was dipping into the puddles of water and painting pictures on the outside wall, commentating about his artwork the entire time: "look, it's Thomas the steam engine! Thomas has the number 1. Now I draw Percy...."

James had overturned his wagon, which was full of water, thus making a lovely mud puddle in the dirt. He was spinning the wheels of the wagon around and around, trying to figure out the mechanism that made them spin.

Gabriella was picking up the soccer ball and then rolling it toward me so I would kick it softly back to her, smiling and babbling at me the whole time.

And I just smiled and watched the whole thing, amazed at how different and wonderful my three children are - and even more amazed at the God Who created them that way.