Finding a new church home

So along with moving comes the chore of finding a new church home. Being in a church family has always been a huge part of our existence - something our children have always known. I want my kids to know that when things get tough or life is hard you can always rely on your extended family - your church friends. So this is something that I have been concerned about since we moved to Indiana.
We have visited a nondenominational church that is reformed in theology. It was recommended to us by a family that previously lived in Evansville. The preaching is good but there are things in the service that seem to be missing. There are plenty of families with children the ages of our girls but we feel very unwelcomed there. Not one person around us has said hello or greeted us before or after the service. We even dropped Clara Bea in the nursery and no one there seemed to notice that we were new. It is discouraging.
This week I made a connection with another homeschool mom. She is the chair person for a co-op group that meets on Mondays. I called to ask some questions about the group and the classes offered. While talking with her we found out that we both live in the same small town of Lynnville. This sweet lady invited us over to her house for a play date so that we and our children could meet one another. After talking with her we discovered that her husband was the heating/air guy that had come to our house to look at the air conditioner. When he was at our house he had talked with John about their church and had invited us back then. But we didn't listen very well about the location or the name of the church so we weren't sure where it was. Turns out it is right around the corner. So his wife re invited us to visit their church. I made sure I got the name and location this time.
Sunday John and I visited this community nondenominational church. They are currently meeting in the community center here in Lynnville and even hold Sunday school classes for the children in the Pastor's home which is right next door. However our children are away visiting their grandparents so it was just John and I this past week. When we came in the door it was like people lined up at the door to shake our hands and greet us. It was such an opposite reaction to what we experienced at the other church. Now granted this is a smaller church and a smaller town, so it was more recognizable that we were new but it felt amazing. The service was similar to the other church, the music was simple and the preaching was from the Word of God. I think we will definitely go back. It will be a great way to make connections in this town. Actually being able to know our neighbors and not having to drive a distance on Sunday mornings would be a huge blessing.
I think now I am hung up on ideals. I am sad that we do not have a PCA church to attend here. Why am I being such a snob about what kind of church we go too? If they are preaching the gospel, then I should be happy and recognize that we are all going to heaven together. But I struggle with this. I want more. I miss the liturgy of the worship service. I miss the hymns of faith. I want truths taught to my children that point to Jesus as our only Saviour.
So for now, we will make it a matter of prayer. Praying that God will lead us to where he wants us to be, showing us the place in which he has called us to.

Trip to NC

So I couldn't post any status updates on facebook or blog about our pending trip to NC until it was done. We let our friend know that we could make a trip out in July knowing that her husband's 40th birthday was near and decided not to tell him so that we could make it for the surprise birthday party. And a surprise it was!
We had to wait until my 5p.m. zumba class on Friday night was over before leaving Evansville. Knowing that it was a 10 hour trip we decided to pull an all-nighter. The kids slept most of the way which was a blessing, especially for little Clara Bea. We arrived in Statesville around 3:45 a.m. Saturday morning and slept for a few hours at some friend's house. (Thank you Millers for letting us crash at your place and wake you up in the middle of the night!) They fed us breakfast and let us shower and caffeine-up so that it wouldn't appear that we were exhausted. We made it to the surprise party to wait it out with the others for the big "we gotcha" moment.
The rest of the week is a blur. I think it went by too fast and I of course didn't get to see and spend as much time with all our NC friends as we would have liked too. But that's the way it goes I have begun to learn. Some of our dear friends in Statesville threw Clara Bea a 1st birthday party. She has a special place in the hearts of some dear ladies there. I guess this will always be our connection to NC since she is our only daughter born there and will always be a "Carolina girl". We also got to spend two Sundays at our former church in NC. I even got to sing and play a little with the worship team which was a renewal to my soul. I didn't realize how badly I missed it and struggled with the thought of leaving it behind again. We played games, stayed up late, ate too much, drank too much, and had way too much fun. I also got to substitute teach some of my former classes at the YMCA. Special thanks to the Larson family and the Miller family for hosting us in your homes. We are so glad that the kids got to pick up right where they left off and hope that it will always be this way no matter how much times passes in between seeing each other again.
Our trip home was not as smooth as our trip there. We decided to leave in the early hours of the morning in order to get John home for a portion of his work day. We set off at 4a.m. and before we could even get to the interstate Clara Bea decided she was awake. I decided to run into a gas station and warm-up a bottle for her, thinking this would put her right back to sleep (something we often do at home). But I guess the warm milk on her stomach did not settle well and two hours later she threw up. We had to stop at a travel center, wash her off in a bathroom sink and clean up the car seat the best we could with wet wipes. I threw away her soiled clothes, we bought a can of air freshener and off we went again. After about another hour of driving John decided that we would stop for breakfast - he was having a hard time staying awake at the wheel - we had definitely not slept enough the several nights leading up to our departure. So after breakfast I decided that I would drive while Clara Bea and John took a nap. For some reason the trip home seemed twice as long but we finally arrived 11 hours later.
We unpacked our vehicle and even unpacked the bags but later in the afternoon a thunderstorm rolled into town. It got really dark, and the trees began to whip back and forth from the wind. The rain down poured but did not last too long. In the midst of the storm we lost power. After about an hour of fun with flashlights and candles the sun seemed to come back out but the power did not. John ended up grilling up some dinner for us, the kids took a bath in the dark and we all went to bed. Thus ended our very long day.
Now we are settling back into life here in Indiana. The chickens grew, the garden grew, the cat has disappeared again, and more snake skin has been found.

4th of July

This year we celebrated the 4th of July weekend at home in Tennessee. Special thanks to my brother and sister-in-law for letting us crash at their home. I had a great time with my marathon runner, sister-in-law and her friends. She let me join them in Loretto for a 5K race on Saturday morning. It was fun and I had a good run. It will be a good way for me to judge whether or not I improve my pace when I run another 5K in August. John and I have been taking a boot camp class to get us back in shape. Our goal is to be ready to run a half marathon in October and then a relay race from Chattonooga to Nashville in November (we will just be 2 runners on a 12 man team).

I was also able to visit with my Mom and step dad, who is currently recovering from hip replacemnet surgery. He looked great. Sunday we enjoyed visiting our old church home and lunch with my Dad. Then that evening we attended a cookout at our friends home with the local fireworks display to follow. I enjoyed reconnecting with good friends. We drove back this morning and are all exhausted. Not sure why - maybe it's the heat. Anyhow we skipped boot camp for tonight and will all be going to bed early.

Hope everyone had a joyous holiday weekend!

June birthday girls

Once again, along with moving comes Anna's birthday. I always feel bad for her that her birthday comes and she is not there to share it with her friends. So we may have gone a little over board this year, but what the heck you only turn 10 once in your life!
Her actual birthday was on a Monday this year. Her Grammy, Pop Bill and two of her cousins were in town so we went to Holiday World to celebrate. It was our first visit to this amusement park and we were very pleased. All the kids had a great time on the roller coasters, various rides and plenty of water slides too. Anna made a comment during the day that it was the best birthday ever. We also noticed that she smiled from morning til night that day - something she hasn't done for a while.
The day before was Father's Day but while my dad was here we celebrated her birthday with cake and ice cream and of course presents! Anna got a new bicycle for her birthday which was a surprise to her. We captured her reaction on video and it was priceless.
Yesterday was Clara Bea's 1st birthday. Since two of her older sisters are gone for the week it was just Emily, John and I to celebrate. We let her open her presents and took her out for a swim in the baby pool with her new bath toys. She also received a swing from us for her birthday and she ended up falling asleep in it while swinging. Later in the evening we skyped our good friends and they helped us sing "happy birthday" to her and watched her dive into her cake. It was a fun day. Clara Bea walked lots of steps on her birthday - I think she is now going to be on the move.

The garden

Why haven't we done this before now?
One of the delights of having a yard out in the country is that there is no home owner's association to tell us what we can and cannot do in our yard. So along with the chicken coop, in far back corner of the fenced in yard, we have planted a garden. John had bought the seeds and had intended on planting it before the girls and I moved here but there were still too many cold nights. So in late May we started the garden. Now we have never done one of these before besides some tomato plants we put in the flower beds back in TN many years ago. In fact about nine years ago - because we can remember Anna being about 1 year old, toddling around eating the cherry tomatoes right off of the vine. So we are new vegetable gardeners.
We planted corn, tomatoes (many varieties), green peppers, and hot peppers, cucumbers, cilantro, and watermelon. It is has been such a fun time watching the plants bud and grow and now we have the first signs of fruit on the vines. It will probably be a few more weeks before we get to eat them but we are enjoying God's perfect design in how they are growing each day.
We also found that there is a tree right beside the garden that is blooming the most beautiful flowers. Many butterflies and dragon flies buzz around that corner of the yard and I've never experienced the joys of nature in way that I am this year.

Chicken Coop

Well you can officially call us chicken farmers now. My husband always amazes me at the things he can figure out. Today he completed the chicken coop in our backyard.
You may remember that we are on our second batch of chickens as the first six were taken by a predator. We think it was probably a racoon or maybe a stray cat. Now we are onto our second batch but this time we had to purchase 25. We have lost two over the past week, so we now have 23 chickens. Up until this point we have been moving them in and out of the garage each morning and night. But now they have a fine, safe coop to call home. Check out the pictures to see the new addtion to our back yard.

Snake Saga Continues

Well we have had more action over the weekend with the snakes in our yard. To back up a little, John had seen two at the tree in the back yard while the girls and I were gone at the beach. So the whole time that we have lived here I had personally not ever seen one myself. Until now!
John had killed one of the snakes he had seen in May but had missed the other. So we were under the impression that one still remained. But after spreading moth balls around the yard and throwing them into the trees, we figured that they were gone for the time being. But we were wrong.
Friday afternoon I came home alone, well almost alone - with Clara Bea who had fallen asleep in the van. I pulled in the driveway and parked next to the gate at the side of the house. I opened all the doors of the van so that I could quickly unload some cold groceries while Clara was napping in the van. I went into the house but when I came back out, I froze. There was a huge black snake on the trunk of the tree that I had just walked by, 2 feet from the gate and right beside our van that Clara was sleeping in. I called John on the cell phone, knowing that he was on his way home, hoping that he was close by. He told me to get the axe from the garage and kill it. i ran to the garage and got the axe but when I returned to the tree my knees and stomach got weak and I just couldn't do it. I was afraid and was screaming like a little girl. Apparently I was cursing too, but don't remember that part. I decided to hang up the phone - there was no way I could swing an axe with one arm, but gave up on the idea and rescued Clara from the van took her inside to her bed. I came outside a couple of times to check on the snake's location but it slowly moved it's way up the tree and behind a nook where he disappeared.
Now fast forward to Sunday - Father's Day.
John's mom and step dad had come for a visit in their motor home. That morning my step dad was telling us of the snake he had been watching all morning come in and out of a hole in tree. So the boys spotted it and began target practice. After some time they finally hit one and it fell out of the tree. They thought they had gotten the one that I had seen on Friday but it seemed too small to me to be the same one. My dad also arrived that afternoon for the Father's day, snake hunting festivities. He had cut into the snake and discovered about four eggs it was carrying. We were thankful that they were not yet laid and 4 less snakes to worry about.
Now it is Tuesday. This morning another smaller snake peeped out of a whole. John was able to pull it down with the garden hoe and kill it. The larger snake was seen by my in-laws yesterday so we know it still exists and another was spotted traveling across the driveway. So we know there are at least two more alive, three have been killed, how many more remain is yet to be determined.
I am a little less fearful of them. We know that they are nonpoisonous. But who wants a family of snakes living in their back yard? There is still a creep factor of walking around outside. The kids are scared to go out by themselves - I don't blame them, yet I tell them it is no big deal. We are trying to make sure that our new batch of chickens are protected so they have been spending their nights and some days in the garage.
So anyone want to come visit us? LOL Let's just say there is never a dull moment around here.