Apparently...

We have a cat.

Yes, we've been adopted.

With no curbside trash pickup, we throw a lot of our trash that will degrade in the field. Well, someone has been making a meal out of it, and now lives on our porch in the meantime.

She seems to be very friendly with the kids and even lets Garrett poke and prod her without getting angry or hurting him.

We still haven't stooped to actually feeding her...yet.

Update on John's Job Search

Although we left Roanoke with little or no plan for a job for John, he has actually worked almost every day since we got settled in. With a cousin and a brother with large farms in the area, and a grandmother and mother that are always looking for carpenters willing to drive out to help them, there has been plenty of work for him. It is hard physical work, but I think John would prefer that to a job where he sat behind a computer all day.

John has also interviewed for several full-time jobs in the area and has had a few offers. We are really holding out for a job where all of his abilities can be used to the fullest.

So, to help occupy him while he looks and to get him out of the house so we don't drive each other crazy, he's started working for a construction company in the area. This job would also be a benefit should he decide to go for a contractor's license. So far he enjoys it and the main difficulty is adjusting our family's schedule to fit his new work schedule (which involves being at the site at 6am). So if you call or email me after 8 pm, I may be asleep...but feel free to call as early as 6 - we'll be up!

Blessed

I don't know how you get your family to eat vegetables, but my method is to cover them in a cream sauce and then bake them with a pastry crust on top. Am I doing more harm than good? Maybe. But the family loves pot pie.

While dinner is generally put on the table with a melodramatic sigh just in case nobody noticed how hard I am working to feed and clean up after three very hungry boys, this one gets delivered with four pastry hearts on the top. John Jr. counts the hearts on top and then I remind him that there is one heart for each member of our family and that hearts stand for love.

Here's the thing. When you start preaching to other people, you end up preaching to yourself. Sometimes I forget how blessed I am to have such beautiful and healthy children, a wonderful home, and a husband that I love. The blessing gets lost in the shuffle of wiping bottoms, filling juice cups, cleaning up messes and the various other jobs that just aren't that glamorous.

So this is my confession and my prayer. I pray that the Lord will help me break the habit of complaining. I pray that I will focus on the blessing.

What is the Truth About Breastfeeding?

Here is my commentary on the following article. Just a little rant on one of my pet peeves.

http://ezinearticles.com/comment.php?What-is-the-Truth-About-Breastfeeding?&id=1270365

I wish that in an article entitled "the truth about breastfeeding" the truth would really be told. I would agree that all or most of the comments in the article are true; however...

I'm not sure if Eugene Williams ever breastfed a baby, but I've nursed 2 children for a total of 20 months of breastfeeding. The real truth about breastfeeding is that it is hard! It takes a lot of commitment, it can be very painful at first (no matter what the lactation consultant tells you), and let's face it, it leaves the mother doing a larger part of the work of caring for a new baby.

I cannot count the number of women who have told me that they wished they had known how hard it would be. So let's just say that many women would agree that it is harder than the labor (especially if you get the epidural!)

That said, I would encourage all new mothers to hang in there as long as you can. But you need to know that it may be a fight, and if it doesn't work for you and your family, you shouldn't feel ashamed or disgraced.

If you need help with breastfeeding, www.kellymom.com is a good resource.

Re-Name My Business

OK. Just For Me Sewing just isn't going to cut it as a name for my website anymore. I am doing more things for adults (tote bags, boutique purses and yoga/pilates mat bags) and I need something catchy and more sophisticated. So send in your suggestions and we'll get a poll going. Please!!

CH-CH-Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Chaaaanges

Not long ago, Christianne (my dear SIL) asked me when I was going to start blogging. My immediate thought was "what in the world would I have to say that anyone would be interested in reading?" With all the changes going on in our lives, though, it seems to me that there are a few people who might like to be kept up to date on the lives of our children, our new home, and John's job search.

So here it is, a picture of our new home, which we love even more than we thought we would. I would guess that a lot of people would say that this house is not quite as nice as our last home in Roanoke. Certainly this one is older, but it is charming. It was redone from top to bottom just a few years ago, but much of the older molding and the staircase were salvaged and maintained. I also like the layout of this house. It seems to fit well with our family.

There are a few downsides for me. We are much closer to nature here...and by nature, I mean all of the critters that make me cringe. The abundance of spiders alone makes me worry that there is enough food around (i.e. other insects) to attract so many of them. And there are also a few pretty lizards on the porch that I suspect are well fed by the creepy crawlies.

And guess what. There is no curbside trash pickup out here in the country. That means learning to separate the compost from the paper trash and sending it out to be thrown in the cornfield that meets our backyard on all sides.

Living in a home that has been in John's family for so long appeals to me. There is a history here. John's grandmother, brother and SIL and two of our nieces are our neighbors across the street. Anne and Ty, John's parents, and his cousin Nancy are just a few minutes away. Not to mention being much, much closer to my mom and dad, brother, SIL, and niece and niece-to-be-born-soon.

So we spend our days driving down to the river and letting the boys swim and taking John Jr. down to the farm to spend time with his great-grandmother, uncle, and other family. Today, he will ride on the combine when Uncle Robert harvests the wheat in the field near out house. It is a great life for a 3 year old.