In Which We Announce:

Baby! 

It's been super fun telling all our friends and family over the past weeks about the little tyke who will be joining us come spring. It's been really exciting to talk to God about the little one that He is sending to us. And truthfully some days it's just been a little overwhelming and scary to think about having a child join our lives... Our lives that are so not baby oriented, but still, ones that can be baby oriented with a little revamping. 

We are excited. I am thrilled beyond words to think of being a mom. 

Some times when I think about prayers that God has answered, I am overwhelmed. I specifically remember, soon after we got married, praying that God would allow us five years. I just really wanted to have five years to grow up before we would have children. Some times it seemed a little too long, and some times five years seemed to be coming too soon, but I am oh so thankful that he answered that prayer for us!

We went to NC just after those two pink lines showed up so clearly and we spent long hours on the beach, discussing our little one, discussing the realities and the happinesses. 

That little babymoon was the best fun ever!

One evening while sitting there, a little family arrived and started walking slowly along the beach. Their free spirited daughter, who was probably about four, started running, her long dark hair just blowing beautifully along with her. Both of us were captivated by her adorable style and after they left, we walked along the water to where she had run on her own. Her footsteps ran through totally touched-only-by-water sand. You could tell that her little legs had been running at full tilt, just so that she could feel the wind on her face. I told Blake that that is what I hope our little one is like. Just totally willing to walk where no one has walked, not afraid to be bold and daring, free spirited and full of life. And my prayer is that all that energy that I hope my child has will be fully poured out on God, who is the giver of life.

I cannot wait to meet this baby. April seems so very, very far away!

Of Mice and Mouse Traps

I'll admit that we have a serious problem with mice here. Enough that I might consider a cat. 

Key word: Might.

Blake found an awesome tutorial for a super cool mouse trap on youtube. It was way more fun than a cat or a conventional style mouse trap. He told me that it involved a 12-gauge shot gun and that scared me, until I realized that it only might involve one, considering that there are also other ways to kill live mice. 

There is actually a lot of fun stuff about this mousetrap, including the drilling and setting up and peanut butter spreading.

All you need to make one yourself is:

 a five gallon bucket, 

a stiff piece of wire, 

a pop can, 

a board, 

and some peanut butter.

You will want to spread peanut butter on the board randomly on the way up and it's so yummy that that little mouse will taste it on the board, run to the top and see all of that on the can and Mmmm! 

It will be more than it can resist, so it will just jump and land on that pop can. What it doesn't know is that it's not stable and so the thing spins really fast, knocking the little mouse into the bucket.

He made this one day last week and to date we have caught:

0 mice.

But try it! There is always the chance that will work. 

If it does work for you, I'll let you just figure out the best way to kill the mouse at that point. 

Maybe you enjoy using shot guns just that much.

Meet Jeff

Some of you already know Jeff, some have heard of Jeff, or you are just going to meet him now.

He is a popular figure around our place. In fact, he comes every day. Most days he has a new idea. Some of those ideas are really good ones. Some days he brings donuts. Some days he sits and reads the paper. And a lot of days he just sleeps.

He has an old Ford into which we are going to put a motor for him, so that is how he originally found us a couple years ago. For some reason he decided that he really liked us and we hit it off, so we are a stop in his day under all normal circumstances.

 Some days he realizes that there is a birthday for one of us and he brings a chocolate cake. When he realized that we had been at our new shop for one year, he brought a cake for that too.

 You see, he feels quite responsible for us finding this place and he is rather pleased with that fact. He told us about this place. As I mentioned, he has lots of ideas and this one was a good one. He notices things that everyone else takes for granted. Like the For Sale sign that had been in this front yard for 10 years. Only difference was that he actually called the number and found out that the man who had had the sign here for ten years had recently passed away and the family actually needed to sell this now to pay the estate taxes. Jeff is cool like that.

He was the one who exhausted all options in trying to find a way for us to get a loan. We actually were able to get one with a bank that we had talked to, but he had a list for us of bankers with whom he had spoken and had strongly encouraged to give us a chance. He was the most excited of all of us when our loan actually went through.

He owns a business that builds timber frame barns. They have sent crews all over the country to build these high-dollar, high-class barns, often ones that are used as wedding barns. Timber framing is gorgeous and his buildings are no exception.

If we don't see him for a few days I actually worry about him and have even found excuses to call him. Just to check on him. I've invited him to family events or activities and he always appreciates the invite but says he's not a people person. I've introduced him to certain friends and he always keeps track of them and remembers to ask me about them. Even thinks of someone specific when he is at an estate sale and sees something that he thinks maybe my "sister with the baby" could use or my "missionary friends with the kids that might get eaten when they go overseas" might need.

So there. You too have met Jeff.