A Fairy Tale Ball, A New Home, and an Old Story...
The new home blog has been a long time coming, but I know how understanding everyone is....I mean moving is a pretty big ordeal! At last I have mustered the time to sit down and upload pictures and write about the bounty held by my little digital wonder.

February 29th is when the moving began, but in addition to moving his residence, Timothy also graced the townspeople of Nappanee Elementary with his presence at the Fairy Tale Ball. (In reality, there were probably no townspeople. Afterall, what child would elect to dress like a peasant when they could be royalty?) Timothy, as you can see, was quite a handsome "Prince Charming."

In the meantime, we busied ourselves with the move. Mom and Dad Renfrow came over to help in the morning and we packed and loaded as much as our backs could handle....and then some. We met up with Mom and Dad Grismore at the new house that afternoon, only to find that Dad was horribly sick--so sick that he elected to visit the doctor. (Those of you who know my dad, know how truly sick he must have been!) We also had lots of help that evening from friends, and even throughout the next week, as we continued to load things up and drive them up to the new place. Thank you thank you thank you to our family, Kevin, Marcus and Mike who put in hours lifting and loading for us. Here are a couple pictures of the kids in Nappanee as we worked. Timothy we could distract with a game, but Madeline really wanted to help.....we assured her that we desperately needed the snow around Grandma and Poppy's van moved. =)
We had quite a few hurdles to overcome before the move was complete. One of which was the fact that both kids ended up sick as can be the first week in our new home. They spent a couple days home from school, did a lot of snuggling in their cozy new bedding (thanks, Rosebud!), and recuperated pretty quickly, after dosing up with Tamiflu....amazing stuff!
Feeling good as new, the kids have now been enjoying the new house with their own bedrooms and their own play room too! The house has two living rooms, so we designated the front room to be a space for the kids to hang out and keep their games and toys.

Madeline playing a game on the computer....only after her homework and reading for the day have been finished, of course.

Timothy, doing an activity called "write my house" that got sent home from school. He went around the house and found something beginning with "p" in each room, wrote the word, and then drew its picture. In his room it was "puppy," in Madeline's "princess;" the kitchen had "peanut butter," and wouldn't you know the bathroom had a "potty." (He might have giggled a bit about that one before writing it down, but he could spell it with no help!)
Here is Mike in the kitchen....what a good husband =) I don't even remember what he was making, but I'm sure it was delicious!This is the second living room, which we have declared our grown-up space. It has a wood burning fireplace that has already been used a few times. It's a cozy room with plenty of space and comfy furniture....perfect!
Here's a picture of the bathroom. (We have a half bath too, but I didn't take a picture of it. )
Miss Madeline in her room! She loves it, and she's super about keeping it straightened up and making her bed.
Timothy Michael's very own room....does he look a little excited? He sleeps in his bedroom all by himself. The only time he's gotten out of bed during the night was when he got sick right after we moved. He loves his room though and sleeps great in his cozy bed.
Last night I used the video function on my camera to give you a tour of the house. I have had the hardest time getting it to upload. It has literally been uploading for hours, but here it is.

One final thing I wanted to post is an old story about Madeline. (So here's a bonus picture of my princess reading in her castle.) I thought of this the other day and it kept making me smile all afternoon, so I figured I'd better share it.

When we went to parent teacher conferences at the beginning of Madeline's first grade year, the teacher told us that Madeline had a hard time sitting still after she had completed a task, and, while it never kept her from doing well on her work, she often times would chat with her classmates who had not yet finished their work. The teacher said she would appreciate it if we would talk to Madeline about sitting quietly after she finished her work. So, later that night I sat down and told Madeline how proud we were of the hard work she is doing, and that it makes God so happy when He sees her doing her personal best, because really we do our work for Him and not for teachers or mommies and daddies. Well, after commending her, I had to discuss the chatting/fidgeting issue. When I did, Madeline told me, "Mom, I try, but it is just so hard! Mrs. Carlson reminds me, but I just forget sometimes." (Mind you, she can not say "r" at all at this point so what she said sounded like this, "Mom, I twy, but it is just so hawd! Mrs. Cah-wool-son weminds me, but I just fohget sometimes." It makes me a little sad that she is articulating the "r" now, because doggone it.....it was so cute!)

At any rate, I began to query my brain, trying to find a way to help her understand the importance of doing her best to control the wiggles and talking, and my mind lands on the fruit of the Spirit. So, I talk to Madeline about how when we love Jesus, and His Spirit is inside us, it changes the way we live. The Bible tells us that we will have "fruit" like trees, and that people will know what is inside of us because of the fruit on the outside--the fruit being love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness and self-control. I reminded her that self-control is fruit of the Spirit, and if she was having a hard time controlling herself that she could pray about it and ask God to help her have that fruit in her life.

Madeline thought about this for awhile. We were sitting on my bed and we just sat there quietly for a minute, snuggled together with my arm around her. She pulled away and looked up at me and asked, "Mom, what's joy? Is that like being happy all the time?" I started to reply, "well, kind of..." and she continued, "because, Mom, I think the reason I don't have a whole bunch of self control is because God gave me so much joy."

There was more to that conversation, but that's the part I keep replaying in my mind, and when I do, a smile never fails to creep across my face. Madeline Rose does have joy, and I am so grateful that God gave her so very much of it!

Joyfully, shannon