Part One - Moving in the brutal cold!

Well, part one of our move down south took place today.

At around 9:30 this morning, four men and two large trucks arrived and parked in our driveway. It was 3 degrees and the wind blew hard.

At 1:00 this afternoon we all took a break for lunch - hot dogs, baked beans, and sauerkraut - thanks for the venison hot dogs, Ronnie! They were amazing!!! The main floor was empty (except for our beds). It was 10 degrees and the wind blew harder.

The guys worked for another three hours and the basement was empty. It was 12 degrees and the wind was merciless. They only filled one of the trucks and they will be back tomorrow with a smaller truck to take the rest of our stuff - our beds, a couch, rugs, etc. Not once did the men stop, complain, grumble, or waste time. They didn't even warm themselves by our flaming wood stove even though our home temperature was in the 50's at several times during the day. They had a mission and they accomplished it. We are grateful!

We then went to friends' for a pizza and salad dinner - yum! Thanks Alyssa and family! Once we arrived back home with all the kids they had a grand time hearing their voices echo in the empty rooms and basement. Matthias knows there's something amiss but can't quite process it all! 

So now the children are sleeping soundly in their beds in their rooms - for the last time. Sheets and towels must be washed and packed in the morning. Movers will be back around 9, friends will be over around noon to clean and to haul up our trash from our basement to our garage for another friend to take to the dump, and we say our goodbyes to neighbors, friends, and loved ones on Sunday and Monday. Thanks to all our family and friends who are praying for us. We covet your prayers and will keep you posted as much as possible. Our sincere thanks!

boxes boxes everywhere...

A brief update:
We have boxes, boxes everywhere. Our once peaceful, organized (most of the time) home looks rather odd but this is all par for the course and...temporary (whew!). There are boxes in my closet, in our bedroom, in our basement, in the family room and kids' rooms. I am attempting to keep the hallway free and clear of boxes for safe passage.

Matthias thinks this is all great. Lots of boxes around means lots of ways to pull himself up! Boxes stacked high with blankets over them make great forts for Ingrid, until Bjorn pulls them down! Eleanor is my inventory girl - ready whenever I need her with the clipboard and a marker. Martha and Lars are polar opposites - they always have been! Martha has sort of dragged her feet when it comes to packing up her room but now she has kicked it into high gear and is a packing queen! Lars needs more thinking and pondering time and has dragged out his packing job into several days. He is doing pretty well now that we have given him the time and space he needs. You try packing several hundred types of feathers, hooks, thread, foam, glue, etc., for fly tying purposes! Todd has been keeping very busy supplying us with wood from our stacks in the garage, changing our address with all our contacts, packing tools, ammo, his closet, etc. He even made lunch today! Martha played the piano at the nursing home Bible study so Todd brought her there and made a quick trip to Roma's in Saratoga for Italian mix subs. Thanks, honey - you are awesome! My favorite sub ever (grinder for those folks who live in MA)!!! And I go from job to job packing and trying to keep things organized and clean. This is my downfall. I even caught myself dusting boxes today - yikes! I just don't see why we should live in filth when surrounded by boxes. So here's to more boxes (and a little dusting and vacuuming thrown in to keep it all lively!)

P.S. Isn't there a song by some folk group?
Little boxes little boxes and the boxes are made of ticky tacky and they all live in little boxes little boxes all the same. There's a blue one and a green one and a pink one and an...
Does anyone know what song I am remembering??? 

Treaures and counting down...

We are counting down the days until movers will be swarming all around our home and will be loading our stuff onto a big box truck...12 days to be precise (February 20 and 21). Apparently we are not the only folks heading south. Our stuff is going to be loaded over two days and each day it will be transferred to a tractor trailer and on that tractor trailer there could be one or two more households! We wish they could just do it in one fell swoop but the tractor trailer will not fit down our driveway. So it will be stretched out over 2 days but that's ok with us. They will leave our beds for us for the final night here on Goode Road and we can clean where they have taken stuff away. 

All this focus on our stuff, taking inventory, boxes, tape, bubble wrap, packing up our stuff (!) leaves me scratching my head.Where is our real treasure? It is certainly not our stuff. We have lived for eight months without several boxes of stuff that I packed to leave some empty space for our showings. Shocker! Nope. Here on earth, our treasures are our children, our loved ones, family members, friends, relationships, memories, and Jesus - these are all things that cannot be stolen, eaten, destroyed, bubble wrapped, packed, taped, labeled or shipped! Matthew 6 says, "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." So here's to several more days of packing all of our stuff but keeping in mind that my real treasures cannot be packed and shipped. Thanks, Lord, for our family, friends, relationships, memories and for You, Father...and for our stuff, too! Now does anyone know what to do with an old onion, a jar of pepperocini, cornstarch, pickling salt, steel cut oats, and a box of smoked oysters? 

it is amazing...

Three years ago today, it was official. I had lost our baby a few days before and this was the day of my doctor's appointment. They determined that I had been about 10 weeks along with a precious little one. It is amazing to me how we can still miss a baby that we never even met. Thank you, Lord, for another lesson in sensitivity. Be aware that there are those around you who can not have children and are desperately praying that they can! Pray for families like this. Pray also for an end to abortion - that adoption will be seen as an excellent choice that women can make. Without adoption, my mom would never have been born and my family would not be here! Thanks also, Lord, that we have the assurance that we will meet our littlest family member one day when we are with you in heaven. Love, Margit

a brief update

It's February. This is a very busy month for us! Our family is planning a move down south with a closing date of February 25th. Yesterday, we were asked if we would consider moving the closing to the 23rd. This seems like a better plan for all of us so we contacted the moving company and it seems like it will work for them too. So at this point, movers will come on the 20th and 21st. Our last day at church will be the 22nd and we already have an invitation for dinner on that day. Scott will try to fly in on the 23rd instead of the 24th (thanks, Scott!) and will be driving our truck and Lars to TN. Todd and I will follow after the closing with everyone else and a full van. Will you pray for all of the details as we move forward in this month? Will you pray for kindness and patience as we go forward a bit sooner than expected? Moving a household is lots of work. Will you pray for the folks who are buying this home? They are a young couple with no children yet and we believe that he is an instructor at the nuclear site. Thank you for your ongoing prayers for our family. We know you are praying! Todd and Margit and fam 

God gives snow, opportunities for service, and life lessons

We are attempting to be thankful for more snow! We got dumped on yesterday - approximately 14 inches of snow but a bit hard to tell because of the blowing and drifting snow - could be more. WOW! We even think Matthias got dizzy watching it fall from the window and trying to keep the big kids in his sights.  Today there is more snow to move here at home and we have some opportunities for the children to learn how to serve others. Our neighbor, Linda, rarely needs help. She is in her 70's and can round up cattle, ride horses, move gigantic hay bales, and live on her own. But with so much snow around we like to serve her by clearing her deck and making the walk from her driveway to her front steps a bit less dangerous. So after the kids clear the snow from our walkways, generators, propane tank, garage, and all entryway doors, they head down the driveway and take care of Linda's property, too. Today, our family also has the job of clearing the parking lot and walkways at our church - a very big and intense job. So even though, as home educators, we do not have "snow days", we do have service days. On these busy service days, the children are only required to do their math lesson. Service to others is an amazing life lesson - it requires service over self, knowing how to dress in extreme weather,  putting others first with a good attitude, thinking of others' needs rather than my comfort (it's a very cold day - only 12 degrees!), going above and beyond in serving others, etc. Todd and I think this is super important - perhaps more important even than grammar! So have a wonderful day and look for opportunities to SERVE!