new discoveries

I grew up in the city. I lived in an apartment while growing up.

We had two-thirds of an acre before we ventured to England for a couple of years.

While in England, a place where backyards, or back gardens, are typically very small, we had an even smaller space.

Fast forward to our new home... we have several acres with which to find many new things such as...

snakes!!

they scare me

and nests...

with beautiful blue eggs

not so scary (well maybe for the mother bird we scared off to spy her nest)

We have not one, but two nests to observe and learn from

Oh the joys of country living!!

My boys are loving all of this!

What discoveries have you made recently? Do share.

our week in review

Yes, I had the distinct pleasure of driving this big beast for a day while our van was being worked on. A caliper was caught in the braking system that was causing some nasty fumes and a little smoke at the end of a road trip on Monday. That trip was to Ann Arbor, which is about 80 miles from home. The wonder of it all was that the brake issues happened once we returned and were in Battle Creek again. Yay God.

Our good friend that sold us the car had a new van for me within a half hour and our van was fixed within 2 days. Now that's service!

Shawn and I, along with our kids, have been diligently working to make this house into a home. We are still unpacking boxes, but have made huge progress over the weekend. We still have a ways to go, but we'll get there.

Like mother, like son. My handsome boy got his first pair of glasses. In true kid fashion, Austin noticed something was not quite right with his vision, but didn't tell us for at least 6 months. Finally it frustrated him enough when he couldn't read travel routes on the trains in London, that he finally confessed to Shawn. He was in tears at the telling and we made sure to get it all taken care of once we moved back home.

The smile on his face came after a whole new world was opened up to him with his new vision. What a tender moment.

I love his new glasses! Oh, look how much taller he is than me now!

Mellie turned 10 last Tuesday. We had a great family celebration and her party with friends will be coming up on May 1st. She is so excited! A birthday post is sure to come in the next day or so highlighting our family party.

On Friday, Braaten took our camera and started doing a photo shoot. She loves capturing great memories and then editing her work. I love her interest in it all and I think she does a wonderful job.

Cooper's feet look mighty big in this one!

Megan is my friend, Amy's, daughter. She is such a fun girl! My friend Sarah told her the other day that, "Everyone needs a Megan F. in their lives." She replied with, "I am Megan F.!"

I love the way Braaten captured Grant in this one.

Our friend, Mikey J., gave us this row boat for the pond out back. Shawn took the boys out right away.

Well, that's it for this past week. I'm sure a bunch of other stuff happened, but this is what I have for now.

Have a great and blessed Monday!

Boxes?? What boxes?

I'm setting the boxes aside to go see someone I admire and who is really inspiring. Yes, Joyce Meyers!

My friend, Jamie, is joining me and we are starting this adventure this morning. We'll be heading up to Grandville, MI for an overnight and I just know God has something for me.

The kids went with Shawn to work today for "Bring your kids to work" day and the timing for that is perfect. They also get to spend the rest of their day at my other friend, Natalie's, house after lunch until Daddy-o can pick them up.

Joyce's seminar is all day tomorrow and for a time on Saturday. We plan on just staying through Friday evening and then heading back to be with our families. It works for me and is just enough time to forget about boxes... even if just for a little while.

Happy Thursday!!

Wordless Wednesday! ~ Some things can't be explained!

Like this picture of my DH. What was he doing here? Not sure...

For more "Wordless Wednesday" posts, visit "5 Minutes for Mom".

Silpada

Maybe I'm not supposed to mention brand names like that. I'm not sure. I notice that some bloggers might type it like so... *ilpa*a or something like that. Let me know if that's what I should be doing so that I can keep up here.

Anywho... I'm going to one of those parties tonight with one of my girlfriends. It's at my new neighbor's house. She made us a ginormous meal on day two of being in our home. And you know what stinks? Not the food she made. Certainly not. It was all incredibly delicious. It's the fact that she will be moving. Her husband also works for the company with these letters that my hubs works for... *el*og*s. Can you guess the name? Yeah, they make yummy cereals. So I'm majorly bummed that she's leaving. I've known her for 27 minutes, but we have a lot in common, the major one being Jesus. Yes, she is also a follower of Christ. How sad am I. We hit it off from the word go.

She was kind enough to invite me tonight and that's where I'm heading.

I'll let you know if I get anything. From what I know, it's great stuff.

too much going on

Have you ever had so much going on that you don't even know what to write or where to begin? That's kind of where I'm at which is why I haven't attempted it over the past few days. That and trying to live with about a quarter of our stuff which makes living in this state a little more challenging.

So here's the latest update on Busse happenings...

~We moved into the house last Monday after a 3 week stay at a local hotel WITH a swimming pool. Whew! Actually, we are blessed and thankful that it worked out as well as it did.

~On that same day our rental furniture was delivered which consisted of beds, dressers, night stands, lamps, linens, kitchen stuff, etc. Shawn's company provides this because our sea container that is to arrive here could take up to 6 to 8 weeks. Just days after the rental guys set everything up, we found out that our sea shipment will be here this Thursday and Friday. Now I know that sounds very exciting, but at the very same time, it's overwhelming to say the least. Afterall, we were able to fill an extra large container with all of our earthly possessions and it fit (just barely) inside an 18 wheeler basically. Who wants to put away all that stuff? Moi?? No! OK, yes, I want to be all settled and everything, but it's a daunting, exhausting task. I am ever so thankful that I have a hardworking hubby that likes organization and also likes to have all of us feeling settled and happy, and he will do anything to make that happen. So that makes all of this much more doable. Thanks Honey!

~Tomorrow those rental guys get to come back just 8 days later and tear down all the beds, drag out all the dressers, and collect all the nifty little things for the kitchen. And guess what we get to do?

~Move back into a hotel for 2 more days since we will have nothing to sleep on and no coffee maker. Just kidding. My coffee came in the storage shipment that arrived 2 weeks ago. Are you following me here? It's a lot. Oh, and it's a different hotel and I don't know if there's a pool.

~I took my boy, Austin, the 14 year old to the eye doctor today. After dealing with impaired vision for months, he finally let us know that he was struggling to see things at a distance. He's nearsighted and will be getting glasses in about a week. He's really excited about seeing things they way he once did. Like mother, like son. I started wearing glasses when I was in college.

~Said boy started baseball practice tonight for the team he used to play on. I think he felt great being a part of the team again. The others have been enjoying the AWANA program at our church.

~I had the nerve to sign up for a Ladies Tea at church which entails me decorating a table for 8 with my own stuff and inviting 7 women to join me. Did I fail to remember the chaotic state my home is currently in or do you think the new tea set my husband bought me for Christmas begs to be shared? I'm a sucker for a nice tea. And just for the record I never went to a proper tea while living in England. Not once. The English love a good cup of Tetley or Yorkshire, or Morrison's for that matter with milk and maybe sugar, and I enjoyed countless cups of that.

~I need to get to bed, but I had to write, and share, and ramble on about any number of things because I have missed doing so. More than that, I've missed you.

Good night Dear Ones.