Adventures in House Hunting.....Shedd style!

Jonathan and I spent a day in Reform house hunting. We went through all our normal channels in order to find a place to live. We stopped by apartment complexes, got a newspaper, and a shopper's guide and came up completely empty! We were upset and didn't know where to turn. We came home and that's when the phone calls started coming in.

We were getting phone calls from Booster Club members and other people in the community who were on the prowl for the perfect house for these five Shedd's. We got a call from a coach who said he had found a house for us to come see. We went the very next day, and the owner of the house had an emergency in Birmingham and couldn't get to Reform with the key that day. Four hours in the car....wasted. We were getting really frustrated, but we made plans to come back in a few days and try again.

Our next attempt was more successful except for the part where we got there around 10 and couldn't see that house until around 6. The coach did have another house for us to see, so we went to that house. It had holes in the walls and the ceiling and there was pink insulation on the floor. Sarah called this the soft house and she loved it because it was soft and pink. I, on the other hand, was not to impressed. The houses around it kinda scared me and there were bad words written on the sliding glass doors leading to the back yard. Not my number one choice obviously.

We killed time with the kids for what seemed like forever. We went to City Hall and talked with a lady there that had called us. She gave us a few more leads, and we called about one. The lady I talked to was selling her house, but it had been on the market for over a year. He husband had been the former principal at the school Jonathan will be at next year. She told me that the school was closing and that there was no way they would do a lease to own deal with us on their house.....it was like getting a phone call that the world was going to end. After calling our coach friend back and talking with the lady at City Hall we were reassured that the school had it in writing that the school would not close for at least 3 years.

I was still not convinced and was thinking about the worst....me here in Clanton with the kids while Jonathan lived in Peewee's hotel in Reform during the week. Not quite what we were hoping for, but we toured the elementary school with Elizabeth anyway.

Finally the time comes to see the house we'd tried to see before. Although the carpet needs to be replaced and the walls need some paint it has everything that I had wanted in a house. It's on the end of a dead end road, so there shouldn't be anyone out there. It had a huge front porch with a swing, a car port big enough for 2 cars, and a big back deck. Inside it had a long living room, a real laundry room (as opposed to the laundry closet we have now). It had 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms, and an office. Although it had a few issues we were excited about the possibilities. We let them know we were interested and that's when our adventure began.....

TO BE CONTINUED.....

Fast Paced

In all the hustle and bustle that was a typical Sunday with the Shedds I got to thinking. These little monkeys are growing so fast. Some days it seems like we're living life in fast forward with no way to slow down.

Elizabeth is in her final week of Kindergarten and it just doesn't seem real. She's had a wonderful year. She loves her teacher and has learned so much. She's such a smart little booger! She's reading above grade level and absolutely loves to do it. I do have to say though that this time last year she was so worried that her new teacher wouldn't teach her how to read. We've come a long way. She's good at math too. She did a "math exam" that she made the other day and although I was only allowed to see part of it I was amazed. She did 30-3 and 27-2 and every time she got it right.

Sarah has one day left in preschool! I really don't know where the time has gone! She has absolutely loved her teacher and her friends. She talks about them all the time. She decided who she is going to marry and already changed her mind. She's learned so much. She knows her colors and counts to about 20. We keep comparing her to her sister which is not completely fair to her. She's 6 months younger than Elizabeth when she was in this class. She is a little sponge though and absorbs almost everything.

Cole will be in preschool next year! Look out preschool teachers! With both him and Sarah I have been concerned about their teachers not understanding what they say, but amazingly the kids always seem to be able to speak more clearly by the time school comes around. I can't always understand everything Cole says, but we're getting there. He's definitely a boy. He's rough and tough and loves to climb and get into all sorts of things! He keeps me on my toes more than the girls ever did. This surprises me because he was such an easy going baby. I had hoped that he would stay that way...it didn't happen. He can be so sweet though. I had to be gone for a while one day and he had a babysitter. When I got home he said, "Mommy, I miss you!" He had never said that before and it just melted.

This has been a hard week for us. When we moved here we planned on being here for a few years and then moving on to bigger and better things. Plan failed...we loved the kids here and leaving them is a bit like leaving a part of our family. The kids have been so sweet though. They've written Jonathan letters and even signed his yearbook! I went last week and signed yearbooks too. I wish we could take them all with us! Anyway, as of now we're staying in Clanton. We're praying for one opportunity and not a choice. That way we know we're where God wants us. We hope to stay planted in Clanton for one more year! Then again that's our plan, and God has giggled at our plans in the past. At the end of the day as long as we're where He wants us we know everything will be ok.

Jobs

About 2 weeks ago I was timing my 2 mile run with some of my running buddies. I got a phone call as we went down the first hill (my phone is almost always on vibrate, so this was really strange). It was Jonathan. He asked what I was doing and I told him I was running. He told me he'd call me back later that he had something to tell me. I told him to go on and tell me now, so he proceeded to tell me that his position was being cut due to budget issues at the board of education. We've been through this SEVERAL times before, so I was ok until we made the first turn, and that's when I lost it. You see, I know that God will take care of us. He always does, but these kids he works with at Verbena, well, they're part of our family, and the thought of leaving them.....well it still sucks.
Needless to say my time was ruined and we walked the rest of the route. Seems like there is so much more at stake this time. It's not just leaving those kids. It's the thought of Elizabeth changing schools and the possibility of having to sell our house and Sarah and Cole not getting to go to the most amazing preschool on the planet. Those are the things that make me sad about the entire situation.
We are trusting God through it all though. He says he will never leave us or forsake us and we are clinging to that. If God calls us away from Verbena we know that He will find someone else to love those kids. He just better find someone that loves them as much as we do! Although I am sad of the thought of leaving I know that it is in God's hands and we will be more than ok. We will be blessed.
The week before Jonathan's phone call I was telling my running buddies (God bless you guys!) that this has been a year of God calling me out of my comfort zone. My guess is that this is just another part of that. Please keep us in your prayers as we seek God's will for our family.

Preschool Sunday

Sarah had her first Preschool Sunday at the Hydrate service at church. She was so excited to sing on the "big stage" she told me. She told her teachers she wanted to sing up there like her Mommy. I was so proud of her. She did such a wonderful job. Grammy and Peepaw were here to watch her sing.

The week before this Jonathan and I went on our first trip without kids basically since the summer after we got married. We had a good time, but we missed the kids badly. We left on Friday and didn't get home until Tuesday. I was afraid we'd get bored, but we had a good time. We did some shopping (which you can't really do with 3 kids) and played miniature golf. Sine we got married we've had a miniature golf war. Before we had kids I think I was ahead by one game. Can you believe that we tied in the only game we were able to play this time?

Grammy and Peepaw came down to get to get the kids on Thursday before we left on Friday. After school on Friday they took them back to Tennessee with them. Peepaw came back down with the kids and Grandma Sue and Grandpa Ed on Sunday so Elizabeth and Sarah could go to school. The kids seemed to have had a good time. They were glad to see us, but didn't want anyone to have to go back to Tennessee.

In other news we are entering some very frustrating stages in development. Elizabeth and Sarah have started arguing with me a lot. For some reason they seem to think they are smarter than I am. I love the rascals, but it gets frustrating at times. Cole isn't arguing with me yet, but he has moments where he is ugly to his sisters for no reason and his fits are the worst I've had to deal with. Now let me say that sometimes my kids can be the absolute sweetest kids in the world, but everybody has their moments, right? I know I do.

We're almost done with track season. This is the first time Verbena has had a team in a long time. They have been doing pretty good. We've been really proud of them.

I am 4 classes and a semester of student teaching away from finishing my Masters and Jonathan is on his second class. We should both finish in May.

Last Day at the Beach :(

On our final day at the beach we got up early and had breakfast then headed to the beach for the last time :( We had a great time though and were there for over 2 hours. After we left the beach we went straight to the pool at the hotel where we stayed for quite some time. We went back to the room to clean up and have a snack before we went to lunch. We had lunch at the Dancin' Iguana and sat on the dock so we could watch the boats. After our lunch we had fried ice cream! When we went back to the hotel it was time to pack up our things and head back to Clanton. We were all very tired, but we hated to leave the beach.

Last full day in Destin!

On our last full day in Destin we didn't go to the beach or the pool. We thought it was going to rain and Sarah's face was red and swollen (we think from eating shrimp). We spent the morning at the Emerald Coast Science Center and then headed to the Air Force Armament Museum. After that we went back to our room for lunch and naps. We work up from naps and went to Hammerhead's for dinner. After dinner we went to the Nike outlet (just to look) and then to Bass Pro Shop. Going to Bass Pro is a lot like going to the zoo for the kids only the animals don't move except for the fish in the fish tank. It was a fun day!

Destin Day 3

Today started much like yesterday. We got up. Had breakfast and headed to the beach. It takes about an hour for us to eat and get ready to go to the beach. We stayed at the beach for about 2 hours. Elizabeth was the foreman on the sand castle construction job today. She did a good job, but I forgot to get a picture of it before she and Cole tore it down. The highlight of today's beach trip was when we were rinsing the sand off our sand toys before we put them up and headed to the car. Daddy would fill the buckets with water and throw the water on whoever he could catch. It was lots of fun. We even saw dolphins from the beach which is something we had never seen before. I didn't get the camera out in time, but it was absolutely amazing. We came back and de-sanded ourselves and went to lunch at Angler's.
After lunch we went back to our room for naps and slept too long. Tomorrow we will have to set an alarm so we don't sleep so long. We went to the outlet mall and got Sarah some new shoes and me some new sandals. We ordered pizza on the way back to the hotel and got back just in time to get it.
Tomorrow is our last full day here. I kinda don't want to leave because it's not very often that we're all together without the distractions we have at home. It's supposed to rain tomorrow, but we have a few tricks up our sleeves.