Washer Woes with a Moral

-I noticed that my washer doesn't agitate today. It does...kinda. If you push on the white thingy really hard with your forearm, it'll turn. But if you leave it alone, it just kinda shakes but not even hard enough to move the clothes around. I can't help but wonder how long it's NOT been 'cleaning' our clothes???

-Thank you Dave for teaching me to {save} but now, NOTHING can pick away at our emergency fund. Even the washer that will no longer agitate. Who needs clean clothes anyway? I prefer that cash to be left alone thankyouverymuch.

-But evidently JD needs clean clothes, which is why he recommended the following solution "Just go buy a new set. Why are we still messing around with this POS?" (when it comes to JD you get it like it is, k?).

-So I googled...and price checked...and made an informed slash 'green' decision...and handed him Costco's price for a full capacity dual set- $1500, cause like Dave says, if you're gonna do it then buy something that will LAST.

-The light left JD's eyes and he jumped on the computer. Turns out, you can google "what's wrong with my 1940's washer" and a handy little video will pop up explaining how to take it apart.

-2 seconds later, our washer is tore apart (with non-agitated clothes still in it, I might add) and JD quickly presents me with a nasty collection of broken bolt looking parts. The 90 cent part we need is called a clutch. Who knew?

- But if you want to do laundry for a family of five between now and the 8-10 week delivery time frame, you have to pay "extra" for next day air cause even THAT'S cheaper than the quarter machines. The grand total was a bit more...but a whole lot LESS than $1500.

-So in my mind, we saved about $1400 today, which is why I was completely and totally justified to buy new running shoes....

and THAT, folks, is what Dave calls 'immaturity'.

moral of the story: A penny not spent is not the same as a penny earned. *sigh*

Gage is {3}

My little bear is {three} and my, how time flies.


It seems like yesterday we were bringing you home...and now look at you!

vibrant.

wickedly smart.

comical.

independent.

a good dose of ornery.

strong-willed.

purposeful.

entertaining.

explorer.

veruca, sweetheart, angel.

You love Thomas...and James...and Percy...and Gordon.

You love "chicken and flies" from McD's.

You love to swing.

You love to sing High Way to the Danger Zone and God Made Me.

You know way too much for a kid your age (letters...numbers...sight words...counting...shapes....colors....the works- you know it and it freaks a lot of people out).

You love to do things by yourself.

You love to read.

You love to watch Word World.

You LOVE Peter Pan and love to call me Tink.

You love Ryan.

You love to kiss Jaxson and whisper, "Love you baby Jaxson".

You love the park but LOVE the library.

You love to list all the animals that eat grass.

You love to yard sale ;)

You love to take sips of my coffee.

You love to ride on your dad's shoulders.

You love your guitar and pack it around everywhere.

You love to sit on the left and sleep on the right.

...but guess what WE love?

We LOVE you little Gage. Happy 3rd Birthday!!!

You're {three} today mister Gage...and you continue to bring amazing flavor to our life!

It's {personal}

Funny title for a public blog, eh?

I feel bad. Guilty really. A tad disappointed too. When I posted the Easter 'teaser' I didn't realize how HARD it would be to put into words after it was all over. But mostly, I didn't realize how incredibly {personal} Easter was for me this year.

I am so humbled that Christ died on a cross for me. For you. For my little boys - the boys whose eternal salvation rests in my ability to introduce them to the God of the universe. I didn't want Easter to be bunny-centered. I didn't want my kids to 'want' anything on this day except an insatiable desire for salvation cultivated by a personal relationship with the One who loves best.

Pressure, much?

I found the words that my heart seemed to breathe. The words I wanted to share with my family...I felt giddy even...excited to 'teach' my family what Easter means to {me}.

There I stood. Eyes on me. And it was in that moment when I realized it was very, very {personal}. Those words that I found - the ones that my heart breathed - God already heard them from my lips. And so while I was saying them aloud in an attempt to make them more meaningful for Him, the holy spirit touched me deeply.

It was embarrassing. I'm not going to lie. It was.

I had this idea in my head and it just didn't play out the same. I'm an emotional person and there I was - balling all over our Easter dinner. There I was - barely able to get out the message that I wanted Him to hear...that I wanted to 'teach' my boys...that I wanted to my family to know. There I was...naked. exposed. transparent. Naked before Christ. Exposed before Christ. Transparent before our King.

Easter is a HUGE deal and as much as I wanted to fold my paper in half, slip it on my lap, and utter "never mind", I just couldn't. The message...and meaning of Easter is far too great for me to confuse it with my comfort. I pressed forward - got the word out by trust me, it wasn't as graceful as I had hoped for. Who even knows if a single word was understood...

It's funny how 'holidays' change when a person becomes a parent. I'm working on the message that will evolve into memory for my boys. I'm working on the Easter take-away and this year was step one.

I want my kids to know that Christ's love is sweeter than chocolate (even if I had to fight through tears to tell them).

I want them to know that the REAL treasure in their Easter basket is eternal salvation.

{Easter}

I have BIG plans for Easter.

We are hosting this year and it's the first time we've ever hosted anything important. And I have BIG plans. BIG ones. I'm so excited I can hardly stand it. This is a BIG deal.

We bought prime rib and I've never, in my life, cooked a prime rib. I'm going to make Pioneer Woman's Rosemary potatoes, Jane's cabbage salad, and JD is making his famous homemade rolls. We are going to pull out our nice dishes (all purchased at yard sales, of course) and I'm going to do up the table all purrrrty.

But that's not the EXCITING part. That's not the important part or even the FUN part.

I have BIG plans.

BIG ones.

I read this blog that I love by Anne Voskomp. I love her. I want to be her. Her faith amazes me and I figure if I follow her long enough, some of her amazingness will rub off on me. She posted some great Easter ideas on her blog and I.am.so.excited.to.try.them!!!!

When everyone sits down for dinner, I have a little devotional to read...and I'll take pictures and post how it all turns out...but for right now, did I mention how EXCITED I am???

Easter changed everything people. Everything. Christ has risen!!!!