Insta-Friday {The Move}

My blue-eyed boy @ Gorge Overlook, Ohio

My silly sweetheart @ Gorge Overlook, Ohio

My inquisitive big boy @ Gorge Overlook

My love and me @ Gorge Overlook. #notagrimace #sohappytogether

Last weekend we skipped church and instead took a picnic to Mohican State Park. The weather was beautiful and our only complaint was a few mosquitoes. Ok, I was also annoyed that the humidity made my cute hair go flat. Oh well! We had fun and wore out the boys who napped on the way home.

Wipeout! #whichoneisfaking

The rest of the week was based on moving. Boxes and boxes, load after load. The boys helped by doing this:

Little boy powwow. #theydidntknowiwaswatching #innocentchildhood #iwonderwhattheytalkabout

Here we go again.

Work break. #movingstinks #movingtruck #littlehelpers

We donated tons of stuff to the local church's thrift store. It felt good to be packing so much less stuff! I'm hoping to post more about this in the future. Living lighter is good!

Saying goodbye isn't fun. Especially when the goodbye comes sooner than you expected. We are happy with the prospects for our future and know we'll thrive where God wants us. We're just still adjusting to our quick move! There will definitely be more on this subject in the future as well!

Goodbye Mt. Vernon

Goodbye Ohio

Pretty sunset somewhere in Illinois.

 We are staying with Gary's parents for the weekend. It's Helen's birthday and we could use some downtime for a few days! We're finishing our trip on Sunday and plan to find a place in our new city and be somewhat settled by next weekend. We'll see how that goes!

For now, the boys are loving the sandpile and having their dog around!

Boys + dirt + dog = Paradise

The boys helped Grandma pick these yummy veggies from the garden. They ate tons of tomatoes!

Bounty.

 
There were enough green beans to can them! Nothing is better than garden fresh produce in the winter.

Which one of these jars is not like the other?

 
Meanwhile, Gary built a hammock! It's made out of a canvas dropcloth and rope. We're seriously going to try sleeping in hammocks instead of a bed.

Oh nothing, just making a hammock. What does your husband do for fun? #hammock #hobby

So that was our week! We're still in flux, but we've made some big decisions and we're optimistic for the future!

Thanks for following along! If you want to follow me on Instagram, I'm gibsongirl726!

Have a great weekend!

Family Portrait {Wordless Wednesday}

The Truth

Were you taught that when you purposefully withheld information from someone that it was the same as telling a lie?

I was.

And I've been not telling you something for a couple weeks now.

See, this is happening:

Most of these items have been crossed off our packing list.

We're loading the moving truck today.

That's right, we're moving. Again.

I took pictures of the dining room and promptly started taking things off the wall.

I had to ask my husband to move boxes before I could take these pictures. By the end of the day, well before I wrote the post, the living room had stacks of full boxes in it.

This wasn't a planned move. This wasn't an expected move. We're still struggling to make sense of it all. It just became abundantly clear that it would be wiser for all involved if Gary stepped down from his position at his current job. We've struggled with what is right versus what is easy and gone round and round until we feel ill... Moving stinks, and extra moves are really hard on a family!

But we know that we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28

Please keep us in your prayers as we move today. I'll post more as soon as I can and let you know where we are and what we're doing!

Our Living Room {Tour}

Welcome to our living room! Please sit down and make yourself comfortable!

If you know me in real life and have been to my house in the last, oh, 10 years, this is just another variation on the theme. Same couch, same art, same furniture, same lamps.

But other than wishing for a new couch, there isn't much I would do to change our living room. I guess some ruts make us feel comfortable!

Now if we owned this house, I would want to paint the fireplace and extend the hardwood floors and get a nice area rug and sectional. But we don't, and it makes no sense to buy a couch right now, so this relic, this first piece of furniture that I bought after college will do just fine.

It is very comfortable, and is like a friend after being around for so long! If this couch could talk, oh the stories it could tell! Well, maybe I'm glad it can't!

You saw this corner of our living room already when I showed you how I used hot glue and staples to re-upholster this chair.

And you've seen the mantle and fireplace a time or two.

We only keep the blocks basket and the one, new dumptruck in the living room. That and some kid books are all the toys in here. The boys sometimes bring other toys to play in the living room, but they must always clean them up when they're finished.

We put shelves in this TV cabinet and use it for more books and for printers/extra paper and laptop accessories. I like that we can shut the door and not see the stacks of things that aren't very pretty!

Pretty books up high, kid's books down low. Puzzles and games are in the bin.

One side table was exchanged for this trunk Gary found at an auction. It stores extra quilts, while a basket of magazines (and usually my laptop) rest on top.

Another bin of kid's books hides under this side table with an ice cream bucket to hold Gary's magazines as it's right by his chair. His laptop is usually on this table too.

So there you go, our living room in our little rental house in Ohio. Hope you enjoyed the tour! Does your living room change over time? Have you gotten new furniture in the last 10 years? Upgrade the couch?

Insta-Friday! {Sometimes}

Sometimes life doesn't go as planned. Sometimes you have to start over from scratch.

Sometimes life takes on a glow and everything is beautiful, except you know it's just the magic hour before sunset.

Sometimes someone does something beautiful for you, something meaningful and heartfelt and real and it makes you cry for so many reasons. 

Sometimes you realize your baby isn't much of a baby anymore.

Sometimes you wish you really knew what your kids were thinking!

Sometimes you're amazed at the capabilities of your oldest child and then later their behavior makes it so very obvious that he still needs you.

Sometimes you take the opportunity to set up camp close to home because you can and because it will absolutely delight the little ones in your home. 

Sometimes you go and do something spontaneous and fun! Sometimes you buy junk food and candy and your whole day is crammed full of memories and everyone loves being together!