The end of a chapter in our life

Psalm 118:21 "I shall give thanks to you, for you have answered me."



We are so thankful to the Lord that our house sold. Today was the final clean out before the closing on Monday.



It was a blistering hot day to be inside a garage, and a stuffy house with no air conditioning on. Read the temperature on the mirror. We were melting ice under our shirts, and rubbing it up and down our arms, legs and neck.




I was cleaning the bathroom when I heard Joel yell from our bedroom, "WHAT IN THE WORLD????" I ran to see what the problem was. How could our practically new pillow sham look like this?



He threw back the covers. Prepare yourselves, ladies!!!!!!!!!!



A BIG, FAT, DEAD SQUIRREL IN OUR BED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Sure enough, didn't he just curl right up for a snooze. The heat must have killed him. We still haven't figured out how he got in the house, nor how he managed to neatly tuck himself under the quilt. He couldn't have been there long because he didn't smell horrible. -unlike what is pictured. Joel acted as if he just found some rotting animal in our bed with rabies or something......ummmmmmmmm, never mind. You can see on our quilt where the squirrel scratched like nutty -no pun intended- to get out. UT DUH! DOOFUS! Ya might have survived if you just climbed out the same way ya crawled in!



We tossed out all the blankets, shams, and dead squirrel, and continued on our merry way. I'm telling ya, I jumped and screamed at every squirrel that scampered by!


After the work was done, we walked through each room, reminiscing about living here. We laughed at the time that Mikey locked Matt and Mary and I in the basement and I had to call my neighbor to come get us out. Another time, we decided we wanted to have a picnic in the middle of a major snow storm. So, we put snowcoats on all the kids, carried a breakfast tray outside, lit a candle, and served chili and corn muffins. Then there was the time that I was tucking Emma into bed, and I asked her to pray. She said, "Dear Jesus...........Knock, knock?...... " (long pause) I looked up to see her with her eyes squeezed shut tight, and the biggest grin on her face. I just leaned over and whisperd, "Sweetie, I think He's heard them all. Let's move on."

Other memories include:
-raking the leaves into piles, and watching the kids jump in them.
-birthday parties on the back porch
-walks around the block with a baby in my sling, two in a double stroller, one holding onto my arm and another on his bike. (I'm sure we looked like the Macy's parade to all the neighbors.)
-camping out in the backyard that took all day to set up, and lasted about 5 minutes into the night, because they were too scared. (with the exception of Emma, who we drug in since everyon else left)
-the driveway covered in sidewalk chalk art.
-the smoke detector that always went off whenever I opened the oven, and steam came out
-sharing one bathroom among 5 people...thankfully two were in diapers.
-shutting the curtains at dinner because none of was wanted to watch Mr. Dewey work on his car with no shirt on
-roasting marshmellows over the outdoor fireplace
-the pellet stove that kept as warm for many winters. The kids would come running when a new bag had to be poured in. They loved the feeling of hundreds upon hundreds of pellets run through their little fingers.
-hide and go seek. This was the best house for hide and go seek! One time, the kids asked Joel and I to go hide and then pop out and scare them. We listened to them make plans, whispering and arguing who was going to venture out first. You'd hear them marching and then stop, shuffle, shuffle. "You go." "I'm not going to be first...you go." They had themselves so worked up. In the meantime, Joel and I are sweating profusely waiting for them. Finally, Joel yelled, "Let's go!" When they finally conquered their fear, they cautiously entered the room where Joel was hiding. He burst around the corner and yelled, "RAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!" They screamed, and scattered like little chicks every which way. Matt ran right into the room where I was hiding for safety. I crawled out from under the bed and yelled, "RAAAAHHH!" I thought the poor boy was going to pass out. He screamed, and ran for the door. The door didn't open right away, and he bounced off of it onto the floor. -I'm laughing as I type this. Really, you had to be there.
-swimming in our tiny blow-up pool. We were funny looking for sure!
-my homeschool room filled with books, papers and pencils
-the playroom that I was constantly telling the kids to clean
-sitting on the front porch, reading my Bible and sipping coffee
-watching Bailey, my neighbor's dog, through my kitchen window as I cleaned the dishes.
-standing at the fence having long conversations with my sweet neighbor, Joe, whose wife had passed away shortly before we moved in. Oh how he loved to talk about her!
-playing with these sweet girls who we have come to love. We watched them grow up these past 5 years. They helped me load up the car today, and when it came time to leave. It was a tearful goodbye.



Perhaps the most life changing memories is the fact that we brought two babies home from the hospital to this house. This was the nursery that they slept in. It was within these four walls, that I rocked them, sang to them and prayed over them.



All of the restaurants we came to know so well through those two pregnancies...

Craving: calzones and french fries


Craving: Chocolate ice cream with rainbow sprinkles.


Craving: peanut butter cup sundae with chocolate almond chip ice cream and extra peanut butter sauce.



Each room was filled with love...



Each room was filled with laughter.....





Although we know that a house is just something temporal, I am reminded that five years of life took place here for which we will stand accountable to God for.

At the end of our walk down memory lane, it was time to say goodby to our precious, little, blue house. We shut the door behind us, and turned to leave. I was filled emotion... both happy and sad. Happy that the burden of trying to sell our home in this terrible market has been lifted, and yet, sad that we will never walk through that door again. This chapter in our lives in now closed for good.



As every reader knows, the end of a chapter brings the opening of a new one. God has a new chapter for us, and we look forward to making new memories together as a family. Our story isn't over yet....
just "to be continued."