There was a crooked house.

We've been scraping and sanding all day. He makes it fun. The boys shuffle around in the dust with their little screwdrivers and hammers, banging on the walls and pointing at everything we're doing. 

Nothing in this life is perfect, and having the imperfection of an old fixer-upper in my constant sight is a comfort. It we can love this old house with all of it's crooked windows and cracked floors, we can love each other with all of those imperfections and pieces of ourselves that we just can't get perfect. It keeps the cold and rain out, and that's what we do for one another. Imperfect people in an imperfect house in an imperfect world. We patiently scrape, level, repaint, envision and dream, hoping that our small improvements will make this place "us." It's not perfect, but it's perfect for us. We're not perfect people, but we're perfect for each other. Just like there is nothing so nice as coming home, there is nothing so nice as coming home to him at the end of a long day. The piece of his chest where my head fits perfectly, fits better every year, and when we cuddle up to watch a movie or just talk about the day, our arms and legs know where they belong. 

This house becomes ours more and more as the years pass, and I don't know what our family would be without this wonderful place we've settled. Our home is a crooked house, but it fits us perfectly. 

I think I have blogger's block.

I used to think people wanted to hear what I have to say. Now I think people just want to hear themselves talk, rather than listen to me,so I haven't blogged much. I feel like I'm all out of things to say. Every day is very much like the last around here. Can't complain about that, right? 

Still homeschooling, going well. 

Still raising five kids, going well. 

Still married, going well. 

Still Catholic, going well. 

Still on meds, going well. 

See? It's just all...the same. And it's a very happy "same," don't get me wrong. We have no plans for the summer, like at ALL. I'm trying to keep the kids from watching too much tv, but it's hard when it's so hot outside! We're planning to take the month of August off, since it's going to be a month of adjustment on several fronts. We have two weeks in front of us with absolutely nothing planned, which is nice, but a little daunting, trying to keep them all busy. 

We're trying to get the floors finished by the time Nina and Lil get here at the end of July, but we're so lazy and we really just want to lie around and watch tv at night...it that bad? Probably. I do have a tiny list of things to get done this weekend, but nothing major. If we can get the girls' room scraped, filled and sanded, we can talk about moving on to painting and sealing. Andrew wants me to do flowers in their room, but the thought has me a little...nauseous. I'm thinking glitter. Can we do glitter floors? That would be so amazing. And then it's on to the nursery and the hallway. If I can have it all done by July 20th, that'll give me time to get it all together before the ladies arrive. 

I'm sorry this wasn't a funny post. Life is so funny with all these short people around, too. I'll think of something funny and relay it to you as soon as I possibly can. 

Now, it's time for me to shower. I try to get that done by four so that my hair is dry by the time andrew gets home. That way he thinks I actually showered that morning. Gotta keep up appearances and all that, right? And it's the weekend in just a few hours. Ain't nobody starting the weekend smelling like this!

As He wills it.

As my hair continues to fall out, every time I pull out another handful of hair, I just send up, "Thy will be done, Thy will be done," over and over and over. How can the will of God be wrong? Thy will be done. Sometimes I really don't believe that I want His will to be done, but I say it anyway. The only times I've been unhappy in my life is when I've been separated from the will of the Father. Yes, seeing all that hair falling out makes me unhappy, but it's a pretty superficial thing, right? There is no physical pain, only vanity. As He wills it. As He wills it. His will is perfect. His will is perfect.

So I did what anyone would do. By adding something different to my hair, it's easier to take it all less seriously. If I'm willing to dye it purple, losing it seems far less difficult. It's not really "my" hair if I don't recognize it so easily, is it? And it's much more fun seeing red and purple and black hair stuck to the wall of the shower than boring old brown. Adding some fun removes some pain. 

Last night as I was getting ready for bed, some very hurtful things came across in a message. This person has a history of hurtful things, so it wasn't too surprising. Thankfully, I recognized it for what it was. "Blessed are you who suffer persecution because of Me." Here I am submitting myself to the will of God as gracefully as possible, and up pops another reason to separates myself from Him. All I wanted to do was unload and absolutely go batty on this person. So I did what any person submitting to the will of God would do. I swallowed my tears, buried my pride and did the graceful thing. 

I extended a dinner invitation. 

As He wills it. 

Best Daddy Ever. flipagram made with @flipagram Music: American Authors - Best Day of My Life #flipagram http://flipagram.com/f/Dn5n9ImkXB

Saturday.

A wonderful baptism, a big spider, a gorgeous wedding, some fancy glasses, plastic corn and a super fun picnic. All good, totally exhausting, kids were angels, all knocked out now. Perfection.