Friday Free-For-All

The kids tracked back in yesterday.
Rainy was so ready.
Zeke, not so much:)

Spring is in full swing, even if the weather doesn't reflect it.  One day we have all the windows open, running around without shoes on and the next we are cranking up the heat, trying to figure out how to get all our energy out indoors.

Well, I feel like it's safe to share some pretty big news.  No, we are NOT adding another colony member to the family, ha!  But we are about to be homeowners again!  As in THIS COMING MONDAY AFTERNOON!!!

I know what you are thinking, "But isn't that a photo of your current house?"  To which I would answer, "Why yes, yes it is!"  We are buying our current home that we have been renting for 3 1/2 years!  We are buying a house and we don't even have to move a thing!  Praise Jesus!

Jude is teething...boo:(

Jude is almost walking...yay:)
Which means that he is getting older...boo:(

Jude is tough...yay:)  A side table fell on him yesterday. He cried for a second, patted his head, then crawled off to play.  Pretty amazing how resilient those little ankle biters can be.

Cai is in a new stage.  He "wants a wot" of everything.

He wants "wots of wunch". -the full plate in front of him isn't enough?

He wants "wots of small shirts". -the 10 that he already has to choose from aren't enough?

He wants "wots of cookies".  -OK, maybe I can understand this one.
But it is oh-so-frustrating and comical all at the same time.  I don't know whether to pull my hair out or laugh hysterically, after trying to explain gratefulness and contentment for the 4th time before even getting to the breakfast table!

Holy Week begins next week.  I'm excited about the new concepts that the kids will pick up on this year!  I still have a couple of books available if you want to drop by and pick one up to do the "Fast Track" with your family! ($15)  Even if you don't do the family devotion you have GOT to incorporate these FREE songs into your daily routine with the kids!

Alright, I gotta go pack.  I've got a girls get-away tonight with my sister-in-laws before one of them heads to Africa for 3 years!

Happy Friday ya'll!

Virtual Tour Of The New House

I know, I know. This took forever to get up but we couldn't have picked a more crazy time of the year to move=) So without further ado...

***this post has been updated due to the crazies who may be out there, but let me know if you'd like to see it and we'll set up a time where you can come hang out=)***

Just let us know when you are up for a visit!

Catchup With Us

Here is what's been going on in our lives this past week.

We moved into our new house on Tuesday!  We LOVE it!  Sunday afternoon was "hanging day".  Since everything was unpacked, except for the piles of books in the living room that make our house look like a library exploded in it (it's time to invest in a bookshelf...or 3) we decided we could start adding the finishing touches.

When we moved to Charlotte we had so much help that they started unpacking our boxes too and I had no clue where things were or what had or hadn't been unpacked.  So this time we decided that we really wanted to take our time unloading so we could get rid of EVERYTHING that we don't need or use.  It also allowed me to arrange (and rearrange=) all our stuff until I found the PERFECT home for our stuff=)

Not only are the kids loving their new home but they are loving being close to family.  They have done an incredible job during this whole transition.

I'll post pictures as soon!

You know what I think is hilarious?  I took a longer blogging break for a move than I did after having a baby, HA!

How about you...when did you take your longest blogging break?

Happy Monday!  It's good to be back=)

Saying Goodbye To Our Temporary Home

Tomorrow is moving day!  I can't believe we get to move into our new home.  I can't but help being a little sad to leave this temporary home with our friends behind though.  I thought I'd give you a little peak at where we've been these past 3.5 weeks.

Here is Micaiah's room.

He shares it with the laundry=)

Our office/Snack-coffee area

Rainy and Zeke's room

Living Room

Our Bathroom

Our Bedroom

Jeremiah and Jenn, we can't thank you enough for sharing your home and your lives with us!  Oh yeah, and ALL your toys=)

Let Down

"God Be Praised" Live recording Night

Wow.  We have been going non-stop since before Micaiah was born.  We have had a baby, put a house on the market, sold a house, moved in with friends, found a house, done a live recording...  It seems like the list goes on and on.  I'm a bit exhausted looking back at the past couple of months but there is nowhere else I'd rather be!

We pulled our truck into the Raleigh area last Sunday night and didn't miss a beat, starting nightly rehearsals for the live recording the very next day with house hunting in between.

Friday night was "God Be Praised", the live recording we did with our new home church.  It was SO amazing to be part of this night.  I am really looking forward to getting to know each one of the people on our new team.  The humility that surrounds them is a breathe of fresh air and you just can't help but worship WITH them!

We knew that if we could just get through the recording (and then Halloween of course;) we could just relax and breathe for a bit before the business of the holidays comes around.  

I must admit to almost falling asleep during church on Sunday from pure exhaustion, knowing that I was just a couple of hours from getting to our new home at the Hambrick's where I knew I could stay put for a whole week straight!

My poor kids are exhausted too, being moved around to this house and that while they waited for this break.  They have been absolutely INCREDIBLE during this transition time.  Even with Josh being in Maryland doing ministry this week.  

So right now I am sitting in Jeremiah and Jenn's basement, our temporary abode, so very thankful.  Thankful for friends, family, the fall, a wonderful church family, selling our house so quickly, finding a new house on that exact same day, a place to lay my head at night (even if it is surrounded by boxes:), healthy children, our ministry...

God Be Praised!

Fun Facts For Friday - Boxes

When you are living out of boxes you will inevitably run into things that you KNOW you have but cannot get to or just don't remember where you put them.  I hate not being able to find something.  It's all I can think about until the lost item is found (or in this case bought because half of our stuff isn't even here, HA!)  

Here are a few objects that have gone MIA at some point during this transition...

1 - Breast milk storage bags.  I only have one left which means that the new box of 100 bags cannot be opened and I'll have to go get another box at FULL PRICE! *gasp*

2 - My white out.  I set up a make-shift office in attempts to keep the ministry going and I simply CANNOT find my white out!  I need my white out...

3 - My kids...oh wait, I at least know where they are even if they aren't here with us=)

4 - The box of diapers and wipes.  We were down to about a quarter of a tub of wipes and a handful of diapers.  Glad we found this one quickly!

5 - My phone charger.  Between closing on the old house yesterday and the new house we found the same day my phone is in desperate need of a charge.

YES, we found a house!  We'll be moving in mid-November.  God is so good!  We sold a house and found a new one all in the same day.  Thank you for your fervent prayers.  We will have plenty of room for all our friends that one to come visit;)

Here, There and Everywhere

Just SOME of our awesome friends who helped us move.

We could never tell you thank you enough.

We miss you ALL!

Currently my family and I are nomads in the land of Raleigh.  We pulled our moving truck into the Raleigh area on Sunday night after leading on Sunday morning at Ridge Church.  We still have one of our vehicles in the Charlotte area at a friend's house and the closing on our house is tomorrow (please pray that everything goes through smoothly!) but other than that our lives are in full swing here in Raleigh.

We dropped the majority of our stuff off at a storage unit until we find a house.  The rest of our stuff is here with us at our temporary home.  Have I mentioned how awesome our friends are for allowing us to take over their basement as a temporary residence!

The very next day after moving here we started the final rehearsals for "God Be Praised", the live recording and worship night for our new home church.  We had plans for Josh's mom to come get the kids so they wouldn't have to be around the craziness of rehearsals and recordings but yet another Via baby was born...early.  Apparently I am the only one in the Via family that ever has to go to or OVER their due date. (I'm not bitter though;)  Josh's youngest brother and his wife gave birth 3 1/2 weeks early to little Izabella and she is beautiful.  Needless to say we have had an even crazier week than anticipated.  The kids have been in 3 different places so far since we've been here and off to go see their Grammy and Papa tomorrow until the recording is over and then we get to just chill.  

Tonight after our family devotion Josh and I were laying out the newest plan for them and Zeke looked at us and said, "We sure go to lots of places." *sigh*

I'm so excited for next week.  No boxes, no unpacking, no rehearsals, no worrying about the Charlotte house and all the details of closing, nothing!  Just hanging out here in the country with my best friend and her family.  

We do think we've found our house and are so excited to see if we get it!  We might actually be in our new home by mid-November.

So, we are still here, there and everywhere, but an end is in sight=)

Fun Facts For Friday - Saturday Night Edition - Things I Won't Miss

1 - Ant season.  Is there even really such a thing?  In this house there is!  I'm not going to elaborate much more on this one just in case our buyers are perusing the internet and come upon my blog;)

2 - The poison ivy that covers Josh's body every time he would do yard work.  Poor guy.  It made him absolutely miserable.

3 - This is yet another piece of our dishwasher that has rusted off.  Not too sad to be leaving this behind.

4 - The electrician who wired this house was a bit over-zealous.  Why does 1 small room need 4 different light switches.  There is even a switch on the wall for the dishwasher.  Heck, it took us 3 years to find out what one of the switches was for in the hallway.  Of course it was for the light up in the attic.  Good grief=)

5 - Our bathroom.  Every time Josh and I move we say that "we will definitely buy a house with a BIGGER bathroom".  The funny thing is that we have gotten significantly smaller each time we've moved.  I'll let this series of pictures speak for themselves=)

As you can see, this is a one-man bathroom.  Josh and I have had to learn a new form of language to navigate around it together.  It consists of taps on the shoulder, nudges on the back and sighs...letting the other one know that they are taking too long at one station and that their turn is complete.  Oh, did I mention that our closet is in there too!

Thoughtful Thursday

My friend, Jenn, does these thoughtful thursday posts and I just love them because they are random and that is exactly what our life is like now...random and crazy.  So, here it goes!

This is what the outside of my house has looked like for the past 2 days.  Our buyers decided that they would like a new roof and that we should pay for it.  It was an answer to prayer when insurance said that they would cover the whole process (minus our deductible).  So all the racket on the roof and all the strangers walking around our yard is an answer to prayer.  I must say that my shower was quicker than usual as I felt the need to plan a quick escape just in case one of the hard-working latinos came falling through the ceiling to join me=)

This is what the kid's bedroom looks like.  Yes those are empty beds.  The roofers have gotten here early and worked very late so no naps have been had by the children in this household...

Except for this child.  Nothing has interrupted his schedule=)  Just give him food and he's happy!

This is what the inside of our house has looked like for over a week now as we pack to enter the next chapter of our lives in Raleigh.  The Sunday moving day is quickly approaching.

"So, where is that lovely house you found to move into?"  you ask.  Uh...yeah, about that.  We haven't exactly found a place to live yet.  So, we'll be moving in with some of our best friends Jeremiah and Jenn.  They are practically family and they live in the area and have been gracious enough to share their house and their lives with us until we find a place to live.

This is how they treat their children so I can't imagine what they'll do to ours.  Please pray for us;)

Happy Thursday!

Josh Knows How To Make ANY Circumstance Fun

Check out how Josh has made this moving experience FUN for the kids=)

One Week From Today

We could use your help next Saturday, starting at 3pm to load up our moving truck=)

Click HERE for the details and to RSVP.  Thanks friends!

Today's Goal

It's cold and rainy here today.  Kind of makes me just want to curl back up in bed and sleep some more but I wouldn't dare miss Micaiah's conversation with his friends hanging over his bouncy seat this morning.  I love his first morning wake time.  He is so happy after sleeping all night and getting a full breakfast.  

Josh finally got home from Raleigh last night and the kids were absolutely thrilled to be able to wrestle for a while (maybe a little too long, they were WIRED during their bedtime routine) before they went down to bed.

I drove back from Raleigh with the kids on Sunday evening so I could be here for the roofers who were coming to give estimates on Monday.  We are trying to negotiate roofing repairs with our buyers.  I know there are definite plusses to owning your own home, but you couldn't pay me a million dollars to look into buying another house right away.  This has not been a fun process.  Plus, we are going to be completely debt free after selling our house!  That will be such a GREAT feeling, even if only for a short time.

Josh and I were trying to get our calendars together so we could set our moving dates.  First of all, when you can't find a single day that would work to move between rehearsals and studio time then I'd say you are too busy;)  But that's just a side note.  While we were looking at the calendar we realized, we have less than 2 weeks left in this house.  We better get packing!  But where are we going?  We still haven't found a place to live.  I'm feeling a bit like Abraham, obeying God and going where he leads, but not knowing the details, you know, like where to forward our mail and such!  I HAVE to keep getting my freebies=)  So, we just press on in faith, believing that God has a special place for our growing family that will fit our needs.

I decided that I needed a goal to get this house packed while balancing all our responsibilities and kids at the same time.  I'll spare you all the details but my goal today is to round up the boxes and packing supplies and get one room completely packed up.  In theory it seems like it will work, but now the cold, rainy day is calling me back to bed.  So maybe I'll go put "sleep in until the kids get up" at the top of my to-do list so I can check that off first.  THEN I'll start packing=)

Happy Wednesday Ya'll...

Just Like Me

Yesterday morning as we were getting the house straightened up for the inspection Zeke began frantically gathering ALL his favorite belongings and trying to carry them in his arms.  He was absolutely beside himself, dropping one thing after another, because he just couldn't seem to hold everything at one time.  

After several minutes of this he began whining and crying.  The whining and crying has been an on-going thing over the past couple of months so I automatically began to reprimand him for his bad attitude and sent him to his room, I just didn't have time for this.  He then began screaming and really carrying on.

We were running out of time before the inspector was to arrive and we had to be GONE so I continued to "get ready" and Josh went in to deal with Zeke.

This is just another reason why Josh is such a wonderful dad.  He will get to the heart of the issue, no matter what is going on!

Here's the thing, ever since we put our house on the market our lives have been in constant transition with no routine or predictability.  This has slowly been wearing on Zeke to where he could no longer take it.  To add to it, we have been leaving our house for complete strangers to look at, to inspect, to fix, etc. and each time we left, Zeke would go around and gather all his favorite things.  It wasn't until today that we realized why.

Zeke believed that those people were going to buy our house and that we weren't going to be coming back or that we would come back to all of our things GONE!  His animal friends...gone.  His bubbies...gone.  His guiyars...gone.  His lunchbox full of stuff...gone. His pumpkin pale full of even more stuff...gone.  I couldn't stop from getting tears in my eyes.  I just hurt for him.  I hurt for him, because I knew exactly how he was feeling.  

I was that exact same way every time we moved with my family growing up.  I would literally get sick every time our house would start filling up with boxes, not knowing when I was going to see my stuff again and not knowing where we were going.  Too many unknowns.  (Don't get me wrong, I had a great childhood and looking back now I am so glad we had so many opportunities in so many different places)

As a matter of fact, I'm STILL like that, except this time I know (or will know as soon as we find a house...sigh) where we're going and that we'll see our stuff again.  Now it's the inspection that shows that we need to replace the roof, the buyers loan that hasn't finalized yet, meaning that the contract could fall apart at any time, and all the details of our personal lives not to mention the ministry, that I have to deal with.

Even as a believer, knowing that God is in control (not me), that His way is perfect, that He has our best interest at heart, that He knows what we need and when we need it, that His timing is perfect, it is still hard to live that out sometimes in the thick of it.  But this is my time to grow in my faith and persevere.  James wrote:

"Consider it pure joy, my brothers,

whenever you face trials of many kinds,

because you know that the testing of your faith

develops perseverance.  Perseverance

must finish its work so that you may be

mature and complete, not lacking anything."

So, I need to choose, right now, what kind of example I am going to be for my sweet boy.    He doesn't need to see his mom all stressed out over things that are out of my control anyway.  He needs to see me living out my faith even when it's hard and so many things are uncertain.

Driveway, Car, Pistol, Relief

Last Friday night I played with my friend, Sara, at Jackson's Java across from UNCC.  It was a lot of fun.  Josh was really wanting to be there so we figured, since it wasn't going to be too late of a night we'd bring the kids.  It was like a family reunion seeing so many old friends.  It was nice to be able to hang out with everyone altogether one last time before we move.

We got home it was around 11:00 or so.  The kids were beyond tired (not so much cranky and whiny but talking crazy and saying really funny things) and Micaiah was WAY over stimulated!  Plus it was past time for him to eat.

Anyway, we pulled up to our driveway and there was a car parked at the end of our driveway.  We couldn't get around it from either direction to park our car and go inside.  We weren't quite sure what to think or do.  It wasn't like the other driveways in our cul-de-sac were full.  Most of them were empty or only had 1 car in them.  Also, the car had a "Terrific Kid" bumper sticker and there is only 1 neighbor with school-aged kids.

I got out and checked out the empty car.  Locked with an alarm set.  I tried to set off the alarm thinking that maybe the owner would come to its rescue but nothing happened.  Josh honked a few times...nothing.  

We'd heard of teenagers getting into vacant houses and since ours is on the market with a sign in the yard and both our cars were gone we thought maybe someone was inside.  Josh went over to one of our neighbor buddies houses and got him to go inside with him "just in case" someone was in there.  Our friend grabbed his pistol and they went inside.

The kids began rattling off a million questions and commentating every move they saw inside by their daddy.  The kids just wanted to make sure that the guys checked EVERY room of the house to make sure it was safe.

The house was clear but still no sign of the owner of the vehicle.  Josh decided to ask our next door neighbor thinking there was no way it was hers or her friends because her driveway was practically empty.  She finally came to the door and it WAS her friend's.  They thought we were gone for the weekend (why in the world would someone ever think that, HA!  Just kidding, they probably wonder what the matter is when we stay at home for more than 3 consecutive days in a row!) and they had a full driveway when this car arrived so they were just borrowing our driveway.

Shew...glad that is how this story ended.  I was beginning to run all sorts of scenarios of escape through my head=)

Reality Is Setting In

Well, after another weekend in our soon-to-be home city and spending Sunday afternoon driving around looking for houses, the reality of this move is beginning to set in.

If you hadn't heard, last week our house went under contract!  It was only on the market for a little over a month and in this economy we are MORE than thrilled with the outcome.  Praise the Lord!  We are just waiting for the inspection to go through and we should be home free.  It looks like we'll be in Raleigh before the close of October!

Wow, it's all happening so quickly!  I'm beginning to think about the people we'll miss, the friendships we've made, the yard we'll no longer have, the house we're about to sell, the different stores I'll have to learn to navigate with the coupon world=), moving with 3 kids...wow, a lot of changes.  I'm so excited at the same time.  So many emotions at one time.

So now we are concentrating on finding a place to live.  It has been fun to look at different houses.  I must admit that I get a little obsessed with the ones I like and it's all I can think about until it is no longer an option, for some reason or another.  I start imaging where our bed will be and where to put a couch and a good place for a Christmas tree.  Come on, you know you do it too;)  You HAVE to have a good place for a Christmas tree!

So, it's really happening!  And SOON!

Lord, I give all my anxieties to you.  Give us wisdom as we seek your will and a peace in our hearts during this unstable, yet exciting time.

My House Is A Wreck And It Feels Good

Since our house has been on the market I've been so uptight about the cleanliness of it.  I have more than my typical neat freak tendencies;)

Well, today was different after a nice overcast sky brought us some rain and I relaxed a little bit.  The kids have been pulling things out of their playroom all day and they have taken over the house.  The thing is, it didn't even bother me.  It actually felt good!

I didn't even make them clean up before their nap and I sat right in the middle of it in the living room to write this post.  It feels good just to let go sometimes...

Too Much Stuff

Josh and I have been endlessly cleaning out our house.  You know, those dark places that lurk in the corners of closets, that sit under the bed and that lie, forgotten, up in the attic.  We've been de-personalizing our house which, I have found, to be one of the hardest things to do in a home I've spent hours making into a personalized haven for my family.  But, I digress...we have taken countless items and numerous trash bags FULL of "stuff" to the goodwill and still have TONS OF STUFF!  All in the name of selling our house.

Several questions have come to mind that have helped in the tossing stage during this moving process.

1- Why in the world did I ever buy this?

2- Why do I still have this?

3- How many times do I really wear this?

4- If this is sitting in our attic, unused, then why do we still have it?

5- Do I REALLY need this?

6- Wait, don't I already have one of those?

Now don't get me wrong.  I am not a pack-rat by any means.  I am constantly purging our house of unused and unneeded items, to a point where it is almost comical to Josh, but there are always those things that I continue to hang on to.

It has been such a good feeling to get rid of even more things.  It feels even better when we can give our stuff to other people who can use it!  It's made me want to travel light and to have a loose hold on my stuff, which is only "stuff" anyway, so that I will always be willing to go where He sends us and do as He sees fit.  I find that the more stuff that I have, the harder it is to let go of it.

What do you have that you cannot let go of?  What questions do you ask yourself when looking to get rid of stuff?

Thursday Afternoon Timeline

12:30pm - eating lunch with the kids

12:39pm - miss a call from the agency saying there is a potential showing

1:00pm - on my way out the door to go on a walk with the kids

1:02pm - find my phone so I can make a couple of phone calls while on the walk.  notice that I missed the call from the agency.  

1:03pm - call the agency back who says that there is a family who would like to see the house at 1:45pm

WHAT 1:45?!?!?!

1:04pm - run in the office to tell Josh we have a showing in less than 45 min.  Apologize to the kids about the walk but promise the park in just a few short minutes...

1:05 - 1:39pm - frantically straighten up the room, sweep the floors, store unnecessary items around the house, pick up the yard.  Areyna is a HUGE help with their rooms!

1:25pm - time to feed Micaiah.  Good thing he is still sleeping...no wait

1:26pm - Micaiah wakes up VERY HUNGRY.  Go heat up a bottle

1:29pm - recruit Areyna to start Cai on his bottle while we finish up the house

1:39pm - load up the car just in time.  head to a park for an hour or so

1:50pm - Good thing I just bought one of these last week!  Old lady keeps staring at me wondering why I'm wearing a blanket when it is 80 degrees outside=)

Just another day with the Via's:)

Its Official: We're Moving!

That's right.  We are moving back to the Raleigh, NC area.  All we're waiting on is the selling of our house.  Anyone want a cute house in a quiet neighborhood around the outskirts of Charlotte **hint, hint**?  E-mail me if you do and I'll give you the link;)

Don't worry we're still going to be doing what we do, just packing up our car from a different driveway to head out to lead worship.

Why the move? 

 

1- We'll be closer to all of our family.  All of Josh's brothers live in the Raleigh area and my siblings are up in the DC area so we'll have that family support that we've not had here in Charlotte.  It will be nice to have Rainy and Zeke grow up closer to their cousins that they love so much.

2-You know that feeling of driving into a town and just "feeling" like that is home?  Well, that is how the Raleigh area feels for us.  We lived there for 4 years before moving here to Charlotte and we've always missed it.

3- We have found a great church in the area which will help bring some stability to this crazy life we lead.  We'll be part of their worship team so we'll rotate through just like we have been doing from our home church here.  Not only is it a GREAT church, but Josh's brother is on staff there, so Rainy and Zeke will be able to go to church with their cousins.  And since 

Zeke + Church class - Areyna = DISASTER, 

we decided that some familiarity would be good for Zeke.  

4- We have been praying about my involvement in traveling now, with 3 children.  The church stability will be so important because I won't be traveling ALL the time.  We are going to be much more careful about the kids and what they need, as far as time at home etc., so being close to family in and out of church will be a huge blessing.

5- Our family can help with the kids when we need to travel without them.

6- I like new houses and rearranging, don't you?

7- We figured it wasn't exciting enough to just have a baby, we needed to add putting our house on the market the week after the birth and throw in a few house showings with a 4-year-old, a 3-year-old and an infant.  I mean, Areyna was 6 months old when we moved from Wake Forest to Henderson and Zeke was 6 weeks old when we moved from Henderson to Charlotte.  We figured we had all that down, let's add selling a house with an infant.  That sounds like fun;)

You can expect to see some crazy posts coming out of this one!