Happy Monday, friends. I’m trying to have a positive attitude about this Monday. The sky is grey. The forecast is calling for storms all week. But, we are loaded up with good books and some of the nastiest allergies to make for a cozy and coughy week.

We had a pretty fun and full weekend. We finally watched Mary Poppins Returns for our family movie night on Friday. Emily Blunt is BRILLIANT as Mary Poppins. I cried when she returned. I cried when Dick Van Dyke came out. I cried at the end. It is so SO good, and all three kids loved it.

I sold our old wagon. We used to have this one. We’ve actually had it for 6 years, and it’s still in perfect shape other than lots of dirt. There just wasn’t enough leg room for two of the girls to ride in anymore. Thankfully, I know the family it is going to. Isn’t it weird how attached we get to objects. I guess it’s not the object, but the memories that go with it. We replaced it with this wagon that folds up. Two kids can sit cross-legged comfortably. We can load it up with stuff for the beach. My favorite part is that the side unzips, so the wagon becomes a bench! Super fun!

Scott had to work on Saturday, which was a huge bummer. The girls and I got out the wagon to walk to some garage sales nearby. It immediately started raining, but we kept going. We came back home to have a picnic lunch while watching Disney Junior. When Scott got home from work, we all headed up to visit my older sister and her family. We ate good Mexican food, and celebrated my niece making show choir!

Sunday, we had church. My allergies have been so bad this year. I coughed all through Sunday School. I am on the praise team, and I just kept praying that God would keep my voice strong and cough away through the music. As soon as we finished singing, I went out and made a cup of hot tea. I watched the sermon from the lobby so that I didn’t disturb everyone again. We all stayed home from church in the evening because of the terrible coughs and overall crummy feeling. Harper ended up spiking a fever, and I suspect an ear infection from all of the sinus crud. She fell asleep the moment her body was in bed last night.

Even with the yucky allergy problems, we managed to have fun this weekend. My body is so stinking tired, and I would love to tag in a substitute teacher this week. We only have 19 lessons left in the school year! We are so close!!

I hope you all have a wonderful week!

“Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.” Romans 8:26 ESV

This is the verse that was on my “verse of the day” desk calendar. My life, and the lives of many that I love, have been bombarded with really heavy and hard news. News that is so difficult to digest. Things that need prayer. But, how do we pray when things are so heavy and hard? What do we do when we can’t find the words to pray?

Last night, we learned that a dear family friend is facing something so hard. Something that left everyone fighting the tears. After our evening service at church last night, Pastor had a special prayer service for this person. . No one knew what to say. No one knew how to pray. It was a beautifully painful time to see the family of God gather and come to the Lord on behalf of one person. Words fell so short short.

But, God knew. When all we could manage were groans, sobs, and tears– the Lord knew our hearts.

What beautiful love from our Savior.

I don’t know what you my be facing in your life. Maybe you, too, have lost a loved one. Maybe you are facing job loss. Maybe your child has strayed. Sickness has invaded in a way that seems impossible to heal from. Whatever it is.. You may feel like you can’t pray anymore because there are no more words. Just remember this verse. Tuck it away in your heart.

If you have something on your heart that you would like prayer for, will you share it in the comments so that I can pray with you? If you are praying for someone, please let them know.

A few weeks ago, we went out to the farmhouse and got to see the inside. For me, it was the second time. For the rest of my family, it was the first. Since so many people want to see the inside, I thought it may be fun to share some “before” pictures. Unedited, crummy pictures. But, here she is.

The kitchen is pretty large. We will be putting a new coat of paint on the wall. Most likely, we will be doing our favorite Toasted White by Glidden. They asked that we don’t paint the cabinets, so those will stay the same. The backsplash is almost like a miniature white subway tile. Once we get it cleaned up, it’s going to be so pretty.

This room will most likely become our homeschooling room/ play area. It’s really spacious. The openness of a school room will allow us to use it as dining if we are having a large group of people over. Some ceiling tiles need replaced, carpet needs cleaned, and new paint on the wall.

This is the living room. That wood stove is so pretty. The piano was the owner’s grandmothers. She said they could take it out, but Chloe really wants to learn. We’ll move it away from the exterior wall and have to get it tuned. The walls will get pained and carpet cleaned in here also.

This is the office. In the picture of the living room, you can see a doorway to the left. That is where this is. It’s a pretty good size. New paint will be going up. The curtain rod will be coming down. I think I’ll leave curtains off of the office windows. The view will be pretty once everything turns green again. Then, it will disappear because the corn will grow so high.

This is the master bath and bedroom. I love the mirror and lights above the sink. A LOT. We will put a new coat of paint up in here also. I didn’t get a picture, but the door separating the bedroom and bathroom is an original farm door.

Up the stairs. The carpet is green. The grossest green. But, it’s actually in good shape. haha! I really want to put a railing up because the stairs are pretty steep. We are dreading the thought of moving kids furniture up these.

This monstrosity will be Harper’s room. New paint. A lot of new paint. I’m not even sure what to do about the floors. There used to be carpet here that the previous tenants ripped up. They painted this floor and the hall floor BLACK. I thought the owner was going to fall over when she saw it. We’ll figure out the floor.. Maybe we will undertake stripping and staining it. Maybe not.

This is going to be Chloe and Addi’s room. I couldn’t get it all in one picture. The floors and walls are all painted white. It’s pretty dirty, but will look really nice once it’s cleaned. The sun rises on this side, so I’m going to be putting up some thick curtains. Mama doesn’t want them rising with the sun.

This half bath/laundry room is right off the kitchen. I actually think the wallpaper is cute and will probably leave it alone.

This staircase is off of the mud room. It goes down to the root cellar. Look at that brick floor!!! It’s so pretty. I’m excited to have a mudroom for dirty shoes to go.

I think the pictures hide some of the flaws pretty well. It’s going to be a LOT of painting. So much painting. Paint always transforms a space so much. We aren’t some rich family with a huge budget that will come in and completely remodel the house. The paint colors will change. It will get cleaned. We’ll become part of this 1860s farmhouse’s story. I’m thrilled that my kids will get to witness all of the farm work going on. The house is surrounded by field. There are tons of pole barns storing tractors and equipment. It will be noisy. Bugs will probably invade. But, we will all learn so much.

I saw this quote in my new cookbook, and I loved it so much. Some people wonder why we are so passionate about our lifestyle. Does anyone really enjoy being a part of the rat race? Some say that money is so important. Things cost money. Maybe we don’t want things. THINGS aren’t important. If you’ve ever lost someone you loved, you realize that PEOPLE matter. Hard work matters. If we can slow down and appreciate the little things, we all would enjoy life so much more.

We start work on Saturday. Ready? Set. GO!