This Old House

A storm came two nights ago...and with it took most all of our appliances and electronics . I thought it fitting since we are moving...we will need all new stuff. It seems that everything in our home dug their heels in and refused to move...I'm not sure I blame them. I will miss our place too.

We have bought a house together. Even as I type this, I am tearing up about the situation. Although I am very excited about our new home, I will miss our cottage here terribly....the home we were never going to leave... It represents so many things accomplished over the years. My independence(my only "a femme sole" purchase), my largest and most expensive gift for my son(so he would have a yard to run in), my marriage to God's greatest gift to me, and our little baby girl we have watched every day grow into something so magnificent, we really couldn't have imagined her any better. All of these things we are leaving in these walls...our memories, good, bad, and sad...go with us..but the remnants that happened here stay here....and that tugs at my heart like nothing else.
Everything in it's place and a place for everything...Our new house will be better for us. Our little home now, sadly, is ill equipped to house 3 growing children, two adults, two dogs, and two households of furniture. It has no place for anything...except our hearts but It was time...we knew it was coming...we explored every option we could to stay and we delayed this until the very last minute. However, I do admit, having space to move about and a place to put everything will be a nice change. Our one bathroom situation has been for the past two years, difficult, to say the least. My near teen son and potty training daughter had to come to an understanding quickly about personal space...forget the two adults who need to brush their teeth and shave every so often.

There are some perks to a bigger place...but I am moving slowly through my house now...packing it carefully...so not to shock my system.

Before I started today, I decided to photograph some things that we shouldn't forget

Our oak tree:
the one they said would never weather the storms,

always hung, looming over the top of our house,
protecting it really...
it was never a threat at all we discovered.

Mother Mary watching over our kitchen:
protecting all who bravely ate my food...










Our confederate cream jasmine covering the ugly black iron:My husband's late father suggested it to me, saying that it covers excellently and is nice to smell in the Spring when you walk out your door. He was right.





Our door knob: touched everyday by each person that is cherished in this house.

Our angel
hanging by the door:
protecting us as we come and go

Our street: Where Kate learned to ride her scooter
and Austin his bike.

Our house numbers:
painted after two storms blew away our address markers. These weren't going anywhere.












My babies' "height chart" in the door jam:this goes with us no matter what Tom says.

Kate's "birdfeeder":

right under her window so
she can watch them eat...

Our wooden floors I refinished myself:
Tom, with little faith in my abilities at the time,
insisted I stop and put the carpets back...
I, of course, did not....

This old house has seen us through many things, protected us from the storms, held strong like the bunker that it is...never disappointing us when we came home to it, walked into it, ate in it, fell asleep in it, played outside of it, made and brought our babies home to it, cried in it, laughed in it, stayed up late in it, celebrated in it, mourned in it...it will be hard to let it go....if I can. I don't intend on kicking and crying as they drag me away from it...but I'm not making any promises.

It's a ...What? now wait...a what? Oh boy!

Yesterday, Thursday, May 19, 2011, we found out that we are giving Austin and Kate a brother. I have to say that I was somewhat surprised, as I thought we would always have girls. A boy never factored into my equation. My son was born in 2000. I always say he was the perfect child. He really was. You can ask most anyone who knows him. He is so happy and mature. He is so thoughtful and interesting. We marvel. When you have a child like this...you tend to believe...embarrassing to say now...that you have some sort of super parenting skills. You view outrageous temper tantrums in the store and sassy children smarting off to their parents as subpar parenting, disorganized discipline and no structure. YOUR child is the direct result of your superior rearing....We all had come together in a tough situation and did everything right and this is the result! Right?

Uhmmmm...well...that is until God throws you a curve ball. Our curve came in 2007 with Kate. She was born the day of Hurricane Humberto...her first birthday was Hurricane Ike...it is a good representation of how life has been since her birth...wind beneath her wings and and us enjoying the ride...it's a blissful chaos. We love her to her little wild core. Her mind is her own. We have to relate to her far differently than we did Austin. Kate wants to know why things happen, the purpose of it, the outcome of it and exact specifications of our expectations. It has been, to say the least, an adjustment. I wouldn't have it any other way, though.

So, last week, I got all of Kates old clothes down. I was seperating them...those to wear, and those to donate. Yesterday, I put them all back up knowing most will go to someone elses little girl. It is a little painful that that part of Kate is over. Those precious tiny times have come and gone and we won't have someone to relive them through...sniff...a little sad. But I get to see Austin be an awesome role model to his brother and the princess will keep her throne!

SO!! We get to have a little boy. A bouncing baby boy that I get to watch play soccer and tball all over again and I am really excited about that! I get to pull out all of Austin's old choo choo trains and watch him enjoy them all over again in a different way(his cherished "peepoos" that I just couldn't part with ever)with his little teeth marks scratched in the paint...some still with chocolate smears...ready for the next little man who will play with them.

We were very surprised...but I am getting pretty excited about what's next...A boy a boy a boy...Oh boy!

Shrimp Happiness and Grit Heaven

Shrimp and Grits tonight....unbelievable that these creamy grits are sans gluten...
not that it makes up for the Thin Mint fiasco but anyhoo...here's the recipe!

* 5 cups water
* Salt and pepper
* 1 1/4 cup stone-ground grits
* 3 tablespoons butter
* 2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
* 1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined
* 6 slices bacon, chopped( keep the grease)
* 4 teaspoons lemon juice(I used 2 lemons)
* 2 tablespoons chopped parsley
* 1 cup thinly sliced scallions
* 1 large clove garlic, minced
(Bobby Flay doesn't use an onion...but I used a very small yellow onion sliced thin)
Directions

Bring water to a boil. Add salt and pepper. Add grits and cook until water is absorbed, about 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in butter and cheese.

Rinse shrimp and pat dry. Fry the bacon in a large skillet until browned; drain well. In grease, add shrimp. Cook until shrimp turn pink. Add lemon juice, chopped bacon, parsley, scallions and garlic. Saute for 3 minutes.

Spoon grits into a serving bowl. (Bobby doesn't say to drain the shrimp mixture but I did...just to get rid of a little grease)
Add shrimp mixture and mix well. Serve immediately.
(Not kidding...this took me about 45 minutes start to finish and we all ate! I started a little after six and we ate at 7! And everyone knows that the Cobbs eat late anyway...but not as late as usual!)