Neighbors

(Part of my series on moving from Cotton-Top Hills. This post is an article that will be my second to last for our community newspaper.)

When you move into a new house, you never know what kind of neighbors you are going to end up with. You hope you’ve found a neighborhood that has children for your kids to play with and people that will welcome you with open arms, maybe even have neighborhood gatherings, and where you look out for one another. But the fact is, you never know any of that until you’ve already bought the house.

When we moved to Bushland, Eagle Tree to be exact, I was pregnant with our third child. I was a little afraid of not knowing anyone. What if I went into labor with my husband at work over an hour away? Would I have anyone to call for help? Within days of moving in I had my answer. It was winter and we were having one of our famous snow/ice storms. Our electricity went out and luckily we had some firewood that we were using to keep us warm. We were all camped out on the living room floor, trying to ward off the bitter cold, when in the darkness we heard a knock at our door. It was our next door neighbor who had trudged across half an acre to see if we were okay and if we needed firewood. We were so happy to know someone out there was thinking of us and if we needed it help was not far away.

We were welcomed with food, sweets, and friendly conversations. Our neighborhood is a little different, in that the houses sit on 2 to 10 acres, but that distance didn’t stop our neighbors from coming over and introducing themselves to us. It was a wonderful feeling to know my family had moved into such a welcoming place.

Over the years we’d gather for trash pick-ups along Dowell Road, summer picnics, pumpkin patch parties, and dinners. While we all liked our space, we also loved to get together and celebrate the wonderful place we called home.

              

Neighborhoods can be extensions of your family if you are lucky. I would say the Bushland community does that very well. There are not many places that you could live where your neighbor would drop everything to rush you to the ER, while another neighbor would take your three children for the night. Or a neighbor on the other side of your neighborhood whom you’ve never met, but knew on Facebook, would get on his tractor with snow on the ground and temperatures hovering in the negative digits to deliver two 50 gallon barrels of water, just so you could flush your toilets. And if you have neighbors who do that, it shouldn’t surprise you to get a phone call from a neighbor nearby offering her home while they are away for you to shower and hang out, while your frozen pipes thaw.

Yes, I think the Bushland community has many things to be proud of, but the thing I am most proud of is the genuine caring of the people who live here. I have lived in many places in my life, 6 states and 11 towns, and I can say Bushland is very unique. What a blessing it has been to raise my family in such a place for the last five years. It gives a parent a sense of peace to know their children have experienced humanity at its best, the way God intended.

Saying Goodbye To Cotton-Top Hills

This has been a long good-bye. We’ve known for months that the probability of us moving away from our home was great. But when you get that final call, the one that says it is happening, you can’t help but mourn.  We are moving closer to family, much closer, which is wonderful. It will be the first time in my husband’s and I’s adult lives that we have been close to where our parents are.  It is a blessing.

Cotton-Top Hills has been a blessing too. For my third and youngest child this is the only home she has known. For my two older girls, this is the home in which their adventurous spirit was given room to frolic and explore. For my husband and I, it has been a place in which we have poured our love into. Together as a family, we have made this beautiful place our home.

Soon, all we will have is our memories and we don’t ever want to forget some of the things that have made it so special. Together we are creating a scrapbook of memories, some I’d like to share here.

The first is this picture, taken soon after we moved in.

We could have named this place At The End Of The Rainbow, for almost every time we get rain we seem to have a rainbow. This one was a double rainbow. My girls love the fact that they can see the entire thing from our front yard. Nothing beats the wide open skies of the Texas Panhandle.

Stay tuned for more scrapbook entries

Finally, I’m Making Some Lists!

 

So I’m making lists galore around here this year. I’ve always known that when I make a list I’m not only better organized, but better prepared. But, I’m afraid many times I neglect making one. Maybe it is fear of seeing all I need to do lined out in front of me. Sometimes it is me refusing to spend the time physically making one up. I’m not sure why, but I can be really good at throwing roadblocks up in front of my success and ignoring the call to make a list is just that.

My first list is a grocery list for the week, followed by a menu plan. A written menu plan, not a bunch of thoughts floating around in my head and rushing to the pantry each night to see what’s for dinner. So far it is working wonderfully.

Next is a list of what I want to accomplish with homeschool for the remainder of this year. I totally stress myself out thinking I am ruining my children’s education on a daily basis because I’m afraid we are not covering it all.

Then is the list for chores I’d like to get done for the day, and for the week.  When it is staring me in the face, it is very hard to ignore that  yes, I do need to clean all the baseboards today.

And the list I am the most excited about is my writing list. I finally have one! No longer am I wallowing in my excuses of what I might do if I have time. Now, because of all my above lists, I actually have the time for my writing. Go figure. And yes, I am a slow learner. All my blogging writing friends have written many a post about organizing, time management, goad setting etc. Well, it took awhile but it has finally pushed me to get it together. Thank you!

Just to make sure you understand my lists I need to clarify. They start off neat and then become a mess with crossed out lines, check-marks, and arrows moving things around.  I’m constantly reminded that my plans need to align with God’s plan and I need to be flexible. The good news is that when I plan, being flexible is easier.

On another front I just want you to know my physical blogging facelift is still in the works. But I’ve already started switching up my posts here to include all aspects of my life, not just writing. Thanks for reading along.

Now, tell me, what about a list do you find the most daunting?

40% Off On Women's Tea Collection

I just got a wonderful offer from one of my affiliates, Tea Collections. They are offering a 40% off coupon that is good TODAY only, after Friday morning you can get 25% off until Sunday. I'm so excited because fall is in the air and I would love to have a nice sweater or two to help ward off the chill in the air.

To get the discount click on my Tea collection link on the sidebar and enter this code when checking out TEA4UFF. It's that easy!

Happy shopping:)

More Early Shopping

Okay, so by now you have all heard that my sister is having a baby around Christmas. Which makes me think of all the traveling I will be doing back and forth across Texas to attend baby showers, holiday parties, and family events. Which leads me to thinking about not only traveling with my kids, but my 2 dogs. Luckily, I have found some luggage of sorts that will really help me with carting my dogs around with me.

I can’t wait to share this review with you from CSN stores.  If you have dogs that travel with you in the car on trips or just to the vet you need to know about this product.  I’m thinking it will make life easier.  I will let you know as soon as I receive the product for review.

 

 

 

*I am receiving a product free of charge to write a review on from CSN stores.

A Baby Is Coming...

Did I tell you I am about to be an aunt again? Well, not until December, but I can't wait! My one and only little sister is having a baby.

Here she is with my kiddos.

We don't know yet if it is a little boy or girl, but are hoping to find out soon. That does not stop me from doing some baby shopping. I love shopping for little baby clothes! It seems many of my friends are having babies and I've found myself needing lots of sweet gifts. So I was happy to partner up with my new affliate Tea Collection. To me it has a down home, yet elegant feel. And the neat thing is it is unique.

Tea Collection has recently launched a new website and has taken their popular products typically found in specialty and department stores directly to consumers. Their clothing is inspired by cultures around the world and it's much more stylish and is always changing. Tea Collection designs clothes for babies up to eight years old. A great option for summer or back-to-school shopping.

So if you need to go shopping for some clothes for your kids or for gifts, please head over to Tea Collection and check them out. I think you will find some adorable clothing that anyone would be happy to receive!

Christmas Shopping In July

I say  it is never to early to start shopping for Christmas, especially if you have little ones on your list!  I wanted to share with you a neat online children’s toy store called Ebeanstalk, that will make your shopping easier.

I love shopping at Ebeanstalk because they have a feature that will list toys by age and  even gender.  They have tons of baby toys to choose from as well.  The website is easy to use, which is a plus for this busy mom.

Sometimes choosing kids toys can be difficult, but they make it a snap.  They have a panel of experts that help test the toys and place them in age appropriate categories according to the development that is occurring during that stage.

If you have a special someone that you’d like to give a gift too, check out their Grow and Learn series.  A gift will be sent out every 3 months, appropriate to the development at that stage.  I think this is a really neat feature that I haven’t found at other online toy stores. 

So remember it is never too early to shop for Christmas!  Have you shopped at Ebeanstalk?  I’d love to hear about it if you have, if not head over and see what neat toys you can find.