RoboCow

Sometimes I feel like such a "conditional" parent but who doesn't like having a great week, right?  The boys played together really well which meant less crying, whining and fighting.  It also meant that I was able to stay home and get stuff done around the house.  With the warmer weather, they got to go play in the yard and Ethan got to practice on his bike.  Brian came home to a peaceful house and we both put them to bed without feeling completely drained.  We're all on our way to feeling almost 100% better.  Thank you Lord for the needed encouragement!

Now here are some Halloween fun to share:

Pumpkin carving became an annual tradition
 

Ethan's preschool sing-a-long & party

His Lamb classmates

 Gavin figured out the process fast

Oh, and can I just say trick or treating in 70 degrees was amazing!  No winter coats required.  It did sprinkled on us a little but luckily it didn't last very long as we carried on.

Ethan as a cow in '10

On Being a Mamma

Not sure how else to word this so I'm just going to come out and say it, "I HATE THE TWOS!"  That is what we're going through right now and it's absolutely frustrating for everyone including Gavin himself.  I'm pretty sure I've said this before about Ethan when he was two - the crazy energy and wanting constantly quality time.  But Gavin is more of a whinny and wanting to be held constantly, which at 30 lbs is pretty heavy.  I would say he's relatively easier than Ethan and definitely not as strong will but we still go through the battle of the will daily...hourly...minute by minute.  Oh the gigantic tantrums.  And I find myself wondering, "Why me?!...again?!" and "Couldn't God have given me an easy child?"  You know, one that sits and plays by themselves...all day.  I know they exist.  Just not the Billmans I guess.  To make matter worse, Gavin is 100% Daddy's boy (just like Ethan was when he was little) that he cries wails in protest when I come to get him in the morning.  When Brian gets home after work or when he's home on the weekend, oh you might as well forget that I exist.  He absolutely wants nothing to do with me!  And I try not to take it personal, but I know it's really draining on Brian.  I mean of course we have good days and bad days, but this has been the norm lately.

Then there's Ethan who I can't seemed to figure out because he isn't one to ever be attached, especially to me.  But this past 6 months or so, I can't leave the house (for small group, date night or even to run errands) without him being near tears.  It's kinda endearing, but suffocating at the same time.  At the age of 5?!

Anyway, my struggle which I know God is working on is not having my joy be determined by my emotions or circumstances.  But that is so hard!  How do I not have my roller coaster day with the kids affect how I answer Brian's question of "How was your day?"  And all I want to say is, "Well let me tell you..."

Along with that, a couple of other things that I'm working on:

-being cheap vs being frugal vs being a generous giver
-not being anxious about being late (especially when it doesn't even matter)
-self control with emotions

Boat Tour

FINALLY a month and a half later, I was able to get a sitter so I could take Brian on his belated birthday boat tour.  Although the weather wasn't exactly ideal, we went anyway in our full winter gear and all...and may or may not have gotten ourselves sicker =0(

  Loved being on the Potomac River!

The best part was coming home to Gavin who was just content and happy (instead of being whinny) the rest of the night.  I can't tell you how refreshing that was!  Unfortunately like Cinderella, the clock struck midnight and everything went back to normal the next day.

Festivals

Here are some pictures from the last two weekends:

-Burke Station fire safety week

 

Bumped into Sophia, his old preschool friend

Bomb Squad truck

 They both loved Sparky the Dog!

 and Smokey the Bear

 

-Ethan's preschool Fall Festival

 Keeping up with Ashlyn, who we found out is our neighbor

"Twittering" on Blog

Thank you for your prayers today.  They were felt and we made it through okay!

Not a Coincidence

Please pray for us as we're under Satan's attack.  Last month, on the Sunday when we were supposed to go to church as a family (since Brian was off from set up and tear down), Gavin came down with a cold.  So Brian stayed home with him and I went to church with Ethan.  Well, today he was off for the month of October and Gavin got sick AGAIN.  Same scenario.  Come to think of it, Gavin has been sick at least once a month this year.  Craziness.  I just felt discouraged that once again we couldn't go to church together.  Nevertheless, I prayed on the way to church that although our wants and desires didn't happen, attending church, serving, etc isn't about us but all about Him.  I do need prayers for tomorrow because apparently, Ethan came down with the same thing and now I have two sick kids on hand.   

On Being a Mamma

While talking with a friend at Chick-Fil-A yesterday, I overheard Ethan said, "You don't scare me because Jesus is with me!" to some kid as he was pretending to scare Ethan.  I instantly got teary and had a proud Mamma moment =0)

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Then today, Ethan got up, got ready, made himself hot cereal and decided Gavin might want one too.  So he made another one.  What a thoughtful brother!  He finished getting himself ready and we were off to school with such a smooth morning.  And an encouraging one too!

House Update

Back in August, we found a "short sale" house in a neighborhood we liked so we put an offer on it.  Knowing that a short sale can drag on for a long time, we put a one month deadline on it.  Well that one month came and went and we still haven't heard.  I guess finding a house quickly isn't in the Billmans' luck.  Apparently, it takes like a gazillion houses before finding one.  And honestly, we're really not that picky.  Then there's Ryan who just happened to casually looked at a townhouse, put an offer on it and it got accepted.  So he'll actually be closing on it at the end of the month and will slowly moving out.

So I came up with a plan: we're going to wait for the short sale until the end of the year and if they don't come through, we're going to walk away.  Then move in with Ryan.  He has the house, we have all the furnishing.  Plus we'll help each other out with mortgage/rent.  Win/win situation right?  Well, it sounded great in theory, but after seeing his place yesterday I realized that it wasn't going to work.  The boys were going to be upstairs next to his master bedroom.  Brian and I were going to convert the basement into our bedroom.  But unfortunately, it's an open staircase all the way down with no doors for any privacy whatsoever.  So that was a major bummer for all of us.  Last night as we were going to bed, Brian and I had to lay it all down at the Lord's feet again wondering what the future holds for us.  I wish I could predict the future, but I don't know how long we'll be to make buying a house worthwhile...but then again, I don't know if we'll ever be able to afford anything decent here.  Anyway, I guess we'll just have to wait in faith and see what He has in store for us.

Along the same note, I really miss our house in IA.  I miss the deck, the flat and luscious green grass, the two car garage, the new carpet and especially our awesome shower.  It was a perfect house (for us)!  Simple and just the right size.  Honestly, we were planning on living there for a looong time...the Hoeksemas style.  (This elderly couple that we know who raised five children in the same house and continued to live there even though they're all grown, moved away and married with kids).  Such an awesome example of contentment and how bigger isn't always better.

Fall for Fairfax '13

We went to the Annual Fall for Fairfax again but this year we met up with the Uenumas.  The funniest thing was that we got him a wrist band so he could try out all the rides, but the first thing he did was walked up to one of those advertisement booths for gutter guard with water display.  I guess he wanted to know how it works and then he proceeded to ask if he could "play" with it.  Such a curious mind. 

Ethan's favorite!

So much fun with his new buddy, Bryce

"Twittering" on Blog

Gavin is back to sleeping through the night and sleeping in in the morning again.  No more crying at nap time and bed time.  Thank you Lord!

Discovery of the Week

This past Friday, we had a family bonfire (both kids included).  It was Gavin's first one ever and he kept covering his face and saying, "hot" in a panic.  It was pretty funny.  They had so much fun running around outside in the dark (since I never let them) that I extended bedtime by half an hour.  What a more enjoyable time having it on a flat driveway compared to last year.

Then on Monday we met up with some friends at the Frying Pan Farm and Ethan wanted to go on the carousel...and apparently Gavin too.  Well, it turns out that the day before, when we were at the Clemenjontri Park, he wanted to ride and I didn't know.  So Brian took Ethan while I had him in the stroller.  Oh did he cried.  So this time around, he made sure it was clear that he wasn't going to miss out.  Anyway, you should have seen the excitement on his face as he rode that horse up and down.  It was priceless.