Here's to the teen years...

On May 19th,  Alex turned 13!!  It is really surreal having a teenager.  People (who don't really know her) ask me how it's going having a teenage girl.  They really seem ready for me to tell them how tough it is, but I have the best teenager ever!!  She is so kind, mature, funny, smart, helpful, mothering (to her sisters), encouraging, and giving!  About week two in Emporia, mommy had a meltdown-being sick because of the mold and missing my dear friends, she told daddy, "Go take mom on a ride out in the country.  She needs to get away.  I'll get the kids to bed and you don't have to pay me."  Can you believe that?!  That's just one instance of her kindness towards others!  She really is so dear!!  Happy 13th Sparky!!!  We love you SO MUCH!!  

Her birthday party with her friends!!  I don't know who the off-key singing voice is in the background? :) 

I woke up at 5:30 to use the restroom and I heard giggles coming up from the air vent.   Unbeknownst to me, they had decided to pull an all nighter!!!  Her friends are so sweet, funny, and just all around good girls!!!  So thankful my daughters have wonderful friends!!

GREEN

Our new green rental! Green on the outside AND on the inside

I haven't updated our blog in so long, my computer doesn't even automatically type in our blog address when I go to it.  A lot has happened this summer and I hope to post about past family events over the next month.  This entry is about our new rental.  We sold our home in Lawrence and packed up the family and moved to Emporia.  We were hard pressed to find a rental for a family our size, but with the help of a great realtor, she found 3 houses that we could possibly rent.  We fell in love with the sprawling ranch layout of this home, the half acre lot, and the nice kitchen--complete with stainless steel appliances and granite tile countertops.  The electricity just so happened to be off both times we looked at it, so when Westar finally got the lights on, we found mold.  Upon moving in, we also found that the fridge was taken out by our landlords, undisclosed to us...  That wouldn't have been too bad, but our fridge was 1 inch too big and we had to buy a new one!  

We had wonderful friends and their kids come and help us clean this house from top to bottom.  The carpets were filthy and animals had definitely marked their territory, band-aids clung to the shower, and black "stuff" covered the downstairs toilet.  The kids ran the Rug Doctor and did an awesome job!  They scrubbed walls, mopped floors, cleaned windows, and more.  It was such an incredible blessing! 

After friends came and visited and we had shown people the mold, the sniffles, colds, asthma started in at the Avila house.  Alex and I have been sick for about a month.  We had air samples taken and it was bad.  The landlords are "remediating" it, but our stuff is definitely not being cleaned--only "visible mold" on our stuff will be wiped down and our couch.

This has definitely been a time of trial.  A definitely good learning experience to say the least.  I thought renting would be easy.  :)  This morning during quiet time, I felt that God was wanting to see if I could be a good witness to my kids through this.  Well, I've already failed, but I've asked forgiveness and we've prayed for our landlords.  The way we handle hard situations and difficult people is being watched by 4 influential young kids.  So, we are walking through this inconvenience  one day at a time.  Hopefully, we'll be breathing better soon!  Hopefully Emporia will only get better from here on out!!

Part of our moldy basement

 Our awesome elm tree in our backyard

Donald--AKA Alex

Alex was in the TEACH Drama presentation of "You Can't Take It With You." She practiced for months and the show was a success! It was so funny and my cheeks hurt from smiling so much at my daughter and she performed her first big performance. She played Donald, a poor guy that lives of the government and is quite humorous.

Field Day 2012

This year's Grace Homeschool Field Day was at Dad Perry Park and it was HOT! We had an obstacle course, tug-of-war, potato sack races, water games and more. I felt sick afterwards and we slept well that night!

Haley and Lila

This morning, I was up particularly early getting Alex ready for Exchange City. The other girls had just got up and they started bickering.

Haley: "Lila, you have to be nice to me till May 19th!"
Lila: "No I don't!"
Alex (yelling up from the kitchen): "You're supposed to be nice all the time!"
Haley: "But, Lila can't do that..."

My Christmas Present--Round 2

This is embarrassing to admit, but I love getting gifts from my husband, and sometimes I have something completely different in mind than what he ends up getting me. This Christmas Vince got me some bed sheets, spatulas, and a couple of movies. One of the movies was Jane Eyre, which I loved. Honestly, I wasn't feeling romanced with bed sheets and spatulas... And this is where I feel bad, but I had Vince try again. Round 2 he got me tickets to the KSU/KU basketball game. We went out for sushi before hand and had a really good time. Vince puts up with a lot with having me for a wife :( I love him so much!

What's in my pantry?

This is what I found one morning...