Tree Update!

I know you are thinking to yourself..."how many posts can this girl write on this tree?!" 

Do not challenge me!

I found this picture on my phone of the fallen branch. Sorry for the poor quality, it was really dark and stormy plus the camera on my phone isn't great.

June 15, 2011 around 6:30am

and now we have a new tree! 

It is called a Marmo. I am really excited about it. I google imaged it and it will have beautiful red leaves in the fall. I am excited to watch it grow. Wow, that makes me sound so old!

I do not promise this will be my last post about our little tree! 

As a matter a fact I am almost certain it will not be.

And here is a photo of our new yard addition and our road yesterday after the tornado warnings (actually the sirens were going off as I was taking this photo but we were headed to the basement!)

Matthew Corrigan's 4th Birthday

Sunday was a very special day for us! Not only did we celebrate the resurrection of our Savior but it was also Matthew's 4th birthday! Exactly one year ago on his 3rd birthday we closed on our home and everyone asked how we were going to top the gift of a home. It actually wasn't that hard once I realized his birthday fell on Easter. To be completely honest his birthday last year was a side note to the excitement we had for the new house. This is the only photo I have of Matthew from his 3rd birthday. bad mom.

 So this year I made up for the lack of birthday celebrating and took plenty of pictures!
When he first woke up he was greeted with this excitement on the dining room table.

The best part about this picture is the fact that all of the gifts came from Goodwill, garage sales, Dollar Tree or uber marked down at TJ Max or Target. He loved everything and could not stop thanking us for his birthday! Here is a close up of his Dollar Tree Easter basket. I think the total for the basket contents was a little under $12 and the basket was from a previous Easter. Score!

You may want to know what a 4-year-old eats on his Easter birthday. Cinnamon rolls of course!

Next it was time to get super clean for church. 

Unfortunately, Patrick was called into work about an hour before we left for church. :( However, church was wonderful! My dad and step mom joined Matthew and I. It was a great service with great music. It was wonderful having my dad and Barbie at church with us too. After church we headed to my Aunt Ann's. There is always way to much food, a CRAZY Easter egg hunt and this year we added presents and cake for Matthew. The egg hunt consists of 40 eggs/child in a huge yard with tons of trees and places to hide unseen eggs. We actually found a few eggs from last year, GROSS! Matthew was on cloud 9 the whole time.

We quickly left Aunt Ann's to head over to another Easter/birthday celebration at Grandpa & Grandma Swisher's. Everyone there had been patiently waiting for our arrival and Patrick was able to meet us there. We ate brownie's and ice cream and opened more presents. 

We ended the day with a homemade pepperoni pizza, especially for Matthew!

I can confidently say Matthew's 4th birthday far outdid his 3rd!

Out-n-About

A few months ago I posted about the tree in our front yard that had a huge branch fall off of it. The city had to come out and remove the branch that was blocking the street and traffic at 6:30 am. 

Before (October 2011)

Now

The city said they would be back this spring to plant a new tree for us! Since I was already taking photos outside I decided to snap a few more photos to show what we have been up to.

We have been cleaning up the north side of our house where the previous owner had already planted some beautiful plants, but since we were so busy last spring with stuff inside we let the weeds take over.

We also left an old fence lean against our house which caused mildew to grow up our siding. Yuck! We have been cleaning that up. It really isn't that hard we are just slow getting to it. 

Here are some photos of items we have collected in the backyard from the previous owner. I am actually quite excited about all of it. I cannot wait to start putting it all back, once I have figured out our landscaping. It will save a ton of money using the things that were already here.

I also took a photo of our house last October that wasn't the best lighting so here is a snapshot of our home in a little better lighting. I love it! 

October 2011

April 2012

I almost forgot about this awesome project! I grabbed this from the garage sale we had for the mission trip I took last summer. It was originally a wooden table with a glass top. I took the glass out, spray painted it white, put soil in it, planted some bulbs and I am excited for them to start blooming. I love it! I wish I had another one to place on the other side of our sitting area.

 And finally my sweet boy! He is going to be 4 years old on Sunday, Easter! It will also be a full year since we have had the keys to this blessing of a home. (do not mind the shop-vac in the back round...)

Sneak peak of another Krazy Kirby entry. Our dining room wall art! Have a great week!

An Impulsive Post (just like my son!)

I haven't been keeping up on my blogging, sorry! I wish I could tell you it is because we haven't done anything blog worthy but that just is not true. It is just when the opportunity comes up to blog about something I would rather be doing something else than sitting in front of the computer. Each entry takes days for me to finally publish, and committing to something for days is not something I am good at.

We have been doing a lot of work in our yard, hung some wall decor in our dining room, painted our kitchen door with chalkboard paint and a few other projects, but house updates isn't the topic for this entry.

This entry is about motherhood.

I love love love my job as Matthew's mom. I wouldn't take it back for anything. I love it so much we have discussed adding another Kirby to the household! However, this is not a birth announcement nor is it about how awesome my almost 4-year-old is (but he is!).

It's not always fun being a mom.

When I went to pick Matthew up from preschool today the teacher was waiting for me at the door. Normally the head of preschool is there letting each child go to their designated parent/vehicle. I instantly said  "uh oh" which his teacher replied with "ummm...yeah...we had a hard time with Matthew today..." My heart instantly sank in my chest. I have been here before. Earlier in the year when I went to pick Matthew up, the head of preschool told me his teacher would be calling later to discuss Matthew's behavior that day. I hate the feeling that comes over me. I feel like I have failed. Like they are looking at me like I don't know what I am doing and obviously there must be some sort of abuse or neglect at home. Today, his teacher proceeded to tell me, out of nowhere Matthew had went over and knocked over blocks that another kid was playing with. Yes, it seems small, but her point was they have noticed many impulsive, unkind behaviors recently. I know she was only telling me to make me aware of the situation and possibly work on these immature behaviors at home.  The problem is, we do work on them. I see them happen during Sunday school, Bible Study Fellowship and play dates with friends. I do correct the behavior as soon as I see it happen, but I cannot do anything about it when he is out of my care. I am just frustrated. I feel like I have noticed a lot of impulsive, aggressive behavior from him lately and I do not know what to do about it. I am not one of those parents that does not follow through on my threats with Matthew and I know I have more sever punishments than most parents. Then on the other hand I am almost certain Matthew will grow out of it. I feel like right now he is testing the grounds. What can he get away with and what can he not get away with? Isn't that normal?

There is a verse in the Bible that I have been meaning to put up somewhere in Matthew's room. "Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right, 'Honor your father and mother'-- which is the first commandment with a promise-- 'so that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.'" I want so much for Matthew to honor Patrick and I in many ways but one way specifically by respecting and loving others. I also want him to enjoy his life here on earth.

Do any moms out there have any suggestions for our current situation? Any ideas on how we can work on respecting, being kind to others and thinking before doing?

a piece of my heart

This is going to be a little bit of a change from the regular "stuff" I choose to write about.
I am currently doing a study on the book of James, not the apostle, Jesus' younger half brother. It is a Beth Moore study whom I absolutely adore and  cannot begin to describe how much I learn from her. In the last two months I have probably learned more about the Bible than maybe my entire life. I am not sure what the motivation is, but I am loving this time of learning in my life.

Well, I was enjoying it.

The book of James is tough to swallow! You can turn to it right between Hebrews and 1 Peter, don't miss it though.You can easily skip over this five chapter book. It is chalk full of hard lessons if you are really looking. Of course, just skimming it, it seems pretty common sense and an easy book to read in about 15 minutes (or less) and then not think about it for the rest of the day. Which I have tried doing, trust me! There are several lessons to take from James. In the first chapter James tells us:

Consider it pure joy, my brother, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish it work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.

James 1:2-5

When tempted, no one should say, 'God is tempting me.' For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.

James 1:13-15

My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.

James 1:19-20

There are many more lessons throughout the book of James, believe it or not there are more in the first chapter. Which brings me to the reason I am writing. Towards the end of chapter one of James under the heading Listening and Doing it reads:

Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks in the mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it--he will be blessed in what he does.

James 1:22-25

This verse almost brought me to my knees while in bible study today. How often do I "look intently into the perfect law that gives freedom?" Intently, never. How often do I leave the sermon on Sunday morning and not think of the message again? Too many times to count. How often do I do what I have heard? Do I have to answer this?! 

I am " the man who looks in the mirror and, after looking at himself, 

goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like." 

I hardly want to open the book of James again. It is so painful to see the truth of what I am. 

Praise God for his precious son, our Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ. 

The first chapter of James ends with this sentence: "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."  James 1:27

I am only in the third week of the study of James, and this last week of study was tough for me. There were several times I just didn't understand what Beth or the Bible were trying to say. That scares me. To me that means I don't have the knowledge or wisdom to comprehend something new. On one hand that is okay, I know we are all a work in progress. On the other, it just tells me how much more growing (seeing more of that man in the mirror than I want to)I have to do. 

My prayer is that I will not be polluted by the world. That I may be set apart for you Lord. I ask that I may grow in wisdom to the one who gives generously to all without finding fault. Help me to find ways that I can look after orphans and widows in their distress. Thank you for opening me eyes to the man in the mirror, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. I want to look intently into the perfect law that gives freedom. In your sons precious name, Amen. 

"...humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you."

The last two weeks...

Hello!
I  have some very exciting kitchen demo but a little bit of news before the kitchen update.
Matthew has been really sick for the last week. He has never been sick this long and it is really starting to take a toll on this momma. At first, I was enjoying staying home with my sick little boy. I loved being able to cuddle with him and wait on him but I am over it! I am tired of cancelling on people, wiping a VERY snotty nose, taking his temperature and seeing a number above 100, waking up numerous times throughout the night, and listening to a very pitiful, whinny little boy.

I hope we are over this soon and that Patrick and/or myself do not catch it.
Onto the kitchen.

In previous photos it looked like this.

The GROSS tile!

Removing the cabinet above the sink.

Removing tile!

 No more tile! I do not think it looks any worse than when the tile was up!

 The old adhesive, that held the tile up, smelled so bad I had to light a candle. GROSS!

 Removing the electric stove and getting ready to put in our gas stove we bought last May!

 Removing more tile...

 The lovely tile under the already horrible carpet we have in our kitchen. 

 Yay, for the new stove!

 We are going to need to figure something out about this little hiccup. We quickly learned we can only open our oven door halfway because it catches on the knob of the cabinet beside the stove. For now we have just taken the door off and are open to suggestions as to how to fix this little inconvenience. 

I cannot wait to install new counter tops, back splash and paint the kitchen cabinets. And then someday have new kitchen floors. For now I will just salivate over pinterest kitchens!

I hope you are having a great week!