HOME. {for sale}.

So, there's this little two-acre piece of property that holds many many beautiful memories....almost four years of them to be exact....and that is just darling.  A HOME that was bought by a Daddy of two little boys and a Mama who was hugely great with child at the night of purchase; a HOME that saw baby boy #3 brought home into it the very next day; and a HOME that three and a half years later saw this family's first wee bitty baby girl brought into it as well.

And it's a HOME that is now for sale.

And because a few more people read my blog than who have actually walked through my doors, I shall now give you a pictorial virtual tour...just in case you want to buy it from us.

It's a quirky little style of a house, but then again so are we.

We've always liked houses and pieces of property that have character.  So, the salt box piece was a stand alone for awhile, and then the living room and two additional bedrooms got built on years later.

The red door with the star leads into our living room, so we don't use that door as an entry.  We use the one on the far right side of the house that leads into our kitchen, below:

 This is what you see as soon as you walk inside.  I live in my kitchen.  It's where the boys and I are always cooking, there's a little room that holds my washing machine and dryer, it's where we do school ~ and it's just the general area where I do all of my whirling and swirling all throughout the day.

This is the view looking in at the kitchen from the living room:

 And this is the view looking into the living room from the kitchen:

There are two great big windows to the left of the kitchen table, so the room is always really bright and happy, and this is honestly my most favorite room of the house.  It's where LIFE happens.

To the right of my kitchen table, there is this little nook of a space that I have claimed for my own.  It's where I have all of the boys' schooling materials, and it's also where I am sitting right now at this very moment as I type these words...

Below:  Stepping into the living room, this is the view to the right:
We heat our entire home completely with wood - and it is very cozy and happy all winter long.

And below is the view if you were standing in front of the fireplace looking out over the rest of the living room.

That little bit of pink lying on the couch is NOT for sale....although there are moments when she might be...

I never got around to painting that door...
The entire living room used to be that color green.  It was just a wee bit too much for me, so now it's a soft cappucinno color.  I had always planned to paint the door the color of that red lamp shade...but I really really hate to paint...and then the longer I lived here, I just didn't seem to notice it anymore.

Below is our downstairs bathroom that sits just to the left of the couch in the above picture.

This is really the boys' bathroom....and the company bathroom whenever people come over.  In which, I have to give 'er a real clean sweep as there are certain (read: three) little boys whose aim is not always the greatest as they like to play "shooters" and all take aim at the same time.  It's a glorious adventure, I guess...

This is the big boys' bedroom.  It's through the door that you see to the right of the rocking chair in the living room, and it overlooks the garden and has two happy windows.  It also often smells like something died in there when they keep the door closed for too long...and when they make little boy noises and do things that little boys love to do.  It also is never ever tidy, and I have given up trying to make this one room "show ready" for whenever the Realtor calls.  I figure people will have to use their imaginations for this one.  And I also want to let the boys live.  And play.  And create.  Without always and forever making them put every single thing away.  So, for this past showing, an entire popsicle stick village was front and center for all the world to see.  Whateve......

This is the other downstairs bedroom.  For us, it has served as both guest room and whatever child is the youngest in our family at the time....  One window overlooks the garden, and the other overlooks the backyard, fireplace, and chicken coop area.

That's why this is my favorite bedroom...
Garden and chicken coop.  My faves.

And it's also the room that gets the most sun.  If we end up staying here for any amount of time longer, our plan is to move all three boys upstairs, because it's just a huge wide open space; we'll put London in their room, and we will take this room.

Above:  This is the nook of our bedroom on the floor upstairs.
Right now it is serving as London's little space.

And this is the rest of our room...with London's sweet little Moses basket to the left of the bed.  The entire loft is done in pine - people seem to either love it or hate it.  It could easily be painted or whitewashed.  But Kev and I like the simplicity of it...plus, remember I despise painting, so we have kept it this way.  There are also two ginormous "his" and "her" closets and our own bathroom:

Through the sliding glass doors of our living room, you can walk outside to our deck.  The house came with a hot tub, which is rather glorious in the wintertime.  Kev loves it year round, but I like it when it's so cold out that the air freezes my nose hairs.  Then the water feels especially love-o-ly.

 We try to have manners and keep the girls off the porch.  They were just dying to be in the photo shoot.  To the right of the hot tub is a really good sized space to put a patio table and chairs.  This is where we eat virtually all of our meals in the summertime.

We have a detached two car garage directly to the right of the porch, and I started a wee little perennial flower garden on the side of it.  The woods are full of big fun rocks.  This is where we got all of them to make both the rock wall and the fire pit...

 This is where we eat many a chicken sausage and s'more in the summer...and it's where we cook many a cup of camp coffee all year round.

And this is our big backyard.
It's sweet, happy, and always full of life.
There's a big huge garden down the slope to the left that is chock full of veggies.
There's an awesome "neighbor Lew" right across the road."

And it could all be yours if you're interested...

Where I Said Yes.

There is this lovely stretch of beach in Bar Harbor, Maine that holds the dearest of memories for me.  It's the spot where Kev and I spent many a date, it's the spot where he proposed and where I said yes, and it's the spot where we love to bring our little (well...I guess now it's considered more of a "large") family on sunny summer days...or on kind of rainy days if you need to beat it for a house showing...

Really, it's just lovely for whenever..
This is it:
Sand Beach.

He proposed way up on those rocks one rainy day 15 years ago...

On the day of his proposal, it was rainy and he had planned a picnic.  But, we didn't care.  I lived two hours north, and during the year of our engagement, I was working hard at waitressing - trying to pay off my student loans, and he was working hard at saving and at fixing up the tiniest of baby apartments and doing all of our furniture shopping by himself...completely outfitting the place with yard sale treasures.  It was awesome.  Truly.  I was so proud of our first little place...

Anyway, we both had Wednesdays off, so we would take turns.  One week, he would make the drive up to my hometown, and the next week I would make the drive down to him.  And rain or shine, we would always go on some sort of adventure, because we only saw each other that one day a week all the way up until we got married.  Wednesdays were my favorite.  This particular Wednesday when he did the big "ask" was just a regular, random Wednesday like any other.  No special day.  No Holiday.  Just a normal Wednesday.

This is the water behind Sand Beach.  My boys prefer playing here because they can find eels.  Grody.

Back then, he didn't know me as well as he knows me now...so he wasn't aware that surprises aren't really my cup of tea.  I like to know when something big is going to happen.  I like to be prepared.  Little surprises like "Hey, let's have ice cream for supper," or "Hey, want to go on a date tonight?" I love.  But big surprises sometimes throw me for a loop.  I like to know what's coming.

So, on this day - this very random day - when he proposed in song, and when the last line of his chorus was "Will you marry me?"  I thought he was joking, because most certainly he was going to wait until my birthday or maybe Christmas....not just a regular, random Wednesday.  So I laughed and said:  "Sure!"  But, then when he got down on one knee and pulled out the ring, I burst into tears.  I'm awesome like that.  I rarely cry, but when I do, I choose really stellar times to do so.  And it wasn't the "I'm so happy he proposed kind of tears."  It was more like the "I'm panicking because I'm pretty sure you didn't ask my Dad, and that's the way you're supposed to do these things" kind of tears.

In fact, my very first words were:  "Did you ask my Dad?"
How endearing.
And his response was:  "I did.  And he said yes.  What are you going to say?"

So, then I cried harder and said yes.  And then I noticed all of the people walking by and staring at us.  And then I figured they all probably thought we were fighting or something.  So, then I told every. single. person. who walked by that he just asked me to marry him.  And that I really was happy.  Even though I was a snotty mess.

And look at us now.
Fourteen years and four babies later.
Crazy stuff.

But this man.  Oh my goodness.  This man.
How I love him.
He is the joy of my heart, and I would follow him to the Ends of the Earth.
He's also pretty funny.  And I like funny.  So, I shall keep him.

He also really, really loves his babies.
Which makes me really, really love him more.
And I really, really love watching him with his wee baby girl.
Oh.  My goodness.  Precious.

He shaved his mustache, but kept his beard for a few days.
I found him to look very Amish-like, and so I renamed him Joseph Yoder.
Now his beard is thinner and he looks more like a Kevy.

Here's one of those grody eels that Kaden and Jesse caught in that black, mucky water.
Most people come to the ocean...you know....for the ocean.
My boys come for the eels.

But, then we lure them to the ocean before we finally beat it for home.
And once they re-discover it's glory, they always run wild.
I never pack their swimsuits because the water is bone-achingly freezing, and I always figure they will never want to swim...but they always do....so they always just end up going in their regular clothes.  I forget that wee little boys don't care about not feeling their extremities.

Is it awful, that the entire time they played in the waves I was hoping for a big huge one to crash over their heads?  I thought that would be highly hilarious.  Okay.  You're right.  That is awful.  I have a sick sense of humor....  And therein lies the difference between Kevy and I:  the entire time the boys played in the waves, he was on high alert waiting to dive into its watery depths to save them, but I was camera-ready for a funny photo op...

Opposites attract they say.

Wee Missy Miss is a bit of a crabby pants.

If I were to rate my children when they were babies on the "contentment scale," Ransom would win hands-down as being my happiest baby.  That child came home on a schedule, he hardly ever cried, and he was just an all around uber content newborn.  Kaden was fussy his first three months of life but then became content after he got on a bit of a rhythm, and Jesse was a train wreck pretty much his entire first year of life.

So far, Miss London is #2 on the not-so-happy scale.
If she is being held, she is chill.  If she is on her own, she is not.
God knew what He was doing in giving me a happy happy boy-joy for baby #3.  London may have never made her debut.  Lucky for her, I am a much more chill Mama by baby #4, so it doesn't bother me too awfully much.

Good thing she's squishy.  And delishy...

A dead jelly fish find.  Glorious.

And so, our Family Day was glorious.
Sand Beach always brings back super happy memories.
It's where it all began...and it's where the possibility of four wee Hoolies first came to be...

It's my happy place.
So very glad he asked...

Strawberries.

It's been a couple of years since I have gone and picked strawberries for our family.  This is a tradition that I grew up doing with my own Mama and brothers all throughout my growing up years.  We would go early early in the morning, we would pick for hours, and then we would come home and stem all of those berries that same afternoon.  Mom would always make a warm strawberry shortcake for dessert that evening, and we'd all have huge bowls of berries with milk and sugar.  And then, with the rest of all of those beautiful berries, my Mama would take them and make them up into the best ever strawberry freezer jam that we would enjoy all throughout the year....until it was time to do it all over again the next summer.

Hello, beautiful.

Since we've moved home from Pennsylvania, we've picked a summer or two here and there...and we even picked them to sell during one summer.  Oddly enough, that year, I was so pooped from picking them to sell during that entire season, that when it came time to make my own jam, I just drove over to Wal-Mart and bought myself some store berries for my jam.  I was DONE in the field for that year....

My dear auntie Sharon came along for the adventure.

Last year was busy, so I didn't really pick any....and so I told myself that this summer - no matter what - I was getting me some.  And call me crazy, but wee bitty baby and all, I had my sites set on getting me my berries.

When I told my own Mama my plan - taking four kidlets and all to the field - she said:  "You can't take that baby to the field.  What are you thinking?"  To which I replied:  "Well, I haven't given her a bottle before, so I kind of need to take her."  To which she replied:  "Your father and I will drive down tomorrow night.  We will watch the two youngest kids, and I'll help you stem them all when you get back."  To which I replied:  "Thank you, Jesus."

And so that very day, I pumped and introduced London to her very first bottle - fully expecting it be a nightmare, because all three of my boys were less than impressed with their first few introductions to one.  But, this little chunky monkey took it like a champ.  And so, I pumped late at night and early in the morning to have a stash of milk for my Mama...and London had her very first solo time alone without her own Mama yesterday whilst the two largest boys and my Auntie Sharon and I went picking.

And let me tell you this ~ we have picked many a year and at many a place, and the place where we went this year was just a wee bit like going on a scavenger hunt.  You couldn't really see the berries for the weeds.  And I also just might have chosen the hottest day of the summer so far to go a pickin'...but beggars can't be choosers, and so when my Mama said she was comin,' I said we were a goin' no matter what.

And so I promised the boys a buck a box for however many they picked.
And a Dunkin' Donuts Coolatta on the way home.

Behold, 55 boxes of pure joy and bliss.
And very hard worked for, might I also add.
I kind of feel like they should have paid me for all of my hard work....

Do you see any strawberry plants?
Not so much....

Anyhoo, we got 'er done.

And then Part II of the labor began.

After sharing several boxes with several people, we got down to the nitty gritty of washing and stemming all the rest of the boxes.  Grammy rocks like that...  Grampy rocks, too.  He took all of the Hoolies to the grocery store for treats, and then he may or may not have come back and made my most favorite brown sugar fudge for all of us to eat...

London did so well with Grammy while I was gone, and then she gave us the lovliest of long naps in the afternoon so that we could work.  This little Missy Miss is tending to cat nap and be crabby all morning, but I can handle that when she naps for three hours in the afternoon.  The mornings make me crazy sometimes, but the afternoons are cozy.  And sometimes we may or may not take little cozy naps together.  It may or may not have even happened yesterday afternoon for twenty minutes or so whilst Grammy slaved away in the kitchen.  I didn't mean for it to.  It just did.  Geez....

And while it was so. blasted. hot. yesterday, it was still so much fun working together in the kitchen.  And I felt so blessed and cared for by my parents dropping everything and coming down.  We had so much fun together, and the boys loved seeing their Grampy and Grammy.  London got loved on all over, and we all just got our love tanks filled right up to the tippy top brims.

If I didn't have a newborn, I would have started right in on my jam making.  That's my most favorite part of berry-ing, but these days I find I have to do many many things in stages if we all want to maintain our semblances of sanity around here.  So, we washed and stemmed, we saved a few out for eating with milk and sugar, and we bagged the rest up for the freezer.

And some rainy day a few weeks from now, when London is taking a marathon nap - or maybe late at night if she maintains her cat-napping tendencies - I will pull them all out and make enough jam to last us the whole year through.  Peanut butter and jelly are the life-blood of the Booker household - either on toast in the morning or for lunch at noontime.  And there are days, when we might even have it for both....

And just like in the days of my childhood, my Mama whipped up a warm batch of homemade biscuits and whipped cream, and we had ourselves some strawberry shortcake to top off our day....

Blissy....

Lessons Learning.

"No man can live without joy." ~ Thomas Acquinas

 One of my most favorite quotes...

My every day - always and forever - reminder.  And...a gift from Ransom.

And so, these days...when I have never been more tired in my life ~ with a newborn and three active Hoolies, a garden growing, and a house to keep "show ready" for whenever the Realtor calls...

I have also never been more full...
Or more thankful, really.

Little boy adventures in which Mama gets to tag along.

I think I am learning the secret of contentment.
Learning....I have not yet fully learned....
But, I am growing...

Naps in the woods.  Love-o-ly.

Joy and fullness are not found in things...
And they don't happen with possessions accumulating.
Contentment doesn't come from closed fist gripping...or from an unwillingness to step out in faith.

I know these things to be true.

Camp coffee.  Over a game of Cribbage - in which I win - even better.

Joy comes from letting go...
And from holding loosely.

Summer at its finest.

It comes from actively choosing to find sacred amidst much chaos.
And from putting trust and faith in the Only One who knows the end of the story, anyway...

"milk drunk."  One of my favorite things.

And it often comes when we find ourselves to be at the end of ourselves....when we feel completely out of control....or when relationships seem to be imploding - or exploding, for that matter...  It comes when something is too big and too crazy to be able to handle on our own....and so we just give it over....and give it up...to the One who is in control...

Camp coffee with a hint of "smoke."  Even better.

I'm seeing this lived out in grand scale version with family and friends who are walking deep valleys right now.  And I'm learning this in my own life -- with my "small scale" versions of not being in control.

And I am finding that it's actually an okay place to be.

One of my five greatest gifts and sources of joy.  Right here.

It's not so scary to not know what the future holds....when we know Who holds the future.
It's not as hard to not feel great physically...when we know the Great Physician.
And it doesn't hurt so much when loved ones walk away...when we know Who they ultimately belong to.

Two more of them.

And, at least for me anyway - if I can keep the perspective that this world is not my home...
And we are truly just passing through...
If I can remember that God is in control...
And that He is God...and I am not...

And the last two.  Right here.

Then, I can find so much joy in the journey....
And life becomes an adventure.

Making roads and tunnels.  Playing "carths" with Daddy.  His most favorite thing.

 I remember "why" I am here in the first place...
My idea of "perfection" flies out the window....and I am entirely okay with that.
When things don't go down the way I think they should....I find it easier to let them go.
When people hurt us or throw things in our face...we can show grace and love.
And with proper perspective, people...not things....will take pre-eminence.

Fishing.  Kaden's most favorite thing.

When loved ones die - we know we will see them again.
Or when they walk away -- we can trust the One who knows the story's End.
When we struggle down here - with sickness or pain -- we know that one day that will all pass away.
When we let go of things and of "stuff" -- we know that so much more waits for us one day.

"And we can mount up with wings like eagles....We can run and not grow weary.  We can walk and not be faint...Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength."

A promise we can cling to.
A promise we can claim.