I have no idea how to title this one.

I've gotten a bit behind.. or too far ahead of myself.. can't decide which. So, I'm backtracking to this past weekend. But first, I'm backtracking 2 years. Confused already? Okay, I'll try my best now to straighten it all out. Here we go..

Originally this past weekend we were supposed to all go back to our home town to get the rest of our stuff out of our old house which is in the process of foreclosure. I know I haven't mentioned anything about it (mostly out of embarrassment), so to quickly fill you all in.. about 2 years ago we moved back to our small home town in order to have more help with the boys so we could focus on working on some issues we were having in our marriage. We had just rented a house from a friend, and before we even finished unpacking, she decided she wanted to sell it. Because of our lease agreement, we could have stayed a year and then moved out, but that meant that prospective buyers would be tromping through it our entire stay. When her Realtor came through and started taking pictures and asking me questions, I finally just couldn't take it anymore and eventually we ended up buying the house. I feel like we were pushed into a difficult position, but I can't blame my friend because it was our choice to buy it. Honestly though, we weren't ready. Had we known she was going to put it up for sale so quickly, we wouldn't have rented it to begin with. When we signed the lease, she told us we could rent for one year, then decide to buy it or continue renting. We can't help but feel a bit mis-lead. I don't think it was originally her intention to sell so fast, but she ended up finding a place she wanted to buy, and so obviously needed to sell our place first. Anyway..

For the next year and a half, J commuted to Columbus 2 hours each way. That was around the time that gas rockets began skyrocketing and he had to end up taking a 2nd job in the evenings just to pay for the gas to drive back and forth to work. I had the boys from the time they got up to the time they went to bed. He did not see them all week and occasionally started staying at my sister and my brother-in-law's house (who lived in between the two places) to save money. J became a grumpy zombie and I felt like a single mom. And although our entire purpose of moving back was to try to save our marriage, it ended up growing worse because of the distance and exhaustion.

Also around this time the house started falling apart.. at one point the plumbing was so bad that none of the sinks worked, the shower came crashing down out of the ceiling, we had to shut the hot water off because the knobs on the bathtub broke and were shooting out water everywhere on the hot water side. For months I was doing the dishes in the bathtub in cold water and taking myself and the boys to my mom's for baths. We didn't have the money to get any of it fixed and I was on the verge of having a complete breakdown. Our marriage was suffering, J couldn't handle the 4 hour a day commute anymore, and we were getting way behind on our mortgage because of several unexpected medical issues that came up.

During the course of that year, our littlest one, E smashed his head open on the coffee table and we had to call 911; I got two concussions (both from E) and was in bed for weeks with crippling migraines; I fell down the stairs and hurt my tailbone to the point of not being able to walk for a week. Also, right before we moved back, J was in a bad car accident and broke his collarbone. The accident ended up going to court, which we are still waiting to be compensated for, so we had to take on those medical bills as well, along with chiropractor visits several times a week. Without having any insurance and J having to take so much time off work during all those accidents, the bills started to add up and we could barely keep up with our mortgage.

Finally we moved back to Columbus out of desperation. My mom and a friend of hers starting working on trying to get all the plumbing fixed so we could list the house. 2 days after they finished everything, we got a letter in the mail saying we were being taken to court for our house. The bank had given us several months, but it was not enough time for us to try to sell it. So, now.. like thousands of others, we are going through a foreclosure. I really hesitated to write about this.. but I have felt that I have been holding part of my life back from everyone. Life isn't all happy smiles and fun. It's difficult at times. We all have our burdens and our struggles, and this ours right now. Thankfully our faith has helped us to endure all of these trials and we are extremely blessed that J has two good jobs and that we have a roof over our heads. Thinking back to it all now just amazes me. I can't believe all that happened in such a short period of time and yet, we made it through. We're still barely hanging on by a thread at times.. but I believe that God will continue to strengthen us as a family and continue restore hope and healing in our lives. Some things just take time.. and we are still learning the importance of patience, sacrifice, and forgiveness.

So, fast forward now to this past weekend..

We were planning on trying to get our China cabinet and several things out of the garage and move them here, but then as an answered prayer from God, a friend of my mom's offered to move it for us next weekend, so we decided to wait and save ourselves the money we would of had to come up with for a U-haul. The problem was, we already had made plans for our oldest (who is on Spring break now) to stay with my mom for the weekend and go with her to school to visit his old classroom and school friends (she was his teacher until we moved and he changed schools). So, J ended up driving him there anyway and got a few things from the house that he could fit into the car while there. So.. with two of the boys gone for the afternoon, E and I spent Saturday alone together gathering and collecting materials for our (drum roll please..) Montessori activity center! Yay!

Yes, we (as a family) have FINALLY made the decision to start homeschooling!!! :)

Soooo.. I have some fun photos coming soon of the activities we have just started working on. Our oldest still has two more months of kindergarten left, but I have decided to go ahead and start working with E on some basic Montessori projects. I am very excited, but also a bit overwhelmed, so I am really going to need lots of support along the way. I am so thankful and grateful for all of the new friendships I have already formed on here. I feel so blessed to have met so many amazing and unique people. I am so happy that you will be coming along with us as we begin to embark on this new journey! :)

Love and blessings to you all,

Erin

P.S. After all of that confessing and writing I'm too tired to re-read this before posting, so I apologize for any run-on sentences or mis-spelled words.