Kaiser Kids and Kompany: July 2013

Are you kidding me? Whoever penned that song was not a girl named WYNTER or were they talking about a summer with kids! Or just life in general. Every June I complain that we have NOTHING going on this summer, only to realize at the end of July that I have almost no free days until September. Somehow tumbling classes, swimming lessons, vacation bible school, out of town trips or last minute visiting friends seem to endlessly pop up on my calendar. And as a HATER of heat, I seem to jump frantically from opening and shutting windows to keep my AC-free home as cool as possible and driving my AC car to every pool, beach or AC restaurant in the tri-county area for 2 months straight. Every day of summer I look more and more forward to the cooler weather of fall and the return predictable schedules that keep me sane.
But, here we are, July 31st and right in the middle of those dog days and I cannot wait for them to be over! Jonathan has been at his new job for a few months, I have terrific friends, we've found a wonderful church and we've been able to do a bunch of great things to our home, yard and life. And yet, something is still off. I'm hoping that fall will fix that, though. Chloe will go off to kindergarten, which will give Adaya a few hours each day to get some good Mommy and Liam time. Perhaps I can even homeschool a little with her. Both of them will be in ballet classes once a week, mom's group will start back up again and perhaps we can even get plugged into a lifegroup at our new church.
But can a fix in the weather fix the storms in a life? Can a calendar season really change a season of life? I'm not sure about that. We've had a hell of a year with our old church disassembling, friends moving away, friends marriages falling apart, family disease diagnosis, struggles with unemployment and the death of my favorite uncle. And yet, God is still good. We've been so blessed financially, Jonathan got a job, we've found this new great church, Chloe will be going to a great school in the fall and Jonathan tested negative for Huntingtons Disease! We got a new puppy, paid off a bunch of bills, bought a boat and a bunch of other material things. And yet, my husband is in a funk. The new job is almost worse than the last or worse than being unemployed. He has few friends and it's been tough to break into a regular guy's group, even at our new church.
Yup. Life is just not easy. Winter, spring, summer or even fall. But I am thankful for God's ever-present grace and perfect peace. It is our one constant thing. When things are high or low, it always remains and sometimes in larger portions when we need it more. I am confidant in that and I pray my dear, sweet husband will be too. I love you, baby.

Now, since I haven't exactly given a specific update...here is just a small, pictoral view into our lives the past 4 months.