there's probably a dead body in there

Our house has a crawl space under the den (which is behind the garage). It's been boarded up by the previous owner. Not sealed, like to keep rodents out or anything, but boarded up with wood and nails.

We've never looked in there.

The previous owners were initially a family, but after the kids left home the parents divorced. According to the neighbour, the wife quickly remained and moved away, never saw her again. So it was just the husband that was in the house, for years and years (which explains why the place is sound functionally, but terribly outdated aesthetically).

 So, back to the crawl space.

 Why is it boarded up like that?

Tom was convinced the wife was actually in there, but we've never had the guts to check. That is, until the other night. We thought we'd be smart about it, and pry back the wood just far enough to stick a camera inside so we can get a view without having to remove the entire thing.

This is what we saw on the camera display.

What do you see?

my blog is broken

Bah, I can't format!It's driving me nuts. I add spaces and lines between paragraphs (like here, here, and here) and it all comes out in one big block. Boo. It must be all the dust.

the social hangover

There's a phenomena that occurs in our family after traveling. We call it a social hangover. From what I've observed, in the history of us, is that it's the fallout from social overdrive. The intensity of living with others, continual visiting, frequent embraces, intimate conversations, good meals, and great company. The laughter, the tears, the connection with others.

Then you arrive back home.

And there is silence. There are menial tasks to complete. And there is life to get into the swing of. And it feels like swimming against a current. The social hangover is a pit in your stomach, reminding you that they who are there are not here. And they who are there will be older when you see them again. Which reminds you that you will be too. And you will have missed all that had happened in between. The details of life, outcomes of prayer requests, and decisions to be made... You probably won't hear the outcomes.

In the healing from the hangover there is minimal conversation. Silence allows for digestion and reflection. And this hush collides with friends excited about your return... But that pit in your stomach only grows because you realize you missed the details of life happening here while you were there. And with so many places you call home you realize you are always missing somewhere. Friends want to swing by, have coffee, hear how you've been. But you have this social hangover and just need to rest. Your heart hurts and in a twist of logic, you don't want to connect to anyone right now. So you fill your time. Paint a room. And slowly get back into the swing of life in where ever you happen to be.

someone bought my chair!

We arrived home last night, around quarter to one.
No food in the house, and that is no fun.
To the store we went and loaded the cart. 
Then something happened, that near stopped my heart.
Have you ever visited items you want to own, but don't?
You know, those items you mean to buy, but won't.
I came around the corner to visit my chair.
But my chair, oh my chair, was no longer there.
How silly one must feel with my chair in their room. 
How long will it take them, to realize the doom?
So at the empty spot, I stand and I stare
Seriously, someone bought my chair?

i kind of just want to be home

The past week we've been in Montreal. The week before, we were in Colombia. Tomorrow I need to book passes to a missions conference in Kentucky, and I just checked my email for an update on a potential work trip to Africa in November. We haven't been home in two and a half weeks. We won't be home for another week. I love what we do. There isn't anything else I'd rather be doing. When you feel called into something... There simply isn't anything else even worth considering doing. And because we feel so compelled to do what we do, we are so grateful we get to do it. And what we do requires travel, which is great, because I love to travel. But sometimes, oh sometimes, I kind of just want to be home.

Go fly a kite!

Jonathan's second favorite pastime these days.

Second, because nothing is ever better than trains.

---> Awesome pictures that I can't get to load properly would go here <--- nbsp="" p="">
Ps this isn't actually tom. 

it's so dusty in here!

Blogtober will probably be failtober, but let's see if we can get some gears grinding in the mean time. Happy blogging :)

Christmas Carols

give a boy a camera....

And this is the series of 148 pictures that he takes!

FYI

Continually adding to The Lists, for anyone interested ;)

Mr Matthew (one month)

a toddler's prayer

Potty learning has begun in the Scatliff house. We've been averaging about one pee in the potty a day for at least a week now and Jonathan is sort of starting to figure things out. Although a faaaaaaaar cry from being trained, we are at least heading in that direction. Or at least we are this week. 

Tonight he was getting disappointed as he sat on his pot before bath time. He really wanted to go and just kept asking for a few more minutes. We had read stories, counted, sang the alphabet... So I asked him if he wanted to ask God to help him pee on the potty. He thought that was a brilliant idea and this is what he prayed:

Dear God. Please help JayJay peepee on the potty. And thank you for mommy and thank you  for daddy. And for Daddy's coffee... The coffee with the chocolate sprinkles on top. 

Ha!

One Month

the lists

Back by popular demand, The Lists for the upcoming holidays...


What Jonathan would love:

• Puzzles. This kid rocks at puzzles! He's doing 16 piece floor puzzles on his own and can even handle up to 42 piece puzzles with a bit of guidance. 
• These types of felt puzzles are super cool for the diaper bag and would be great for a crafty looking for a DIY gift!
• Books. Especially learning and interactive books (counting, colours, eye-spy, find-the-whatevers, lift-the-flap, etc). I know he'd love something like this (this kid lives for Thomas stuff) and I'd love that it's compact and portable for traveling :) 
• A train set expansion pack (especially if it included a turntable!) would make his year. This kid lives for trains and making tracks. The expansion kit does not need to be name brand, just Brio compatible. A set like this would thriiiiiiill him. I'd check Ebay, Kijiji and the like for good deals. He'd also be ecstatic to receive a Tidmouth Sheds (round house train shed), or the train characters Annie and Clarabel or Bash, Dash and Ferdinand, however these trains are quite expensive, so pre-loved is definitely the way to go. 
• Like most 2 year olds, stickers are fascinating. These reusable sticker books by the fabulous Melissa and Doug would be a great gift. 
• Clothes. Who doesn't need clothes? Jay currently fits 2T quite well, but will be into 3T soon enough. 
• A more personal and very fun gift from a Manitoban family member would be a 'coupon' to a morning of fun with them at the Children's Museum at the Forks. We visited the museum with him last July and he loved it. I can only imagine how much more enjoyable it will be during the winter months in Manitoba and what a great bonding experience it would be for someone wanting to spend some time with him while we are in town :) 

What Matthew could use:

• Clothes! Yes, he has an older brother so he does have access to hand-me-downs... But it just so happens that his brother was born at the exact opposite side of the calendar year. So when his brother was 4 months he was sporting itty bitty baby shorts in June... Whereas Matthew will be 4 months in February... Living in Winnipeg... See the problem? 
• On the same train of thought... This kid needs a size 6 months snow suit for the carseat (non-puffy and good for under a car seat cover). I've heard great reviews about this one from MEC. 
• A thermometer. We totally need a new baby/infant thermometer (not picky on what kind or anything) 

A few things Tom would love:

• Teensy 3.0. If you're techie, you'd probably know what this means. Thankfully (for the rest of us) he gave me this link to a store in Winnipeg that sells them for $31. Good luck. 
• He says he'd also be thrilled with this external hard drive from BestBuy
• He thought these steak thermometers for the BBQ were super cool. (A set of 4, perhaps?)
• Windows 8 This is something I'd ask Uncle Ray about purchasing ;) 
• Clothes. Lord willing this guy will continue to have meetings with pastors, be in front of congregations, and speaking at churches... Nice sweaters and dress shirts are always a great choice. He usually has great luck for fit at Mark's Work Wearhouse. I know he'd like something like this in beige or this one in dark grey 

A few things I'd love:

• Starbucks gift card (my personal treat!)
• Honey Bee tea from David's tea (pretty much anything from David's tea is awesome, but I tried this particular tea at a friend's house and it's just lovely!)
• Gizmos for he kitchen: A funnel (I kid you not!), a meatloaf pan with removable drip tray (seriously, I'm not kidding!), I'm also in desperate need of a new baking set (cookie tray, muffin pan, etc). I'd also really like these appetizer plates from Epicure 
• Clothes. I'm in dire need of clothes too! A gift cert to Thyme would be awesome to put towards a few new nursing tops :)
• New boots! I LOVE my brown fun (not winter) boots, but they are done. So done the shoe repair guy told me to not bother, but buy new ones. And I'd love some new ones! Grey or brown, size 8, minimal heel (I'm tall enough already). A gift cert would work really well for this... Or a surprise :) 
• Baby wearing insert for my winter jacket! A gift for both Matthew and I!  These are super awesome, but expensive - Anyone have sewing skills? I'm sure I can find a DIY for us ;)

• 
  

Gosh I love him!

Introducing....

Matthew Adrian Scatliff!!!

Arrived at 8:15am :) A beautiful redeeming birth. The woman's body is incredible.

Happy Due Date

fall family photo shoot

Received a sneak peak today from our fall family photo shoot!! It's just a low-quality place taker for now... More to come soon!! Very excited for them :)

frugal on a friday

It ain't a secret that I'm cheap. Or, ermmm....  Frugal, I should say. Paying retail for just about anything drives me nuts, as I know there are so many ways around it.  My goal is usually 50% retail, but I still get a kick out of anything less than 75%. My latest endeavor? Arbonne.

I told ya I went to an Arbonne party last week and thought there stuff was just amazing. I'm in dire need of new makeup (teenager-ish pink sparkles from Le Bodyshop probably shouldn't be my look for much longer) but Arbonne prices are just nuts. Plus, the consultant at the party last week didn't have much of the cosmetic line and I was simply unwilling to invest in guess-from-a-catalogue decisions. So I went home on a mission: To get the stuff, but at a better price and try the colour-specific items before committing. And with how often I wear makeup (maaaaaybe once a week) this will last like a decade.

Well, well, well... Wadddaknow? Within a few day I found a lady on Kijiji that was selling off her Arbonne products at liquidation prices because she was no longer a consultant. Snagged me some full, unopened, unused items at 45% of retail. Not bad, eh? But I still had the colour-specific stuff to grab (example: grabbed a mascara at 45% retail, but unwilling to risk picking the wrong foundation)... So I put out an ad for an Arbonne consultant with the full make-up kit and knowledge to contact me if she was willing to come over an evening this week to do a one-on-one. I said straight up I wasn't interested in hosting a party or becoming a consultant or whatever... I just need your cosmetic kit and your skills to come to my kitchen, sit with a cup of tea and teach me how to put what where. And be okay with me only buying a few items.

The number of responses was overwhelming!

So tonight I sat with a wonderful mother of 8, who was also totally up for missing bed-time duty, had a cup of tea and learned how to put on my face like a big girl. There were sales and discount and a free item (there usually are, right?) and I snagged my colour-specific stuff at 70% retail.

Booya!

Why the midwives?

When we found our we were expecting this time around, I shuttered at the thought of an OB/GYN. I dreamed of having a midwife, but they are few and far between and hard to get in with. Thankfully we found out about this pregnancy FREAKISHLY early and were able to snag a spot at the awesome community health Birthing Center just a few minutes up the road from us. Booya!

So far my experience with my midwife has been nothing less than awesome. She's caring, thoughtful, and is very much into empowerment of women to do what they were designed to do. Verbal informed consent is obtained before they do anything.  And it's down-right awesome that someone answers their pager at 5:14am with a voice of concern, not annoyance. A far cry from the 'don't ask me any questions' OB we had last time.

As we approach labour and birth, I'm excited. I feel empowered and that we've done all we can do give a natural, normal birth the fairest chance possible. I want to 'own it' this time. No interventions, no scheduling, no pitocin... I want labour to start as it naturally should and progress from there on its own.  I know things may not pan out as I plan, but at the very least, its got the best shot possible for happening and for that I am truly thankful.