Ben's Little Temper Tantrum

Ben, Patience and I made a haul to Lowe's in Ft. Smith last week.  And it really was a haul.  Remember, Ben is a contractor, so that basically means we never go to Lowe's without the Dodge dually one-ton, the 25-foot flatbed trailer, his Lowe's business credit card (if he uses it he gets a 5% discount - woohoo, thanks, Lowe's), at least 4 hours to spare, and snacks and drinks. 

Yes, we actually take granola bars and bottled water into Lowe's with us.  There are many reasons for this:

1) We are sort of like nerdy home-school-type people, and that's what they do, although I don't go so far as to actually pack sandwiches.  But I've thought about it.  I just can't bring myself to do it.  Its what my mom used to do when I was growing up as a nerdy homeschooling/missionary kid.  We're a little cooler than that.  We just go to Chick-Fil-A. 

2) I'm not going to buy bottled water at Lowe's because I think they want me to.  They keep the thermostat set at like 85 degrees, and when I'm there for 4 hours hauling my pregnant self around on their concrete floors and my feet are swelling and I'm sweating a lot, yeah, I want a bottle of water.  But I'm not going to buy it from them.  They should have complimentary drinks because it isn't my fault they won't turn on the air conditioner.  And we never spend less than $1500 there.  If they won't give me water, I'll bring my own.  But to be fair, it isn't Lowe's fault that my feet swelled.  They didn't make me wear flip-flops.  That was my own bad decision.  I should've worn tennis shoes.  But they should still offer complimentary beverages.

Okay, that's only two reasons.  I thought there were more.

Anyway, we went into Lowe's and got started on Ben's three-page list.  Tile, grout, electrical stuff, kitchen cabinets, doors,lumber.  There was more, but I can't remember.  It was a lot.  Always is.

That reminds me.  Why do people go to Lowe's for like, one little item?  One time I was in Ft. Smith and Ben called, wanting me to go to Lowe's for a bunch of stuff I could actually fit in my car, like welding wire, light fixtures, and a bunch of other random stuff.  I ended up in line behind a cute little old lady who was buying...get this...one can of paint thinner.  Really?  Why?  Just get your paint thinner at Wal-Mart and clear the lines at Lowe's for people like me who have forty-nine carts piled with stuff we can't get at Wal-Mart.  I know I sound hateful, but it took her a really long time to write her check and I was very hot and thirsty and I had forgotten to bring in my bottled water.  I was looking at the water in the coolers at the register, waiting for the nice little lady to pay for her paint thinner, sweating, and refusing to buy water.  And I hadn't wanted to go in the first place, but I'm a good wife and I always help my husband.  It was just a bad combination of things that put me in a bad mood.  Now I feel bad.  The lady can buy her paint thinner at Lowe's if she wants.

But back to last week's trip.  It was Ben's last chance to get everything he needed before serious crunch time to finish the remodel he was working on, so we had to be sure to get EVERYTHING.  Remember, we live an hour and a half from anywhere.  It had to get done.  And it was already nearly five o'clock when we got there.  Also, the poor guy had logged 80 hours in 6 days the week before.  He was tired.  He cannot be blamed for his behavior.

It was a good thing I went with him.  First I recommended we go to the cabinet section and have them start pulling the kitchen cabinets we wanted and taking them to the front.  That didn't go over well with Ben, because cabinets were on page three of his list and we were still on page one.

Let me explain.  Well, how does one explain Ben?  He is...meticulous.  Controlled.  Gentlemanly.  He rarely gets angry or raises his voice.  And he follows his lists carefully.  He doesn't often think outside the box unless he's building a car or a boat or a four-wheeler or a cabin, and then he thinks in wildly creative boxes that I didn't even know existed.  He's sort of a paradox.  But that night at Lowe's he was in a box called Go-Down-The-List-One-Item-At-A-Time.  He was having trouble deviating from that.  My reasoning for wanting to skip to page three (gasp!) was a very good one. 

Another explanation is in order.  When you purchase a large item at Lowe's, one that they have to use the fork lift to take to the front, it takes at least two hours.  I don't understand this.  We've been through it many times, purchasing appliances, cabinets, vanities, etc. The Lowe's employees get very excited and there's usually a lot of running around in their little vests waving their little orange flags in front of the beeping fork lift driven by someone who is also very excited and harnessed up to a lot of safety gear even though he's only two feet from the ground.  There's a lot of chaining off of aisles, more waving of flags, and somehow this process takes two hours.  I always want to tell them to just let Ben do it.  He's get it done in five minutes flat.  There could be death and injuries involved, but by golly it would get done fast and with a lot less drama.   I want to know why they get so excited and why it takes so long.  Its Lowe's, for crying out loud.  Isn't that what Lowe's is all about?  Maybe there really are a lot of people who buy single solitary cans of paint thinner.  No fork lift or flags required.  How boring.

So I explained to Ben, "Babe, let's get them pulling the cabinets now, that way they'll be done by the time we get done.  Right?"

He looked at me, a mild case of stress in his green eyes.

"Babe, cabinets are on page three.  I'm still on page one.  My brain can't go to cabinets yet."

I thought carefully, and decided that this was a time that I had to boss my husband,  mainly because I had just noticed that Patience had taken off her dress and was running around naked.

"Well," I said cheerfully, "Your mind is going to have to go to page three and think about cabinets, otherwise we'll never get out of here.  We'll do the cabinets, then your boxy little brain can go right back to page one where its comfortable." 

I smiled prettily as I said this, gave him a big hug, collected my naked daughter, found her dress on the floor and headed towards the cabinet section, praying that he wouldn't get mad.

He didn't.  He came with me, we told the nice Lowe's people what cabinets we wanted pulled, and watched them commence their evening of excitement with flags and fork lift. 

Then we moved on to the tile section (because tile was back on page one, obviously), where a random stranger rubbed my belly and told me I wasn't going to make it to my due date. During that conversation I noticed that Patience had pulled all the wet wipes out of the case in my bag and was very busily using them to clean the concrete floors. It was disgusting. By this time she looked like a homeless child, she'd burned through all the granola bars, and I had no way to clean her up because she'd used all the wet wipes to clean the floors.  And she drank all my water, leaving me in a bind because we all know I cannot purchase water from Lowe's.  I'd have to drink from the water fountain, which is located all the way at the back of the store by the bathrooms.  Whose idea was that, anyway?  I didn't want to waddle back there, because at this point we were up front in the electrical section counting switch covers.  A lot of them.

We were very close to being done.  On page three, actually, past the kitchen cabinets.  We were standing there, Patience was rolling on the filthy floor, and Ben was marking things off his list.

That's when it happened. 

His mechanical pencil stopped working. 

He clicked and clicked, looked at it, tried another check mark, no luck. 

I decided to be helpful.

"Babe, can't you just, you know, mark it off in your mind and let's move on?"

He glared at me.  "Just a minute, I'll fix it."

Okay.  More angry clicking.  He took it apart, put it back together.  I looked at my phone.  It was 8:30 p.m.  We still had to pay, load, and drive an hour and a half home.  And we'd had nothing but granola bars and bottled water for supper. 

I unwisely decided to speak again.

"Want me to go to the front and get you a pen?"

"Just a minute!"  He barked.  "Its the principal of the thing!  I'll get it working!"

I shut my mouth and watched him fiddle furiously with the pencil.  Then he suddenly snapped the pencil in half, threw it on the floor and strode towards the front of the store.

Patience said, "Uh, oh, Dad!"

I called after him, "Babe, did you just throw a fit?"

"No," he tossed back over his shoulder, "I was just done.  I'm going to get a pen."

I laughed until I cried and I was still laughing when he came back with a pen and marked things off his list.  He took a deep breath and looked at me.

"What's so funny?"

"You!  That was the most controlled temper fit I've ever seen!  Do you feel better now, especially since you got a pen and marked stuff off your list?"

A little grin tugged at the corners of his mouth and he said, "Maybe."

I gave him a hug and a kiss, we finished up, paid, loaded, tied down, and took our filthy homeless-looking child to Chile's for a very late supper where I drank at least three glasses of strawberry lemonade and a lot of water.

Four hours, three thousand dollars, two bottles of water, two packages of granola bars, a dirty dress, a pair of swollen feet, and a broken pencil.

We drove our load home, diesel engine rumbling in the moonlight, tired, but with a sense of accomplishment.

Beauty Everywhere

A couple of days ago a group of friends/family and I were fortunate enough to experience dinner at Ree Drummond's lodge, a.k.a. The Pioneer Woman.  I've been a big fan of hers for a while, mainly because she's good at all the things I want to be good at:  cooking, photography, homeschooling, gardening and writing.  I've cooked dozens of recipes from her cookbooks, tried to understand her photography workshops, laughed hysterically at her blog, and gazed longingly at pictures of her garden.

It was lovely to meet her, see her beautiful Lodge and taste her delicious cooking.  Really a wonderful experience.  But the next day as I thought about the evening, I felt something ugly rearing it's head.

Jealousy.

I wish I was talented enough to have an award-winning website.

I wish I could take really good pictures.

I'm a decent cook, but I wish I was better.

I'm such a pathetic "country housewife" that I don't even have a garden planted yet.

I wish I was disciplined enough to write more.

I wish I was doing something cool with my life, like publishing cookbooks.

I wish I lived in a house where all the appliances are covered with beautiful wood and have barn-door handles so you don't even know they're there.  I don't even have a dishwasher.

People like the Pioneer Woman always seem to have it all.  And maybe they do.  Maybe they really do have all the material things they want.  Maybe their life really is easier.  I don't know.  I've never had that kind of life.  I know I have a tendency to be discontent with my life, my circumstances and my surroundings.

I wish the linoleum wasn't peeling up in our kitchen floor.

I wish we had a garage so Ben wouldn't have to store so many tools in my laundry room, rendering it nearly useless.

I wish our house had gutters on it so I could actually build flower beds.

I wish I didn't have to sweep up mouse droppings. Every. Single. Day.

I wish our bathroom floor wasn't rotting out.

I wish our refrigerator didn't leak, forcing me to keep a dish towel on the floor at all times.

I wish our house had siding on it so it didn't look so junky.

But my goodness, does any of that really matter?  No, it doesn't.  I like luxury and convenience as much as the next person, but this evening as I played outside with Patience I started noticing so much beauty around me.

Like my blooming lavender:

And my lush, green mint:

And parsley is just so pretty.  Even if you don't cook with it you should grow some:

And my sweet peas are climbing the trellis and blooming beautifully.  By the way, I didn't lie when I said I don't have a garden in.  I really don't.  These came back from last year:

I love the towering trees in our front yard.  They're like sentinals guarding our home:

This is why I like to hang clothes on the line.  I love the view from my clothesline:

I love the look of jeans hanging on the line.  These are Ben's Levis.  He loves his Levis.  I love the way he looks in his Levis!

My peonies are blooming!  I didn't plant these.  They were here when we moved in, but God bless the person who planted them.  I will never again live without peonies.

And our yard is awfully pleasant in the evenings:

Ah, red begonias.  How I love red begonias and asparagus fern on my front porch!

Ah, white begonias.  How I love white begonias planted in a very old mop bucket!

And our front porch is a great place for little 2-year-old girls to play farm animals:

Her feet are so cute:

Clearly it makes no difference to her whether or not our house has siding on it.

Note the skinned up knees:

And the view from our front porch is quite nice.

So how do I finish saying what I want to say?  So my house is old with peeling linoleum, mouse droppings, and a leaky fridge.  Big deal.  Why should I waste my time wanting more when I already have so much?  Jealousy does nothing but make me look past the beauty I already have in my life.  Time to get my focus back where it belongs.  And if I'm unhappy with things like my cooking and photography skills, then I need to dig up the motivation and discipline to do something about it and learn more.

Anyway, there's  lot of beauty in my life.  Just wanted to share it with you.

"...for I have learned to be content whatever the circumtances..."  Philippians 4:11

Yes, I AM Going To Make It!

I know I've mentioned this before, but people seem fascinated with the large-ness of my belly right now.  I'm a little over 6 months pregnant right now, and the comments are getting more and more frequent. 

"Are you due just any day now?"

"Oh, honey, when are you due?"

"Oh, look at you!  You're all baby!"

"Oh, my word!  Are you having twins?"

Why do they always have to preface a comment with "Oh"?  I don't get it.

And I like this one:

"Oh, you look like you're about to pop any time now!"

Pop?  There is no popping involved when giving birth.  You pop a balloon and it happens very quickly and the balloon immediately deflates.  Labor and childbirth does not happen quickly.  It lasts forever.  And afterwards, you still look pregnant.  The deflations happens over a period of time.  No one bothered to tell me this when I had Patience.  When I left the hospital I still looked 7 months pregnant.  I might have cried.  Actually I know I did.  For some reason I had envisioned myself slipping right back into my old jeans.  That didn't happen.  Two years later I still haven't slipped back into them.

But my personal favorite comment is this:

"Oh, you're not gonna make it!"

Please clarify what this means.  Am I going to die before my due date?  Explode?  Is that the same as popping?  I really don't understand.

The other day Ben, Patience and I were at Lowe's and a sweet little old lady came up to me and said, "Oh, honey, you must be due any day now!"

I said, "Actually, no, I have 10 weeks to go!"

She reached out and began rubbing my belly.  Oddly enough, it doesn't bother me when total strangers rub my belly.  Happens all the time.

The nice little old lady rubbed and said, "Oh, honey, they must have your due date wrong.  There's no way you're going to make it!"

What I wanted to say was, "Actually, the due date is correct because we know the exact week we conceived this baby.  Want me to tell you all about it?"

What I actually said was something nice, polite and acceptable like, "Well, we'll have to see how it goes!"

Now tell me, am I really that huge?  You don't have to answer that.

Wow, that really is a pretty good sized belly.  I wonder if I'm going to make it?

The Boat: To Sell or Not to Sell?

I know I just wrote an entire post about my husband, but I'm going to write about him again.  I've been missing him this week because he's been working crazy hours trying to finish a remodel job on a rental cabin. Bless his heart, he's been working from 7:30 in the morning till 9:00 at night.  Its been a stressful job, so Patience and I have been taking supper to him and his crew in the evenings.  He says it helps for him to see our smiling faces.  He's so sweet.  Anyway, if I seem obsessed with my husband its because I am.  I miss him. 

So we had a funny conversation the other day.  You see, a couple of weeks ago he got the boat out and running on the lake.  The plan was to sell it.  But once he got it out zipping along the water again sparks flew and he renewed his love affair with it.  I wish I could get him to react to me the way he reacts to that boat.  Anyway, a few days after we had the boat out on the lake someone called in response the post Ben had on Craigslist.  Uh-oh, potential buyer.  Ben is torn.  We sit down at the kitchen table to discuss this problem.

He sighs and rubs his head.  "What do you think, Babe?  Should we sell it?"

I hate and love when he asks me questions like that.  Hate it because I want to give a good answer and don't always know how, love it because he cares about my opinion.  And in this instance I don't think there would be a right answer.  I think it would be equivalent of me asking him, "Does this dress make me look fat?"  In which case, right now, he would have to say yes.  I do not look good in dresses when I'm pregnant.  I look like a barn.  A really, really, big barn. 

Anyway, he asks me about the boat and I sit and ponder while Patience runs circles around the kitchen table. 

"Well," I finally say, "There are pros and cons.  You did build it to sell and you do need a new truck, so we could use the money for that.  On the other hand, its really fun to have and we used it alot last summer. But it also costs a lot every time we go to the lake.  I guess it just depends on whether or not we can afford to keep it right now  Patience, don't take your clothes off.  Leave your shirt on, I mean it."  Patience is really into removing her clothing and running around naked right now.

So we waffle back and forth about the pros and cons of keeping the boat.  Then Ben's eyes light up and he says, "Hey, remember that financial book we read about being a pipeline, not a tank?"

I remembered.  The concept was to be generous and keep your money flowing for the good of others.  Don't be a holding tank, be a pipeline.

"Yeah, I remember.  Oh, Patience, gross don't eat that.  Here, let me wipe your nose.  Yeah, I remember. Why?"  Patience is about to eat a huge green booger she's pulling out of her nose.  I jump for a tissue while Ben shares his thoughts.

"Well, we really did take a lot of people to the lake with us last summer.  I think everyone had a really good time.  I think we should keep it and use it to bless our friends this summer.  You know, use it as a pipeline!"

Interesting.  How convenient that our pipeline somehow pipes right back into our tank.

So as of now, it appears that we are keeping the boat.  And I'm okay with that.  I won't be able to heave myself into it for at least two more months, and even after the baby is born I don't know if I'll feel up to riding in it or tubing behind it, but I can sit with my feet in the water, watch Patience play, and nurse the baby.  And watch my husband have the time of his life, which I really do enjoy.  I mean really, how can we break up this dynamic duo, Ben and the Boat?:

Just look how much fun he's having.  And more than likely we will have a crowd of people with us because thats the way we roll.  Ben will pull screaming teenagers - and adults - on the tube.  We'll grill hot dogs and wash them down with ice-cold Dr. Pepper.  We'll lounge in lawn chairs visiting and chasing kids.  I'll destroy my self-esteem by attempting to wear a swimsuit just after giving birth.  There's always a negative.  And I always have to think of it.

But it really does sound like a good way to spend the summer.  How could we have ever thought of selling the boat?

He Is Risen, Indeed!

Easter is a holiday that doesn't get nearly enough credit.  It ought to be as big a deal as Christmas, considering the fact that we are celebrating the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the single most important event in the history of the world, the event that changed everything for humankind.

But I'm not good at sermons, so I won't write one.  I just want to reflect on my Easter experience this year.  Nothing dramatic.  Just thinking about it all. 

First came the Lord's supper service at church on Palm Sunday.  I had not thought about it at all and only remembered we were doing it when I looked at bulletin once we arrived at church.  It was a very simple service, no emotional music, no program, nothing special.  We just sang some lovely old hymns and took the Lord's supper.  So I was surprised when the tears came and they kept coming throughout most of the service.  My chest felt tight when I thought of what happened to Jesus as he hung on the cross for me.  At first I was frustrated with myself for crying, but then I felt glad. 

As someone who grew up on the mission field in a home where I was practically saturated with the word of God and teachings about Christianity, I sometimes find myself sporting a know-it-all attitude.  Heard that story, know that verse, blah blah blah.  I still believe all of it.  I've never, ever wanted to walk away from my Lord and Savior.  But sometimes I just forget.  So when I actually felt emotion and tears rolled down my face as I ate the bread and drank the juice, I was glad.  Glad that I haven't completely forgotten.  Glad that I understand, as much as my human brain can, what really happened on that day two thousand years ago.  When Patience saw me crying she patted my face and said, "Tears, Mom?"  I nodded my head as we stood to sing "The Old Rugged Cross" and held her tight, praying that someday she would understand, too.  If I accomplish nothing else in my life, if I never do anything that people will notice or acquire anything of material value, if I can just help my kids know and understand Jesus, that will be enough.  More than enough. 

Then my tears turned to laughter when Ben went to the front to help serve the grape juice and Patience was hanging off the end of the pew hollering, "Daddy!  Daddeeee!"  Sometimes the laughter mingled with tears is the sweetest.  And on that day it was.

Monday came and I sort of drifted back into routine, as most people do on Mondays.  Then my little sister texted me and asked if I was going to decorate the cross for the church for Easter Sunday.  I had totally forgotten about it.  Two years ago I decided that if Christmas gets a tree, Easter should get a cross.  Our church has a big heavy 8 foot cross that Ben built a few years ago for a prop for Day Camp.  My thought was to decorate the cross the way you decorate a Christmas tree.  Only not Christmasy, obviously.  So during the week before Easter, I put the cross up on the stage, wrapped it with white lights, draped the arms with shimmery purple fabric, and added some trailing green vines and blooming white lilies.  The top was adorned with a crown of white lilies and I clustered more of the same around the foot.  It turned out so very pretty.  A twinkling, shimmering springtime reminder of the joy of Easter morning.

I did the cross last year too, but somehow I nearly forgot this year.  Hannah reminded me that I should do it, so Patience and I went down to the church one evening and worked on it.  As I worked I wondered why I was doing it.  Probably no one even notices it, or they wonder why I bother.  Actually most people don't even know I'm the one who does it.  But as I wrapped lights and tucked lilies here and there I decided that even if no one notices, its good for me to do it.  It makes me reflect on Easter.  I offer so little as it is, and during the Easter season the least I can do is spend an hour creating something beautiful to reflect the beauty of what Jesus did.  Its good to be reminded, and sometimes, in my case, it takes doing something.

Thursday evening we went to my mom's house to celebrate Passover.  We almost didn't do it  because my mom and dad have been really busy lately.  So they settled for an abbreviated version, because Mom pointed out that something is very wrong indeed if a family is too busy to stop and think about the cross.  And thats what Passover is, a time of looking back, remembering, and celebrating.  So even though Isaac and Hannah (my younger brother and sister) had soccer practice, Mom had guests coming to the B&B the next day, Joseph (another brother) and his family were stretched pretty thin due to his recent leg injury, and Ben had a horrific day at work, including falling through the floor of the cabin and busting a water line, we all made the effort to stop.  Mom had the table looking beautiful with white linens and glowing candles, and we all sat down together to listen to Dad read some scriptures.  We didn't do the whole traditional seder plate, but we had the matza bread and a few other Jewish dishes.  I missed doing the full Passover, but I'm sure we'll pick up again next year.  If anything, not doing it made me realize how meaningful it really is and how much it does force me to stop and think.  Mom gathered all the grandkids in her lap and told them the Easter story, then she let them all hunt for a prize she had gotten them, CDs of toddler songs.  Patience and her cousins were very excited and Patience slept with her CD in bed with her that night.  She's still carrying it around saying, "Mimi, prize!"  I'm not sure she knows what a prize is.

On Saturday Ben was off work and we took Patience to the community Easter egg hunt.  The first plastic egg she picked up came open and she saw the candy inside.  She immediately became very focused.  She gets that from her daddy!  She picked up 20 eggs and won a cheesy basket full of Easter junk for getting second place.  We were so proud! 

That afternoon we took naps, then Ben, Patience and I loaded up in the truck and went fishing.  The weather was perfect.  I sat with Patience on the riverbank and watched her bury her little toes deep into the coolness of the sand.  I looked at the vivid reflection of the green trees and blue sky in the water and found myself wanting to jump in and see why the reflection somehow looks brighter and more real than the real thing.  The thought drifted through my mind that maybe thats what heaven is like.  Somehow more real than the reality we experince here.  Oh, the thinks one thinks while fishing!  Ben caught three nice little perch, and we headed home, Patiene stripped down to her diaper because she got so filthy. 

As we drove home in the cool of the evening I watched the sun set accross a green field dotted with cows.  I hung my arm out the window and felt the breeze slide through my fingers.  I noticed the clean freshness of everything, dust settling behind us, the vines creeping along the fences, the many shades of springtime green.  I breathed deep and thanked God for the millionth time that we live in such a beautiful place.

Sunday morning I was up early putting out Patience's Easter basket.  She had extra goodies, thanks to a care package from Nana in Tucson.  I looked up Keith Green's Easter Song online and had it playing on the laptop when Patience and Ben came to look at all the Easter suprises.  Peeps, chocolate eggs, fluffy stuffed animals, and a new CD for Ben.  We sipped coffee and munched biscotti while Patience played with her new toys and ate way too much candy.

Then a flurry of getting ready for church.  Patience was adorable in her yellow fluffy dress and while shoes.  Ben said she looked like a yellow marshmallow Peep.  Once he pointed that out, I saw that he was quite right.  But Peeps are cute, right?  Once we got to church we realized how much candy Patience actually ate.  She was WILD.  During the greeting time she was hanging on Ben's leg pounding her face on him.  Then she collapsed on the floor and started rolling down the aisle in a whirl of yellow and while petticoats.  We corralled her back in our pew in time for the service to start, but she seemed to have no control over her body.  She wasn't being bad at all, but she was laughing hysterically at everything and twice she flung herself around so hard she slammed her head against the back of the pew and cried.  Ben finally had to take her out.  He said it wasn't fair to let her have so much candy and then expect her to sit still.  Very true.  I hear of people putting healthy snacks in their kid's Easter eggs.  That's very...healthy.  And boring.  I mean, come on.  She gets candy like three times a year.  Let her have it on holidays.  But maybe not quite so much next time.

It was a good Easter season for us.  I wish we had practiced Lent, I wish I had done a pretty Easter cross for our house, and I wish we had done a real Passover.  But there's time to establish traditions.  Our family is still very young.  I want to establish traditions to help make the meaning of Easter very real for our kids.  But even without them, I thought about the cross a lot this week, and I'm glad.

That's about the extent of my Easter ramblings.  I realize that this wasn't well-written or even very interesting.  I just always feel that Easter deserves so much more recognition.  This is my small way of trying to make it more what it ought to be.  I wish there was something I could say to convey the meaning of the death and resurrection of Jesus, but sometimes words simply aren't enough.

But He is risen.  He is risen, indeed.  And for that I am more than thankful.

Ben the Builder

My husband Ben is a builder.  Or a contractor.  Whatever you want to call it.  He does amazing work. He's very meticulous and he has a tool for everything. 

One day when we first got married I was pulling nails out of the walls of our old rent house, getting ready to paint.  Of course I was using needle-nose pliers because before I met Ben I thought that's what one was supposed to use to pull nails. 

He came in the room, looked at the pliars in my hand scornfully and said, "What are you doing?"

"I'm pulling nails out of the walls, why?"

"Why are you using those pliars?"

I looked at the pliars.  "What else am I supposed to use?"

He sighed and rolled his eyes.  "You're supposed to use the nail-pullers, of course."

He went to get them out of tool box for me, no doubt lamenting my lack of knowledge concerning all things tool-related and thinking about how much he had to teach me.

Nail-pullers are pretty cool, by the way.  They work better than pliars.

 But he doesn't only build cabins and houses.  He builds all kinds of things.  He's practically a genius.  He built this cabin: 

And he built this 1963 Nova, which is currently being re-built again to make it even cooler:

And he built this custom AR-15, which is obviously a household necessity.  Please run to the nearest gun store and buy one immediately.  Or have Ben build one for you.

Here's another cabin:

But this is my favorite.  Love this cabin!  If you want to stay in it, go to http://www.beaversbendgetaways.com/ and book the Starlight Creek.  I promise you won't regret it.

Oh, and last summer he built this boat.  We were going to sell it.  I don't think that's going to happen.  By the way, I picked out the paint colors  He let me do that much so it would be "our" boat.  So sweet!  He felt that he owed me that much because he was so obsessed with the boat while he was building it that I started referring to myself as a boat widow.  I'm not gonna lie, we had some fights over the boat.  But that's another story.  Oh, and you know how he has a tool for everything?  One day when he was working on the boat he came into the kitchen very sweaty, greasy and excited.  It was cute. 

He said, "Hey, Babe, you know how I've been having such a hard time getting that old steering wheel off the boat?  Well, I finally got it off!"

I was very happy for him.  "Oh, good!  How did you do it?"

"I used my steering-wheel puller that I forgot I had!"

Of course.  The steering-wheel puller.  They actually make a tool for pulling steering-wheels?  Yes, indeed.  And we have one.  Another household necessity.  Please run to the nearest tool store and buy one immediately. But didn't the boat turn out nice?

 And he is currently building this cabin.  Its going to be really lovely:

This is Ben grinding something.  I got him that totally rad welding helmet for Christmas.  And yes, I just said rad.  Doesn't he look handsome and manly?

I just thought this was sweet.  Ben and Patience driving the tractor.  She loves going for rides with Daddy!  Isn't he just the best?

I love my husband.