He Marches to the Beat of a Different Drum

On our recent trip to Disneyland and California Adventure, we stumbled upon the Phineas and Ferb Rockin' and Rollin' Dance Party while walking from one ride to another. The characters from the show come out onto the main road and dance to some of the tunes from the show (which p.s. has got to be the most entertaining cartoon.  love the writing on that show).  Kids from the audience are invited to come up on the "stage" to learn the moves from the performers and dance along with them.

I had a hunch that this would be right up Jonah's alley so we stopped to watch.  As most of you know, he's never met a stage he didn't like so I figured he'd get right up there on the first song and start shaking his booty.  I was wrong.  He didn't get up for the first, second, or third song.  Apparently, he is a song connoisseur and he just wasn't feeling the first few songs.  But alas, the fourth song had a groovin' beat! He marched right up - front and center - and proceeded to do his thang.

I cannot watch this video without chuckling. I have a feeling you'll have a hard time getting through it without a smile, too!  Pay special attention to the awesome move 40 seconds in.

I love this little boy so much.  I love that all the other kids are following the performers moves, yet Jonah is off in his own little world doing his own funky dance.

There are many times when it makes me crazy, but in times like these, I love that Jonah marches to the beat of a different drum. 

"If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away." Henry David Thoreau

FAQ

For inquiring minds, here's a few answers to some of our recent "Frequently Asked Questions:" 

Where is Steve working and what kind of law is he practicing?
In March, Steve started a new job as an attorney at Baker and McKenzie, a law firm in San Francisco.  Baker and McKenzie is a very large law firm with offices all over the world.  His particular group does transactional law (as opposed to litigation), helping companies with international offices to figure out their employee benefits and stock options (or something like that). 

We prayed for a job for Steve for a long time.  And God provided one - a really terrific one doing work that he truly enjoys with people that he genuinely likes.  I need to remember to thank God for this.  I also need to remember to tell Steve how proud I am all of his hard work.  Our friend who is a law professor recently sent me this email, "By the way, congratulations to you and Steve about the Baker and McKenzie job. That is really an amazing firm.  You should be incredibly proud of Steve.  What he has done is an amazing accomplishment.  And praise God, of course."  It was a great reminder to me that Steve has accomplished a lot these last few years and I need to tell him more often how proud I am of him (which is hard to do while also acknowledging my sadness and grief over the location of his new job).

Is Steve able to work from home at all?
No.  The first firm he was working for in SF (from December to March) let him work from Sac on Fridays.  This one does not.  He stays over in the city on Thursday nights, but the rest of the days, he commutes back and forth.  He mostly takes the Amtrak to Emeryville and then a bus into SF (about 2.5 hours each way).  Some days, he drives to Pleasant Hill BART and then BARTs the rest of the way in.  He leaves the house around 6am and gets home around 7:45pm.  He is one tired puppy.  All the time.  Everyday.    

When are you moving?
We aren't sure.  Hopefully sometime this summer, before the boys start school in August.

Why haven't you started looking for houses yet?
We are re-financing our current house.  We plan to rent it out when we move and refinancing will help us lower our monthly payments.  The refinance process is taking much longer than anticipated.  Once we close on the refinance, we will start the process of looking for a new home in the Bay Area.  We're hoping this starts in the next few weeks.   

Where are you planning to move to?
We aren't sure but at this point, we plan to focus our search on Oakland, Alameda, and San Leandro.  After taking a few trips down the Bay Area, we concluded that we wanted to be as close to San Francisco as possible so that Steve could be home the maximum number of minutes each day.

What will happen to The GreenHouse? (I get this question a lot, worded in this exact way, which I think is interesting) 
The GreenHouse will continue on and hopefully thrive and grow!  The GreenHouse is God's and it always was.  He will continue to provide for The GreenHouse, just as He always has, regardless of my role or where I am living.  The Board of Directors of The GreenHouse will start a search for a new Executive Director sometime this summer.  If all goes well, we will start a new ED in October.  This means that I will work remotely for a few months (assuming we move in August).  

How are you doing with all of this?
I'm doing much better now, since I've had two months to pray through and process this major life change.  A few key factors have gotten me through the first leg of this journey.  First, I had an amazing team of people from The GreenHouse that met with me to pray and discern what my role there should be moving forward.  That team was a huge blessing to me, making me feel very supported and well cared-for.  Second, I had caring and wise friends who helped me talk through all the different situations and scenarios I could come up with.  The best thing they did for me was listen.  I am so thankful for them.  Finally, my God has been very near to me throughout this process.  I've felt Him leading, guiding, nudging and speaking to me in all those ways that only He can.  He's slowly peeling off my fingers that want to control.  He's opening my palms. He's opening my heart.  I'm recommitting my desire to live for Him - whatever and wherever that may be.

Thank you to all of you for being on this journey with us.  We'll keep you posted on our progress.     

Us on Easter Sunday.  Team Stratton.  All in.

I swear...

I will blog again soon!

Just a lot going on lately.

Three nights a week on the baseball field might really kill me.

And I'm super tired at the end of each day which makes it hard to think/write.

And I'm trying to go to bed early with Steve since I don't get to see him much during the week which means no late-night blogging.

And I haven't been ready to "go-there," if you know what I mean.  But, I'm getting there.  (You know... writing about or even mentioning our massive life change).

But, I've got some fun things to post too, including a family trip to Disneyland this past weekend.

So, see you all soon!  Thanks for checking in!   

Baseball Fever!

2 Mets

+ 1 Dodger

+ 1 Fantasy Baseball Draft

 

= Springtime in the Stratton household

So far....

Steve is sad to be missing all of the boys' mid-week practices and games because of his commute.  At least both teams have games every Saturday, so he'll make it to all of those.  (And of course, he has his fantasy baseball team to keep him entertained!)

Kacie is ready to lose her mind from rushing home from work, getting wiggly boys changed into uniforms, belts, cleats, hats, sweatshirts, etc,  microwaving nasty frozen food and shoving it down their throats, hollering at everyone to get into the car and put their seat belts on, throwing gloves, bats, water bottles, and fold-up chairs into the back of the van, racing over to the ball fields, and schlepping everything over to the right field only to discover that we are always 10 minutes late.

Jonah is flashing his true colors.  Everything that makes Jonah a difficult child becomes intensified by about 1000% when he plays a team sport.  Standing still in his position out in the field, ready for a ball to come his way...nope, he doesn't do that well.  He'd much rather shake his booty to the music he hears in his head, scream out at the batter (or the pitcher depending on his mood), draw pictures in the dirt, yell to me in the stands about how hungry he is, and cry over-the-top dramatic tears when he gets the slightest injury.  You get the point.  Watching Jonah play baseball STRESSES me out.  He is quite different from the other kids on his team.  And the 24 other sets of parents that are watching my kid and his shenanigans does a real number to my pride.  Taking time-outs to walk around, talk to God, and remind myself that I cannot control this child helps calm me down tremendously.    

Nicolas is the cutest little baseball player you ever did see.  He works hard and does everything that is asked of him.

Riley is the star of his team.  Last night was the twins' first baseball game ever.  Riley got the team ball!  (That means, he played really well).

A few more baseball pics:

 

 

 

 

Join us for a game!  We'll be out at the Rio Tierra fields every Saturday in April and May.

Change

"This is what I've come to believe about change: it's good, in the way that childbirth is good, and heartbreak is good, and failure is good.  By that I mean it's incredibly painful, exponentially more so if you fight it, and also that it has the potential to open you up, to open life up, to deliver you right into the palm of God's hand, which is where you wanted to be all along, except that you were too busy pushing and pulling your life into exactly what you thought it should be." 

(A quote from Bittersweet, by Shauna Niequist, a book that my friend Emily gave me for Christmas but I just recently started reading.  Really good words for me to ponder right about now.) 

Five

Happy Birthday Nicolas and Riley!  How can you possibly be five?!

 

I remember it like it was yesterday - the day your daddy and I found out we were having twins.  I was eleven weeks pregnant.  I had been super nauseous throughout the first trimester of my pregnancy and I was much larger than other pregnant women who were farther along than me.  But still, never in a million years did I ever think I was pregnant with twins.  It just never entered my consciousness.

Imagine my utter surprise when the OB did that first ultrasound.  The first thing out of her mouth was, "OH MY GOSH!"  (Not what you want your doctor to say.  It freaked me out.)  As I looked back at the ultrasound screen the doctor elaborated, "You have two babies in there!"

The first thing out of my mouth was "SHUT UP!"  I was shocked. 

I was so glad Daddy was right there with me.  He could see you both on the screen and he knew right away what those two dots were.  We giggled, sat in silence for a moment, and then exchanged feelings of utter disbelief.

When the appointment was over, we got into our Honda Civic, knowing full-well that it wouldn't hold three car seats.  We knew then that everything was about to drastically change.  And trust me, it did.

And now, here we are - five years later.  We've all survived!  At times, we've even thrived.  And we just can't imagine what life would be without you - BOTH of you.  You are each such an amazing (good and perfect) gift to us.

It's been a hard five years.  It's not easy raising three little boys.  You have a highly spirited older brother and one of you has a lot of tantrums (hint, hint).  You guys hit and kick and fight and run and jump and make huge messes all the time.  On top of that, you have a mom who works at a job where she spends a lot of her heart energy and often comes home tired.  And you have a dad who has worked his booty off the last three years going to law school while working to support our family.

But you know what?  You have each other and together you have weathered the storms.  You are such a great team and you both are growing up to be remarkable little boys.  I love everything about you.

Nicolas: I love your surprising sensitive side, the way you love kitties and puppies and babies.  I love your unruly, curly hair and the way it smells when you wake up sweaty from a good sleep.  I love watching you rub the satin edges of your blankie as you fall asleep.  I love your freakishly good memory and your new fascination with telling time.  I love your artwork.  I love to watch you shuffle your feet when you run.  I delight in you.

Riley: I love your big brown eyes and your soft cheeks.  I love that you still like to cuddle with me.  I love the raspy voice that you get at the end of the day after talking (and whining) incessantly.  I love that you are a great companion for running errands (even if you talk the entire time!).  I love to watch you rub your Bear-Bear with your first and second fingers as you fall asleep.  I love to cook dinner with you and then watch you try new foods.  I love your skills with balls, bats, and rackets.  I delight in you.

Happy Birthday, my sweet boys.  I love you so very much.             

(Ninjago Masters Nicolas and Riley cutting their birthday cake with a real samurai sword at their Karate birthday party - so fun!)

Good-bye Day

• Reading a hurtful email from a crazy man first thing in the morning and then spending most of the day processing the horribleness of the email

• Seeing the thrashed aftermath of a burglary at The GreenHouse and filing a police report

• Viewing surveillance videos to determine who stole a volunteer's bike yesterday afternoon (unrelated to the burglary)

• Sobbing while sharing difficult news at our staff meeting

• Hearing a youth recount a story of injustice against him and the police who did not believe him (unrelated to the burglary or the stolen bike)

These are just a few of the things that made for a very, very hard day today.

• An unexpected note of encouragement in today's mail

• A donation from an unlikely donor

• A pizza delivered by someone who heard we were having a hard day and was praying for us

• Caramel cake

• Homemade ceviche brought to us from another person who heard we were having a hard day

• An opportunity to build a new relationship with someone who's lived in the community for 20 years

• A time of prayer and focusing on Prov. 3:5-6 and Phil. 4:5-7

• Knowing that tomorrow would be a new day 

These are a few of the things that helped me to know that everything would be alright.