Where have the McFaddens been, part II

We are no longer sick! Thank you for all your prayers. We have been healthy for 2 whole weeks now, and I'm sure you're wondering what my excuse is this time for not posting pictures of my adorable girl. The excuses are many, none of which you may find compelling, but I will provide them, if nothing else, to explain what we've been up to.

We have been working hard to finish our closet project, which is done! Chris and Jeff Derrick installed the barn door hardware brackets on the wall this Saturday after doing lots of measuring, remeasuring, and calculations probably involving logarithms and square roots, etc. I painted the wall red to match the rest of the walls in our bedroom; we were pleasantly surprised to find that Benjamin Moore's My Valentine paint was the same formula as it was 4 years ago when the other walls were painted, and you can't tell that one wall was just painted. I whole-heartedly recommend this color red if anyone is looking for a good red - not at all orange.

Sarah and Jeff Murry came over Sunday to help finish painting the doors white, and Jeff and Chris installed the doors on the wall. We're so happy to have this project done! We loved the way it turned out.

Please ignore the armoire - that is not its permanent home.


Much of the rest of our time has been spent researching housing, and going to look at houses. That's right, the McFaddens may move in the coming months to Dorchester (which, for those of you who don't live in Boston is a neighborhood of Boston). The reasons for this move are many-fold, not the least of which is much more house for your money. I have been wrestling over the last 6 months or so about how I want to raise my kids, and where the best place to do that might be. The sad truth is that if we want me to stay home with our kids (which we do) we just don't feel that we can afford to stay in Cambridge. People with more kids and less money than we have do it, of course, but I just don't think it's a choice we want to make.

I have been researching Dorchester since December, because Dorchester is not a neighborhood you move your family to without doing your homework. Dorchester is where much of the gang activity and violent crime in Boston happens, and rightfully has a bad reputation. The part I've discovered though, is that Dorchester is large, and that are are plenty of pocket neighborhoods that are considered quite safe. Many people who live there are quick to point out that the violent crime that happens is not random. It's criminal on criminal, gang member on gang member, drug dealer on drug dealer.

Friends and family, I know that some of you will be worried for us if we move there, and I understand that. But we are choosing to not live in fear, but rather in the freedom that Christ brings us. Our lives are in the hands of the Father and no matter how hard we try we cannot make this unsafe, sinful world perfectly safe for ourselves and our children. There is a fine line between being irresponsible and choosing not to live in fear, but that is why we pray for wisdom, and have done our homework. We've looked at crime stats, we've walked the neighborhoods where we're thinking of moving, both in the day time and the night, and we feel that this could be a really good fit for our family.

We are excited about getting involved in the community there, which from my small scratchings on the surface seems to be rich with opportunities for us and our children. Our church, Christ the King, recently planted a church in Dorchester, which we could walk to from the houses we're looking at. I am excited about possibly sending our kids to Boston Public Schools, which offer many schools for all kinds of learners, and has some of the best public high schools in the country. There is a YMCA in the area that just got a face lift with an indoor pool where the kids could take swimming lessons. The houses we're looking at are all under 10 minute walks to the red line T, which means we can easily get downtown or back to Cambridge without having to drive and find parking. Did I mention it's also a mere 3 miles from Chris' work? How wonderful it would be to have him home in 10 minutes rather than 45.

The more research I do, the more overwhelmed I feel at the way God is providing for us. Every concern I had has been answered, many of desires I had for my growing family have been answered. I know that life there will not be perfect, that I will still grumble in March about the long winter, that I will still feel too far away from our families, that I will still probably yell at the dog when I trip over her because even if we have a bigger house, she'll still probably hang out right under my feet, but I have had an immense sense of peace about moving my growing family to this community and area of Boston.

We will keep you all posted about whether or not we actually find a house. It is not a done deal that we are moving, but we are certainly heading in that direction.

And now the moment you've all been waiting for - pictures of Frankie.

Doesn't she look so old in this picture?

This is a video of her chasing Maisy with the yard stick and laughing hysterically, something Maisy found mildly amusing for a short while. If you stick it out until the end, you can hear her say "woof, woof", which is the noise doggies make (and, on many occasions, cows, kittys, pigs, or really any animal).


This morning I was cleaning the stove and suddenly realized I couldn't hear her anymore. I panicked, and went racing through the house looking for her (which, honestly, doesn't take long when you live in less than 900 square feet). I found my sweet girl on her chair in her room reading books.