Praise team

Today was my last time (I think) to be on praise team at First Baptist. It was a little sad for me. One of my greatest joys at church is to help lead worship. I love singing and I love worshipping my Savior!! Chris Perstrope has done an excellent job with the music and I have really enjoyed getting to know him and Rebecca this last year. Anyway, Chad and I have decided that I should not get involved in church ministry in Auburn for the first year so I can adjust to everything else in our life. (I have the habit of saying "yes" too much and I really don't want to be overwhelmed)

I don't think it's hit me that we are going to be moving soon. I am fully in "task" mode and I am trying to just get things finished. I'm wondering if it will affect me soon!

mountains and valleys

God is so good to us. Really. He is just a truly incredible God. Yesterday I had an appointment with La Casa. Chad and I are trying to get into a savings program there. We had our first appointment a while back and qualified for the program. Well, the man (San) I met with was so nice. As we were talking he told me of another federal program that expires in September. On of the ladies in the program had to drop out and San was looking for another family to fill in the spot. He wanted to give the spot to us. The basic jist is, that we have to give $1,600 up front and we will get $8,000 from the gov't to help with home renovations. (It's the same basic program we were hoping to get into, but it would have taken 4 years of saving to get the money, instead we get it all by September). This means we can do our home improvements this fall instead of in 3-4 years! San told me, "your prayers were answered huh?" I told him, "you have no idea!" We have really praying that God would provide for us and that we would make the best decisions regarding money. We are so excited at this possibility! On the way home I was thinking about the goodness of God and how He continues to be faithful.

Later that night we heard some very discouraging news regarding a close family member. I remember thinking, "Why would God bless us and then allow this to happen to them?" My mind went back to the goodness of God. That goodness is there all the time, not just when something goes well for me. I don't understand why God does some of the things He does and why He allows what He allows. However, that's okay. God is going to do what is BEST for us and will ultimately bring Him glory. I am so glad that I can trust my Savior and that He knows what's best for us. This year has been difficult for us in a few ways and we didn't understand why certain things were done. However, without that, we would not be where we are now, ready to move and change careers.

Anyway, this week has been filled with appointments and trying to finish grades for school. Last weekend Chad's dad and stepmom visited. We had a great time with them! Kian was phenomenal. Seriously, it was as if he completely changed. Not that he was bad before, but he was so happy and not clingy to me. I am hoping that stage is over! Both of the boys didn't get all of their naps each day and this week is a bit of rehab for them. We went to the zoo on Monday and it was a lot of fun. Quote of the day? Aiden was in the petting zoo with goats and one of the goats started to go potty. Aiden saw it and said, "Mommy, the goat is losing it's beans!" (I don't think he realized they pooped pellets) I laughed so hard!

Kian is starting to walk! He has taken about 5 consecutive steps. I think it will still be a couple of weeks before he consistently is walking, but he is getting there! He had his year check up yesterday. He is getting so old! He did not like the shots oh so much!

Today is the last day of school! I am so proud of Chad! It's hard to believe that this is his last day at ECA.

Here are some recent pictures of the boys:

House #3

I apologize for my lack of blogging. The last few days have been a whirlwind for us and I haven't really had the chance to write. Let's see, where to start! Saturday our garage sale was rained out. We closed early and only made $2.50 that day! Sunday we celebrated my dad's birthday. What a legacy he has given us and I am immeasurably thankful to have him as my father! Monday, Chad spent the whole day golfing with buddies. He actually played 54 holes in one day! He had a great time with his friends and I am very glad he was able to do it.

Yesterday we went to Auburn to look for more homes. We found another one! I'm not ready to get my hopes up, but we put an offer in. It's actually my favorite house so far (in our price range obviously). It's in a great neighborhood and it has a fenced back yard. The kitchen needs a lot of work, but little by little we hope to work on it. The house in spotless and has been beautifully taken care of! Both bathrooms were remodeled, a new roof was put on a couple of years ago. It has a new water softener and heater. It's a great home. The only problem is that it doesn't have central air (which if you know us, you know how much we like central air). We are hoping that maybe we can add that later. Is house #3 the house for us?? We'll have to see!

Garage sale

I so enjoy having garage sales. It is such a freeing feeling to remove junk and clutter from my house and make money from it! We had a garage today (and will have one tomorrow) with some friends. We were up to almost 1 in the morning setting it up and pricing it. What fun though! Knowing how much more space and less moving boxes we have! Aiden and Kian have done wonderful today. They have behaved beautifully. Tomorrow is another day and then I'm also having one at my parent's house during their neigborhood garage sale. Woo hoo!

Home for the homeless?

We had our inspection yesterday and the house we were going to buy failed inspection, which means we are back to square one with the house hunting! I know God has the right house for us!

Our Home!

We just heard that our counter offer was accepted! We are going to Auburn today to be there for the inspection and then if everything is acceptable, we will set a closing date! Praise God! I am very excited to have a home, even if it is a huge responsibility.

Please pray for us this week. We are so busy. Today I sing in a luncheon which lasts about 2 hours, then I teach, then I'm off to Auburn for the rest of the night (the inspection takes around 2 1/2 hours). Tomorrow aside from teaching and watching a couple of little girls, I have to totally get ready for a garage sale on Friday and Saturday. I'm getting rid of a ton of stuff! Please pray that we have a good turnout! Also please pray that the boys do well the next couple of days. It's going to be a bit crazy. I am praying that Kian sleeps well this week. He is a different child if he has a lack of sleep. Thanks!

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day (a day late) to all of the special moms in my life! Thank you for having such an impact of my life and the life of my family! I love you!

We had a great day yesterday. We went out to dinner and spent the day together. I have a great family and I love them so much! They made me feel very special and loved. I think the best present I received was Aiden coming in bed with us in the morning and not wanting me to get up, but wanted to keep snuggling. Oh, life couldn't get much better!

A little cake never hurt anyone!

We had Kian's birthday party last night at my parents. It was a crazy day, but we had a great time! We had pizza for dinner and cake and ice cream for dessert. 13 family members were there. Kian dove right in to his cake and made a huge mess. Here are some of the many pictures!Kian's little cake. I bought him one and then also got a bigger one for everyone else.

Kian starting to dig in. At first he would only eat with his left hand.

Such a cutie. He does this often, where he leans his head on his shoulder and gives a little smile.

Notice the right hand is still relatively clean. The rest of him, getting messier!

The final result? Absolutely, fantastically filthy! Isn't this how a one year old should look?

Aiden "helped" Kian open his gifts. I think Aiden was more excited than Kian!

I just love this picture! He gave me a great smile! He is so handsome!

Nana and Kian. I hope to be half as beautiful as she is when I'm older! She is a wonderful, wonderful mom and person!

Happy Birthday Kian!

I can't believe that my baby is one today! It seems as though we have always had him and yet he's only one! My Kian is such a blessing to us. He has taught me so much about myself and we love him so much! He definitely is a little spitfire and an intense little boy, but he is such a great kid! Happy birthday munchkin!

good weather, good friends!

What a fun, busy day! We played outside quite a bit today. It was a lovely day and we had a couple friends over for dinner and dessert. Aiden had an absolute blast! He ran around most of the time with his friends playing football, golf etc. He was filthy by the end of the day, but boy it was worth it! It was so nice to sit and catch up with friends and laugh with adults! I am so thankful God has provided good friends here in Elkhart. We will miss the people here dearly!Aiden and his friend Tyler playing today!

Aiden 3 times today told me he wanted me to have another baby! He said that he wants to have a sister. He is so funny! Aid is a great, great brother. He watches out for Kian and loves him very much! It doesn't surprise me that he wants us to have more. He is a wonderful little boy and I just love him so much! Our boys are so very different, but I am so thankful for each of them. They color our life with so much joy and love. It is easy to love them! I'm sure every parent thinks the same about their children. I love my life!

fun fest 09

Today was the ECA auction and fun fest for the kids. Aiden had a great time playing and jumping in the inflatables! He ran around quite a bit today. I went to the auction for a while and got a couple of gift cards. Kian had a terrible day. Actually, he had a great morning, but an awful afternoon and evening. I don't know what his problem was...he cried so stickin' much! I'm thinking he is maybe teething. We went out with our friends the Perstropes for dinner and had a great time. The kids ran around and got lots of energy out. Aiden especially had a great time playing with his friends Tyler and Chloe.

Aiden first noticed the putt-putt (not a huge shocker) and loved putting the ball into the hole!

One of the inflatables. What a difference a year makes! Last year, he didn't play very much in them and couldn't jump very high.
Aiden about to go down the slide
Kian wasn't quite sure about the inflatable. It was either that or the fact that I wasn't holding him. Once he bounced in it, he liked it.
Chad stuck his head in after everyone had left...such a cute pic!

We received an e-mail from our realtor saying that it may take until July 31 to see if we can purchase the house. So, we are going to try to buy the other house instead. We'll see!

counter offer

We just received word from our realtor that we were counter-offered. We aren't sure what to do. It's higher than we wanted to pay and it's with the contingency that it could take "awhile". Well we don't really have "awhile". Our realtor is checking to see exactly what that means. We need to be in a house latest by the end of July, so if this is going to take a long time, then we'll put an offer on the other house. So, we counter offered again and now we are in waiting! The great thing is that I'm not worried about it! If you know me, you know that that's uncommon. I am just so confident that God knows which house is best for us. I praise God that He is in control!

Aiden said something interesting to me today. He saw a baby and looked at me and said, "Mommy, you need to have another baby." I looked at him and said, "yeah?? well, that's probably not going to happen at least not any time soon." So fun what kids will say. He is such a good big brother and would be to another child as well. However, neither of us want another at this time in our lives! Aiden and Kian are definitely enough right now!