I Miss...

I miss... Seeing McKenna snuggle with Nate as if he was her own brother.
I miss... taking pictures of five kids.

I miss....giggling over the tackle hugs.

See, he survived.

I most definitely miss...the world's greatest babysitter!!

---------------

And I'm so sad that for three nights in a row Christian has sobbed and sobbed over missing Emma, Abby and Nate.

--------

I miss them too, Chrish, I miss them too!

Today

is a big day! We should know for sure after today if we are definitely moving or not!!! We've been waiting for the results of the appraisal and we should hear something by the end of today. The buyer has also requested a termite inspection and that will take place today.

A lot of you have been wondering what our PLAN is and quite frankly we don't really have one :) I'm fine with the "no plan" PLAN one minute and then the next minute I'm getting all emotional about the fact that I don't know where I'm going to set up our Christmas tree in December. I know that seems silly, but it's really been bothering me. We are trying to find a place to rent (that's decent) for the short term, but no one wants to rent to us short-term. They want us to sign a year lease, so we might have to do that and just loose our security deposit if we break the lease, which I hope we do :)

We have a house in mind that we're going to make an offer on, but we're going to make a very insulting offer and offer them way less than their asking price. But the house has major issues (like it needs a new roof - major), it's in foreclosure and has been on the market with only one offer since last December. So we're going to go for it and give it a try and see what happens. We don't have a back up plan. We aren't in love with any other houses on the market right now, so we might just have to wait. Who knows why this is all unfolding like it is, but I do know that Jesus has a plan for every detail of this and we're trusting him! or trying to trust him and not worry about the Christmas tree and other unnecessary thoughts that keep running through my head.

So back to today... I plan on packing my kitchen :) We'll see if I make more progress than yesterday!

I was going to...

start packing today. But so far I've only packed one box and I've got tons of laundry that still needs to be folded and put away. I've been trying to find a decent rental that will rent to us SHORT TERM! Not so easy. No one wants to do a short term lease. Things could get interesting in a hurry :)

Success!

Can you believe it? Look at how great this turned out!!
When the cousins were visiting I decided ((very last minute)) to drag everyone to the mall. I just really wanted a picture of all of them together, but that is so hard to accomplish...we try all the time and it's rarely successful. I think the last time we were successful was last Christmas.

But the girl took 5 pictures and that first one ((at the top of the page)) turned out pretty good. You might think Mckenna is smiling, but really she's about to start bawling!

Of course, these girls are pros.

Cute or what?

And the boys tolerated it and we bribed them just a little.

But you'll notice very few pictures of McKenna because she is a terror when it comes to pictures. As soon as she sees a picture studio she freaks out, so we're going to have to get some pictures of her done this fall when it's cooler outside.

Baseball Buddies

For Ryan...this is perfection...An afternoon at the ball field with his favorite guy.
I love this one of Christian following Ryan.

It was hot, but Christian ran the bases anyway in his "real baseball pants."

Later Christian told me that he never wants to go back to that ball field because the bases are too far apart and he has to run too much.

I have a feeling I will be spending years of my life watching Christian swing at baseballs.

P.S. My computer's back! So I'm back! So happy that's over!

Operation Christmas Child Revisited!!

I'm so glad that so many of you responded to my post about Operation Christmas Child shoe boxes! I am so passionate about this project and here's why....about two years ago a sixth grader from the Sunday School class I taught went to Africia with her mom to help pass out the Operation Christmas Child shoe boxes. I couldn't wait to hear about her trip when she came back and what she shared with our class just made me cry. You see, the school she went to didn't have enough boxes for all the children, so the teachers picked one child per family from only the poorest families. The children who were going to get shoe boxes stayed inside in the cafeteria and the other children went outside to play because they weren't going to receive a thing. Now you would think that these children receiving the boxes would be out of their minds with excitement but apparently they passed out the boxes and the children just sat there. No giggling with anticipation, no opening the boxes before they were supposed to. They just sat there and then calmly opened their box once they were given permission. They didn't smile or get excited even once their boxes were opened because they had NEVER received a present before. They didn't understand that they got to keep what was inside, that it was for them. After a few minutes the room began to buzz with excitement as they slowly realized the gift they had been given, but I'm sure it was dampened by the fact that not all the kids could share in this JOY. I can hardly stand the thought of those beautiful brown skinned children who are precious gifts of God walking home empty handed and shoeless, next to their friend carrying a box with treasures inside. It just makes me want to bring them home. So that's why we did 10 boxes last year and that's why we'll do more this year. And that's why I'm hoping that you'll get passionate about this too! It's just so easy to do!
The shoe boxes are usually due right before Thanksgiving. Many local Churches will collect them (you could easily call around to different churches and find one once it's November) and Chick-fil-a usually does too. I think you can get a coupon for a free chicken sandwich or something if you bring in a box. You'll have to check with your local chick-fil-a! Let me know if you end up doing it and can't find a donation site near you. I'll try to find one for you!
And don't forget about the Kmart deals this week. I'm planning on gettting a few free things for the shoe boxes!

Deals

Hey friends....so I'm here at the library...AGAIN... missing my computer soooo much. But it's been good in a way! I'm reading a great book that I'll have to share about later when I have more time. It's a great read. I've gone on more bike rides and read more pictures books this week than I have all summer. But I still miss my computer and can't wait to get it back.

I was surprised that so many of you didn't know that Walmart did price matching, so I wanted to share a few more things that you won't want to miss this week!!!

1. More about Walmart...It's so easy to price match there. The cashiers almost always know what to do to adjust the price. Just make sure you tell them to adjust the price as they're ringing you up, not at the end of the transaction! It's an easy way to save tons of money.

2. Target just started price matching, but it's a little more complicated. You complete your transaction at the check out line and then take your receipt over to the service desk along with the sale fliers from other stores, and they will refund you the difference. Still at great deal, but not convenient when you have kids with you. I've never done it at Target. It sounds like too much hassle, but if Target is closer for you than Walmart then it might be worth it!

3. HERE'S WHAT I DON'T WANT YOU TO MISS>>>>>This week is doubles week at Kmart. I NEVER go to Kmart b/c I think their prices are too high, but this week they will double any coupon up to $2.00. So you can have a $2 coupon and they will double it to $4!!!! Hello...FREE STUFF!!! Check out http://hip2save.blogspot.com for a whole list of stuff you can get for FREE. If you are new to couponing, have a Kmart and have a computer with a printer...you can do this!! There are a few rules: only 10 coupons per transaction (so people just don't go crazy). And your total has to be $25.00 before the coupons (very easy to do). Give it a try! I've already told Ryan I'll be going a few times this week. Anytime I can get cereal for free...I'm on it :)

Operation Christmas Child Shoeboxes

I just wanted to take a second to get you thinking about Operation Christmas Child Shoe boxes. I'm sure most of you have heard of this before and participated. If you haven't you can check out the Samaritan's Purse Website for more info.

Last year my goal was to fill as many boxes as we could and we ended up doing ten! I started shopping in October and got some pretty good deals so I ended up spending about $70.00 on the boxes, plus the shipping costs which I think is $7.00 a box which is the most expensive part! This year my plan is to do even more boxes and spend less money! That's why I started about a month ago. We have a big plastic tub in our garage and every time I see a deal I buy it and put it in the tub. Christian is even catching on. He calls it the "poor box" and most of the time whenever he gets a Happy Meal the toy ends up going in the "poor box" because he's starting to realize that he has so much and has a desire to help other kids who aren't as blessed. I love it that we constantly have this conversation about the "poor kids" because we are constantly picking something up for them!

Anyway, have you been paying attention to these awesome back-to-school sales????

Toy R Us has boxes of 24 Crayola crayons for $0.25

Target has colored pencils for $0.88

Staples has 5 packs of Bic highlighters for $1.00 (use the coupon on coupons.com to get it even cheaper)

You can get FREE pencils at Kmart when you purchase other school supplies.

There are some amazing sales. The list goes on and on.

Now I don't run around to all these different stores. I just go to Walmart and take all the sale fliers with me and have the cashier price match everything at the register. The person behind me in line gets annoyed but I just keep in mind that I'm not doing this for me, I'm doing it for some sweet child in Haiti who has never had a new set of Crayola crayons.

So get started now!! Do as many boxes as you can! Snatch up all the cheap back to school supplies that you can. Save your Happy Meal toys and remember that you're really packing a box for a family not just a child. We always include things like plastic utensils, multiple toothbrushes, wash cloths, soap, combs, socks, deodorant, etc.