Tuesday, June 28, 2005

Closing

We finally have a final closing appointment! Thursday at 11 a.m. we will sign papers and receive the keys to our new house!!!! We have been packing and hoping that everything would happen before kids camp and it looks like we may get to move on Saturday. Our house is a disaster, but I think I'm making progress toward the goal. Sometimes it's hard to tell. :0)

After camp Tony will be taking a week of vacation so that we are able to settle in. It may be a while before I post again - probably after camp at least, but then I'll put in some pictures of all the excitement and let you know how camp went. We are leading praise and worship. It's an awesome opportunity and blessing to see 400 - 500 kids honoring God through worship. The kids from our church are primed and ready to experience a new level of relationship with the Lord and to have a super time building relationships with each other. It should be a great week!

Friday, June 17, 2005

Huh?


Huh?
Originally uploaded by Sarah Snavely.
So, I'm sitting here tonight vegging out and doing a little work on the laptop for kids church (Tony is at a campout with some of the Rangers from church), when the Big Brother at our house picks up a pen and some paper to make a picture for his friend Josh. Once he fills the paper with circles and squiggles, he asks me, "Mom, how do you spell Josh?"

I'm absorbed in what I'm doing and don't answer soon enough, so he says, "Josh starts with 'j', right, Mom?"

"Mmhmm...", I reply.

"How do you make a 'j'? Like this?"

I finally pull myself out of what I'm doing and look at his picture to find he has started Josh's name on his own! He made a letter 'j'! Wow! As is evidenced by the masking tape 'f' on our basement floor, our feeble attempt at homeschool preschool only took us through the letter 'f' this year. And we didn't really learn to write any of the letters. My son has learned all by himself how to make a letter 'j'.

Well, that got me to thinking...how many letters can he make on his own? We finished Josh, then did Haven, Travis and Stacie, all with minimal assistance. I think I must have the smartest 3 1/2 year old around! I got around to suggesting writing the alphabet about the time he ran out of steam, but he did write ABCD for me. His letters are legible, too. Needless to say, I am impressed!

Thursday, June 16, 2005

the little man


the little man
Originally uploaded by Sarah Snavely.
This Little One is the most amazing baby around. He has discovered his hands. Most of his time is now spent getting them to his mouth so he can suck on them and poke himself in the eye. It's quite the talent! His smile is so beautiful. It really makes you feel as though you are the most loved person in the world and makes you love him so much at the same time.

Yesterday at the young mom's small group at our house we put him next to a little boy who is four weeks older. They sat looking at each other for several minutes, just cooing and gurgling back and forth. It was quite the conversation.

Sister Bear and play-doh


Sister Bear and play-doh
Originally uploaded by Sarah Snavely.
This is the new favorite plaything at our house. They love it! We recently were given a whole set of play-doh toys and play-doh, so Sister Bear and Big Brother have been creating and manipulating. This Sister Bear has been talking so much lately. Tonight we were getting in the car and she said, "whe we gon', mah? N da cah?" Sunday morning I picked her up out of nursery early, before the end of service, and she excitedly began looking for her Big Brother. She was yelling his name and wondering, "whe'd de go?" I keep hoping to catch some of her baby babble on video, but have yet to get it done.

She has also recently mastered riding her push along trike. She has picked up some pretty good speed. She and Big Brother were riding through puddles this afternoon.

on the playground


on the playground
Originally uploaded by Sarah Snavely.
The Big Brother at our house has been talking non-stop this week. I think my nerves are just about shot! He is shooting out rapid fire questions and giving his commentary on life every moment he is awake. I'm afraid I've commanded silence a few too many times because Sister Bear has begun growling his name the past few days when he begins bothering her. It's really cute, but probably one of those things I'm going to have to stop.

He is becoming aware of his surroundings in a new way, wanting to know if we are lost if he doesn't know where we are driving, paying attention to people he sees in restaurants and stores and making comments about them (no embarrassing ones, yet!), and asking his dad if we can go to Texas. Why does he want to go to Texas? I don't really know. He picked up somewhere that that was our vacation spot and he is ready to drop everything and return. He is also reading letters as we drive around town. "L-E-T-O-H. What does that spell, mom?" (It's 'hotel' for those who didn't see it backward! It was a vertical sign.) He's growing up! Kindergarten is still 2 years away, but I don't know if he'll wait that long to read!

The picture above is on the playground at our church. He was playing outside for a part of his Rainbows class tonight.

Saturday, June 04, 2005

A Place to Love Living

This has been a weekend of downs and ups. I know it's supposed to be ups and downs, but we had our down before our up, so that's how it's been for us. We found out on Thursday that our beloved new home had not appraised for as much as we needed it to for the loan we were needing. Needless to say, after some negotiations that failed, we were asking for our earnest money back and had begun the search for another house that would fit our family and our dreams. Now, after getting our heart set on this house, finding another that would equal was not going to be an easy task! We went to see one this morning. Five bedrooms, three bathrooms, 2200 sq. feet of house, 430 sq. feet of deck. It was nice. It was in our price range....kinda. But it was just a place to live, not a place to love living. So, we looked and came home. We talked a little, but it just wasn't the spot.

Then came the news: She has changed her mind! Our house is now available to us again, a new contract is to be signed tomorrow. That is wonderful, but that is not all. It is now available to us at a price below our original offer and $25,000 below her original asking price!!! WOW! The Lord is incredible! What a weekend, and it's only Saturday evening! We are so excited. We are feeling amazingly blessed. What is it that Ephesians says....He is able to do abundantly more than we could ever ask or imagine!