Our New (to us) Van

Our white van died. It went to the salvage yard and we drove my parent's car for a few weeks while we tried to find a van that would work. While the Lord wasn't speedy (or we were impatient) He was faithful in providing exactly what we needed. These pics are from the afternoon Daddy brought the new van home. The girls were very excited to check it out.

This van has automatic doors- the girls love it and think its so fancy.

We ended up buying our van off of Craig's list. While some people might feel this is very risky we felt like God gave us full assurance this was the van he had picked out for us. And since we were committed to paying cash we needed to find the very best deal possible. When we purchased the van we knew it had only had one owner who was retired. It was in pristine condition and hadn't had the "love" kids bring. (aka sticky fingers, muddy shoes, and spare french fries) But we were so blessed when Jeremy picked up the van and the seller gave us this file of papers. In it was the date of every oil change it has ever had, every service record, every receipt for tires, etc. God really did go above and beyond what we "needed" and gave us more than we could ask for or imagine which includes leather heated seats!!!! I'm so thankful for his constant provision in our lives.

Trip to Deer Park

Our play group took a trip to Deer Park in Quincy. We had some car trouble and arrived late. When we finally got there they were checking out the flower garden & greenhouse.

I got some great shots of the kids.


Except for Titus. He was to busy throwing a fit.



After checking out the garden area which the kids loved we went back to feed some of the animals. we actually didn't feed any deer and the animals weren't overly hungry but it was still fun.



Titus and Shea decided to eat their bread instead.


We finished our afternoon with a picnic lunch and a few errands before heading back to Hannibal.

Yardsale

Since our Spring yard sale was so successful we decided to do one this fall. This time friends from church donated items to sale in addition to our own stuff in order to help our adoption fund. The weather wasn't as cooperative this time and we battled rain most of Friday and Saturday morning. But overall we had a great sale and made $400. Here Grace and Wyatt are trying to sell cupcakes. Due to the rain this venture wasn't very successful but Grace worked hard at it during the few dry moments after school.

We are planning and collecting items for another sale in the Spring. Our fund is growing one treasure at a time. We are so thankful to the families who went through their stuff and shared things with us for our sale.

Personality in a Picture

Last year around this time I did a post I entitled "Personality in a Picture." I thought it might be a fun thing to do each year as I watch the kids grow and change. So here are the pics I chose this year.

Grace, My Little Miss Worker Bee

I understand myself better by watching Grace. She loves to accomplish a task. When she "plays" she is often getting something done or making up a task to accomplish. This picture was from a day off from school when we visited the park. She did play for awhile, but then she went over and started "raking" leaves. She made a huge pile and then transfered them to the park's trash can. She wasn't working, to her it was fun to see something accomplished.
Faith, My Little Miss Clean
Faith is all about being clean. (at least when it comes to her hands- her bedroom floor is a totally different story) She is one diligent woman when it comes to hand washing. She faithfully scrubs them after each meal, snack, going outside, or anything else that makes them sticky, dirty, or unclean. If we are out and about and we have a snack I had better have a wet wipe or she kind of melts down. She generally stays out of mischief by herself but she has gotten into trouble playing in the sink on several occasions. While I definitely see myself in this too (I was anti any sticky foods as a child cinnamon rolls, glazed doughnuts, rice crispy treats etc.) Faith's hand washing reminds me most of Aunt Jo Jo. ;)
Titus, My Little Mr. Mischief
I hope by next year I can find a personality trait to point out for Titus that doesn't involve him getting into things! But, for now it deserves recognition because he is an expert at finding things he shouldn't get into and then getting into them. These pics are from a day he found the peanut butter jar. Now lest you think I leave my peanut butter jar lying around the house...Titus pulled over our desk chair, climbed up to the counter and retrieved it. Then he had himself a snack. I found him covered from head to toe in it. I also found it down the hall, on the couch.....well, you get the point. Look at that smile, he is so proud of himself. He also recently got the Clorox spray out of the sink and sprayed his eyes. That was a lot scarier! Titus, trouble seems to find you....or maybe you and the desk chair find it. (I would like to give a disclaimer that we tried cabling our desk chair to our desk and he pulled the entire desk away from the wall.) But I'm looking forward to that determination making you great at something someday. (Daddy would probably say football, but I don't care what it is as long as its something more positive.)
Oh, how I love watching their personalities develop! I am so blessed (and busy).