Well, we took the plunge!

I told my principal that Nathan and I had been doing a lot of soul searching and financial planning and I will most likely not be back next year. I won't turn my official resignation to the school district until spring but felt I needed to be honest so that she can find a great replacement for next school year.

I can't believe that I am going to be a SAHM for the first time, as we treated my time at home after having Will as more of an unpaid maternity leave. If all goes well, I will stay at home until Will starts school.

It has been a real lifestyle change but I think that we have been smart by living a more simple lifestyle while we still have my income. Its made it possible for us to pay some things off and really begin piling up our savings. It has been a walk of faith for me and I feel that my relationship with God is really becoming stronger. Before, I wanted to control every aspect of my life very carefully and now I'm relying on Him more and more and I feel such a peace at letting go.

We are also looking into becoming foster parents to babies. We are just starting the preliminary paperwork and seeing about getting into the classes. It will probably take a long time but is something that has been on our hearts since we stopped running the group home. We would plan to only have one at a time as our car will not support more than 3 small children and a mini-van is definitely not in the new budget anytime soon.

I'm sure that some who are close to me will not think that we are making a wise decision. Someone asked me recently, when talking about our choice, why we were making any changes when our kids seem to be happy, well-adjusted kids already. I was a little stumped at first, but then all of a sudden the Good Lord put the right words in my mouth. I told this person that I could have the material luxuries that my job provides or the luxury of more time with my children. When put that way, it was an easy decision for me. This person understood completely and was accepting of our decision. I'm not so sure we will be as lucky with other people in our lives but know in our hearts what is best for us.
Please keep us in your prayers as we embark on very uncharted territory for us. It is wonderful and scary all at the same time. I'm sure that through prayer and faith in Him, it will become even more wonderful and less scary everyday.

And, just for fun, here are a few pictures of the kids from last weekend. We have a dear friend who was sick in a very plain and ugly hospital room. We decided to create some artwork to brighten it up. So, please add our friend, Jo, to your prayers. She is having a hard time getting over her pneumonia.

Oh, and in new news, Will is really walking a lot now! He does still crawl some, when it is more convenient, but walks a lot. He has the funniest gait, like Charlie Chaplin and, you can tell he was in the cruising phase for a long time because sometimes I'll catch him side-stepping when he could just go forward. Too cute!

Not Me Monday (a day early)

Okay, I've only done Not Me Monday one other time before but thought I would give it another try.

1. I did not find myself so lazy that I did not feel up to figuring out how to link my Not Me Monday to MckMama's blog. I am very computer savvy and never feel intimidated by others' blogging abilities.
2. I did not get the giggles when I was uploading pictures and found this slightly blurry picture of our dog Molly looking as if she is casting some kind of spell with her eyes. I am a very mature woman who deletes such nonsense and would never go so far as to actually post it on her blog for anyone to see.
3. I did not, out of laziness, decide to try giving my food obsessed 17 month old a whole half of a banana instead of cutting it up into small pieces. I know my child very well and would have stopped myself, realizing that. . . . .

. . . he would decide to shove as much of it as possible into his mouth at one time! I am a very responsible parent who takes chocking hazards very seriously.4. I did not get so relaxed during my holiday from work that I let my children's play room get to this point. I am a wonderful housekeeper and would never use my children's nap time to read a book instead of organizing such a mess. My children's play room would never look like this one.

5. I did not have as much fun as my children playing with all of the new Christmas toys. I most certainly did not have fun organizing all of the new Little People toys into a little village after my kids went to bed at night. I spend that time cleaning up and reorganizing, not playing with the toys of a 1 and 4 year old!

I hope everyone has a great Monday!

Now for the Good Pictures!

On Christmas Day, Madeline got a bathrobe from her Great Mema and modeled it for everyone. Can you tell Nathan is her Daddy? I guess I was purely responsible for birthing her:)
Will was more into collecting wrapping paper than actually finishing opening gifts or playing with what was inside them. He was really cute trying to fit as much paper in his hands as he could.

My parents refurbished an older family bike for Maddie to learn on. She took it for its first spin right in their living and dining room.

Right after my parents got settled into their new house, they decided to get a new dog. They adopted this puppy from a rescue shelter and named her Macy. She is supposed to be a shitzo (sp?) beagle mix. We will all be interested to see what she looks like full grown but she sure is a cute puppy.

Oh, and just a quick side note. I also celebrated my 29th birthday on Dec. 28th. It was a quiet celebration but nice. I am not unhappy about turning 30 next year because I know what blessed life I have had and just feel grateful for each and every year.

Happy New Year everyone!