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!