Happy Birthday to Chris

My best friend has his birthday yesterday! I love birthdays. The girls wanted him to have a "laptop" cake so that's what I made. I didn't throw much time or money into it because I've had other things on the go lately (like getting the house ready to sell). It turned out okay though for the amount of effort that went into it. We bought him a housecoat for a gift which both the girls right away said he needed a couple of weeks ago when I bought Theo one. Dad was the only one without a housecoat and that wasn't good :) Hallie, the party planner, has been trying to play her party games since Saturday and we keep putting her off. Sorry to everyone in Lethbridge but this week is super busy for us and so we've put her off until the weekend when there will be more people to celebrate with! We did play a game or too on Friday night though when we were at Steve and Lisa's. Hallie received the book "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" for her birthday from Sarah (Raya's aide) since she had a Chocolate Factory party. We've been reading a chapter to her in the evenings and she finished the book on Saturday. SO, we rented the movie and bought Wonka candies and did that to wrap up Dad's party on Saturday.

I'm glad we celebrated early because yesterday turned out to be crazy. I've been trying to hear from God what he wants us to do with the house and where we should buy etc and I keep getting this "It doesn't matter to me" thought. It's a little disturbing. 'what, you don't care, it doesn't matter, it's not important??' And then I got to thinking....I care about my kids, about everything about them, I want all the details, I want to be involved, I want them to be responsible, I love them more than anything but sometimes, I allow them to make decisions that just don't matter to me. I, of course, want them to be the best they can be, and be responsible and to take advantage of opportunities that they have to serve others etc but sometimes, their decision doesn't really affect me. For example, If I take Hallie to 7-11 and give her $1.00, I don't really care if she spends all of it or some, if she buys eight 5 cent candies and then a 25 cent one...it's her choice. I want her to share them if she gets the chance, hopefully not eat them all before supper but ultimately, it doesn't matter to me. I want her to learn to make choices and I'm happy for her with whatever she chooses.

Of course, buying a house is a much larger scale but in God's world, with all that he has to 'deal with' it's maybe not. Perhaps his saying, "my child, I've blessed you, be responsible, take advantage of the opportunties you have to serve others whereever you are but it's up to you where you would like to live.
Any thoughts from anyone on that?

Well, the Cardel office in Cranston called yesterday and said that the original lot that we wanted when we first went in was now available. The financing had fell through for the other people and we could take it if we decided before the 11th. This lot was 13000 less than the one that we were waiting to see would go off 'hold', which by-the-way is now sold. So, if this lot wouldn't have come available we wouldn't have been able to build in Cranston. We drove past the lot, #25, and took a great look at it. It's super deep compared to most and close to the end of the street. It's got some extra parking across the street which is great because we like to have company. It also has a nice back fence up already and no neighbors behind!

We went into the showhome to talk to Mark. He went through all the structural upgrades with us and gave us our final price! We will go tonight with a deposit cheque and do the paper work...hopefully we can find a babysitter :) Taking the kids in there is getting a bit tough on everyone. They've been good but it's often past their bedtime and there really isn't anything for them to do there.

When I was growing up my Uncle and Aunt had a little playhouse for their kids. I can't remember what the exact house number was but it was something like 2567 which was the age of their kids at the time they bought it. I loved this little playhouse and always dreamed of my own. Well, it looks like I'm now getting it....Our new address will be 136 Cranberry Circle and my children today are 1, 3, and 6. Coincidence? or God's suddle way of 'winking' at me.

So, all that is left is the financing and Chris and I have both told ourselves that we won't be hung up and too disappointed if it doesn't work out. Oh right!! and then we need to sell our house :)

Some friends from church are "referring" us to Cardel and they will get $5000.00 which they have agreed to split with us. They will get the money within 30 days of us moving in which means we will be able to get blinds!!!

Happy Birthday to Chris!