What are we up to?

Anybody want an update of life around here??

I thought so.

As of this moment: Matt is out in CO helping with the family. His wonderful, steadfast Grandpa became ill fairly suddenly and is in the hospital. He will not be able to return to regular life as we all think of it, again. This is emotional and stressful for everyone. Although I miss Matt tremendously, I am so thankful for his strength and faith and the wonderful support he can provide to his Mom and the family.

The girls and I are doing okay. It is not easy being at home over the extra long weekend with pouring freezing rain and a very angry neighbor. But, God has truly made himself known to me and turned yesterday into a wonderful day and today really was fun too.

I truly felt God had left me on my own after a huge explosion from Annabelle yesterday morning (following a donut treat) which left all of us in tears. But, He came through and all was turned around. I took some deep breaths, and then took the girls over to see the new house (they hadn't seen it yet). I told them to run around like crazy and make a ton of noise! This was extremely soothing for everyone (except maybe the realtor).

I also decided to eliminate sugar for Annabelle for the rest of the weekend. Wow! What a change in her. She seems normal. Not one explosive episode since. She has been upset and even had a timeout. It's not like she turned into some kindof alien-perfecto child. But, she can recover. She can control her emotions. She is happy and more level.

I also eliminated sugar for me. Ouch.

This was an act of empathy. Also I have wanted to do it for a while but have been unable to muster the courage. So, we made a trip to the store for some Stevia (I'm not giving up my coffee too!) and I threw away the donuts. Yep. Threw them right in the trash. I'm noticing some definite headaches and a bit of shakiness. I think I was more hooked on it than I had realized.

On the neighbor/moving front: We put an offer on a house and are waiting for the details of the renovation loan to be worked out. Yep, it's a fixer-upper. It looks kindof like a diner car from the outside and my childhood 1970's era home on the inside. (Good ol' 5th place) But, it has good bones, a great yard, beautiful trees and we can make as much noise as we please!

Prayer is appreciated. We hope to close on April 1 and then they are saying 30 days to do the work needed. Our landlord has agreed to let us out of our lease (!) and we are supposed to be moved by April 15. Where are we staying in between? Hmmm. Your guest room? Ha! God will provide - that I know.

God is so good and so surprising and so faithful. I can hardly sing His praises loudly enough.