Laughter!

It is one of the things that brings me so much joy... watching the older kids interact with the baby!  I can't even explain what it does to my heart.  They all love Nathanael so much.  He is a blessed kid!  Here are two short, but cute videos of some of their play!

  

The House Next Door

** The following post was (mostly) written before I went to Honduras, but it got stuck in the draft folder and I forgot about it.  So here is the story and PICTURES of the new house. :)

Wow!  What a whirlwind the last few weeks have been!  I am still in the midst of unpacking boxes, getting used to a new space, walking up and down stairs, figuring out where to put all of our stuff, and the emotional upheaval that any move is for a mama.  We just bought a house!!  This house was really just dropped into our laps.  We did not pursue buying a home, but our neighbor really wanted us to have it.  As they began to make preparations to sell it, he kept mentioning it to David.  David and I were convinced that we couldn't afford it so we didn't really seriously consider it at first.  Our neighbor even spoke to a bank loan officer about us.  We gave it into God's hands and waited and waited!  In many ways, it was nice not to go through to emotional roller coaster of house-shopping. We just kept living life as normal.  If God provided and worked out the loan, we would take the house as a gift from His hand.  If not, we would just continue on in faith. At one point the waiting did get hard. I just wanted to know something.  But just after this point, things started moving quickly and before we knew it, we were signing papers and gathering our fabulous group of movers!!  So many of our friends pitched in to help us carry stuff from the blue house to the yellow house.  :)
So we are rejoicing and thanking God for this blessing... and I am still unpacking boxes!

At the request of my mom and for those who don't live in KY, here are some pictures I took today of our  house.

front of the house

kitchen from back door hallway.  The downstairs bathroom is behind me as I take this photo, as is the laundry area.

Standing in the kitchen doorway (which is also the bottom of the stairs and a door to the dining room).  This is the school area.  Rachel is on the computer in this picture.

Standing in the same spot as above picture, but looking into the living room area.  These two areas make up the front room of the house, big and open.

Still standing in the same place, but turned around and looking into the dining room.  The stairs are beyond that door frame on the left.  The door you see straight ahead is one door to the master bedroom.  You also enter my bedroom from a door across from the downstairs bathroom.  Notice the stained glass window on the far wall, and the beautiful floor that David and his friend put down.

This is taken from the landing of the stairs.  The upstairs bathroom is to the right  right at the top of the stairs (you can't see that door in this picture).  The door you can see on the right is the boys room.  Straight down the hall is Nathanael's room, and the doorway to the left is the girls room.

This is Silas in his room with his lego creation.  It's a helicopter!  He was teaching me how to build one. :) 

This is Micah on the front porch in the Honduran made hammock that I brought home.  Everyone loves it!!  Notice the blue house in the background!