God Provides. Again.

So, as it turns out, our old van sold today, at the exact price we were asking. When you add that price to the settlement from Michael's Jeep rear ending...wait, I didn't mention that?

OK.

Michael had a fender bender and the back hatch doesn't open, the hitch got bent down - anyway - the Jeep was considered a total loss BUT our insurance company took a fraction off and let us keep the very driveable Jeep. So we got a settlement. (the body shop can fix the hatch, they say, for less than $100 in a non-beautiful way.)

So when you add the price of the settlement to the price we got today from the Dodge minivan: it totals exactly what we paid for our new minivan.

The happy dance is most definitely called for. We are praising God for His many blessings.

God Provides.

About 3 months ago, we called off our search for a minivan. Yesterday, we found the "perfect" van, unexpectedly, but not by accident. We drove about 45 minutes to see it, as the ad on Craigslist (photo from the ad) only had an address, no phone number and no response to the email I'd sent.

We went using our recently refreshed Dave Ramsey deal making skills, particularly the power of cash, the skill to shut up (and listen) and the ability to walk away. We had a set price, which was $800 below the asking price, and we had the cash in hand (nerve wracking, to say the least, carrying around that much cash). And the whole way there I was coaching myself not to get too attached so that I wouldn't be disappointed to walk away - I knew there was only a very slim chance our offer would be accepted. And I was praying, too, that God would make it very clear to us whether we should purchase a van.

But really, it was worth the risk of that drive. The worst that could happen is that we'd get there and turn around and re-deposit the money in our savings account.

Much to our amazement, they took our offer and threw in a couple of cupcakes for the boys from their son's 12th birthday party. And now we are the owners, for better or for worse, of a one-owner (it had 2 miles on it when they bought it), very clean 2003 Chevy Venture with 8 passenger seating, AWD, and some other nifty features, including a working air conditioner for our sticky summer days. A definite bonus blessing. We paid about 2500 less than the private party blue book value. God is gracious to us. We are praising HIM for this blessing, and pray that we can use what He has provided to honor Him and serve others!

my little sweaties

It's summertime, or at least it feels that way. My little guys are growing up - they're becoming very independent, interactive, verbal. It's wonderful. And terrifying. Am I ready to basically start over with a newborn? Not really, but I do love that baby stage too.

Both kids have been coming up with adorable things that are just out of the blue, Aaron especially.

He's been trying to quantify his love for us - saying things like, "I love you taller than the house" etc. Well, the other night he said, as he was squeezing me tight, "Mom, guess how much I love you?" I, expecting to hear some off the wall comparison, was not ready to hear, "As much as my heart can hold!!!" And cue the tears. *SIGH* I love being a mom.

Then, a couple days ago, when we were riding in the van and listening to a tape of kids' songs, Aaron said, "Hey mom, can I have some rock-a-roll music?" Knowing how crazy my kids can be I just said, "what? what is that?" He came back with, "You know, when the guys bang on the drums really hard and play guitar like this (demonstration) and move their heads like this (headbanging demo) and it's really loud?" We haven't had ANY music discussions with our kids, I'm pretty sure he's never seen anything like that on TV and he hasn't been to any concerts - I have no idea where he came up with all the details but I was laughing pretty hard about that.

I told him that mommy didn't like crazy music because the people seem like they are out of control. But I did eject the tape and turn on my favorite local station, featuring easy listening oldie-type music, and John Denver was playing - "Sunshine on My Shoulders" that seemed to do the trick for him. Ha ha.

Next time, Evan stories. I can definitely tell that he's almost 3.

Cheese Cake (not that kind)

Michael had a birthday, yesterday. And as he could live forever never tasting another dessert (WEIRDO!), for the past couple of years, I've tried to come up with a celebratory substitute.

This year, it was a cheese-cake. Cheese, olives, bacon, cream cheese. That's it. It was appreciated. Happy 31st to my fantastic husband!! (we also had homemade maple ice cream, which was sweet, for the rest of us, ha ha!)

By the way, the statement that he is fantastic is quite possibly the understatement of the millennium. I am a very blessed woman.