Getting Closer!!

So, for those of you who are interested in what is happening with the Newton's house hunting adventure......we are getting closer to closing on a house!! Tomorrow is set to be the court date for the house. Apparently whoever lived in the house died because it is now owned by the city, and they have to sign off on the paperwork. That has been one thing that has taken a long time in this whole process. Well, tomorrow is supposed to be the day!! Then, we have been told we can close very shortly after that!! The only thing that could stop us from being able to close is if the FHA inspection does not go through. So please pray with us that everything goes smoothly with that. It is scheduled to be done either this Friday or early next week. Before we can move in, though, some minor things must be done. The carpet has to be replaced, but since we like paint on the walls we will paint before the new carpet is put in. Ben is going to do a little remodeling also before the new carpet is put in, so even if we close next week we may not get to move in for a few weeks after that, but either way it should be soon!! We have been living in the basement for 3 months now, and we are ready to be able to send the kids to their rooms again! But, when we say we have been in the basement for 3 months, we know that means we are 3 months closer to getting our own house! This has been a good learning experience for our children, though and they know that God will provide for and care for His children even if it is in ways that we didn't expect. I have posted the few pics of the house that I could get off the internet in hopes that everything does work out and we do get this house.

Summer Fun

Well, I am trying out a new blog layout.....let me know what you think. I still need to work on it a bit and tweak some of the tabs to link to the places I want them to link to, but overall I think I like the look of it! It is the middle of August, and I am wondering what happened to the summer?!? We are still living in our pastor's basement, but things are moving forward with us and our home purchase. We were told this week that we can possibly close on or around Sept. 9! WOW! We are definitely getting tired of being so close to each other all the time in the basement, but it is a nice place and we love the people we are staying with. I think they will go through withdrawal when the kids are gone!! We did take a short trip to Texas and dropped the kids off with their Nana and Papa the last week of July. The kids had a blast swimming, playing with their cousins, fishing, bowling, flying on an airplane, and many other things. We were so glad for them to have that opportunity. Because the kids are on year round school, they started back on July 7 and went until July 20, then had 3 weeks off and just started back again this week on Tuesday. Cole turned 10 years old yesterday!! He is getting so big, and he is so smart. His personality is really developing, and he has a great sense of humor! He hasn't totally decided what he wants for his birthday, but he is leaning towards a turtle when we move into our house. He already has a White's Tree Frog and he wants to add a turtle to his pet collection. I am just glad I was able to talk him out of a Ball Python!! He and Jacob have been finding grass snakes like crazy and bringing them home to play with them. It is so funny to have boys, but Annalisa isn't one bit scared of them either! I am glad that they didn't inherit their PeePaw's fear of snakes! In just a few more weeks Annalisa will be 6! She got her ears pierced while we were in Texas and she is super excited about being able to change her earrings on her birthday! Jacob continues to excel in swimming and we are going to look for him a swim team to join once we get settled in our new abode. I will try to post more often once we get out of the basement and in more of a routine like before, but for now I hope you enjoy what I have written!

The Basement

So, for those of you wondering where I have been for the past 2 months.....NO, I didn't fall off the face of the earth, but I did fall into a basement. A couple of posts ago I mentioned that we were having to move out of the house we were renting from my cousin since he and his family were moving back. Since that time we have found and put offers on 2 different houses only to be beaten by other better offers. Besides that, we have found about 5 other houses we wanted to put offers on only to find out that they had "gone under contract" that very morning. Our pastor and his wife have been so gracious as to let our family live in their basement while we try to get a house. We are very grateful that we have a place to live, but we have been in the basement for 6 weeks now, and it is getting very cramped!! We have been praying for God to show us what He has for us since He has closed the doors on all of the houses we have tried to get. We love being in Colorado because we love our church. We have a great group of people that we love working with, and we want to be a part of whatever it is God is doing here. The kids finished school on June 20, and had a two week break, during which my mom, Michael and his family, and Logan all came to visit. We had fun with them in Colorado Springs and here in Aurora. It was a short visit, but it was the first time we had seen them in a year, so we were glad for that. Jacob was thrilled because they watched him at his baseball game. Cole finished up baseball season and his team came in 4th. They played really well at the last two games and Cole has definitely improved after another year of playing. The kids started back to school last week (they are year round), so Cole is now in 5th grade, Jacob in 3rd and Annalisa in 1st! WOW!! What happened to my babies???? I can't believe Cole will be 10 next month! I know now what my mom always meant when she would say "it seems like yesterday when I brought you home from the hospital." SO TRUE!! Where has the time gone?
So, our family is learning sacrifice, sharing, and waiting on the Lord. As we wait, we look at what He IS doing, and we don't get negative about what He ISN'T doing that we THINK He should be doing! Ben always laughs because my life verse is Isaiah 40:31, and boy have we lived that during our 12 1/2 years of marriage!!!

Five Year Old Worries

We all know that it isn't hard for an adult to worry about the things of the future. We sometimes worry about how we are going to afford to send our children to college, or pay for a wedding, or be able to ride alongside our teenage son or daughter as they learn to drive. How will we afford to feed the boys as they grow and eat us out of house and home? What will we do the first time a boy comes to the door to take our daughter out on a date?
I also know that there are things that kids worry about too. Most kids worry about things like...."will I have friends this year in school?" Or, "what if a monster comes out from under my bed tonight and eats my toes off" (because they are dangling off the edge of the bed)? Or, "why does my mom buy my clothes at Wal-Mart...I'm so not cool!" Most of the things that kids worry or stress about are silly and don't amount to much.

I found out,though, over the past few weeks that my five year old daughter worries about her much distant future....alot! As we were in the bathroom and I was blow drying her hair, we had a conversation like this:
AL: "How will I know when I am supposed to be a mommy?"
Me: "Well, you will have a baby in your tummy, so you will know you will be a mommy."
AL: "But, HOW will I KNOW I am supposed to have a baby in my tummy?"
It was almost like she thought she would get a letter telling her it was time to be a mommy!
ME: "Annalisa, you will be married first before you are a mommy, so that is a long way away."
AL: (Now with more worry) "How will I know when I am supposed to get married?"
ME: "Well, you will go to college and probably meet someone there that you will fall in love with and he will ask you to marry him."
AL:"Will you help me find my husband?"
ME:"Sure, but you won't want me to."
AL:"Yes I will or I won't know if I am supposed to get married."
At this point she was actually crying great big crocodile tears--she was so worried that she might miss the sign that she was supposed to get married, then she would never be a mommy.
I told her that was a long way away and we would deal with it when it got closer, then we finished drying her hair. Whew! I got her to stop worrying about marriage and parenthood, so we were good to go!
But, just a few nights ago she brought up college!
AL:"College is a long way away for me."
Ben: "Well then, you better start walking!"
AL:"No, it is a long TIME away for me. But when I go to college I will sleep there."
Me:"Yes, you might stay in a dorm or apartment and live where you go to college."
We then kissed and hugged good-night, and Ben and I went to our room. Not 5 minutes later we could hear Annalisa crying. She sometimes cries because she thinks we forgot to hug or kiss her, so I asked Ben to go see what was wrong with her.
Ben:"What's wrong Princess tooth?" He has been calling her that since she got her crown put on.
AL: (wailing) "When I go to college you won't be there!!!"
Ben:"Annalisa, that is a long time from now."
AL:"But you WON'T BE THERE!!"
Ben then came in to our room trying not to laugh and asked me to come help. I went in and began to talk to Annalisa about how she didn't have to stay in a dorm at college. I told her she could stay with us the first year or two if that's what she wanted....but now she was determined that she wasn't going to college at all!
AL:"Why do people even go to college?"
ME:"So they can get good jobs and make some money so they can have a house to live in."
AL:"But I want to live with you!"
ME:"OK....that's fine....you can live with us."
AL:"I don't want to go to college."
ME:"Why don't we just get through Kindergarten?"
Ben:"Anyway, Annalisa, when you go to college, Mom and I are going to be old and we will probably move in with you so you can take care of US."
Now she is stopping the crying....
ME:"Yeah, and then you will have to give me a birthday party and make me a cake."
AL: (sitting up with big bright eyes) "And I will make you a Hannah Montana birthday cake!!"
ME: "That sounds great! Now, go to sleep."
She was fine after that....probably had great dreams about making her mom a Hannah Montana birthday cake!
It just amazes me the things that worry her! My boys have never worried about marriage, parenthood or college....the most that they worry about is whether or not they will get to play the X-box, Wii, or baseball with their friends. I definitely think boys are easier to deal with! But I do love Annalisa, and at least I know she almost has her future planned out...before 1st grade!!

Trials

Since the last time I posted something, another month has successfully passed us by! The time sure does go by much more quickly now that I am older. We have been renting my cousin's house from him since last Aug. and we have been trying to do some small things to fix it up and make it feel "more like home". One of those things included painting the walls in the living room, kitchen and dining room. Ben spent about a week painting the walls and giving the house a make-over. We were very pleased with the results, only to find out a week later that we aren't really going to get to enjoy the fruit of that labor. God has other plans for us, and for my cousin's family, because they will be the ones to enjoy it (or change it). We are having to move in the next 6 weeks, so we have made some steps to see where it is that God is going to move us. Of course, I have my own ideas about where I think it should be, but I have lived long enough following God to know that my ideas are never as awesome as His, so instead of telling Him what I think He should do, I am asking Him to show us what He has for us. I know that God has something wonderful in store for my family, even if I am pretty stressed out about the whole thing---hey, I am still human, and a mom with three kids' educations to consider! We have spoken with the mortgage lady and everything is looking good so far-of course dependent on how much of a down payment we can come up with--but we are hoping to look at some houses today. YAY!!!

Two days after we found out we are having to move, we found out Annalisa has an abcessed tooth and 3 cavities to boot! WOW! She had been complaining intermittently about her cheek hurting, and I figured she had just bitten it. Then on a Sunday morning she woke up screaming, "It's not my cheek, it's my tooth!" So, I took a look and it seems that part of her tooth is missing. She must have gotten some food stuck in there and it got infected, thus leading to her mouth being so swollen by that night that she looked like she was playing Chubby Bunny--and was winning--with about 15 marshmallows stuffed in her mouth!!! She was in serious pain, so we doped her up with Motrin and Orajel until we could get her in to the dentist Monday morning. The dentist gave me the fatal news---the tooth must go to the tooth fairy. This, of course, was a bit exciting for Annalisa who hasn't had any teeth go to the tooth fairy yet....so she sees $$$$. She will be fitted for a spacer (it is a jaw tooth on the bottom) so that she will be less likely to need braces later. There is another jaw tooth on the other bottom side that will get a Princess Crown--wow, this dentist was really talking it up to Annalisa--and she will have to breath "bubble gum air" for the procedure. Annalisa went in terrified and came out smiling, telling Ben "and I will feel like I am walking on clouds!" (kicking her leg in the air for effect). This will not be cheap mind you, so all I am thinking is, "Why is my 5 year old's mouth going to cost more than my flat screen TV?" We go in this Monday (May 5) to start the whole process, so I took the day off of work! I always like days off!!
The last thing is--apparently Spring in Colorado is NOT the same as Spring in Texas!! May 1 it snowed 7 hours non-stop! At least the sun is out again today and warming things up again--I LOVE the sun!!! In the words of Sheryl Crow "I wanna soak up the sun".....but lately I am changing that to be "I wanna soak up the SON"!