Time to catch up

Hi everyone...
Well... it's been three long, busy, tiring months, but we've made it through! For those of you who don't yet know, we moved about 7 weeks ago into a 4/2/2 apartment. We absolutely love our new place and are so excited about the change that's taken place in our lives.

First, let me tell you about our home. We decided to let Joshua and Anna share a room so that they can have a separate play room to spend time in. It's worked out really well and they're really enjoying sharing a room. Scott and I do too in fact. We love it because we're both able to put them to sleep at the same time. We all lie down together in the same room, read stories, say prayers, sing and then the kids go to sleep.

We have a separate office right by our bedroom that works perfectly for all business/computer stuff that we need to do. We've also painted out living/dining room and I've FINALLY been able to put out my African decor items that I bought at home a couple of years ago. I've also found some amazing decorative pieces and our best and favorite purchase by far is the new couch we just bought. It took six+ weeks of driving around and searching before finally finding a place that I didn't think we could afford to buy from. We ended up buying a showroom piece that was $5000 for only $1000!! It's spacious, comfy and absolutely beautiful! Once everything's done, I'll take some pics and post it for everyone to see.

Joshua and Anna are thriving in our new home. We've spent more time at the pool over the last few weeks than we have over the last four years combined. Joshua swims by himself in one of those floaty swimsuits and could quite easily do that for hours. Anna's content to sit on the steps and play. Sometimes she loves it if Scott or I catch her as she jumps into the pool. They're both ready for swimming lessons and right now we're waiting to hear back about that so that we can get them started.

Joshua's counting to 30 now and doing very well with his Kumon Math. He's growing taller by the day it seems and is such a polite, caring and sweet little child. Anna still wants to do everything like Joshua. She's also very caring and sweet, but she's as strong willed as ever. It's still hard to believe that she's not even 3 yet. She keeps up with Joshua almost completely without any struggle. It wonderful to see them interacting with each other, learning, growing together, teaching each other and having a good time. They are such a huge blessing in our lives!

Scott's hard at work. The pace has definitely picked up for them in the office and business is going very well. I'm enjoying my summer break with the kids. Getting better at my CVS'ing and becoming a pretty slick shopper in general. I've started a new challenge for myself for monthly household expenses and will get into the details at another time. A quick summary about it is us trying to survive on $250 a month for everything - food, drinks, cleaning supplies, entertainment, etc. I think it can be done and so far this month we're doing well. All the money we save from our regular budget for these items will go towards paying off a bill. Our goal is to be debt free in the next 2 years. We're extremely excited about this challenge and the rewards that it will bring.

We have photos and video of the kids that I'll try and put up later this week. I hope that all of you are doing well and that the second half of this year only brings you greater joy and peace. God Bless!