Caleb's 13th Birthday

I know I say this often, but, Wow... where does the time go?  Caleb is now officially a "teen"!  I know, crazy, right? 

 

Normally we have simple birthday parties with family, but we had decided that on each of the kid's 13th birthdays, we would make it a big deal.  They could have a "friends" party and decide what "fun thing" they want to do.  Caleb wanted to have a backyard campout and play airsoft.  Airsoft guns are like BB guns, but the BB's are plastic so, although they sting and can produce welts when they hit, they are not life threatening. It's similar to paintball, I guess, but cheaper and doesn't splat paint all over. 

Grandma and Grandpa Larson had just bought him an airsoft rifle for his birthday. He was excited to give it some good use at the party.

 

Caleb, his brothers and Elijah Baffa

Paul and Nathan, ready for the party

The guys and dads.  Most were decked out in cammo for the "airsoft wars".  They all set up tents in the front yard for the campout.  Though it was a "no girls allowed outside" party, they were all happy to come in for a huge pancake and sausage breakfast in the morning.  Funny, now that I think about it, there were very few bathroom users... inside, anyhow... One of the benefits of being a guy, I guess.  Since it was Labor Day weekend, we invited the rest of the families to join us for a Labor Day cookout around noon.  It ended up being a big, fun party and I'm sure it made his "coming of age" 13th birthday pretty memorable.

On his actual birthday, he got to pick what we had for breakfast, lunch and dinner.  I thought he was kidding when he said what he wanted for breakfast... chocolate chip pancakes, bagel with cream cheese, scrambled eggs and sausage links...  Normally, he's not THAT big of an eater, but he ate it all!  Practically licked the plate clean.  From what other experienced moms have told me, I'm guessing that it's only a small taste of what's to come...

Selah

Yay!  I have a few moments with internet access (which I don't have at home, except for my phone... and trying to type a blog on my phone, with my thumbs is, well, frustrating.)  I'm not lsure where to start, so I am going to start with baby Selah.  She's growing up...

 

 Selah and Mommy- I tend to get a new baby carrier with each baby as I search for the most comfortable one.  I believe I found it. My ERGO. Even at almost 2 years old, she's still easy to carry in it.

 Selah got chicken pox in late spring or early summer.  Both she and Nathan were exposed several times, and finally got it on the third exposure.  She cruised through it as most of my kids seemed to.  Only very slight crabbiness on a couple days.   

Selah is getting spunky.  She was so sweet and mild when she was a baby.  Rarely cried or fussed.  She'd just pop her thumb in her mouth and was content.  She's breaking out of her shell, and now that she's talking, she's giving her opinion more and more (and loudly).  On the opposite side of that, she has an incredibly cute laugh when she's tickled or playfully chased by one of her brothers.  I LOVE hearing it =)

 The differences in the girls have been interesting.  Ellie is more inclined to like stuffed (and real) animals.  Grace has a natural way with babies (and loved baby dolls).  Selah is definately taking after Grace in that area.  She loves her baby dolls...

 ...and, like Ellie, is very girly.  She loves to be prettied up by her sisters.

Selah also just recently graduated out of being a "baby", into family chores.  As with each kid, her first chore is sorting silverware. She sits on the counter and sorts the forks, knives and spoons from the dishwasher into their holders.  Not only is it teaching her that she is an important part of the family by taking part in the morning chores, but it is also helping her learn a preschool skill (sorting by shapes).



Gardening

It's that time again!!  Spring is such a busy time around here.  The weather warms up and it's all I can do to make the kids finish their school before heading out to play.

The girls and I planted about 30 tomato and 25 various pepper plants within the last few weeks.  To that we've added green beans, zucchini, acorn and butternut squash, cukes, pumpkins, watermelon (which I can never get to grow right), cantalope, tomatillos (a mexican tomato), cilantro, basil, a new strawberry patch, a couple new grapevines, a raspberry bush (more like a stick right now), and a blackberry "stick" bush.  Nice, huh?  Yes, we have been VERY busy.  I need to put on a current picture.  The garden looks beautiful.  All plants and no weeds (til the hot weather hits).  We lined it with haybales in hopes of eventually building up some really good, healthy soil.  I've heard that you can plant things in the hay bales and they'll receive adequate nutrition, so I'm trying it.  I have tomatoes, peppers and a couple tomatillo plants in them. I guess the only thing different is that the haybales tend to dry out faster than the ground, so I need to make sure to keep them watered regularly.  

My three girls helping plant the tomatoes.

Caleb, Seth and Noah each have their own garden this year.  They cleared the weeds from a patch of land and got to plant whatever they wanted in their patch.  Caleb is working on  a 200 pound pumpkin.  He feeds it milky water almost daily.  Noah has an assortment of plants.  A sunflower, a couple green beans, a pumpkin plant, a few cucumbers, and a marigold.  Seth has, well, nothing... except for the grapevine that I planted in his patch yesterday.  He worked hard to pull the weeds and overturn the dirts, so maybe he's just taking his time to plan??  One thing's for sure, if he doesn't get it planted, he'll be harvesting nothing but weeds pretty soon.

Tooth fairy

Right now around the Larson house, teeth are falling out like crazy and the tooth fairy’s about to go broke! Noah, Ellie, and Grace have all lost baby teeth in the past two weeks and I believe they each have at least one loose one hanging in their mouths.

Gracie just lost her first tooth today. She was so proud. She’s had two teeth loose for about a week and earlier today I heard a delightful squeal on the stairs, followed by a “MOM, I lost my tooth!!” As each of the kids do, they proudly displayed their tooth to me and go on to oogle and gawk at the new-found hold in their mouths. She smiled a big smile and pushed her tongue as far as it would fit through the little opening in her bottom set of teeth.

Later this morning, as we were driving I heard “happy sounds” coming from the back of the van. I thought it was the baby, but it was coming from Grace’s side. I said, “Grace, is that you?” She replied with a big grin, “I’m can’t wait to show dad my tooth!”

　

Ellie has lost quite a few teeth in the past couple months. She’s missing both of her top teeth (although one of her permanent one’s started coming through before she even lost the baby that it’s replacing). She’s lost a few bottom teeth already (with big ones growing in) and has another loose one about to pop out. I am always both sad and excited when they lose their top teeth. Sad, because I know it is a step out of babyhood and they will no longer look the same. Excited, because their smile has outgrown their baby teeth, and I love to see how they look with their grown up “beaver teeth”. I think they are so cute during those years that their teeth look just a bit too big for their mouths.

We have been doing the “tooth fairy” thing since the beginning. I used to be right on top of it, but now the kids usually have to remind me (several times) to “call or text the tooth fairy” and tell him or her that they’ve lost a tooth. Sometimes they’ll wake in the morning to find their tooth still there and they remind me once again.

Recently, we were at a friend’s house when Ellie lost a tooth. Out of the kids hearing distance, my friend mentioned how she puts a little “fairy dust” (glitter) on their pillow, under their pillow, and on the windowsill. She even suggested planting a wet spot on their face (without waking them up) and sprinkling a bit of glitter there (the tooth fairy gives kisses, you know). I thought, “What a great idea! It sounds so girly and Ellie will love it!” So I did. The next morning she found her money, but didn’t comment on the glitter, so later, as she was getting ready for bed, I excitedly pointed out the “fairy dust” on her pillow and on the windowsill. She was amazed and bewildered, and I was proud of myself for being so clever. After the lights were out and everyone was tucked in, Ellie called for me. When I went to her room, she had tears welling up in her eyes and told me that she was scared of the tooth fairy and “fairy dust“. “But you knew that she came, didn’t you? How come you weren’t scared before?” She replied, “Because… I thought the tooth fairy was YOU.” She had already caught on to what the older kids already know. I had to confess. She wasn’t about to go to sleep knowing that some creepy fairy was getting in through her window. I took her to the bathroom so Grace wouldn’t hear (wouldn’t want to spoil her childhood fun, right?). Grace followed close behind anyhow and refused to leave… so now they both know. I even showed them my stash of freshly lost teeth to confirm it. We worked out a deal, though. I can still be the tooth fairy and they’ll pretend with me so I can still put money under their pillow… Who came up with this tooth fairy business anyhow?

A new nephew!

A wonderful couple from our church, Mick and Helen, came over to watch the kids so we could attend our Dave Ramsey "Financial Peace" class. Since we were out sans kids, we thought it would be a good time to visit our new nephew!   Paul's brother, John, and Carrie had Ty Thomas earlier in the week.

He's an absolutely adorable baby! Perfect chubby cheeks.
Big Brother Jay is adjusting to the shared attention, but LOVES his baby brother. He introduced us to Ty as soon as we got there.

And I was able to get my baby fix :) Thanks guys!

Easter at home

This year, Easter was a little different for us. Usually we make a trip to one or both of the Grandparents. Since Easter was in April, both of the Grandparents were in Cancun, Mexico enjoying their annual time in the sun. We, on the other hand, went to church, had an Easter ham dinner, egg hunt, and then in the evening we settled in to watch "Ben Hur".

After church, the kids all found their Easter baskets. At the time, we were all on a health kick, so they got "exciting" things like a bag of homemade trail mix, apples, oranges, a bag of shelled peanuts, a pack of sugarless gum... and a couple Cow Tail candies (supplied by Grandma). They were happy with the "mom's weird, so we get healthy stuff" stuff and I felt much better about saying, "Go ahead, dig in, eat your heart out!"
When the kids start learning to sound out words, and are ready to start reading with the rest of the family, they get a bible the next time gifts are given. Usually Christmas or Easter. Ellie was SO excited to get her very own bible, and she loves reading it with me. I read the big words and she sounds out the short ones. She's very careful to keep it in the box that it came in "so no one can ruin it". It's very cute... both her AND the funky, sparkly bible.

The week before Easter, I got the urge to make the girl's Easter dresses. I had seen this really cute "pillowcase dress" tutorial on someone's blog and thought, "That'll take no time at all. I can do that." Um, hello? Anytime something involves making apparel for THREE kids, it's not that easy. Not only that, but I couldn't make the same exact thing for each girl, could I? I've outgrown "matching" and am much more comfortable with "coordinating", so after a few searches on how to add ruffles, make a "tiered" pillowcase dress, and found how to make a top with matching skirt, I got to work. I have to say, they turned out ever so cute and my girls LOVE wearing things that their momma made just for them.

Selah had the true "pillowcase dress" with the added ruffle at the bottom. Unfortunately, she was the only one that I got a full length photo of.

Nathan and Selah. He truely adores and spoils her... most of the time.

Nathan, decked out in his dress shirt and tie.

Nathan and Grace

A friend stopped over just in time to snap a picture of the whole clan. No, Caleb is NOT that tall. He looks like a 6 foot lanky kid. Nope. I think he's standing on a haybale or something. Although his feet have, his height has not passed me... yet.

Updates...

Ahhh, I'm going to go back in time a bit to... Ellie's Birthday. Ellie turned 7 in February. She's getting quite a personality. She has definate likes and dislikes. She likes to draw and create, does NOT like to write her ABC's in school. Loves to color, if it's on her terms. Does NOT like to color if it's part of an assignment. She cracks me up with her funny faces, and she is mastering teasing her brothers, especially if she knows that it bugs them. Her personality is exploding, and she's getting more and more independent all the time. She's a very fun little girl!

This year for her birthday, daddy and I got her a violin. Our family that came to her party each got her a violin lesson. She has been taking piano lessons for a few months now and is antsy to start on the violin. We're waiting to start her lessons until after Grace's birthday. We had gotten a violin for Ellie off Craigslist a while back, but realized it was a bit too small. Grace, after seeing Ellie's violin, asked if she could have one for her birthday. So, she will be getting the other one (shhhh, don't tell) and they will start lessons together (as long as ma and pop's piggy bank holds out :) It gets pricey with 5 kids in lessons, and even more so when they start adding other instruments... I keep telling myself, "It's an investment". Someday, it'll pay off... or at least I'll have some entertainment at family gatherings when I'm old and grey...

Another biggie for us this spring was our entrance into Dave Ramsey's world. Dave has become a close buddy of Paul (it's a one sided relationship... Dave talks and Paul listens). For those who don't know, Dave Ramsey is financial guy that encourages people to get out of debt and get on a budget. He has a radio talk show, podcasts, and seminars. We signed up for his 13 week video seminar at the beginning of the year at a local church. It's been an eye opener to how debt can really chip away at your life. Paul and I have never really had "debt". We would use the credit card and pay it off at the end of the month (to earn the "cash back", of course). Dave encourages you to use cash, and after making the switch to only cash (or debit), I am amazed how much more we spent simply because we didn't have a set limit. If we needed something, we bought it, and would pull money out of savings at the end of the month to pay the bill. By committing to pay cash, I am WAY more careful about what I "pick up" at the store. I make a list and check it twice, and then add the prices up before getting to the checkout to make sure I'm not over my budget. That's right, the "B" word... BUDGET. Something we haven't had in years. In fact, we hadn't even balanced our checkbook in years. Yes, sinful, I know. Our good friend Dave has taken us through the necessity of budgeting and not overspending. Ya know what? It feels great. Not the penny-pinching part, but the idea of knowing which direction we're headed and having a GOAL...

Did I say GOAL? After starting our class AND the smack-in-the-face of getting a $4000 credit card bill after Christmas, (I have NO idea what we spent all that money on), we decided to make our money work for us. What a concept! We did the math, and since we have no car or credit card payments, we decided to work at paying off our house. We had refinanced a couple years ago to a 20 year loan. We had 18 years left. We calculated to see when was the soonest we'd be able to pay off the mortgage if we put all our efforts into it. We figured about 6 years. Six years is a loooooong time to be fighting the penny pinching efforts and Caleb would be 18 and on his way out of the house. He'd be remembering his teen years as a solemn, "no, we can't, we have no money" period of his life. I didn't like that idea. We worked to figures to see if we could do it in 4 years. The numbers worked, BUT only if God intervened.

We prayed and the kids prayed with us for about a month before Paul's annual review at work. We prayed for a very specific amount. The amount we figured it would take to pay off the house in 4 years. (I am convinced through God's word that He is NOT in favor of debt. Mortgage or otherwise. Even if the fancy financial guys say a mortgage is good debt, God says, "Owe no man ANYTHING but the debt of LOVE" and "The borrower is servant to the lender") Our specific amount was not chump change. It was a significant amount. It came to almost a 10% increase, and in this economy, that's no small deal. That's a God deal. Each time I thought about it, I knew that we were attempting to follow God's financial plan and was certain that God would supply what we needed to do what He wanted. Well... let me tell you, God answered our prayer. Not only that, but He blessed us with exactly DOUBLE that specific amount! How awesome is that! So our 4 year calculation is totally do-able! We are still working our budget and getting to know our limitations, but at least we don't have to eat rice and beans for EVERY meal now. :)

To capitalize on the excitement, we have this beauty hanging on our wall for the next four years. The kids and I made a "thermometer" type gauge to visually watch our house get paid off. We make a big deal out of coloring in some of those lines every time we send in the mortgage check. And everytime we pass a big goal (like the little sayings on the side) we have a mini party. Our first was sparkling cider, popcorn and a movie. The kids are already looking forward to the next... Banana splits with lots of whipped cream!

Here is my birthday cake. Caleb and Seth made it for me while I was out gardening (in the crazy 80 degree weather in the middle of March). I am the lovely 35, and if I didn't have so many kids, I'd make some claim to still be in my 20's. With seven kids, that's just not believable ;)

Paul and I celebrated our 14th wedding anniversary at the end of March. Year number 13 didn't prove to be so unlucky. In fact, the more I'm with him, the more I enjoy him. We have our own style of quirkiness. We are in the same mindset, headed the same direction, with the same purpose, but even more than that, I revel in the fact that I have a great husband whom I love, and who loves me.

It's spring!

Around here, you know it's Spring when things get real dirty, including the kids.  The kids made a mud bath in the backyard, and Nathan didn't hesitate to get in on the fun.  I had to strip him down before he could even get into the house.... and if you think he was dirty, you should see the other boys.  Who needs a spa for a mud bath anyhow?  Dirt is cheap around here....

Remodeling

Since a the week before New Year's, we've been doing some remodeling of our house. I always enjoy the look of a freshly painted room and rearranged furniture. In fact, I am great at starting a project, it's just the "seeing it through to completion" that I have trouble with. This particular project was in our den. We were using it for a computer room, but it seemed to collect junk more often then not. Papers were stacked all over the roll-top computer desk, books and toys haphazard, excercise equipment, file cabinets, and the wood floor was getting torn up by the rolling desk chair. It's just not enjoyable to be in a room that looks like a small hurricane hit it. It was time to make this room into a usable space...

The boys and I took the roll-top desk apart and took it up to the master bedroom. It matches our furniture and we have the room for it. Then it was time to attack the wallpaper. Have I mentioned that I have come to thoroughly dislike wallpaper. The stuff is a pain to put up, but even more of a pain to take down. Only one of the walls had wallpaper covering it, but I think they put it on with gorilla glue. It took off parts of the drywall with it.

After doing a massive, two hour job of mudding to fill in the gouges, rough spots, and exposed drywall paper on the far wall, I painted the trim. Early the following morning, my two ambitious boys asked if they could start painting the walls. "Sure." It took me until I was half-way through with making breakfast to realize that I hadn't sanded the wall that was almost entirely covered with mud! I went into an utter panic. I was mumbling words that weren't really words, just jibberish. I'm sure the kids thought I was going nuts. The wall looked horrible with bumps all over it! It is impossible to sand after it's already been painted because the paint will gum up the sander. There was nothing to do but scrape off the big bumps and mud the wall over again...

We finally got the painting done. I wasn't sure how the dark color would look in such a small room, but it really gives it a warm, cozy feeling. The den/computer room now has a new name... The Study. Sounds formal. It is as it sounds. A quiet place to read or study. Toys, games, rough play and loud noises have been banned from the room. It has come to be one of my favorite rooms in the house to sit and read while enjoying a hot cup of tea, and I can rely on it to be a clean and orderly place to escape :)

Designer pancakes!

Recently, we discovered what I call "designer pancakes". The kids can have personalized pancakes that are SO simple to make. The kids love coming up with designs and the possibilities are only limited by your creativity.

First, you'll need a griddle. Despite the precious cupboard space these things take up, I've decided that it is a necessity to have an electric griddle for making pancakes, grilled cheese, frying eggs, or anything that would take FOREVER to cook one at a time in a skillet. I previously used a one burner cast iron griddle because of my disgust of teflon. Since then I've found Wolfgang Puck's awesome griddle. You can store it on it's side (I store it with my cookie sheets), and it's coating is made of something harder than teflon since the instructions actually say you can use metal cooking utensils on it (although I still don't).

Second, you need a plastic squeeze bottle like in the picture below. I cut off the tip to have a bigger hole, but you wouldn't need to. You can find one of these at Walmart for about a buck. I use them for LOTS of things (homemade salad dressings, honey, maple syrup, oil for greasing pans, vinegar to add to my salad with the oil, pancake batter...). I recently found a heavier duty set at Sam's Club. I was thrilled. Really, it doesn't take that much to make me happy...

And third, you need pancake batter. You could use the "just add water" stuff, but making pancakes from scratch is pretty simple. We've even drawn out the ingredients on a recipe card so that my non-reading five-year-old can mix up a batch in the morning. Here's the basic recipe that I follow (halving or doubling as needed) that can easily be made into gluten and/or dairy-free if needed:

2 cups flour (whole wheat, white, gluten free mix, or whatever you have)

2 T. sugar or sucanat (unrefined cane sugar that looks somewhat like dirt, but tastes... YUM)

2 T. baking powder

1 t. salt

1-2 t. cinnamon

Mix dry ingredients, then add:

2 c. milk (whole, almond, rice, or whatever)

2 eggs

2 T. olive oil

Whisk together. It will thicken as it stands. If you want it thinner, add more milk. Thicker, add a little more flour. We use this basic recipe and mix it up by adding chocolate chips, mashed banana, blueberries... you can add a bit of nutmeg, ginger and cloves for a spice pancake. We've even had grated carrots, mashed sweet potato, and finely grated zucchini. For designer pancakes, you'll want to use the basic recipe...

As you're making the pancake batter, you can start heating your griddle to about 300 degrees. Use some of the batter to fill your squeeze bottle. Once your griddle is fully heated, grease your griddle if needed and then use your squeeze bottle to draw a design. Use your imagination, but remember, if you make letters, numbers or names, you need to draw them backward so they will be the right way when you flip the pancake over. Let your design cook for a minute or two and then move to the next step.

Once you've cooked your design a bit, pour a ladle full of the bowl of pancake batter right over your design, making sure to cover it completely. Keep cooking until bubbles start to form and you can turn it over without making a mess. You don't want to cook it too long because you want contrast between the design and the surrounding pancake.

After flipping, you can now see what you drew, and you will continue cooking for another minute or so until the pancake is cooked through.

Serve it up with some butter and real maple syrup and you'll have one smiling face! (or in this case, TWO of them :)

Kalahari Waterpark

It's mid February, and although we've had a mild winter, we decided to again escape this blah time of year with a trip to an indoor waterpark. I found a whopper of a deal at Wisconsin Dell's Kalahari, the "largest indoor waterpark". They were running a BOGO (buy one night, get one night free) deal. Since we rent two rooms for our family (no one wants to let us pile kids all over the floor to sleep), this works out great. Two rooms for $140 per night. Sweet! But oh, read on... it gets sweeter!

I asked while making reservations if I could have ajoining rooms (you know, with the connecting door between the rooms) and they said that the hotel didn't have any.

Hold on, I need to back up a bit... In the last month, since we made the reservations on our credit card, we have felt the need to follow God's plan when He says "Owe no one anything, except the debt of love". We've decided that that plan includes our mortgage (more about that in another blog), and we've decided to put all our extra cash into paying it off. That being said, we were feeling a bit bad about spending money on this trip, but we had already made the plans and felt committed. We brought all of our food from home, except for a planned trip to a pizza joint (for their special Valentine heart shaped pizza) and ice cream from Dairy Queen for the drive home...
Now, back to the story...

As I was waiting in line to be checked in, I prayed that we could get a family suite or something that would hold our whole family instead of two rooms (for the same price, of course). I politely asked for ajoining rooms (knowing that they don't have any, but hoping they'd work something out). She looked up my reservation and said, "The hotel randomly picks people to upgrade. Your rooms have been upgraded to a family suite". Not just ONE room, BOTH of our rooms were upgraded! We had two family suites next to eachother. I was thrilled! Read on, it gets better...

We couldn't check in yet, so we went to swim a bit before getting our keys. Paul and I talked about calling a family to drive the 4 hours to meet us or trying to get a refund on the other room. While Paul and the kids swam, I went to get the room keys. The check-in lady told me that the cancellation policy would require the entire amount of the room because it was the same day. She also looked at me kind of sideways when I asked about another family using the room (with the long drive, late night, and snowy weather). Then she said, "OH, WAIT, let me check this... huh? Normally this room is taken, especially this late in the day, but it's open. If you guys want to forfeit the second room, I'll put you in the Formal Presidential Suite. It's a $900 per night room. Two whirlpool tubs, huge TV, two bedrooms, a steam shower, fireplace, a wet bar, and a four person hot tub on the balcony. Would you like that for no additional cost?" Um, that would be a YES!!

I was so excited! I virtually ran back to get the family so we could go check out our cool room together... AND to thank God for the upgrade He gave us (via the hotel lady). It was huge (aka: just our size).

We're getting ready to jump in the hot tub with the kids and our complimentary "his and her" hotel robes.

Who needs a waterpark when you have a room this nice?

Answer? KIDS.

They wouldn't buy into the whole, "let's just relax in the room and enjoy our stay" thing. The next morning we headed straight for the waterpark and had some incredibly fun, chlorine-filled days!

The waterpark was great! There were play areas and slides for all different ages. VERY well layed out and designed.

Each of the kids loved trying all the different slides. Even Nathan, my brave little 3 year old, went down the big slide. It kind of freaked out the protective mommy in me when Paul took him up to the top platform and sent him swirling down. I'm used to the 5 foot kiddie slides, not the 200 foot big kid slides. Nathan didn't miss a beat. He got up and went right back up the stairs.


We went to Moose Jaw for lunch (the same restaurant we went to last year on Valentine's day), donned the cardboard antlers, and ordered heart shaped pizzas. Before heading back to the hotel, we made a quick stop a Walmart for Mr. Bubbles bubble bath. It's not everyday that we get access to a whirlpool tub, much less TWO of them ;)

Whirlpool jets and Mr. Bubbles... what could be more fun?
One for the girls...

and one for the boys...

The morning of the day we were leaving, the express check-out receipt was shoved under the door. It showed a charge to our credit card for $140 (plus tax) for the two nights. We were expecting to be charged $280 (plus) originally, for two small rooms. Not only did we get the huge luxury room, but our bill was cut in half. $70 a night!!

I believe that this hotel room was a demonstration for our family right now, and directly connected to our decision to take a different direction with our money. Because of our decision to pay off our house and get out of debt (and not knowing how or where the extra money is going to come from), God was showing us just a smidgen of His resources. We asked for a little extra, and it's like He got a twinkle in his eye and said, "Watch this."