Baby Teeth and Other Household Happenings

First, you can't wait to see their adorable teeth...

Prince Naveen finally has cut his first tooth!!! I haven't been able to see it yet (he's pretty defensive about his new treasure) but I was able to feel it today. I can't wait to see his new toothy grin!

...then they look so cute without them again! :)

Since we are on the subject of baby teeth, I think that Princess Frances will need to get two of hers pulled out by the dentist (I'm shuddering, just thinking about it!). She has new teeth that grew up behind them, and they aren't even loose yet. Poor thing! I'm already praying for the dentist because my little princess can throw quite the fit about things like this.

“In other news...” :)

Things are changing on the home front! For a while now, I have been praying for Hero; he's been SO discouraged with his job. It's very frustrating to watch him go off to work each day to a job that he really hates anymore. He works with the local mentally ill population, and while he loves working with his clients.... he hates the office politics and the mounds of endless (needless??) paperwork. So, I've been praying; really my heart's desire has been for him to be able to GO to Seminary full-time (he's been studying online thus far). Frankly, it seemed impossible and I've been praying for a miracle.

One of the reasons this desire seemed impossible was that Hero wouldn't even talk about selling our house and leaving our small community. He would completely shut down the conversation as soon as it started. Let me tell you- the nearest Seminary is about an hour and a half drive away. Anyway, I prayed for a miracle and for the wisdom and self- control necessary to not bring up the subject again. If God was going to do a miracle, I was just going to watch- well that was the plan, anyway.

We just celebrated our 12^th anniversary this last weekend and got to spend some much needed time alone(ish)- we still had the baby with us. :) It was very relaxing, and fun to be just the three of us. As we were talking during this time, this desire of mine for Hero to GO to Seminary just sort of spilled out. But Hero was ready to listen- and act! He is ready to move on now and can see that we need to sell the house and leave the area, if we are to accomplish his dream of becoming a full- time military Chaplain.

So the following are steps to his dream:

Step One: Put the house on the market within a month, and pray for a miraculously quick sale,     and maybe even enough extra $ to pay off the adoption

Step Two: Apply for Chaplain Candidate program

Step Three: Apply to Seminaries and apply for family housing

Top choices: Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary- in NC Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary- in CA

Step Three: Find part-time job in town of Seminary, preferably a part- time ministry

Step Four: Move into school housing, and finish Seminary(about 2 more years for an MDiv)

Step Five: Finish the equivalent of two years of ministry experience (2 yrs full- time, or 4 yrs part- time)

Step Six: Join military full- time as Chaplain, and receive first assignment (Yeah!!!!)

Through the new GI Bill, Hero can go to school full- time and receive 80% of his housing benefit while going to school. This will enable him to be able to GO to Seminary FULL TIME and only have to work very part- time!!!

Right now, I'm overwhelmed with ALL the work required to put this house on the market... and do it the right way, clutter- free, staged, continuously spotless, etc. With four kids (one of whom is 7 months old and trying to take his first steps), a dog, and 100 degree weather, I'm working my tail off! But it will be worth all the effort, to see the smile on Hero's face when he goes off to school to follow his dream!