Residents of Stevens Point

We are here!  The population in Stevens Point rose by 4 1/2 people over the weekend of May 16-17.  The movers did a phenomenal job and they worked hard!  They deserve farmer level bragging rights and only farm kids/farmers are allowed to give that kind of honor.  :)  They packed our house in 2.5 days and then loaded the truck the last 1.5 days.  They ran into a few time consuming 'snags' both in Madison and Point, but pushed through and got the job done.  If you ever need a moving company, I highly recommend Merchants.
Our family has been living under one roof for 1 full week +.  It is so nice.  We haven't felt too lonely yet because we look forward to seeing Danny everyday now!  We haven't met any neighbors yet.  The down side of a very private lot like ours (being surrounded by trees) is it isn't that easy to run into the neighbors.  We will probably reach out to those closest to us in the coming weeks.  The house kiddy corner looks to have a 5ish year old girl and a 3ish year old girl, so that is hopeful.  We have done a lot of unpacking over this last week.  The basement is still a disaster, but 1st floor and 2nd are in good shape.  I can cook meals and kids can play.  I am adjusting to having very different grocery stores.  I had to request an item at Copps that I just can't find at any store here that my kids can't live without, or me either because of their constant disappointment, and that item is Stonyfield yogurt tubes. 
Joy has adjusted very well to the new house and city.  Noah, however, has stated a few times, "All done here, I want to go home" or some close variant of that statement.  But, thankfully he quickly gets busy and doesn't seem too affect by it.  The kids have also slept great from day 1 so that is a blessing we are very grateful for.
This week the kids are looking forward to a visit to Grandma and Grandpa Rainbows.  They are very excited.  I'm excited too because I'm hoping to get the rest of the unpacking done while they are gone so I can move onto decorating and painting before this baby arrives around August 7. 
Here are a few pics from our move.  I didn't get any of the truck on this end of the move, but thankfully my mom was on the ball and took a few.  :)

And this little man is my newest nephew, Emmitt James Hughes, who was born on April 19.

Entertainment Night

Joy had her last singing performance with her PreK class last night.  The whole school did a show called 'Entertainment Night' which featured several classic Walt Disney songs.  Joy has one week left of school until we move over the weekend of May 15.  School is out on Wednesday of the following week so she won't miss much anyway.  The movers come on Monday, the 11th, to start packing the house up and the moving truck comes Wednesday (I believe) for them to start loading.  We get to sleep in our house through Wednesday night but we aren't counting on the house being useful for much else during the week.  Thankfully, Danny's parents live in Madison so we will be spending a lot of time there over the course of this week.  We close on both houses on Friday, the 15th.  The guys arrive in Stevens Point with the moving truck to unload our stuff on Saturday and Sunday.  We have many mixed emotions at this time.  One of the sad ones is leaving Eastside Lutheran School.  It has been a perfect fit for our family.  Here is a video of Joy singing last night.

Van

We have checked one more thing off our 'To Do' List.  We got a minivan, pre-owned, to fit our expanding family.  The kids love to play in it and I'm quickly getting the hang of driving it.  Now we just need a sticker family for the back window and it's a legit mom-mobile.  We traded in the old and tired Kia Spectra and kept the Mazda 5.  Now, Danny can drive a vehicle he actually fits in, even if his drive to work is now only 3 miles instead of 15 to 50.  Plus, the Mazda will also allow us to transport 3 kids if the van is out of commission.  Joy and I have named her 'Pearl' because the color is pearl silver.  However, the color seems to change depending on the light.  Here she is...

Stevens Point Home

We have a place to call home in Stevens Point, WI!  There are some pictures of it in the link below.  Every other 4 bedroom house (with bedrooms on the same level) that was on the market was already sold or sold within a couple days of going on the market.  This house, has been on the market for 3+ months, as if God was holding it for us.  We had originally ruled it out because it has wallpaper everywhere, and we are not fans of wallpaper.  However, when we had slim options, we decided to give it a chance.  It was the last house we looked at, out of 12.  We had a few that were okay at this point, but didn't have that confirmed feeling that any of them were 'our house'.  As we walked through, we quickly fell in love and knew this was supposed to be our home.  Thanks God for the bad pictures online that kept a lot people away!  Currently, our moving date is May 29, but we have been working with everyone involved to move that date up because the distance between Danny and us is getting difficult.  We think we have a new date of May 15, but are waiting for confirmed paperwork on it.  The inspection on the house went well.  It needs a new furnace (and probably air conditioner), some appliances, and some new gutters among other small fixes.  And, the wallpaper has got to go!  We plan on slowly picking away at the wallpaper over time.  Someday it will be just how we want it.  We are so thankful for finding a house that will serve us very well.
We'll keep ya posted as our journey continues.  Take care and God Bless!

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Noah is 3!

Our big baby is now a big boy after turning 3 over the weekend.  He was blessed with all, but one, extended family member coming to Madison for his birthday and party last Saturday.  Gary and Peggy's church, Mt Olive, graciously let us use their gym and toys for the party.  The parents had to drag the kids out after 2 hours so maybe we should had a longer party??  We all had a wonderful time and are very thankful to everyone who took the time to come celebrate Noah.
Here are a few pics and a video of his celebration.  Cheers to Noah!

Offer!

We received an offer for our home on Monday, the 23rd.  We accepted and are so thankful.  God is good!  He is providing for us in His perfect way and in His perfect timing.  On Monday, Danny was feeling pretty down and regretting this decision.  He was even wondering if we made the right decision.  But, as God does, he confirmed Danny's questions with a BIG 'YES' with our realtor calling him late that morning with an offer.  Our closing date/moving date is May 29.  The offer was only $5000 under asking price, which is more than expected to get, so we are happy, happy, happy!  The only contingencies are for financing and passing home inspections.  We feel pretty confident this sale is going to work out and though we still have to be available for showings, at least they should slow down now that we have an offer pending. 
I was worried for part of last week because a kid (now adult), who was on my case load 10 years ago when I did case management in the Emotional-Behavioral Disturbed field, came for a showing of our house with his family.  He was interested but never followed through, which I am greatly thankful for.  Knowing his personality, I feared he would be a bad fit for our neighbors.  But, the offer came from somebody else.  Praise God again!  So, now Danny and I are researching houses to buy.  Our criteria limits us a lot, so we are praying for a clear 'open door' to our next home.  That criteria is: 4 bedrooms on the same level, a wooded lot/no neighbors in the back (like we have now) and something that is move-in ready, with little-to-no work to be done. 
We have also started shopping for a pre-owned van.  There is so much going on from car repairs, to researching vans, to home inspections, home surveys by moving company, to window replacements gone wrong and needing to be redone, to Noah's 3rd birthday this weekend!  My head is spinning sometimes.  But, I'm trying to soak it all in and enjoy the blessings in every moment. 
Danny's head is also full with a large work-load at this time.  There are days the kids and I are thankful to be here in Madison with friends and family because Danny is working such long days right now.  He has been coming home once a week and on weekends (for the whole weekend since the course is not open yet).  Danny sure is an important part of our growing family!
That is the latest from the east Madison Rainbow family.  :)
Please keep us in your prayers.  Thank you!

And the baby is a...

GIRL!  Yes, we found out yesterday that our family is welcoming a baby girl in August.  Since Danny couldn't come to the ultrasound because he is working in Stevens Point as of this past week, we had the tech write the gender on a piece of paper and seal it in an envelope.  That evening, soon after Danny arrived home for the weekend (hooray!  we missed him), Joy opened the envelope and excitedly revealed the gender to all of us.  I caught it on camera so we could enjoy the moment over and over again.  Noah's reaction, though he doesn't understand, was funny too.  Sadly, our regular video camera didn't have a charge left, so I used my new smart phone.  As you will see, I've learned something about how to take videos on my phone.