Check out Ben and Gina's blog. Gina had her baby!

Just remember........if the world didn't suck, we'd all fall off.
This just cracked me up!

John took Friday off so we could have another family day. We had a great time! We went to this bakery(Bruno's gourmet kitchen) that we heard wonderful things about. It was good. We then went to some yard sales. I found some prizes for my Sunday school class. I also found a cute cabinet for my bathroom. As you can see from the pictures of the bathroom I am not done painting it yet. The boys found a tiny pool table. Chris had a lot of fun playing with John. Today we FINISHED fixing the list of items on our old house from the inspection. I am soooo happy about getting it done. Now we have to get the FHA inspection done. It should be no problem passing it. We are not sure when the new date for closing is yet. Our realtor said it would only be slightly delayed. Our original closing date was Sept. 9th. We are definitely feeling much less pressure and stress. Soon when we get money from the sale of the old house we will be able to focus on our new house and get things done in it. Life is good.

We had a great day!

We had a great time today. We went to DeLeon Springs and ate breakfast at the Sugar Mill. John and the boys cooked the pancakes while I sat back and watched. We swam for a while. On the way home we stopped at a few thrift stores. I found a light weight blanket for my bed for $1.99. Then for lunch we ate at ElPotro.

We were told yesterday that the buyer for our home is going through a new lender. That means it will take longer to close. At first I was a little upset but it does give us extra time to get things done that are on the inspector's list. Also timing wise we still would have had to make the extra payment with the earlier closing date. I have not heard yet when the closing will be. So, more waiting. Hopefully all this will work out this time. Please pray that we will not get discouraged. The boys got their schedules yesterday. They ended up in the same p.e. class. I thought that was cool. They were excited about it. They will catch the school bus at 5:57 am. That means they will have to get up at 5:00 am. I told them I would drive them in the morning but they want to ride the bus. I got them a few new clothes for school yesterday. It is so nice to not have to buy uniforms. They were so exspensive. I am fortunate too that my boys are easily pleased with clothes. They don't have to have the brand names. I do try to find brand names at thrift stores and Ross. I think we are all set for school. I will take some pictures of them on their first day before they leave for school. Tomorrow John is going to take the day off so we can go to the springs and play. We are very excited about having a family day of fun. Thank you for all your prayers.

I felt like my old self today. I got up early and went and cleaned a house. We are still trying to work through all the house selling stuff. Please continue to pray for us. Tomorrow John , the boys, and his dad will go work on the old house. That means me all alone in this house. It will be nice to get things cleaned up around here without anyone in the way.

Michael's Birthday pictures

Here are some pictures from Michael's birthday. They are out of order. As you can see we had a great time. The picture of John on his back is when he was resting up before the party:) Chris made the birthday cake for Michael.

How do you like my new look? Please leave a comment. I can't decide if I liked it better before. I was trying to go for a more cheerful look.

I am feeling so much better today. Thank you for your sweet comments. Today Michael is 16 years old. I can't believe how time has flown by. I am so very proud of him. He is turning into a wonderful young man. I will post some birthday pictures later. Tonight we are taking him to Walmart to pick out a bike. I am making him lasagna. Grandpa and grandma will come over later for some cake. It should be a nice evening.

I have been under the weather since Sunday night. My fever broke this morning. Now all I need is for the stomach ache to go away. We got the list of repairs that needs to be done on our old house. The inspector was real tough on us. John got a bunch done last Saturday. On Sunday we also got some done. We have until the 17th to complete the list. John tried to go to the house after work yesterday but ended up be called back to work for some problem. We are a bit overwhelmed. John told me he wished he had gotten sick so he could take a break. Poor guy. I told him let me get better then he can get sick and I will take care of him. I think he is going to try to take a few days off. He really needs to.

Merry Christmas

I had to have some fun today. The news is so depressing. Life can be depressing. So, the boys and I (including Nathan) made cupcakes and decorated them. While watching Christmas movies. I love Christmas it always puts me in a good mood.We had a great time today. Nathan even put on his Christmas hat! When John and I were first married and having a hard time we would have little Christmas parties. It didn't matter what time of year. We would set up a small tree, listen to Christmas music, and eat snack food. It does put you in a better mood.

THE WELL IS FIXED !!

Check out the link below. I am so thankful all went well. John and I pulled the well. His dad helped put it back in. Thank you so much dad!

Check out our well pictures

http://picasaweb.google.com/sparkdoc/BrendleSWell02

Reasons why I love my house

I needed to remind myself. I am thankful for my new home. We will be pulling the well tomorrow. I will take pictures of the project. It should be interesting. Isn't my house nice! The area is so quiet! I love all the big trees.

Life has been a bit rough around here lately. The people who were going to buy our home backed out. We do have another buyer though. We will not close on the house till Sept. 9th. So, that means no vacation like we hoped. We are trying to make the best of it and are very thankful that we have another buyer. We have had to make the double payment. We know that God knows our needs and is in control. Last night I went to take a bath and had no water. We have discovered we have well problems. We are not sure yet how to fix it. We do have water now but have to shut the breaker off after we use it to keep the motor from running all the time and burning up. Sorry to sound so pathetic. Please pray for us.

Today I had a lot of fun. I spent the day at Evelyn's. We played Settler's of Cattan. She beat me two games to one. When I got home John was home. He needed to run to the office. So, I rode with him. After the office we had a date. We ate at El Potro. They have a very nice Mexican buffet there. Then we walked around Walmart. The Walmart here is better than the one in Orlando. It is not near as crowded. We hope to close on our house on the 3oth. God is definitely teaching us patience. On Wednesdays I will be taking care of a handicapped man. He is 32 years old and has schizophrenia. (John had to Google the spelling of that there is no way I would know how to spell it) He also has some learning disabilities. He is on medication and functions very well. He can read, count money, bowl, clean , and order things from a menu. I am sure he can do more than this. This is just what I observed. When he has an off day he will stay home with his mom. His mom is a real sweet heart(I think she may be a Christian). He is also very nice. Two days out of the month we will be at his house with his mom. Those two days he cleans and I supervise. The other two days we will go bowling, to the movies, shopping, or the library. I think this will be a very nice job. I think my schedule is full enough now. I will be working 14-16 hours a week. One day out of the week I will clean a house (I only have two cleaning jobs now Darla moved and so did Pat) ,one day I have Joy for five hours, one day I will take care of Ron for four hours, and one day I have Bible study. One of the cleaning jobs I can do after the Bible study. The cleaning jobs are every other week so it works out nice to have just one a week. I love that I can get my work done before the kids get home. God is good! I have not enrolled the kids in school yet. I am waiting for my new driver's license to come in the mail. In order to get my homestead exemption I need a driver's license with the correct address. To enroll the kids I either need a copy of the deed or homestead. I need to apply for homestead for next year any way. I decided to go with that. It costs to get a copy of your deed any way. Please pray for us that all of this will work out soon. It would be wonderful to close on the house and get the kids enrolled. After we close on the house we will go to visit Darla and Henry in Tenn. for a vacation. I can't wait. We are so ready!

Tonight we tore down the mini bar between our kitchen and living room. We will need to replace the tile under the bar. I am very pleased with my new table I found. I have always dreamed of big Thanksgiving meals with plenty of room to sit. I am so excited.

Sorry for not posting in a while. John's dad is great he got my laptop up and running. Thank you dad! We did not close today like we hoped. They want an extension till the 30th. I hate waiting. We have bought a few new things for the living room. John picked out the mirror over the tv stand(the mirror is gold colored not white). I picked out the picture over the sofa. I found the chairs and the end table at a thrift store. I found a dinning room table today that we will pick up tomorrow. I will post pictures of it soon. It is still a work in progress. Just ignore the extra junk you see in the pictures. I realized after I took the pictures there was stuff next to the chair. Oh well, I am tired I had a house cleaning job today. John is still working the long hours at least till Wed. One of the foreman decided he didn't want to be a foreman. So John is finishing his job that is way behind. That has been a bummer. We are enjoying the peace and quiet of

our new neighborhood. I am so thankful. I love my new house.

We have had a fun couple of days. Tuesday night John, the kids and I went to the mall to walk around. We also went to World Market where I found some real nice curtains for the french doors. We ended the evening with watching Fly Boys. It was a pretty good movie. Yesterday we spent with John's parents. We had a blast. They came over for lunch. Then we played a game of Settler's of Catan. Which I won. That's always fun. We watched some tv on their projector and ate nachos for dinner.The evening ended with a soak in the hot tub. I have to say I feel like a spoiled rich girl when I soak in the hot tub. I am so glad John was able to fix the hot tub so easily. It had a few bad electrical connections. We have a very pretty view from the tub. In one direction is a bunch of beautiful trees. If you look the other way there is a fountain that lights up at night. Can you tell we are loving it here. The peace and quiet is so wonderful. The closing on the other house is still a go for July 16th. It would be so wonderful if it all went smooth. We don't have to make our first payment on this house till Aug.6th. That means if all goes well we won't have to make a double payment at all. Thank you for all your prayers. They mean so much to us.

I don't function well in a mess! I have been working hard on unpacking. I am sorry I don't have any pictures of the house yet but will take some soon. My wireless router isn't working for some reason. So I am sitting at the desk working on this. I have gotten so spoiled with the lap top. This morning I had to use dial up to go online to pay my bills. Three hours later it was done. I am so glad John got the dsl working. I am sure I will love the house when we get it fixed up but right now it is a little overwhelming. We keep finding things that need to be fixed. John tried to hook up the washing machine tonight and was not able to because of a problem with the pipes. To quote a Friends line "I need to get out of the bitter barn and play in the hay". I am really enjoying the peace and quiet. The kids love being able to play in the neighborhood.
Some great news we got is we have a buyer for our house! They want to close on July 16th. Please pray that all goes well.