Where did January go?

January is almost over, and I am way behind in my blogging. It is time for some catching up!
Here goes...

--The Stuarts (good friends from Baton Rouge) came for a weekend visit. It was so good to see some Louisiana faces! Our four children and their three boys had a great time playing. We visited three different playgrounds in two days! Their oldest, Jadon, celebrated his sixth birthday while he was here. Tanya and I went for a walk each day (I had a hard time keeping up with her!) and Mark and Troy talked non-stop. The visit could not have gone any better. I am so thankful for our time together!

-- Mark and I started an eight week marriage class called Dynamic Marriage. I had seen in advertised at church, but I had doubted that we could take it because of our lack of babysitting (it is on Sunday afternoons). I prayed that God would make a way, and within five minutes of my prayer, the leader of the class told me that someone was going to arrange the babysitting for the couples taking the class. Mark and I have really enjoyed the class. It has been great for our marriage and it has also allowed us to get to know some really neat people at the same time. It has been a great blessing!

-- We had some Alabama friends over for dinner a couple of times this month. Both couples were friends that Mark knew from his college days that now live in the area. Having them over has helped our new place to feel more like home!

-- We have started participating in a Homeschool Science Coop on Thursdays. The moms take turns teaching a science lesson. Isaac and Bailey really enjoyed doing experiments with magnets in their first class. They also loved playing with their new friends in the gym after class. I am thankful for the opportunity to visit with the other moms.

-- We travelled to Georgia on Friday to visit with a neat family that we knew from our church in Baton Rouge. They moved to Georgia about a year and a half ago. They have four boys and three acres with woods, so the children had a great time playing in the "great outdoors". Olivia and Anna Grace got to gather some eggs from the chickens, which thrilled their hearts. Olivia said her favorite part of the day was jumping on "Mr. Keith's jumpoline". Isaac got to play on a Wii for the first time (he now thinks he needs one), and Bailey was asking, "When can we go back to Georgia?" before we were even home. Elizabeth spent time teaching me about organic food and how to grind my own wheat. I am now the proud owner of a Nutrimill grain mill, and three different types of wheat. That will be the subject of another post after I get it out of the box! We all enjoyed our trip to Georgia!

-- My new "hobby" is playing "The Grocery Game." It is a website that helps you match up grocery sales with coupons that have come in the paper in the past couple of months. It allows you to find some incredible deals on groceries, and stock up on things that are on sale. I am doing the trial membership, and so far, I am enjoying it. Saving money is like a game for me, and I am having fun playing it!

So, that sums up some of the high spots of our month. Life is settling down, and we are feeling more and more at home. God is so good to us!