And the baby makes 5

We close on our house in four weeks if all goes well. We still have a few fixes and one more inspection before it all clears...as well as the signing of the papers and exchanging of the money. Steve and I have been in de-clutter mode for a while. Giving away things, selling things on craigslist and purchasing a lot less. In fact, as we prepare for this busy Christmas season we are purposeful in what we will buy for our kids, etc.

We've decided to get our kids a collective "Family Gift"...puppy, bowling/pizza night, water park visit, museum visit, who knows what yet. We've also encouraged our family members to give us gifts of time rather than things. Christmas and the holiday season gets crazy with increased expenses; gifts, gifts, gifts, travel, travel, travel. Our goal is to keep things in perspective, reduce where we can, and remember the most important things of this season.

Ultimately, we hope to begin the new year with fewer payments, more to share, and an open plate to be able to go and do what God has placed on our hearts to do. 2012 will be an exciting year, no doubt, but as we close 2011 we are setting ourselves up to be available to do God's work and not ours.