Mission Accomplished

  This morning started early.  Around 6am, to be exact.  I had to get up to take a shower and Scott wanted us all in the car by 7:30.  Well, by 7:37 we were all in the car.  It was -14, but we couldn't very well cancel our appointment.  After an hour and a half at the dealership we went to sign the paperwork at the insurance office, then back to the dealership to pick up the car.  I should have brought a camera to entertain the kids.  If I'd thought about it more I would have brought books to read.  All they had were car and truck brochures and a bit of water.  I did remember snacks, but after that it got to just be a lot of sitting.  The lady that was supposed to be there failed to tell Scott that although the office opened at 8, she wouldn't be in til noon.  She'd asked another girl to handle things, but the girl didn't come out of her office for about 45 minutes.  Anyway, we're thankful that the process is complete. We walked out without buying the extended warranty, which was another $2,400.  The Matrix didn't have any warranty left on it, so we figured that we'd be okay without it. My experience is that you purchase it and then a couple months after it wears off you start to experience car trouble.  Why not just save that money and keep it in a repair account:)?  That's just my thoughts on the subject.
  Next on the list was dropping off some items at the Thrift shop.  We also needed a couple of winter items and God provided almost every single one of them.  Instead of paying $24 for new winter boots for Elyssia the Lord provided them almost brand new for $2.  The waterproof gloves were .75 instead of $10-15 and the boys winter underwear was only .50.  All in all I spent less than a 1/4 of what I would have paid for each of the things new, even finding a couple winter vests and pants for the boys.  God is so good to provide what we need and often what we just desire.  The next stop was for passport pictures.  Our 3rd attempt...  The first two times it was closed.  5 minutes and $30 later we had our passport pics and headed into get Scott a bit more for work clothes.  He's just about worn his to shreds and he's been wearing this one sweatshirt for at least 10 years, if not 15:)  Today, the Lord provided almost everything on sale and 3 pairs of dress pants for around $5-$10 each.  I don't know what most people's clothing budget looks like, but to get Scott's wardrobe for a year for under $100 is pretty amazing.  We budget around $40 a month for clothing needs, but usually I try to just shop for them once every couple months.  We probably spend around $200 total over the course of the year.  I think it's pretty good, but I don't have much to compare it with.  The Lord is so good to provide through the Thrift shops, that we don't seem to need all that's budgeted, although it seems to get spent elsewhere:)
  It took about an hour to get the kids down for naps once we got home, but I think they were just getting out some of the repressed energy from the car dealership:)  They're now playing horsie, mixed with bike helmets and shooting.  The joys of childhood imagination!