Hoppening weekend

Ok, I am going to keep trying to upload pictures, but we are using my parent's computer and it is not working the same as ours does (I will add more another day). We had a busy week settling in here. We spent some time on Good Friday dying eggs with my aunt and cousins, which everyone enjoyed. Luke made a lacrosse one, and an angry birds one. Heidi and Anna both made some with their friends names on them, and Emily made a cute one with a picture of herself on it. The kids asked lots of great questions about Good Friday and we had a really meaningful conversation about Easter and heaven. It is so neat to see them grow in their faith.
Anna has been asking to have her ears pierced for several years now, so Justin finally folded and said that if she could memorize the books of the Bible she could get them pierced. She worked hard all spring break and had them memorized in about a week. Heidi wasn't as excited about getting hers done, but as the time approached to take Anna, she went ahead and also memorized the books. So we went to Claire's on Friday and they got their ears pierced! They are doing a great job remembering to wash them and turn them.
We also went to see two rentals in the area. The one was just beautiful, very well cared for, but they won't allow the dog and it would be a tight squeeze on space. I still feel like we have bought ourselves a little time, really so that the kids can finish out the school year. The rentals in our area are just too expensive, and we would be stretched way too thin (we hate paying such a high rent when we could find a cheap house elsewhere and pay less in a mortgage and make our own decisions-like having a dog). I would give anything to keep the kids in the same school, but the money isn't here (we could potentially make it work for a year, but then we would be moving again). We are both really frustrated about the whole thing, and not quite sure why we have to keep going through this. We are trying to assess our situation and see what other options are out there, particularly what other jobs we can do (Justin is always applying to jobs, but really nothing has come up, and I feel like he is in the right job, just the wrong money) and what towns we can move to.
Easter was filled with wonderful worship (Heidi said she wanted to stay at church all day), an egg hunt, a yummy lunch and dinner. This week should be pretty quiet, Emily has a dentist appointment in the city on Friday. Then we return to the city next week to meet with the neurosurgeon. The kids are in their last quarter of school. All of their report cards have improved so much this year, they all have numerous areas that are exceeding grade level (they go by a number system, so a 4 indicates exceeding grade level)! The one thing I really appreciate about their school is all the positive feedback. We have received so many phone calls and notes about about their great effort and improvement. I also received a call that a piece of Anna's artwork is on display at our town's library, down in the children's department, for the next month! Apparently, the kids' school is in the top 25 in the state (not sure if that is percent), but as we look at different houses Anna keeps asking if that particular school is also in the top 25 :) . Well, we will just keep rolling along, waiting for God's plan to be revealed.