A sad one, sorry!

It's Mother's Day and I am having a tough day. First of all, it was Mother's Day last year that my father-in-law passed away. Also, a friend from church is at the children's hospital w/her son, who probably will not make it through the day. Even though I know this child is going home to be w/his Heavenly Father, I am struggling w/the fact that he is leaving the only mother he knew on this Earth. I wish I could hug her and hold her...all I can do is pray for comfort. In some way I feel the devil is stealing my joy. The joy of having this son who plays uses random objects as microphones, sings church songs at the top of his lungs and shakes hands w/the men at church, saying, "Glad to see ya. I like your tie!" The joy of having completed a home study for foster care, to think that this was probably God's plan all along. The joy of being around so many awesome mothers, having the best one myself. The joy of a hot warm pizza =) Sorry there are just some greasy foods we haven't given up yet! It's one of those days where I smile through the tears. Mo is right now singing, "I know that I am redeemed..." and "We love you Lord! We bless your name, Father!" How lucky am I? How is it that others aren't so lucky? I'm sorry, this is taking forever to write b/c I keep having to stop and wipe tears or blow my nose. Please pray for the mothers like my friend Elizabeth. I know she is hurting but I hope she can come to a place where she sees this day as one of joy, to know that her job as a mother was done well. She taught her son (and all her children) about the Lord and b/c of that, he can be w/Him eternally. I apologize for such a sad one today. I promise to post pictures soon. I will do it when I am feeling a little more spunky =)

Scratch it

I've been itching to blog about something but nothing is really going on...we had a great day at the zoo the other day =) I'm putting this pic up b/c you can check out my new 'do, but really all the pics were kinda boring. I already talked about all the food we made and now we made a double batch of sneaky chef cookies. Um, Mo has decided that he loves stamping. We have all these stamped pieces of art everywhere...what else? Netting was on sale at the craft store so I got more. The last time I was at the grocery store I lost one bag, and it was the color I liked too. So now Mo picked out the color of the next couple. RED! I guess I'll be working on that tonight...after we go the the YMCA's free night. We plan to swim, play basketball and try out some of the tumbling class/climbing activities. I think the theme for the rest of the weekend is to tackle some projects around the house. Little plants are peeking out in the flower beds but we'll have to wait until next week to get out there - it's still supposed to snow this weekend! It'll be good to get some of the indoor stuff done.
I guess right now we've been feeling a little blah. W/Dave's news about the job situation going around, people are talking about it more and I can tell that's been bumming him out. I don't know what to do to make that better, so I just try to trudge along. People have been asking me about the foster care adoption stuff and there's just nothing to say. We seem to be stuck in neutral again. I am getting excited for a bunch of friends who are having babies soon! There's always going to be a small sense of jealousy, but I am excited for them. It's just fun to have babies around...and awesome to see our friends happy and feeling blessed. I just wish sometimes we had news. Of any kind! Overall things in our house are getting better, we just need to remember that and keep our spirits up. I heard there might be a 60* day or two next week, so that'll help! Maybe we can get the bikes out...

Dave's Job

This story starts out w/an elementary ELL teacher in our district being killed in a car accident. My 6th grade teacher was killed in a car accident on the way to school, so when I saw the news I felt for the kids right away. I told Dave that I felt called to go in and teach those kids for the rest of the school year, especially b/c I have that certification and I can identify w/the kids. He contacted HR and what not, and was told to call them at such and such number on such and such day. He called. They told him that the spot was filled by a long-term sub, which makes sense from their standpoint, paying no benefits and all. But then they told Dave that he is being moved b/c he is the only one in the district certified pre-K bilingual (I am too, but I'm not working!). As in, you will not be working at the same school next year. The same school where he has been for the whole time we have lived here (5 yrs? 6? I can't remember!). The same school where his best friend and our neighbor works right next store. The same school where he finally organized the curriculum, finally feels like he belongs, finally bought some new materials for the students...that school. Next year he will be doing a split position. Half time at the pre-K school, teaching in the bilingual program and half time at the high school. I came home and he was so upset...when he subbed in elementary classes, he hated it! "She said she's not my friend anymore!" The whining, the putzing in the bathroom, the crying, the simple activities...not his style. For him, high school is not much better! That and he's never taught in the bilingual program. He was angry, feeling like it wasn't fair and he wanted to fight it, but didn't know if that was possible. (It's not.) I didn't feel as upset...I thought maybe there was a way I could do the pre-K and he could do the HS. Dave always said he'd give his right arm to be home w/Mo! I also thought it was pretty cool that the 2 schools are a parking lot away and he wouldn't waste a lunch hour traveling. Not only that but since we have one car now, being a traveling teacher is not really do-able. Anyway, we found out that the only way for me to get the pre-K job would be for the district to post it and I'd apply. There would be a chance that someone else could get it and both Dave and I could lose out. Not cool. Yeah, so for now, I guess we're over it. I mean it certainly isn't what we wanted but as I've said before, we know God's will is going to be done. Dave knows of the pre-K principal and has heard good things. He knows some of the HS teachers b/c they are my former co-workers! I could go on ranting about this, but what's the point? I'm sorry I left everyone hanging about this earlier. It was Dave's news and he didn't want it told right away. Thanks for praying about it! We would appreciate your continued prayers. There's been other stuff going on, but I haven't been up to writing. My next post will be less bitter I promise!

Crawling out of a hole

Sorry I haven't posted in a while. Do you ever think stuff just sucks so bad you don't want to do anything? Yeah, it's hard to write in a blog called the good life when you don't feel like anything good happens. I have so many updates and stuff to say that I will probably be posting a bunch of stuff in a short time. First, I need to talk about the good stuff so you will come back and read the 'not fair' junk that caused my pout-y absence. Life is good b/c I have an adorable son who loves music and talks to Jesus while he falls asleep. I have a hot hubby who wraps his long arms all the way around me while I cry. He says, "I don't know," when I ask WHY?? but he doesn't stop holding me. We love having people over to our house and we have so many friends here that we consider family. This town has lots of stuff for us to do! Life is good b/c Dave has a job in a good district. We love our van but still think it's cool that we can walk to church and the grocery store, even when it's only 35* out. Life is good b/c I have a place to hang laundry in the sunny 40* weather, even if the neighbors think I'm daft. The sun streams in our front windows and reminds us that we love the 4 seasons here, but most of all we love the fact that they change, better later than never! Life is good b/c I am working my dream job. My son loves going to church and dancing to the music. He's getting used to the preschool "big boy" class, and every teacher there is so kind to him. We can't believe we have come so far on our journey to achieve a bunch of stuff we dreamed about. We look at our wedding pics or the first pics of our house and the other stuff doesn't seem so bad. Not only that, but we know God cares for us. He is faithful to us in providing for our needs. He gives direction through His word and a way for us to be blameless, pure and whole. I was reminded of that this weekend. Instead of grousing around about how it's not fair, I started thinking about God's reaction to my tantrums and rants. He's done so much for us, I can hardly complain. Sometimes it just takes me a second to realize what is all in front of me. A new perspective, a new focus...I promise I will update again. I know people have been asking about Dave's job situation so I will start w/that next time. But please, if you feel like pouting, take a minute to give thanks for the other stuff, the people, the blessings. I hope it will help turn your attitude around like it did mine!

Prayer Request

We found out some info about Dave's job situation for next year. It's not ideal and it's not official, so I hesitate to explain it all right now, but please pray about it. God's will is going to be done in the end, but right now we are stuck thinking in terms of what we want and don't want. Our minds are swirling with ideas of how things might change and for me especially, that's hard. It's no secret that I get pretty anxious if things aren't planned, or go according to plan! How have I survived 30 years like this? Well, the first 20 were mostly spent getting zits and eating a lot of chocolate! The last 10-11 have been spent relying on God. Anyway - thanks for praying for us!

Sweet peace and a random rant

Ahhh...sorry, I'm just enjoying the peace that is in our house this morning! I think we are OVER the nutchie. It has been 2-3 days of decent naps and sleeping through the night. We are all so much more fun after a good night's sleep! Just now, Mo was reading a lullaby book that includes Twinkle Twinkle and he went and found that book. He's been reading them quietly for over 10 minutes. Ahhh...It's been a busy week, but good. Mo's wearing 3T pants on a regular basis now. We used the facilities at Goodwill, Younkers and the library. He seems willing to go with me every hour, which helps avoid accidents. Sometimes I can't believe he is doing so well. He counts up to 14!! Usually just to 10 though. We got a letter in the mail about Creative Play, a 3 yr old program through the Rec Dept. It costs money, so Dave was pretty flippant about not putting Mo in it. It's only 2.5 hrs for 2 days a week, so I was thinking why not? I know I have no job, but I'd certainly get a lot more done around here if he wasn't in my hair. (Did you read the beginning of this post? He's not always that way...but...) Then we talked about how we might have more kids in the house by that time! We also talked about how the brochure has a pretty significant mathematical error. That sucks. It really makes them look dumb. I hate that. Especially when it's supposed to be an educational thing. Here's the teachers' names, come to our school, ps we can't do simple math. Yeah, I want you to teach my kid! (Note the dripping sarcasm!) I really want to call. I know the Rec Dept is not a school per se, but here it's part of the school district. We figure they probably use the same flyer every year and the price has gone up so now the 'less than $5/day' is no longer accurate. I guess I could understand if that was the case, but I just can't excuse lack of editing. I used to find errors in the newspaper all the time, when we got one, and I'd rumble around the house for a while saying I should work for them! So that's today's random rant. I'm ok now, really I am...

Is this normal?

Alright, who shook the snow globe again? After all that rain yesterday (it rained from like 3am-5pm!) now it's snowing. There were LAKES everywhere and now they are all ice skating ponds I'm sure. I was going to go out today but decided against it. Preserve the brown bohemoth that is our remaining vehicle =) What a crazy winter. I know it's not normal! My question is about potty training - today we are in Spiderman underoos and we have been running to the potty every 3 minutes! Ok, thats an exaggeration, but we honestly go about every 10-15. He actually does something, so that's good, but I feel like running in there that many times is not normal. Is this normal? If you've potty trained before, please let me know!

Date Night

We went out on a date night Saturday and saw one of the movies from our list on the sidebar. We saw August Rush at a cheap theater. Everyone always asks, "Was it good?" whenever you tell them you saw a movie, so I thought I'd just put my 2 cents out there...First of all, we wanted to see it b/c it was about a kid in a boys' home who believes his parents are speaking to him through the 'music' hears. Music as in the sound of the wind in a field, the chimes hanging by his window, the cars whizzing by, etc. Noise. But it was like he was autistic and he heard music. The music and kid needing parents thing intrigued us. Anyway, for honestly the 4th time in our lives, we were the ONLY people in the theater! (Side note, one time, on vacation, we were alone and Dave went out to use the latrine and the movie shut off. Not just that, but the lights went out. So I was ALONE in the DARK. So since then I always tell him he can't leave!!) Back to this story! It was actually more fun b/c then I could yell at the screen - "Hurry! It's her!! She's gonna leave w/o you! RUN!!!" I thought the movie was a little crazy. Some parts I really didn't like b/c the boy was really being taken advantage of and it seemed every time he got something good happening in his life he got stuck in a bad situation. At one point I almost started crying and I told Dave I just wanted to get to the end! I assumed there would be a happy ending, which there was, but it wasn't good enough to redeem all the other stuff. It was cool how they worked the music into it though. The other movie we recently watched was I Am David. Go rent that one instead! Have you seen any good movies lately?

The good, the okay and the ugly

Just a few updates...talked to the adoption social worker today and we have an appt. for Feb 8. I feel like that's forever away! But I guess it's under 3 weeks...I still haven't heard back from the foster care social worker.
Small victories - Mo's back to sitting on the potty again, and going a bunch. We ran out of Halloween candy M&Ms, so I bought the big bag! He always asks for red though, so I should have gotten a Valentine's Day pack.
And now the ugly. I don't think I said anything about it, but we just got a really nice new car. I didn't say much, I guess, b/c I don't want to sound like I'm bragging or whatever. Well, we've had it since Jan 1 and I drove it once so far. Dave uses it to get to school and I just drive the brown bus. Anyway - Dave was in an accident today. He's fine, but the car is not. He took out a street light pole. I can't believe they go down that easy! This was a really industrial looking one. Well, the tow truck guy thinks they'll total it, the car that is. I was like, "Um..." and then I didn't really breathe for a while. We really didn't need this right now. We have always talked about just having one car and how we of all people could actually do that. But w/everything going on, this was just one more thing, you know? So...if you think of it, could you please pray for us? It's so ridiculous in our culture how we rely on these conveniences and feel like we can't live w/o them...I just remind myself that w/God there are no accidents. His plan is superior to anything we could organize and these 'setbacks' serve only to bring us closer to Him. I'm sorry to use this space to complain about something so trivial...on a more meaningful note, please pray for Crunchy Chicken's family. She's the author of a blog I frequently read...if you're interested in a specific thing to pray for, click here to read her latest entry on family news. Thank you for taking the time to keep them lifted up in prayer! I know from firsthand experience how much it means to people in that situation. Ok, enough of that...hasta la proxima vez (until the next time)!

Swamp Juice

Our friend Jason keeps saying we should throw more raw veggies into our blender to make smoothies...this is our second attempt. Hoo-EE! It's green! There's romaine lettuce and carrots, but the rest is fruit, so we cheated. There's apples, a pear and oranges. It was yummy! I tried to convince Dave to throw in some broccoli...not sure how that would have turned out, but he got scared anyway. Then Mo wanted to take pictures of us - keep in mind it's the morning and I'm not very awake! (AND it's a toddler operating the camera!!) Cheers!

See this movie!

For those of us who question everything, and for those of us who silently go along with the majority. Please, click the photo to go to the movie site and then click trailer. Whether you agree or not, I think you will find it interesting!

So much to write about...

Today, I don't even know where to start! I've got some good pics, so maybe I'll start w/them. Last week Mo had his first swimming class! Lots of fun...in the second one you can't even see him - he's underwater. He's doing pretty good with it!

The other pic is from last Friday morning. A bunch of us parents and kids usually get together for some fun at various places. Mo and Samuelito were both in a good mood! Buddies!!Finally, here's a picture of Moses helping me cook. Now that's he's getting older, he wants to do everything we do. Dave and I are like, "Yeah, here kid, here's your job list!!" Actually he really can be helpful unloading the dishwasher and stuff. Anyway - Dave and I both agreed Mo needs a little more structure during the day, so we've created a little schedule. He still has plenty of free play, but now we work on numbers and letters a little, we get music and gym time and he helps me with cooking and cleaning. I'll probably post a copy of that schedule next time, so you can all keep me honest! Obviously, he's two and I'm not really a restrictive parent, so I'm not following it to the minute or anything. But we've been having fun cooking together and Sweatin' to the Oldies for gym time! He loves that tape - I brought it out as a joke, of course, but they have a live band and he really digs Richard's enthusiasm!
FOSTER CARE NEWS - paper work is 90% complete. We need to type our personal info, make a fire escape plan and install smoke detectors. There's some discrepancy about whether or not the basement stairs need a hand rail. At any rate, we hope to be setting up an interview this week. YAY!!!

Diaper challenge Days 1-3

We've learned a lot in 3 days.
1) Mo's not interested in sitting on the potty anymore. No, he won't even accept bribes.
2) The pull-ups are too big.
3) "I have to go potty" actually translates to "I just went potty".
4) Maybe we're not ready for this?
So for now, we're still in diapers. We think we've solved the night time wetting with the overnight diapers, which at first appeared too big, but seem to actually be okay. We'll still ask and make a big deal if he goes, but...I don't know. I don't want to push him. That's partly a lie, I do - b/c I'm sick of paying for paper diapers and washing cloth ones! The washing wouldn't be so bad if the sun came out once in a while. I just washed a load of them yesterday. I was sitting in the LR and I thought, "What is this bright light coming in my window??" The sun! Quick - wash something and hang it outside!! It was the best. I'm not sure why I love hanging wash so much. I guess it makes me think of my mom and how I loved to see her do that. I was going to say I loved to do it with her, but I don't think I helped much. I remember talking to her while she hung stuff up, but...it's still a good memory, I guess =) Do you have any weird things like that? Stuff you like to do and you don't know why...? Or is it just me? Ha! Don't answer that!

New Look!

I don't know, I'm feeling crazy...New Year here we come!! Do you have any resolutions?? I guess we have a few. We always say we want to be more organized. You can see our list of goals, add that we want to wean Mo of the pacifier. We're trying to eat out a lot less! We're trying to save money...please tell me you have something more interesting!!

Are you tired?

If you said "No" you must have boycotted Christmas this year, you lucky dog! I'm wiped. I'm still trying to play catch up on all the laundry and still looking for two more presents. Overall, we had fun this Christmas. If you recall, before Christmas the only thing Mo was asking Santa for was a microphone and a guitar. Well, Grandma and Grandpa found the PERFECT guitar with a microphone that plugs in! We have a **ROCK STAR** in our midst!!
The next big thing we're talking about is the polar bear plunge. Yes it's cold, yes Dave is crazy and no Mel is still not considering it! I said this year that if I had enough girlfriends willing to do it, I would. So I'm challenging any of the ladies out there to call me! I figure if I am going to do something like that, I want to be part of a large crowd of people I know so I don't feel so stupid. Does that make sense?
I guess I don't have anything really exciting to write about today, but I felt the blog was neglected. We are all looking forward to some new routines in the New Year and keeping up with the old ones. I know we can accomplish our goals, so stay tuned for updates!