Thankfulness

Our fall has been a whirlwind, fraught with transition, as well as blessing.

I have loved homeschooling Andante
and I have also loved substitute teaching.

I would prefer to be home full-time with my kids,
so it is bittersweet.

But to be able to do something I enjoy as work is a gift.

This Thanksgiving,
I rejoice in how God has taught us, cared for us,
and is leading us step by step through job and family transitions.
I rejoice that Papa Bear is still employed - for now and it would seem for a few months to come -
and is getting practice with interviews and applying for jobs;
surely He is leading us right where He wants us to be.
And I will come out on the other end -either in 2015 or 2016 -
w/teaching certification and perhaps a classroom to call my own.

And I am very thankful for my father's preventive care.
A routine cardiac check-up resulted in double bypass surgery a few days ago.
The heart attack could have happened - but didn't.
The clot is gone.
The blockage is remedied w/the bypass,
and my sister was able to be there w/her family for my mom's distraction.
So far all appears successful, and he is recovering well.
My mom and he appear to be weathering it all ok.

Two sisters-in-law are pregnant,
and we are enjoying time with them this holiday.

We are truly thankful for all our family,
and for abundant provision for all our needs.

Happy Thanksgiving to you all!

A Celebration - 5 Years and Done!

Today was Andante's last shot.  He's been undergoing immunotherapy for five (5) years.  For the past 4+, the shots have been monthly.  They call it "maintenance".  And now, we're done.  And we hope the allergies stay away.  Maintain indeed, only w/o the shots.

Every month for four plus years (more that first year) we've made a date of this time together.  We drive over, sometimes stopping to get a soda or a hot chocolate en route, get the shot, and play games for 30 minutes in the waiting room. They check (to see if he's reacting "too much") and then we're off.  We've had a few incidents - one scary one (needed the epi-pen - yikes), one "oops we took our pre-meds early this morning and then got the shot much later in the day than expected", and a few others.  Mostly, however, it's been pretty routine.

While we've loved the time together, his being done is an event worthy of celebrating. So we splurged (and he pitched in a bit too out of his own earnings) and he and I did lunch at the local Japanese Steak House - Hibachi time!  Chicken for him, steak for me, noodles all the way around, yummy soup and salad, and even a couple spring rolls.  I even caught zucchini on the first toss!  We had a great time.  Congratulations Andante on five great years of allergy shots!

Settling into School Part 2

I went back to school this year too - in a way.  I began subbing last week.  First I had to submit the application, which involved writing a resume of sorts.  And I had to find appropriate references.  That took a couple weeks.  Once I completed all those requirements and submitted the application, it took a week or two for processing and then, once approved, I had to complete quite a bit of training (required reading and video training on legal issues, inclusive classrooms, harassment, child abuse, and much more).  That took me another week and then I completed paperwork and was hired.

I took a subbing job the very next day, which was one week ago. It was a half day position in 4/5th grade.  It went quite well.  And then I took another one the next day for the 3rd grade classroom next door to Vivace's class.  I loved that day.   I could have kept going and subbed either at the middle or high school the next day, for teachers I know and would love to sub for (and it'd be my 3rd school in as many days) but I really needed to be home.  So I took a middle school subbing job for this past Monday, and I have lined up a job for the high school this Friday; four schools in 8 days, all desirable positions.  So far it's been a great experience; I love teaching.  I have been comfortable with the kids and in my element, especially the middle school job.  I get to do that one again next week for the same teacher.

It's fun to be back at school, teaching, and my kids seem happy to have me there.   We all think it will be a good fit for the family to have me subbing, and so we're working to settle into school in a new way this fall, with five of us in the system, to some degree or another.

The smell of freshly sharpened pencils....

I do love the "back to school" feeling.  Learning is fun.  Getting all your supplies in order equally fun I especially do love the smell of freshly sharpened pencils, and the feel of a nice new pen that writes smoothly.  Gel pens are among my favorites and we got them in several colors this time!  We're working hard to get back in the swing of things.  Another year of four kids, four different schools (five if you count homeschooling).  It's busy but good.  I've been to two PTO meetings, and the "Open House" season is upon us.... not sure how we'll juggle it.

Opportunities for work

For our kids, we've been wanting to connect the concept of earning money with work.  It's not always as easy to teach as you'd think, especially when you try to help them find work they enjoy, or to find fun in their work.  So this summer, we seem to be either purposely or accidentally discovering what work really is, and that it's not always fun or enjoyable, but it is necessary, and worthwhile.  We have found - again both purposefully and accidentally - that earning money means having to work, and sometimes it's hard.  But again, it's good.  The newspaper route is currently fun.  It will get hard when the snow flies, but it will still be good.  Watching our little friend is work.  It's hard.  We're tired.  Frankly, we "count the hours" some days.  But we like him a lot.  It is good for our kids to know that taking care of kids is not as "easy" as some believe.  But it has its reward, and we don't just mean the money.   It's not particularly well paid (in our case), but it's a great service, and the relationship is wonderful.  Kind of like having kids.  And the money they're earning is well-earned.  They've worked hard for it.  And this week Andante was asked to work about 10 hours over two days at the local farm where we have our CSA. It was somewhat boring, it had some definite hard work involved at times (loading and unloading produce), and he was on his feet for most of it.  He was well-paid.  The people were good to work with.  Fun? Not really.  But between saving his allowance and a birthday gift from his grandparents and these hours of hard work, he's now earned enough to pay for his lifeguarding class next summer, so mission accomplished.  They're learning that work is satisfying, and it has a purpose.  In the midst of it, I'm finding that I need to focus and be efficient even more than I'm used to in order to get my own work done, what with balancing the kids' jobs, the comings and goings, and still finding time to relax.  It is doable.  And I enjoy my work - and my kids.  I'm tired, but it is good.

Colossians 3:23
Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men.

Summer Babysitting - Rusty but Fun!

We are watching a little not-quite-two-year-old boy for four weeks this summer, six hours each day M-F 'til mid August.  I think I'd forgotten how much work they can be at this age. I am definitely rusty across the board in chasing toddlers, diapering, and so much more.  He is busy busy busy.  But he is relatively easy as these things go and a lot of fun. Frankly, he's delightful. Granted, he's wearing us out, but we're managing, and largely trying to incorporate him into our lives and activities.  I do love having so many helpful hands.  We were hoping this would be a venture that was mostly Patience's responsibility, but that's proving impossible given his needs and her limitations (she doesn't have the energy for him).  So we're splitting it up and the younger two are loving him.  Here are a few photos from our first week with him, including what I believe is his very first ever trip to the pool.

Our own Newsie

Where we live, there is a free, weekly newspaper.  It's delivered to our door once a week.  Some years ago (maybe 10?), there was no delivery and I considered signing us up.  But I had a brood of young chickens and rightly understood that I'd end up doing it, and it wasn't worth it at the time.  Several other neighborhood kids tried their hands at it after that, and the most recent one (and the one with the longest tenure) just graduated from high school in June.  Turns out, his younger sister had no interest in inheriting the route as he "retired" (so he could move on to bigger and better things).  We asked him about it, he said he'd been thinking of asking us, and the rest is... news I guess.

Vivace is our official Newsie.  He has successfully completed the route twice to date and last week (the 2nd one) he bagged all 130 papers by himself.  He was incredibly responsible and we were all rightly proud.  And yes, we did send him to take a shower before eating dinner.  He was covered in newsprint from head to toe.  He and Constance have shared the delivery route twice now, and he's even gotten his first paycheck.  The entire process is between 2-3 hours, depending on the weather and the size (thickness) of the paper.  It took him about 45 minutes to do the bagging, alone, and about 1 1/2 hours to deliver this week.This is going to be a great learning opportunity for the whole family, but especially for him.  It's his first real "money-earning" venture (Constance has done cat-sitting), and it definitely requires an acceptance of responsibility.  He even signed a contract. We think he is very ready for it.  Gotta love how they're growing up!