Treasure Hunts

Joshua and I were off on 2 treasure hunts today. That's a way to put it for Joshua when we have to run to a bunch of different stores looking for something. Today we were looking for sandals for him and some material for Mom & Gramma. We were successful in 1 area but not both. Joshua is now proudly wearing Buzz Lightyear sandals!

We had checked the Jo-ann's on this end of town last night but didn't find what we needed. This morning we started at Field's Fabrics and were going to check a couple of other fabric stores before going to the other end of town to check those Jo-ann's. Field's didn't have it so we headed to Wal-mart. Along the way, Joshua said he needed to go to potty and since he wasn't wearing a pull-up, I stopped at the closest gas station. Would you believe this Circle-K didn't have a public bathroom? So we quickly loaded back into the van and went to a BK close by which had to have a bathroom. Then we continued to Wal-mart but when I reached into my pocket for the fabric sample, it was gone! Joshua and I looked all over the van, my purse, and all my pockets to no avail. It must have fallen out at one of the last 2 hurried stops. So I guess, I'll get another sample when I go to Alpena this weekend and then have another 'treasure hunt' after the 4th.

The other "fun" we had was that I evidently set my keys on the van seat when we were searching for the fabric sample. I didn't discover this until we were done shopping at Wal-mart. And I actually managed to get all the doors locked this time. So I called Mark on my cell phone. He was all the way in Coopersville picking up the office's paychecks. Joshua and I got to go back into Wal-mart and wait 45-60 minutes for him to get back to work then to Wal-mart. It wasn't too bad to wait. The bad thing was that Stephen's daycamp was doing a puppet show at 11:30 this morning and I was hoping to go see it. Mark got to us at 11:30 so I didn't figure there was anyway to get to the school in time for the show. I will make sure that I leave the house in time for the open house/ice cream social at the end of the day today.

Well, that's been our little adventure for the day.

Storms

We had a bunch of storms roll through the area this morning. It was the first significant rain we have had in 2 weeks. The only problem was that we got 3/4 of an inch of rain in only 15 minutes! There was lots of thunder and lightnening but we still have power. The air now feels wonderful outside but they say we have 1 more 90 degree day before a cold front comes through this evening. YEAH! The heat this last week has been awful! The heat indexes has been over a hundred degrees about 3 times in the last week and I don't like this kind of heat.

As for the trip to Ohio, we all had a great time! It was so nice getting to visit with everyone at one time. The trip home was very uneventful. We were able to do it with only 1 stop. The boys were so into watching the DVD's that they weren't wanting to stop all the time. It also only took us 6 hours to get home from Wooster!

We have been about the usual busy-ness since then. Stephen has had 2 weeks of daycamp at the school. The first week was Lego Maniacs and this week is Creation Station. It has been really good for him to have the structure and socialization of the daycamp. Joshua and I do lots of errands and AVON while Stephen and the other daycare kids are at daycamp. Mark has worked some long hours and is keeping very busy.

Joshua is headed to the dentist for another round of fillings. He has had 2 done but has 4 more to go. I'm thinking of trying to convince them to do all 4 today. He is getting a bit more apprehensive about going and it may be better if he doesn't have to worry about going back again for more discomfort. He did GREAT for them while he was there but was absolutely miserable after he got home. He really didn't like the numbness wearing off and then the pain from the work and pressure they put on his jaw. He spent most of the afternoon whining and moaning after his last visit.

Rachel is in Alpena with Gramma right now. She went down to Ohio early with her so we were able to take the car down instead of our gas-guzzling van. We then left Rachel in Alliance when we came home. When Gramma was ready to head home she called and asked if she was to bring Rachel here or take her to Alpena. I know Rachel was looking forward to making strawberry jam and she was being good so she went to Alpena with Gramma. I'm headed up this weekend to pick her up and bring her home. It's been quite a long time for her to be gone and actually she'll only be home for a week before heading to Lake Ann Camp in Traverse City for a week.

Well, that's all I have time for now. I want to get some work done before the dentist trip today.

Lifewalk!

Our family is once again looking for sponsors as we plan to do the Lifewalk. This is a fundraiser for Alpha Women's Center, here in GR as well as 5 other prolife centers. They are celebrating 20 years of serving women in the GR area! Rachel & Stephen would like to raise $150 each (so they can get t-shirts). This year's total goal is $175,000. The official walk is this Saturday but since we are going to be out of town, we plan to do our walking independently and then send in our paperwork. To learn more about Lifewalk and Alpha Women's Center, you can check out their website at www.alphawomenscenter.org. If you are willing to sponsor Rachel or Stephen, send an e-mail with the amount and your address. Alpha will contact you after the walk is complete with information on sending your donation straight to them. Thanks!

Power!

It's so nice to have power again! We lost it Sunday afternoon about 3:30 when a bunch of storms came through. It then came back on about 10:00 Monday morning.

Kids are on their last day and a half of school. Things are piling up around here and I'm about half crazy trying to keep up.

I got myself busy with cakes right now. I did one last week for a friend's son since they gave Rachel a loft bed last month. I'm working on 6 sheet cakes for a wedding this weekend. Stephen's birthday is next Tuesday and a friend is throwing a baby shower when we are going to be in Ohio. She wanted me to do it so much that it is baked and in the freezer right now. I'll pull it out next week in time to decorate it before leaving for Ohio. You should all know though that I do know how to say NO though. I had someone ask me about a cake for next Monday (just before Stephen's) and I told her I couldn't.

Of course, this is also when the heat and humidity kicks in. I'm committed to having the stove on and summer comes in full steam! At least the wedding cake isn't a tier that has flowers haning off the sides. This reception is being done "open house" style. It is from 12-3 at the bride's parents house. The bride and groom are more interested in the sundaes they are going to be eaten than cake but the parents insisted they had to have cakes too.

Well, Joshua and I are off to the store to do the shopping for the cakes.

Home

We are home after a long weekend at Lake Ann Baptist Camp. Every Memorial Day and Labor Day they have Work Bees. You arrive Friday night, spend Saturday doing work projects, then rest on Sunday, and work again Monday morning before heading home. They give you lodging and food in exchange for your working. It really is a lot of fun! This year we had around 40 people from our church go. Most of us try to stay in the Sunrise Lodge. It is nice because there are several common rooms that parents can use to play games and visit after the kids are tucked in bed.

Usually, the ladies from our church get signed up for food prep for the camp that the kids have to fix their own food. We get everything measured out right down to the packages of salt and pepper all sealed into baggies. This year we were late arriving and those from our group forgot to sign Rachel and I up to help them. Instead Rachel & I painted a hallway in the kitchen. The workers were thrilled. The building is 4 years old but according to one worker this hall hadn't had anything but the original primer on it the whole time. This was real good experience for Rachel. She learned how to spackle as well as tape and paint. She did a pretty good job for her first major painting job. She really got into the job you may say--including in her hair, and feet!

The men and boys usually set up TeePee Village. This also includes blowing up rafts and a few other projects. We were all done with our projects with over an hour left before dinner on Saturday.

Going there doesn't help get all the awaiting projects at home done but it really did a lot for our morale here. To spend time with the other families from church is great! Mark and I can't remember the last time we laughed as hard as we did this weekend, including with our daughter who managed to dump herself out of a kayak fully dressed! The messages at the services on Sunday were also just what we needed to hear. So now we are back at the grind but much more encouraged than before.

Lots to do to get caught up around here though. More when I can.

Garage Sale

I know it has been forever since I posted last and this is going to be a short one. Life just hasn't slowed down any and if anything is busier than ever.

We had a garage sale last Saturday. We didn't make a bundle of money but was able to get rid of some rather large items. I am especially happy that we were able to get rid of a broken washer and stove. We had them out with FREE signs and someone that collects scrap metal hauled them away. It was a good deal for us because we may of paid at least $10 each to have the city take them or if we hauled them to the dump ourselves.

For those of our family that shop at garage sales and that we may be seeing in the near future (especially Mom), I have a new shopping list for you. Stephen started occupational therapy last week (another story for another blog time) and they had some recommendations for some equipment that would be good to have. We could use a mini-trampoline, some BIG exercise balls and/or rubber kick balls. Also, Mom, could you bring me my "Hippity Horse" next trip down? Or if you find one cheap at a sale that would be fine too. He is thriving on the motion that he gets from these types of activities.

That's about all the time I have for now. Just wanted everyone to know that we are doing fine.

Mom's here!

Mom came down at the beginning of the week to see a school program that Rachel & Stephen were both in. Now she's here and Mark's not...he is at Lake Ann Baptist Camp up by Traverse City with 20 some other men from our church for a men's retreat.

I'm busier than ever and only have a couple of minutes to write. It is GREAT having Mom here. We work on all sorts of projects that I never get around to otherwise. We have fixed 2 light problems and have 1 more yet to go.

The kids have been wanting to go on a walk with her all week but the weather has been too bad. This morning she is out with Joshua and the older ones are hoping for a walk after school.

The school program was Tuesday. Mark's birthday was Wednesday. That was also the AWANA fair at church. They received their awards last Sunday and then have 1 more fun night before it's done. Thursday, Mark left for the retreat. I went to MOPS in the morning and they were short-handed for the nursery so I called Mom to come up. We then went to do lunch duty at the kids school and then I put in my AVON order in the afternoon. Now I am working on a couple of sheet cakes for a friend's son-in-law who is graduating from seminary tonight and they are doing an open house tomorrow. Is this insanity or what?

The good news is that I probably get to keep Mom till next Wednesday or so. Aunt Bette called and wants to fly in from Texas. She doesn't know where or exactly when yet but is working on it. Bette figured with Mom being down here it would help out with driving.

Well, I have to run. Talk to you more soon, maybe.

Still busy

I know, I know. I haven't been on recently. The good thing about that though is that I usually find out who has actually been reading it because I then receive a phone call from someone checking in to make sure we are all ok.

Our schedule hasn't slowed down any but it also doesn't seem much to write about. Mark is putting in long hours at Camp and Cruise because this is their busy time of year. Being their finance guy now along with being the office manager is wearing him to a frazzle.

I spend lots of time working my Avon business. It has been tough figuring out a balance between managing my recruits and building my customer base. Every now and then something manages to fall through the cracks and then I have a mess to clean up.

There are also our church commitments. 2 weekends ago we had a candidate for the position of Pastor of Student Ministries and Outreach come. Mark had a Pastor's Prayer Partners breakfast with all the men from the church Saturday morning and then since I am on the C.E. Committee, we had a picnic at Pastor Tom's house that afternoon. It was a wonderful time as we then had him speak for a teacher inservice on Sunday as well as the 2 services but also very tiring. The vote was just this Sunday morning and it was 172-0 in favor of calling him.

We have been working at training a new person to take over in the kindergarten class that I have been teaching this year. He has started out in the pre-k class under a teacher of 20+ years. This week, he is moving to my class and we will team teach for a while. By fall, I hope to hand the reigns completely to him and possibly have another person in training. By doing this, hopefully, I can do more supervising and less teaching myself which is what my position is.

Rachel and Stephen are busy getting ready for a school program next week called "We Haz Jazz". Rachel has a special part and even has to stay after school for 3 days for extra practices.

I received a call from another mom out at the kids' school. She was looking for childcare for the summer. At first, I was ready to tell her no because we have had too many disappointments with the daycare and were ready to give it up but I reconsidered. So I will be taking her daughter (the same grade as Rachel) and her son (the same grade as Stephen) just 2 days a week through the summer. It will then be afterschool care during the school year. Being just 2 days, it shouldn't be too overwhelming and most of my Avon is going to have to happen in the evening anyway so I'm not taking all 3 of my own to do it. Also being only 2 days a week, it will keep my kids occupied without it being too much time together.

Well, I have to run. Lots of stuff piling up and time is flying. I'll try to be on more.

By the way, congratulations to my brother, Mark that has just been accepted as a pastor to a church in Wooster, OH. Hey family, when we going to have 1 last fling in Alliance? I vote 4th of July weekend or Labor Day. What do you guys think?

SSSSOOOOO BBUUUSSSSSYYYYYY!

I can't believe it has been so long since I have had a chance to sit down and blog a bit. I even had a phone call to check in on us since I hadn't written anything recently. It has also been so long that I don't hardly know where to start. I'll try to catch you up but only hitting the high points.

The first weekend in April, Mark's mom and 1 nephew came for a visit. They got here Friday evening and left Sunday morning. I spent most of the day Saturday at an AVON booth at a Family & Kid's Expo here in GR. Mark and his mom brought the kids over for a while and they had a good time. Mark's mom won a DVD player and our family won a pretty fancy craft project including 3 piggy banks from the "Big Yellow Box" company.

The first full week of April was Spring Break for Rachel and Stephen. Our weather was unbelievably beautiful! It was sunny all week and the highs were in the 60's or 70's!

My mom came for a visit on that Monday 4/4. It was the first visit since before Christmas. The kids were thrilled to see her. She took them on walks down to the park and fed the ducks almost every day. I had so much going on with AVON, different appointments, and a funeral at church, I'm not sure I would have made it through the week without her. I know that this place was definitely more "sane" with her presence. We also got quite a bit of miscellaneous fixing up done around here. I learned how to replace the coils on our gas dryer and how to replace the plug on the dishwasher. Mom and I even took a day to go down to Fort Wayne and visit with long time family friends, Charles and Pauline Joder and Shirley Mullins. Unfortunately, she had to head back to Alpena yesterday but not before making sure my laundry was all caught up.

We celebrated Joshua's 4th birthday on Wednesday of Spring Break. It was scheduled to be celebrated on Tuesday but Stephen ended up sick just 1 hour before guests were coming so we postponed it. It was amazing that we could have the cake and ice cream outside on the picnic table because it was so nice.

The AVON is keeping me busy and going well. I have 1 recruit to sign up tomorrow and then 1 for Friday as well. I am having to call and check up on some of my other recruits that are struggling a bit but all-in-all I think it is going good.

The kids are back in school. At least Rachel is glad of that. She really misses her friends. She has Sarah close by but that is it and sometimes they don't see eye-to-eye. Joshua is also glad they are back in school. He likes having Mom to himself more.

Well, kids will be banging through the door any minute now so I better sign off. I'll try to write more but don't promise anything.

Forgot

I just realized that I forgot the real good news that we had last week! We have our car back!! Our friend, Dave, got it done last Sunday just before he left town. It only cost $125-150 too! Don't get me wrong, I'm not sure where even that much will come from but that is easier to find then that $900 the shop was talking about.

Talk about good timing...the truck that the Blacks have started having trouble with the ignition wires just as we got the car back so they were able to have their car returned in time to have the truck go into the shop. God is good!

Still here!

I can't believe it has been 2 weeks since I have written an update. Life has been absolutely crazy! 2 weeks ago, Mark worked 72 hours because of the boat show. That was the final one of the year though so we are happy about that.

About that Friday, he started really being worn down. It just kept getting worse. Finally, this last Thursday, he went to the dr. He is now on antibiotics for a sinus infection and bronchitis. They also had to flush out his ears as one was completely blocked with wax and the other was better than 75% blocked. He is still really tired out and not feeling like his normal self but seems to be improving.

Last Wednesday, Joshua didn't want breakfast and complained of a sore throat. By 8:30 I was glad he hadn't eaten when the juice he had drank came back up. He was feverish by evening and all around crabby. On Thurs. evening I took him to the dr. to be checked. His test for strep came back negative so it is evidently the flu. He seems to be improving now as he hasn't had a fever since Sat. He still has a runny nose though and sounds all congested.

By Friday, Rachel and I were also on the miserable side. We had headaches, congestion, sore throats, and noses that just won't quit. I put her and I on echinacia right away. It hasn't gotten us completely better yet but I think it has kept us from being flat-on-our-back sick. We are able to eat and function most of the time. At least I have been able to have enough spurts of energy to get my usual work done around here.

None of us, except Stephen, were well enough to go to the Good Friday service. (I sent the cookies I promised for the fellowship with friends.) We did all make it to Sunday services though. I kept Joshua with me the whole time instead of putting him in classes to infect everyone else. I also told the kids not to be hugging people to spread this around.

Satuday, I managed to get enough energy up to go do shopping for Easter after Mark got home from work. I had absolutely nothing here for the kids baskets unless I did. I was actually pleased with what I could find. Stephen and Joshua each got a new DVD from a new series called Hermie and Friends. Rachel got a praise CD for her to play in her karaoke player.

The kids have 4 days of school this week before they start spring break on Friday. It is also Spirit week at the school. Rachel went as a teacher and Stephen as a pastor this morning. He insisted he needed a tie so he is wearing one of Mark's with a vest hopefully covering it.

Tomorrow is Heritage day. They are to dress as though from a country of their heritage. Wednesday is Alphabet day. They are to wear something that starts with every letter of their first name. And Thursday is Patriotic Day. With the heritage of these kids, I told them they should do red, white, and blue on Tuesday and Thursday. I think Stephen plans to do Irish which means probably the same thing he wore on St. Patrick's day. I don't know what Rachel plans to do. I already had them working on the list for Wednesday because I don't want them trying to find that kind of stuff that morning. (I am trying to get them organized a bit even if I'm not great at setting an example of it myself.)

Spring weather is finally showing itself here. We hit 50 over the weekend. They are saying possibly 60 tomorrow which we haven't seen since 11/8. It is even possible to see hyacinths and tulips popping their heads through the ground in my front flower bed. I haven't cut off my rose bushes yet because I am fearful of another good frost. Maybe if the weather is good during spring break, I will.

I think I am going to be working a booth at the Family and Kid's Expo this Friday and Saturday. My manager said to plan on it but I haven't heard much about it yet. I'm also keeping busy doing follow up on a lot of leads from the Women's Expo a couple of weeks ago. I actually had 3 orders from new customers from the expo with my order I placed last week! I also had 2 new customers from church with the last order. I think the word has finally leaked out around there!

Well, I think that is about it for now. Not a lot of positive to write about because of being sick but I guess that is how things go sometimes.

Survived

Just wanted to let everyone know that we have survived the weekend. It was extremely hectic and we only have a minor reprieve before Mark is at a boat show this Thurs. through Sunday.

Stephen was back to school on Wed. Thursday was AVON order day. I had a new recruit come here so I could show her how to put it on the computer. She had a $500 order. I then ended up with a $400. This was so exciting. I had to check on my other recruits but my manager was able to find out that I am a UNIT LEADER now! This means that I am able to get a bonus off of the orders of my recruits! This is what I have been aiming for and finally made it. Now I just need to keep this status.

Friday during the day, Saturday evening, and Sunday afternoon, I spent at our Women's Expo working the AVON booth that our manager had set up. I got lots of leads for customers, recruits, and fundraisers, and even signed up a new recruit on the spot! This should really help keep my business rolling!

In the midst of all this I baked, decorated, and delivered a wedding cake. Maybe I'll try posting pictures when I get them emailed to me. I forgot my camera so a friend with a digital took some for me. It was a rather simple 3 tier design. I actually spent more time on the groom's cake. The groom is a Star Wars fan so the bride wanted the words "Star Wars" along with 2 crossed light sabers. I even got to try a couple of new techniques out on it. It turned out really well! What was funny was the groom had no idea it was coming. When he first saw it, he thought some friends from across the state were pulling a joke. Boy, was he shocked to find out his bride had ordered it!

This week's schedule isn't much lighter. Today is AVON pick up day. (I have customer's pick up there orders at my house for a discount.) Tomorrow I plan to deliver some orders but we also have a C.E. committee meeting here at our house (which means lots of cleaning). While the meeting is going on, Mark has a meeting at the kids' school and the kids have AWANA games practice. Wed. is our day to deliver papers and church. Thursday is MOPS (which I need to write a newsletter for) and lunch duty at the school. Friday, Stephen has an appointment and Saturday is the AWANA games and the kids' school carnival. And as I mentioned, Mark will be working 10-12 hour days Thurs-Sat. plus at least 5 hours on Sun.

Guess I better get at it.

So much for an update

Just a minute to fill you in on the weekend and this week's schedule. Mark woke up sick with vomiting and diarrhea Friday night and was pretty miserable Saturday. He was keeping food down on Sunday but still felt dizzy in the morning so didn't go to church. By evening he was feeling better still and had kept down more food so went to evening service.

Rachel and Stephen had AWANA games practice in the morning. They then spent most of the afternoon playing games on the computer while I ran to the store while Mark and Joshua were napping. They did ok for a while and they didn't fight over the computer. Turns out they were having such a good time that they got too loud and woke up both Daddy and Joshua. After I got home from the store I sent them all outside to burn up some energy. They were thoroughly soaked by the time they came in but had enjoyed themselves.

Today Mark was up to going to work but still didn't feel "right". Stephen left for school saying that his stomach didn't feel very good either. The Blacks went ahead and put insurance back on their truck so we have their car to use. In a few minutes Joshua and I are headed out to do some AVON (as long as we don't get a call from school first).

Stephen has an appointment tomorrow morning and I really don't want to think about the rest of the week. I have a wedding cake that I am doing on Saturday and our AVON team has a booth set up at the Women's Expo in town Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. I have agreed to take shifts all 3 days. That also means prepping catalogs with stickers, etc. before then. There is also a church ministries conference that is held once a year that is this weekend. I'm not going to make it at all but Mark is going to try to go to some sessions, as time permits.

No word on the car yet but we aren't going to push either. With having the Black's car, we will be fine till it is done so there's not really a rush to it.

I guess I should stop sitting here writing about the week and get busy facing it. If you don't hear from me for a while you'll understand why but keep checking in. You just never know when I may get a craving to write.

So much for plans!

I made it to all of 2 customers before I received the call from school that Stephen had gotten sick and had to be picked up. I'll just have to add the other 6 to get to tonight when I had other errands planned. Hopefully, this is just the same 24-hour virus that Joshua and Mark have had. He has done pretty well since he has been home. We let his stomach rest for 2 hours and now he has had 1/2 doz. sips of water that have stayed down for an hour or more.

Just thought I'd fill you in on how my day's planning turned out.

Car update

Good news! God is working things out for us! We called our friend from church and even though the head gasket is a big job, he has done a 1/2 dozen or so of them for himself and other friends. He can also do the fuel regulator without any trouble. It may take a while but he thinks it will run around $150 for the parts for both jobs. Now $150 is still quite a bit of money the way our budget is right now but it seems more attainable then $1000. So when we picked up the car from the garage last night we took it right over to this friend's house. He has a heated pole barn around back with all the tools he needs and now he has the car for whenever he might have time to work on it. He did say he had another friend's car from church that he has plans to work on tomorrow but he may even start on ours some tonight. This is a major relief! We don't know how long we may be down to one car but it should only be a week or so.

Also, we talked to our neighbor's, the Blacks. (I do daycare for their 4th grade daughter and we share carpooling responsibilities.) They currently have 2 cars and a pickup truck for the 2 adults living there. They have the truck in "storage" in their driveway for the winter. They say that if we run into too much conflicts with 1 vehicle, they can bring the truck out of storage and let us use 1 of the cars for whatever time we need to. We have things worked out pretty well through Sunday so we will see then how things look for next week. Besides carpooling, I only have 2 days that I really have to have a car during the day. Again God is providing!

This blog really wasn't meant to be such a ranting place but thanks for listening and for the suggestions, etc that we received. I really meant for it to be a place for people to hear what our kids and family are up to. They are growing up so quickly. I have other things to get busy with but will try to post an update later and focus on the other family activities going on.

Car

Well, it turns out the there were several broken wires on the car there were causing the headlights not to work. Sounds cheap right? Wrong. It was only $30 cheaper than if he had replaced the switch which is what the machanic thought was the problem. That's the good news...

The bad news is that the mechanic also found that the fuel regulator is leaking and we have a gasket leaking antifreeze. I don't suppose I have any big brothers or nephews wanting a trip to West MI? $1000 is a little out of our price range right now. So now that we have working headlights we will be parking the car till we can figure out what to do. (The fuel that is leaking from the regulator is in/near the engine so it makes for a major safety issue.) Our next step is to talk to some guys from church that have helped with minor repairs before. I looked in the Haynes manual and the fuel regulator doesn't look too bad to work on. I couldn't seem to find the head gasket though. It really bothers Mark when things like this come up. He is not very mechanically inclined. I just keep reminding him that it isn't as if he was taught this kind of stuff growing up.

I was able to make it to MOPS at church this morning. I hated leaving any early because of the good speaker we had today. She was talking about parenting children with special needs. Some of her ideas were good for all children though too. I had to leave though so I could get out to the school and do lunch duty in the kids classes.

I, however, missed a meeting that our group manager wanted to have this morning. She says that I have to pick and choose and use my time wisely. Well, her meeting wasn't put together before Tuesday and today was already booked.

Well, I have to go. More to do before I pick up the kids from school, only to leave an hour later to pick up Mark from work. By bedtime, the $20 in gas that I put in this morning will probably be used up!

Down

This probably isn't the best time to be blogging but I'm frustrated and don't have any place else to rant. This is a really tough time around here. It really seems like the harder we work, the further behind we get. Everytime it looks a bit brighter, it gets yanked away from us. I know that God will provide. He always does but the testing along the way is really getting rough.

Right now we have Mark's car in the shop to find out why we don't have any low beam headlights. The high beams we could get along without. It also wouldn't be bad if it was summer time and stayed light till after 9 at night but right now, some nights Mark isn't home before dark. We changed one of the bulbs ourselves, outside in the snow and dark, but that didn't help. All it did was make my husband feel worthless.

I will really be glad for tomorrow. Mark will be able to start taking his Omega-3's again. He started taking them about a year ago when we were introduced to them as a possible help for Stephen when he was struggling in school. They did help Stephen some and Mark thought he would try them. They have been amazing for him! His temperment is so much more even. He handles frustrations so much better. Without them, every little thing is completely overwhelming. He has been off them for the last week and it has been rough on us all. I was never a big believer on vitamins, etc. but these are really making a believer out of me. It is like living with 2 very different people.

There was another snow day yesterday. The kids are busy preparing for the AWANA games competition in a couple of weeks. They have practices at church 2 days a week till the 19th when they have the big games.

I'm trying to push my AVON business very hard. I now have enough recruits to make a unit. If we can get our sales to a set level, I will start making a bonus on my recruits sales. Mark and I have really come to the conclusion that AVON is the best option for us. The daycare is just not steady enough. We have had just too many problems with this. There are such great possibilities with AVON that we want to see where it can take us. Of course, this takes time. Not to mention, vehicles with headlights. I could take the van in the evenings but then we are spending so much more on gas.

We are all generally healthy. Joshua was sick last weekend. He had some kind of intestinal bug but it only lasted 24 hours. All the kids take turns coughing and a bit stuffy. I have had Rachel to the doctor twice in the last month to check her cough. They say send her to school. I have a real problem doing that when she sounds like a barking seal but they say coughs are lasting a month or more and I don't want her home that long.

Well, I guess I better go. I have to get the Advance papers ready to deliver. We'll probably do it when the kids are home from school. I like to take Joshua and do part of it during the day but that doesn't always work. Sometimes, life happens. So much for the best layed plans.

Thanks for listening to my ranting and for your prayers. As I said to begin with, we know that God will provide. It is just the waiting that can be hard.

Back online

We are finally back online. We have been locked out of our ISP since last Thursday! It has driven us pretty crazy and we had to waste WAYYYY to much time on this machine all weekend. Thanks to friends from church we are back in the land of blog! I know now why by brother dislikes AOL so much. If it wasn't for other services limiting your address groups we would probably be switching very soon.

I can't write much right now though because the kids are on "mid-winter break" and I have plenty of other things that need to get caught up too. Just wanted everyone to know we are doing fine, just busy as usual.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Today has been a bit of a chance to breath. Not much of one but at least we can say we made it through last week. 1 boat show down, 1 or maybe 2 more to go this spring. Things really didn't go too bad around here, it just was a really looooooonnnnnnngggggg week. Mark put in 3 twelve hours days and won't have a day off till this Saturday.

My family is actually rather content again. The NASCAR season started off on Saturday with the Bud Shoot-out. It's not a points race but it was still a race. Now they can survive till the Daytona 500 on Sunday. Mark was at the boat show during the shoot-out so that is what he is watching tonight to "chill" a bit. The kids started the race on Sat. night but mom made them go to bed in the middle so they finished it Sunday afternoon.

This isn't really a "normal" week either. There are parent teacher conferences this week. That means 1/2 days of school on Wed. and Thursday then the kids have a 4 day weekend. Oh, joy. And of course, they are forecasting cold and snow starting on Wednesday. Can we say "cabin fever"?

Well, I'm too tired to think of what else I was going to write about. Guess it's time for bed for me too.

Life is CRAZY!!!!

I only have a few minutes to try to catch up a bit here. Joshua has a bit of a cold and I couldn't let him go to the Wed. program at church, Cubbies. So he and I came home then I get to run back at 8 to pick up the other kids. I really don't even know where to start.

Mark is busier than ever at work. He has new responsibilites and they are short staffed. Today is the first boat show of 3 that he will have to be working. Since he is now their finance guy, he has to be at the shows the whole time. When someone wants to fill out a credit app. for a boat, he's the guy. Of course, that means he has to spend the day at work getting banks to take the apps. and his other work as well. This runs Wed. through Sun. at the DeVos Place.

Rachel has been working on 2 different projects this week and then one last week. Last week's was an extra credit science project where she had to make a model of a cell. Not to bad. She needed the help with the grade and was the only one in her class to do it. Today she had her Grand Prix car due for the AWANA program at church. The races are next weekend but they had weigh in tonight and then the cars are "impounded" for the week. Tomorrow she has to turn in her Michigan project. This is for her social studies class. She wanted to make a view box of the Mackinac Bridge. Not very inventive, so Dad mentioned Michigan International Speedway. She was going to do a model of it but ended up doing a view box of the speedway. She still has to finish up a report about it to show how it effects our economy. Tomorrow night is Michigan night at the school. I get to take the kids (by myself) out and we get to listen to some songs about MI and then look at everyone's projects. I'll be shocked if there is another one about MIS!

Stephen is his usual self. Some days are good and some are completely frustrating. He just completed a special water safety course through the school. For 3 Tuesdays, they took they kids to a pool for a special class. All seems to have gone fine and he even got to ride on a bus.

Well, I have to head back up to church. I'll try to not take so long between posts but can't make any promises.