Job Search

Well, no word from UPS and it has been almost 2 weeks since the interview. So I have still been out searching. I applied at a gas station and a hotel (front desk) earlier this week. Now, today, I have put in 5 more applications. Gotta love modern technology. With 3 kids at home, I was still apply to put in apps over the internet. I applied for 4 different clerical positions. These all pay better than UPS and the work wouldn't be as physically demanding so maybe one of these will work out.
The other position that I applied for today was as a Morning Show Co-host for the Christian radio station that we listen to. I know it is a long shot but it doesn't hurt to try. I actually know several of the people that work/run the station since it is run by my alma mater. I do have radio experience (haha) since I worked with Uncle Bill in Alpena so you never know. I also figure that I may be a good fit since the other co-host is a single young male. Being older, married with kids, and female, might just help since a lot of ladies listen while getting kids ready for school in the morning. The last duo was a male/female team that abrutely left and joined a secular station right here in town. It seems like a strange switch but no one has said much about it. I actually was joking with Mark about it just a couple of weeks after the last team left that I should apply then I found the ad today.
I don't know if any of these will pan out but we know the Lord has something in store. We are trying to stay patient while we look for the one He has for me.
By the way, taxes are DONE! This is a record for us! We have them done, efiled, accepted, and now just awaiting the direct deposits into our account. We have to file the city by snail mail but that is ready for Mark's signature and it is in the mail too.

Snow days #5 & #6

Yes, the weather has continued to be crazy around here. The kids had last week Thursday off since we recieved 10 inches of snow on Wednesday afternoon & evening and the blows just couldn't keep up. It also doesn't help that we had rain before the snow started falling. Now they have today off too! There were actually over 400 churches cancelled last night and numerous school systems called off before bed last night. We have some counties that the plows don't work on weekends so there was no way to have school today. We really didn't get a lot of snow with this system but the temps are so cold that they can't salt the roads and what snow we got blew around and drifted pretty bad. If you paid attention to your national news today you probably heard GR mentioned. We had 3 major interstates closed in multicar pileups at different times yesterday. One of them involving 50+ cars! Fortunately, we are safe and warm.
This is really going to make for an interesting week. The kids were only scheduled for 3 days as it was. Thursday & Friday were Teacher Inservice Days. And now they are forecasting the temps to stay cold and another 2-5 inches of snow overnight & into tomorrow. The kids may only be at school on Wednesday which, of course, is the day for all the Valentine exchanges.
The good news is that it appears that we should get to hold the AWANA Grand Prix this Wed. It was scheduled for last Wed but had to be postponed due to the weather. The thing is that the Regionals are this Saturday so we have to have our church one before then. They announced last night that if Wed is cancelled, we would do it on Thurs evening (or Friday if need be).
Other news: Joshua's allergy testing came back negative. That dr. thinks it is just a matter of going through that "potty training" stage again. Not what I wanted to hear! I'm more than tired of this already & would like to move on.
I spent this weekend sick. I started not feeling well Friday morning but thought it was just over-tired. By early afternoon, I had diahrea and it was so bad that I knew I couldn't pick up the kids from school or Mark from work. I had to call on friends to help with both. I had to stay on clear liquids till yesterday morning. I felt a little better or at least like I should do some things Saturday evening but could only be up for a few minutes at a time. I stayed home from church yesterday morning and started back on a bland diet throughout the morning. By evening, I was able to attend church. (Yes, of the over 400 closings, ours was not.) I was a bit back down when we got home but part of it was that we stayed to help with track setup & it was more than I had done all weekend. Also, it could be that I needed more in my stomach because I was also having lots of sinus drainage which often bothers me on an empty stomach.
Well, I am back on my feet now and playing catch up. So I better get at it. My main focus of the day is our taxes. (YES MOM, our taxes are almost done!) I spent time last week doing them most of them and just have to do my AVON business part of it. I hope to have them efiled later this week.

Joshua's appointment

Joshua has a new appointment on Monday to see if we can figure out something concerning his bowel problems. It came to me last Sunday that I had read of kids' with his type of problems that have food allergies that cause it. So, I started by calling his gasto specialist and she said she hadn't checked for that & we should see a specialist. So then I had to call our regular pediatrician for a referral and by Thursday the allergist's office called and had an appointment available for next Monday (2/4). I don't know what we will find but it will at least rule out something else. I can't believe that we are getting in so quickly! You all know how it can take months to see specialists but less than 1 week!

Happy Birthday, Nate!

Just a note to wish Big Brother a happy birthday. I'm not good at getting cards in the mail so this will have to do. He is one of the few readers that drop by regularly (besides Mom & Dad) so he should see it this way.

Another snow day

I can't believe it. I'm not sure if there has been another year in all of Rachel's years in school that she has had 4 snow days in a year, especially since all these have been in less than a month's time. The crazy thing is that it isn't looking very good for next Monday or Tuesday either. We are supposed to be in the mid-30's with precipitation switching back & forth between rain and snow.
Stephen was actually disappointed to have a snow day today as his class was supposed to have a "Super Bowl" party today. All of the kids had to earn the right to participate in the party and he did so he is a little disappointed but the teacher assured the kids they would get to have the party on Monday if there is a snow day today. This has been good for him to have time to come up with more Super Bowl trivia that he is suppling for the class. This also means I don't have to put together a football-shaped cupcake cake till Sunday afternoon now.
I do have to get a cupcake cake decorated for a baby shower for tomorrow though. I think I'm doing an umbrella shape in blue frosting since it is for a baby boy. I made sure that we got all the stuff to do these with last night just in case there was a snow day today.
Mark & I also stopped by the library to get books for Rachel since she needs to be reading for a Jack London author study they are doing. Since the books had to come from the public library, we didn't want to wait till the last minute.
So we are homebound again. But at least we are warm and have power.

Snow day #3

Well, we awoke to another snow day. Mark almost had one too. It took us over 50 minutes to get the car open so he could even get it started. The locks were frozen and then the doors themselves were froze. We had a high temp yesterday of 45 degrees. It was 39 degrees at 7 p.m. then dropped 25 degrees by 1 a.m. The major problem with that is that while it was 39 it was raining. With the quick drop in temps, we had what meteorologists call "flash freezing". Mainly, there is a thick layer of ice under the very fine snow that is blowing and drifting and making white-out conditions. Our windchills officially qualify as "dangerous" as they are in the teens below zero. It is a good day to be inside. Fortunately, we have not lost power as a lot of people in the area have. Mark did make it to work safely although 30 minutes late.
I had hoped to go to Aunt Millie's Bakery because they are taking applications for a merchandiser today from 1-4 p.m. But I didn't feel that it was worth just putting in an application to keep the car today. If it was an actual interview, I would have considered it. We can't have anything happen to this car as it is the only one we have. I'm hoping that they may take them on another day too seeing as State Police are saying to stay home if at all possible.
I did go on an employment tour at UPS last night. It is a possibility that I could work there as a package handler nights. It would be hard work & I would definitely get in better shape then I am right now. It also has very good benefits so we are thinking about it.
This snow day also means that I probably have to cook dinner tonight. We normally have dinner at church on Wednesday, but the rule of thumb is "no school, no church". Actually, as I was typing this the official notice came through that all activities at church are cancelled. So I guess I better go get the kitchen cleaned up so I can cook something tonight.

Winter's back...

Well, we have been back to winter weather since my last post. It's typical MI. Last weekend we were in the teens or below and now we are supposed to get to 40 by Monday and have rain on top of the 8-10 inches of snow that has fallen recently. The kids have now had 2 snow days during January. One was more because of fallen power lines in the area than for the ice itself. The other one was this last Tues and it was definitely a good call not to have school that day. GR Public even called off school and that only happens on rare occassions, like every 2-3 years.
My family is going to be going through withdrawl tomorrow. No football and no NASCAR! What to do on a Sunday afternoon without either of those. That only happens a couple of times a year but this is one of them. Even though there are some weeks that there are Saturday races during NASCAR season, at our house they are still Sunday races as we tape them instead of letting Stephen stay up too late on Saturday evening.
At least it is AWANA Grand Prix time so they have their cars to work on and at least think about racing. Mark has Stephen at the church right now for what they call "Pit day" where they bring in tools that not everyone has at home and then they can work on them there. Rachel is done with making cars since she is in youth group now and Joshua is still in Sparks and they don't do the cars yet.
Rachel battled a really bad head cold this week. She missed school on Monday, then Tuesday was a snow day, Wednesday we got her there long enough to take her midterms that were that day, she missed Thursday but was back and doing better on Friday which is when her other midterms were. Fortunately, she was able to get there for all of her midterms and there weren't many other assignments that she missed when she was out because it was mostly prep time for the midterms.
The rest of us are healthy and doing fine. I can't think of much else to update you on right now. I guess I would just say to keep praying for us and our car situation (getting us everywhere with 1 vehicle is tricky) and also I am looking for the right part-time position for me. See it is a bit tough as I can't do a daytime position because of Joshua's intestinal difficulties, but I also don't want EVERY night committed to a job because of needing to be able to do stuff with the family (school & church commitments, etc) & then there is the 1 car situation to deal with too. So I am looking but haven't found the right opportunity yet.

Weather

With Big Brother doing lots of shovelling & Dad shivering, I just had to tell you that it was 52 when we woke up this morning which broke a high record for the day. It has now been 64 this afternoon! The kids would like to break out the shorts about now. But all good things must come to an end. They are forecasting snow & 36 by Wednesday again & next week it may not get out of the 20's for highs. MI--gotta love it! If you don't like the weather, you won't have to wait for long to get something different, that's for sure!

Teenager

Yes, we officially have a teenager in the house. Rachel turned 13 on Dec. 20. Tonight is her birthday party. We wanted to let her do something more than she usually gets so she was able to invite 7 girls over for a slumber party. Only 3, however, were actually able to come. 1 cancelled at the last minute because she came down with the flu. We were hoping since the holidays were over and some kids are already back in school that more would be able to come but it didn't work out that way.
We started with gifts and cake/ice cream. Actually, this time I decorated a brownie as her cake was hardly eaten that I did at her actual birthday. Mark then took our boys out for a movie (Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium with Christmas $ from Grampa). I crashed this party because the girls were watching "Hairspray" and I wanted to see it and hadn't yet. Now Rachel has a new DVD, & probably soundtrack too, on her "must have" list.
The girls are doing the HSM (High School Muscial) DVD game. It's the only board game I know that keeps the kids on their feet most of the time. The kids have to learn the dance moves from the movie and be able to figure out what moves are missing when they show a clip. I'm rather glad that we don't have many more girls because we couldn't have many more learning the moves at one time in our living room. (There goes a plate of chips!)
I'm trying to stay out of the way but yet supervise properly. Next will probably be the 2 HSM DVD's. Rachel is hoping to stay up all night but we'll have to see. I have fondue for the girls too but they didn't hardly touch any munchies during the movie so I haven't decided if I'm going to make it or not.
Rachel had to work hard to get to have her party. Besides the cleaning in the basement, she has had to help with cleaning the family room and her room as well as taking down all of the Christmas decorations from the living room. Of course, the hall getting to her room is still a mess but the room is clean, not organized but it is cleaner than it has been in months. Good thing that she had 2 weeks to work on it.
Of course, our poor cat doesn't know what to do with all these giggling girls around here. They are invading her space and quiet time with mom. She also doesn't like all the cleaning. No blankets or pillows on the floor for her to lay on and she lost most of her hiding places in the basement. Guess she'll just have to adjust.
Well, we'll need more prayers than ever to get through these years ahead. We just are going by the theme of HSM, "We're all in this together".

Holidays

Well, we had a very pleasant holiday season. It was actually rather quiet, at least as quiet as this house goes. The only travelling we did was over to Detroit on the 15th for Mark's family Christmas party. We did that as a 1 day trip and even cut it short as the weather was not very nice. We kept on eyes on weather reports through out the day as this was a fast moving system and every time we checked it, the reports changed on who was going to get how much and when it was coming.
Mark's company party was the night before on the 14th so we couldn't go over ahead of time. (Rachel also had a youth group party that night.) The URS party was at a place downtown called the BOB (Big Old Building). It has been renovated on the inside and has several different clubs (bars) and also private rooms to rent. It was definitely rather fancy and we hadn't done anything like that in a long time. I think it would have been nice to of had some little gifts or something rather then having the open bar but I'm not in charge of planning. By 11:00 p.m., it was pretty noticeable of who had taken advantage of the open bar. Quite a few from Mark's department weren't able to make it so even he didn't know a lot of the people there so we were ready for home. What I did find interesting was the number of retirees who were invited and attended the party. They also recognized people for their anniversaries and I am amazed at the people who have worked for URS for 20+ years. It must mean that URS knows how to treat its employees for them to want to stick around so long, right? Hopefully, this is a place that Mark can stick around at too.
Mom came to visit the week before Christmas. It is always fun to have her here. I seem to get to some projects that don't get done otherwise. We even did some baking this time. She had Rachel & Joshua making cut-out sugar cookies while I had Stephen helping me make carmels. This is the first time I have attempted much for baking with the kids and they really enjoyed it. We did some other cookies after she left and put together plates with cards for neighbors and friends.
It was just us for Christmas day. Mark's mom came over on the Wednesday after Christmas though. We actually worked each other pretty hard for Friday & Saturday. I had a friend from church bring over his trailer so we can start going through the basement to get rid of the radon gas in the house. Well, the trailer is almost full, we made 2 trips to Goodwill, and we made 2 trips to our church to what is called a "Paper Gator". This is a recycling program that recycles paper products and our church makes some money off of it so we helped them out for sure. The basement isn't completely done but it is definitely headed in the right direction and we wouldn't have been this far if she hadn't stayed and helped out with it.
More updates soon but just one other thing before I sign off---How's the weather, Dad? At least we have clothes for these temps and they are forecasting a January thaw by Sunday, heading to mid-50's by Tues. Stay warm=)

Still here

...just extremely busy, as usual. Thought I would let you all know that the kids did get to meet the 2 starts from High School Musical and get their autograph. One of them had gone from blonde to black hair and Joshua even piped up to tell him he should go back to blonde.
I'll post about Christmas soon and what all the busy-ness is about but don't have time to now.

Hockey game

Well, big on the agenda tonight is a hockey game. We are going to see the GR Griffens play at the Van Andel arena. Now seeing a hockey game usually isn't that big of a deal. We usually get to several a year. However, there are 2 stars from the High School Musical movies that are going to be at this one. They are doing a pre-game autograph session and one of them will be singing during the intermission. The kids are totally excited. They would probably like to be standing in line already even though doors don't open till 6:30 for the 8 p.m. game. We, however, have more things going on then we know how to get all done. We will probably go down around 5-5:30 to see how long the line is. If there is a chance of getting an autograph then we will stay. If the line is too crazy, we'll come home and go back in time for the game. I'll let you know.

Important Note

If you notice on the list I posted a couple of days ago, there is no NASCAR driver listed for Rachel. That is because she has decided that she is not going to continue cheering for Dale Jr. when he switches next season. She has not at this time decided which driver is going to be "hers" but she is up in the air for now. So no more #8's and no #88's in this house at this time.

Catch up

Ok. Here's a post to try to get everyone caught up on our family.
I think most of you have probably heard that Rachel ended up with a hospital stay around mid-Nov. She had had abdominal pain for 4 days and we had made an ER visit the first day because it hurt so bad she couldn't sleep. So after 4 days, we went to our regular doctors office who ordered a second ultrasound. That came back normal and they just wanted us to go home and call back the next day but we pushed and said we wanted more done. So she was admitted through the ER to have a CT scan done and more blood work. It was rather funny when she was talking to our doctor that the doctor asked if there was anything that helped make it feel better and Rachel's response was "morphine". The doctor meant a certain position but all Rachel could think of was the morphine they had given her in the ER. After 2 days and numerous tests, the best educated guess was a virus. Basically, they said that instead of getting a cold that affects your sinuses or the flu that makes your joints all achy this virus went to her organs (kidneys, bladder, etc.). She is fine now and back at school trying to make up all the work she missed.
We were able to make a short trip up to Lake Ann. Mark had a "Camp Captain's Retreat" while the kids had time off from school so we all went and made it a work weekend. The kids and I pulled nails out of boards that were being taken out of a house they were tearing down while Mark was in his retreat. It was rather tiresome work but we got a lot done. What was rather interesting was that the maintenance supervisor told us as we were leaving that we had saved the camp between $3-$4 for each board that we had cleared.
We spent Thanksgiving at Mark's family in Detroit. We went over on Wednesday after Mark got out of work and then came home Friday afternoon. It was nice. We hadn't seen some of them in a couple of years. Mark & our kids did a lot of the cooking which is what they wanted to do. Rachel would have been most disappointed if she hadn't gotten to help bake the apple pies.
Before we came home on Friday, Mark & I & his sister spent the morning shopping. We were out of the house about 4:30 a.m. We knew we were crazy but it was fun too! What was really interesting was the number of times that we ended up with the last one of the items we were looking for. I think it happened at least 4 times that we managed to get the last one off the shelf! There was only 1 item that we wanted that was actually sold out before we got there. Not a bad average.
We came home Friday afternoon because we had free tickets to a GR Griffens hockey game that evening. The Griffens have a program that by reading the kids can get free tickets for certain games. Because there are only certain games you can get the tickets for, this was about the only date left that would work for us. 2 of the dates in Dec. are for Wednesday evenings. Even if we weren't already busy at church on Wednesdays, I wouldn't let my kids go to a hockey game on a school night. That would be way to late for them.
We spent much of the rest of the weekend cleaning up and Rachel working on homework. It would be hard to get out any Christmas decorations with all the mess in this house.
Also during all this, a friend of ours from church brought over his radon tester. He does home inspections for a living and so he thought we should have this checked (especially with all the illness in this family). Turns out that the EPA recommends taking action if your radon level is at a 4 and ours was at a 5.8. So we have got to have some work done around here. We are going to have to clean out the basement and then paint it with some type of special paint. We will retest after that and see if more is needed to be done. The EPA says that the only proven harm of radon gas is that it significantly increases the risk of lung cancer. There is no proof that it causes any other illnesses but I definitely don't like what has been going on in my family's health lately.
The latest being that Joshua has been complaining of headaches regularly. Then over the holiday, he started complaining that his neck hurt. I checked it out and there is was a spot that was tender to the touch. It then formed a lump right behind his ear, most of the length of his neck. By Sunday evening, there was the start of a lump at the same location on the other side of his neck.
I took him to the doctor then yesterday. She believes that his lymph nodes are enlarged due to a virus. She doesn't think that the headaches are necessarily related to the lumps. She ordered some blood work and said that it was possible that he still may come down with a cold or something in the next day or so. Well, by yesterday afternoon, he was not acting himself. He just spent the day on the couch and didn't look like he felt very good.
Today he is still home complaining that his stomach doesn't feel good but he looks quite a bit better. I hope that he can go back to school by tomorrow. He is only slightly sniffly and doesn't have a fever so maybe. The lumps are still there but the doctor said that they could last a while. She actually wants to see him back in 2 weeks and said if they aren't gone completely in a month she is sending us to an ENT.
We still only have 1 vehicle but friends of ours have loaned us their van because 1 of them has been laid up due to surgery. He goes back to work on Dec. 11 and we'll have to give it back before then but it has been a great help. We have seen some different vehicles for sale but haven't tried for anything because of trying to get out from under some debts and not sure about making payments right now. Christmas and birthdays don't help with these things at all for sure.
I know this is long but that about does it I believe. Back to work caring for Joshua, cleaning, and doing laundry.

Lists

I know that I owe you all a real post on what's happening here but let me do this first. I emailed this list to Mark's family and thought I would post it here for anyone else interested.


Here's what the kids are really into & you could get most anything that has to do with them and they would be pleased:

Rachel:
Hannah Montana
High School Musical
Jonas Brothers
Ernie Haase & Signature Sound (This is a gospel group that travels with the Gaithers.)
She wears an Adult Medium or Large depending on the cut

Stephen:
Home Depot - Tony Stewart
Pittsburgh Steelers
Football Cards (but not baseball)
Cars (the movie)
He has also recently been reading Hardy Boys and lots of Calvin & Hobbs
Wears a size 12-14 (Pants should be slims if possible.)

Joshua:
Go Diego Go!
Jeff Gordon
Webkinz - He would especially like a Chihuahua but would be happy with any.
Cars (the movie)
Anything doing with cars & trucks
Wears a size 6-8

All the kids also really like the show from Disney channel called "The Suite Life of Zach and Cody." They also all have Build-A-Bears that they like to get new clothes or accessories for.

Here's some DVD's that the kids would like that we don't have:
Ratatouille
Night at the Museum
Santa Clause 3
Meet the Robinsons
Firehouse Dog
Herbie Fully Loaded
Jump In

The kids also really like it when we can go to activities together as a family so tickets to see the Grand Rapids Griffins, West Michigan Whitecaps, or races at Berlin Raceway would be a big hit too.
I just like to give lots of choices for you to pick from. Email me directly if you have any specific questions. Rachel reads my posts regularly so more info is not secret here.

CT Scan

Stephen must have been jealous that Joshua had a procedure that he hadn't had because now he has had a CT Scan. (Not really...but the timing is really something.)
What happened is that Stephen was running around the AWANA circle last night when he lost balance and ended up hitting the wall with his head. There was an instant goose egg. I ran to get him some ice while Mark sat with him. One of the other leaders told me that her husband was helping with the Cubbies and he is an ambulance worker. So then I ran the 2 flights up to get him and back down. (Where fortunate I didn't need help by then.) He checked Stephen out and said he should be all right.
We had Stephen sit in with Mark for the rest of the evening but by the end he was starting to feel nauseous. Our friend checked him over again and recommended we take him in to have it checked out. So we ran Rachel & Joshua home and took a trip to the ER. Hadn't been there since June so it was about that time!
At first they thought they wouldn't do any extra tests but as Stephen complained of nausea everytime he moved much, they decided to do a CT Scan. The scan only took a couple of minutes but we asked the tech how long before the results and she told us an hour. Not what I wanted to hear when it was after 10p.m. by the time they took the CT. But it was really only 10-15 minutes before they came in and said that the scan was all clear. They officially called it a concussion and sent us home.
This morning, Stephen is doing rather well. I can't believe how much the swelling has gone down already. He also was really late going to bed but was still the first one awake. He wasn't moving very fast this morning but that is his usual speed in the morning.
It might have had something to do with today being Grandparent/VIP day at school. Since grandparents weren't available, Stephen invited one of our pastors who was very happy to be asked. Joshua has his Sparks leaders coming to see his classroom today.
So that was our excitement for last night. We have now had 2 hospital visits in 2 days. That should be our fill for a while again, I hope!

MRI

Well, everyone is home safe & sound and getting back into the routine of everyday life. The entire trip was wonderful! I hope to post some pictures when I can. Mark also had a great time in Austin and learned a lot for his new job!
Some of you know but not everyone so I thought it time to fill you all in. Joshua has been having trouble with controlling bowel movements. For quite a while we just brushed it aside as immaturity but this summer it became apparent that it was something more. We went to the pediatrician who did xrays and sent us to a pediatric gastro specialist. Fortunately, we were able to be on a cancellation list or else we would still be waiting for our initial appointment with them. We are told that he truly has lost sensation in his pelvic area but the question is why.
Yesterday, we took him in for an MRI to try to find out some answers.
Well, no answers yet but I have to tell you that Joshua did awesome! He was able to hold still enough that they didn't need to sedate him. Instead he was able to watch a movie while in the MRI machine. We were planning for them to sedate him but after the nurse talked to him a bit and mentioned possibly watching a video he wanted to try it without going to sleep. They gave it a try and it worked just fine. We could hardly believe it! Joshua isn't usually very still but he did for the test!
We are told that it will probably take a week before we hear from the doctor. Hopefully though this will give us some answers. I'll keep you all informed as we find out more.

Travelling

I just have a minute for an update here. I have been travelling with Mom and a group of "seniors" from our church since Sunday morning. Mom wanted to go on this trip and having me as a travelling companion wasn't going to be much more expensive then travelling alone so she invited me to join her and boy am I glad she did!
Sunday we travelled to Niagara Falls through Canada and stayed on the Canadian side. We saw the Falls twice. We just had to go back and see them after dark when they light them up. Monday we travelled to PA. We thought we were going to see the Flight 93 Memorial but there were no signs on the highway to get to it. We were told later there isn't much of a memorial yet so we didn't miss much. It was then on to Lancaster. Wednesday we went to Gettysburg in the morning and then to the Sights & Sound Presentation at the Millenium Theatre. We saw their presentation of "In the Beginning". It was really spectacular! They had angels wearing "Heelies" so that they could glide down the aisles and across the stage. They also use real animals and robotic ones. It is really had to describe the awesomeness of this production!
Today we head back to Niagara Falls and view them from the American side. We will spend the night back on the Canadian side then head back to GR tomorrow.
To add to the normal confussion before a trip, Mark has spent this week in Austin, TX. He had to have 4 days of training there for his new job. Friends of ours from church have had the 3 kids this week. It sounds like things are going well there. I even got an email from Stephen's teacher saying he is doing fine this week. Only 2 more days to go so hopefully it will keep going.
The weather & scenery has been nicer than we dared hope for. We even started on this "Creation Extravaganza" with a deer running in front of our bus less than a 1/2 mile from the church. We didn't get near hitting it but it was really something to see running along the road.
Well, the bus is starting to load and we don't want to be the last ones. (That has only been once.) I'll get this posted so we can get on there.

Last Day!

Today is Mark's last day to work at Camp & Cruise! He starts at URS on Monday! The last 2 weeks at C&C have been rather interesting. His boss has been pressuring him to stay, at least longer than the 2 weeks notice he had given. She even made him a rather substanial counter-offer but it wasn't worth continuing to work there. We really felt that Mark couldn't turn down the chance at URS.
It is amazing how quickly Mark came back to being himself as soon as he saw an end in sight to working at C&C. It is good to hear him laugh again and have him back to clowning around with the kids again. He is still taking the antidepressant but is sleeping just fine without any meds.
It has added some complications around here though. Mark will have to dress much nicer then the jeans & tshirts he wore at C&C. We went shopping and had to get him some more dress slacks. Of course, this also adds to my schedule as I get to hem them to the right length for him. I'll also have to do more ironing again. (I think I remember how.)
The kids are all doing well in school. Rachel has even qualified for the Midwest Academic Talent Search. They achieve this by getting a score of 95% or higher on a standardized computer test in the areas of reading, language usage, science, or math. She qualified last year but we didn't do anything about it. We're going to look more into it this year and see what all our options are. She probably qualified in the math area as she is actually doing 8th grade math this year while in the 7th grade. The Talent Search is only for middle schoolers or else we would probably have 2 qualified. Through testing they have determined Stephen is able to read as high as a 10th grade level! Not too shabby for a 5th grader! Joshua is loving school! His teacher says that he is doing very well and is really easy-going and happy all the time.
I am doing lunch duties on Mondays. I am also headed to Klackles Orchard with Joshua on Tuesday. Then they were short moms to help with the popcorn fundraiser for the 5th grade trip to Greenfield Village and Henry Ford Museum so I'm probably going to help with that 1 Friday per month.
The schedule is rather crazy to keep up with especially with 1 car and we did make a mistake this week. I let Mark take the car on Thurs. because he had a 4:15 appt. I thought I told him to get the kids from school and then pick me up when he dropped them off. Somehow we goofed and he didn't leave C&C until 4 and the kids were still at school. I ended up taking him to his appt. then going to get the kids (over 1 hr late), dropped the kids at home then went back to pick him up!
I'm rather hoping that it won't take him long and maybe he can find someone at the new office to carpool with. Even if we have to give them some money every week it would be easier than all the driving. Keep praying that God will provide another vehicle soon.
Well, I have to get moving around here. Somehow, I haven't been able to blog while the kids are at school. Maybe I can soon.

HE GOT IT!!!!!!!!

Mark had his second interview this morning at URS Corp. They offered him the job on the spot and he accepted it! We had already talked through all the pros and cons most of the weekend so he didn't need to think more about it, he took it. The pay isn't a lot more then currently but the benefits are better and so is the chance for advancement. We are really thrilled!
By the way, Nate, is EG&G who you work for? That is a part of URS Corp and they have military work at Hill AFB.
Mark is also rather nervous about the next 2 weeks at Camp & Cruise though. He doesn't expect his boss to take the news very gently. We did up his letter of resignation before he went in this morning. He plans to start at URS on October 1 so he had to give notice today. Mark has seen his current boss try to hold people's last pay check and other things just to try to be bothersome when someone is leaving so we are expecting some struggles. The good thing is that we know that his time there is coming to a close. I think he will miss the people that he works with but not the frustrations that he has there.
Well, busy day ahead as I have lunch duty on Mondays and I have been doing shopping on Monday plus I have catalogs to get out. I just had to share our good news though!