A New year and a new...

I have some bad news and good news.....

I am loosing my helper.....

but that means Josh got a JOB!

Josh got a job offer two days before Christmas... talk about a great present! As much as I have enjoyed our 4 month vacation.. it will be nice to have income and insurance. He starts next Thursday and will be doing computer programming and database development for NOAA... plus they offered him more money and better benefits than his previous job. Isn't God good! I was really starting to doubt and get worried because he had several interviews that went great and then would get the call that they hired someone better qualified. We are both excited about this new adventure but I will admit I'm kind of bummed that he won't be here. It's been nice to go run errands without kids or run out to the grocery store mid day solo. Isaac won't miss Josh because of course he's at school during the day.. but Eli and Olivia are going to be sad. Eli has missed a LOT of pre-school in the last couple months because he always says, "Mom, please don't make me go to school, I want to help Daddy today." How can I resist that? I honestly can't because I know that very soon he will be in kindergarten and will have to go everyday.

We can't see the reasons for things sometimes. At the time I was distraught, but now I can look back and see God's hand on the situation. Josh was too loyal to leave to leave his old job even though he had been unhappy and underpaid for years. Sometimes a nudge is needed to get us out of the comfort zone and where we are supposed to be. The timing of his job loss was pretty awesome because Josh was here to work on our pool project which both saved money and kept a catastrophe from happening. Plus he was able to spend four months here with us, be with me to go to my Aunt's funeral and be there for his mom when his grandmother died.

Because it was too outrageous to pay for COBRA insurance, Josh and the kids have been uninsured except for a catastrophe plan. That's scary. I've always taken for granted the ability to go to the doctor and pay a co-pay for a visit. Thankfully everyone has been healthy and no doctor visits were needed! Olivia isn't needing hearing testing as frequently so that worked perfectly. I was able to get her in for testing in September while she was still covered and I've just been hoping and praying that by the next time she needed testing, Josh would have a job. I scheduled her new appointment this week. We have had to have new ear molds made but of course that's always an out of pocket expense because insurane doesn't deem them 'medically necessary'.

Unemployment benefits have been held up since he lost his job. I had accepted that we weren't going to receive a dime from the government (which we have both worked in and paid taxes for years!) when I checked out our account this week and realized they came through and they back paid us. How cool is that!

So my final thoughts.. don't be discouraged because even in the midst of what seems to be a bad situation... things work out!

Jeremiah 29:11
For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Back to work?

I've been hashing this question out all year.  Health insurance is outrageous and I need to go back to work just for that! I loved my job and my school and the possibility of giving that up and maybe never being able to go back to that exact school makes me sad. On the other hand I feel like I am suppose to be home with Olivia and Eli. I would like to do something on Fridays if I could get the grandparents to keep the kids.. really for sanity sake and to keep my skills up and bring in extra money. I didn't put in 6 years of college and grad school for nothing! I've pondered working for a private practice, starting my own private practice, contracting with the schools, working 1 day with the schools and I'm still clueless as to what I want to do.

I've had the opportunity to be a full time working mom (I worked 3 jobs at one point), work part time and stay at home part time, and then this year I've been at home full time. There are pros and cons to all three and mom guilt goes along with them all. When I worked full time I felt guilty that I wasn't home e enough and I was missing out on my kids growing up.  I felt guilt that my mom helped me out too much. When I worked part-time I felt guilty because I couldn't seem to give 100% to work and 100% to the kids on my days off.  I guess it didn't help I was trying to work a 60+ kid caseload in 3 days. It seemed on my days off I would have to play catch up. Now staying at home I feel guilty that I can't get everything done I want to get done. There are days when laundry piles up, when I feel like I don't play enough with the kids, when Olivia doesn't wear her hearing aids very much, when there is crying and fussing and I'm ready to pull my hair out.

So now, I'm sitting here typing while Eli is watching Mickey Mouse beside me. He's holding my hand and he wants to type... so I'm going to let him type :)


ELI

KMMM.,NVCMNBVN

N
P
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAljgdswqpmnlie

D
M
O
I


He typed his name.. he can find his letters without me telling me and spell his name. Then ADD kicked in and we had to type miscellaneous letters.  I asked him to find Nana's letter, Papa's letter, ADD kicked in again. Then he typed Daddy's letter, Mommy's letter, Olivia's letter, and Isaac's letter.

The last one is true!

I saw this on Facebook the other day and it made me laugh. I would enjoy my job a whole lot more without the mounds of paperwork! IEP's and Medicaid requirements get longer every year!!

SAHM

So, I am officially taking a year off!! We will re-evaluate at the end of the year my sanity and financial situation and see if I want to take longer or if I will go back to work. I am excited and a little nervous. I really love my job and my co-workers and hope that when I am ready I will be able to get my school back. I would like to stay at home with my babies until they reach school age and then be able to be at the same school they are. It has been so nice to be at Isaac's Elementary school the past four years. So.. here's to a new adventure! I have 27 days left of work!!

Back to work.....

Isaac is going into 6th grade... ahhhhhhh! It makes me so sad that this is a year of 'lasts' for us at Glenwood! He is so excited to go back to school. I am going to stay part-time (Tues, Wed, Thursday) so I can be with Isaac and keep 4 days a week with Eli. I truly enjoy my job... I have great co-workers, a wonderful classroom, sweet kids, and my job is definitely rewarding. I have a few older kids that I really need to 'fix' and dismiss from speech so I am pondering ways to intensify therapy for these few. Another perk is that I work closely with one of by best friends (highschool buddy/college roommate) and we have lots of fun together. My mom is keeping Eli two days and my mother-in-law is keeping him one day a week. He has lots of fun and says "Pawpaw" every time we go on a gravel road thinking we are going to visit Josh's parents. He also knows when we get to the stop sign near my mom's house and will say "Nana", "Papa", "Ben" (the dog) and "chick chicks" (the two chickens mom adopted from Carter's birthday dibbies).

Part time... whooohooo

This is my last full week of work! Starting next week I will be working part time :) I have decided I want to work Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. This will give me a looooong weekend. I really just decided that in order for me to keep my sanity I needed to give up something... so work it is! I am excited that I will get two extra days with Eli.

Back to School

Today was the first day back to school for the kiddos. It is so hard to believe that Isaac is in 4th grade this year! He had a great first day and has several of his buddies in his class as well as a great teacher. He is playing football again for the third year in a row... of course Josh is helping coach! We are looking forward to a great school year and hopefully a much shorter one for me!