The Good and the Bad News

First of all, the good news is....drum roll, please....Ryan got a job! He interviewed, assessed, assessed some more and had his final interview today that came with a job offer, yay! Now for the bad news. He will be taking a significant pay decrease and the insurance is twice as much as we did have (like more than $5 less an hour). I know, I know...we are to be thankful for the position and opportunity to work, but we do have to think hard and long about several things. 1) Will the schedule work with his schooling?, 2)Can we afford the insurance and still pay our bills?, 3)Can we afford the decrease in pay from his last job. Let me remind everyone that until the end of May his old company is paying for his insurance in full and we are getting unemployment, so it's not like we are comparing no income to having income. It is somewhat like a gamble. Do we take the job and make it work or take a gamble and continue to look for work as we take in unemployment and free insurance? Well Ryan is on his way home and I am sure we will be talking long and hard about it. Along with praying :) We were hoping for something a little more clear cut as to whether it would be a fit, but no such case. The job is at BRINKS home security working in their customer call center. Also no more having saturdays off :( He will be working tues-sat. I will miss the saturdays off as that is usually when we have family parties/get togethers/events and such. So sorry the news wasn't a grand slam of happiness, but with our economy right now, that's about as good as it gets out there.

Praying for my niece

Many of you may know much of this, but thought I'd pass on the ongoings here. Cheyney went in Monday for a tonsillectomy at the Children's Surgery center. The surgery went well and she was home around 12-1pm that day. However, she had difficulty keeping food/drinks/medicine down the past couple of days and with that she has gotten dehydrated, lethargic, in much pain, and low blood counts. She was admitted today to stay overnight for observation in hopes they can get IV fluids and solids in her. I just spoke to Tiffany(my sister), who says Cheyney hasn't improved much and is still in much pain. We are praying that she will get over this hurdle quickly and make it back home to recover and get back to playing.

The Fruit of Homeschooling

Here is a great article that I stumbled on through a friend. At times I wonder and admittably get anxious when I think to the future with our homeschooling. It is easy to let in the world's views and get discouraged. This article was written by a homeschool young lady who is now 20 and graduated from "homeschooling", but admits she is never done learning. This is the hope I have for our boys.

Introducing Chef Thomas!

I have learned that when I am making a meal and the boys are acting wild and even fighting that it helps to call them in to help me in the kitchen. However, it usually creates more fighting as they fight over who does what with Mommy and so on. I finally had a peaceful wonderful time that I have been hoping for just cooking with my children. How did I pull it off? I invited one to help and if the other wanted to be in there, they could only watch. And hopefully we can take turns with it. Thomas was my cook tonight as we were making Loaded Potato Soup...mmm...just seeing the words makes my mouth water. It was so cute to see him stir that big 'ol pot as I added the ingredients. Every time I added something he said, "oh, thanks Mommy!" and stirred some more. He hung on till the end and really enjoyed seeing it come together and loved smelling it. Almost every meal Ryan thanks me for the meal and the boys follow. Well for the first time both me AND Thomas were thanked for the meal, and he thought that was pretty neat! I can't wait for our next cooking class :)


CHEF THOMAS


"Mmmm, smells good Mommy!"

I Was Suckered...

Well not really! We have the greatest dentist in the world, at least we like him! Even though, nearly every time I have a cleaning, I find out I need yet another filling. Well this last cleaning I found out that a tooth that I "killed" when I was 8 is in need of a root canal before it gets bad. I also found out that I need yet another filling. So we went ahead and scheduled the filling first. As I went in today to get the filling Dr. Lambert got word of Ryan's layoff and the fact that we have insurance just until the end of May. With that knowledge he decided we better go ahead and do the root canal as he has to do it in steps over a period of several weeks :( I was less than thrilled, but agreed to let the torture begin. As he prepared to stab me with the longest needle in the world I asked about nitrous and if I would be allowed any. He was so kind to give me some, but I began feeling light headed and decided to fore go it. So on with the torture. After the never ending stabbing into my gums he gave me time to ponder and let my jaw feel like it was a mile from my head. As I sat there I felt myself tremble with the thought of what it may be like. So I decided to pray for the Lord's strength and mercy and that he would ease my pain and anxiousness. Dr. Lambert came in and began the process of drilling, filing, roto rooting...hehe, rinsing, more filing and roto rooting, rinsing and then packing and closing off the hole. And guess what...not one ounce of pain or discomfort. I just felt the vibration, but no pain or even pressure. I am thankful now that the worst part is over and can't wait to see what my teeth will look like once I get the crown. No more yellow tooth that always stands out in every picture :)

Thomas' 3rd Birthday Was a Charm!

Thomas turned three years old on the 12th. We've always done birthday here at home or at the park, but decided we would like to do a little more this time. Since Thomas loves the water so much I searched around for an indoor pool that was cheap and would allow us to do a party with our family as guests. Finally I found a local hotel that was gracious enough to let us do it and all we had to do was get a room for one night, which I consider a bargain compared to other birthday venues. We all had a blast, but I am certain that Thomas got the most out of it. He would repeatedly jump in the pool, swim to the steps, get out and do it all again. He also got a thrill out of being thrown up in the air as high as possible and crashing into the water. I again kept of the tradition of making the cake and again enjoyed it. This was by far my easiest and probably my favorite.


Joseph's fear of the water is all but improving. He refused to get in and I eventually forced him to get wet. Aren't Mom's great?



Thomas in constant action; made it hard to get a still picture.



The adults get away from the crowd as they soak in the hot tub.



My brother, Brandon with his youngest, Hayden...how sweet!



Birthday Boy!!!



Daddy takes over for Mommy as he holds onto Joseph. Joseph actually told me he didn't love me because I made him get in the water. FYI: The water was only 3 ft. deep at that end and he is nearly 4 ft. tall.



The adults had there fill, but the kids just can't get enough :)



It actually looked a little cuter than the picture shows. I used graham cracker crumbs for sand that goofy ran around on, fruit roll ups for seaweed and a surfboard that donald road on, gummy lifesavers for..well..lifesavers :), gummy sharks and sprinkle fish.



Thomas gets a little help blowing out all those candles, thanks Mamu!!!



Little Hayden thinks the wrapping is the best part!

First of all...

Thank you all for your prayers and well wishes with Ryan's recent interview. We are praising the Lord for revealing His will to us. Ryan got the email today that told him he did not get the position. We were a little dismayed because it would have been a great job, but we are hopeful that the Lord has a wonderful plan for us. We may have a bumpy ride in getting to see His will, but none the less, it will be worth it. Please continue to keep us in your prayers in these times.

Pray for Ryan

Just a quick update on Ryan's job search. He has an interview, as I type, with US Cellular in Knoxville. This would be a great job opportunity for him. It is close to where we would like to move back to. The benefits start day one and from what we hear from other employees, the coverage is great. They also cover tuition 100%. The way he got this interview was nothing less than providential. The job would be a great fit for Ryan as it is in their customer service call center. Please pray for our hearts to be searching the Lord's will. We hope this is where the Lord would have us and hope he will make a good impression on Brandy the interviewer. Thanks, got to go, I am finally getting some of my cleaning done.

Some Interesting Views

I had ran across a tag that involved interviewing my boys. At four and almost three I knew it would be trying and most interesting to see what their minds pick up on. Here goes! Joseph's is the first response and Thomas' is the second response.


1. What is something mom always says to you?
J “um, um, um…I can’t tell.”
T “ummmm, I can’t tell.”

2. What makes mom happy?
J “to say sorry to you”
T “I can’t tell, I need my new book, I need it.”

3. What makes mom sad?
J “I don’t know, hmm, swing toys like that, that makes you sad.”
T “uh, mad.”

4. How does your mom make you laugh?
J “um..to tickle.”
T “um, I can’t tell.”

5. What was your mom like as a child?
J “um, um, I can’t member”
T “uhhhm, um a girl.”

6. How old is your mom?
J “uhhhm, did you got a birthday…I can’t member, it’s hard to member”
T “ummm, I can’t tell.”

7. How tall is your mom?
J “um, BIG!”
T “ummm, um, a measuring tape.”

8. What is her favorite thing to do?
J “um, um, uh, I can’t say.”
T ”um, your computer.”

9. What does your mom do when you're not around?
J “uh, ummm” (by this point he gave up.)
T “ummm, I can’t tell, I have a paci in my mouth.”

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?
J “um, um”
T “um, I can’t tell.”

11. What is your mom really good at?
J “um, playing.”
T “ummm, COOK!”

12. What is your mom not very good at?
J “um, not doing cooking”
T “umm, I can’t tell.”

13. What does your mom do for a job?
J “ummm, at um, your working at, um, you work at home.”
T “ummm”

14.What is your mom's favorite food?
J “um, um fries.”
T “ummm, eggs.”

15. What makes you proud of your mom?
J “um, ummmm, um, proud of Mommy to do anything.”
T “umm, I can’t tell.”

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?
J “uhhh, um, um, how ‘bout, how ‘bout…hmmm, an ambulance from cartoons?”
T “umm, hmm.”

17. What do you and your mom do together?
J “um, share.”
T “umm, I can’t say it.”

18. How are you and your mom the same?
J “umm, umm, how ‘bout…our nose the same.”
T “um, sing.”

19. How are you and your mom different?
J “I was different like me, cause…I watch tv all day.”
T “I can’t tell.”

20. How do you know your mom loves you?
J “um, because I was loving you to be a superhero.”
T (spinning in circles he says)”um, I can’t tell.”

21. What does your mom like most about your dad?
J “uhhh, how bout you like Daddy playin and when you go get Daddy.”
T “um I can’t tell”

22. Where is your mom's favorite place to go?
J “ummm, a store.”
T “um, to the park!”