A week of blessings

I became an auntie again this weekend.  My sister had her third baby on Monday.  He weighed in at 9 lb 4 oz and was 21 inches long.  Both Mama and baby are doing great, an answer to prayers.  He is the first grandson on my side of the family so we are all very thrilled and I may be a wee bit jealous, but mostly filled with joy over the new life in our family.

Part way through the week I started having a bit of anxiety over finances.  With the addition of my daycare income we are able to make ends meet, but if I were to loose any of my clients, we would be in a real pinch.  It is kind of unnerving living day to day knowing that.  I've been advertising for more kiddos for several weeks now and the only calls I get are parents looking for infant care. I can no longer accept infants as I am full in that department.  It is sort of a helpless feeling to put yourself out there with the intention of trying to help out, and not getting any response.  I did the only thing I knew to do....pray, pray, pray. 

The following day, I get a phone call.  Jeff had a meeting with his bosses.  They are very pleased with the work he has been doing.  They realize that picking up new business will be a slow process and want to help ease the process for us by giving him a raise.  It was just enough to give us that extra cushion we need in case I were to loose a client.  It was....an answer to prayer.  The raise is only meant to be temporary.  The idea is that Jeff will eventually pick up enough business to pick up in commissions what he is making with this raise.  I confess that until now, I have felt a bit of frustration with Jeff's employers for not helping us out a little more with our move.  We uprooted our entire family and lives for this company.  Opening up a new branch in a town can be a bit of a gamble.  Now, I feel nothing but gratitude for them.  They see the potential in my husband.  They recognize his hard work and dedication.  He is very derserving of this raise and I feel that they know that. 

That day I felt such a love from God.  I KNEW he was listening to my prayers. I knew that he had us safe under his wings of care.  I knew....that he loved me sooo much.  It was the most fulfilling feeling a person can have.  It always makes me feel silly when I worry so much about such trivial things because time and time again he comes through.  Why do we do that so much?

Anyhow, it was a week of blessings.  What a great week!

A fun project

Jeff bought us some rolls of large paper for very cheap one day thinking we could use it for art projects.  Last week I got the brilliant idea of having the kids lay down on the paper, tracing an outline of their bodies and then letting them color and decorate their body outlines.  Kadyn LOVED this.  Brennan thought it was so cool, we kept having to pry her off the paper so we could finish tracing the big kids.  It was obvious I was going to have to do an outline of Brennan too.  When we finished I found it humorous that Kadyn had drawn one HUGE ear on one side of her head and a tiny one on the other.  Then she drew this odd looking thing on top of her head which she said was a "party hat."  She is OBSESSED with parties.  She was all too happy to help Brennan with her ears and party hat too as you will see. 

Anyhow, Brennan loved the whole process too.  She colored hers a little and even decided that coloring her real body was a good idea too.  She ended the project with a green foot and a little on her clothes too.  Thank goodness it was washable marker.  I wish I would've gotten a pic of the foot, but didn't remember to take a pic of it.  Anyhow, it was a fun experience for everyone.

Left handed challenges

This is one of the crafts we did last week, a paper quilt.  I numbered each square on the daycare boy's project, but Kadyn insisted on writing her own numbers.  When she was finished what I saw was a prime example of something she's been struggling with a little bit.  Since we have started writing, her natural tendency is t write things backwards in more ways than one.  As you can see half of the numbers on this project are written so that if you held it up to a mirror it would look right.  I ended up drawing the numbers with dotted lines in pencil for her to trace over so that she had the chance to draw them correctly, thus two numbers on most every square.  When she tries to draw words she will do the same thing with her letters and draw the letters from right to left.  I really wonder if a lot of this stems from being left handed.  I have read that drawing things backwards is pretty normal at this age, so I'm not going to freak out just yet.  Anyone else out there have children doing the same thing at the same age?  Are they left handed?  I really wonder.

Another girls night

It is not uncommon for Jeff to have work related obligations on some evenings.  Therefore, in order to make the prospect of a Dadless night more appealing, I started girl's nights.  It's not usually anything spectacular, mostly just a normal evening with the ability to watch a girly show and maybe some toenail painting on occasion.  A couple nights ago I go the brilliant idea to make smores.  They were a big hit to say the least.

Just because

Because no Mom can resist posting every cute picture she has ever taken, here's some more.

A baby who loves babies

My baby (ok maybe not a baby anymore, but still seems like my baby) loves babies.  She plays with baby dolls most of the day.  She holds them, cuddles them, feeds them, rocks them, pushes them in her stroller, covers them up with blankets, puts them in a chair, carries them draped over her shoulder like a nap sack, and just plain loves them to death!  So it's no wonder that she has taken a real liking to the little 8 month old baby I watch everyday.  To Brennan, this is a real, live baby doll.  Brennan usually showers her with hugs.  It's so cute to watch, but I can't let it go on too long.  Her lovings can sometimes be a bit smothering to the poor baby.  I snapped a few photos so you can see all the love.  She always does this on her own accord.  I never prompt her.  It happens EVERY day.

Pleasant weekend

Last weekend was very pleasant.  I decided it was time for our annual pilgrammage to Springfield to visit the library.  It never seems right to spend the gas just to do one thing, so I planned some other activities while we were there since my plans to go swimming were foiled by high admission rates from the YMCA.  Therefore, we stopped by a few record stores so Jeff could check out some deals since it was National Record store day.  Afterwards we went to the library to return our current books and check out new ones.  The kids really enjoyed the choo choo train  play area while I perused new books to check out.  We also stopped by a friend's house for a playdate.  Then to end our visit we stopped by the Ruttlidge Wilson farm.  I packed sack lunches for everyone, so we ate first.  Next we checked out the animals and ended on the farm playground.  Kadyn and Brennan LOVED the slipper slides.  Brennan cried when we had to leave them.  Kadyn finally conquered her fear of the curly tunnel slide and was very proud of herself. 


Later that evening as we sat down to supper Kadyn said, "Mom today was a fun day."  Hearing that always makes our efforts worth it.  A good time indeed.