Unemployment for Mom…

I have to admit, I never thought I would be in the position.  I was laid of on September 11, 2009.  The construction department had come to the conclusion of all its current projects and didn’t foresee any of their future projects starting anytime soon, so there was no longer a need for me.  The controller will be able to do all that I was doing plus here own work.

I had the most amazing feeling of peace rush through my body as I was told that I no longer have a job.  Although it was a shock and I did shed a few tears of “fear”, but I knew instantly that Heavenly Father had something planned for me and it would be better all around.

It has been three weeks and I still don’t have a job, but I have received a conditional offer with a private company here in town that is a remarkable offer.  There was a pay raise, amazing benefits, closer commute, stability and company growth… Who could ask for more.  The only drawback is the need to obtain a security clearance from the government. 

It is a mound of paperwork, a personal interview, a polygraph test and then…waiting.  I am scheduled for my personal interview in a few days and hopefully by the end of October, I will be scheduled for the polygraph.  Then we are hoping to hear something before the end of the year so that no later than January, I can be working permanently.

Labor Day Weekend…

  

 

 

We started out in Saint George.  We stayed at a hotel with a pool and the boys swam and swam.  We went four-wheeling.  Kenny even got his own small one and he did great.  Kale banged his head really hard while riding with Mommy (remind anyone of anyone else??).  He hit his head hard and cut open his forehead.  As with all head wounds, it bled and bled.  I think the blood scared Kale more then the pain of the head wound.  We rode for several hours, up sand hills, around mountains, all over and had a great time.

The boys rolled the four-wheeler over Kenny and that scared him, so for a while, he wouldn’t ride with Dad (doesn’t sound like he got that from his mama, with several teeth knocked out, still chose to ride with Dad as often as possible).

On Sunday we went to The St. George Temple.  We visited the Visitor’s Center and the kids enjoyed watching the movies and small short stories about Jesus and the apostles.

This was Kale’s first try at using his “auto” button on his camera and he wasn’t even paying attention.  As usual, he was looking at something more interesting.

Sunday Afternoon we went into Overton and found a room at the Echo Lake Lodge. 

On Monday, we rented a boat and cruised the lake for a few hours.  The boys had a blast playing in the water, cliff diving, and playing in the sand. 

         Kale driving the boat!!!

Kenny trying to stay standing as Daddy races over the water.

 

Kenny and Kale Hanging out at the Beach.

CLIFF JUMPING WAS EVERYONE’S FAVORITE ACTIVITY… (except Kale, who stayed on the shoreline)

Daddy  got hurt on one of the Mussel Shells while climbing on the rock.  He got a great big gash and here we were on the boat without a first aid kit.  We made due with what we had and got the bleeding to stop and then went on having fun.  I think I saw more blood this weekend then I have seen in months.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Check out how deep the “muddy” sand is.  This shows how low the water is.  The water is just under the surface of the sand and so when you step in it, you sink to your knees.  It looked gross and smelled pretty bad too, but as you can see from the pictures, my boys didn’t really care!!

All in All – we had a blast and really enjoyed ourselves.  We need to do this more often.

Happy Birthday to Kenny

Kenny celebrated his 7th birthday on September 10, 2009.  We had a small family celebration for him and then the next weekend, we had a “Three Musketeer” party for him.  It was supposed to be with his two best friends, Bryson and Grant.

An interesting birthday present was received though.  Kenneth was diagnosed with ADD.  We weren’t shocked but a bit skeptical about putting him on medication.  We weren’t sure what to expect or when we would see any results if we would see any at all, but we went ahead and started him on the medication.

Within 1 week, we began to see a totally different Kenny.  He was attentive, polite, willing to help in whatever we asked him to do, completing assignments and tasks.  We has seen an increase in his self confidence, he smiles and laughs more.  He is just a joy to be around and we love being with him now.

In fact, a few days after he had been on the medication we were doing chores and he said to me “Mom, this is so much fun.  Why don’t we do this more often?”

The Boy’s First Day of School (2009)

The boys started school on Monday, August 24, 2009.  The boys were so excited and they couldn’t wait to sport their new duds.  I let them pick there own outfits and get themselves dressed and ready to go.  We made their lunches, packed their bags and headed out the door. 

As I was getting their lunches prepared, they decided to go outside with out telling me.  I got their lunches ready, in their bags and then began looking for them (as I thought they had gone up to their rooms to play).  When I couldn’t find them anywhere, I began to panic.  I went out the front door and couldn’t see them until I walked down the driveway.  There they were, standing next to the men fixing the neighbor’s sewer lines, watching the man in the hole, snake the pipes with a camera.

I guess I am lucky that they were nice guys and didn’t mind hanging out with some crazy little boys.  We took a few pics and loaded into the truck and headed to school.

Kenny is a second grader at Garehime Elementary School.  His teacher’s name is Nicole Waid.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kenny is standing in line waiting for the bell to ring so that he can head off to class.  They get to play on the playground in the mornings before school starts and then they line up as soon as the bell rings (8:56 am) and wait for the teacher to let them in.

Each year they have a year-long theme that they focus on as a school.  Many of the activities both in and out of the classroom are based on this theme. 

This is a great theme for this year.  I think Kenny will gain a great deal and hopefully his self-esteem will grow and increase as he learns that he can do anything he wants, as long as he’s willing to work for it.

 

Kale attends Seton Academy, across the street from Garehime Elementary.   He is in Room 7 and is so excited to be back.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is the board outisde his classroom showing all the names of the kids in his class.  He has a pretty good-sized class this year.

 

 

 

 

 

Here is Kale, waving good-bye as I left him with his teacher and classmates.  He is really growing up and becoming quite the independent little boy.  We are very proud of him!!

Max has returned...

Max is home finally. We found him on Tuesday after a woman in the next neighborhood saw our flyer and called to tell us that she had found him crossing Durango and took him to her home and called animal control. By the time we got to the shelter, he had been neutered and adopted out. We were lucky however that the people who adopted him were so attached to him that they weren't willing to let us have him back. They were fine with it, they just asked us to reimburse them the fees they had paid. We are so happy that he is home. The mood in our home has gotten much better and there isn't as much moaping going on.

After I picked him up at the shelter, I took him home but had to stop on the way to pick up the boys from school. I left Max in the truck and went in to get Kenny. I was gone for maybe 2 minutes. When I got back I could smell that he had pee'd in the truck but couldn't see where. I got in and as I sat down, I found where he had gone and my rear end was wetter for it.

I took my sweater off and sat on it so I wouldn't get any more wet then I already was. I drove across the street to get Kale and when I got back from that, I fould that Max had puked on my sweater. After some cleaver folding, I was able to get back in the truck and head home without getting puke on me.

After taking Max and the boys in the house and explaining that Max had some surgery earlier that day and that he needed to just lay low, Kenny asked me why he had surgery. I told him that they had taken his manhood and he said "Mom, they didn't take his excitement, did they?" He was so concerned that Max wouldn't want to go play ball and run around in the backyard anymore. I explained to him what it meant to neuter a dog and he felt much better. (My husband didn't, but...)

Anyway, we have been playing and running with him and just enjoying having him back!!

Max has left the building...

We got a pug named Max about a month ago and on Thursday morning, we got up to go out and feed him and he was gone. He had somehow gotten out of the backyard and went who knows where. Needless to say, the family is a bit down. We didn't have any luck finding him last night and the boys were pretty sad about that.

We are hoping that he comes home this weekend and that someone in our neighborhood had found him and is waiting to see if they can figure out who he belongs to.

Kenneth put up signs on all the mailboxes and streetlights today. We will call/go by the shelters this weekend and next week. We hope that this new member of our family is reunited with us soon. If not, we pray that he finds a loving home with people who will give him what he needs.

We Love You Max!!

We made it through the first day of school...

What a day - from start to finish it was a roller coaster ride of ups and downs and turns and loop-d-loops. We started the day of great with the boys getting up and getting themselves dressed (they even picked out their own clothes). With a few very minor outfit issues, we were doing great. I asked them to go play in their room while I finished getting ready for work and then we would go down and have breakfast and make lunches and get ready to head out the door.

I finished getting ready and went looking for them, but they weren't in their room. So I started searching the house. When I couldn't find them, my first thought was "they had better not be in the backyard with the dog getting dirty, I haven't taken pictures yet" (I know, I am such a mom).

When they weren't there, I really started to freak out and began frantically checking all the places they use to hide. They weren't anywhere to be found. That was when I noticed that the front door was slightly ajar and so I ran outside looking for them. At first, I didn't see them there either, but then I heard them. They were hanging out with plumbers fixing the next door neighbor's main pipes in the front of their house. They had a snake with a camera on the end and they were watching the small television to see what they could see.

I was grateful that the plumbers were nice guys, but we definitely had a "stranger danger" talk over dinner.

Once we were back in the house, we made lunches and were loading up the backpacks and taking pics when Kenny remembered his glasses. He went in to look for them and took about 5 minutes to locate where he had set them. Then he realized he didn't have his lunch and couldn't remember where he set that. Needless to say, it took us about 10 more minutes to get out the door then I had planned and this made us "almost late" dropping Kenny off.

There was no parking at Kenny's school, but we were lucky enough to find a spot at Kale's. We parked and ran across the street as Kenny's teacher was leading them to their spot of blacktop. Just in time - not tardy on the first day!!

Then I got Kale dropped off and he was sad because his best friend wasn't in his class, but he did see him at both recesses, so that made it better. He told us he likes his teacher (even though he can't pronounce her name) and he thinks he will enjoy the year.

Kenny's favorite part of the day... Recess is before lunch, not after. That would be my little guy for ya. We will keep our fingers crossed that he finds more then recess interesting this year and makes GOOD friends that will encourage him to make good choices and stay out of trouble.

I will post pictures this week for all to see. They really are growing up and turning into great little boys, so smart, so energetic, so happy. I hope they stay that way!!