To Work or Not to Work

Well, Dwayne and I have been doing a lot of talking, praying and thinking the last few days. We are trying to figure out what the best path would be for our family and which direction God is leading us. A large majority of this decision making is our financial situation. I had put several applications out and did follow-up calling at retail places to try and get an evening or weekend job but those are not panning out. Most of my experience is an office and administrative environment. The stores tell me that they get so many applications that they can pick and choose who they want. Preferably with someone already experienced in retail. So that has set my brain to thinking about possibly putting the children in daycare/preschool and working during the day. If I did that then there is a good possibility that they would also attend public school rather than me homeschooling them.

I'm not going to go into all the reasons and pros/cons of either direction in this blog. It would take too long and some of it is quite personal. Let us just say that we have decided to go ahead and let me put my application out at a few places to see if we get any hits. I've already placed my application in the state employment pool and found a specific position that would be part-time. An 11-4 or another position with the hours negotiable. This would be perfect because if I did put the kids in public school, if I was able to negotiate my hours for a 9-2:30 for example, I could still be available to get them to school and pick them up in the afternoon and be able to attend any events or activities they may want to be in. That would be the miraculous answer to prayers. So please pray for guidance and that God would open the doors for us if this is the direction we are supposed to go in.

Cat Tree

I'm so proud of myself. I browsed Craigslist this morning because I was bored. My online game was down for maitenance and I had to find something to do with my time. Well, I found a 5 1/2 ft. cat tree for only $10. I called the lady and she still had it. So I loaded up the kids and went and grabbed it. The kittens have been driving me crazy with their need to climb and we don't have anything for them to sharpen their claws on. So far it seems to be a hit. They have been running all over it since I brought it home. Especially Shadow.

The Leapster we got for Sam seems to be a source of frustration for him. He has easily started to figure out and master the games but the touch screen has been well used and is not responding very easily. I finally had to take it away from him because he was just screaming and tears running down his face because the he couldnt' grab the puzzle pieces like he was supposed to. I sat and played it a little too just to make sure that it wasn't him and I had a heck of time getting it to work also. The games that use the buttons work just fine but the ones that require the touch screen are just not working right. Whoever had it before used it well. And of course, Sam mostly wants to play the games that require the screen. So I've put it away for now and will let him have a small break from it. Next time we get a little money I'll probably just invest in a new Leapster for him so he can play the games like he wants to.

Autumn Already?

I woke up this morning to a cold floor and fog outside. I had to put on socks for the first time all summer because my floor was so cold. I even debated throwing the heat on for a few minutes just to break the chill. I instead closed all the windows and threw on some socks. It is hard to believe that summer is already almost over. I should have realized it was coming with all the back to school sales going on but I guess it just didn't click. I'm happy though. I think autumn is my favorite season. I love the crisp air, big full yellow moons, and crunchy leaves. I also love the bounty of the harvest and picking pumpkins with the kids. After getting over the initial shock of waking up cold I kind of got excited. Fall is on its way!

In other news, we have been busy with Dwayne's parents coming up to see us this past weekend. Dianne came with a car full of gifts for the kids and also a box of food. We were extremely blessed and it couldn't have come at a better time. The kids were busy the whole weekend playing with their new cars, color books, stuffed animals, and jewelry. However, she also brought a bunny that sings, wiggles, and hops. It was extremely cute the first hour. The 2nd and 3rd hours? Not so much. We finally had to hide it away for a little bit because Sam was loving it a little too much. LOL.

Saturday we woke up and decided to do a family trip to Wal-Mart. They had also given us a little cash. We debated on whether we should throw it straight onto a bill or use it to buy those misc. things we never seem able to afford. Things like batteries for the flashlights, some bee spray to kill the yellow jackets and hornets nesting near our house, etc. We decided to use it for misc. stuff. Dianne had noticed that the grade school down the road was hosting a garage sale to raise money for the local high school football team. We decided to swing in there first. There wasn't much that we had to have. I picked up a couple books and we found a few shirts for Sam but most of the stuff looked pretty picked over already. I did spot a Leapster on the table and took a look at it. It was in great condition, in a case, and when I opened the case realized there were 5 games in the pack. I tried turning it on and it didn't work. I figured it probably just needed batteries. I then looked for a price. Everything on the table was labeled as being sold for $1.00. What! That couldn't be right, could it? We asked the lady if it worked and she didn't know. And we asked that they were sure that it was only $1. She said yes. Dianne and I looked at each other and snagged it up real fast. We figured if it didn't work then it was only $1 and not much money wasted. If nothing else, I could probably turn around and sell the games on Craigslist for much more than we paid. We went to Wal-Mart and grabbed some batteries and went ahead and picked up an adapter also for $10 for it. I figured I could return it if it wasn't needed and the Leapster didn't work. On the drive home, I heard Dianne and Dwayne fiddling with it in the backseat and all of a sudden we heard the chime of a video game ring through the car. It works! It works perfectly and Sam is already starting to figure out a few of the games. I don't think I will ever find a deal as good every again. But at least I can say that I had one of those miracle garage sale finds. We got about $150 worth of equipment and games for $1. So if you guys run into any Leapster games for real cheap or have some you don't use anymore keep me in mind. :)

Yesterday Dianne and Terry left early to head home. After Evie took her nap, we decided to take the kids to the park and let them play at the playground. It was a perfect Sunday afternoon. The sun was out but it wasn't too hot. Only about 72 or 73. It was warm enough not to need sweaters but cool enough to run around without getting too hot or sweaty. The kids started out on the slide but they they saw the swings. After that it was all over. They did not want to get off the swings. Especially Evie. They spent about 30-45 minutes just swinging on the swings. I finally forced Sam to come with Mommy and check out some of the other equipment. Evie wasn't having it though. She started to throw a fit if forced to get off the swing. After about another 15-20 minutes we finally forced Evie to get off so some other kids would have a chance to use the swings. Well, she completely lost it and we couldn't distract her so that was the end of the park trip. We came home and had clam fettuccine for dinner. It was a wonderful weekend and we had a great visit.

Sister's Visit

Melody came up and has been visiting us since this past Wednesday. It has been fun having her and Aiden here. The kids have been behaving really well considering we have 3 kids 3 and under trying to share and play. We have been spending a lot of time lazing around the house because the weather has been quite a bit cooler lately. We finally got out of the house and did a few things yesterday. Dwayne and I started the morning going grocery shopping with just Evie while Melody stayed home with the boys. I enjoyed that a lot. We have never gone anywhere with just Evie. We usually have Sam with us or she is going somewhere with just one of us. It was a little strange but I can tell she reveled in the one on one attention from both Mommy and Daddy. It is amazing how well-behaved my kids are when they aren't with their sibling antagonizing each other.

When we got back we had a quick lunch and put Aiden and Evie down for their naps and then I wisked Melody away to a quick trip to Wolf Haven. I still had a couple of passes left from the birthday sponsorship they gave me. This was a better day to go since it was so much cooler. We got to see all the wolves. I've attached a couple pictures so you can see. Our tour guide was young though and not as good as the tour I had taken with Mom a month ago.

We finished the day going to church. Dwayne and I were slated to serve and they were also offering free pizza after church for all the helpers in children's ministry. I am so grateful Melody decided to stay and help in the class because we ended up having 16 2 and 3 year olds. It was a little overwhelming. We then stayed up way too late playing MapleStory together.

She is planning on going home today. It has been a great visit and I will miss her and Aiden when they leave.

She's Trained

Well Evie seems to be pretty much trained already. She is even telling us she has to go when she is wearing the Pull-Ups. She doesn't stay dry overnight yet and I'm sure we'll have a few accidents here and there but I would say she is pretty much trained. I think I'll be introducing her to the big toilet sooner than later as I hate cleaning the little potty. If she finishes out this week doing as well as she is then I will do that. I'll hang on to the potty seat and leave it in the van for those emergency stops when there just isn't a restroom handy. We had to pull over to the side of the road a couple of times for Sam when he was just learning since they tend to wait until the last minute to tell you they have to go.

Life has calmed down since the washer fiasco. I've just been working on cleaning up a little to get ready for Melody's visit. She has most of August off since she works for the school district. So her and Aiden are going to come stay with us for 4 or 5 days starting tomorrow. I'm really looking forward to it. I hope the weather clears a little though as we have had rain for the past two days and the kids are starting to drive me crazy by being cooped up in the house.

Broken Washing Machine

We have been extremely busy the last couple of days. Thursday I went to run a load of laundry and found that our beautiful expensive front-loading washer was not spinning. I didn't smell any burned rubber or see any smoke, the motor seemed to be running just fine and was draining water, etc. The only thing that seemed to be wrong was the drum wasn't spinning. Dwayne came home and took a look at the machine and found that the belt was off the track and had a melted spot where it was rubbing wrong. Now I am in the middle of potty training Evie so having a washing machine was a must. I can't imagine trying to wash clothes in the sink with as many towels and panties I was going through. So Friday, I spent the morning calling around to every appliance place I could trying to find the belt. It turns out that this belt is a little difficult to come by and to top it all off it was running $50-$60. We were so downhearted because we didn't have that kind of money. We didn't even have enough on a credit card to cover it. Well, Dwayne made a call to his parents and they were kind enough to give us some money. They were more than generous and I can't thank them enough. I was in tears. I hate being stuck in that kind of situation.

I finally found someone who had the belt we needed but they were located in Tacoma. Dwayne agreed to take the afternoon off and go up and get the belt. I was excited. That meant I could have my washer back! I have been so busy making sure Evie's clothes and the towels were washed that I had forgotten that Sam was needing clothes too. I had just put in a load of his laundry when the washer broke. He has had to go without underwear for 3 days now. Dwayne gave me a call when he was in Tacoma. Apparently he was lost. With all the construction going on in the area, the map directions he was using wasn't entirely accurate. After pulling up the map on the computer and guiding him to where he needed to be, he was able to grab the belt and some dinner and was on his way home.

Traffic was bad but he finally made it. After eating something he dived right into trying to get the belt put back on. After some frustrating attempts he told me the problem and I got online to do some research. We finally came to the conclusion that it wasn't just a belt but there was a bearing that had gone bad as well. The repairmen we talked to about advice on this problem told us that he thought our conclusions were correct and it would be a very expensive repair. Anywhere starting from $400-$600. Most technicians won't do it and tell you to just scrap the washer. Dwayne was so upset that was complaining to the ladies in line at the grocery store when I sent him for milk. It turns out the lady in line behind him had a washer they were trying to get rid of for only $25. What a Godsend.

This morning we woke up with a purpose of trying to get rid of our broken washer and get a replacement soon. Our laundry situation was getting desperate. I made some phone calls to a couple places that I knew took old washers. Neither place would really give us anything for it but were willing to take it off our hands. So we had a place to dump it. Dwayne tried calling the lady he ran into at the grocery store but she didn't answer. We decided to make a run to Tacoma to return the now useless belt and hoped that we would get a return call soon. We were expecting to lose about 20% of the cost of the belt as a restocking fee but after the guy heard our story he refunded the entire cost of the belt. He also told us that they are finding that front-loading washers are not the great deal everyone thought they were several years ago. They seem to be lasting about 5 years before the bearings are wearing out and the way they are built makes it so it is not an easy or cheap repair. Needless to say we will never be buying one again.

The lady called us back right as we were getting close to home. She would be home all day and we could come over any time to look at it. We popped right over and it looked good. It is a very basic machine but that is all I need right now to get the clothes clean. It was clean with no major defects or rust that we could see. We had their guarantee that it ran real well so we paid the $25 and took it home. We then loaded up the big monster that looked really pretty but didn't work worth a darn and Dwayne took it to the store that would recycle it for us. We now have an extremely mismatched laundry set but the washer works just fine. It is also really fast compared to what I am used to. The front-loader washer takes over an hour to do one load. That is what I have been used to for years. It will take some getting used to to do my laundry so quickly.

I am so grateful that God provided for us so quickly and we were able to get it resolved. I have been so stressed out the last few days. Especially as the laundry pile was getting larger and larger. We had enough left over to treat ourselves to a dinner and fill both vehicles with gas. I can't remember the last time the van has been full. Again, thank you Terry and Dianne for giving us the money. We love you guys!

She's Learning!

Yesterday was great. We went through an entire day without any major accidents. Evie had a few squirts that wet her panties but she recognized it immediately and came and told me she had to go potty. The problem was she waited until she was in physical pain. After holding it that long it is hard to let go. She would sit on the toilet and immediately bounce off telling me she was done but wiggling and squirming and crying. I finally just held her hands and made her sit on the toilet. She was wiggling the whole time but finally was able to let go. After this whole process the floor and potty seat was quite a mess but at least I didn't have to clean a whole trail of urine from one end of the house to the other as we tried to make the potty in time. She informed me about needing to go all day. I am so pleased with her progress. Sam was the same way. Around day 3 I am ready to give up thinking that they just won't figure it out yet and on day 4 they both were figuring out what was required. We have a long way to go before I consider her "trained" but at least I won't have to do diapers anymore.

As I'm writing this I hear Sam yelling at me for help. I just looked over and saw him contorting over his little coloring table. Apparently, he is trying to color using his feet and needs my help. Boy they sure do keep my day exciting.

Not Much Happening

What have we been doing? Not much. Potty training keeps us pretty housebound. We were planning on starting Saturday to potty train Evie but ended up waiting until Sunday as I wanted to get the house straightened and we needed to go grocery shopping. Sunday we had one accidental success at the end of the day. Monday we had no successes and yesterday we had two! I am so grateful that we are in a place where the majority of the floor surfaces are solid. I didn't have that with Sam and it has made a huge difference in my attitude towards accidents and clean-up. It is much easier this time around. I still can't say she is potty-trained yet. But she seems to be trying to get bladder control and is starting to figure out what I'm asking her to do. We seem to be going in a cycle of a lot of little squirts and then one big gusher. I can tell she is trying to hold it in. And she isn't 100% but she is occasionally starting to tell me immediately when she has gotten wet or has pooped. So we are on the right track. Yesterday morning I was starting to feel tired of the mess and thinking maybe we should put it off a couple more months. But then we had a success around lunch time and another one mid-afternoon. She got lots of praises and we have a sticker chart where she gets a sticker every time she is successful. I try to avoid the candy rewards unless it is a last resort. I have enough issues with food and weight without adding more junk into the house.

Still no success on the job front. I've been putting my application in at several places and have been good about calling and following through but one gal told me that they are getting several applications a day and they have the opportunity to be pretty choosy about who they hire. I'll keep calling and put my name out there. Unfortunately for me, all of my recent job experience has been in an office setting. I have had retail experience but not since I was a teenager. It just doesn't show up on my resume or application unless I want to make it unusually long. I'll keep praying and plugging away. As the holiday season approaches I'm sure I can get in somewhere as holiday help. Every little bit helps.

Potty Training

Well, it is official. Today after Evie's nap we are going to potty train Evie. I'm 50/50 on if it is too soon or not. I mostly just want the convenience of not using diapers anymore. She can communicate very well and knows when she is going poo. I think we will be ok. I'm a cold turkey kind of trainer. No Pull-Ups or slow transition for us. I go straight to underwear. The first 3 days are the hardest and messiest. With Sam I was about ready to give up when he managed to go potty in the potty seat at the end of the 3rd day and the connection was made. After that, it seemed to work well. Though it did take a few weeks for him to actually tell me he had to go. I hope it goes just as well if not easier for Evie.

Since I'm going to have a pee mess all over the house anyway I decided to take away Sam's potty trainer that sits in the big toilet. We have been using it for the convenience of not cleaning the toilet as often since he doesn't tuck well. The insert has a splash guard that takes care of all that. Well, it seems to be hampering him being able to relax and go well on any toilet that doesn't have that. So I'm going to take it away and force him to use the big toilet like normal folks. Dwayne took him in this morning and helped him stand and pee. He got pretty excited about that and I gave him a sucker for a job well done. I hope it motivates him to continue. Either way we will have to make it work. I threw out the potty trainer so there is no going back.

Wish us good luck and lots of patience this week as we start our potty training adventure. It is moments like these that I am so grateful I only have two kids and this is the end of this particular milestone in mommyhood.