Evie's Birthday

We had a wonderful weekend visiting family. We drove down Saturday after I got off work and stayed the night with my mom. Melody made some boats out of paper and popscicle sticks and we went to a local park Sunday morning to float them down the stream. The kids weren't sure what was going on but had fun following us adults chasing after the boats.

We actually caught them all in one picture!

We then went to Dwayne's parents house for a family potluck and a birthday party for Evie. If you can't tell by the decorations.......Dora was the theme for today.

She got her very own Dora kitchen!

And all the accessories to go with it.

Tired after a long and fun weekend.

Sam pretty much stayed drowsy-eyed the whole rest of the day. I guess that is what happens when you stay up 4 hours past your bedtime and then party hard the next day. LOL

Stars

I got home last night after a good evening at work and for some reason felt compelled to look at the sky. I opened my mouth in amazement at what I saw. There were stars all over the place twinkling at me with the big dipper big and bright. I can't remember the last time I just sat and looked at the stars. We usually have lived in a city where the city lights drown out all but the brightest stars or because we live in the great Northwest it is overcast probably 75% of the year so I couldn't see the stars anyway. So it isn't my habit to look up into the sky. I'm not sure what compelled me last night but it was so beautiful. We do live in a small town so there were a few lights prevening me from seeing them as well as I would like but it was gorgeous none-the-less. One thing that I hadn't noticed before is the big dipper is bigger and lower on the horizon up here. I wouldn't think that two hours north would make that big a difference in the sky but it does. I'm also thinking it is the season too. I don't usually get to see the constellations so clearly in the fall. Seeing all the stars was a great reminder of God's wondrous works. So next time you get clear skies take a moment to look at the stars. They sure are pretty.

First Day

Last night was my first day on the job. I think it went really well. It was freight day at the store so I pretty much was dumped right into the job of putting all the new stuff on the shelves. They figured it was a good way to learn the product and they were right! I already have a general sense of where most things can be found. I was shown the basics of the cash register but was unable to actually do anything on it because they don't have my passcodes ready. But they did have enough processed that I could sign in and out. I'm only earning minimum wage but since Washington has the highest min. wage in the country it isn't too bad. I worked up a sweat and thoroughly stank by the end of the evening. My feet, knees, and back hurt from all the lifting and just the fact that I was on my feet for 4 straight hours. But you know what? I'm really happy. I've forgotten how much I enjoy working (depending on what it is) and how lonely I have been. It was fun interacting with other adults and putting product out on the floor is just my cup of tea. I love the smell of new books and organizing things. (Now I know where Sam gets his organizing instinct from.) I get to go back tonight and then have a couple evenings off before the weekend. I think the hours will work out perfect. Just when I might be getting tired of working I'll get a couple days free and clear before the next round. I found out I get a crazy awesome discount too just in time for Christmas. 20% at first and then 40%! after 3 months. I'm excited that I get to surround myself in Christian authors and items. After one evening I've already got an appreciation for the variety of authors and items available that can appeal to all different types of people. I'm looking forward to learning more.

Spring Cleaning in the Fall

Yesterday we did some regular cleaning and then relaxing the rest of the day. That evening we had to serve at church. We managed to grab some dinner and came home to a relaxing evening. Today has been another story. I got an extremely good night's sleep so I decided it was time to go through all the kids' toys, books, etc. We cleaned every corner, pulled blocks and puzzle pieces out of every nook and cranny and put all the toys to rights. If it was broke and wouldn't/couldn't be put together again easily it went in the garbage. We even convinced Sam to give his large collection of Toddler size soft cars to all the "babies" at church. We promised him he would be getting all kinds of Hot Wheels soon to make up for all the lost cars he was donating to church. I even took the time to go through all the kids' clothes and get rid of things torn, stained, or getting small. Then I went through all their clothes in storage and pulled out their next sizes and just cleaned up things in general. It felt so good to be purging all the stuff. Especially since we have been warned by Dianne that for Evie's birthday this weekend she would be getting a small kitchen with all the accessories that go with it. We needed the space for new toys.

But I wasn't done there. Once the kids' rooms were purged and cleaned up I decided to change up things in the living room and kitchen. I had my sewing and craft stuff in the living room and the small dining table in the nook in the kitchen. We decided to switch the two areas. So now our dining table is in a section of the living room and all my sewing and craft things are in the nook in the kitchen. I think it will work out so much better and the living room feels less cluttered. I'm now taking a break but I need to go through all my school and sewing stuff and get those areas cleaned up. Maybe this afternoon. We'll see how I feel after a break and Evie wakes up from her nap.

I got it!

I got a call yesterday afternoon as I was getting ready to go to my interview to find out that the managers were running late coming from Oregon and could we postpone my interview to 7:00? I was a little dissapointed because it was one more delay from a final decision but actually it would work out better. Dwayne wouldn't have to come home early and I would have time to get the dinner on the table.

Finally the appointed time came and I went down to the restaurant they wanted to interview me at. To make a long story short, the interview went extremely well and at the end of it they officially offered me the position. I was so relieved I started crying. Luckily, the ladies were very nice and understanding. It is such an answer to prayers. They are even willing to stick me with only evenings and weekends so I can stay home with the kids. The evening shift starts at 3:30 or 4:oo so we will have to figure out babysitting for an hour or two once or twice a week but so far, Dwayne's boss seems ok with the idea of Dwayne flexing his hours a little so he can come home to watch the kids. That would be the ideal situation and I hope we can do that long term. The store closes at 8 pm so I can still come home and spend a little time with Dwayne before bedtime. The hours will even allow me to continue with my desire to homeschool the kids. It is so perfect I can hardly believe it.

Thank you to everyone for your support these past few months and all of your prayers. I definately felt God's hand on this one and know it was with all of your help. I look forward to writing about more cheerful things in the future instead of posts full of worry and problems.

Interviews

Well I passed the second interview phase. The manager called me on the phone two hours after the scheduled time but hey, at least she called. She then asked me formal interview questions over the phone. I feel like I answered them well because she seemed pretty excited about some of my responses. When it was all over she then informed me that I still had to do a couple more things before a decision could be made. I had to have yet another interview. This one in person with the regional manager. Apparently, the local managers cannot make the final hiring decisions and I would need to make it down to the store again before the next interview to fill out an official application. So far, they have just been working off my resume.

Yesterday afternoon I received a phone call that my interview would be scheduled for today at 4:30 pm. But get this. I won't be just meeting the local and regional manager for the interview. The owner of the company is also in town and he will be joining the interview panel. I have never worked so hard for a minimum wage job in my life! Talk about sending people through the gauntlet. I went in last night after Dwayne got home to fill out the application and met a couple more employees. I asked the question on if they knew of any other applicants and they said no. I was the only one that they knew of. Woo hoo! So as long as I don't screw up the interview in some crazy way this afternoon it sounds like the job is mine. I really hope this is the final hurdle and I can start working soon.

Busy Busy

I just realized that another week has passed and I haven't written anything on the blog. What have I been doing this past week? Pretty much the same ole same ole. Whenever I'm not cleaning house, playing with the kids, making dinner, or playing on the computer, I've been checking ads for jobs. I've even started to venture my explorations to daytime work in the hopes that if that is what is supposed to happen in our lives then God will provide an awesome daycare for the kids. So far I've had no hits and I've been having a hard time with it. I want to have faith that God will provide and I know he does because we have been living on his provision for the last couple of years but I'm tired of being gracious and humble when accepting everyone's charity. I know this is just a season but I'm hitting a low point. Don't worry though. I tend to bounce out of these moments pretty quickly and will be my positive self again soon.

Friday morning I was checking jobs again and decided to do some blind calling at the outlet mall in Centralia. Of course, everyone was not hiring at the moment but would be happy to accept an application on file. One store said that they will be hiring holiday help in a couple of weeks. The last place I called was the Christian Supply store. (Don't ask me why it wasn't the first. I have no clue how my brain was working that day.) I was shocked when she said that they were in fact looking for some evening and weekend work. Could this be the answer to our prayers? They don't accept applications but would only take a resume in person so they can meet potential applicants face to face. She would be there until 3pm that day. I got extremely excited and wracked my brain trying to figure out what to do with my kids. I then remembered my new friend. I had done a favor previously and she owed me one so to speak. I called her up and she was available to watch the kids for me. Woo hoo! I got dressed up as if I was heading to an interview (because I was in a way), printed out my resume, and dropped off the kids at my girlfriend's house.

Driving down to Centralia I was praying that this is finally the answer to our prayers and His will be done. When I got there the gal I was supposed to talk to was busy gossiping with a friend at the counter. I wandered the aisles for about 1/2 an hour trying to catch her eye. I finally was getting ready to be a little rude when she noticed I was hanging around. Her friend left and we got to talking. She looked over my resume and we talked about the different things she was looking for, what I was looking for in a job, etc. By the end of the pre-interview I felt like the job was mine we just had to go through the formalities. She told me she would call me on Monday morning with information for a website questionaire I would be required to fill out and a more official interview over the phone. Now the waiting.

Saturday we cleaned up the house, especially the bathrooms as they were over due for a scrubdown. Sunday I woke up and decided we should say heck with the gas conservation and go to the beach. Sam has been asking all summer to go to the beach and it was supposed to be a decent day weather wise so I said "Let's go!" I packed a picnic lunch, grabbed the extra clothes and sunblock and we headed out. We decided to visit a new beach this time and found one that we really liked. Unfortunately, the weather wasn't as nice as it was at home and I forgot to pack sweaters. We decided to risk getting cold anyway since we drove all that way. I grabbed the sand toys and away we went.

Evie after a couple hours of playing in the sand. A little off-center but a good one to show off her beautiful hazel eyes.

Sam's sand castle.

Within a half an hour the beach warmed up a couple degrees. It was just enough to keep off the worst of the chill so we could enjoy ourselves. I ran out to the water with the kids cause they wanted to play. Sam got splashed just a little and decided he didn't want anything to do with the water the whole rest of the visit. Evie however, couldn't get enough of it. The water was warm (considering you are on the NW coast) and her and I chased the waves for a good long time. I finally decided that she had missed enough of her nap and the kids (and Momma) were sufficiently worn out. We headed back to the car to change out of our wet and sandy clothes and headed home. It was a really good day and just what this family needed.

This morning I woke up a little nervous and anxiously awaited my expected phone call. By 1pm I still hadn't heard from her so I took the initiative and called her myself. She told me that she hadn't forgotten about me she was just extremely busy that day and hadn't had a chance to call her boss to get the information she needed to pass on to me. She told me that she would call me right back. I did not hear from her the rest of the day. So now I sit here extremely anxious and trying very hard not to be pessimistic. She did sound busy and positive that we were still moving forward. Now I just have to try not to let my brain get in the way and try to practice patience. If I get this position it will answer all the prayers we have. I will get to work evenings and weekends and only be schedule 3 or 4 days a week. This will allow me time to still keep my house and homeschool my kids while bringing in that extra little bit of income we need to be more comfortable. Please pray that God will bring resolution quickly one way or another. I think waiting is the hardest for me. I see a small direction or ray of light and I move forward full speed ahead. I will let everyone know what happens as soon as I do. Thanks everyone for your prayer and moral support during this time.

Labor Day

What an exhausting few days! Early last week Talia and I were talking about our plans for Labor Day weekend. She had mentioned that they were going back to Idaho to rent a truck and try and get as much of their stuff as they could back that weekend. I told her that Dwayne was taking Thursday and Friday off and we were going to have a "staycation" because we didn't have any money to go anywhere. She was quiet for a few seconds and then asked if we wanted to go to Idaho to help her and Jacob move. After talking with Dwayne and doing some last minute scrambling to have Melody watch the kids, we decided that yes we would go and help them. We drove down to Oregon immediately after work on Wednesday night and got to my mom's around 8:30 pm. We tried to immediately put the kids to bed and then woke up early to meet Talia and Jacob at my aunt and uncle's house.

After an extremely long drive we started to work on packing up their house Thursday evening. We did take a small break to have a spaghetti dinner with Patrick and Kayla and then went back to work packing. We got a large chunk done that evening and we all crawled into bed tired. Friday morning we went out to breakfast while we waited for the truck rental place to open and then immediately started back working on packing the truck. I can't believe Talia and Jacob were going to try and move all their furniture alone. It would have taken them so long. I'm so grateful Dwayne was their to help with the heavy stuff. The moving truck and their Durango was packed as tight as it could get but we were able to (just barely) empty their house. About half way through the day, Jacob decided that we were making good time and that we should just go for broke and try to get everything done that day and head home that night rather than waiting to leave for the next morning. We all agreed that it would be nice to sleep in in the morning.

After a quick trip to their storage unit to shuffle a few things around, we were finally on the road. It was a long trip home. Talia and I entertained ourselves by talking about anything and everything and cranking up the music and bouncing down the road. We finally rolled into Sheri and Chuck's house at around 2:30 am and crawling into our beds at 3 am. Right about that time, all the soda I was drinking to help keep me awake started wanting to exit my system. So I was up at least 3 times between 3 am and 7:30 am going to the bathroom. At 7:30 am, I finally gave up trying to sleep anymore and got up for the day. After getting the truck moved so we could grab our vehicle we went over to my mom's house to get the kids.

This was the first time that we have been gone overnight without the kids. I think we all did really well considering. Evie had a few rough moments but overall did really well. Sam was his usual easy-going self. I missed them terribly. We brought them back over so everyone could see them since it had been so long. Our original plan was to stay the night Saturday night but we decided we really wanted to get home and sleep in our own beds. Dwayne helped them out the rest of the afternoon unloading the truck. Chuck ended up giving us two feed bags worth of corn on the cob from his garden and a box of apples. Tiffani offered us some dinner to help so we wouldn't have to pay for dinner on the way home. So after a brief stop at her house we finally got on the road back to Olympia around 7 pm. Evie and Sam both fell asleep in the van on the way home and we got everyone into bed about 10 pm.

Sunday we spent the morning unpacking and doing laundry. We then tackled the feed bags of corn. I knew that if I didn't deal with it immediately, I would procrastinate and then the corn would be ruined by the time I took care of it. So with Dwayne's help we shucked, blanched, and cut the corn. We then put it into freezer bags. Of course, after we got started I realized that I was out of quart-size freezer bags and only had 3 gallon size baggies left. So we crammed as much corn as we could into the last 3 gallon size bags we had and only had a little left over. Unfortunately, we didn't have enough money until Friday to go and get freezer bags. So we made do with what we had. Dwayne and I made a dinner of just corn on the cob that night and went to bed feeling like we got a lot accomplished.

Yesterday, we spent the morning cleaning up the living room and doing a few misc. chores. We then finally spent the afternoon just relaxing and enjoying a well-deserved afternoon of rest. I'm glad we were able to help Talia and Jacob. I don't know how they would have done it by themselves. They will need to take at least one more trip up to Idaho to empty out their storage unit but we can officially say they are back in Oregon. Jacob has found a job and things are looking up. I hope and pray they can get back on their feet again soon.

Out of town

We are going to be out of town starting tonight until Sunday sometime. Dwayne took several days off around Labor Day and we were going to stay home and have a "staycation." But Talia heard that we had the time off anyway so we have decided to leave the kids with my mom and sister and drive out to Idaho with them to help them pack and move back to Oregon. We wouldn't have been able to do it but the offered to front the cost of food and gas since we were willing to go and help them.

I'm actually looking forward to it. I'll get to see my cousin Kayla for a few hours since they are heading out of town themselves. This will also be the first time I've ever left the kids overnight anywhere. I'm a little nervous but I know they will be fine. It's just another hurdle in my mommy mode I have to overcome. It is so hard to let go. Even though we will be working for a couple of days it will still be kind of nice not having them underfoot every second. I haven't had that in a very long time. I know I'll be ready to see them again on Saturday and will miss them terribly.