Not All Fun and Games

One of the benefits of visiting Idaho in the fall was the Boyz were there to help Uncle Kirk stack wood for the winter. I’m not sure how helpful the littles were. And I took pictures. That’s helpful, right?

Uncle Kirk split the wood and then the kidlets helped stack it. And there was a lot of wood. This isn’t even all of it.

They were trying to show who had the hardest job of stacking the wood on the top of the stack.

Here they are after all the hard work.

And if you know Kirk and Big J you might notice something wrong with this picture.

Uncle Kirk may or may not used a little boost be as tall as Big J.

I felt kind of bad when it was cold enough that we needed a fire to keep warm. It’s going to be a long winter if they are already lighting fires in October.

Give Me a Break

Last Friday started with Big Daddy on one of these.

He flew up to Salt Lake to talk to the company that hired him for the temporary position. There were a few kinks that needed worked out on the job. Hopefully they are worked out and everyone will be happy for a very long time.

Poor Harley. It was like he knew that Big Daddy was not just at the office. I found him sleeping on Big Daddy’s blanket…which is a big no no.

Friday morning I had 3 award assemblies at 2 different schools that I needed to be to. Since I still don’t have a clone Big J came up with a solution. He stayed home with the kidlets and then I just had 1 school to be to.

What a huge sacrifice he was willing to make!

I headed to school with Einstein and Roo for their award assemblies.

Roo was first. She was Student of the Month in her class.

Einstein was Student of the Month. (Yes his eyes are closed…dang it)

He also got a Music award.

And for the 7th straight quarter he made Principal’s List. These are all the 4th graders that made it this quarter.

He is so cute. He makes sure he stands up there until I give him the thumbs up that I got a picture of him. I wonder where he gets that from?!?

Since the other 3 kiddos were already home I brought Einstein and Roo home with me so we could get an early start on Spring Break!

Later that afternoon Big J got ready to leave on his first real campout with the Boy Scouts. He is a tenderfoot and getting ready to turn 12 so they invited him to join them at the district camporee.

He was pretty serious about filling out the paperwork to before he could go.

And of course I couldn’t let him go without giving him a kissy mark.

This is after he tried to wipe it off. I was a little tempted to not tell him I left a mark on him, but I didn’t want him to get teased too much.

Later that evening Big Daddy got home from a long day in Utah.

And Big J got home from his campout on Saturday.

And Spring Break has officially begun.

No school for 2 weeks. No work for 1 week.

Lots of family time and fun.

Thankful Thursday

Today I am thankful that Big Daddy accepted a temporary job offer. It’s only 90 days, but hopefully it turns into a full time gig.

I am thankful that he was only unemployed for 3 weeks.

I am thankful for all the prayers for my family…please keep them coming.

Two Weeks Down and Please Let There Not Be Many More

Today was 2 full work weeks since Big Daddy was laid-off. One whole pay period. Forty hours where he should have been at the office.

When he came home on the 8th we were pretty much just shell shocked. And then being the doer that he is Big Daddy got right to work taking care of everything that someone that doesn’t have a job has to take care of; like a new resume, unemployment benefits and calling a ton of people. While I kind of fell apart. I don’t do stress well. I would have a panic attack when it was time to do the laundry or brush my teeth or use anything -- because I was worried about using the whatever it was. Who knew when or how we would get more. Yes, I was a bit fatalistic in my thinking. That’s where my half-empty personality comes in to play. The first week was HORRIBLE. Very stressful. Then Sunday afternoon we had our home teacher, who is also in the Stake Presidency, come over to talk to us to see how we were doing. He is such a kind and wise man. He had been in a similar situation before and talked about some of the stresses and trials we might experience. And really said some things that we could relate too, already.

This week has been much calmer. We have a realistic picture of where we are. Big Daddy has talked to quite a few people and has some leads for jobs. And I am back to doing laundry without totally panicking, it doesn’t mean I enjoy it any more.

At one point I was pondering why we are going through this. I was trying to figure out why we were facing this trial at this very point in our lives…and most importantly trying to figure out what we should be learning. Maybe I thought if I knew what I was suppose to learn I could do it really fast and the trial would be over. Easy huh? So as I was pondering this I had the thought come into my mind that maybe this isn’t a trial, but a blessing. We weren’t going to be in the right place at the right time if Big Daddy was still working at his old job. At the right place and the right time for what? That I don’t know. But it should be interesting to find out.

But I would like to share a few things:

1. Don’t ask me if we are going to be okay. I am wondering the same thing myself.
2. I am not completely depressed. I thought I was, but I think I was just scared.
3. When I say I am good, I might really mean it.
4. Don’t avoid me. You can still say hi to me.
5. Money is fairly tight, so maybe I can’t go to lunch with you. Unless you want to go on a picnic to the park with the kidlets.
6. BUT if you are going shopping don’t be afraid to ask me if I would like to come along. Since I am not able to spend money on fun things it might be nice to at least see someone else be able to. If you did before, don’t stop now.
7. Please don’t judge if you think that I have spent money. You never know if I have actually spent money or not.
8. I am not embarrassed. If Big Daddy had been fired for stealing paper clip maybe I would be. But he wasn’t so I’m not.
9. Humble pie isn’t all that bad, in small quantities.

There is no pride…only dignity.