Updates

Thanks y'all for praying for my job situation--I found out Tuesday that we've been approved for the 20 hours!! YAY!! I am so excited. Even when you go down into a valley for a little while, God leads you back up again before too long. God has provided for me and our family in so many ways in the past few months, and I know that is because of how many prayers are being said on our behalf; though it's also by the grace of God that we have so many wonderful friends and family members who continually pray for us. Thank you so much.

Other updates...

*(See my post from Sept. 19) I haven't tried getting the ink out again yet, but I did cook green beans in water on the stove top with a few seasonings for probably half an hour or more (is that steaming?) & they turned out really well! We took them to church & shared them for Wednesday night supper & they seemed to go over well (then again, I didn't check the bathroom to see who was throwing them up). Thanks for all your helpful ideas!

*My dad recently met Jody (Knight) King, who many of my ChiO friends will remember (isn't her last name-change really funny?). She's in Florida! Has anybody heard from her? I'll try to get more updates from my Dad about her, although I'm sure she'd appreciate it if I didn't publicly announce a whole lot of information about her!

*Dan's job is getting better & better. He did have a weird day today (it seemed to be the day for fights), but for the most part he is getting his routine down & figuring out the ins & outs of the job.

*Nathan is doing really well in school. So far he hasn't come home with anything but smiley faces on his calendar each day. He was the Class Star this past week (have I mentioned that already?), so he got to take in pictures to put on a bulletin board in the classroom, and he also took in a show-&-tell item each day. I tried really hard to think of clever & fun show-&-tell objects, but Nathan had his own ideas about what to take. I finally decided that his classmates will not likely remember a few weeks from now what he took in, no matter how cheesy or amazingly clever the object, but there is a REALLY good chance that Nathan will remember, even a year from now, what he got to take in (my mother-in-law will back me up on that one). The kid's got a memory like an elephant! Not that I've ever personally witnessed the memory of an elephant, nor would I want to.

*Wanna hear about the rest of the family? Snickers ran away the other day, but the boys & I got in the car to get her & knew exactly where to find her (Nathan guessed which street she went down & he was right!). When I stopped the car & opened the door, Snickers ran right into the car (she used to continue to run away from us when we went to get her). For some reason, the kiddos think that is the funniest thing, her being in the car. We really don't take her with us to many places, so I guess it's the fact that she seems out-of-place to them in the car. (Ha, one time when Nathan was in school, we had to go get her, & when she got into the car, she jumped into the back & sat in the middle seat that's normally Nathan's, like she belonged there! J & D laughed the whole way home!) Jeremy & Derek are bonding more without Nathan around. Previously Jeremy followed his big brother around everywhere & wanted to do everything he did. It seems to me that he is doing that a little less (he still idolizes him, but just a little less), & he seems to sincerely enjoy playing with Derek & making him laugh. I love it. They were chasing each other around the house this afternoon & Derek's giggle was just delightful.

*Let's see, did I miss anything? We're going to be having a housewarming party at our house next weekend, & my house is nowhere near being ready for that! We got so much done over the summer, but there was still plenty left when school started. However, with the new busy-ness in our lives, VERY LITTLE has been done in the 4-5 weeks since school started. Most everything is unpacked, but there isn't much at all up on the walls as far as decorations. Don't you ever look at pictures of homes in magazines & wish you had time & money to decorate however you wanted?!

I keep staring at the word "publicly" because it looks wrong, but I checked & it's okay. Do you ever stare at a word that you use daily & suddenly it looks completely weird?! Something like "floor" just doesn't look right even though you know it is.

Well, if you'll excuse me, tomorrow is Nathan's last day as Class Star and we want to end his show-&-tell experience with a bang. (Just kidding, I really am going to let him take in the cheesy toy of his choice)

{My parents-in-law will be traveling down here this weekend, so please keep their safe travels in your prayers!}
[By the way, "y'all" is just a joke, I don't really say that]