tired

So today I got back to the real grind. Well, not really because I was only scheduled to work half day, but even half days turn into whole day when you are on call. It totally bumbs me out... it's not the work I don't like. It is being away from my family. I really enjoy helping the animals and their owners. I really do. To ease suffering in little critters just makes me happy. I helped "free" a kitten from a milk crate tonight. The family was just so relieved to have the kitten freed - that is nice and it feels good. But, it just really hurts so much being away from my family. I know God has a plan for even this in my life, but wow, it hurts so much to think I can miss whole days from my family. I feel like a whiner... I am so blessed by both having a wonderful family and only needing to work part time in a job I enjoy. So much better to focus on the blessings than always wanting more...... I guess I need to remember that.

I and friends at the fair.

L getting ready for a 4-wheeler ride.

I in ballet (the one facing the camera)

I doing preschool work

Josh with his elk this year. Took him with his bow opening day,

So the block party wasn't nearly as fruitful for One Changed Life as we had hoped, but a good friend reminded me kindly that God IS in control and he will provide for those kids, we just need to keep diligent in doing our part to serve Him. So, we shall press on and look for other avenues that may bring more sponsorships. It was still a fun time at the block party. The kids were with Josh and me the whole day and they did SO well. I did take a couple of hour break to take I to a movie G-Force. It was great to have some time just the two of us. L stayed with Josh and put on her megga cuteness and brought people to the table. She really is such a cutie. The rest of the week was pretty busy. I (me) started back to work and I (daughter) started swimming and AWANA. I'll only be helping with AWANA every other week this year so as to have more time with L as AWANA is on a work day of mine, but while I'm gone on those weeks helping out, Josh will have some good daddy - daughter time with L. It was sure nice too to have Russ and Kari over for dinner. It has been a LONG time it seems since they have been over to just visit. Well, I suppose I had better get on with the day. Josh is off 4-wheeling with my dad and the kids and I are heading to a wedding. I'm still having a hard time figuring out how to format my blog and load pictures with captions, but I will try again.

Week of big 1sts

So this week has been a week of big 1st's for I. We started home preschool on Tuesday.... very cute. I insists that we do school in the basement in the "classroom" that I see I will have to make it into more an official classroom. L just plays down there because the toys are a novelty.... toys we don't have upstairs, so she had been quite content to play while I and I do school. I also started ballet this week.... now that is really cute. We messed up and got the wrong size leotard and slippers, but she didn't care in the slightest. She was in BALLET. Her latest desire for adult life is to be a ballet teacher and that was even before class started. Another first, I had her first friend stay over for a sleep over. It was her friends first sleep over too and the girls had a great time playing and "camping" in the spare bedroom. L didn't enjoy though because big sis didn't sleep in her room with her, so I(me) layed on her floor and held her hand until she drifted off. L has definitely become attached to I. She is even giving her hugs and kisses in the morning. Well, this weekend we are having our first big push to get sponsors for the kids of One Changed Life. We will have a table at the block party and hopefully and prayerfully, God will provide many sponsors. I'll post pictures of the event next week.

Another great week.

So on Monday, we went to Ross Lake which is in the North Cascades in WA. The drive was long, but totally worth it. L had a bit of a rough time in the car.... bored out her mind I'm sure, but we made it there and like I said, it was worth it. We had to take a ferry to a pickup to another boat to get to our cabin.... it was cool. We stayed in a bunk house with Josh's sisters family. The one issue of the whole trip happened within the first 5 seconds of getting there. I was so excited to get into the cabin that she jumped from the boat onto a dock which was attached to the dock of the cabin and fell in between. I of course freaked out and so did I(me) but she was fine. She caught herself on her armpits and I pulled her up and out. Total adrenaline rush and freak out for me. It took me a day to relax about the water after that, but I did and it was so fun. We went on a hike to the dam which was completely amazing and took a few boat trips to see some gorgeous scenery. The water was cold but the days were warm so it was still great for swimming. One of the boat rides back we got caught in some serious wind and white caps. We were just in a little 14 foot aluminum boat and we all got soaked. It was hilarious and very fun. L actually slept through the entire thing on my lap. I had put a towel over her to shade the sun and it also worked as a water shield. She got soaked like the rest of us but not by direct splashing so she slept all through it - amazing. I'll try to post some pictures - we'll see if it works. The ride home was much better than the ride there, maybe because my cold had mostly passed and I wasn't so irritable from feeling so sick, maybe it was b/c the kids were beat and slept a bit of the ride home. Yesterday we went to a wonderful wedding of our friends - such a blessing... Yes it has been a nice week. Josh actually went hunting this am - left super early at 3am and thankfully also already got his bull. This week is back to real life. I starts Ballet and restarts swimming and now I'm trying to figure out how to make all of this work with my work schedule... I have to go back in 2.5 weeks. Hopefully something will pan out.