Christmas

Scott's blade

Jess's pic

snow white doll

GG's plate holder

dad's pic

basketball hoop

Brandon's pic

So Christmas is over. Everyone had a really good time. We went to Chris' house for Christmas eve. He really goes all out with decorating. We ate pizza and then opened a few presents. We tried to start earlier so I wasn't getting the kids home so late but it still was almost ten before I got them asleep. They were up at 6:30 the next morning checking out the presents. They get to open the presents from Santa to keep them occupied until it is time to go to Mom's house for stockings and breakfast. Then we come back here and sort out the presents while Dad gets GG. We open for a while then eat Christmas dinner and then finish. We take turns opening the presents so it takes longer and makes Christmas last longer that way. Some of the highlight presents for everyone were: GG got a new really soft lap blanket, a gift card from Aunt Pat and Uncle Jim, a watch from Avon that she wanted and a paper plate holder that the boys made and I painted. Brandon got a RC monster truck that can go outside and new cowboy boots from Santa. He also got a lot of other cool toys like spy stuff, a basketball hoop that hooks onto the back of a door, things like that. Jessie received a prince and princess doll and a Rudolph doll that sings and the nose lights up from Santa and she got Barbie and princess stuff mainly for her other toys. I gave them both a painting that I painted, Brandon a fire scene and Jessie an ocean/dolphin scene. Every time I was doing a painting Jess would ask me for the rejects. She finally got to the point that she was intentionally trying to make me mess up so I promised her I would make her her own painting for Christmas so I had to make one for Brandon also. Scott's favorite presents were his fleece pants and the chainsaw blade I painted a fire scene on, and his drill. Chris' was probably his ipad Rachel got him. He also got some things for the house and some pretty knick-knacks. Rachel's was her ipod from Chris and her stuffed goat because she loves goats and music. She is really good at making the goat sound. She also received some scentsy stuff that she loves. Dad said his was the pizza and ocean paintings I painted for him. There is a story behind the pizza. My first painting I did was a fall one and it had a basket of leaves sitting on a chair. Chris and Dad have made fun of it for years saying it looks like a pizza. I finally decided to paint an actual pizza for him. I also made an ocean scene because he liked the one I did for Chris' birthday. He also got a plug in mug to keep his soup and tea warm when he is working. Mom said her favorites were all the jewelry she got, her granddaughter statue and the charms I got her for her bracelet. My favorite gifts was the new camcorder everyone pitched in to buy. Also my fuzzy robe and pjs and pretty much everything else I got. The camcorder was the big surprise. My best gift of all was having my family healthy and all together. The kids didn't fight and it was a nice pleasant white Christmas. After dinner we got to play with our gifts and watch a Christmas movie. It was one of the best Christmases we have had in a while.

Christmas break continued

We went to electricritters at the zoo last Sat. It wasn't too cold so it was fun. We had to park quite a ways away but it was worth it. We make our own hot chocolate to bring and that saves a lot of money right there. It's so cool how they make all the animals out of lights and every year we try to pick out the changes. This Sat we went to the riverwalk to walk around there. We went on the boat one year but it is very cold and they drive so fast it isn't worth the money. It is more fun to walk anyway. This year we took the dogs with us. BJ is better with the crate but he still would still rather go with us. Fearless did pretty good but now he is crabby. It was worth it to see the happy face on him though. Who says dogs can't grin? Chris and Rachel had their Christmas party so they did not go with us. Dad has shingles. Luckily it isn't too bad so he is making it through okay. I hope that is our only bad luck for this Christmas. The kids are getting really excited. Jessie is still questioning Santa occasionally but I think that is because she thinks that if Santa isn't real, then she doesn't have to be as good. Brandon is questioning also but he doesn't want to know the truth so he won't ask. We already had a present issue. Jessie bought Brandon a couple of gifts at the santa shop. There was a teddy bear there she wanted that said love Mom on it. She said she wanted it so she could feel close to me at night when she had trouble sleeping. Brandon was supposed to get it but the person helping him didn't know the story and talked him out of it. We got some stuffed dogs in and she fell in love with a golden retriever. I put one aside to have Brandon give it to her. What I didn't know is that a little boy Joey, who is in her class and his mom was also helping out, wanted to get it for her. They bought it for her also. So now I had two of the same dog. I ended up donating one to the toy drive but I still didn't have something for Brandon. We finally found a little bear that says "Jesus loves me" on it for him to give to her. I hope she likes it as well. Now he just has to do some chores to pay it off since he spent all his money. So the rest of the week is just finishing up the wrapping and goodies and keeping the kids out of the presents.

Santa Shop

We went to Carmen and Kurt's last Saturday for their Christmas party. It was fine except for we didn't know anyone other than our family. The kids did well considering that they had nothing to do but they were really well behaved. Rachel felt bad that they were bored but we knew that they would be. We had a choice to go to theirs or Chris and Rachels next week and we decided to do Carmen's this year. Next year we might do Chris'.

I worked the Santa shop at the school all this week. It was fun but tiring. Jessie loved helping out for a little while when she got out of school. Next year will be easier because they will both be in all day. All the kids get into buying presents. As predicted, some of course tried to buy for themselves but for the most part they stuck to the lists. It is fun to see what they pick. Many tried to buy toys for their family members and we had to steer them clear of that. They were all pretty good bargain shoppers. I think we only had one child this year that had so many names and only like $10 to spend that he ended up being able to spend only 75 cents a person. That makes it interesting. It was so popular that we kept running out of bags to wrap the presents in. I helped Jessie with her gifts but Brandon was on his own. He did pretty good but went off his list to include the pets, which I told him not to because then he went cheaper on some of the others, namely his sister. He did however put a lot of thought into his gifts and his heart was in the right place. I think next year if I am able to work it, I am going to have them come after school and shop together so we won't have any issues hopefully. They also participated in the blanket drive for the homeless (we did get some blankets) and the food drive and the toy drive. All in all it was a good week. Next week they only have two days of actual school and Wed. is Brandon's school party in the afternoon and Jessie's in the morning. Thursday they have literacy testing so no official school. Then break for two weeks. When they come back they only have one semester to go. Where did the year go? Wasn't it just Halloween? They went to see Santa at the mall last night and we ate Subway and walked the mall and they turned in their letters to the special mailbox in the mall. Tomorrow we do Electricritters at the zoo. More on that later.

getting ready for Christmas

The Christmas holiday is upon us already. It seems like I was just at the kid's school for their Halloween parade and now to help with Christmas. Where did the time go. The kids started bugging us to put up decorations on Thanksgiving, we agreed to bring in the boxes but didn't start until the day after. Every year we have the kids buy toys for the toy drive and this year when Scott and I were at Hobby Lobby the other day we found $24.00 on the ground in the parking lot. There was no one around that it could have been. We decided for that little of money no one would look for it at the police, so we made the decision to use it for charity since it wasn't ours to begin with. Yesterday we took the kids toy shopping and they were able to buy quite a few presents for the toy drive with it. Brandon was so excited he wanted to put the bags in the box before we even paid for them. The kids are also having a food drive and a blanket drive through the school. The food goes to families in the county so it stays close to home and the blankets are going to the local homeless shelters. We didn't have any old blankets to donate so Mom put in a request at work so hopefully we can get a few at least. They also are having the yearly Santa Shoppe at school that I volunteer at. That is where the kids get to shop for their own gifts for their families. It is fun to see what the kids pick out. Sometimes we need to direct them and a lot of times to keep them from buying for themselves. They can be pretty adamant about what they want to give though. The big problem is when they have $10 and twenty people to buy for. That is next week so I should have some good stories after then. It takes up a lot of time but it is worth it. I just have to work a little harder the week after to get all of my projects done before CHristmas. We are supposed to go to Rachel's mom's for their Christmas party tonite but it is snowing really good so I don't know if we will want to chance it or not. We have lots planned over the next few weeks and I will try to post about all of it as we are doing them. I love being able to blog about our family adventures especially at Christmas it makes me feel closer to all of my extended family and that you all can be a part of our traditions as well as us a part of yours.

BJ

First things first. We finally were able to get high speed internet. Yay! They finally have service out here and we were able to get it at a discounted price through the school that ended up being the same cost as our dial up. It came just in time too because Jessie has a reading program through the school that they give access to from home and when I went to download it, it was like 487Mb. It took 30 minutes on high speed, I would probably be still downloading on dial up. Since our computer is so old, they said our speed might still be a little slower but compared to dial up, I don't notice. Now I can do more stuff during the day instead of waiting until night because I didn't want to tie up the phone line during the day.

On to BJ. He is the most sweetest loving dog with brown eyes that will melt your heart. That is the only thing keeping him alive. It is like having a hyper toddler around that you have to watch every minute. He has separation anxiety really bad so we had to get a crate for him because he was tearing things up when we left. We got a fold up metal one but we can't fold it up any longer because he was popping the latches and getting out. He managed to open the locks so we put carabiners on them. He broke the carabiners and got out. Once, we aren't even sure how he did it because we came home, he was out and the door was closed. We finally got some latches that seem to keep him in but he keeps destroying his bedding. We give him a toy that you put peanut butter in and we freeze it and he manages to eat most of that also. He is getting better but on Halloween we came home and found he somehow managed to get the mat in front of Scott's chair into the crate and chewed it up. We have to keep all the doors shut because he likes to shred stuff. I can tell when he is not getting enough exercise because that is when is starts to get destructive. The problem is lately all he wants to do is play with Fear, who is getting too old to play. I wonder if dog's can sense another animal's time is short? We are hoping Fear will last through the new year at least. He is getting better at not herding the kids, at least not nipping on them as often. We are still working on that. He is really good on a leash but when you take him off and he gets really excited, then he doesn't listen, so we are really working on that right now. Sometimes I wonder why we were supposed to have him now when our life is already chaotic enough without adding a hyper dog to the mix. I wouldn't trade him though. He has also brought a lot of happiness into our lives and he can really cheer us up. It is impossible to not love a dog who is so happy to see you, even if it was just five minutes ago. He follows me everywhere and just lays down beside me wherever I am. Makes you feel loved, but also guilty if I am moving around a lot. I guess God knew we wouldn't send him back no matter what and I am really getting good use of my mending skills.

Halloween

The kids took skating lessons for five Saturdays at Skate City to learn to roller skate. We don't have anywhere out here in the county to practice, no sidewalks etc., so they were pretty much limited to just skating at the lessons. Jessie was the smallest in the class and couldn't even see over the wall. She was funny to watch because she took such small steps that she barely went anywhere. Brandon did a little better but he looked like a robot at first. We found him some inline skates at a second hand store for $3.50 and Jessie some of those plastic skates that go over your shoes on Craigslist so they could practice on our kitchen floor. Brandon was getting good at home and then he would fall back at practice. On the last day, the 29th, they had a graduation skate and Halloween party where they could wear their costumes and parents could skate too. Jessie was content to let me pull her around. She has a princess mentality, which means she thinks everything should be done for her, including skating for her. Anyway, I helped her and Brandon was slow for a few rounds and then he just took off. You would think he had been skating a lot longer than five sessions. The school offers discount family skate nights every couple of months and they are looking forward to those skating sessions now that they know how to skate.



So Saturday they went to the Halloween skating party and then in the afternoon we took them to the children's museum where they could trick or treat around the art gallery and they had a magic show. The kids had a great time. Monday Jessie had her school Halloween party in the morning, and Brandon's was in the afternoon. In between I went to the grocery store. Then we went to GG's and Chris' and then went trick or treating. This year Jessie went as half angel half princess, although she pretty much just looked like an angel but don't tell her that. Brandon was a cowboy. We usually go to the mall to trick or treat, but last year didn't go well, they got bored, so this year we went out in the "real world" as Jessie put it. She had us make a separate bag for the safe candy that came from family etc., and a bag for the to be checked candy. They didn't actually get much of that because by the time we got going, the neighborhoods we went to didn't have that many houses that still had treats, but they just liked the experience anyway and we went to Rachel's Aunt and Uncle's house again where they do the spook house and really decorate so that was fun too. The only bad thing, besides constantly running all day, was having to crate BJ several times. If we don't, he tears things up because of his separation anxiety. More on him later. That's a whole story by itself.

Mom's Birthday

For mom's 60th birthday Aunt Pat and Uncle Jim decided to make a surprise visit. It was hard not to slip up and say something to her. They came in on Mom's birthday, on Thursday. Uncle Jim had the idea to fill up her car with balloons. She also had her office completely covered with 60 stuff. She was really mad at Dad because she thought he did the balloons but then as soon as she saw Jim she knew it was him. They all went out to dinner that night and on Friday we went to see Dolphin Tale at the movies. It was a very good movie. We all got together on Friday night for pizza. We went to the riverwalk on Saturday to see Grandpa's name on the veteran's bridge and had the birthday party on Saturday night. Unfortunately they had to go home early on Sunday but all in all it was a great visit. I am glad that we got to see Aunt Pat and Uncle Jim twice this year. If they really want crazy they should come for Christmas sometime. I think everyone had a good time and Mom had a good birthday surprise.

New Dog

We have been having disagreements over whether to get another dog before Fearless dies practically since Shane died. With Fear's semi agressive behavior I didn't think it would be a good idea, Scott felt we should get one before to make it easier for the kids especially since Fear has cancer and is 10 we have no way of knowing when his time will come. I finally told Scott that if the right dog came along and it was felt it was meant to be at the right time then that is when we would get one whether Fear was alive or not. Fast forward a few weeks ago. Scott found a puppy along the road and took it to the animal shelter. They asked him if he just wanted to keep it since they had so many but it turned out it was part Mastiff and part boxer, I said no it didn't feel right besides it was only a few months old and Jessie would love it to death. So they tried to get him to take another dog that had been returned. I said no. A week later we went down to the shelter because Brandon wanted to donate money. He sees the abuse commercials and it tears him up. And of course they wanted to look at the dogs. See where this going? They looked at the dogs and were just kinds of saying hi until they got to the last kennel. All of a sudden they both went down on their knees and started playing with a dog. They immediately asked if we could do a meet and greet. I told them to keep looking we weren't getting a dog. They didn't even hardly give some little puppies a second glance and wanted to go back to the other dog. Against my better judgement I allowed them to take him outside. They were already in love with Baja. I started thinking that if both kids agreed on this dog which never happens anymore then maybe it was meant to be. I told Scott we would consider it if he could talk them into giving him to us for free since they offered before and if Fearless got along with him. As you can see we ended up with him. We changed his name to BJ. He is a border collie/shepard mix about 7 months old. Fear is doing great with him and he is making our lives interesting. He has some obedience training but not totally and he has a tendency to nip at the kids and the cat. He also has severe separation anxiety so we have ordered a crate or he tears things up while we are gone. Our free dog is costing us but we love him and he was already returned once so we are committed. Mom who was against this for the same reasons I was is completely in love with him. He should provide us with some interesting stories.

Back to school and other news

The kids are back to school. They started August 11, went one day, then went back Monday- Thursday and then this week only went two days because they have literacy testing. Jessie is in kindergarten half day. They are offering full day with a tuition price, but we do not have the money and I don't think it is worth it for maybe an extra two hours of class time. She goes from 8:00 to 11:30 and Brandon, who is in third grade this year, goes from 8:00-3:30. Because of the buses, Jess gets home anywhere from 12 to 12:30 and Brandon gets home between 4 and 4:30. They both seem to like it so far. I worked with Brandon all summer a little each day, so hopefully that helped him. He likes his teacher and isn't giving me too much trouble about going to school so far. Jessie I knew wouldn't be a problem. I haven't gotten their results back from the testing but I think they did well. This was the first year Brandon finished his testing on time so I take that as a good sign. I think the teachers were impressed by what Jessie knew but that doesn't surprise me since she has been watching Brandon do his homework since he started school. They are already hitting us up for money. First with school supplies, which ends up being about $20- $30 per kid depending on how cheap you can go, then you have to pay a craft fee of $15 per child and then school pictures and fundraisers are the first part of September. Oh joy! Jessie's teacher said that the teachers have to supply all the classroom stuff like decorations and books out of their own pocket. So where exactly is all the education money going to? Anyway hopefully this will be a good year for all the kids in our families.

Onto other news: Chris is doing well in his job. His bosses are sending him to different plants to observe and they trade ideas about how to run the plants more efficiently. He just went on a quick trip to Nebraska with four of his bosses in a car to check out one of the plants. He wasn't exactly looking forward to being stuck in a car with his bosses for 8 hours both ways but he sees this as a good sign that they aren't looking to let him go anytime soon. He was even offered an opportunity to travel the world for 6 months visiting other plants but he had to turn that down since he is married now. Then in September he flies to Florida for 5 days to do more of the same.

Grandma was in the hospital for a few days this weekend after my birthday party. She was having trouble with some new medication so the doctor switched it but her blood pressure started spiking and going all over the place. Mom took her to the emergency room on Sunday evening and they kept her there for a few days to figure out what was going on. In the end they think the medicine that she was allergic to was not out of her system before she started taking the new meds plus her neuropathy is starting to spread to more than just her feet. The hypertension is messing up her kidneys a little so she has to go on a low sodium diet. I guess her age is finally starting to catch up on her body a little. She is doing much better now though and is back home. Nobody at the hospital could believe she was 96, they kept checking her records and asking her if she was sure she is 96? That made her feel pretty good.

Brandon Birthday

Mom took her vacation the week of Brandon's birthday so he got extra fun, plus Aunt Pat and Uncle Jim coming out, so he also had extra family. We had some coupons from the kid's summer reading program so we were using up some of them up. We went to Bingo Burger for lunch. We had never been there before. It was kind of expensive but the hamburgers were made from grass fed cattle from Colorado and the fries were homemade so I guess that helps. Then we went to the children's museum. The kids have fun but I would not go unless I had the free coupons for the kids. It is a lot of craft making stuff which we can do at home for much cheaper but the kids enjoy doing something different so they liked it. On Thursday we went to the zoo and spent most of the day there and then Scott and Dad got back that afternoon. On Friday, Scott's family came over to give Brandon his gifts and then we ordered pizza for dinner since mom and dad went out to eat with Aunt Pat and Uncle Jim. We had Brandon's birthday dinner on Saturday and he wanted silly string so we had a silly string fight after dinner. Everyone got into it except GG and Rachel. Rachel doesn't like the smell so she volunteered to do the picture taking. We would have stayed out longer and did the presents outside but the mosquitoes were eating us alive so we had to go in. He had a great birthday. I will send pictures later. Sunday we went to the Riverwalk to see Grandpa's name on the veteran's bridge but it wasn't there yet. At least Pat and Jim and GG got to see what it looked like and what the tag will say and they got to see the awesome Indian bronze statue that looks like it has a real blanket. It was so hot that we didn't stay very long. We went to dinner at Chris' house for our final family dinner. I swear every time I go over there he has more statues, plants etc. in his yard. It was really fun getting to see Pat and Jim again. I wish we could see them more often but at least we get to see them once a year. So that was that week and only a few more weeks left before school starts on Aug 11.

4th of July

Dad and Scott did get called out to another fire and are in New Mexico now. So far they have been gone 8 days this time and haven't heard they have to come back yet. This should help us with our expenses a lot.

Since we couldn't do fireworks this year because of the fire ban, we had to come up with alternatives. We still had Grandma's birthday party. I can't believe she is 96. Then we played with silly string. We thought we would have some left over since we bought extra for Scott and Dad and since they aren't here, but Chris and the kids went crazy and used up all of them. Oh well, they had fun. We also bought some glow sticks to play with and they had some light up stuff. Then we were going to go to Grandma's balcony and watch the fireworks from the Riverwalk but they started early and we missed them. We still saw some from Pueblo West and the few illegals that people still set off. I think every one had a good time.

Brandon is going to drive me crazy. I have been trying to help him get on track with school work before school starts. He is behind and it will be even worse in third grade. I know he is very smart but his brain just doesn't work like the rest of ours. I think he lives in a higher plane and the simple stuff just doesn't compute. For example, I asked him what number is right before 40 and he was randomly throwing out numbers like 12. I don't know if he really doesn't get it or he just doesn't care. He stares at me with a glassy eyed stare like he is not even there. If you give him multiplication he gets it though. Some days he does much better than others. Rachel says she is going to nickname him Random. He just spouts off stuff completely randomly. For example, at the party he said, "Too bad Bill is missing this since he is dead." and then a few minutes later he said "I bet Bill hated homework." Things like that. I love him more than anything but I am sure glad Jessie doesn't seem to be going to have any issues with school. At least not yet. I just have to hope that when school starts it suddenly clicks. In the meantime I will keep working with him and try to keep my patience.

Scott fire

CWFS finally got called out on a fire. After we agreed to go, he got offered an engine boss job with another two companies who were trying to get out also. In some ways it would be easier to not do the business, especially since we are operating in the hole, but anyway we figured that this is what God meant for us, at least right now. Then Scott just called and said the fire was almost out and they will be lucky to get two days out of the deal. Sometimes I think God is messing with us. We are praying that this will open the gates for other things to happen and I am trying to stay positive. If he can get more, longer jobs and I can hold off all the bill collectors for a little longer than maybe we can buy some time for us to figure out a more long term solution. Some contractors in other states have been out for four or five 14 day rotations at at least $1000 a day, if not more. You do the math at how good the money is when you are working. Of course we have to live in a backwards region that doesn't like contractors and will call on every one else in the United States before they will call contractors. I won't get into the politics of firefighting, it is too depressing and I am trying to stay positive. Brandon is fine with him being gone and happy he is on a fire, but Jessie is having trouble, she is too used to him being home all the time. By the time they get used to it, he will be home again, but hopefully not for long, or if everything works out, he will get transferred somewhere else and won't be home at all for awhile. I know that sounds bad but anyone who knows the situation understands what I mean. Keep you posted.

Memorial Day

For memorial day we decided to stay home. We thought about going to the mountains, and forget about we can't afford the gas but it was too soon to go without Shane. It made us sad just thinking about it, he loved the mountains so much. Hopefully later in the summer things will be better financially and it will have been long enough that we will be able to go without it being quite so sad. Chris, Rachel and GG all came out for a picnic. It was too windy to eat dinner outside but we were able to go out after dinner and eat dessert out there. Our new patio table we got last year shattered from the wind so we just huddled around the one in the front. Dad BBQ'd hamburgers and had the usual picnic foods and Mom and I made a jello cake. It's kind of cool because you use white cake mix and mix two kinds of Jello into it and then use whip cream for the frosting. It was pretty good. Chris brought Tiko and Sandy (their new dog) and the kids had a blast playing with them. Sandy is still kind of shy around us but Tiko fits right in. He loves to play with Socks, our cat. He started playing playing ball and the kids loved tossing the ball and chasing him. It was funny because Fearless decided that Tiko needed extra watching while he was wandering around and so Fear followed him everywhere and herded him away from the fence if he got too close. The shepard was coming out in him I guess. We have to be careful with them because they are so small they can slip through our fence and gates easily. I think everyone had a good time and GG always loves being able to sit outdoors and relax.

last day of school

Brandon's last day was actually only a few hours long. They have an end of the year assembly and then can go home if the parents are there to take them home. Brandon got certificates in spelling, science, social studies, music, PE, perfect attendance for the last quarter. He also got a certificate for completing the whole 6 months of a program called bookit which the student had to read at least 400 minutes every month. He also got the most Raz-kids login. Raz kids is an online program to help with reading. Then we went home and took lunch to the park and met Mom for lunch. Then the kids just relaxed while Scott and I prepped the back yard for the pool. Mom splurged and bought us all a new pool. Our pool was on it's last stand last year. Mom decided since we can't afford to go on vacations or anything, this is our only fun we can afford. Brandon is doing a title 1 program at the school for a few hours a day for the month of June and we are working on some online programs to try to get him caught up before 3rd grade. I am worried that he is just going to fall more and more behind otherwise. To make it fair I am also working with Jessie, which she doesn't mind because she wants to read very badly so she is all for it.

Off the subject but I thought this was cute. The other day were getting ready to eat lunch and Mom asked the kids what they wanted to eat. She had leftover spagetti and Jessie said she wanted the Pasgetti. Brandon said " Get it right Jess, it's Basgetti". Well we thought it was pretty funny anyway.

Field day / Jessie's Preschool Graduation

Jessie and Brandon in their South Mesa Tshirts on field day.

This was the first year that preschool got to participate in field day. I don't know how field days work in other place, or if you even have them, but I am not too impressed with how it's run. All the grades gather together and each grade runs the 50 yard dash to get a ribbon. Then they break away into groups to go to their designated games, every 20 minutes until lunch time. Most of the time by the time you figure out where your game is and figure out how to play, it is time to switch again. Or there will be someone else playing the game and so you can't play and you end up only playing a few games. After lunch the kids, especially the younger ones, have down time until the big kickball game between the fifth grade and staff that lasts an hour and the rest of the kids are supposed to sit and watch patiently. Then they have more down time with a popsicle party until school is out. This year Jessie was done by eleven so we signed her out and Brandon had another hour so we watched him until he was done. Then we found out they were just going to read and play quietly until the kickball game. We decided we weren't going to make Jess sit around because she was getting bored and tired and Brandon decided it wasn't worth it either so we ended up taking them both home. We ate outside at home and the kids played and we made a memorial stone for Shane to put in the garden. I think they had more fun than if they had stayed. The kids seem to enjoy field day even if it is chaos so I guess that is what matters.


Jessie's diploma

Jessie graduated preschool. They are so cute. They do a musical program that includes the zoophonics song. Then they go up to get their diploma and they got punch and a snack after. The kids are all a little confused by what is going on, but they enjoy it. Jess decided she wanted to visit Grandma at work and then we picked up chicken sandwiches and played the rest of the afternoon until Brandon came home.

I thought her kindergarten was all set with her new teacher, who is much better than the one Brandon had, but now they decided to do all day and half day kindergarten. The teacher they have now is doing the all day and we don't know who they are going to get for the half day. We have to put her in the half day because they charge for the all day and we can't afford it. Luckily she is smart enough that if she doesn't get a great teacher it shouldn't affect her skills but it tends to make school not as fun when you don't like the teacher. She is out of school now but Brandon still has one more week so I get broken in to having kids around all day.

Mother's Day

For Mother's day the kids gave me some presents they made. Jessie made me a purple bracelet and gave me some flower seedlings she started growing at school. She also painted a ceramic flower but gave it to GG. She painted it dark purple and brown with a little green. For a girl that loves bright colors for some reason she likes to paint with dark colors. Go figure. Brandon gave me a hats off to mom poem and made me a matching necklace and ring that he made with his rock polishing kit. They also wanted to buy me some flowers to put outside. I also got a drain mat to put under my dish drainer, a new swifter because mine broke, a cake frosting spreader, and GG gave both me and mom some money to buy flowers for our outside. It was a nice day and mom and I went to GG's and had a nice visit and then we had a family dinner. It was a good day with no fighting from the kids so that is always a good present.

Jessie also had her first field trip for preschool. They went to the city park rides and zoo. They got to ride the rides for about an hour and then we had lunch in the park and they played for a short time then we went to the zoo. They were broken up into groups because the kindergarten was also there and no one would be able to see the animals otherwise. My group was just Jessie and a little girl named Emily. Emily used to be her best friend but now they aren't quite as close and now I know why. She is a very nice girl but pushy and likes things her way. We spent about a total of ten seconds at each animal. Jessie wanted to watch some more but we had to stay together and it was easier to go with Emily then try to keep her there. She also kept trying to throw her hat into the water and wanted to go home. I think the parents were more tired than the kids by the end. The kids were more intrigued by the bat that peed on itself, the skeleton in the fake boat, and dandelions and a lady bug, then the actual animals. Oh well they had a good time and the weather was good so that is what matters. Then Jessie and I went back to the school to pick up Brandon and we all went home happy and tired.

Shane

One of the last pictures with Shane. Jessie gave him a stuffed dog to lay with him to keep him company

We lost Shane today. (Shane was the golden retreiver). On Friday, he went to jump up on our bed and fell. We thought he hurt his hip again (not the first time) but he wouldn't get up at all which made us suspect it was worse this time. Jessie sat in our bedroom and "read" stories to him to keep him company. I tried massaging him but it wasn't working so we decided to take him to the vet. Scott took him so I could stay with the kids because we didn't know how long it was going to take. I thought maybe he tore something or dislocated something, but when I moved his leg he would jerk toward me so I knew it hurt but I never suspected his leg was shattered due to bone cancer. The tumor ate away the bone until it was so weak it just shattered. There was nothing they could do. They splinted it and sent us home with pain meds and said to see how the weekend went. Our options were to amputate the leg to buy time or wait it out until it was time. It was decided that amputation would not work for him and we gave him a few days for all of us and made the decision. The vet came to the house so we didn't have to move him and he went peacefully. Jessie didn't really understand, especially since he was still here, but it is starting to sink in now that he is actually gone. Brandon told me yesterday that Shane's soul was not happy and he wanted his body to let him go so he could be free. Every time I try to think of something that drove me crazy about him I realize that is one of the things I will miss the most. Like him stealing things and "happy butting" around with it. Or the fact that he was always in the way because he was so big. He had the biggest heart and those big brown eyes could melt you. I want to share some memories but I will have to do it later because I can't see the screen very well right now. We loved Shane with all of out hearts and he will be greatly missed.

Easter

Brandon had his second grade music concert. This year's theme was Earth day. They did several songs in which they combined sign language and singing and they also did some square dancing. I am not sure where that fits into the Earth theme but it was cute. Brandon was partnered up with a boy twice his size but he didn't seem to mind. They also did recycle projects where they made projects totally out of recycled materials and showed them off that night. Brandon's robot was made from water bottles for the legs, a cardboard box for the body, a juice bottle for the head, TP rolls for the arms, paper mache to hold it all together, pop bottle tops for decoration, and used foil. He was very proud.

I took Jessie to GG's to see the Easter bunny. She was afraid to sit on the bunny's lap so I had to sit with her. GG also sat with Jessie and the bunny but my picture didn't come out very good. If I get a better one I will send it.

The night before we decorated Easter eggs. I think the kids got more on their hands than on the eggs. They had a great time though. Then on Easter morning we had the egg hunt. The kids know we hide the eggs but they think the Easter bunny hides the baskets and magic keeps them invisible until it is time to hunt. We had to do the hunt inside this year because of the weather. Then we had the family lunch with everyone. We do lunch instead of dinner because Chris and Rachel have to go to Rachel's mom's for dinner, but we have a big meal with ham and the works. Brandon got this little balloon pump with balloons in his Easter basket you pump them up and then let them go and they dance on the ceiling and make obnoxious noises. Everyone (big and little kids) played with those for quite a while and it got rather crazy but fun. And that was Easter. It was a good day.

Job

Scott didn't get the Oregon job because of the bankruptcy. I am glad we don't have to move but we are back to square one. The government sure doesn't make it easy to get jobs when everything requires good credit to work. There was a custodian job that wanted five years experience and prefered a bachelor's degree. How can anyone find jobs with these kinds of criteria? Anyway I wanted to thank everyone for their support and prayers, especially Rebecca and Uncle Jim for your responses. I know that everyone has their own problems also and I am grateful that we have a close family that we can share our problems with. There are so many people that have no one to turn to and I am thankful that I am not one of them. Keep the prayers coming, we need all the help we can get, and I will pray for all of you too. Brandon says that we need to get rich so we can help others since we know what it is like, from his lips to God's ears.

Since Jessie's birthday we have had one bad thing after another. Fearless (our dog) has had a mass on his chest for awhile and it finally started causing too much trouble for him and we had no choice but to take him back to the vet. It was cancerous, which is what we suspected even though the other vet we took him to earlier said no. We had the choice to put him down or do surgery to remove the tumor and hope for the best. Because we couldn't face trying to explain to the kids how we couldn't afford to try and save him, especially when I tell the kids that money, or the lack of it, doesn't matter and God will take care of us, we opted for the surgery. Mom got us on a care credit plan that the vet suggested so we can make monthly payments. He got through the surgery and is doing pretty well. The cancer doesn't appear to have spread for now. Shane (our other dog) is eleven going on 12 this year so we could potentially lose both dogs around the same time. We have had to file bancrupty because we can't get jobs, the business is pretty much done for and we are going to lose the fire truck to the bank since the government is so messed up and they aren't hiring contractors for fires. Most all the contractors are in the same boat we are. We got approved for the home modification loan but the finalization has been put on hold and we could potentially lose it because of the bancruptcy. And now the only job Scott has been offered is in Portland, Oregon. It doesn't pay very well considering the cost of living up there and I doubt with the bancruptcy so new we could even sell this house and get a loan for a new one there. We have until Monday to make a decision but the only way we could do it is for Scott to go there for a year and work and then we join him. I am not willing to move there until he is sure the job would work out. I have seen too many people move, the job doesn't work out, and they are stuck. I also just plain don't want to move. I wish I had the adventure gene that some of our family possess but I don't and neither do the kids. We don't take change well. They said they would help with relocation and rental until we could sell here and find a place but that would mean more moving and transition. Oregon isn't even close enough to travel back and forth easily. It is about a two day drive. I can't see how this job is the answer to our prayers but we are also running out of time. His unemployment and our tax refund are running out. I know that God has a plan for us but I can't help wondering if his plan is for us to lose everything. I am trying to stay positive, especially for the kids, but you can only be positive for so long when every time you turn around it is more bad news. About the only thing good that I can think of is Chris had a good birthday and none of us have too bad of health. Jessie got to be babysat by GG while we went to the bancruptcy hearing and she and GG had a good time together. The ladies at the Villa love hearing grandma's stories about the princess and this will give them something to talk about for awhile. GG is doing well and I never thought I would be able to leave my daughter with her almost 96 year old GG to be babysat even for a little while. So there is some good. Sorry to be so negative but I just needed to get things off my chest. Hopefully I'll have a more cheerful blog later.

Jessie's 5th birthday

Jessie's balloons from Applebees

Her new dress up outfit with matching doll

I can't believe she is already five. We had her party on Saturday before because it seemed cruel to make her wait a whole week for her party. She had a great time but Brandon had a little trouble dealing with the fact she is big enough to not need his help opening presents anymore. He kept wanting to be reasured that when it came time for his birthday that he would get all the benefits she did. On her actual birthday she got to go to school which with the weather lately we weren't sure, (more on that in a minute) and she got a crown and was leader of the day. Grandma took the afternoon off and we took her to Wendy's for lunch and played makeup and doll house and watched her new Tinkerbell movie. I think she had a great birthday. We took the kids and mom (Dad had to work late) to Applebee's on Wednesday because it is kid's night and they have a magician and on Brandon's birthday he got a bunch of shaped balloons so she was hoping for the same. She did finally get them but the place was packed and I had to practically drag him over right before we left. I wasn't about to leave without those balloons. Jessie got a flower and a purple poodle and Brandon got a dinosaur. I will send more pictures soon over shutterfly but it takes so long to download with dialup. Some day maybe we can get into the future where we live. Of course then they will have something even better.

As for the weather, this is the craziest winter we have had in years. With all the two hour delays and school cancelling Jessie has only been to school twice in the past two weeks. The temperature has not been over twenty for like two weeks and it was 70 degrees right before all this hit. Last night we had hurricane gust winds and it destroyed our trampoline. We are waiting for warmer weather to see if it is salvagable at all but the frame is completely trashed. Hopefully the weather and our lives will start to even out in the near future. This week is supposed to be nice and dry out everything in time for the next storm. I am so ready for spring.