Happy Fall Y'all!

Hey there Ladies! Yet again…time has just flown by! I cannot believe that tomorrow will be the first day of October! That is just craziness! I guess that I get so caught up in life that I lose track of time! Must be old age!

Although we always have so much going on…not much has really changed! But I will still give you the play-by-play on each person in my family! Before I get to that….whoever would have thought that a hurricane would affect us here in OHIO. But it did! Hurricane Ike played havoc with all of our lives…and we had no power at our house for 8 days. It was just crazy! We even had Isaac’s birthday party (30 kids) at our house with no power. Yeah…that was lots of fun. So, now we have power and life is getting back to normal!!!

Scott
Well, he is doing just fine! Work was interesting there for a while because of the power situation. And so because of that, they weren’t allowed to sell – for obvious reasons – so they had to work nights “guarding” generators. Yeah, that was fun. It wasn’t that bad, but it did play havoc on our routines! The money was really good for that though…and he worked like 10 – 12 hour shifts. So, he is back to selling now and things are finally back to normal. He took Isaac to the OSU game this past weekend and they had a really good time. He is really enjoying coaching Isaac’s team this year and making good friends with the other coaches. It is definitely a fun time for him and all of us.

Isaac
Well, after all of the drama at the beginning of the school year…..he LOVES his teacher. Yep…he loves her. I think she started the year out like the mean catholic school nun just make sure the kids respected her…and now she is having fun with them while learning! He brought home his mid-term report yesterday and he all I think 4 S (Satisfactory) and 3 E (Excellent). So, he is doing great! We have parent-teacher conferences in a few weeks, so I am looking forward to that! He seems to be doing good all around, so hopefully that continues!

Football is still lots of fun for him and he is getting better and better. He could still be much more aggressive, but maybe that will come with time. If not, I am sure he will self-select that football isn’t for him. It is way too early to determine that now. Now, he is just having fun with it! We had four Sunday games – in a row – and now the rest are Saturday, so that makes us all very, very happy! It has been hard missing church for those four weeks.

My baby boy turned 7 on September 18. That is so hard to believe. Wow. We had a football party where he invited his ENTIRE football team. We had no power, but the people across the street did…so I had videotaped their game earlier that morning and we ran an extension cord across the street so the boys could watch their game on TV. It was so funny….but they were all boys and had fun, even though we didn’t have a gourmet meal! LOL Lots of boys…too many boys….but it was fun!

Faith Anne
Well, sometimes she is doing great. Other times, not so much! I really think we have a case of “middle-child syndrome” with her and if she is getting all of the attention, she is fine. When she has to share the attention with her siblings, she is a little brat. We are working on that with her. I am really trying (trying very hard) to talk to her and try to reason with her about her behavior. It is hard to not just scream at her for being so mean, but then what lesson is that teaching her? So, I am trying to make a very conscious effort to sit with her and have heart-to-heart conversations about her behavior. It isn’t working yet, but it might! LOL

She is doing good at preschool and seems to really like it. Her teacher this year really treats them like Princesses’. Great. Just what she needs. LOL But she is constantly singing or doing cheers and she is so much fun to be around….when she is getting your attention! LOL

She had a great time on vacation with my parents and Jodi and Jim and their girls. She talks about it a lot still.

Gracie
Little Miss Gracie has become quite the “mama’s girl”. She only wants me most of the time and wants to hug me and stuff all of the time. It is very sweet and I am enjoying it very much – especially since I know she is my last baby! She certainly has a mean streak, but she can also be so very sweet. She is an adventurer and not much scares her. It is funny to me how different she is from Faithy and just in general, how different all three of my kids are.

Gracie will be 2 on October 9. That is so hard to believe. It seems like just yesterday I was sitting in Tim Horton’s crying because I was pregnant…and not wanting to call Kelley and tell her because they were trying to get pregnant. And now…I wouldn’t change a thing about having Gracie and Kelley has had 2 more kids! God just has the greatest sense of humor! He keeps us on our toes!!!

So…that is the down and dirty on everyone. There is so much more…but who wants to be bored with all the little details? The update on our childcare situation is that Stephanie (Scott’s youngest sister) her “friend” Deanna is watching the girls for us at our house on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. She is charging us a bit more than my Aunt charged, but we are saving on gas money….and things are going good so far! I have to admit, I do have some reservations….but she really loves my girls and they love her. I know she would never do anything to hurt them. She has their day all planned out. They do craft time every day and the girls are really having fun with her. So, we will see how things go. She goes to school on Tuesdays and Thursdays, so as long as that works out, we will run with it.

I would like to ask for your prayers. I have applied for a job at the school district here. It is a Payroll and Benefits Analyst position. I don’t know if I am qualified or even that I really want it. But I had been telling my MIL that I would love to get on with the school – they have good benefits and it is just a great place to work. So, she sent me an email about this position and on a whim, I applied. That was yesterday. I thought more about it and I sent in my resume today. The starting salary is exactly what I am making currently….so just pray that whatever God’s will is…that it be done. I would love the opportunity, but it is also scary because I have worked here for 11 years now. It would be a big risk and a big change. This is heavy on my mind and heart right now….

I am down about 78 pounds. It is coming off slower and slower. I am trying really hard to just be happy with where I am instead of always looking at where I want to be. This has been a long journey, that is for sure! And I still make mistakes along the way, but I really think this is going to be “the last time” for me. I really think I am going to be able to keep it off this time.

We did have the Bethany Dillon concert at our church a few weeks ago and that was awesome! It was really intimate and just her and her guitar and it was so neat to hear her talk about where the songs came from – where she was at when she wrote them (spiritually) and just to hear her. My mom went with me and we both really enjoyed it. Stew talked at the intermission and he always does such an awesome job. It was just a great evening.

Well, I have so much more that I could say, but then no one would read it because it would be too long. Hope you are all doing good…love ya!!!