Who Wants Some Lemonade??

Alex has been begging for ways to make money. Since summer began, our "Mom Bucks" system kinda went out the window. Every once in a while I've let him earn some money for certain things by doing chores around the house. But I decided that I would let him try something else to earn some money. Lemonade stands were pretty common (from what I can remember) when I was little. I remember doing them all the time. So, to relive my glory days and to help my kid create some fun memories, I mentioned having him do a lemonade stand. He wasn't sure about the idea, but agreed to it. We decided to go crazy and sell a few other items as well. We had Otter Pops, Double chocolate chip cookies, Lemonade and Shasta soda. I decided this time I would donate the items and not make them pay me back for them. Alex helped make the signs and sort of helped me get things ready. He decided he wanted to invite his buddy Christian to come help with the stand... even if that meant splitting the profits in half. We packed up the van and brought everything down to Orchard Drive and set it all up. The boys held their signs up, jumped and ran around to attract customers. We stayed out for 2 1/2 hours from 11:00-1:30 and took a break for lunch. We decided we'd head back out around rush hour to see what we could do. We were out again from 5:30-7:15 in the evening. All together, the boys made $28.00... thanks to some very generous tips from parents, grandparents and neighbors. :) The boys were THRILLED with how much money they earned and Christians parents couldn't quite believe the stack of money he came home with. Alex's last comment of the day was, "I think we should do this every day until school starts!" Yeah, I don't think so! One day was good for me. You might be able to get one more out of me in the near future. But I will agree that it was a blast. We were able to stay cool in the shade and the boys stayed very hydrated on the lemonade they were supposed to be selling. :)

Darek loved being included with the big boys and loved holding his sign up. It scared me a lot to be on a main road, but he was surprisingly good and never stepped foot in the street.

Alex's sign cracked me up! I loved that that's what he decided to write. :)

One more story... One of the cars that pulled up to buy stuff had a sweet little boy in the back seat, a little younger than Alex. His mom got some cookies and asked him what he wanted. He said he wanted to get an Otter Pop and made sure his mom got one for his younger sister and then had to tell me he was going to get one for his little sister. He talked to me while we were getting everything for them. He asked me if I liked banana bread. I told him that I did. He said he had made some with his grandma that day, a whole bunch of little loaves. He pulled one out of the bag to show me. I asked him if he was going to go sell them. He said no and said he wanted to give them to his friends and neighbors and then said that he wanted me to have one too. I asked him if he wanted some money for it. He smiled and said no. I totally got choked up! I took it and thanked him profusely for the bread. He got a huge smile on his face and said, "Your welcome! I hope you like it." I know how easy it is to be selfish sometimes and always want to "get something" for another thing. But this moment from this little boy reminded me how easy it can be to do something selfless. It left quite the impression on me and I hope I will keep it in mind the next time I'm feeling selfish. I've also decided that no matter what (unless it's a life or death emergency) I will stop at every lemonade stand I see. And I will always leave them a tip. It doesn't matter all that much to me, but it means the world to those kids! :)

More Thoughts

So, just a little update on the job situation. We got word back on the Logan job... no go. We were really disappointed, but have come to terms with it. The job in Idaho finally closed and we are waiting to hear back. A few other jobs have opened and we will probably apply for them. So we'll just see what happens.

I had a talk with Ryan last night to try and explain how I was feeling about our current situation. It was so helpful to both of us and has made me feel a little more at ease. But it doesn't really solve anything. I still feel the same way.... stuck. The hard part about this for me is, What do I do? I have been doing daycare for the past several years. With the current situation being as it is, I'm down to watching Ava (whom I love and adore) part time during the week after school. So I'm trying to figure out what to do with my days. I can't really try to get more daycare kids, knowing that I could be moving soon. I still have my little Darek around, which I love. But I feel the need to contribute financially right now. Especially since we need to save as much as possible for moving. But how can I go to an employer and say that I'm the right person for the job, when I know full well that I will probably be moving before Christmas (at least we had better move before then)? Ryan suggested that I take this time to go to the DATC and get my certificate in my CNA, EMT, etc. (I haven't decided yet). But I explained that I can't really do that until we know if we'll be staying nearby. It would be a huge waste of time and money if we ended up moving away. Anyway, I just feel stuck. It's not that I mind just focusing on Darek and being a Mom. I'm just used to doing more. And I'm afraid I'll become a couch potato. So there it is. As always, my hope is that this is all short lived and we'll get a job soon and get settled somewhere.

Onto the kiddos.

We decided a few weeks ago to take Alex out of the Spectrum program. Very hard to take him out after finally having made the decision to put him in it. But we thought about how hard it would be to start the school year out at a new school, make new friends and then move and have to do it all over again. So we're keeping him at Adelaide until we move. That way he still will see his current friends and not have to worry about that part of it. Alex is having a blast with this last bit of summer. He and all his neighborhood buddies are really making the most of it. They just had a sleepover last night and as we speak, he and Christian are playing poker at our table. :) His friendship with Christian will probably be the hardest thing to leave behind when we move. Alex is more than ready for 3rd grade. (Writing that totally made me cringe... how did I get a 3rd grader???) He is excited that his other best friend, Jaxon will be in his class. Jaxon is the only kid who has been in every school class since Kindergarten. They have a lot of similar interests and very similar personalities. Alex can't wait to get back to see his friends again. Alex is also still in soccer. He did baseball during the summer and loved it, but his heart belongs to soccer. He is in bantam soccer... which is in between recreation and competitive. It's to help him get ready to be in competitive soccer, if he chooses to do it. So Alex has been doing soccer practice all summer long and is continuing to get better and better. His first game is a week from Saturday and I really can't wait for it!

Darek has also enjoyed the summer. He has become best friends with our neighbor Savannah, Christians little sister. They are inseparable and get along really well... most of the time. Darek is a smart little boy and is learning lots of new things. We're working on ABC's right now and he recognizes more than 1/2 of his numbers. Darek really thinks he is going to school this year. He wants so badly to be big like his brother. I'm considering putting him in preschool. Although I could do it with him here, he really wants to go somewhere else for school. Again, it's all about feeling like a big boy. The place Alex went for preschool requires kids be potty trained before they come. Darek is not there yet. We are trying to potty train again, starting today, but I'm not holding my breath. There is another place, further away that does not require it, so I'm considering it. But my hope is that the enticement of going to preschool will help him finally get potty trained. If he does go, I will have a few hours to myself during the day! I really don't know what I'll do! Darek is also starting soccer this fall. We found out that our rec center does soccer for 3 year olds. He is on a team with his buddy, Truman. I found out the other day that his first game is on Sept 9th, Ryan's birthday. I cannot wait to go watch these little 3 year olds try to play soccer. Darek is already amazing at dribbling a ball. I think the struggle will be trying to get him to get the ball in the goal. Just thinking about it is making me giggle.

I have found that my blog really is my therapy. I'm glad to have it just to write feelings and thoughts down. And I appreciate the comments people leave too. So thanks for listening to my whining, complaining, excitements and all the other boring stuff. You all make me feel very loved!

The Grand Canyon... It Really Is Pretty Grand

So our summer had been planned with several cool trips... most of them didn't work out because of unexpected financial issues. But we were still able to go to the Grand Canyon. I have never been and I have to say that I was not thrilled about going to the Grand Canyon. It seemed like it was going to be pretty boring... ugly drive through Arizona, looking out at canyon and then a boring trip back. I wasn't all that impressed at the idea and could only think of how dumb it would be. I was more wrong then I could have ever imagined.

The drive was actually pretty amazing, once you got past the desert part. It actually turned into a beautiful forested area and lots of amazing little meadows. I had no idea there was any part of Arizona that looked like that! :) I was glued to my surroundings as we drove through. As we got closer, it was hard to imagine that this would just end as a huge cliff into the Grand Canyon. But finally it did. Now I've seen many, many pictures of the Grand Canyon before and it really didn't look all that special. Nothing can prepare you for seeing it in person. There is no way to really describe it, but to do my best, I've come up with a list of words I would use. I've also asked the kids to describe it. :)

Magnificent
Beautiful
Majestic
Breathtaking
Incredible
Nerve wracking
Picturesque - Seriously! Most of the time I felt like I was looking out at a painting. It was hard to believe it was real... until you looked down. ;)

High
Awesome
Scary
Fun
Cool
Awesomest thing I've ever seen!

It was so, so scary on the mountain. It was very cool. I liked to walk. I was going to get hurt.

I love kids interpretations and memories of places. I hope they remember something about it. I kinda doubt it with Darek, but I'm sure Alex will have some great memories of the trip. But, as always, here are some of our pictures.

















Honestly, this is a trip I will most definitely want to do again! I love trips like these. And although we didn't get to go to Yellowstone like we had planned, it will be a trip that we will do in the future. I love trips to Disneyland, but they all seem to mesh together as far as memories go... because we go so often. It's nice to experience something new with my kids and make those lasting memories.

St. George Nerf War

When we went to St. George in July, we were able to have a Nerf war in Chad's school. The only downside was that the floors had just been waxed, so we all had to be barefoot. We used the band room as one base and the piano room as the other base. We did a couple rounds and wore ourselves totally out! Hayley was nice enough to take pictures of our war...

We didn't really have any flags, so we used coats that had been left at the school. We hid ours in the box. You can see the sleeve sticking out.

This is where the guys hid their coat.

The kids always enjoy climbing in the band instrument lockers when they visit. Cracks me up!

The whole gang pictured (except me... who was taking the picture). This is the best family fun you could ever have!!

Waiting, Waiting and More Waiting

So even though I have a few other things to post about (like our trip to the Grand Canyon), I have to let off a little steam. I'll start off by saying... I am NOT a patient person when it comes to planning my future. I like to have an idea of what is going on and when it will all take place. When we moved in my parents basement, we were going to be here 2 years tops! Hahahaha.... 6 years later. It has totally killed me not going by "the plan". Not to say it hasn't been wonderful. We owe a lot to my parents for letting us stay here. We have been able to finish school, with no school debt at all! We have been able to adopt our boys, which would not have been possible at all if we were not living here! And many more blessings have come from us being here.

But it is time to move on. Ryan is DONE with school!!!! So we've applied for a few jobs. There is really nothing extremely close to here, which honestly, is perfectly fine with us. We actually prefer to move out of state, although that may not happen. At this point, we've applied for an MRI position in Idaho Falls. This position has been open since July 1st. It still has not closed. And if it doesn't close, they cannot interview for the position. I was told it should close soon, but that was a week ago, so we're really not holding our breath on this one. The other job we applied for is one in Logan. This is a Rad tech job, so not exactly what Ryan wants to do and not quite as much money. But it's still something he loves and will be happy to do if he gets the job. This one was only open a couple days, so there is more hope on this one.

It has been difficult trying to figure out what the best plan for our family is. Alex is not thrilled with the idea of moving, but is not totally opposed to it either. The more we talk about it, the better the idea becomes to him. Darek doesn't understand what is going on and I'm sure he'll adapt well when we do finally move. I'm so excited at the thought of having our own place again. It has been way too long and it will be nice to have more space. We are thinking that once we finally do settle down somewhere, we can finally focus on finishing our family. I'm not getting any younger, after all. :) It's hard to have all of these things up in the air right now. I hope it is all short lived and we'll get answers soon.

Anyway, sorry for the rant. Hopefully we'll get some good news soon that we'll be able to share with everyone!