Recent pictures

Elijah outside trying out his rollerblades.

My younger class (4 and 5 yr olds) and I right before we got our volcano to erupt.

Some of my 5 year old class. We have been working on the volcano for the past couple weeks. The toys all around the volcano are the unsuspecting houses, animals, and action hero who got ran over with the "lava". I'm holding the vinegar and red food coloring mixture that I poured into the volcano that had baking soda inside. This class is all boys and it has been a wild ride to teach this year! (Yes, one of my students has the end of a turkey baster suctioned onto his face....they think they are so funny when they do that!)

Eduardo.....wheeeeeeeeeee!!! Being pulled in the wagon by Asia who is on her bicycle. For those who may not know, we adopted Eddie when he was about 11 months of age from a orphanage in Campeche Mexico. Eddie has down syndrome, ADHD, and ODD....which equals a huge challenge for parenting!

Asia's 13th Birthday party


Elijah holding his "eyeball" pinewood derby design. He came up with this design all on his own! (we did help him paint the small details) It was not the fastest car but it was the most unique and creative!



Me, Elijah, Asia, Sereah at Elijah's Pinewood Derby race at St. Margarets School.

Update on the job situation. Aaron interviewed for a position today. He will find out in two days. Please Pray for this job! I also am trying to figure out what I am going to do for next year. I have held off on applying at a couple of schools that are the same commute that I am currently doing, even though one has the perfect position for me and I think I'd get it. (we know the principal well and this is a school that offered me a position last year that I did not take) I'm still really considering St. Margaret School....so many positives but I know the teachers there put in more hours than public school teachers due to the fundraising and all the extra stuff they are expected to do. (for less than 1/2 the pay) I'm still praying for direction and have not had anything crystal clear. I may end up sub teaching next year so I can get a feel for the various districts. That depends on what kind of position Aaron gets.........

Going Gray

Well, I'm done with it! The bottle....my addiction for the past many years. Hiding the "real me" caused me to turn to dependence on the bottle.

The bottle is my Nice n' Easy dark brown permanent hair color. Now that I am (according to my teachers aid who is also a cosmetologist) 75% gray on the sides, 50% gray on the top, and 30% gray in back (and nearly all gray in the bang area)......it is time to admit that I am going gray.

I'm going to grow it in as far as I can tolerate it and then I'll have to get a buzz cut. Eeeek! I have had really short hair before, but it is not my favorite style. My head tends to look like it is the size of the prize winning pumpkin at the county fair. Not only that, but I realized from looking at photos of my last buzz cut (only about 18 months ago) that I looked like Robin Williams twin sister. Not the young Mork from Ork Robin Williams...more like the funny looking Robin Williams from when he starred in the movie "Patch Adams". Now that I will be mostly gray.....hmmmmmmmm, who will I look like now? (I seriously love poking fun of myself)

So, here I go! I know I will look like a complete idiot when I have a good 2-3 inches of gray grown in and then the remaining hair dark brown below that. It is already between 1-2 inches. I have to find a job before it grows in much more! How insane will I look interviewing for teaching positions when I look like I can't even keep my own appearance looking like I give a whooptie-ding-dong? Life is so funny. Maybe I'll sub teach...........

I am thankful for the gray hair distraction going on in my life. However, I need to get off of my self-centered focus and start looking around and see who needs to feel loved. Who out there is hurting. Who can I help and touch with the light of God...of Christ within me?

I suppose that is a question I'll have to pose to God. He always manages to put the right person in my path at the right time....the very person who I think I am helping, but who is really helping me instead.

Good night and God Bless!

Difficult times

I have not posted for a while. I have been going through some very difficult times. Health and employment.

My husband and I will both be unemployed as of the first of June. We have been unsuccessful in finding jobs. Time is running out and with two children with chronic health conditions (which means ongoing expensive and necessary medications and doctor visits) losing our insurance on July 1st is very scary.

I think I can find a teaching job but will have to commute a ways each day and will have to be in a different town for my job each day from the town my children will be attending school. With children with special medical needs (and we have another child who we adopted years ago who is developmentally disabled) this is not the best place to be for the times when I have to come get someone from school due to health issues. (I'd be 30 minutes drive away) We have never had any extended family support to help in those times. It was manageable when I was a at-home mom, but I now have to work outside the home so I am not here to take up these responsibilities.

My husband seems to be having some kind of crisis in his life. I can not get him to get moving to start applying for work beyond the few jobs he really wanted to get. (they are not panning out) We can not pay our minimum bills on my teaching salary alone.(IF I get a job) We are not a family who spends money on anything considered "extra" (except for TV and internet) or eat out or anything like that. If I drop the phone, internet, cable and sell my car.....we still can't make the monthly bills on one teachers salary. This does not even take into account the cost of medical without insurance.

I wish my husband had secured another job before up and quitting his current one. I do feel that was not the best way to handle things.

I am having periods of great fear and worry. Then my faith will come in strong and help out. However, as those dates loom closer (last pay and losing health care) my worry, fear, and anger towards my husband increases.

On top of that, I have been struggling with a great amount of pain due to a medical condition I have. I am trying to get some outpatient treatment completed before we lose our insurance, but this treatment may not work and I may have to have a very difficult-to-recover-from surgery. Well, that surgery would not happen since we will lose health insurance and I can not take time to recover from it when it looks like I may have to be starting up a new full-time job.

My life has not been easy thus far, but I must say that this time that I am currently going through is probably the most difficult that I can remember. We have so much at stake and so much to lose. We also have the health and well-being of three of us hanging in the balance due to the upcoming loss of health care.

If you are a praying person, please pray for us.

I may not post again for a while. I have nothing really worthwhile to share while I'm in this horrible time of trial and pain and typing about it here (in part...I left some more personal and intense parts out) is really difficult emotionally.

May you find peace and Blessing!