A Pretty Good Year

I realized after I posted my last blog entry that I have now been blogging for an entire year! How fun it has been to write about and post pictures from my life to share with family and friends! Looking back, a whole LOT has changed in just 12 months. Some for the good, some not. But it is great to be able to focus on all the wonderful things we have been blessed with!

Adrienne is working toward getting an internship with Intel this summer. If she gets the position she would like to have she could work all summer and part time through the school year loading software onto computers and configuring systems. She has an intense interest in computers and is hoping to learn more about them and eventually get a degree in programming. I hope she is able to get the job, it would be a great way to spend the summer!

Richard continues working especially hard at Tektronix, though now for less pay...again. The IT department has had two pay cuts in the past few months, which has been a huge adjustment for us since losing my income. Now they are implementing furloughs, which means forced time off without pay, in addition to company wide shutdowns where employees are forced to use their vacation time up. His first unpaid week is just a couple of weeks away and we weren't given much time to prepare for it. We have been very blessed to make it through these tough times thus far, but it seems as soon as we adjust to less and start to get comfortable, even more is taken away. It is sparking some creativity however. I have returned to my old ways of coupon shopping and in the last month or so have been able to store up a lot of food, which will help during the lean times(yes, we have a year's supply of Mac & Cheese, Capris Suns and the makin's for Smore's, what else could we need?). Adversity is not fun, but I do know it is necessary in making us better people. I think of all the changes that Richard and I have made in our lives in the last year and it is amazing that while it is a struggle, we are becoming stronger people and a stronger family!

More Preschool Fun

In my post about Joseph and his preschool adventures I forgot to mention two really fun things! First since they are not in school in June, they had a special Father's day at preschool in February. The dad's went with the kids and they had fun building a sand pendulum and painting in and then had tacos for an early lunch. Joseph though this was the greatest, being able to take Daddy to preschool with him!

In May, we had a fun Mother's day activity. All the tables were set with cute place settings and there were fun tea pots everywhere filled with lemonade. The kids had been practicing their serving skills and made sure to keep our cups filled with something to drink. We were served a lovely little brunch followed by cake. We then got to go around to different stations and helped the kids make fun crafts, necklaces, a sun visor and a cute little bag. Then Joseph went outside and showed me his skills on the tricycles. It was a fun morning to spend with him. And it was the first time I got to go to a school event of any kind without either bringing along a little one, or finding someone to watch that little one! It felt good!

The First Signs of Summer...

Summer has begun! Its been hot for a week or two now and Joseph has finished up preschool for the year. What a great experience he has had. Yesterday I had the pleasure of attending his year end presentation and carnival. They sang many lovely songs, then the teacher asked them each what they want to be when they grow up. Some cute answers were 6, a big sister, many I don't knows and Joseph who decided right there on the spot that he wants to be a karate man. I don't know where that came from, but that's ok. A karate class may be in his future! We were also each presented with a scrapbook of our own child, filled with photos from the entire year! The girls had put these together for each preschooler. How cool is that???

We celebrated with cake and outside play and a carnival of games where the kids won fun prizes. It was so cute, all the senior girls were so sad they would not be seeing the kids again. Joseph gave out hugs like crazy, though I am sure he had no idea why. The younger girls were happy to hear he was going to be back next fall. The program barely escaped the budget cuts that have been happening all too often lately.

When Annalina went to preschool, I took her to the Calvary Lutheran school near our old house. It was expensive, but she like it well enough. It was a good program. Since we are fairly close to Glencoe, and since big brother and sis both go there(and since it is so much cheaper), I thought it would be fun to try it out for Joseph. I admit, before this I was a bit of a preschool snob, thinking my kids couldn't possibly learn what they needed from a high school program. Oh how wrong I was! Here is what I have learned, aside from the fact that preschool is not really supposed to be academic... The preschool teacher is not being paid by the families of the children, she is getting paid a fairly good salary to teach the high school students to be teachers, so most of our very minimal tuition payments(less than a third of what I was paying at the other school) go to activities, field trips, art supplies, etc. They went on three field trips this year, the zoo, the childrens museum and the pumpkin patch and I was not asked to send in extra money for any of these excursions, WOW! Also, there are 24 preschoolers in Joseph's class. Guess what, there are 24 high school girls in each class. This means a 1 to 1 ratio. I have watched these girls develope attachments with these little 3 and 4 year olds. I have seen them taking the time to help a little one learn to write their own name, or read them a book. It really seems to me that Joseph was showered with attention from teenage girls who for the most part really want to do this for a living as adults. Joseph began writing his entire first name about halfway through the year. He can count almost to twenty and knows most of his letters. With another year of preschool still to come he is well ahead of where Annalina was right before Kindergarten. I don't really think this is terribly important, he will learn at whatever pace is best for him, but he got the attention he needed to learn many things very quickly!

Joseph's teacher is Mrs DeWhitt and I have never seen someone with more love and patience for these little ones. She is truly an angel and I am so glad Joseph will be going back next fall. The really fun thing is that most of the neighborhood boys will be joining him next year! Yay, good times ahead for Joseph!

Joseph's flower balloon sculture popped, so one of the girls gave him hers! Sweet!

Suprise Awards

Thursday night Richard and I went with Jake to school for Spring Tide, which is where they give out awards to the high school kids for various things. We were called the day before and told about it, but no one could tell us what award Jake was getting. He was in the dark too and was told it was a surprise. Jake was in the first group of kids to get his award, which was for Good Citizenship! There was a mixup with the plaques so he will not get his for a week or two. I'll post a pic when I have one!! Yay Jake! We are so proud of you!

It's been too long...

I haven't posted in a while, and that is not because there is nothing going on in our lives, quite the opposite actually. So much to do, so little time, but everyone reading this can relate, I am sure!

Last week my little Annalina got sick on Mother's day evening. She had a fever and had very achy muscles and joints. Richard set up his camping cot and she stayed in our room with us. We gave her motrin and later gave her tylenol but she still had a fever of about 101. After consulting with the nurse we just kept her as comfy as we could and by Wednesday she was feeling pretty good! But Thursday morning a sore throat set in and coughing and again the fever so I took her in and she was tested for strep and the flu. Nope, nothing too concerning except for the fact that she was so miserable. So back home we went! Many popsicles later she was feeling better and finally by Saturday she was back to her usual self, minus the voice, which she had lost a few days before. It was a very confining week for me. I didn't want to leave her and yet could not get errands and normal running around done. I am grateful that Annalina is normally a very healthy girl. And she handled being sick very well. We read lots of books and watched LOTS of movies!

Friday was Richard's and my 9th anniversary. We ended staying home watching the last few episodes of Freeks and Geeks. I just love that you can check out tv shows from the library! After we got the kids in bed Richard went out and got us Strawberry Milk shakes from Burgerville. Yummy! Saturday was my birthday and I woke up to breakfast in bed and singing. I got lovely flowers from a couple of Grandma's in the family and the older kids got me a gift card to Barnes and Noble, my favorite place to browse! Richard took me out to dinner to a Sushi place in Portland that has great prices on Wednesday and Saturday nights. Then he took me to see the choral group Cantico at the Old Chapel in Portland. It was very hot on Saturday and we had time before the show so we wandered the PSU campus and made it back in time to get good seats for the program. They sang some beautiful songs, some fun songs and some foreign songs that also fit into the first two categories! It was a great day!

On Sunday we had visitors from Palm Springs! Richard lived with Donna for a while when he was younger and she happened to be coming through the Portland area with her daughter. We have not seen her since Annalina was a baby and it was so fun to sit and visit with her. The kids adore her, she showers them with love and attention and she truly is one of the family. Joseph even got her to play a game of Mexican Train with us. She is a very talented jewelry maker and for my birthday she brought me two stunning necklaces that I will cherish! It was sad to see them go!

Last night we watched Annalina play a game of Softball with her team the Pink Panthers-and they won!!! I will get pics soon, cause they are just so cute to watch! It was a hot day. We got to the field and there was a hot wind blowing! Everyone had on shorts and tees. But a half hour later the tmperature must have dropped from 80 to 60 because it got very cool. Clouds rolled in and we were lucky to get to finish the game before the rain came. Luckily I was prepared enough to have a blanket in the back of the van. We wrapped up Joseph and he kept me warm, though he sure did wiggle a lot! It rained much of the night and some of this morning and then the clouds moved on and its been fairly nice.

This morning Joseph and I got to go see Annalina perform in the Spring Fling Music program at her school. It was short and sweet and the smile on her face when she saw we were there was priceless! I love my children all so much. I think how boring life would be if I did not have them filling it full of sporting events and programs and such. Sure, I'd have a lot of time to myself, but that seems like it might be a bit boring compared to all the great things I get to experience with my children!