Ch-ch-ch-changes!

David Bowie references aside, once again God has rocked our world with change!  It's a good, no, a GREAT change!  Seems the original job at the school has opened up and today the principal called and offered it to me!  I'll be teaching HS biology, honors biology, and geometry!!!!  Yahoo!!! Seriously, every prayer we had concerning this issue has been answered!  I'll be able to teach in the mornings so I can be home with Hannah in the afternoon.  I'm so excited (though I'm not making definite plans till I've signed on that bottom line!) 

So, no barista for me.  Oh well, I still get plenty of practice at home.  :)

Trying to take it one day at a time...

I officially have news concerning our lives here, and I'm still reeling a bit from all the recent changes.  First, it seems I will not be teaching at our kids' private school as planned.  The principal (who told me he was really wanting to give the job to me) went on vacation for a week and while he was gone, the superintendent filled my position.  Apparently another teacher at the school wanted the position, so that's the way it works, no matter how disappointing.  After much prayer and petition, I have applied at our local Starbucks.  I know, kind of funny, huh?  I certainly don't see this as a permanent career move, but to get some extra help with tuition payments it seems a good choice.  My goal is still to get my foot in the door at the school (I was offered a substitute teaching position, but with Hannah still at home most of the time that would be difficult childcare-wise).  And since our school has all-day kindergarten (I'm not a fan) I might be homeschooling her next year and would need even more flexibility.  You can understand why I am up at 4:45...I'm trying hard to give this all to God and trust that He'll take care of the details, but I am such a control freak sometimes!  :)

Joe's parents have been with us now for almost two weeks.  We have really enjoyed having them here.  I wish this trip could have been more relaxing for them, but we're not in a relaxing place in our lives right now.  We're the "new kids" in the neighborhood so our doorbell rings all day long.  It will be nice when our novelty wears off and my kids have to actually pursue playdates.  It starts around 10 am and at 9 pm we're booting kids out the door.  

We have a very large unfenced yard.  This is not ideal with 3 dogs (one belonging to my in-laws, we haven't acquired another) so Joe and his dad are building a fence around a small portion of our side yard so the doggies can do their business and not follow up with a jaunt around the neighborhood.  Concurrent to this project, we are fighting valiantly against hornets and wasps who have decided every nook and cranny of our house is a great place to "nest" or "comb" or whatever it is they do.  We're also still unpacking, fixing missing and broken sprinklers, making basement decisions (carpet, tile, paint, bedding, furniture, yada, yada, yada) and trying to carry on with normal life (what is that anymore?)  Joe works from home now so when he emerges from the den I pounce on him like a rabid cat to help me with this or that.  I'm sure some days he misses the hour commute where at least he could listen to NPR before being inundated with the "honey-do" list.  Well, maybe not...

Hard to believe it is almost August.  I usually really look forward to new months, like a new beginning every 30ish days.  I can honestly say I'm holding onto July for dear life because I'm quite unsure of what's next.  I know I can trust God, but will I?  Stay tuned to find out, I suppose.

Our first HopeKids event will be in September.  I am really looking forward to getting things underway, to see where we fit in in the scheme of things.  I really enjoy behind-the-scenes planning, so I'm excited to be a part of it!  I'm also looking forward to meeting the families and especially the kids.  Please pray for them.  Most of the kids registered right now are kidney patients at Primary Children's Hospital.  Their lives are so tough, makes my bellyaching seem so ridiculous.  It really does keep things in perspective.

I might end up starting a new HopeKids SLC blog when things get going.  I'll have a link to it from my blog, but that will include prayer requests, stories, updates, stuff like that.  I'd like to do it, so I guess it depends on how much time I have.  I'll let you know...

Well, it's after 5 am and I've slept very little.  I'm going to try to catch a few zzz's before the morning bedlam begins.  :)  Thanks for reading.

My friend Christine tagged me with the following:

Rules: Find the book nearest to you with 123 pages or more. Turn to page 123 and find the fifth sentence on the page. Provide the title and author, and then type in that sentence.

Ok, so here goes.  The book is A Wind in the Door by Madeleine L'Engle.  The sentence is, 

"Were there--there were--two other--men who resembled me?"

I'll tag Tiffani.  As a homeschooling mom, I'm sure she has lots of books nearby.  :)

The Gang's (sort of) All Here

CR and Amy and the kids, plus Amy's parents and grandparents arrived this week.  It's great to finally have them here and of course the kids are thrilled to pick up where we left off in AZ.  A few days ago we all went to Lagoon (local amusement park) and we had a great time.  Hannah has never been a fan of amusement parks, but for some reason she loves Lagoon.  (this is good since we sprung for the season passes!)  Today we are taking it easy, getting things done around the house (ok, I am getting things done- the girls are playing Littlest Pet Shop).  We really are loving our new house (we'll love it even more when the basement is done and we can spread out a little!) Today will be filled with yard work and general tidying and tomorrow the rest of our gang arrives from AZ.  I'm so excited to have us all here again!  We'll have Joe's parents here for a couple of weeks, too, which will be fun.  

Hope you are all enjoying your summer!   

I was in the mood for a little Monty Python- this stuff still cracks me up. For those of you who don't appreciate Monty Python humor, my apologies. :)

Heavenly Scent

The roses and my hubby- both heaven sent!  (aw, shucks)  Aren't they beautiful?  

Out of the mouths of babes...

So here's the latest funny from the Cross family. Over lunch at Taco Time (a local favorite) we were discussing the biology of tazing someone (I don't know how to spell it, but you know, the guns police use to zap you into submission). Anyway, Brad was curious to know exactly what happens when someone is tazed. All the children agreed they'd rather not ever be tazed, and Nathan, who had been quietly taking it all in up to this point remarks,

"I know who wouldn't mind being tazed...hobos! They don't have anything else to do anyway."

After 5 solid minutes of laughing so hard we were crying, Joe and I tried to explain that being homeless does not necessarily mean you are bored and willing to have your nervous system overloaded with electricity, rendering you incapacitated. Perhaps we're wrong on this one...

Interestingly, Nathan is really a very compassionate kid. He'll give you his shirt off his back if you need it. That's what made it so funny- just an innocent observation from a 9-year-old.

Happy Fourth of July!

In celebration of America's birthday I changed all the songs on my playlist to be patriotic songs. Enjoy!!  We're excited to light fireworks tonight ('twas illegal in AZ) and to celebrate with my family at my aunt's and uncle's house.  Hope you all have a great fourth of July weekend!

I included the Star Spangled Banner by the Dixie Chicks.  Though I certainly don't see them as examples of patriotism, it's a fun acappella version.  Also, I realize that "Independence Day" and "American Pie" are not technically patriotic, they are fun songs.  :)

Our basement is almost completely framed now.  I'll take some pics and post them later.  Our house smells like a forest with all the wood!  :)