New Beginnings.......

Sorry, no pictures on this post. I just wanted to update close friends and family on some of the "New Beginnings" that have come our way this month. Well, the month is over! Our family is looking forward to some new adjustments that have just come our way. Levi is in his second week in 3rd grade! He is still at the charter school, Palmetto Academy and he loves his teacher. After the first day of school I asked him how his day went (which he said went well) and how he liked his new teacher. His reply......"I like her, she is fun." FUN!? Wow, what an unexpected way to describe a teacher. Needless to say, we were very pleased with the school and teacher last year and are definitely looking forward to this year as well.

Jeff has been the "interim" Postmaster at Pawley's Island for a couple of weeks now. He likes the job and has applied for the permanent position but we are unsure of when the decision will be made. He is not a shew-in for it either. It is, after all, the government we are dealing with and people who have never even seen his face or probably ever even seen his name written on a piece of paper will be making the selection for the official Postmaster position. But this is the second time he has been in a temporary postmaster position and however you slice it, it does still look good on a resume.

And for myself, today was my first day working in a new position at the hospital. It is an 8 hour a day.....DAY SHIFT position!! I am so happy to be on the day shift. I actually found myself remembering small details of certain things during work today. Really, night shift has worn on me. It clouds my mind and I swear I don't even recognize myself sometimes. I have even felt like it affects my personality. Today I have felt so normal. It is too early to really tell, but I think I am going to like this new position very much. By the way......I'm now working in the Surgery Center in the Endoscopy unit. :o)

Benjamin and Eden have started in a part-time daycare. We took them last week just to get them oriented to what was to become our new schedule. The first day both of them cried when we left. The second day they were smiling as they waved "good-bye". And the third day they didn't even turn around to say "good-bye". Oh! And Levi has been enrolled in the after-school care that his school provides (for a $fee). Ben and Eden are probably just waking up from their nap and Levi asked if he could stay later than he did yesterday. The double edged sword here is that for the longest time I have not wanted to depend on a daycare or after-school care because I worried about my kids doing okay without me taking care of them and it turns out that they actually like these programs. All 3 of them are all smiles when I go to pick them up. It is comforting to know they are happy but deep inside I hope they are not too happy. :o)

I will keep you posted on any more new events. Next time there will be pictures! Even if they are random pictures. But so far, we are greeting our new challenges with smiles and excitement. I'm sure there will be some adjusting that will come as bumps in the road though. But I'm positive that we will get over them as we work together as a team. We have been blessed.

Busy Month!

This month has been fun and very busy! First of all, Levi celebrated his 9th birthday. I cannot believe it. My first born child is growing up so fast. He is such a smart boy. Levi has watched "ANNIE" so much that he has decided he wants to be like Daddy Warbucks. He really is into saving his money so Jeff took Levi to the bank and Levi now has his own savings account! I am so proud of him. He is already thinking of saving up for a car when he turns 16. We have visited Wal-Mart and if he sees something he wants he will ask if he has enough money to buy it and I will tell him "Yes, but you can't spend your money and save it at the same time." The funny thing is that he understands that. He also seems to understand that the hard part of saving money is that you sometimes have to go without things that you want and could buy now but it would only be a short-term gain.

We took a small vacation and drove to Ohio to see my Grandma who lives in a nursing home there. It was great to see her. Bragging on Levi a little more......he was so caring over Grandma. He was right by her side all the time, getting her things she needed and talking to her about what she does during the day. He has such a big heart and loves to serve others in any way that he can. My grandma can't go outside by herself so we spent a lot of time walking around the grounds. They have a large fishing pond and the kids would go out on the dock and feed the fish bread or we would sit in the shade swinging on the porch swings. It really was a nice visit. It was a long drive but it was beautiful scenery and good company. Well worth the trip.

Here is the cottage we stayed in. The cottage was about a 40 min drive south of where my grandma lives. We weren't there but a few hours every evening but we were sure to take in all the attractions they offered in our "down time".

Getting ready for bed....yes the sun is still shining but we were all tired!

The paddle boats. More work for me and Jeff. The kids enjoyed the ride!

They had two large playgrounds. This is one of them.

The fire pit beside our cottage. We of course had to roast some marshmallows. Don't be fooled though. We did some high class camping on this trip. Our cottage was more like an over sized hotel room than a camping cabin. It was one large room but had a full bath and kitchen with one double bed and two bunk beds. Towels and linens were supplied and left for someone else to wash! :o) There was also a pool. I didn't take the camera to the pool though. Sorry! She is so sweet when she sleeps! By the time the sun went down we were all tired and we all slept well.