State of Affairs

As always, there is so much going on around here.  I know I need to update about Allie's endometriosis progress, and I'm planning on a post dedicated just to that very soon.  I'm also planning a post about the discipline/reward system we're using- it's awesome!  In addition, I need to post about the diet I'm doing right now, how homeschooling is going, and so many other things that I've lost count!  No, I do not lack material for posts ;D

But for now, I'll stick with a quick update and some fun things we've been up to.....

Like finally getting our swingset put together!  Zack started on it yesterday and Noah has been right by his side for 2 days now.  In fact, we came home from church this morning and the two headed straight outside to get started!  They did a great job and got close to finishing.....

But then the thunder storms started rolling in, and we had to pack it up for the night!  Bummer!  They had hoped to get the swing part of it up today and then finish it tomorrow with the slide.

In other news, we have frogs!  Lots and lots of frogs!  They mostly come out at night and enjoy hanging out on our pool deck, skinny-dipping in our pool, and making lots of very loud croaking sounds!  They're really cool because they're tree frogs, and their feet stick to just about anything :D  We actually found one today as we were leaving the pool, and Caleb was having a blast holding it.....

I told him to give it a kiss, and he obliged ;D  Well, not really, but he did come close!  Fortunately, I think he's smarter than that!

Allie got her very first full-time job 2 weeks ago.  She started her job last week, worked for 3 days, and then quit her first job.  While I'm not going to go into all the details, suffice it to say that it was the best thing Allie could do to quit before it was too late.  Yes, that sounds ominous, and yes, it was THAT bad.  Had it gone on any longer, it would have ended badly and Allie would have ended up very miserable.

And speaking of Allie, while I'm planning a full post with an update about her endometriosis, I want to let those of you who have emailed me about her post-surgery progress know that she is doing VERY well, and we are really excited about her outlook!

While we are really loving our new home here in Georgia and our new yard, we are really NOT loving the neighbors on one side of us :/  Unfortunately, it's so bad that we're going to have to put up a fence- not something we had planned on, not something we want to have to pay for, but something we're going to have to do nonetheless.  The funny thing is that the neighbors in question are in their 70's and are seemingly harmless, but unfortunately, they've pushed us a bit too far! (i.e. doing things like looking in our windows, reporting us to the homeowner's association for our landscaping, telling us what to do, etc!)  I'll leave it at that!

Totally off topic.... but have ya'll tried the new Tide laundry detergent pods?!  I LOVE them!  So easy to use!  I'm not sure how they stack up price-wise.  I am still determined to try making my own laundry detergent, but until I do, I think I'll stick with these cool pods ;D

We are currently trying to catch up on all of the superhero movies so that we can be ready for The Avengers!  The girls have seen all the movies like Captain America, Iron Man 2 and Thor, but we hadn't seen them.  We're enjoying finally having time, after months and months of moving in, to sit and watch some movies in our new theater!

So excited about our new church!  In fact, we are jumping in with all our feet!  Emily has already gotten a job shadowing the lighting technician and will be volunteering 2x per month with the lighting for the service.  We're so happy she can take what she's learned from doing the lighting for her high school theater shows, and this will be great on a resume as she's considering studying lighting in college :D  And Allie & Sophie have decided to volunteer with the kids' program each week (so we may as well too!), so we are planning on attending one service and then working the 2nd service each week.  

And it's a good thing the girls are planning on working at the church, because they sure aren't going to get jobs anywhere else anytime soon!  We've been so frustrated with the job market here in Georgia.  The girls have applied and applied for jobs, and not only have they not gotten any offers, they haven't even gotten any calls back on applications!  And apparently, even if they do get hired, the minimum wage here in GA is one of the lowest in the country (like $5.15 per hour!).  Unfortunately, the girls also aren't eligible for in-state tuition until we've been here for a year, so it doesn't look like they will be attending college until this winter at the earliest......that is, if they get jobs and earn some money for college......very frustrating :/

But on the bright side, Allie just completed her first official photo shoot here in GA, and she did a fabulous job (IMHO!)!  You can see her photos here!

Finally, we are heading back to Kansas in one week to attend Emily's high school graduation!  We're excited to see our old friends, but dreading leaving Kansas once and for all, knowing that it will be the last time we're there :(

Well, there's more, lots more, but it's late and tomorrow is a school day, and I'm a teacher these days ;D

Good night all!