Wyatt is now almost 7 months old! How do they grow up soooo fast? He has his first two teeth and he is already wearing 12 month size clothes! He has started to pull himself up on stuff now, so it will only be a matter of time before he is cruising the furniture and then walking. AAAACCCKKKK! I am not ready for that!
Caisha and Zach have auditioned for a couple plays now. Caisha got a role in "The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe" with one of the local Children's Theatres. It was her first audition ever and she did amazing! I was so proud of her! She was pretty nervous and almost didn't even try, but I convinced her to at least go to the audition and see what it was all about. That way she can't beat herself up later with "Why didn't I just do it?" or "I wish I had done it anyway!" She was offered a non-speaking role as one of Aslan's followers (w/ a chance of a line or two). The other play is a locally written script with our community theatre in Boone. Both Caisha and Zach auditioned. Caisha was much more confident this time and has been offered a speaking part. Zach psyched himself out pretty bad, but still auditioned. He did very well for his first time. He has been offered a non-speaking part. I just found out this morning that they have been offered these roles, so the kids don't know yet. I know Caisha will be thrilled! I am not sure how Zach will feel. He wasn't too sure he wanted to sing and dance, which is what his part would require. He'll have to decide.
Work is REAL slow right now and I keep contemplating going a different route with a career. I am just not sure what it would be. I feel like I am not doing what I absolutely love! I don't know if it is because of the economical slump in the region or if it is because I would rather be home with Wyatt? Or both, I suppose! I've been thinking about being around horses a lot lately and wonder if I shouldn't find a job related to that? I've wanted a horse my entire life and I am starting to feel like I will never have one while I can really enjoy it! I had thought (and hoped) that I would have a horse by now, and I don't see being able to get one any time soon! It is rather depressing. Money is a struggle right now, so I feel a little trapped in my job because without me working we could not make ends meet. But I think the biggest factor in how I am feeling right now is how stressed I am about refinancing our house. It has taken us almost 3 months to get it done....and we still haven't finalized it yet!! I was so excited about being able to paint the house, fix the crawl space, replace our doors with more energy efficient ones and to re-roof the kitchen! Now I am almost ready to just forget it all if it will speed up the refinancing process! Buying a house wasn't stressful for me at all, so I didn't think refinancing would be that big a deal. Now I know that it is a big deal!
Other than the stress factor, we are doing great! Wyatt makes me laugh every day! Caisha and Zach continue to make me proud and Louis is always there to support me. I suppose with all that and God, I will survive and thrive!
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Friday, October 05, 2007
Weekly Schedule
Hey Everybody! Now that school has resumed for the last month or so, the kids and I have sort of settled into a weekly routine. Louis still has mixed feelings about all the "running around" that I do each week, but honestly, I don't think it is that much. Especially compared to some of my co-workers and friends! This is a run-down of a typical week at the Johnson household! For the sake of clarity I will start on a Monday.
Ok, Monday morning the kids and I are up around 6:30am. Me....sometimes I am up by 6am if Wyatt decides it's time to rise and shine! I try to be downstairs to eat breakfast by 7am, but that doesn't always happen. There have been many mornings that I don't get breakfast at home. I much prefer the mornings that Wyatt sleeps in. Although, I do miss seeing his smiling face before I leave for work! If Wyatt is awake before the kids and I leave (by 7:20am) then Louis has to wake up. As you know, he works evenings (3pm-11pm), so this is not his favorite time! Caisha has to be to school before 8am which is the start of her first class. So far we have managed to only be late 2 times this year. Zach doesn't have to be in his classroom until 8:15am so most mornings he will choose to eat breakfast at school. Both kids are much better about being organized to head out the door in the morning than they have been in the past. They have also been a big help with Wyatt if he is awake that early. After dropping off the kids, I head to work, many times stopping at the gas station or grocery store on the way. I'm at work by 8:30am. At 2:25p I head out to meet Louis at his work to "exchange" Wyatt as he heads into work. Now the days for that vary depending on when Louis has his days off. Some days, if he is off, I work until 2:45p then pick up the kids, unless it is Friday, in which case, I work until 4p because Zach has soccer practice right after school until 4:30p. Caisha will spend that time with her friend Nancy. If Louis works that day, I meet him to get Wyatt then run errands until I have to pick up the kids at 4:30p. Ok....confused yet? I know, I know, I jumped ahead to Friday! Most weeks, Monday and Wednesday we are home by 3:45p. Tuesdays both Caisha and Zach have soccer practice and Zach has piano lessons. Caisha has soccer at 5p - 6:30p and Zach has piano at 5p -5:30p and then soccer at 5:45p - 7p. Tuesdays are our late day home. Wednesdays are our "free" days. Thursdays Caisha has soccer at 5p-6:30p. I will pick up the kids right after school and head home for about an hour to get something to snack on and a little downtime before we have to head back to Gilbert for Soccer. Zach will usually come with to Gilbert and play at a friends house while Caisha is at practice. Wyatt and I tend to go for walks or just hang out in the car and park. Sometimes I might have and errand or two to run in Ames during that time. Saturday mornings Zach has his soccer games. Then the afternoon and evening are open. Caisha has her soccer games Sunday afternoons. Because her team is one of the better teams in the area her games tend to be near/in Des Moines where the bigger schools are. Louis really doesn't like that I drive her almost an hour to her games! I love to go to her games and I am really starting to enjoy going to Zach's, also. It's fun to see them play and improve each week!
Well, there is our typical week until the end of October......then soccer is done and the only after school activity will be Zach's piano lessons on Tuesdays. Louis will be a little happier then. Neither of the kids have much interest in any of the sports offered in the winter, which is just fine by me. It gives me a couple months of no running around for them until Spring sports start up! Then it's back to busy, busy, busy! I'm enjoying all of it! I'd rather be busy than bored!
Ok, Monday morning the kids and I are up around 6:30am. Me....sometimes I am up by 6am if Wyatt decides it's time to rise and shine! I try to be downstairs to eat breakfast by 7am, but that doesn't always happen. There have been many mornings that I don't get breakfast at home. I much prefer the mornings that Wyatt sleeps in. Although, I do miss seeing his smiling face before I leave for work! If Wyatt is awake before the kids and I leave (by 7:20am) then Louis has to wake up. As you know, he works evenings (3pm-11pm), so this is not his favorite time! Caisha has to be to school before 8am which is the start of her first class. So far we have managed to only be late 2 times this year. Zach doesn't have to be in his classroom until 8:15am so most mornings he will choose to eat breakfast at school. Both kids are much better about being organized to head out the door in the morning than they have been in the past. They have also been a big help with Wyatt if he is awake that early. After dropping off the kids, I head to work, many times stopping at the gas station or grocery store on the way. I'm at work by 8:30am. At 2:25p I head out to meet Louis at his work to "exchange" Wyatt as he heads into work. Now the days for that vary depending on when Louis has his days off. Some days, if he is off, I work until 2:45p then pick up the kids, unless it is Friday, in which case, I work until 4p because Zach has soccer practice right after school until 4:30p. Caisha will spend that time with her friend Nancy. If Louis works that day, I meet him to get Wyatt then run errands until I have to pick up the kids at 4:30p. Ok....confused yet? I know, I know, I jumped ahead to Friday! Most weeks, Monday and Wednesday we are home by 3:45p. Tuesdays both Caisha and Zach have soccer practice and Zach has piano lessons. Caisha has soccer at 5p - 6:30p and Zach has piano at 5p -5:30p and then soccer at 5:45p - 7p. Tuesdays are our late day home. Wednesdays are our "free" days. Thursdays Caisha has soccer at 5p-6:30p. I will pick up the kids right after school and head home for about an hour to get something to snack on and a little downtime before we have to head back to Gilbert for Soccer. Zach will usually come with to Gilbert and play at a friends house while Caisha is at practice. Wyatt and I tend to go for walks or just hang out in the car and park. Sometimes I might have and errand or two to run in Ames during that time. Saturday mornings Zach has his soccer games. Then the afternoon and evening are open. Caisha has her soccer games Sunday afternoons. Because her team is one of the better teams in the area her games tend to be near/in Des Moines where the bigger schools are. Louis really doesn't like that I drive her almost an hour to her games! I love to go to her games and I am really starting to enjoy going to Zach's, also. It's fun to see them play and improve each week!
Well, there is our typical week until the end of October......then soccer is done and the only after school activity will be Zach's piano lessons on Tuesdays. Louis will be a little happier then. Neither of the kids have much interest in any of the sports offered in the winter, which is just fine by me. It gives me a couple months of no running around for them until Spring sports start up! Then it's back to busy, busy, busy! I'm enjoying all of it! I'd rather be busy than bored!
Monday, October 01, 2007
Back to work :(
It was back to work for me on July 16th. I cried that morning.......It was sooo hard to leave Wyatt! My boss, Mike, has been great, though. He has allowed me to come back to work 30 hours a week instead of 40 hours. I work 8:30am - 2:30pm. This way Wyatt doesn't have to go to daycare at all! I meet Louis at his work around 2:30p to pick up Wyatt, then go pick up the other kids from school. I am really enjoying these hours. I am able to get the kids to school in the morning & not have to feel rushed to get to work, and then I leave work at about the time I start to feel sleepy. It's amazing how quickly I wake up once I step outside! I'm getting more time with the kids & I have more time to work in my garden now! I know my stress level has gone down, which makes us all happier! You know the saying: "If Mama ain't happy, nobody is happy!" I still don't get as much sleep as I would like. Mostly because of Wyatt, but sometimes, the only time Louis and I can connect is late at night! We are making it work, though. In the long run it is saving us money. If I worked 40 hours/week, Wyatt would have to be in daycare and the other kids would have to go back to Kids Club and I would make around $150 less a year! It just doesn't make sense to me to go back to 40 hours! I really hope things stay pretty slow at work so Mike won't need me to come back full-time. If he requests that I come back 40 hours/week, I will have to tell him it's either a minimum $2/hour raise or I leave. I can't make it make sense otherwise. Another plus at work right now is that Mike has taken on a few residential homes projects. They give me the opportunity to design kitchens again! I'm loving that!
Family Vacation?
June 10th we all headed up to Jack & Lynne's for a month. Louis worked extra hours at his work to be able to take of an entire month of paternity leave. It was a real treat to see him every day! All I had to do was step outside! I even got to work along side him; working on the fencing with Jack. It was a nice change for us. And one that I think we needed! The girls, Caisha and Nala, would watch Wyatt for me so I could go out and help with the fences and general clean-up of the farm. Many times I brought Wyatt out with me. I didn't get much work done, but he was so fascinated with the work Daddy and Grandpa were doing! He watched them VERY closely! It seemed like he wanted to get in on the action!! Zach was a big help as he filled the role of errand boy. He enjoyed running to get supplies, water, etc. Grandpa Jack would "time" him to see how fast he could retrieve the item needed. It really became a game for them and Zach tried real hard to beat his previous time! Caisha and Nala came out and helped quite a few times, too. I think Grandpa Jack really enjoyed having his grandkids working along side him! Nala's favorite new skill was driving the lawn mower with a little wagon hitched behind, to feed the cattle. Her and Caisha made a pretty good team! They literally took over that chore, morning and evening, so Grandma Lynne didn't have to do it. I am sure she enjoyed that little reprieve. Caisha also got to learn how to drive Grandpa Jack's truck! She drove it from the grain shed to the barn. She had a grin from ear to ear! I also got into learning new skills. I became pretty adept at swinging a hammer and driving tractor. I grew up on a farm but never learned how to drive the tractors, so this was a treat for me!
After putting in some long, HOT days, we would all go to Lake Okoboji to swim. We even got Grandpa Jack to go with a few times! Nothing like cowboy boots and swim trunks! :) ! It was so neat to see Jack and Lynne playing in the water like kids! It was an inspiration for marriages. Wyatt had his first experience with the lake. The water was pretty cold the first time we went so he preferred the sand to the water. He enjoyed the water more and more each time we went. He did take a few good naps at the lake. We found that he slept better outside! Wyatt was outside so much that he got a little farmers tan! Louis got REAL dark! We both ended up getting sunburnt on our shoulders & upper back one day. We both even had sunscreen on! There were a few days where it was unbelievably hot!
After putting in some long, HOT days, we would all go to Lake Okoboji to swim. We even got Grandpa Jack to go with a few times! Nothing like cowboy boots and swim trunks! :) ! It was so neat to see Jack and Lynne playing in the water like kids! It was an inspiration for marriages. Wyatt had his first experience with the lake. The water was pretty cold the first time we went so he preferred the sand to the water. He enjoyed the water more and more each time we went. He did take a few good naps at the lake. We found that he slept better outside! Wyatt was outside so much that he got a little farmers tan! Louis got REAL dark! We both ended up getting sunburnt on our shoulders & upper back one day. We both even had sunscreen on! There were a few days where it was unbelievably hot!
I hope the kids come away from that month with lots of great memories! Even though we were "working" on the farm most days, I thought it was a great family vacation! Maybe I am the only one who looks at it that way. Most farming is not work to me. It's just something I enjoy!
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