Summer Break...already?

Summer Break has arrived people! This has been a busy week but a great week for seeing God's hands at work! Dad had surgery on Monday...the day before school got out, so I took a personal day and one of Ben's sub jobs got canceled last minute so he was able to be home with the puppies, catch up on some house work, and be "on call" for when Napa called. That's right you probably don't know about Napa yet...well last you heard we were selling our van. In fact we even had a family calling their bank to see if they could get a loan to buy it!! Can you believe it? Well that next day...yes the VERY next day Ben and I were on our monthly Costco run and our lovely van broke down!! We got a tow from a super nice guy named Tony...within about 10 minutes he was able to discover a lot of information out about my van...keep in mind this van had all the EMC equipment for me to drive it. We were able to barrow back our white van from Jan and Randy (who had just gotten it two days prior to help with Nathan) and we finished our Costco run. Over three weeks later my van is completely back to normal! No more driving equipment! We decided that since everyone who was interested in buying the van was going to take out the equipment, that we would just take it out and keep it for now. Eventually I still hope to get a Honda Element and at that point we will keep my van for a backup...so that's the story. Ben was able to pick up the van from Napa on Monday while mom and I were at the hospital.
Surgery for dad went good. He is slowly healing but it is going to be a LONG road. For the next two months mom is literally dad's left hand. The surgeon expects the next two months to have him in a sling and then slowly start some physical therapy. Right now he can lift his left arm up using his right hand to maintain the flexibility...but that's it! This week dad has had some visitors and they have been blessed with meals and sweets galore! This has been such a treat for mom because it's a lot being the left hand of a man...especially one who is not used to sitting still for much longer than 5 minutes! He's getting better though...
As I looked over the schedule for the summer (that's right folks there's a schedule!) it was brought to my attention that we literally have two full weeks with nothing. No work, appointments, no Scentsy parties etc. TWO WEEKS! That's it! It made me a little nervous...in those two weeks I am going to make it my goal to get my Master's application completed and turned in! I went to an informational meeting and found out that I am going to be able to earn my ELL endorsement, Master's in Literacy, and my National Board's Certification! ALL at one time! I am very excited about this...pray that I stay excited and motivated all through the next two years! By the Spring of 2012 I will be done! Here is the plan loosely...Spring of 2011 my ELL endorsement will be completed, Winter of 2012 I will be finishing up my National Boards and taking my big test, and Spring of 2012 graduating with my Masters!
Ben has been invited to help out with the varsity football team at the Nooksack High School. He attended Spring turnout and LOVED it! Shocker! He is very excited to be a part of this team and coaching staff! Right now it is a volunteer position but we know to get a paid position you have to put in your time as a volunteer!
Since my last blog Ace has taken an inappropriate interest in Ruby...needless to say she has an appointment next week to get fixed...we are WAY too busy for puppies at this house! They are getting along a lot better these days, in fact they even drank out of the same water dish this week at the same time! This is a huge mile stone for them! I will do my best to post some new pictures of the little lady, she is growing fast...probably close to full grown now! We have Ben's 10 year reunion next weekend so I'm sure there will be at least one good picture to share!
Hope everyone is enjoying June (despite this weather). Enjoy Father's Day tomorrow...

Busy busy...

Life has been keeping this household busy lately...and we have the pictures to prove it! April was a great month for me with Scentsy! God really blessed me with some great opportunities to meet new people who host GREAT parties! I sold over $2,000 worth of product and earned a bonus this month (on top of regular commision). This "hobby" has turned into a nice little stash! I had the opportunity to host a Relay for Life party...and it went great! I ended up closing 3 huge parties all in one night...which means all 3 parties were delivered from the UPS guy on the same day...needless to say our house was a Scentsy storage room!!!

These were just the scentsy bars we had...sorted by scent of course...Ben likes to see which scent was most popular for each order...this time it was Vanilla Cream by one bar! (Honey Pear Cider, and Coconut Lemongrass were close behind)

The counter top was FULL of Plug-In Warmers...

While under the counter top was full of Mid-Size Warmers....

And the Full-Size Warmers under the card table...but I am realizing now that...I must have missed a stash of warmers somewhere, because this wasn't all of them! oops... :)

And Ruby is slowly getting "trained" although she is still waking up between 5:30 am and 6:30 am....she slept til 7:00 the day after she got her shots...which makes Ben want to give her shots every day...but I said "not gonna happen!" We did a little shopping this weekend, because I am caught up on homework and work work...Ruby and I both got new outfits!

I know what your thinking...Ben already called Animal Control for cruelty to puppies! :) Ruby really didn't mind it at all...and it's only her second dress...so I don't think I'm out of control YET!

The Latest...

Well since Ruby girl is on puppy chow...she can't eat the dog food the boys are on...so their food is up a lot of the time. To make sure they get time to eat this is what we've been doing. Qoen and Ace now eat their biscuits on the table, and yes that's a placemat/towel because Ace won't eat if he doesn't have some kind of fabric to chomp over! Without the rugs down in the kitchen on the floor, he takes a biscuit and runs into our bedroom (where there is carpet) to chew...then runs back to the bowl...and repeats this pattern.

And just for fun...here is the little lady enjoying this sunshine we've been having!
She is getting big...growing like a little weed...and for whatever reason, still waking up before 7:00 am regardless of what day of the week it is!

I am excited to be back in class every Tuesday night, it's nice to feel like a learner again! Ben LOVES coaching track! (I think I even heard him say he likes it even more than teaching!?) He's got a small group of kids, but with this weather how could it be anything but enjoyable!? It's official now, he signed his first contract (for coaching) and he is a regular employee for the Nooksack Valley School District! We feel like this is a step in the right direction and are excited to see if God will have coaching will be a more regular job for Ben in the future.

AND 43 more days of school (for Nooksack) until SUMMER break! ....and then summer school!

So far...

I'm already behind on my Thursday evening postings! But...I did an extra last week so I'm feeling okay about it! That pergola that we put up for Grams and Pops last Saturday...didn't survive the wind storms we had this week! Pops is hoping that he can order some replacement parts to fix it, but Ben's not sure if it's fixable. :( Huge bummer!

We had a great Easter! We went to Ben's Aunt Dawn's for a visit with his family, we were able to catch up with Rich and Tanya...which was WAY over due! It was very low key and relaxing! After Ben's family get together we headed over to mom and dad's to have an egg hunt with Landen and have dinner with both sets of grandparents and Kate and Darren. Landen was hilarious on his egg hunt...you'd never know he had no competition...because he was still RUNNING from egg to egg and throwing them into his bucket as fast as he could! He kept saying "Come on grandpa grandpa...more eggs!" Dad was able to keep up with the two year old this year...but I dunno about next year...Landen seems to get faster and faster, and dad well...he's not quite as fast! :)

Landen's favorite "treat" from his egg hunt was his dinosaurs...! He put his playing on hold for a quick picture! (thanks buddy!)

Our Saturday!

On Saturday Ben and I went over to my grandparents to help do a little Spring Cleaning and put together a new canopy-thing my grandpa picked out (on his own!). Our day didn't start none too early because I HAVE to sleep in...it's a must! Mom, Katie, and I (with a little help from Landen) organized both bathrooms including new paint jobs and decor! They look awesome...I'm still not sure why I didn't take pictures for the blog...I must have been really focused! I did manage to take a couple pictures of Ben putting together the new purchase...he did a great job and it went together almost seamlessly...except for the new hole he drilled because the manufacturer didn't line it up correctly and the screw wouldn't go in.

Eventually Dad and Grandpa came out to see how the progress was coming along...

I'm pretty sure my grandpa yelled into the house about now and said "Ma...ya wanna make me some coffee!" :) Pretty funny...I think he's going to really enjoy sitting outside with his new purchase drinkin' his coffee, as long as it doesn't get too hot! Which we didn't have to worry about on Saturday!

My Dad on the other hand...was really trying to contribute to the process...he was carefully pealing the paper off of the lantern to hang in the center or the structure Ben was building!It was a fun day and the canopy looks great! Now if we can get a few sunny days this week to enjoy it!

Fresh Start...?

Okay I have given up on back blogging...but I am going to try to make Thursdays my new blog night and blog at least once a week! We'll see how that goes!

Right now life is lovely in our household...Ruby is sleeping through the night...she wakes up at 6:00 am every morning, but Ben ALWAYS gets up with her and either sleeps on the couch or just starts the coffee. We tried "trusting" her one morning...and we lost a rug...not only did she chew the rubber backing off, but she also pulled the yarn completely through resulting in some pretty significant bald spots on the kitchen rugs! We lost another rug that was in front of our french doors in our bedroom...but that happened when we THOUGHT she was penned up but it turned out the little latch wasn't latched at all and she had free reign of the house...that one wasn't savable...Ben was mad, I was okay with it because I got a new rug! Ace is finally used to sharing his "mommy" and "daddy" with Ruby. They play GREAT outside...inside they kind of mind their own business.

Subbing is finally picking up again for Ben...things were getting slow, but never so slow that he wasn't working at least a day or two a week. Oh yeah! AND Ben got a job!!!!! Okay not a teaching job yet, but he interviewed for a coaching job at Nooksack Middle school and he GOT IT! So starting after Spring Break he will be helping coach middle school track...and get PAID! Whoo Hoo!

I have had a little mini break from night school...but will be starting again next week. But secretly I am kind of looking forward to it. I am also going to start teaching an after school program three days a week at work...which will be a nice little extra! My Scentsy business is going great. I am as busy as I want to be...with a few parties a month. I am thinking/praying that I'd like to be a little busier in the summer months! BUT I am also teaching summer school! Yay! Our district just found out our funding is here and we will be able to offer our summer program!

Ben and I are currently praying about a few opportunities in life right now and are hoping God will show us what he has in store for us...and we look forward to the upcoming days/months/years! Alright until next week (maybe sooner!) have a great weekend!

I know, I know...

I know what your all thinking, "weren't you supposed to update (even back post) your blog?" The answer is YES I was! Life just doesn't seem to slow down...ever! Mid-winter break it pretty much over (I still have tomorrow!) and I haven't been able to blog at all...although I am keeping up on all of your blogs!! Sad, I know...but I have my last night class of the quarter on Tuesday so what I am thinking is that I'll get a chance to update the Tuesday night after that...but I make no promises! That is my goal however...I have almost given up hope on back blogging...but there's a glimmer of hope still. For those of your faithful readers who check every day hoping that maybe I got my blogging rear into action...thank you for not giving up on me! I need to make blogging part of my daily or at least weekly routine and I'll be set...it's just getting into that routine!! Until Tuesday March 16... Have a good week (and a few days) readers!