Hello, Cyber World!!

Yes, we're still here and kicking. We've just been EXTREMELY busy these past few weeks! I've been trying to get this post out for days actually; it was going to have some photos of our trip to California and a few other misc. pictures, but for some reason, every time I go to upload them, I get an error message after 5 minutes of downloads. So I guess this will just be an update, which is OK too.

During the beginning of August, Peter got a promotion at work! He is now managing two stores; the one here in Mount Vernon, and then one in Wenatchee. So once a month he goes over to Wenatchee for a week. He has also stepped into a training position, to train the new hires. So his work is going very well! He just recently returned from a business trip to Michigan where they were having a solar power conference. He and the owner of the company both went. The owner specifically asked Peter to go with him. I think that he sees Peter as an asset to his company, and that is really cool!

We went to California in the middle of August. We drove down and on the way, we stopped and spent a couple days with my mom and sister and then spent a day with Betsy and then continued on to the hotel where we were staying. We stayed in a town called Solvang. It is a town that is Denmark themed. It was really cool! We had a lot of fun walking around the town the first day we were there, visiting all the little shops. While we were there, we visited an ostrich farm and the girls got to feed the ostriches. They really enjoyed that! They also got to hold an ostrich egg.... let me tell you, those things are HUGE!!! We also went to the beach one of the days and got to play in the ocean for an afternoon. Then it was time to drive back. I tell you driving almost 1500 miles in three days is just exhausting! But we all had a lot of fun, and it was nice to get away and not have to worry about anything in our everyday lives!

When we got back from California, it was get ready for back to school time. Natalie is in the second grade this year. At the end of last year, the second grade teacher that had been at her school for years and years, retired. So we weren't sure who her teacher would be. Being a substitute in the district and friends with many of the teachers at her school, I knew they weren't going to post the position to outside applicants and I knew the possible candidates that they were going to be bringing in for the position. One being the Special Ed teacher whose position got cut out due to budget cuts (they are now sharing a Special Ed teacher with another school....) and who was rumored to have a very short temper and tended to be harsh on the students and whom I knew wouldn't be a popular choice. Another candidate was the teacher that this group of kids had in Kindergarten and had been teaching 5th grade the past year, but wasn't thrilled with that placement. And another teacher who was laid off from another school in the district. So we were a bit nervous who would be Natalie's teacher. Her former Kindergarten teacher ended up getting the position and we were all very happy!

Alexis has started preschool this year! I was, finally, able to find her a preschool that didn't charge an arm and a leg! I looked and looked this summer for a preschool for her, but all I could find were preschools that were also day cares and therefore charged the day care rate per month. I didn't want a day care, I already have that taken care of and love the lady we have been using for the past couple of years. I just needed a simple preschool for Alexis to go to for a couple hours a day during the week for her to become accustomed to going to school everyday! The program that Natalie went through (which I LOVED) that was through the district, is no longer running. I tracked down one of the teachers that worked there and asked if she knew of any programs that were just preschool and not day care. She was able to give me a few options and I was able to sign Alexis up for one of those programs. This was Alexis's first week and she is LOVING it so far!

As for me, I'm going to be subbing again this year. All these budget cuts to the schools are really taking their roll, and it makes it very difficult for the schools to hire out when they're having to lay off a lot of experienced teachers. I'm also still working at the health club a couple nights a week. I keep telling myself that this is worth it and will eventually pay off in the end.... sometimes it's harder to believe that than others. But I WILL prevail!

I was able to get one picture to upload before it wigged out on me. Here is what I got to come home to one night after a long night at work and I was exhausted! Totally made my heart swell with love for my two little, wonderful girlies!