Blessings

I should have updated this several weeks ago, but once we are all back to school, life gets super busy!

So Ryan has his job back! The story is pretty interesting...On Monday August 23 Ryan stayed home with Tyler and had a great time with him and was getting a taste of how things were going to be. Then on Tuesday as he was going in to work the boss called him and said we fired the new guy and we need to talk so he went down to North Salt Lake to start the first of many discussions. He called me and we were in shock! The night before we were finally at peace with having him stay home and were liking the idea of collecting unemployment, not paying daycare and having a lot of extra time to hang out as a family. (I know that Ryan was secretly looking forward to afternoon rides when Sheree got home from work!) So the roller coaster emotional ride was starting all over again...our biggest worry:what do we do with the kids since they can no longer go to my schools daycare. On Friday of that week Ryan and his boss came to terms on a new salary, work hours (which still allowed Ryan to take Riley to school!), and all of that good stuff. Ryan now has to commute to North Salt Lake instead of Fruit Heights, and he doesn't get home until 6:30 or so, so we are trying to adjust. We feel blessed and have wondered why all this happened. We did learn to scale back our spending and save more and realize that we are really close to living on just one income. This is the last year that Sheree has to work for the state paying for her Masters degree, so maybe when the next baby comes she can stay home...that won't be for a few more years though! :)

Riley has been off track for the past 2 weeks and has had an okay time. I know that he was looking forward to staying home with Dad and for once he can't wait to go back on track! He loves to read and is reading all the time and loves to play Wizards 101 on the computer and Webkinz. He hasn't been playing regular video games very much anymore which is surprising but good. He is looking forward to playing Basketball for the first time in November.

Tyler is adjusting to his new daycare. He goes to the same place Riley and Brock go to, but he misses his 2 really good friends from moms school. He is really talking and learning to play better with the neighborhood boys. He'd be outside all the time if he could. He just got a new little razor scooter that he loves and still wants to do everything that Riley does! His potty training is coming along nicely...not too many accidents anymore and we're hoping to transition to underwear full time soon.

Brock is crawling all over the place now and he loves it! He loves to go in his room and Riley's room and just see what toys he can find and there are plenty to choose from! He and Sheree have a nasty cold right now that they are hoping goes away soon. He sure is a happy baby! He loves the kitty and being outside. We're hoping he crawls for awhile and doesn't want to walk at 10 months like his brothers! No teeth yet and still not sleeping through the night. He's now 8 months and weighs 20 pounds!

Ryan is off riding his mountain bike as I write this...something he looks forward to every weekend if he gets the chance. Work has kept him busy and all the things to do around the house. We're thinking about finally pouring the cement next to our driveway in front of the fence to have more parking and more room for Riley to play basketball. Our neighbors keep telling us that they'll have their boys help prep it and help us get it ready, so I think they're sick of looking at dirt the whole time, but hey it was once grass! If we can get a good deal, we might as well just do it. We're also hoping to start framing a room in the basement for Riley so that all 3 boys can have their own rooms. We have no idea where to begin, so not sure when that project will actually get started.

Sheree is back to teaching and now has that added stress. Midterms are Monday and parent teacher conferences the following week, which she dreads every year. Her class sizes are huge...36 in each of her 4 Geometry classes but her Algebra are around 25 each. Teaching is still fun but it's a lot harder with 3 boys at home. She also applied to help re-write the Algebra online curriculum and got that job to do at nights. She only applied because Ryan had lost his job and knew that this would help, but now it's too much stress and time! Is life ever not stressful though? She's also been playing ward volleyball on Thursdays and the boys enjoy playing with other kids at the church too.

We do feel blessed as a family and are glad we get to venture through this life with each other!