Role Reversal.....

So our lives have been turned around a little lately without Ron working. We are doing well though...thanks to all of those that keep asking!!! Since everyone keeps asking, I figured I better update!! So as of right now, I am working two part time jobs and Ron is being a stay at home dad!! My first job is doing companion care with disabled children. I work with two on a consistant basis, one who is 16 and one who is 18 months. They are both a handfull, but I love them and I am really enjoying this job. It makes me grateful that I am so blessed that my children do not have any known diabilities!! Yet I am also grateful to learn about so many disabilities and how different they are. So anyway, I am doing that 3-5 afternoons/evenings a week. My 2nd job is a work from home job doing customer service for a credit card company. I am training currently, and have been for most of January. Who knew credit cards were so complicated??? Once I finish training for that company I will be working in the morning for a couple of hours, and then again early afternoon and probably Saturdays too!! Between the two jobs, two callings (cause I haven't been relaeased from AD yet) a family, a home and a husband, life is keeping me VERY busy!! So I apologize if I have appeared much like a chicken running around with my head cut off....cause some days, that's how I feel!! It has been a juggling act, and so far I have all the balls in the air, yet I fear that won't hold true for much longer. Ron has been a HUGE help at home...he watches the kids while I am working, he is helping with dishes and laundry and most nights makes dinner too!! It has been challenging for both of us, since neither are used to these new roles that we have been throw into, but we are managing!! I know this is a temporary situation and it won't last forever. I know that Heavenly Father blesses us and we face trails to learn things. I am learning many things......like what a good cook my husband is, and how hard it is on Madelyn that I have gone back to work. I have learned that I would MUCH rather be a stay at home mom, then a working mom, but I am ok working as long as Ron is home with the kids and we don't have to put them into daycare. I have learned that I enjoy working with people and that having a job is giving me a new aspect of self worth. I have learned that we can do anything we set our hearts and our minds too! I have a greater testimony of Heavenly Father and him giving us nothing more then we can handle. Last summer I would have had a major nervous breakdown if Ron would have been laid off at that point. And not that I wanted this to happen, but from the get go I have known that everything would be ok, even though I didn't know how. Heavenly Father has helped me through this tough time and everything really has been ok!! We are a stronger, closer family because of our trials and for that, I will be eternally grateful!!

Happy New Year???

I am truely hoping this will be a good year for us. Last year was hard....the last month has been really hard. If you have been following....alot of bad has happened and I am so done with the bad......I need to look on the bright side of things going forward. So.....the good things that have happening lately......We got to go to Disneyland the beginning of Dec with my family. My sister, neice and parents met us down there on the 5th of December. We got to leave on Thurs night instead of driving all day with three kids! Ron and I would both prefer to make along drive like that through the night so the kids can sleep and when this was all planned, we thought we were going to have to do the day drive, but we ended up not having to at least on the way there which was GREAT!! Disneyland was fun....super crowded, but fun~! I loved being able to experiance it through the eyes of my children. I loved seeing them try to understand that it was make believe and nothing would hurt them, like the cannons in the pirate ride, or the bad guys on any of the rides. i loved watching them laugh on the teacups. I loved watching them not be able to point fast enough to different things they noticed on It's A Small World. I loved watching how excited they got when they saw a charather...Mickey, Goofy, Buzz, any of the princessess.....it was magical!! I loved watching them watch the parades with open mouths in awe of each new thing that passed before their very eyes and the wonder of what could possibly come next!! I loved experiancing that with each of them.

It was also Ron's first trip to the Happiest Place on Earth!! Let's just say...he's a man and doesn't get so excited about things like that as I do. Although he LOVED the clam chowder at CA. Adventure and he LOVED the Sorin' Over California ride too!! So although he had fun....it probably wasn't as much as I wanted him too!! We have decided that we will go back soon, but just the two of us so we can cover more ground, faster...we missed alot with the kids and strollers, but I would trade a minute of it!!

Ok, so aside from Disneyland.......we have a new water heater that I know we won't have to worry about and will last a good five years with Magna Water!! We have a brand spankin' new garbage disposal....the last time was replaced it was 9 years ago, so I am hoping for a good 9 years out of that too!! We also have a brand new freezer (Thanks Mom and Dad!!) Again, i am hoping for 9+ years out of that one too!! None of those will break anytime soon!! We also got a new furnace this past Spring, so I am good there too!!! The car has new tires and should be fine!! We have a good roof over our heads with heat, and hot water. We have a freezer full of food and a storage room mostly full of food storage. So glad I listened to that small voice a few months ago to build it up NOW!!! Granted, we have room to improve, but it's good for now and we will be ok!!

Ron hopes to hear about a job next week, now that the holidays are over and everyone is back from vacations starting on Monday!! He did find out that he qualifies for medical benefits through VA since he was in the Air Force...thats great news for us!! On top of all that - I have found a job and have been working since Tuesday. It is part time and only four afternoon/evenings a week, but it is something!! I have tested for a few others and am keeping my fingers crossed that I can eventually get on at the Post office encoding center, but it takes time.

At church - Aidan will start "big boys Primary" as we call it around here. He will go to Sunday School and Sharing Time with the big kids starting this Sunday. No more nursery for him!! We are working on potty training and he is doing pretty well with it most of the time!! Maddie will move into the 4-5 year old class and get a new teacher starting Sunday as well!! Isaac only has five months from today til he starts in Nursery...but who's counting>>> ME!!! Starting sunday, our church also moves to a different timeblock. Instead of attending from 11 - 2, we will switch to 9-noon. I have mixed feelings about it, but we will make it work!! I also recieved a new calling and am the Secratary in the Relief Society.....something that is a bit foreign to me, but I guess it is where I need to be right now!! I am excited to learn new things and work with the ladies in RS. I will miss the Activity Day girls, but am ready for a change since I have been doing that calling for a few years now!!

Christmas was great around here. My parents came this year by train and stayed with us for about a week. My mom was thrilled by the amount of snow that fell while they were here!! My Dad was more excited about the GREAT burger he had from Five Guys.
We got some really nice presents from everyone and had a great time watching the kids open their's. We are currently waiting for the snow to melt as Santa brought the kids a trampoline, so we are waiting to put it up!!

Anyway - sorry for the novel!! That is all that has been going on around here!! The good, not the bad!!! We wish you all a VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR!!