I've come to really hate goodbyes! Today was one that was particularly difficult too! I said goodbye to the kids I've taken care of for over 5 years! When I started Ella was about 15 months old and shortly after Cammy arrived. A few years later Edward came along and then this past September Fiona was born. Because I was with this family for so long I got to know the kids really well and I got to be part of the family. It was a really fun job at times, but it could also be difficult and frustrating. I learned a lot being with the same kids 5 days a week for years! I have been through so many stages with the kids and I am sad to be missing some of those stages with Edward and Fiona and I'm sad that I won't get to see Cammy and Ella grow up. In so many ways the girls are exactly the same as when they were little, but at the same time they have definitely matured and grown out of some of their babyish ways. I love all the funny things they say. Just today they told me some really hilarious things! We were talking about how we could get into their cousin's house when we couldn't figure out how to get the key out of the garage. They were saying we could get in the kitchen window but I'm too short to do that. Even if I could have gotten the window open wide enough for someone to get in, I probably would have gotten kicked in the face boosting them through the window. When I said that, Cammy responded with "we would have said 'sorry'." LOL! Thanks Cammy! Edward doesn't say too much yet, but it's been fun to see his speech improving! God bless Evette for giving him that start with speech therapy. He has been talking a lot more lately and trying to mimic speech even if it comes out all wrong. It's been fun to see him with Fiona too. He absolutely adores her! He's always going up to her and saying "hi" in a sweet way. I have a feeling they are going to be good buddies and he is going to be her protector. Fiona is just starting to smile and coo and show a little personality. I'm so curious what she's going to be like when she gets older. Those are the kinds of things that I'm sad about missing.
Today when I was leaving Cammy and Ella kept wrapping themselves around my legs to keep me from going. Ella kept holding onto me and saying how she didn't want me to go because she loved me. Ella isn't big on saying stuff like that to people. We even talked about that once and she said that she gives me kisses as if to say that is how she says "I love you" to people. Cammy on the other hand is very loving to people! She's the best snuggler in the world! So many times I would go to wake her up from her nap and would lay down in bed with her to snuggle her to wake her up, but she was so warm and snuggly that I would end up falling asleep with her only to wake up 45 minutes later! I'm gonna miss her hugs, kisses, snuggles and the sweet things she says to me. Today she told me that she didn't want to go away from me. Yeah, I don't want her to either.
Being busy these next few days will be good to keep my mind off all of this for a while. I'm looking forward to getting out of town. It will be good to see people we haven't seen in a while and have a little fun!
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
1st post!
Hello, it's my first blog post here! I've been feeling like I need a way to share my thoughts, ideas, knitting projects, recipes and maybe even good grocery deals! I have a LiveJournal, but I think I'm probably going to close that account since I haven't used it in ages! Since I'm about to be unemployed, I'll hopefully have more time to blog.
My nanny job I've had for the last 5 years is ending tomorrow. The family is moving to Florida and we were going to move with them, but things fell through for one of their jobs so they won't be needing me anymore. Well, they may need me, but they probably can't afford to pay me anymore. At first I was hurt and upset by the whole thing, but as I've gotten some distance from the whole situation I am starting to have peace about it. God wasn't surprised by this. He knew that all of this was going to happen. He's been working through us and guiding us in how we need to proceed from here. Thankfully we have some savings and we'll be able to make it for a few months without a job. Beyond that I'm not really sure what will happen do us, but I know that God will provide for us even if it's not how we plan or want.
So after having a job for 5 years I'm back on the job market. At probably one of the worst times to be looking for a job. Chad has been looking for a job since he moved to Chicago, but he hasn't had too much luck there other than some side jobs. Since we were planning to move to Florida he had quit looking for a job here and had started to apply in Gainesville. So now he has to start applying in Chicago again and see if he can find a job here. If we aren't able to find anything here, it's possible that he can get his old job back in Cincinnati. At this point I think we're open to just about anything if it means being able to pay our bills.
Praise the Lord we have a budget that we're pretty good at following. Making a budget was one of the most valuable things we did in our pre-marital counseling! (Thanks Rob and Adaline!) When we made that budget I think we had budgeted $40 for groceries every two weeks. In the beginning we were doing that too, but we realized that we didn't have to be quite so strict and had loosened up our budget. We're back to only spending $40 and we'll probably try to spend even less if we can. If it weren't for Aldi's this wouldn't even be possible! We get everything we can from there and for everything else we have decided to try to wait until it's on sale if possible and use coupons as well. I've started looking at Target and Walgreen's ads online since those are two of the other places we shop. They often have good deals on the stuff we can't buy at Aldi's. Last week we bought a big frozen turkey on sale at Target as a way to save money on meat. We got it for $.68/lb.! That means we got almost 12 lbs. of meat for about $8! I'm debating on whether to invest in a roasting pan or just borrow someone's when I cook the turkey. Since it's possible that we'll be doing this again, I'm thinking it might make sense to get the roasting pan! I'm starting to look into making as much stuff from scratch that I can as well. I may even start making my own bread. If I can make it cheaper than I can buy it from Aldi's then we'll do it.
I'm working on some knitting projects to sell online. I need to start my etsy account and then I'll be linking my account to here whenever there is anything new to sell. If anyone has any yarn they aren't going to use but they don't want to throw away, I'd love to look at it! I can always use it to make hats or even just squares to go into a blanket I'm making!
Dinner isn't going to cook itself so I am off to make chicken of some kind, stove top stuffing(aldi's brand!) and crescent rolls! Yummy! I think some corn might be on the menu as well! If I do anything interesting with the chicken I may post the recipe later!
My nanny job I've had for the last 5 years is ending tomorrow. The family is moving to Florida and we were going to move with them, but things fell through for one of their jobs so they won't be needing me anymore. Well, they may need me, but they probably can't afford to pay me anymore. At first I was hurt and upset by the whole thing, but as I've gotten some distance from the whole situation I am starting to have peace about it. God wasn't surprised by this. He knew that all of this was going to happen. He's been working through us and guiding us in how we need to proceed from here. Thankfully we have some savings and we'll be able to make it for a few months without a job. Beyond that I'm not really sure what will happen do us, but I know that God will provide for us even if it's not how we plan or want.
So after having a job for 5 years I'm back on the job market. At probably one of the worst times to be looking for a job. Chad has been looking for a job since he moved to Chicago, but he hasn't had too much luck there other than some side jobs. Since we were planning to move to Florida he had quit looking for a job here and had started to apply in Gainesville. So now he has to start applying in Chicago again and see if he can find a job here. If we aren't able to find anything here, it's possible that he can get his old job back in Cincinnati. At this point I think we're open to just about anything if it means being able to pay our bills.
Praise the Lord we have a budget that we're pretty good at following. Making a budget was one of the most valuable things we did in our pre-marital counseling! (Thanks Rob and Adaline!) When we made that budget I think we had budgeted $40 for groceries every two weeks. In the beginning we were doing that too, but we realized that we didn't have to be quite so strict and had loosened up our budget. We're back to only spending $40 and we'll probably try to spend even less if we can. If it weren't for Aldi's this wouldn't even be possible! We get everything we can from there and for everything else we have decided to try to wait until it's on sale if possible and use coupons as well. I've started looking at Target and Walgreen's ads online since those are two of the other places we shop. They often have good deals on the stuff we can't buy at Aldi's. Last week we bought a big frozen turkey on sale at Target as a way to save money on meat. We got it for $.68/lb.! That means we got almost 12 lbs. of meat for about $8! I'm debating on whether to invest in a roasting pan or just borrow someone's when I cook the turkey. Since it's possible that we'll be doing this again, I'm thinking it might make sense to get the roasting pan! I'm starting to look into making as much stuff from scratch that I can as well. I may even start making my own bread. If I can make it cheaper than I can buy it from Aldi's then we'll do it.
I'm working on some knitting projects to sell online. I need to start my etsy account and then I'll be linking my account to here whenever there is anything new to sell. If anyone has any yarn they aren't going to use but they don't want to throw away, I'd love to look at it! I can always use it to make hats or even just squares to go into a blanket I'm making!
Dinner isn't going to cook itself so I am off to make chicken of some kind, stove top stuffing(aldi's brand!) and crescent rolls! Yummy! I think some corn might be on the menu as well! If I do anything interesting with the chicken I may post the recipe later!
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