First Day of School

School started here last Wednesday. What a quiet day that was for me. Chuck was working all day and the kids in school all day so I actually felt like I could get something done once without any interruptions and what a great feeling it was. Charlie is in the 3rd grade this year and his teacher is Mrs. Barthel. Sydney is in the 1st grade and her teacher is Miss Miller. Here’s a picture of Charlie and Sydney from the first day:

Sydney and Charlie on the First Day of School

Eric wouldn’t hear of me taking his picture and I tried to get one anyway but it didn’t work out well. He is a junior this year. Time goes fast.

Eric's Latest Look... This was not taken the first day of school but very recently.

Updates

Eric looks so handsome with short hair. (Wish he would have smiled for this picture though.) He didn’t want a haircut but we told him if he was going to drive our car and test for his drivers license, he would have to get his hair cut so he went super short, his idea, not ours but we are all happy with it. And he took his drivers test on Friday and passed with flying colors!

School is out for the summer already. The last day was on the 28th. They were out at 1:00 pm. We haven’t seen Eric’s report card yet because they mail them out but Charlie and Sydney did great! Charlie’s 3rd grade teacher will be Mrs. Barthel and Sydney’s 1st grade teacher will be Mrs. Lund.

Chuck and I celebrated our 9th anniversary on May 27th. I can’t believe how fast 9 years has gone by. But all we have to do is look at how the kids have grown.

Happy Birthday Sydney!!!

Today my baby girl turned 6. She was born at 8:23 AM CST April 28th, 2003. She was so excited about her birthday this year. She had everything planned out. She wanted cupcakes for school. I took them right after lunch, making sure there were a few extra for some of the other teachers too. She checked the lunch menu and they were having corn dogs for lunch today which is one thing she does like so she was happy about that. Oh, I almost forgot, she wanted Cap’n Crunch cereal for breakfast too, which Dad made sure she got. When she came home from school, she wanted us all to hide and jump out and say “Surprise! Happy Birthday Sydney!” She waited outside while Charlie made sure we were all hiding. He told it was okay for her to come inside and then he ran in to hide too. She came into the house slowly while we all yelled, “Surprise!” She smiled so big. She opened presents first, then completed her homework. For dinner, she requested Kraft Mac’n'Cheese. Cake was the last part of her day. I think the best part of her birthday was the balloons. Here are some pictures from today…

Surprise! Happy Birthday Sydney!

Make a Wish!

Time for Kraft Mac'n'Cheese

Eric got his first job…

Guess where he works?!

Taco Johns

So far…  so good. But it has only been a week and he hasn’t even gotten his first paycheck yet. Time will tell….

My New Look

I decided I was due for a new look after losing 50 lbs. It took me a long time to lose those 50 lbs but it was really worth it. I still have a few more lbs to lose but I am really close to my goal weight and really proud of myself for getting this far with my weight loss efforts. So anyway, what I did was treat myself to a new hairstyle. I am not able to do anything with the color due to an allergic reaction to my last hair color change but I did change the style to a shorter more fun style. Here’s a picture (not my best picture as I wasn’t feeling 100% but it shows my new style) …what do you think?

West Side Story

Dawson County High School Drama Department performed the musical “West Side Story” on March 20th and 21st. The kids worked very hard getting ready for it and did a great job in the performance as well. Eric was Juan, one of the Sharks gang. Here are a couple of pictures to share.

Sharks are in Red

Juan (Eric) and Dora (navy dress) (center right)

The Sharks after the show...

Fireproof

Have you seen the movie Fireproof? If you haven’t, you should. My brother sent it to us for Valentine’s Day this year. We watched it last night and loved it!

It was made by a large church in Georgia with a budding movie ministry and the only professional actor is Kirk Cameron. The movie is about a fireman (Caleb) who has it all together on the job but his marriage has fallen apart. He feels that his needs are not being met and he is angry and frustrated. His wife is lonely and angry. With divorce hanging over their heads and nearly inevitable, his dad comes in and offers HOPE and challenges Caleb to take a 40-day Love Dare. In following this challenge, Caleb finds that he himself was pushing away the hand of God just like his wife pushed his hand away. The faith he receives from God is what enables him to finish what he started – to finish, no matter what the outcome.

Marriage is not as easy as society portrays it. Marriage requires commitment, sacrifice, trust, communication, time and effort from both husband and wife. But if you put all that into your marriage, what you will get out of it is SO MUCH worth the effort you put into it.

Anyway, after watching the movie, Chuck and I agreed that we have that and we have experienced all of the “for better – for worse, for richer – for poorer, in sickness and in health” over the past nearly 9 years we have been together and we know that we have what it takes to make our marriage last a lifetime.

Thank you Kevin for sending this movie to us. I borrowed some of your words for this post but they hold true for us as well as for you and Rose too. We truly loved the movie.

It’s all in how you manage it…

Yes, I am talking about stress. For those of you who haven’t heard, my hubby has lost his job just before Thanksgiving.

We have heard that they hired two people to replace him however. He has received many phone calls from the guys he worked with just to tell him he is missed.

The bad part is the timing, right before the holidays. He did receive his last two paychecks and severance pay but it still leaves us in a bad spot before the holidays. We just learned that he will not even be getting unemployment. Chuck feels that there are two guys that didn’t like him there and that they didn’t treat him fairly and this has a lot to do with it however, it still means we are struggling financially until he gets another job.

Thank you to all of those who made sure our children had a wonderful Christmas! We received a 7 lb. ham from our neighbors and Christmas gifts from family and friends too.

Chuck has been applying for jobs everywhere but it may mean that our family will have to move yet again too. That is a tough thing for all of us. We really do like living here in Glendive. It’s too bad things are turning out this way but I am trying to have an open mind and remember that maybe this is a part of God’s plan for us and that everything happens for a reason. It’s just really tough right now with no money to pay the bills and rent and everything. I will just keep saying my prayers and trust in the Lord. After all, what else can I do except help keep our spirits up and try to keep a smile on my face when I can. It’s just not always so easy.

Fall School Pictures

Sydney Elayna

Charles Richard (Charlie)

Eric Mitchell

Christmas Programs and Concerts

There are three kindergarten classes at Jefferson Elementary School. The Christmas program was held in the gymnasium on December 18th. It was so much fun seeing all the kids singing their hearts out and looking so nice. Sydney kept waving at us throughout the whole program. The Ranger-Review took pictures that day. Sydney is in the front row toward the middle. If you can’t tell which one is her, look for glasses, long hair and a white shirt.

Eric’s concert was held that night at the high school too. Very entertaining. There are so many talented students in the choir.