Back Again!

Hi. I have been informed that I only have a couple of days to write a new post or it will have been a whole year since I've blogged.

It's been a busy year... I lost my job at the end of July 2011 and became a stay at home Mom. I envisioned myself as having a lot more free time if I wasn't working. Another fantasy slapped in the face by reality!! Any free time I could eke out of the day went towards sending out resumes and making phone calls. I had no idea I was going to end up being out of work for 7 months!!

All worked out for us as it always does. Aaron was able to go full time at his job immediately, we had my unemployment, and I was able to get inisurance through the state of IL for the boys. In that way we have been luckier than some who have been hit by this recession. We certainly haven't made it unscathed since we still have our house in GR that we can't sell, I have struggled with work, and we are always trying to make ends meet and still pay off my student loans, but in the big scheme of things - all is fundementally well.

As I said, it all worked out. I was getting pretty frustrated with the job market, we were getting to the end of our lease in Chicago, and I had just been turned down for a job in Boulder, CO when I heard about a position open with a company back in GR. The short story is that I got the job. Perfect synchronicity. Makes you think that maybe there is some ultimate force that is looking after our family. Then we had three weeks to find a place to live, a school for Ian, and get moved before they wanted me to start my new job. Whew!! That was a whirlwind!! But so worth it.

We are soooo happy to be out of Chicago and back in the prettiest state in the Union just in time for a glorious spring and summer. Ian started school the same day I started work at Child Discovery Center where he had all of six weeks of kindergarten. The nice thing is that they have a combined k-1 classroom so he can catch up next year - although his teacher thinks he is right on target (but I know he is brilliant and really would be far ahead of his peers if he had been doing full day kindergarten all year). If you follow the link to his school you will see the classrooms listed - he is in Discovery B if you want to see what they have been up to. We also applied to 'school of choice' for Forest Hills School District to see if we can get him into the beautiful new school near my work. Someday when we can buy a house again I think it will be out this way so it would be a logical choice. We shall see.

Henry is becoming quite a clown as his personality begins to shine. I love watching him play with his brothers. His favorite thing is to just hang out in the yard and watch the excitment on the swing. He is just deciding to walk now - at almost 16 mos! Such a lazy baby. He took his first steps just after we moved here and is now beginning to chose to walk all by his big boy self. Can't wait 'til all three are running willy nilly through the house! We have also seemed to have adopted three neighborhood kids who come from a family of 12 and spend a lot of time at their grandma's house on the corner. So since summer break began, Aaron has 6 kids running crazy! Thank goodness for the swing, sandbox and big yard. Lately they have been putting on little skits for our enjoyment. Mary - those costumes you've made are getting lots of use! I love love love it!

Noa just turned three (can't believe it!)and is such an imp! He is such a physical kid and is happiest when he is jumping from the highest point he can find. This one makes me nervous! There were bets going on at his party as to which boy would break a bone first. Little did we know that Ian was running around with a broken arm at the time!

I will post pics or video soon! (I promise it won't be a whole year this time!)