So Much is Happening

So much has been going on in our lives recently. 1st of all, Simone finished up her school year. She is so smart (mama has to brag). She's reading/counting/adding/subtracting/writing....being a teacher, I am pleased with where she is academically.

Simone was accepted to Stanley Clark for this next year and they gave a great amt. of financial aid....which we were thrilled with. So much prayer went into the financial aid and it was great to show Simone the fruits of prayer.

River is turning 2 this month, so we are getting a family get together organized. He's such a joy in our lives.....he loves to smile and lights up the room.

Michael's work is unsure with the economy so I've been looking for teaching work. I had an interview today, but Michael and I weren't "at peace" about it. If they offer me the job, I'll say no. Another school has asked for my resume, but no calls about an interview yet......we'll see.

Simone has been given an opportunity to take horse riding lessons (for a very reasonable amt.) and she LOVES them. She got to learn bare back riding this past week. Simone tends to be very timid, so I loved her brave spirit as she was determine to bareback ride.

EPIC CHURCH

Michael and I have been led to help with a church launch in Mishawaka. We are so "at peace" with this. We like the pastor, and the other couples on the church launch team. It's so good to know that you are where you are supposed to be.

So, we are busy busy busy.....unsure about work, sure about church......

Please pray for us with the job situation that God will show us where we need to be.

Simone's horseback riding lesson

Simone had her first horseback riding lesson today. One of my tutoring student's family take lessons and I had been curious about it for Simone. We found out that an hour's lesson is very reasonable so we signed Simone up for 2 lessons a month. We found this cute little store that is right out of an old western picture. We bought Simone some proper boots to wear for riding.
We were quite a sight pulling up to lessons this morning. Everyone wanted to see simone's first lessons so Michael and I with River in tow along with the grandparents came along. In the future, someone will stay with River as there isn't much for him to do while Simone has her lesson. Simone started her lesson by learning some basic rules about horses, not walking behind them, not spooking them...etc....and then she got to brush her horse down and pick out the horses feet before she started riding. Then she got to learn how to put on the bridle and saddle. Then she got to lead the horse into the ring and the riding began. She practiced a lot with balance today....holding her arms to the side to learn the rhythm of the horse....she practiced riding forwards, backwards and sideways.....she did that for quite awhile and then she led her horse back to the stable, brushed her down and said goodbye. Simone was sad to leave, but excited to know that she would get another lesson soon. What a great experience for her!

Girls Breakfast

Last Saturday, my mom, Simone and I had a girls morning out. We started out the morning at Ihop and then ventured off to the mall for a long awaited and highly anticipated Build a Bear visit. Simone isn't one for browsing , once we got inside, her eye spotted the zebra. She rushed right to the bin picked up the hollow zebra and started cuddling it while rushing to get in line to have it stuffed. Simone named her new zebra, "Snowplow" as it's white like snow and black like a snowplow.

It was a great morning...the first of hopefully many "Girls Breakfasts" to come.

Pride and Joy

Here are my pride and joy. Simone and I had a mom/daughter day at the zoo the other day and had a really good time. Here River is helping Simone do the dishes....he more splashes in the water but it's good practice.

Outside Day of Play

With the weather so nice, we spent most of the afternoon outside today...the kids played (it's nice that they are both of an age where they can play together) and I did some work in our garden. It was a wonderful afternoon. Then after Michael came home and we had dinner, we went for a walk around the neighborhood. Oh, to be out of the house! :D

Windy City Outing

Michael and I took a mini vacation to Chicago for a late b-day present/anniversary of our engagement day celebration.
We started at the Art Institute and spent a good 3 hours perusing the paintings and such. Michael was disappointed that the modern wing was closed for renovation.
We then walked over to Ruth's Chris Steakhouse. Never understood the name of this restaurant although I love it. We had a gift certificate from Michael's mom so we enjoyed an almost free meal. How wonderful it was. We then headed to see a one man show "Chazz Palmentarri's a Bronx Tale" It was excellent and fun. If you have ever seen the movie, it's the same thing....just on stage with Chazz doing it all by himself. We then drove North for the evening. Master Jerry Devlin, a very good friend of the family, who works at La Quinta and got us a suite for $35. So we had a lovely day/evening out and saved a lot of money thanks to family and friends. Thanks to my mom for watching the kids so we could have some alone time.

Things are good

Things are good right now.

I'm so happy that the flu/colds have left our house and that we are enjoying some good health.

I've been subbing quite a bit and with my tutoring, we have been able to take care of some extra bills. My tutoring students are doing well, which is so exciting for me. I'm so proud of them.

River is starting to utter sounds that are close to words and I'm loving it.

Spring is in the air...it's coming and I'm so excited.

We've been having some extra fun evenings as of late. The kids love "The Wiggles" music and we put it on the stereo and we dance and dance. We used to have a family dance night, but we'd gotten out of the habit, and now we are back in the groove. It's great to see the kids doing their own dance impressions and Michael and I get quite the workout...for those of you who can't imagine Michael dancing to "The Wiggles" ,well, he does! :D

I had a great b-day yesterday. I love facebook, I got so many happy b-day wishes, it was wonderful. Michael took us all out to eat.

To actually celebrate my b-day (this is also the day Michael proposed to me....2/24/01) and our engagement day, we are going to Chicago in 2 weeks for a nice weekend. My mom is going to watch the kids for us, so we can have a nice romantic weekend.

So, things are really good right now. God is good in the good and the down times. It is nice to have some good times, may I always remember to be grateful.