The New Van

The kids have been so funny about the van. Matthew and Ben think it's the coolest thing they've ever seen and keep inventing reasons to ride in it. If we still have it when they're sixteen and driving, they may not find it so cool :) Anna likes it because she's high enough to see out of the window...and actually near the window and not stuck between her brothers. Any time I looked outside yesterday I was startled by the red van in the driveway. I told the kids when we went to Walmart that I'd probably forget to look for the red van and look for the G6 instead. Ben helped me out...when we left Walmart he stopped in front of my cart and said, "We're looking for a RED VAN, Mom!" And today Rob figured out the child safety locks. The boys think it's the coolest thing that one of the side doors opens by button instead of by force. The phrase most oft repeated yesterday was, "The van is NOT a toy!" You can imagine the fun I had with the kids :) Rob got to drive it today for the first time and when he came in he informed me that he much prefers the car :) That's fine...the van's for me anyway and I LIKE IT!! Via two vehicles!!

Finding Another New Normal

My head has been spinning for the past three days....so much that I haven't even kept the family updated on what's happening! It's been really tough to process everything that's been going on AND keep our regular schedule AND do a few pre-planned events. Let's go back to Tuesday. Rob went to the Bass outlet to put in an application there. We have a good friend who is the manager and I work there twice a year to help with inventory. She wanted to help Rob get something to bring in income while he got a full-time job. He was set to interview with them on Thursday. Wednesday afternoon, he got a call from G & V Machine Co in Ixonia, where he had an interview a few weeks ago. They wanted to hire him, but for a different position. They basically created a full-time assembly position for him with the intent to train him on the machining part of the business. He had a final interview/tour with them Wednesday night. Then he went to the Bass interview on Thursday and got that job as well! So, what to do? The decision: He took both jobs. We believe that this time of our lives is one that will be dedicated to work and paying off all debts that we have incurred, some which have been hanging on for awhile, some of which were incurred while Rob was in school. He will be working 4pm-midnight at G & V, and the Bass job is part-time during the day. The hours will vary, but he will never start prior to 10am and usually done by 2pm. We're very thankful for both incomes! Taking both jobs did create a problem. The kids and I would pretty much be stuck at home all of the time. Sure, we could take him to the Bass job if we need the car, but not the other job. They are working overtime at G & V and there is no way he could get a ride home at midnight. We wouldn't be able to go to church on Wed nights and I would not be able to keep up my business activities. So we started to look for a new vehicle. Well, used, but you know what I mean :) We did quite a bit of hunting on-line and settled on a used van from a Ford dealer here in town. We were able to put a chunk down on it but had to finance the rest. It will make things tight for us and seems like a step backward in paying off debts, but is what we need to take a giant step forward. And I love "my" shiny red van! So can you see why my head has been spinning? Oh, and in the midst of all of this, my Stampin Up! business is really taking off. I had eight ladies here on Saturday afternoon for a stamping event and many want to continue in my monthly classes. I have four workshops on the book for the next month or so w/another one to plan. God has been so good in blessing my business. We're praying that my income pretty much makes the van payments or at least contributes the vast majority of it. And the kids have been real troopers through it all. I had to completely redo our daily schedule and they were excited!! We also redid their Chore Packs and they love that as well. (The chore packs are clip-on card holders that they wear while they do chores. There is a separate card for each chore and it helps remind them what they need to do next. I have one, too, or I get distracted!) I'm so thankful for a wonderful family. Thank you for your prayers in this crazy season of our lives. We so thankful to the Lord for quickly providing work for Rob. He was only laid off for three weeks. We're also thankful for our van and how that deal all worked out. God is so good!!

Anna's Third Birthday

I have lived through the birthday, I posted pics on Facebook about the birthday, and now I'm blogging about the birthday. Catching a theme here? Anna turned three today in spite of the fact that she was forbidden to do so. She did NOT have our permission, but she went and did it anyway. At least she's cute :)

She started her day by sleeping in until almost eight o'clock! This is my early riser, so it was pretty surprising. We were all up and dressed and breakfast was almost done by the time she made an appearance. At least she woke up in time for her traditional call from my parents (or mom, since Dad had gone to work). They always call and sing to the birthday person. She smiled a lot and thanked her grandma, then we let her open family presents. She received a Kai-Lan sticker/coloring book from her aunt and uncle, a purse and watch from her cousin Makenzie, a bag of clothing from Grandpa and Grandma Litwiller (they had already given her a toy when they were up here for Ben's birthday), homemade cards from her brothers, and a Big Wheel from us. Rob had chocolate chip pancakes and sausage for her breakfast.

Rob left for a chiropractic appointment and to pick up the birthday cake (Kai-Lan, of course) and we trudged through school and cleaning. The kids were so hyper that it was all we could do to contain them. Once the cleaning was done, we let them watch a movie. Rob was going to make homemade mac 'n cheese for lunch but we ran out of time, so he picked up some Lunchables from the store instead. Somehow in the midst of all of this, a Stampin' Up order arrived and I got it bagged up for the hostess, I took a business call, two more family members called to sing (Aunt Mandy w/Kenzie and my dad), Anna was dressed in party clothes (Chinese princess dress and pig tails) and the party was set up and decorated for. Whew!

The first little party guest arrived all decked out in pink princess attire around 12:30 and the rest of the girls trickled in shortly afterwards. I had one mom stay, thankfully, so there were three adult present. Our first order of business was making princess crowns, which proved to be a little harder than we thought. The older girls did great but Anna and her other friend needed lots of help. They all got made and I had the girls sit down for a picture. Unfortunately, we put Anna's new bike away right before the picture, so she was kind of pouty. Then we ushered the girls into the kitchen while the boys hid all of their shoes. We talked about the Cinderella story while they waited. The girls found their shoes pretty quickly and then I passed out streamers and we had a princess twirl. They had fun twirling around in their pretty dresses. After that, we read Anna's current favorite children's story (Pete's a Pizza) while Rob prepared for cake and ice cream. The girls sang Happy Birthday and ate up the yummy sweets.

Halfway through eating cake, one of the girls spilled her pink lemonade right into the cake. We were able to salvage most of it, thankfully. We wiped many pretty little faces and hands and sent them back into the living room for present opening. Anna received some nice things from her little friends, like a Belle doll for playing in the bathtub, a mini princess with many changes of clothes, a whole pile of princess craft items, and a mini magni-doodle. The last gift was the most precious because it came from two sisters who pooled their piggy bank money together to buy the gift. Isn't that sweet?

I had one last craft up my sleeve, so the older girls glued some sparkly clothes onto teddy bears that I had cut out ahead of time. Little girls began leaving around 2pm, all sugared up! Anna and I did some stamp product deliveries afterwards so she would nap in the car and then we came home to crash. She wanted to eat at Applebees for supper and we couldn't complain...it's 99 cent kids night! Now we're all resting after the long day.

So I have a three-year-old now and she had a wonderful birthday. I think I need a nap.

Despicable Fun

Tonight we decided to have a family movie night and went over to Family Video to rent something. I really don't keep up with what's out at all and thought that Tangled had been released on video. After scouring the shelves, I realized that it was not. So I looked at the cartoon new releases and found the movie Despicable Me. I thought the plot sounded amusing so I got it. After supper and baths, we all sat on the couch to watch it.

Oh. my. goodness. That was the funniest movie I have seen in a long time! And the boys were howling through most of it! They were so loud that we had to put on the caption just to catch the plot. Anna really enjoyed it as well, so it was a new fave for everyone.

I think Ben was the funniest person to watch. He's usually pretty quiet when we watch movies but he couldn't resist making a few comments. When the main character was chasing another villian, his ship pulled out tons of bombs. Ben said, "Well, that oughta do it!" And later when the bad bad guy was sent to the moon Ben said, "Serves ya right!" He was almost funnier than the movie!

I've been busy with stamp events recently and it was so nice to have a night just to be with the family. Of course that is the best part of all :)

Ear Infections, Back Appts, and Dental Visits

Boy, sounds like we're falling apart from that title, doesn't it? It really isn't all that bad, but we have had quite a few appointments over the past week.

Last Friday, Anna woke up complaining of a sore ear. Since she's had a cold we figured it had probably progressed into an ear infection. So we set up a morning appointment for her and Rob ran her to the doctor. He tried to look in her ear, but she had a build up of wax in both ears (found at her well-child visit a week prior) and he had to flush it out to see behind it. Several tries with various instruments and liquids later, they got out a good-sized ball of wax and sure enough, her ear was infected. Because she was screaming pretty hard, they decided not to clean out the other ear for a check. If she has a double infection, it wouldn't really matter if they checked b/c meds will work either way. Rob and Anna then went to the pharmacy to fill a prescription for her pink meds, which she loves to take. She did get a mild fever Sunday night and slept for 14 hours but otherwise she's weathered the infection pretty well. I'll be working on cleaning out that other ear once she's done with her meds and the infection is gone.

Rob had hurt his back a week ago or so and while most of the pain had gone away, it developed into sciatica pain. So on Monday he made a visit to the chiropractor. He had an hour long exam, got an adjustment, and went back on Tuesday to find that he'll be doing a six-week treatment. Thankfully our state medical cards cover chiropractory, so we only have to make $1 copays. He goes in again tomorrow. He's still in some pain but does see improvement.

And today we took all three of the kids for their routine dental appointments. Ben went first and was an excellent patient. He always is :) He got a clean bill of dental health and showed his sister how to behave and what to expect. The dentist came in to check his teeth and the hygenist had Anna hop up so the dentist wouldn't have to make another trip in. Anna's teeth are a little more crowded so we'll have to watch her as she gets older. She did great for the dentist, but when it was time for the hygenist to clean her teeth, she clamped her little mouth shut and wouldn't let her do a thing. Finally, the hygenist suggested we let Anna brush her own teeth with a regular brush and she was able to assess Anna better that way. And she only charged us for an under three visit, so that was nice :)

I then took Ben and Anna to the waiting room where Rob and Matthew were doing his schoolwork. We traded kids and I went back with Matthew. (We were supposed to keep the same kids but after dealing with "Runaway Anna" I asked for a break.) Matthew's mouth was not as happy of a story as his siblings. He has a tooth ready to poke through at the top and another loose tooth, but the real problem is three cavities. Two need fillings b/c they are in baby teeth that will not be lost for a few more years. The other is so tiny that they will wait and keep an eye on it to see if it falls out first. Now our kids don't eat too much candy and rarely drink soda, so I asked why the cavities? The hygenist explained that the teeth are close together and only flossing regularly would have prevented that...but they don't expect six-year-olds to floss. Well. He was given flossers today and we will be regularly flossing his teeth from now own. I think we'll get Ben in on the action as well just for safe measure. Mommy has had WAY too many dental problems to just let this go in the kids! So, Matthew has an appointment in April for two fillings and another for sealant on his back molars.

In happy news this week, I have a new niece! Annie Joy Fulkerson was born yesterday to my brother Joel and his wife Cara. She joins big brother Ezra. Can't wait to meet her!

Little Miss Stinker

Anna has been in the habit of waking up and getting into bed with us. It's amazing how one teeny little body can take up so much space in the bed! We have been trying to break this habit by gently guiding her back to her own bed each night she creeps into ours. So last night when she joined us, Rob got up and took her back to bed. She looked at him and said, "Daddy, will you stay with me?" and of course Rob stayed, because who can resist a request from such an adorable creature?

Yeah. So Rob sat on the floor and planned to stay there until she went back to sleep. Anna quieted down, then got up and trotted out the door. He thought maybe she had to go potty, but then she went into our bedroom. Thinking she was just going to get a blanket or toy she forget when she entered the first time, he waited. And waited. And then went to check on her. Turns out she had crawled into bed with me and was falling asleep! And why not...nobody else was there!

Rob took her back to her bed amidst much protestation and then she asked if she could sleep with Ben. Since Ben never cares if Anna sleeps in his bed, Rob said yes and all were happy :)

Ben's Fifth Birthday

Today was Ben's 5th birthday. I can't believe he's five years old already! And if that isn't bad enough, Anna turns 3 in two weeks. Ai-yi-yi...it's no wonder I don't like March :)

Originally we had planned to take Ben to a fun place called Stonefire Pizza, an upscale version of Chuck E. Cheese. After Rob was laid off, we thought about cancelling since it is rather expensive. But we had already promised the trip and I am opposed to ruining birthdays, so we decided to proceed with the original plans. We were forced to come up with an alternative, however, when all three of the kids came down with a bad cough! Matthew started it on Thursday and by Sunday all three of them were sick. It's not too surprising that they all get sick together since they share a room.

We did have a fun time on Saturday with Rob's parents. They came up here for a brief visit and surprised the kids. We told the kids we were meeting "Harvey" at Applebees for lunch and they were rather shocked to see their grandparents waiting instead! They brought presents for both Ben and Anna. Ben received a Tonka truck and Anna got a baby swing/glider/high chair and a diaper bag full of things to play with her babies. Uncle Andy and Aunt Melissa sent Ben a fun game as well (and Anna something, but she has to wait on that gift!) We had Ben's cake on Saturday since there were more people here to eat it. I ordered a Batman cake for him, complete with action figure.

The birthday boy chose the menu for today. For breakfast we had chocolate muffins and eggs with Mommy's special hot chocolate, pb & j's for lunch with bbq chips (the adults had leftovers), and Happy Meals for supper. We also had some leftover cake after supper and Rob and I sang every version of every Happy Birthday song we could think of. We had Ben laughing pretty good. :)

Since the kids couldn't go anywhere, I ran to Family Video and checked out two video games. They have several that are rent one get one free, so I picked up two of those along with two free kids' videos. The boys had a grand time playing Wii all afternoon, and Ben got to use his brand new Wii remote that Rob and I bought him along with his Nunchuck from Grandpa and Grandma Fulkerson. I'm so glad I had bought his gift back in January! (Same with Anna's.) Oh, and our next door neighbor came over with a gift for Ben as well! She's so sweet :)

Other than being sick, Ben had a special day. Happy Birthday to my Ben-a-buddy!

A New Adventure

Last Thursday, something very interesting happened that has sent the Litwiller household spinning. A meeting was held at Rob's workplace that ended up with him being laid off (or as Rob puts it, early forced retirement with no benefits). It was either lay off people or close down the factory, and at the rate they are going, the factory will probably close anyway.

So, where do we go from here? Rob has much praying to do. Does he look for teaching positions, a job in the area, or wait for a better career opportunity? We don't know. There are a few jobs around here that are possibilities and a few teaching positions available for next fall. We're not desparate (yet) as we have tax money to live on for a few months, but he will be diligently praying and searching.

In the meantime, he has some projects around the house that we were going to tackle in the summer that will be bumped up. We have been meaning to get to the basement and sort through tubs, as well as a storage closet. In between the job searches he will have plenty to keep him from being bored. (And if you know Rob, you know he hates to sit around doing nothing!)

I did have my "girl moment" on Thursday and cry for a bit, but we know God is in control. Neither one of us is disappointed and there is no animosity toward his former workplace. They hated to let him go. The president even had tears in his eyes during the meeting.

So that's what's happening in our world right now. Please keep us in your prayers as we take the next steps in our new adventure.

Nap songs and Trash Cans

Poor Ben. He woke up at the same time Rob did yesterday...4:45 am....and he decided to get up with Daddy. Rob put a movie on for him when he had to leave and Ben watched it until the rest of us awoke at 6:45am. He was pretty zonked for the majority of the morning and when it was his turn to play Wii in the afternoon, he would play, rest his hands, play, rest his hands.... I finally asked him if he wanted to take a nap and he immediately put down the remote and went upstairs. Matthew felt so sorry for him that he offered to tuck him in. Anna, not to be left out on the kind acts, said she would sing Benji to sleep. *chuckle* Anna's idea of singing Ben to sleep was to sing "Jesus Loves Me" at the top of her lungs and a little off key. I took pity on the poor guy and called her downstairs. He slept for two and a half hours, so he must have needed the rest pretty badly!

Today as I was about to head downstairs, I looked out the window and saw two sanitation workers consulting a sheet of paper and looking at our house. They had a truck full of brand new trash cans and recycle bins. I'm guessing they were trying to figure out if one family lived in our house or two (we live in a duplex) and must have decided on two because the next thing I knew, a set of the new trash recepticles was smack dab in front of our stairs and another set was in front of the neighbors. Not really the place to keep them, so I sent the boys out to pull the cans to the side of our house. They did okay until they got to the driveway. Today being Bible study day, the car was parked in the driveway and it was not shoveled out enough to get the cans through easily. I yelled out to Matthew to turn the can around and pull it backwards on the wheels. Instead, he went to the front and laboriously pulled the HUGE plastic container around the car, THEN got behind it and used the wheels to get himself a little further. He then went back to help Ben with his slightly smaller container. Both boys worked pretty hard. Anna and I clapped for them when they had finished.

Just an hour ago, Anna had to go potty and as Rob entered to help her, she shot out with her pants down and said, "I was sitting there and I almost fell in!" Rob replied, "That's okay. Your big butt would never fit down the drain. It's HUGE!" Good thing she's not 16....