Sept. 8-3 weeks since last blog

It's been 3 weeks since my last blog, so I thought it was time for an update.
Daycare: Still only have one little girl full time at the moment. It's nice on one hand, since I can take her with me when I go places and things are more flexible, BUT it's really coming crunch time, and I'm feeling the money pinch. I've invested a lot of time and money into getting things going and it's not going. I had my inspection on September 2. I need to just get 50 TONS of sand put under my swing sets and jungle gym, I am hoping to be able to do that with the October 1st paycheck, we'll see. Once I receive my license in the mail (should be anyday they said!), I can call that day and sign up with Child Start for referrals and get on the food program. Today (Monday) I have an interview with another client. She will come over and meet me, we'll go over policies and then she'll go home and discuss it. If she likes me, she'll call me and I'll get her the paperwork to fill out and she'll give me a $20 enrollment fee. Then on the day she starts-I get full payment for that week. I cut out the week deposit and did the enrollment fee, because I was writing contracts and printing papers and getting promises of next day starting, then no show. So, I won't "invest" my time and energy until they pay the $20 enrollment fee! I feel so cruel, but it's got to be, I guess. I am over obsessed with arrangment of the daycare...I rearrange furniture at least every other day!!!! It's driving me bonkers!
Family: Things are going well. I've been spending a couple days a week at the Sabin house alone. It's nice!!!! At midnight, all the kids are gone and I sit and watch a soap opera or two and go to bed. I don't worry about cleaning until the next morning, knowing it's not going to get "piled on" at breakfast time, I can take my time. I do need to work on the basements at both houses and have seriously been procrastinating!!!!! The kids are getting into thier routine and beginning to grasp what's going on. They are adjusting well. This Monday we had no "Marriage for Keeps" class because of Labor day, and Rae's mom had off, so we weren't at the Sabin house. The kids were sad that Nikki and Becca didn't come to babysit. This past Friday night, I had Rae overnight and David worked really late, so I had all the kids overnight til Saturday at 2pm. We got a pull out couch from someone on freecycle, so the boys slept there, Christianna slept with me in bed and Rae in the pack n play. They all slept really well. Woke up at 930am and ate and played great! It was nice. We're doing more activities and music and such then "before the daycare", because now for that time I'm dedicated to them, not them and life and living space and animals, etc. The kids are singing on thier own, they love to sit and read and be read too. They are becoming imaginative and playful, more. It's neat. They adore Rae too. Ben is in a bit of a routine with schoolwork. He does his work from 3-5pm (depending on on fast and correctly he works). This is "naptime", so he and I get one on one time together. We haven't started the Abeka 3rd grade curriculum yet, we're finishing up "leftover" stuff and working on magazines (reading and wordsearches, crosswords, etc.) We get Ranger Rick, Big Backyard, Spider and Children's Digest. He loves the animals ones!
Marriage: Things are going well. David and I are learning lots of communication tools and techniques in class. The class before Labor Day was about "expectations" and we had 10 pages of questions to fill out and discuss. I filled out mine, David's working on his. Then we'll come together and discuss each thing, one at a time...talk about each other's expectations in that area and if they're reasonable, if we can come to a compromise, etc. It's big stuff and little stuff...like where do you squeeze the toothpaste tube and what does it mean to be faithful, etc. We did choose to discuss one HUGE issue over Labor Day weekend. We used the Speaker Listener technique and it went very well, in my opinion. We discussed things calmly and paraphrased and we each felt heard and validated and we discussed solutions, etc. I personally feel very very relieved and like I can move forward in life. It will take time to heal and I will just have to believe that in time he can forgive, and trust again and I'll just have to work really hard on reassuring him and doing trusted behavior. I don't think we've fought but once or twice since starting this class. This past Saturday was a tiff, but that was from total lack of miscommunication and very minor (and most likely PMS that I even let it get to me!)
Extended Family: My youngest sister, JoEllyn had a baby boy on Aug. 15th. He was 3+ weeks early (induced and then csection). He weighted 4 lbs and 10 ozs and 18 inches long. His name is Hunter William Sammons. He had a bunch of problems, and was in the hospital for a while, but is now home with the family.
My other sister Julie, is home from Mexico. She came in August 27. She had a wonderful time there and fell in love with her inlaws! She didn't want to come back. She left her 2 older children in Mexico with thier dad. They are hoping he'll be home at the end of September, but won't know for sure til his appointment on Sept 24th. Annabelle (and maybe Mena too?) started school in Mexico. Julie is very sad and heartbroken right now, being away from her children, but she knows she needs to work and keep insurance on the kids. Lucas (her baby boy) is in Chicago with her. Last I heard, she was going to be living with her best friend Susie, but mom was close to convincing her to stay with her, so I dunno what's happened with that. It's been a while since I talked to them, life is crazy on both ends of the phone! LOL.
David's dad is coming to visit us this week! He'll arrive Wednesday (which is David's birthday!!!!!) and stay til Saturday. He'll get to see our new house and the daycare house and spend time with the family. It'll be nice. He was in southern Texas in August helping with hurricane relief and he's been working hard on his own work and then his house when not "working", so this is the first chance he's had to come up in a while.
Houses: The Sabin hose is coming along nicely. I'm no where near ready to paint, but maybe I never will be. Maybe I'll just leave it the way it is and poster it with kid stuff instead of painting! I just feel like I'll never have adequate time to do that! The yard is ship shape (except I now need 50 TONS of sand!). I got furniture for free from someone moving to England, so there's plenty of living room seating. Basement is still a thorn in my side. I ordered a dehumidifier for down there, so hopefully that will make it better. We'll see!
The base house is great. I've come to a routine as far as both houses go. I spend half and half at each place. First "cleaning project" I hit when I come in to the base house is both bathrooms (that's not a place David pays attention too and with 2 potty training children, it's a big issue for me). Then the kitchen (cabinets and floor), then vacuuming. From there, who knows...mainly play with the kids and watch TV! LOL Again, the basement is a thorn in my side. Need to get down there, sort, organize, empty boxes. But then again, that's the beauty of having everything in the basement, right???????? Can't see it!!!!
Both houses are now very simple, decluttered living!!!!! It's all in the basement!
The End: I guess that's life in a nutshell here. It's crazy. I read my Yahoo! horoscope yesterday and was amused, thought I'd share..."You can't spend your life going from one adventure to another. Slow down and relax." So yesterday I did, I played with the kids and watched TV. It was very nice!!!! Today, it's back to the grindstone! Gonna get some work done, turn in some papers to the AirForce Childcare Office and pay a bill, then have that interview this afternoon and relax and play with the kids til class time this evening! Sorry so long, it's been a while and a lot has been going on.