games

here is hayden playing some game in one room, and the rest of the boys playing another game nearby. matt's brother jason came over with his two sons on saturday night for a game night, pizza party sleep over. it was fun to see them, i tried to play a game with hayden and by the tenth time of him killing me, i quit. and i actually beat matt in our double shot basketball game twice. big accomplishment for me.

roof leak

i opened the cabinet above and to the left of our kitchen sink and found condensation coming down from the ceiling. we assumed the leak from the roof would be major but when matty made his way through the attic entrance above our bedroom closet he found only a few cobwebs and sealed up any leaks quickly. here he is preparing to make his way up to the attic for the first time.

hammock

yo. here's the pic of me training our dogs that it's okay for them to get on our futon downstairs, but not on anything else... it works, most of the time. so matthew and i went to three stores today looking for hammocks. that is all i wanted was a beautifully comfortable hammock. he wanted a flat screen t.v. and thankfully he decided a hammock was a better purchase. we layed on the hammock both reading books, and within ten minutes he was out like a light. i knew he would love the naps on the hammock. it's just the greatest, and todays weather was perfect for hammock napping.

inspiration

Good morning!  I have had a great morning taking care of business.  I was offered the job that I interviewed for on Monday and the details are being worked out, I will talk more about it once it's finalized.  I am going to finally see a girl I've been mentoring (missed a visit because of the whole car with no lug nuts thing).  I pray that it's nice out because I want to take her to the petting zoo.  She LOVES animals and it's a great way to see her excitement for life.  There's a place nearby where she can go horseback riding.  I am going to try and teach her a little guitar (her foster parents got her one a while ago).  It's just so sad that this young girl has had such an abusive past but the potential for her to turn her life around is amazing to me.  For her to take control of her behavior and engage in all the good things life has to offer.  She has great support at home now and I hope to only add to that group.  She wants to roller skate and now that it's getting nice I hope to do that with her soon.  I just feel excited for her and all the good things she has to learn, relationships that could be mended, and to pave a new path for her.  

This new job that I might take is dealing with a lot of "troubled or at risk" youth with hard home lives.  I always thought I liked working on the prevention side of things more, but to be able to teach these kids a new way of life, that there is still hope, and that they have the power to create a new journey for themselves is just great.  Now, I am not naive I know it will be very challenging and not all of the kids will change or even attempt to, but I am hopeful and excited to try.  

thunderstorm

ellie needs extra love sometimes so matt was accommodating her by getting on the ground and letting her sit on his lap... jaxon of course gets jealous but it's okay.  sunday night we had a nice rain and thunderstorm and we took advantage of the time inside.  we all went to the basement (it's partially finished) and we moved some things around so we now have the futon near the t.v. in one room and then our computer and art room in the next room.  it was cozy and cold (in a good, cold basement i need a blanket kind of way) and we just watched movies and hung out.  i was writing for a little bit and i let jaxon and ellie on the futon with me (i know it's bad training, but they are too cute, and they love it) i'll post that picture up next. 

i can't believe it's almost may!

well, after all the car problems were solved, we had a very nice relaxing weekend.  although i was aching for a hammock and we have yet to purchase one so that just made the list.  it's that time of year again when my job seems to change course... well same idea just different title.  i had a great interview yesterday so we will see where that goes.  matt got some exciting news that his boss wants to promote him to store manager of the st. louis store! the "higher ups" didn't fully think through their budget so it may not happen, but for a good twenty minutes on friday we were ready and willing to move to st. louis! kinda crazy, but fun.  we are always open to that next adventure, especially when it comes to jobs.  we are both looking for something new, a step up if you will. and i know it will all happen in it's right time, when it does we will be ready.  

yep, it's the lugnut.... fixed it.

Yesterday I was on my way to pick up a mentee to go to that kite flying festival. On the highway I noticed my car was making a very weird noise, seemed to be coming from the tire. Now, over the past few weeks my car has made a weird noise when I turned a certain way and I figured it was due to some recent work I had done (new brakes) and was meaning to get it checked but could not find the time to do so. I called Matt and said this noise is persistent and seemed to be way louder than before. He suggested I come back home and switch cars with him. I got off the highway early so I could use side streets to get home as the noise wasn't stopping. I was on the phone with my sister and I said "I'm worried about my car, it sounds like my wheel is going to fall off.." (then it did!) I may have yelled and hung up the phone mid sentence. I was on a pretty busy street but luckily no one was right behind me, I stopped immediately and checked to see what had happened. I expected a flat tire (which my tires are pretty expensive so I was not happy about that) and some other random damage. I move around to the front right corner of my car to find my wheel still in tact (not flat) but it was just hanging by a thread upright against my car. I noticed that there were no lug nuts on (I had pulled over on the highway to find only 2 lug nuts were on my car, I thought that was strange and got off the highway right then). I walked about a block down the road I had just traveled to find one lug nut as evidence that over the last few weeks each one of my lug nuts had broken off! When the Tripple A guy finally came he said the last person to work on my car did not tighten the lug nuts properly. I always forget how nice it is to have a working, running car because the second there is an issue it always seems to be very annoying. However in this instance I am just so glad I followed my instincts, and that this didn't happen on the highway or anything. I have a nice phone call to my old mechanic tomorrow, I hope he will agree to fix it free of charge and then we are in search of a new car place. One more thing to remember... try not to tailgate because this could happen to someone driving in front of you and then you could get involved in a bad way too. Be safe!