Best Friend....New Business *Updated*

One of my very best friends has started up a business. Actually she has been practicing for quite a while now, but has decided to make it legit and advertise. She is a news reporter/photographer and is starting her own photography business. She takes awesome pics. I should know because she did both Evan and Katie's senior pictures. What is so great, is that you get a disc with all the pictures on them (since my kids were her guinea pigs a couple years ago, I think she had taken over 400 pictures of Kate!) and you can pick and choose your favorite shots and then have them developed. She is MUCH cheaper than her competitors.

Unfortunately this blog is only for you locals (sorry Lee-Anne unless you want to pay for her trip to Australia-LOL!)

*UPDATED*: Oops, I forgot to add the link. ;)

http://blacksheepstudio.weebly.com/

Rain, Rain go away! And other ramblings.

It has rained and rained here for the last week. We had almost 7 inches of rain in 4 days with another 3 1/2 in the two days that followed. It is still raining today! We should get a break tomorrow and for the next three days after.

Mike is enjoying his new job, except for the fact that he is not getting many hours in. At this time we are afraid his income will be about half of what it was last year. I really enjoy driving school bus and the hourly pay is terrific, but since it is only part time, I don't make a whole lot. I have been seriously considering going back to work someplace full time. I just don't know what I can do and make close to the same per hour as what I am making driving bus.

Mike and I looked at some houses last night. They are repo's and we really liked two of them. The problem is that we would need to sell ours first, and I am afraid these homes would be long gone before ours would sell. It is just so hard to know what to do.

Olivia starts pre-school in a week. She is so excited it is all she talks about. Tomorrow we go to a get-to-know your teacher meeting and she has been practicing trying to say her teacher's name. Katie headed back down to Bloomington this week to start her sophmore year at IU. Morgan has been back to school for 7 days now and is starting to fit in to the big JR High. She was pretty stressed the first couple of days. I think she is feeling much more relaxed now that she hasn't been late to close or gotten lost.

Another really cute video...

http://youtube.com/watch?v=fBQnqf4ejQM

This is too good...

Check out this really cute video clip...

http://kerux4oaks.blogspot.com/2007/08/pachelbel-bedtime.html

Job update

Well, Mike started a new job this week. It is not for the company he was hoping to get in with, but at least he is able to be home every night. He seems to really like it, but he was placed with this company by the union so we don't know how it will all work out. We are just trying to have faith in God right now that He will get us where we need to go.

Jewelry

There is a blog I have been following for a while. It is a couple from Montana that while waiting to adopt a little one from China was drawn to a beautiful 11 year old that was waiting for a family. They brought Lana home last year. Now Lana is trying to be an entrapeneur and make and sell jewelry. It is very reasonably priced. Check out her creations and maybe buy something from her to help her get started.

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5236125

Bad news....is an understatement

Last week Michael was "Let go" from his job. He had been with the company for 17 years and they let him go with no explanation, no warnings, nothing. How can they do this? Well they technically laid him off with no recall date. They are in the middle of their busy season so there is no way they needed to lay him off. We know it was their way of firing him from the back door, so to speak. We are speculating but we think that they didn't like his attitude. He has expressed his feelings about a couple subjects lately but nothing major and nothing that they could legally fire him for, so hence the lay off.

SO, right now we are sitting around waiting for the union to call him with a job. He has gotten a couple calls, but they were too far away or one was with a company that has a reputation of being a "hornet's nest" atmosphere. He called his brother and found out the company he works for is looking for more people. The owner of said company called Mike and said he would like him to come work for them. Problem is, Mike has to wait for the union to dispatch him out and if there are other guys ahead of him he has to wait his turn. The other issue we have is that this company is two hours away (almost to Chicago) and so Mike would have to live with his brother during the week and then come home on weekends. The good thing is that the pay is better than his old job and the atmosphere is hopefully better than his previous company.

Mike's ego and self esteem are really taking a hit right now as is our savings account, so the last week and a half we have been doing alot of praying in our house.

Home from the fair

We had a very productive week at the fair this year. Morgan showed her two goats that she raised from birth and she placed second and fourth in her classes. She was pretty excited.

Olivia also had a blast riding the rides at the fair.....as usual. :)

We camped at the fairgrounds which was really nice since we didn't have to fight traffic or get up early to drive in to do our chores. We sold all of Morgan's goats so she gets to take a little break from barn chores until next spring.

OWWWIEE!

I have been having problems with my feet for about a year now. Lots of pain first thing in the morning and by afternoon I am limping around the house. I can't be out walking around for more than an hour and a half and I can barely put my feet down. It started out mild but by late spring until now it is almost unbearable. Well, today I finally took the bull by the horns and went to a podiatrist. I have Plantar Fasciitis w/ mild heel spurs. It is a fairly common ailment but I have a pretty bad case of it. (Basically the ligament that goes from the heel of my foot to the balls of my foot is in bad shape. It is torn and not able to heel because I have to walk.)

Treatment: Well I started out by getting cortisone shots in my feet (OW!) and then they wrapped my feet. I got anti-inflamatory meds. and I have to wrap my feet in heating pads for 20 minutes two times a day. I also have to stay off my feet as much as possible for the next 3 days while the cortisone starts working. He also gave me heel pads to put in my shoes and next week I go in to have cast molds made of my feet to have special inserts made. We are crossing our fingers that this will all work and I won't have to have surgery.

Hodge Podge

Busy, busy summer. Here are a couple of our latest activities.

Painting inside the playhouse...

Those involved include...Rachel (mom), Katie (big sis), Morgan (playhouse owner) and Alex (friend of Morgan's).

New and fun things to do with the inflatable bouncer Olivia got for Christmas. (not originally intended for the pool.)

Target practice with Katie's boyfriend Sunny (who has never held a gun before this day let alone shot one.) I think Mike is just making sure that Sunny knows he is not afraid to use his guns and is a pretty good shot.

Finding a "mate" for our sweet little Annie who should be due in August.

And Evan....well just being Evan.....

Morgan and Olivia's new playhouse

Today we got a playhouse from a friend. This is how we brought it home (9 miles down the road going 12 MPH). It was crazy. The driver (our friend) could not see over it so he had to be guided down the road and he kept standing up to look through the windows.

Here we are setting it in place.

Now all we need is a coat of paint, the deck and steps put on and the electric run to it.

New Website

For those that know me, I have been selling Mary Kay for almost 12 years. I now have my own website at www.marykay.com/rstahley

so anyone who wants to order Mary Kay through me can do it easily.

Soooo busy...

We just got home from two weekends in a row camping. Man, it just seems like time is flying by! To catch up from the last couple weeks....

We have gone camping two weekends in a row.

Olivia started Bible School today at a little church just down the road from us (not our church, but it is so close I couldn't resist signing her up).

Morgan has started her summer job babysitting twin 14 month olds for the summer. (More work thatn she thought it would be.)

Walking goats several times a week to get them ready for fair at the end of July.

Trying to keep our swimming pool looking good this summer. (That is a part time job in itself!)

Took Olivia to her first "Chinese playgroup". There are a group of moms and dad that get together once a week and let their little ones play-they are about 45 minutes away. I decided to finally go and meet everyone and their adorable kids.

Going to graduation open houses. (still have one more to attend at this time)

Just hanging out and enjoying the summer. :)

Then and Now DVD

Someone in my DTC group put together a DVD for our group of our little girls "then and now". It is our referral pictures of our girls and then pictures of the girls one year later. You can see it on You Tube. Click the link below. (Olivia is in the Guangxi daughters group)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljJmrCbEIsk

Olivia is moving in on Katie's territory. HAHA!

Camping

This past weekend we went on a campout with three other families. Thirteen kids in all. A fun time was had by all.

Olivia is 3 today!!!

A friend of mine made her cake for her and Livi had friends and family over for her third birthday party today. She was SO excited. She has been talking about it for two weeks. It was so fun this year. Last year she had only been with us for two months and she didn't really know what a birthday was. This year by the time her birthday came around again she had been to a few birthday parties and she was waiting for HER cake. And in the words of Olivia..."It is beautitul!" (PS: that is not a misspelling on my part for beautiful.)

BTW

Update...
My kitchen is totally done now. When I get the chance I will post a picture of it (gotta clean it first) :)

Also, Livi is doing great on the potty issue. She hasn't wore a diaper since she "went" in the toilet a couple weeks ago and she hasn't had an accident either. She is also VERY self sufficient. She goes all by herself and wants/needs NO help.

Our New Toy

Here are a couple pictures of our new toy.....

We got a really good deal on a used camper so we decided to splurge and get it. We are going on our first camping trip this weekend. If I remember to take my camera there will be more pictures to come.

The evasive poo

We finally have accomplished the last potty training hurdle. We have conquered the "poo" issue. Livi was doing great with staying dry but I believe she was having a mental block on the poo issue. A couple days ago she was caught in the act and was rushed to the bathroom and FINALLY had made an accomplishment! YEAH! Ever since then she has been dry and poo free. Just like that. Day and night. She is so proud of herself. Now if she could just get over having to tell everyone. I am sure all the people we passed in Menard's the other day were not as impressed as she was that she had "pooped in the toilet and now wants a treat". But she thought it was her duty to tell them all anyway. I am sure this too will pass. *sigh*