Life is hectic!! I start school again Monday! I'm very excited. I'm going to be getting a certificate in Medical Administrative Support at the College of Western Idaho. It's a year long program. I can do that, you know? I can do a year. I can see an end to that! My degree is on hold indefinitely. When the kids are much older, I will pursue a BA or BS in something again.
My books for this semester were $600. I'm certain I've never had to pay so much for books before.
My wonderful babysitter and sister in law, Christine, moved with her family to Kuna. Sad day. I decided I would rather not drive to Kuna every day for childcare. So I looked around and decided the kids will be going to Salvation Army for childcare during school. They have a great after- and before-school program. They will provide transportation to and from school, provide breakfast, an after school snack, help with homework, and good activities, all for only $200 a month for both my kids. I was paying more than that to Chris and Christine! So I will be saving money on childcare, which is great, since I'll be in school and everything.
However, I absolutely can't afford the Salvation Army in the Summer. The rates are something like $37 a day per kid. Too much for me. WAY too much. So I hired a temporary sitter, the daughter of a friend of mine from work. She watched the kids for three weeks and my kids already miss her.
Now that I've updated myself, here's some pictures of our Summer. They're not the best quality because all of these pics are from my iPhone. For your viewing pleasure:
Grandma got Anna and Emmy matching outfits. CUTE! Anna got a haircut earlier this Summer (by Yours Truly)
Here's something we do frequently each Summer; visit the fountain by the police station.
Anna got her ears pierced.
The kids spent two 2-week periods at their dad's this Summer. It was excruciating for me. Actually, it was supposed to be 2 weeks both times, but the 2nd round, I got the kids back a week early. Woot! But they came home with these:
Anna's dog bite on her thigh
Matthias' dog bit on his foot
If you think that looks bad, you're right. Matthias' was infected. I got them back Sunday night and found out the bites happened Wednesday. The kids' dad has a little tiny miniature dachshund that evidently was on a rampage that day. I took the kids to the ER and sure enough, Matthias' bite was infected. Got him some antibiotics and a topical ointment and the swelling and redness slowly dissipated. We won't talk about how upset I was that the bites were neither reported to me by their father nor treated by their father. What matters is that the kids are okay now, and don't seem too traumatized; they still like Atticus just fine.
Speaking of Atticus Finch.
hehe.
Here the kids are at the pediatrician's for their ER follow up appointment. They were pretending. :)
In July, I decided to buy a swimming pool for the kids. That was a really bad idea because by July, all the good pools are sold out. This was the best I could find. Too small for my kids, and they only played in it a few times. Sad
I got a haircut! I love it
Anna was watching TV with her friends one day. SO CUTE
Observe the trailer trash "curtains." My curtain rod broke and my blinds fell down because I couldn't screw the reinforcements into the area above the window. I'm too weak. So the blinds bent and fell and, well, we had to have SOMETHING covering the huge living room window, so we used a blanket. Just last week, a guy from my bishopric came over and put up my blinds. Yay!
We went to Settler's Park
Matthias is the brown kid on the far right. The random little dudes to his left are genuinely Hispanic, and not as dark as my white boy!
We washed the car
Haha, last week we headed to the fountain again and Anna discovered she has some room at the bottom of her swimsuit, and discovered she could make it filled with air, and decided that nothing was more hilarious. I don't blame her.
This last photo, I snapped today. Matthias fell asleep on my bed for a nap, and he fell asleep on my hand. So tender!
It's been a great Summer and I'm so sad to say goodbye. We all three start school on Monday, and we're all three pretty excited about it.
Happiness to you and yours!
