Creative Ideas: September 2014

Wow it’s been a long times since I’ve touched this blog! I have thought about updating often, but there never seems to be enough hours in the day…especially with two kids in school and involved in activities! A lot has happened/changed since my last post in 2011:

I am working full-time, doing what I love- graphic design field. John left his employer of fourteen years, started working at a sister company, and within three years he was promoted to a senior developer in a team leader position (LOL-that isn't the technical job title). John joined our local volunteer fire company, earned his firefighter II and EMT certification. On August 7, 2014 we celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary.

Benjamin started 1st grade on August 25th, he's doing well and coming home daily with positive marks on his class chart :-). I can't get over how much homework a 1st grader brings home- Reading, writing, math, spelling words and vocabulary words!!! Yep, I miss the easy carefree days of the 3 year old preschool program ;-). Benjamin played T-ball for a season, but we quickly realized that wasn't a sport for him. Benjamin started taking swim lessons around 18 months, he's moved up the "ranks" of swim America and on September 12th he'll be evaluated for the Swim America Diplomat swim team. He is starting boy scouts this month and has shown interested in joining FFA (Future Farmers of America).

Ben has a kind heart, but since he tends to be a follower, he has occasionally gotten into trouble with peers. He is shy at first, but quickly opens up; Ben is the type of child that is friends with everyone and does well when placed with new students. At times, Ben shows signs of anxiety; he is also sensitive and empathetic. He will ask about kids that are out sick and tries to comfort those that are hurting. Benjamin is very organized and thrives on routines.

Benjamin enjoys reading, math, art, crafts, video games, bike riding, swimming and being outside. With the exception of swimming, Benjamin is not very athletic and quickly loses interest in sports.

Hayden started pre-k on September 5th; John and I are excited to see him learn, grow and mature this year as he prepares for Kindergarten in the fall of 2015. Hayden played Spring soccer in 2014, and is also moving up the "ranks" of Swim America.

Hayd is EXTREMLY active, sociable, the class clown child, and at times has an aggressive side. Hayden has an awesome imagination, he loves to play make believe and dressing up in his superhero costumes.

After a lot of research-I realized Hayden has an allergy to synthetic dyes (this describes Hayden on synthetic food dyes), I'm constantly reading Nutrition ingredients these days, but it's helped our family eat healthier. We've come along way, at four years old- Hayden can looks at a food, know if he should eat it or not. On his own doing he'll choose healthy foods over junk foods; LOL- as I was writing that last sentence, Hayden handed me a chocolate fruit popsicle asking "you take the chocolate off and leave me the mango?"

Hayden enjoys running, swimming , fishing and riding his scooter. Hayden is not one to sit still long, he needs to be constantly moving and engaged in activities.

Unfortunately we haven't been doing a lot of at home art/creative projects; however one of the creative Christmas traditions we added to our family three years ago was the Elf on the Shelf. While Elfie isn't half as mischievous as some of the Elves out there (he'd be kicked out of the house if I had to clean up after him daily), we still have a fun together.

For the second year, we purchased season passes to Hershey Park.

We also have a family membership to the Lancaster Science Factory

We've taken family vacations over the years; August 2014 we spent a week in Ontario, Canada.

The big news for 2014 is we sold our house and are in the process of building; I'm still in shock, we sold our house in 15 days and had to be out within six weeks. Talk about answered prayers, not only did we sell our house within a short period, but we had two offers on the table to choose from. We wanted to keep Benjamin in the same elementary school, John wanted to stay within his fire district; that left us with three development choices. Two of those were a no, one is a swing area for redistricting and the other we couldn't foresee it being our forever neighborhood (until nursing home/grave), that left us with one choice...to build. We moved out of our house in July and are currently short-term leasing, while our apartment is nice and we have friendly neighbors, we are anxious to begin the next chapter in our new home. The house is scheduled to be complete October 31st, we settle November 14th and plan to move in November 22nd (we want to take a week to do painting before moving in). I'll be honest, as excited as I am, I initially had some worries. I can now say God has been in control the whole time and he's bestowed so many blessings, and "slapped" me in the face reminding me this is his plan and he's in control.