Mike got a letter today...from Ak-Chin Fire Department...He tested and interviewed with the department a couple weeks ago for a part time fire-fighter position...
So today we got a letter...offering him the position!!!
He is so awesome! So, on Monday he calls the number to accept the offer. It's a reserve position, but this is an awesome opportunity in such a tragically stagnant economy.
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Saturday, October 31, 2009
Halloween 2009
First off, the kids put their own costumes together this year and did a great job. Bethany went as 'Nicki' an American Girl. Niko wanted t be a race car driver but hadn't tried on the costume. It was a one-piece jumpsuit and when he got it on...uh...it was too small...uh...inappropriate. So he went with a ninja again...for the 4-5 year in a row, but he was very content with it. Matthew dressed up as a cowboy/sheriff.Our neighborhood decided to throw together a block party this year. It was a ton of fun. We brought out the BBQs, grilled chicken, burgers, hotdogs and all the fixings...The kids all had a great time with their neighborhood friends and all ages played so well and had a great time together. We have SO MANY kiddos on our street, let alone the neighborhood-babies to teens and they all got along. They're all such good kids too from good families. Four families are expecting babies in Dec/Jan, so it was fun to see all the bellies too...Good times!
We still went around the neighborhood and did trick or treating in smaller groups. The weather was perfect. When we got back they had the bonfire going in the street. So laid back and relaxing. Kids wet right to bed as soon as they got into their jammies. They had a great night.
Go, Go, Go...
Matthew has begun to get books to take home to read to us. Even though they are simple enough to memorize, which is pretty much what he does, he still has to sound out some of the words to figure out what it is.
Here is a video of him reading his first "take-home" book.
Here is a video of him reading his first "take-home" book.
Friday, October 30, 2009
Firefighers for Chist Monthly Breakfast
Wednesday morning, we went to the Firefighters for Christ monthly breakfast. Mike shared his experiences that he brought back with Peru. It was an encouraging morning with good conversation with the people that came. Love how sharing and listening in a group of great people can challenge your thinking and ideas on things and give you new fresh perspective. "Iron sharpens iron"
Even though I was more than half asleep ad in a complete fog, it was such a great morning. Mike's presentation was awesome and he hit on some great points and spurred on some good brainstorming in the group.
Again, I felt like I was in drunken fog the whole morning, so I'm not even quite sure what I said all morning or if it even made any sense. But oh well, at least Mike had intelligent thing to say :)
Even though I was more than half asleep ad in a complete fog, it was such a great morning. Mike's presentation was awesome and he hit on some great points and spurred on some good brainstorming in the group.
Again, I felt like I was in drunken fog the whole morning, so I'm not even quite sure what I said all morning or if it even made any sense. But oh well, at least Mike had intelligent thing to say :)
EMT Clinical
I had my clinical on Tuesday night at the Gilbert ER My shift was 7 pm to 7 am. IT. WAS. AWESOME!!
First of all, the people were incredible, fun to be with, a great team, and laughed all night...
Lots of people with the flu...got to do several EKGs...set up heart monitors...assist with stitches...did some suicide watch...a bunch of routine stuff, nothing traumatic. no codes or tones of blood or anything, but good experience relating to patients and the people side of being an EMT.
Good experience!
First of all, the people were incredible, fun to be with, a great team, and laughed all night...
Lots of people with the flu...got to do several EKGs...set up heart monitors...assist with stitches...did some suicide watch...a bunch of routine stuff, nothing traumatic. no codes or tones of blood or anything, but good experience relating to patients and the people side of being an EMT.
Good experience!
Shamrock Farms Field Trip
On Tuesday the kids and I took a field trip to Shamrock Farms with their school. It was such a fun time. Both of them asked to go back again.
It was a nice day of 90 degrees, but the wind was picking up and because they had just plowed all the fields around the farm there were lots of dust devils and squinty eyes. But other than that, it was a perfect day.
We started by gathering in the welcome barn, walking through the displays learning about the history of the farm and the uniqueness of their milk. Then we ate our picnic lunch with fresh milk and an ice cream treat afterwards. Then it was time to get Mooooving on the tram tour.
Surprisingly the group consisted of a lot of older kids from junior high and high school. The farm is typically used to getting a lot of preschools and kindergartners, so to have an older crowd, it was fun for them to understand the information on a deeper level as far as nutrition and all.
Shamrock farms has 1000 acres including a portion devoted to the organic products they market. The organic cows are feed organic food and allowed to graze in the pastures. Otherwise, they are pretty much fed the same items and treated the same way. Which actually speaks volumes to their standard product. The cows are fed a mixture of different grains and seeds that they mix on site.
We visited the really cool playground, complete with dairy theme. Then headed to the milking barn where we witnessed hundreds of cows going through the process of being milked. Everything was very clean considering the circumstances. There is a whole process of cleaning the milkers and cows as they come and go. The milk comes out of the cow, is cooled, transported to the pasteurizing plant and on the shelf 48 hours after leaving the cow.
It was a nice day of 90 degrees, but the wind was picking up and because they had just plowed all the fields around the farm there were lots of dust devils and squinty eyes. But other than that, it was a perfect day.
We started by gathering in the welcome barn, walking through the displays learning about the history of the farm and the uniqueness of their milk. Then we ate our picnic lunch with fresh milk and an ice cream treat afterwards. Then it was time to get Mooooving on the tram tour.
Surprisingly the group consisted of a lot of older kids from junior high and high school. The farm is typically used to getting a lot of preschools and kindergartners, so to have an older crowd, it was fun for them to understand the information on a deeper level as far as nutrition and all.
Shamrock farms has 1000 acres including a portion devoted to the organic products they market. The organic cows are feed organic food and allowed to graze in the pastures. Otherwise, they are pretty much fed the same items and treated the same way. Which actually speaks volumes to their standard product. The cows are fed a mixture of different grains and seeds that they mix on site.
We visited the really cool playground, complete with dairy theme. Then headed to the milking barn where we witnessed hundreds of cows going through the process of being milked. Everything was very clean considering the circumstances. There is a whole process of cleaning the milkers and cows as they come and go. The milk comes out of the cow, is cooled, transported to the pasteurizing plant and on the shelf 48 hours after leaving the cow.
From the milking barn we traveled through the climate controlled "Spas" where the environment is kept at a constant 78 degrees year round, even in the 120 temps in the summer. Extreme temps either hot or cold, will affect the stress level of the cows and in turn affect milk production.
Next stop was the baby nursery after traveling through the labor/delivery pasture. 30-35 babies are born a week on the farm. We didn't gt to see any births though...But plenty of babies. After feeding some, we headed back to the welcome barn and ended our tour.
It was a great day and the kids are looking forward to going back someday.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Today is my Anniversary!
Well not our marriage anniversary but actually my 2nd year anniversary at Food for the Hungry here in Phoenix AZ. It has been such a wonderful experience working at Food for the Hungry and there partnering with me in my pursuit to be a Firefighter. Anyways working at Food for the Hungry has been such a blessing thought I would share with you that it has been 2 years already!
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Yesterday the boys (minus Matthew) got off to their camp out. Matthew was still carrying around a 101 degree temperature and coughing. So he had to stay home. Good thing he did too. Last night his temp went back up to 102.5. He seems to be doing better today though. His temp is a normal 98.7; first time since Monday morning that it has been normal. So maybe things are looking better for him.
Mike and Niko made it up to camp and were having a great time the last I heard, setting up camp, building camp (because it's a Royal Ranger group, this year he'll be doing the lashing and such, building all sorts of things around camp). Can't wait to hear the stories and see the pics.
It's a warm one here this weekend. Temperatures went back up to the 100s. Got to love AZ. Maybe it will cool off here soon.
We went through Bethany's room today. It was long over due. Gearing up for a garage sale here...We got through it with a bit of tears and maybe a little bit of yelling as well, trying to reason that she really does not need that candy wrapper from Valentine's Day last year...And OH MY, the water bottles-seriously, we found about 25 of them. I should have counted them...
Matthew is playing with the camera right now as I write this. He discovered how to use the timer on it, so he's setting it all over the house and taking pictures of himself...Pretty funny. Glad to see him up off the couch and out of bed doing something.
Depending on how he is doing, we are planning on going to a community talent show in Mesa tonight. Should be a lot of fun. Dancing, singing, magic, music, comedy, acrobats....So we shall see...
Mike and Niko made it up to camp and were having a great time the last I heard, setting up camp, building camp (because it's a Royal Ranger group, this year he'll be doing the lashing and such, building all sorts of things around camp). Can't wait to hear the stories and see the pics.
It's a warm one here this weekend. Temperatures went back up to the 100s. Got to love AZ. Maybe it will cool off here soon.
We went through Bethany's room today. It was long over due. Gearing up for a garage sale here...We got through it with a bit of tears and maybe a little bit of yelling as well, trying to reason that she really does not need that candy wrapper from Valentine's Day last year...And OH MY, the water bottles-seriously, we found about 25 of them. I should have counted them...
Matthew is playing with the camera right now as I write this. He discovered how to use the timer on it, so he's setting it all over the house and taking pictures of himself...Pretty funny. Glad to see him up off the couch and out of bed doing something.
Depending on how he is doing, we are planning on going to a community talent show in Mesa tonight. Should be a lot of fun. Dancing, singing, magic, music, comedy, acrobats....So we shall see...
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Fall Break
This week we are all enjoying the fact tht the kiddos have a week off of school. It has been so nice to not have schedules to abide by or lessons to get through. I still have school and Mike still has work, but it's been a pretty low key week.
Sunday we made a faster-than-lightening trip over to CA to attend Mike's cousin's wedding. Being that we were not going to go at all, we were so glad that we made it over for the wedding, got to see fmily and connect with people, enjoy the wedding. We are so happy for Brian and Laura. They have been longtime sweethearts and it was so cool to be a part of their special day. Laura was a beautiful bride. She is typically not much on make up or dresses and she looked like a princess for her big day-georgous! Brian looked proud, delighted, content, and honored to be standing by his bride. We wish them the best in their life together.
Monday, matthew ended up getting sick and has been since. High fever, barking cough. I guess there was a good reason we didnt stay any longer in CA than what we did. He would've gotten everybody sick and we would've had to travel home with a very sick, uncomfortable little boy...
Trying to get some stuff done around the house this week. Haven't ackomplished a whole lot. Our thoughts is that we should move into a smaller place so we will be forced to get rid off all our crap that we dont need. Simplify!!
Registered for classes last night for Spring Semester. Health Care Spanish, Haz Mat, and a fire fighter fitness class...Can't wait for next semester, but i have to make sure I get through my EMT class this semester first
Boys are getting ready for their campout this weekend. Hopefully they'll all be feeling well enough to go. Bethany and I have a big weekend planned too.
Sunday we made a faster-than-lightening trip over to CA to attend Mike's cousin's wedding. Being that we were not going to go at all, we were so glad that we made it over for the wedding, got to see fmily and connect with people, enjoy the wedding. We are so happy for Brian and Laura. They have been longtime sweethearts and it was so cool to be a part of their special day. Laura was a beautiful bride. She is typically not much on make up or dresses and she looked like a princess for her big day-georgous! Brian looked proud, delighted, content, and honored to be standing by his bride. We wish them the best in their life together.
Monday, matthew ended up getting sick and has been since. High fever, barking cough. I guess there was a good reason we didnt stay any longer in CA than what we did. He would've gotten everybody sick and we would've had to travel home with a very sick, uncomfortable little boy...
Trying to get some stuff done around the house this week. Haven't ackomplished a whole lot. Our thoughts is that we should move into a smaller place so we will be forced to get rid off all our crap that we dont need. Simplify!!
Registered for classes last night for Spring Semester. Health Care Spanish, Haz Mat, and a fire fighter fitness class...Can't wait for next semester, but i have to make sure I get through my EMT class this semester first
Boys are getting ready for their campout this weekend. Hopefully they'll all be feeling well enough to go. Bethany and I have a big weekend planned too.
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Been a while
I can't believe it's been two weeks already since our last wimpy post.
Things have been pretty busy for the primary post writer on this site. Schools getting more and more involved with each chapter that goes by. I've been getting busier with my volunteer work with Mesa Fire. I became a Lead Connector, which means that I'm just going to have more meetings to go to and will be involved with different advisory boards within the department and whatnot. In addition to that, we're rearranging the kids school schedule so I can be more involved than I have the past month or so. Mike has been doing the majority of the teaching and I have been pretty much just doing Language Arts and Social Studies with them. Mike doesn't mind it at all (bless him) but our new schedule should even out the load a bit more. This is fall break for all the kids and my instructor is out of town so we're just reviewing this week. so because it's a lighter week schedule wise, we are going to do some room sweeps and purging around this house. Get things organized and cleaned up. Can't wait!!
Mike's work has been going pretty well lately, from what I understand. I'm sure the issues are still there, but since he's gotten back from Peru, I hear less about the frustrations that revolve around that place. He has a couple interviews and tests coming up this month for fire related stuff. Mike's ahd a bunch of work with Paramedics unlimited lately and has been doing a bunch of Pop Warner games, in fact that's where he is today.
The marriage class we are co-teaching is challenging us, but it is so cool and encouraging to be a part of.
Tomorrow we're off to CA for Mike's cousin's wedding. It will be a quick trip, but it will be great to celebrate with the family.
Matthew's been doing great at school. He has a 'girlfriend', Ashlynn. She's in first grade!...Anyways, trying to emphasize that he's too young for that stuff. He then says that they're just friends then. But then the next day we go through the same scenario again. High School should be interesting.
Niko and Bethany are doing great in school as well. Still loving it. We have our challenging days for sure, but it has been the greatest year by far. We are going to a dairy farm in a couple weeks for a field trip. We were disappointed to have missed the last one two weeks ago.
Weather is cooling off in the mornings and evenings so it's been nice to take advantage of that by being OUTSIDE!! Hiking season here we come!
Things have been pretty busy for the primary post writer on this site. Schools getting more and more involved with each chapter that goes by. I've been getting busier with my volunteer work with Mesa Fire. I became a Lead Connector, which means that I'm just going to have more meetings to go to and will be involved with different advisory boards within the department and whatnot. In addition to that, we're rearranging the kids school schedule so I can be more involved than I have the past month or so. Mike has been doing the majority of the teaching and I have been pretty much just doing Language Arts and Social Studies with them. Mike doesn't mind it at all (bless him) but our new schedule should even out the load a bit more. This is fall break for all the kids and my instructor is out of town so we're just reviewing this week. so because it's a lighter week schedule wise, we are going to do some room sweeps and purging around this house. Get things organized and cleaned up. Can't wait!!
Mike's work has been going pretty well lately, from what I understand. I'm sure the issues are still there, but since he's gotten back from Peru, I hear less about the frustrations that revolve around that place. He has a couple interviews and tests coming up this month for fire related stuff. Mike's ahd a bunch of work with Paramedics unlimited lately and has been doing a bunch of Pop Warner games, in fact that's where he is today.
The marriage class we are co-teaching is challenging us, but it is so cool and encouraging to be a part of.
Tomorrow we're off to CA for Mike's cousin's wedding. It will be a quick trip, but it will be great to celebrate with the family.
Matthew's been doing great at school. He has a 'girlfriend', Ashlynn. She's in first grade!...Anyways, trying to emphasize that he's too young for that stuff. He then says that they're just friends then. But then the next day we go through the same scenario again. High School should be interesting.
Niko and Bethany are doing great in school as well. Still loving it. We have our challenging days for sure, but it has been the greatest year by far. We are going to a dairy farm in a couple weeks for a field trip. We were disappointed to have missed the last one two weeks ago.
Weather is cooling off in the mornings and evenings so it's been nice to take advantage of that by being OUTSIDE!! Hiking season here we come!
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