This Week at Our House # 51

51 weeks. The year is coming to a close...

1. I wish, wish, wish I could say that John got a job. He still hasn't. We will be having Christmas jobless. But, so many angels have come and helped us. We will be having a very nice Christmas. We already are.
2. I got a job. I will start as a night time custodian working for the church on January 5th. The hours will be just right for a stay at home mom. I will work from 9 pm to 1 am. John feels pretty unhappy about it, but it has become necessary. Life is hard and we often have tough choices to make. I feel blessed that I was able to find a job with hours that will not disrupt the lives of our children too much. 
3. Ruth had a rough week at school. She had a big chemistry test, and she broke her toes in gym class. She's glad to be on vacation now. We get two full weeks off and that should be just enough time for her toes to heal. Ruth has gotten 2 neighborhood jobs. She is doing some house keeping each Saturday for one neighbor and she just got hired by another neighbor to watch her 9 year old daughter everyday for an hour after school. The workload is just about right for what she can fit in with her school load, and she can walk to both jobs. We really have been blessed.
4. Kate has been babysitting more. She had a very busy week with tests, and a huge final debate tournament. All she has wanted to do since school got out on Friday is to watch TV. That reminds me of when she was 6 and had a primary lesson on talents. Kate came home and told me that her talent was watching TV. I'm glad that she turned into a good student anyway. 
5. Johnny had several tests and an orchestra concert. He has an amazing orchestra teacher who preforms with the Utah Symphony Orchestra and always has the kids play really nice pieces. I love going to Johnny's concerts. I think Johnny probably broke a toe too.
6. Adam had his pinewood derby. He worked really hard on his car and while it won the first race, it lost all of the rest. Adam cried. Poor guy. 
7. Rachel has been trying to be friends with Ruth. I just think it's adorable. She finds things to relate to Ruth and then just talks to her. I just love how my kids like each other and try to be friends.
8. I took Anya to the doctors on Monday. There wasn't an obvious infection, but because she had had such a high fever for so long, she got an antibiotic. I am not sure if she just got better or really needed the antibiotic, but 24 hours after she started the medicine, her fever finally broke.
9. Joseph is being a stinker this Christmas time. He keeps sneaking to see presents. Ruth wrapped a bunch of presents and put them under the tree. Joseph opened just enough of Anya's to see what it was and then told Anya. Later, he snuck into our closet to get a glimpse of the unwrapped gifts in there. We have not had a kid do this before.
10. Joshua loves to cuddle. I am trying to get cuddle time in with him each day. He's better boy when he gets enough snuggles.
11. Arwen went shopping with John and was just so good. 
12. Suzy is moving all over the house, though she has not shown any interest in the stairs yet. I expect that will be coming soon. She's very interested in food, so now that she is 6 months, I am going to slowly let her try out food.  

This Week's Pictures