Summer days passing by

This summer has been like no other. There has been very little relaxation or fun times. Even though that may sound like I am complaining right off the bat, I am not. A couple of times I have felt discouraged, but for the most part things have been good, just busy. This is the first time in our 14 years of marriage that we have not taken a vacation, and I'm sad to say that it has affected my mood somewhat. I didn't realize how much the little things mattered to me, but I am happy to report that God is doing a deep work in my heart, and as a good friend reminded me, this is going to be one of the tomato stakes in my life that I look back on and see what the Lord has done. I'm spending much more time in the word, because I need it.

The preliminary hearing that we went to in early May did not accomplish what we had hoped for, so now we are preparing for a trial in March 2010. We have the chance to settle this without the trial in a settlement hearing in late July, but I am not anticipating that the other side has anything better to offer than what we can accomplish ourselves with future business.

Amanda and Austin are earning some money in the business, while I am keeping up with the bills and learning some new business skills.

Evan and Luke tag along with the workers some days, and for the first time as a mother, I know what Moms who send their children to school feel like. I have had some fantastic days. I probably would grow tired of it, if all I had was housework to keep me busy, but since I am planning on working part time for Nate next year, so I don't think that I will have too many of those kinds of days in my future, but there is some potential for a freebie now and again. My schedule for next year is a little daunting, for a woman who has not left home in 12 years. (not literally) School for the little boys, GED classes for Amanda, homeschool for Austin, and work for me. Whew!!

I just got a physical update on Dania who turned 7 May 2nd. She weighs 46lbs and is 45 inches tall. That all sounds so small compared to my rather tall, big boys.

The little boys have some good incentive for reading this summer. On Tues and Thurs, they can go to the school library and read books for money. They get $1 a book, unless it is a chapter book, they get $2. They have to read the book and then take a quiz on the book. They can take 6 tests a day, so Luke has the potential to earn $12 a week, and Evan $24. They each made $2 today, since it was our first time going, and they only had 1 hour for reading and testing.