Well, summer is over. We're back to structure and routine and schedules. I love it! I love summer too, but the uptight control freak inside me really loves the structure of the school year. I love calendars and check lists and all the neat things that come along with Brent working and Mariska going to and from school.

 

I took my CNA exam two weeks ago. I had no problem passing, it's just like riding a bike. - I still have yet to get my actual certificate in the mail, which is really annoying, but it should be here any day now. I've applied to 6 different part time hospital jobs and haven't heard back from any yet. I'm actually having a pretty hard time with it and I've spent a lot of this week in a sort of frustrated depression. I'm trying to snap myself out of it, but sometimes that's a lot easier said than done. I'm really trying to remember that all things are in Heavenly Father's hands and that everything will work out according to what he knows is best for us. It's still hard to deal with not a single phone call though, I was super excited to pass my test and get out there and really "hit the pavement" getting a job. I was really hoping that my resume wasn't quite so pathetic and out dated. But hospitals are really looking for people with recent experience. My last actual CNA experience was 6 years ago!! Plus, I've actually never applied for a job and not gotten it, so this is pretty new.

So, that being said, I'm going to keep applying, but I'm also going to print out some resumes and go apply at some hospice companies. If nothing pans out with them, I'll start going back to some nursing homes. I really hope to only work part time through the school year and then find a full-time job next summer. - And get going back to school for my RN. But I can't do either of those things if I don't find something else to update my resume with during the school year.

 

Brent is just about as tired and overwhelmed as he can get!! Second grade is really kicking his butt! They are so dependant and he has to help them with everything, it is very different from 5th grade. Even though he's really beat, we are thankful that he's having the experience of a younger grade, because it will help him in years to come as he moves on into administration.

 

Mariska is in 1st grade this year! She loves school. She absolutely thrives during the school year. She gets bored really easily during long breaks here at home. During the school year she is busy and entertained and social and LOVES it! We have a lot of friends down here that homeschool... and I just don't get it. It certainly only works for certain types of people, and I don't think Mariska or I are those types! She has had fun this week especially because her good friend from last year, whom we thought was moving away over the summer, actually didn't! So she's loving that. She's also having fun because two of her friends from church are at her school this year now too. They weren't last year. She even gets to car pool in the morning and ride the bus home with one of them! This week has been really great for Mariska.

 

Brynley is as sweet as ever. She's still pretty obsessed with Candy Land, but it's not constant anymore. We're really excited for next week for Brynley because she begins her little once a week preschool down the street. It's being done by the same young girl that did it for Mariska 2 years ago. They do a great job. It's only for 3 hours every Wednesday, but they pack a ton into those 3 hours and Brynley is going to LOVE it. Also next week the library starts "Story Time". Brynley has certainly missed that over the summer. I'm also hoping that once I find a job, she'll get to go down the street to a woman's house that has other kids with her during the day. I'm not sure if it's run in a structured way like daycare is, but she'd love going and playing with other kids once or twice a week.

 

Last week on the last day of summer break, my friend and I took our kids to a place called "Pump It Up" and we all had a BLAST!! They had 5 different giant bounce houses, the kids only really played on 3 of them, but they had the greatest time! I am definitly going to look for more coupons to one closer to our house. Brynley keeps asking me if we're going to go to the "jumping store"... everything to her is a store. After we went to Six Flags, she kept asking to go back to the "roller coaster store". We'll go back someday!!  

Mariska on her first day of 1st grade!! I can't believe how big she is getting!! I love it! It's so much fun!

Brynley helping me clean. She says, "I need to wash"... her dusting my mattress is a BIG help.

Brent plays a game with the girls called, "Can't get past me." - It's the most basic of games you can think of, but the girls LOVE it. All they have to do is... try to get past Daddy. I apparently didn't really get a picture of Mariska, I'll have to next time.