Thanksgiving Crowds

Our Thanksgiving tables were abundantly full this year - with food AND people!

in the back: Sarah, Dan, Leah (unfortunately, Kallie was napping when we took this picture), Phil, Kiff, Emma, Scott, Autumn, Grace, Nomie, Maggie, Lucy, Mom, Dad, Grant, Grandmom, Jeff, Sylvie

seated: Gray, Rob, Mary, Peter (Rob's brother)

We had overnight guests Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday nights, so we had two full days of family family family! Good times and good memories! :)

That is, except for the fact that the whole time I have had severe back pain! I'm still feeling like an invalid today. At the moment I'm set up on a heating pad on the couch by the fire... Sounds nice, but boy is it awful. But I'm SO grateful for my family who pitched right in and helped with cleaning up and dishes and even laundry. Mom and Grandmom especially were invaluable, and I'm so grateful how they jumped right in without my even asking. It's unfortunate timing with the holiday and all, but, like Dad said, it's good for my sanctification -- to let go of my need to have a house in perfect order and be the perfect hostess!

*sigh*

Also unfortunate was that little Kallie has had a pretty bad fever - so bad that Leah took her to the ER on Thanksgiving night! There was nothing majorly wrong; it was just a virus. But the poor little thing was so uncomfortable and pathetic! :(

Anyway, HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!
 And now we enter the Christmas season ~ yay!!!
:)

Changes

So... guess who's going back to school....... :)

I never thought I would ever go back to school after I got married. I thought that what I wanted was to have a husband and a home and kids, and never to work (outside the home) again. I love being married, and I love having my own home - so much!! But so far, God hasn't had kids in the cards for us. We have been married for over two years, but so far I haven't had even a hint of a pregnancy. We began working with a fertility clinic to find out if something was wrong; and nothing was wrong. I went on Clomid (a drug that causes more than one egg to be released), hoping to increase my chances. Still nothing.

But, believe it or not, I started to doubt whether or not I wanted to have my own kids. I know that might sound crazy to some of you, but I'm 35 and Jeff is almost 56; we're not spring chickens. I get tired and stressed easily, and... I'm not sure I can picture myself with a newborn, day in and day out... and then a toddler... and so on. (Although I know that if God does give us a child, we'll both have enough strength to get through those young years.) So, we've put a stop to fertility procedures. We don't want to force anything. If God wants us to have a kid, great! If not, great! It's up to Him. And I can say that genuinely!

After all, God knows what we want better than even we do!

By the way, Jeff and I have talked about adoption; what is on our hearts more than anything else is to adopt an older child (age 10-ish) from the States - a kid who just needs a family and a good home. But we don't think now is the right time for that. We really feel the need to have a couple years to ourselves once all Jeff's kids are out of the house. We never had those alone years in the beginning... and we feel the need for it.

So... that said... I am going back to school to be a middle school math teacher! There is a shortage of teachers for math (and a few other subjects) in this area. Virginia has a program called "Career Switchers" which makes it easy for those who have at least five years of work experience, any bachelor's degree, and course content knowledge in the subject area they want to teach, to become certified and to be placed in the classroom after only one semester of teaching courses!

Teaching is the one thing I have kept going back to all these years, but I never followed through with getting certified. The thing is, I feel like I have a lot to offer; and yet right now I'm sitting at home most of the time. It feels wasteful. I want to make use of what God has gifted me with - and I want to contribute something to the world around me. I love teaching kids (especially middle school and high school age), and middle school math is the one area I feel confident enough in to teach. I took the Praxis II test in Middle School Math last Saturday, and I'll find out how I did in another week or so. But I thought I did pretty well, and I anticipate passing it with no problem!

I'll be applying to the Career Switchers program in December, and hopefully begin in the spring... which puts me in the classroom by next fall! That is, if I can find a position. But... middle school math is a shortage area not only in Virginia as a whole, but also specifically in Loudoun County; so I don't anticipate any problem finding a position.

I am pretty excited! And Jeff is too. He is 100% supporting me in this.

I love how you never know where God is going to take you. :)

Little Stinker

Is anything more fun than pulling everything out of a kitchen cabinet?

Look, Aunt Sylvie! New toys!

Excuse me while I just get some more...

Let's see... that one, and that one, and that one...

Oooh! And this one...

Making her get-away through the dining room...

Hmm... I wonder who did this...