Ch-ch-ch-CHANGES!!

What a difference just a few weeks can make! It's not only the look of my blog that has changed. Our summer is in full swing, and though we didn't have concrete plans, a job offer has landed us in a whirlwind of newness. Not only will my husband be starting a new job with huge potential, but we will be moving to the New Orleans area very soon. Luckily, we know a few people in the area, so we won't be totally lost. We are looking forward to the amazing food we have heard about, along with the rich history of the area.

My children have had a season of firsts.

The boy celebrated his first birthday in May (his birthday party was outside in a monsoon, luckily we had the shelter of the pavillion).


My oldest is jumping off the diving board of the neighbor's pool and swimming the length of the pool (a huge feat).


My youngest daughter is swimming across the width of the pool (not bad for a kid with no formal swimming lessons). I was truly amazed.


The oldest went on her first overnight camp with our church without her mom or dad to watch her every move.

Ok, so when did my kids get this big? Madelynne's stay under our roof is half over, and we still have so much to teach her!

Soon I will be setting an academic example for our kids, as I am planning on starting graduate school soon.

As I posted before, I will get pictures of the workboxes up very soon, before they become packed and shipped to NOLA! The next two weeks will be very exciting and stressful for us as we look for a safe and affordable place to live.

A Busy Summer

There isn't much with which to update my blog, but I could say that there is a lot of busyness going on this summer. I wish I could say that I have personally accomplished a lot, but alas, it is not the case. At least the kids are having a good time, and they have plenty of activities going on.

A recent move has catapulted our lives into limbo. In the meantime, our church is one stability our kids can seem to find. They are involved with the activities there. Madelynne just returned from her first summer camp away from mom and dad with the church group. This week we are attending a local VBS, and we are gearing up for our church's VBS next week.

Aside from church activities, we are swimming and playing tennis. Ally looks so cute in her tennis gear. Miss Maddy is finally going into the deep end of the pool without flotation help. That is a huge step for her. And the boy is running all over creation keeping us all on our toes.

Last week we signed up for the Summer Reading program at the library. Allyson is already 1/4 of the way through. Madelynne started on her list a little later because of church camp, but she is really speeding through her first book.

We are also doing schoolwork through the summer. I have discovered a system for the kids which I hope to implement into full swing for the fall. It will help keep me focused on what they need to be doing, as well as provide more structure for them. It's a system based on Sue Patrick's Workbox System. We are doing a modified version using one box per child with name tag holders and manila envelopes. Eventually, I would like to get different bags instead of using the envelopes, but for now, they work. Lucas even has his own box (where we put toys for the day). He has no numbers or system, but he knows it's his box. I will be posting pictures of these boxes later.

An awesome program to use!

It's been a long time since my last post, but this latest find is one that I need to tell the world about. I have been filling out applications to various places, and unfortunately, using a pen to complete pages you have printed out from PDF files lends itself to one of three things with me - 1) smeared ink on my pinky finger (the plague of a lefty), 2) blots of White-Out throughout the page, or 3) numerous retries to get the document looking just right. Most of us don't have typewriters anymore (those old electric ones we used in high school). So, how do you fill out a pre-printed PDF that does not allow you to type in the information? I have found the perfect solution!

It's called Infix. It works like a word processor for your PDF file. Now I can fill it out my PDF like a typewriter on my computer, and simply print out the flawless product.

Take a look at the features:
Works like a Word Processor
Make seamless changes to paragraphs
Copy and paste graphics, text and artwork between PDFs
Spell-check in five languages
Search & replace text in long documents
Familiar tab, margin and indent controls

Now I can do all that I need to do for filling out forms and applications. And it's green to boot, because you only have to print your completed work one time.

If you are interested in checking out the product, go to http://www.iceni.com/infix.htm They offer 3 versions: a trial version, a pay per use, and a full license version. I HIGHLY recommend it.