News

We got some good news yesterday, not. We found out that we won't be paid through the summer. We had set it up that we would be paid through the summer. Teachers have the option of getting paid through the summer or through the school year. Through the whole year is considered a 26 pay period and through the school year is considered a 21 pay period. So we didn't get paid on Friday like we should've. Charlie called payroll yesterday to find out why and we found out that for some reason the school district decided, at the beginning of the school year, to change everyone to the 21 pay period. The union president tried to tell them they couldn't do that without permission and thought that was that. Well, I guess the school district didn't agree with him and went ahead and did it, without notifying people that they did. So we did get a pay increase throughout the year, but we assumed it was the normal annual teacher salary raise. We had no idea what it really was. There is nothing the school district can do now because they have paid him his full contract. So we for sure won't be getting any more pay checks until the next school year begins. What a great thing to have happen, huh? Thank goodness we have some money in our savings. We were holding on to it just in case Charlie didn't have a job in the fall. We will be able to live off of that over the summer, but we're going to have to be very careful with the way we spend it. I think this is probably a good thing because I have become a little bit lackadaisical with spending lately. This will help me get my butt back in gear where I should've been in the first place. It's interesting to me how the Lord gives us learning opportunities. I feel blessed in some ways about this, but I'm still pretty mad at the school for not notifying us. I can't imagine what other people are going to do who don't have a savings account and didn't plan on having a summer job. If they are like us, they already have a good portion of their summer planned with vacations and such and won't have time to get a summer job. Plus, it's not like it's so easy to just go find a job on short notice now-a-days. What a crappy thing to do to your employees. Just one more reason we love Beecher schools.

Fun night at Kensington

Last night was the annual concert in the park with the Detroit Symphony playing a concert on Maple Beach in Kensington Metro Park. The weather was fabulous and we were able to park close to the concert venue and sit on a hill above the stage. The wife/girlfriend of the principal trumpet player was sitting right in front of us and they had picnic lunch together just before the concert. The music was great; they played medleys from both West Side Story and My Fair Lady and ended with a double encore of "America the Beautiful" and "Stars and Stripes Forever." We arrived about an hour and a half before the concert; had a nice picnic lunch; and enjoyed watching the people before and after the concert. There was one family that arrived and walked down in front of us and set up their stuff at the bottom of the hill. The husband wanted to get more in front of the stage and so found a place he thought their family would fit and tried to convince his wife and children to move over. She went over and looked but in the end prevailed and he had to be satisfied sitting over slightly behind the stage at the bottom of the hill. Mom was able to take a number of good pictures as sailboats, canoes, and other types of watercraft pulled up, dropped anchor, and watched the concert from the lake. When we went last year we arrived fairly early but made the mistake of parking on one of the large open grassy areas where there are softball diamonds. Since we arrived so early we got a good place to park but there were hundreds (maybe thousands) of cars that came in after us and parked behind us and it literally took hours (or really many minutes -- maybe 45 minutes) to get out. Last night we walked to our car, sat and listened to the Tigers' game for a few minutes, and then got in line and drove right out. It was nice that the police were directing traffic and we left the park in a much shorter time. We now know what we need to do for future concerts. All in all it was a very enjoyable evening. I'll add some pictures to let you see how beautiful the lake and boats looked.

18 weeks!

Yep, I finally had my first doctor's appointment yesterday and they put my due date down as Nov 24th. I thought I was about 14 weeks along, but apparently I'm quite a bit more than that! They scheduled another appointment for me next week to do some additional blood work and checking. They couldn't get a great shot of the gender yesterday, but the doctor thought it might be a boy. I'll be getting another one in a few weeks to find out for sure. I don't know how clear the due date actually was, as some things on the baby were measuring bigger and some smaller, so hopefully when they do the next ultrasound they'll get a better picture.

The baby's heart beat was right on, and they were pleased with my health and how everything is going, except that my first appointment was so late. Well, if their calculations are right, I didn't even take my pregnancy test until I was 11 weeks! The remaining 7 weeks were the hassle with getting approved for Medicaid.

I just love the doctor's at my junky Medicaid clinic. Even though the facilities aren't the greatest (it's housed in a converted motel), I have always love the doctors, their policies, manners, and focus on family health. Here is a cute story from yesterday. I took Macie with me because she had a fever and I didn't want to leave her with anyone, so when the doctor came in to question me she was cuddling with me on my lap. The doctor asked if I smoked, no, drank, no, was taking prenatal vitamins, usually, exercised regularly, yes. He was pleased with all those answers. Then he pointed to Macie and said, "Well, it's obvious you are a very good mother." I thought that was sweet. So, 18 weeks. Crazy.

One down and three to go

Just thought I'd add a quick update to my CPA journey. I just found out yesterday that I passed the auditing portion of the CPA exam that I took on May 29th. I thought I had done well enough to pass as I completed the exam but I had my doubts the last little while. The passing score is 75 and I imagined that I got a 74 and just missed the target. I passed with a score of 79. Now I can move on to the next exam, which is financial reporting. I will take the exam on July 17th and feel pretty good about the review studying I have been doing lately. I think I should do okay. I'll keep you updated. I really appreciate all your support.

Charlie's job

So I think I told everyone that Charlie had been pink-slipped a few months ago. Well today the district held their annual "bid" meeting where the teachers can go and bid for a different job if they want to and have higher seniority. Because Charlie has been laid off he couldn't bid until everyone else who are still actually employed are finished bidding. So after the smoke had settled, Charlie's job was still available so he took it. So, at the very least, Charlie will be employed at Beecher again in the fall. I'm so thankful that he will have a job. Even though it is where it is, it's still a blessing.

My new calling

I am the new primary president in our ward. Stop laughing!

I am sad to leave the young women. I felt like I was just starting to build a good rapport with them and gain their trust and respect. I felt like I was making head-way with them. I'm going to miss them.

I also am nervous and apprehensive about my new calling. I have a lot of work cut-out for me. There is not much parental support of the kids in our ward (I ran into that in young women too) which makes it so hard to have the kids there consistently. Without consistency, there is a lot of chaos sometimes. I'm confident the Lord will help me, I'm thankful for the blessing I received when I was set apart and I know I can do this, it just might be one difficult task. If you could remember me in your prayers it would be great.

Merrit the talented

No one can say my son isn't good with money!

Happy birthday Makayla!

With the super busy weekend we had over Memorial Day weekend I forgot to wish my little girl a happy birthday. She had a good one though. This cake she has was from Kroger. She loved it.

Karate

We gave our kids the chance to try karate for the last six weeks. Makayla, Chelsea and Jaxson gave it a try. They had fun and actually earned their yellow belts. This is the belt advancement ceremony they had on Friday. They were all pretty excited about it and want to go on to earn more belts. Jaxson wants to get his black belt. We think we will keep going, but probably not until after July.



After they got their belts they got to break boards. They were really pumped about it. Jaxson was so pumped he did it so quickly that I barely got to record him doing it.






Lexi and Merrit even got to try it once the ceremony was over. The instructor/owner of the karate place is a really nice guy as are the other people who take lessons there.

Baseball

Merrit has been wanting to play baseball for a few years. This year we were finally able to sign him up for it. Monday was his first game.

This is his first up to bat.

He played right center first. This is his in the outfield. His team started off pretty poorly and were losing by quite a bit. In the last inning they actually had a rally and scored like 8 or 9 times. They still lost, but it wasn't as bad as it could've been. He is loving playing. I'm glad he is able to finally do it.

Baseball

Merrit has been wanting to play baseball for a few years. This year we were finally able to sign him up for it. Monday was his first game.

This is his first up to bat.

He played right center first. This is his in the outfield. His team started off pretty poorly and were losing by quite a bit. In the last inning they actually had a rally and scored like 8 or 9 times. They still lost, but it wasn't as bad as it could've been. He is loving playing. I'm glad he is able to finally do it.

Wax musuem

Makayla had a school assignment to research about a famous historical person from Michigan. She was assigned to do Henrick G. Meier. After researching, she was to write a brief description of his accomplishments and other facts of his life and then memorize that part. Today her class performed those parts for their "Wax museum." Other classes from the school came to their room and went around the classroom and listened to Makayla and her classmates tell about who they were. They were suppose to dress up like the person they researched and pretend to be a wax representation of that person. I think she did really well.

I know it's kind of hard to her what she is saying, but I wanted you to get the jist of what she did. From what I remember, this is what she said," Hello, I am Henrick G. Meier. I was born in 1952. I am famous for starting up and owning Meier grocery stores. I am also a writer. I wrote a biography about Senator Arthur Van(something). My connection to Michigan is that I graduated from the University of Michigan in 1973 with a degree in English literature. Some other interesting facts about me are that I have two brothers and no sisters. I am the oldest kid in my family. I am still alive today. Thank you for listening." She worked hard to memorize all of that and I think she did great. Not everyone in her class was able to memorize their parts.

Our Last Picture

We had a visitor the other night and thought you might enjoy seeing him. Of course, I had just washed that window, I guess that's why he had such an easy time climbing it, no dirt resistance.

Corn Casserole

We haven't had a recipe up for awhile so here goes. Harvey had 4 servings of this at dinner the
other night. Other than junk food, that is definitely the most servings he has wanted of anything ever.

Cream Corn Casserole
1 pkg. Jiffy corn bread mix
1 stick melted butter
1 cup sour cream
1 egg

Mix above ingredients, and add 1 can cream corn and 1 can whole corn (drained). Bake at 350 for about an hour, or until it's light brown and doesn't jiggle. (You can add peppers and onions, but then the kids probably won't touch it.)

The recipe is from a blog on the Prairie Home Companion website called "The View from Mrs. Sundberg's Window." I like to check in every now and then, very midwestern comfort genre.