Taking Chances and Having Faith

We have been caught up in the whirlwind that is Fall in our house!  Dan is busy with 16 credits of classes this semester, the kids are enjoying mulitple day-a-week activities, and work continues to be very busy for me! It seems like things stepped up into warp speed once we hit September, and haven't slowed down yet!  The girls started school and are adjusting to Kindergarten.  The transition has went beautifully, with all three kids being happy to go to school. After school, starts the mad dash to Football 3-4 days a week for Sam, Dance for the girls 4-5 nights a week, piano, and Wednesday night catechism for Sam.  On Sunday's mornings, the girls are attending Sunday school at our church.  Dan has two night classes this semester on Monday and Tuesday nights and the rest of the week he flips back and forth between keeping up with homework for his remaining online classes and running the household at home.  Most nights, we just pass each other in the doorway, give each other a kiss, and say "Goodnight"!

As crazy busy as things are, we know they will slow down at some point. Sam wrapped up his first tackle football season with winning the Championship game for his league!!  It was very exciting to see the kids on the high school field running out as their names were announced over the PA system!  Especially heartwarming for Dan as it wasn't all that many years ago that his own name was being called on the very same field. A proud moment for us!  Good thing that Dan was on the field coaching- I don't think he would have made it through the game sitting in the bleachers as it was a very close game!  Sam will have his end of year party this week, then things will slow down a bit for him.

Sam getting his name announced at the beginning of the game:

Sam with Dad and his buddy Easton after the game:



In between sports and dance, we have had some time to enjoy Fall hiking and of course, the Halloween festivities!  We sort of missed Halloween last year with our entire family getting H1N1 in the same week, so this year we made up for lost time!  The kids had a total of 5 Halloween parties and Trick-or-Treating on Halloween evening, so got some use out of their costumes this year!

Spiderella:

Raggedy Ann:

Pirate Sam:

 Our Motley Crew:

Even though things have been a littel rough for our family lately due to the economy, we are so very fortunate in so many other ways. There are certainly difficult days when we question the choice to have Dan out of the workforce to go back to school, but when I see how much our children have benefitted from him being able to be home with them, to have him attend school fieldtrips, and just plain be there for them, there is no question that we are doing the right thing.  Work is so busy for me right now, I just can't imagine how much crazier my life would be if he wasn't home taking care of everything at home!  I am soooo spoiled to have dinner on the table each night (even when he isn't going to be home!) and all the cleaning and laundry done, in addition to him taking care of all the kids homework.  Money is tight and life is stressful at times, but we have a whole new appreciation for everything we have - most of all, each other.  It is certainly a big chance for us to take to have Dan work towards a completely new career right now, but I have faith we are working the right direction, and that we will be happier down the road as a result.  In the meantime, we are making the best of it and trying to laugh off the worries and stress!  So far it is working - one more year to go!!

~Ali