A and B

Now that we've been here for a couple weeks, we're starting to settle into a normal routine. I am, however, currently jobless. Despite the fact that this doesn't work out with the whole paying-our-bills thing, I am loving being a stay-at-home mom! But, I have applied for more retail jobs than I can count (but don't tell them I said that since I applied to be a cashier) ;) and have heard nothing back. Please pray for us. I know I need a job, I just can't find one.

Anyway, along with our normal routine has come school sessions again. My original plan was to follow letteroftheweek.com curriculum which consisted of learning 1 letter, color or shape (alternating weeks), and number per week. However, my genius child learned everything too fast so we have had to move on! He already knows all of his capital letters, and 1 through 9. I don't know that he's old enough yet for lower case, and I don't want to throw him off, so we've started learning that every letter makes a sound. We did A last week, and B this week.

Last week's activities all had to do with the letter A. We're starting with short vowel sounds, so we learned about words like apple, and alligator. I am making homemade flashcards for each letter. I could buy them, but I'm too cheap. :)

I'm trying to get actual pictures of whatever it is, because I made the mistake of printing a cartoonish cow I found, and Hunter kept calling it a pig. And when I looked at it's nose, I couldn't blame him. So, real photos it is! When I introduce the letter's sound, we go over the flashcards and point out the sound at the beginning of the word. I try to point out words throughout our day, like banana, and whatever A or B words we come across, but I have to admit - I'm not very good at remembering that.

I printed out a picture of an alligator he was supposed to color and then cut out and glue on a popsicle stick. But after he colored it, I couldn't get myself to cut it up! Look at how he was even careful to color the web addresses at the bottom of the pages!

We're also working on writing the letters, and we tried writing them in rice... (This one is mommy's) :)

Here he is now just making a big rice mess. But he was having lots of fun, and getting messy sometimes is what being a kid is all about!

I made this paper with every letter of the alphabet, and then I added some extra 'A's. He had to find them and circle them. He did really well with finding them, but we're still working on his small motor skills. He let the marker wonder a couple times. :) And really, instead of circling, he colored the A's.

Sometime this weekend we will be making binoculars out of toilet paper rolls (we didn't have empty ones until today!)

Here is a preview of next week and 'C.' Note the Camaro. I couldn't put 'car.' Yes, Hunter knows it's a car, but he can look at that picture and tell you it's a Camaro. Yes, Greg is very proud. :)

Sunset

So, with us having moved to the east coast, you'd think we'd have some pretty gorgeous sunrises...

However, oddly enough, I got this gorgeous picture of a sunSET.

Isn't God awesome?

Ice Cream Truck

Yesterday afternoon, we were all outside in our front yard while we detailed the car. Suddenly, we heard a magical tune floating through the air. Everytime I hear the ice cream truck, I think about how much fun it was as a kid to get to buy something and how all those little things are exciting to show to your kids. So, Hunter and I went to the truck and we bought him some ice cream. He got a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle ice cream treat.

Being that he's two years old and doesn't understand the phrase, "Hurry up and eat it before it melts!" We took it to the backyard, took his shirt off, and let him have a ball. Here he is showing the camera what he got:

Please note how the ice cream is still nice and neat...

I'm not sure you can see it because of the size of the picture, but try to see all the melted ice cream dripping down his hand. Now try to guess where it ended up after dripping off his hand...where else than his bare feet?
He definitely enjoyed it, as did the dog. She chased him around licking up the ice cream off of the cement (ouch!)
Enjoy the following pictures and keep in mind that you were not the one that had to clean him up. ;)

I think he kind of looks like a TMNT in this next one...

I didn't get any pictures of his coated belly and feet, but trust me, it was a sticky mess! And as you can imagine, he got a bath afterwards!!

This and That

I know, I know, I'm a bad blogger. (And I also know that's not the first time I've said that!)

Anyway, we have arrived! We are safely in VA Beach, and Greg has started his new job. It's only been a week, but he really likes it there so far, something that I am VERY thankful for. I realized last week that I have never known him while he's had a job that he liked! He likes the people, and of course, he likes working on the cars! I know it's still new and exciting, but I pray he continues to like it.

We are in a townhome that we HATE, but thankfully we're only in a 3 month lease so we're looking for another place to move into in June. For whatever reason, there's mostly 1 car garage houses here, and the majority of them have been converted into another room of the house. We don't get why people don't want garages here and it's making it hard for us since we want a TWO car garage!

So since Hunter takes after his father, he grew out of his toddler bed a LONG time ago. He was pretty much the length of his mattress. So, we finally converted to a big boy bed! We got the headboard and frame off of craigslist for an awesome price, the mattress at Sam's Club for cheap, and the sheets on sale at KMart! After all was said and done we spend $190. I think that's pretty good. And Hunter loves the Cars. :)

Here he is the first night when I went to check on him. He was hanging off but still in! And it's been 2 nights and he hasn't fallen out yet!

Then, Saturday morning I ran an 8k (which is 4.97 miles.) My goal was to run it in 50 mins and I did it in 48:53! I am so proud of myself. I was for sure feeling it on Sunday, but it was worth it. :)

Here I am with my medal. This is my second medal now, and Greg and I were talking about getting a shadow box or something for our running medals we're earning.

These are my stats.

When I signed up for this 8k 2 weeks ago, we registered Greg for the VA Beach half marathon in September, and then at the expo on Friday, he signed up for the Outer Banks half marathon NEXT MONTH! I never thought my running my half last year would turn into this, but we really like this running thing! Each run makes you wanting more! It's definitely addicting, but at least it's a good addiction!

Virginia Beach - Here We Come!

Ok, so I have been a bad blogger! I know I haven't updated this much in a few weeks, but let me tell you why!
We move from Phoenix, AZ to Virginia Beach, VA in 3 DAYS!
Greg's last day of school is today, and we got a wonderful job offer in VA.

Let me start by saying that the job process is all done through his school. He made a list of all the Volvo dealerships in the country that he would be interested in working at. His final list ended up being 19 items long, with 18 of them in the South (#19 was in Metro Detroit, where we're both from and was thrown in there as a last resort.) Our #1 choice was Charleston, SC. We loved living in the South and having the beach right there, but we wanted a bigger town than New Bern, yet one that still had Southern Hospitality. The rest of the dealerships where scattered throughout NC, SC, TN, etc. #18 was Virginia Beach, and Greg said he actually just threw that one on there to make the list longer, lol. So anyway, he turned in his list of dealerships he was interested in, and the school sent out his resume to everyone on the list. After resumes were sent out, it was Greg's job to call them and follow up and see if they're hiring. However, VA Beach called the school and said they wanted Greg to work for them! We still talked to our other top 5 (or so) dealerships to see if they were hiring though. None of them were, so that was just more confirmation that God wants us in VA Beach.

When God brought us out here to Phoenix, we thought we were just waiting for Audi's specialty school to start. Greg had been accepted, but they had postponed his start date so we just had to wait for them to start up again. Then, after moving here and about 2 months of waiting, we got a call saying that they decided to close the school indefinitely. Greg's only option was to attend Volvo's specialty school. There was lots of questioning when we were going through all of that, but I trusted that God's original plan all along was for Greg to become a Volvo mechanic and this was just the only way for Him to get us to agree to it. ;) So now that we have a wonderful job offer in VA Beach, at a dealership that said they specifically want Greg, I trust that we're still in the Lord's will. My prayer is that we will fall in love with VA Beach (even though Greg is a little disappointed that our winters may have snow in them) and we can settle down there, find a church we love, and raise our children there. Although we wanted to be farther south, I'm at least thankful the Lord is giving us the beach! :)