Hurricane Dorian

We had an unexpected hurricane vacation over Labor Day weekend! Hurricane Dorian was projected to hit us directly on the east coast of Florida but it was so. stinkin. slow.

Almost a week before it actually arrived, school was cancelled after Labor Day which made it a 4 day weekend. The Friday they announced this, the kids basically did nothing at school except help prep the classes and the campus for the hurricane. They had to pull everything away from the windows, unplug any electronics, and put black trash bags over the computers and bookcases (in case of roof leaks). So that meant a movie day basically all day after that!

I can't stand how the news hypes up the hurricanes and gets people all whipped up into a panic, so I refused to worry about it while we were home. I decided to focus on the vacation part of being out of school but still getting paid :) We don't typically evacuate because of our animals, we aren't in a flood zone, we have a generator in case we lose power, and Anthony already stocked up on gasoline. There is no reason to stress and freak out, especially with a hurricane so far away!! Saturday morning we went to Walmart early to stock up on any groceries we would need before the crazed people woke up and started prepping for the end of times. I decided to treat myself to a Harry Potter lego set to work on over my surprise vacation. Rett was very excited to help me.

I've been wanting a shelf for our sorting hat (everyone has one of those right? lol), so I got one while we were at walmart and Anthony put it up for me. I decided that will be the spot for my Harry Potter Legos so that the boys don't destroy my creations.

Church was cancelled on Sunday, so Anthony didn't have early morning meetings and I didn't have to worry about singing time. By then the hurricane predictions were looking more serious, so we decided to board up our windows. We waited as long as we could to do it because it is such a pain and turns our house into a cave with no natural light. Anthony had to shave a few of the boards since they didn't fit with our new shutters.

This was our first hurricane with our trampoline, so we decided to take the net off and turn it over. It could have been fine, but we didn't want to take a chance.

The county ended up cancelling school for three total days, so we came back Friday after Labor Day. By the time the hurricane got to us, it was very weak and we only got the outer bands of it. We had some winds, and a tiny bit of rain. We were so blessed that there was barely any damage in our area, and we never even lost power! (Which in the heat of September is the best gift you could imagine!) We really did have a lot of fun hanging out, relaxing, and enjoying the time together. Anthony was supposed to start his new job, but they delayed his start date by a week because of the hurricane. So he got to be home with us the entire time!

We ate so much junk food waiting for the hurricane! This is what I sent to my family on our group text:

The boys played outside a lot and decided to build an epic fort in the living room. It evolved each day until it got to be a mega fort, with two secret areas for each boy. They begged us to let them sleep in it, so they spent at least two nights in it.

We had a few movie nights in front of the fort:

After being stuck in the house for a few days, we were dying to get out. So after the bridges reopened we decided to go check out the beach. The water was so high! The boys also got to play at the new beachside playground. It was a nice break while it lasted!

End of August

Picture of my cutie boy inventing new high fives with his friends from class:

James went with me to an early morning Walmart run and we discovered Bob, the inventory robot! He scans the shelves and records what needs to be restocked. Crazy!

Anthony and the boys have had a great time trying out his new crossbow. Anthony is determined to get a deer this season to fill our freezer with meat.

So many animals in the backyard at once!

James decided to try riding a two wheel bike (he has resisted even trying for years) and got the hang of it almost immediately!!! He was so surprised and excited. Now he loves riding his bike everywhere and dreams of riding his bike to school one day.

Anthony got a video of his very first ride:

Of the 6 snake eggs our snake laid a few months ago, only one survived to hatch. We were so happy that it turned out to be a yellow one like our female snake! I want to sell her and the boys want to keep her. Regardless we have to keep her for a few months and make sure that she is healthy and eating.

She just stays hidden all day, and she is so little and fragile we can't hold her very much or she won't eat and could starve herself.

Letting the boys check her out:

Three months ago Anthony interviewed and was offered a new job with Hospice of St. Francis in Titusville. We had been looking around for different jobs for him for awhile and nothing seemed to work out. We were really hopeful for this job and everything about it sounded amazing, I didn't even want to believe that it would actually happen because of how devastating it would be if it fell through! 

He will be employed by the hospice, but he will be working at Parrish Medical Center and will be running their Palliative Care Unit (palliative care is medically complex patients that are terminal but are still getting treatment). They don't have a nurse practitioner doing what he will be doing right now, it has been the project of the medical director of the hospice so she will personally be training him for three months. They had the job open for a very long time and they said that they wanted to be very picky in choosing the exact right person for the job. So Anthony will be coordinating with all the different departments at the hospital for his patients (since they will have multiple conditions), working with families, and the patients themselves. So a lot of communicating with providers, explaining and comforting patients and families, which are big strengths of his! 

We had to go through the hospital's credentialing process where they validate all of the things on your CV, your license, degree, practice history, etc... which took over a month and had to be approved by a committee. Once he was approved, the hospital sent an email out to all employees welcoming the new providers and we started getting texts from people who work there saying they were so excited Anthony was coming. We had no idea how they knew, but it was great to hear they were excited!

After giving a three month notice at his current job, it was finally time for his last day. Anthony didn't think they were going to do anything for him because he hadn't heard anyone planning anything. This is what he found at his desk in the morning:

It took him 20 minutes to unwrap his desk and supplies so that he could actually work!

They ordered the largest cake on the planet. I didn't know they even made cakes that big!

They also grabbed his truck keys while he was in with a patient and glitter confettied his car.

After everyone had some, Anthony brought the cake home and we decided to divide it into cake pans and freeze them for every birthday/special occasion until the end of time. We ended up with four entire cakes worth! It was a great 8 1/2 years but we are excited for the next chapter!

New Job and New School Year

At the beginning of the summer I interviewed for a job at the boys school and I got it! I wanted to have a job that would match the boys' school schedule so when this came up it was perfect. I am a teaching assistant for Kindergarten through 3rd grade (which is 16 different classes), so I rotate through them all helping kids who need extra help with finishing their work or who need extra attention on reading and math. I love being able to see the boys throughout the day and keep my eye on what they are doing in class. 

Since teachers go back to school a week before students, I asked my mom to watch the boys that week while I went to all the trainings. A few days before she came, the front office unexpectedly called me and said they forgot to tell me about some new employee meetings happening the next day! We were scrambling around trying to figure out what to do with the boys and we finally decided to meet my mom half way and let her take them to her house for a few days. They had a complete blast!! I would come home from work to an empty house and feel so lonely. They didn't even call me to say goodnight, they were having too much fun!

They spent time at my brother's apartment hanging out and swimming in his pool. Rett really loves his roommate's dog Winston. This is him snuggling Winston:

My mom spoiled them rotten and took them out to eat all the time. They even got ice cream for dessert! You can tell James just woke up. Look at his crazy bedhead!

Showing what he is eating for lunch...gross!

We met halfway again to trade back and take the boys home. Then my mom came when we originally planned and watched the boys the week before school started while Anthony and I worked. She is always such a life saver!

The first day of training was team building and was so much fun. The administration always has a theme for the year and this year was "High Five" (since it is the 5th year in a row the school got an A rating). The principal handed out a book study to go with the theme, they even did a little "High Five" dance that they got from an Australian kid's show that has a high five song and dance. The entire school is going to learn it this year. They put me in the 2nd/3rd grade team and we did all kinds of team games. I learned that many of the teachers at the boys' school are verrrrrry competitive! Also, they had all the new employees stand and introduce themselves and when I stood up and said who I was, a group of the teachers yelled and cheered (mostly teachers James has had), which made me feel so loved and welcomed :)

Finally the day came! Rett asked about when school was going to start every. single. day. of. summer. Rett got the same teacher James had for kindergarten and I just love her to death. He is going to have a great year with her!

This is James's first year having two teachers: one for reading/language arts and one for math and science. Both of them are new teachers to the school, but we went through new employee orientation together so I got to know them pretty well. He likes them both and he likes switching classrooms during the day. So far he is loving math and his willingness to read is getting better. Since they have silent reading in class every day, he has started coming home and telling me interesting things he is reading.

Anthony surprised me by taking the boys to the store to buy me treats and had them draw me a picture to congratulate me on my new job. I put the pictures up on the wall above my desk. James drew a picture of the school with me in front of it and fireworks in the sky celebrating me being there. So funny!

Rett drew a picture of me in the front office of the school and made sure to add the flag pole so I would know where it was.

A friend from church texted me to see if we would be willing to take one of her pregnant cats (they have 15 cats and their landlord is not happy about it!). I couldn't resist the thought of baby kittens, so I said we would take her. Her name is Cheeby. She is really sweet and the boys are loving having a cat that isn't scared of kids.

Unfortunately, a few days after we got her she had a miscarriage and lost her kittens. It was sad, but we were really glad that she recovered well and didn't have any complications. Anthony sent me this picture after he found her stuck in a gift bag from the closet she was hiding in.

Even though James is still going to his community cub scout pack, the church pack invited us to go with them to their service trip to the Bishop's storehouse in Orlando.

They gave us a tour of the facility and told us all about what farms the church has around the world that produces the different products. It was so interesting!

They loved the huge walk in refrigerator and freezer.

One of the boys asked what this big machine was in the corner of the warehouse. Our guide told them it was a machine that saran wraps the pallets for storage...then he decided to demonstrate by wrapping all the cub scouts! They thought it was the best thing ever!!

Now it was time for our service portion! We assembled 50 hygiene/food kits so that we could deliver them to a local food pantry. A few of the boys were assigned to assemble the boxes and everyone else was given a spot on the assembly line to pack the boxes.

Rett was the "supervisor"

Look at all of those boxes!

Before we loaded all the boxes in our cars, we got to walk over and visit the Orlando Mission office since the storehouse and mission office are right next door to each other. James and Rett got to take turns sitting in the mission president's chair!