So I've been thinking a lot lately. A lot about contentment and where I, as a wife, mother and person, and we, as a family, are in life. (Thanks, mostly, to the sermon series at church right now.) And sakes alive is my head overflowing with thoughts and ideas and hopes and dreams and...wow!
To begin, I realized this week that one year from now, we will be registering Milo for kindergarten. (Um, seriously, how is this possible?!?!) And for a while now, Aaron and I have thought we'd move into the Lindbergh school district (which neighbors ours currently in Affton). But getting our house ready to sell, actually selling it, finding a house in our price range, buying it and moving all within one year? A year in which Aaron's getting his business off the ground and we're working toward me working less? Yikes.
Then, as I was looking at registration for Lindbergh, I noticed this. $3500/year for full day kindergarten at Lindbergh. Which, really, is half of what we're paying for Milo's preschool right now. But still. Paying for public school kindergarten? Really?
So this led me to look at Affton again. Where full day kindergarten is offered at no cost. Which led me to question why I was anti-Affton in the first place. I'd always heard that their schools are great in the younger grades, but not so great in the older. But as I'm talking to more and more people, I'm finding that's not necessarily the case. And, even more, Affton is a fraction the size of Lindbergh; a place where everyone knows everyone, which is extremely important to me and somewhat important to Aaron. (I think, although maybe I'm just making that up about Aaron just to make myself feel better.)
Then let's circle around again to the question of housing. Without question, our house as-is is simply not feasible for our family. The basement is unfinished and the 2 bedrooms we have are upstairs, so there's no room -- except in the office, dining room, living room, kitchen, and part of the basement -- for the explosion that is the boys' toys.
BUT if we stayed in Affton, we wouldn't necessarily need to move within the year. Or, really, we may not need to move at all. Our house has about the lowest value on our block, as we're the only one that doesn't have an addition. Could we get a home improvement loan more easily than a new home loan? Could we finish the basement and/or add to the back of the house and not over-value our home? Quite possibly. But there's a LOT to look into and consider before we make any sort of move whatsoever.
I can tell you, though, that I am feeling much more at peace today with the thought of Affton rather than Lindbergh. And that tells me we're on the right track.
Speaking of on the right track, I'm really excited about a conversation with our friend, Nick. There are potentially some big things on the horizon for me and my career, as well as for our family. Hate to be cryptic, but that's all I'm spilling for now.
If you're of a praying mind, please keep us in them. We'd love prayer for guidance in all of these decisions and provision, as well as for the courage and conviction to make some changes with our lives and finances. I am ashamed to admit how our finances and the condition of our home do so little to honor God, and we've both agreed to change this. Now we've got to get to gettin' (c) Niecy Nash & Clean House. :) (And please feel free to keep both Aaron and I accountable for these things! Thinking of making an effort to be more transparent on this blog so you'll have better tools to do so...)
Monday, February 1, 2010
Monday, January 25, 2010
Updates
So....where does one begin updating when one hasn't updated in too long a time? By month? By person? Eeek!
Let's go by person. Oldest to youngest. Sound fair? Good. Here we go:
AARON
One word to sum up Aaron Chandler these days? Busy. Very, very busy. He's playing a ton, working a ton, taking care of us a ton, and then still makes time to watch football. (Go Saints!) :) Just before Thanksgiving, there was chaos at the music store (I think I'm putting that mildly enough). I won't give you the dirty details, but Aaron is now commission-only and is expanding his own business from home, ACME Trombones. Website is being developed now, and we'll be sure to share just as soon as it's ready to be looked at! And if you have a trombone that you love, please send it to Aaron -- I don't really know what voodoo he does to them, but trombone enthusiasts sure do love it!
ERICA
One word for me? Busy. (Ha!) I'm still working, although have (finally) arranged for my hours to be reduced to 36 per week. Know that doesn't sound like a lot, but it does allow me to stay at home in the mornings until the boys leave; whereas before, I was leaving before they were even up a lot of the times. Still looking for some way to go part time, while still having insurance and, you know, paying the bills, but, for now, am as happy as I can be.
MILO
One word for Milo Guy? Hmmmm. How about big? That boy is growing up -- as he is very quick to remind us -- every day! Getting so darn big and tall and smart. He really is very funny and has a great sense of humor! He can count to 10 on his fingers, knows how to recognize and write his name (even if it is backwards sometimes), loves to sing songs by his Daddy's band (favorites are "Palm Court Strut" and "When I die (nice, right?)...you better second line"), has had a blast at soccer class, asks to go back to the beach at least 5 times a week, loves his "family" (which, btw, does not include Aaron, Hank and I -- it is his aunts and uncles and cousins), and is really, REALLY looking forward to swim class in a few weeks. He also loves preschool, and is really flourishing there.
HANK
One word for Hankers: Busy. That boy does NOT stop moving! He's walking -- and almost running -- everywhere, climbing, screaming, talking, kissing, splashing. Boy! To have just 1/10 of his energy would be great! At his one year check-up last week, he was just shy of 25 lbs (75%) and 30" (50%). He has close to 15 words (at his age he should have 2), and loves to engage whoever's near in peekaboo or mimicking noises. In the fall, the poor little guy had 5 ear infections in 7 weeks. It was miserable for all of us! But he got tubes in early October, and has been perfection since. And he had his second round of MRI and developmental testing for the autism study at Wash U that we're participating in this past week. He was the first baby ever to lock himself in the office. True story. And I didn't even panic! ;)
So, that's us for now. And I'm going to work on uploading photos from all the fun we've missed sharing: playing in the leaves, Milo's 4th birthday, Christmas, Hank's 1st birthday. Where, oh where, does time go?!
Love to all!
Let's go by person. Oldest to youngest. Sound fair? Good. Here we go:
AARON
One word to sum up Aaron Chandler these days? Busy. Very, very busy. He's playing a ton, working a ton, taking care of us a ton, and then still makes time to watch football. (Go Saints!) :) Just before Thanksgiving, there was chaos at the music store (I think I'm putting that mildly enough). I won't give you the dirty details, but Aaron is now commission-only and is expanding his own business from home, ACME Trombones. Website is being developed now, and we'll be sure to share just as soon as it's ready to be looked at! And if you have a trombone that you love, please send it to Aaron -- I don't really know what voodoo he does to them, but trombone enthusiasts sure do love it!
ERICA
One word for me? Busy. (Ha!) I'm still working, although have (finally) arranged for my hours to be reduced to 36 per week. Know that doesn't sound like a lot, but it does allow me to stay at home in the mornings until the boys leave; whereas before, I was leaving before they were even up a lot of the times. Still looking for some way to go part time, while still having insurance and, you know, paying the bills, but, for now, am as happy as I can be.
MILO
One word for Milo Guy? Hmmmm. How about big? That boy is growing up -- as he is very quick to remind us -- every day! Getting so darn big and tall and smart. He really is very funny and has a great sense of humor! He can count to 10 on his fingers, knows how to recognize and write his name (even if it is backwards sometimes), loves to sing songs by his Daddy's band (favorites are "Palm Court Strut" and "When I die (nice, right?)...you better second line"), has had a blast at soccer class, asks to go back to the beach at least 5 times a week, loves his "family" (which, btw, does not include Aaron, Hank and I -- it is his aunts and uncles and cousins), and is really, REALLY looking forward to swim class in a few weeks. He also loves preschool, and is really flourishing there.
HANK
One word for Hankers: Busy. That boy does NOT stop moving! He's walking -- and almost running -- everywhere, climbing, screaming, talking, kissing, splashing. Boy! To have just 1/10 of his energy would be great! At his one year check-up last week, he was just shy of 25 lbs (75%) and 30" (50%). He has close to 15 words (at his age he should have 2), and loves to engage whoever's near in peekaboo or mimicking noises. In the fall, the poor little guy had 5 ear infections in 7 weeks. It was miserable for all of us! But he got tubes in early October, and has been perfection since. And he had his second round of MRI and developmental testing for the autism study at Wash U that we're participating in this past week. He was the first baby ever to lock himself in the office. True story. And I didn't even panic! ;)
So, that's us for now. And I'm going to work on uploading photos from all the fun we've missed sharing: playing in the leaves, Milo's 4th birthday, Christmas, Hank's 1st birthday. Where, oh where, does time go?!
Love to all!
Ummm...Hello? Anybody There?
*insert embarrassed smirk here*
Can someone tell me? Has it REALLY been half a year since I've updated? Why didn't someone snap me out of it? ;)
At any rate, we're still here! The Big Boy is 4; the Baby Boy is 1, and we're all still standing. Let me gather my thoughts, and maybe edit some photos to add. Then I'll do a proper Welcome Back post. :)
Can someone tell me? Has it REALLY been half a year since I've updated? Why didn't someone snap me out of it? ;)
At any rate, we're still here! The Big Boy is 4; the Baby Boy is 1, and we're all still standing. Let me gather my thoughts, and maybe edit some photos to add. Then I'll do a proper Welcome Back post. :)
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