Hoffmann's Happenings!!!: January 2012

Saturday, January 28, 2012

I GOT IT!!!

And I start on Wednesday. I feel so blessed!!!

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Now that Ryan is done with school ( and taking his state boards as I write) we have decided that both of us should go back to work.We will work opposite shifts so that our kids don't have to be in daycare. I applied for and interviewed for a job with our school district. I thought the interview went great (although I totally bombed a question about a ten minute seizure being a life-threatening emergency ~ oops). That was the Friday before all the snow, so it's been a week and a half. The kids were off almost the entire week, so I know the administration offices were closed. I've had very brief contact with the interviewer, but I really don't know where I stand. Aside from this job being fun and interesting and stable, it would give me the same breaks my kids have from school. So perfect! I've been looking at other nursing jobs and nothing jumps out as something that would utilize my skills as well as this would. I know whatever happens it will be a blessing.

Sunday, January 22, 2012

How our kids passed the time when we were snowed in:

Parker mid-smolder ~ notice the diaper he's wearing ~ that's what 22 days on the road will do to an autistic child
We're working on the potty training again (although I got peed on tonight ~ seriously).

I let Bryce download "pocket frogs" on my ipod. He was pretty happy with that.

My sweet angel put daddy's gloves on her feet to keep her tootsies warm.

Best for last! Apollo had a great time being a ninja warrior jedi knight. I'm not sure if the undies on the head are part of the ninja or jedi uniform :)

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Meet our new Washer

The newest and hardest working member of our family
Can't wait to meet you on Jan 26th

So Blessed!

Ryan is very good at selling things on craigslist. Since his dad has done so much for us, and it's a small way we can do something for him, Ryan has been selling items for his Dad. He has been trying to sell this antique furniture for over a year now. At first Ryan and his dad agreed to try selling it for $800, no bites except the scam ones. Lowered the price a few times all the way down to $500. Still nothing except the scams. Remember last summer when our dryer died? We fixed it by adding a new heating element, but now our washer is dying. It's not spinning the clothes enough to get the water out and it takes three cycles of 70 minutes each to dry a load ~ not very energy or time efficient. Ryan's dad gave us $600 for Christmas that we were going to use toward a new washer and dryer. His dad also gave us some things to sell on craigslist and said we can keep whatever money we make from it. Ryan heard from a friend that if you list antiques for ridiculous prices, people will think it's worth more and buy it. So we listed the furniture for $1000 and the first day we had several responses (and one scam). We sold it yesterday for the full price!

THEN

Since I've been researching washers and dryers, I've been reading reviews and I was pretty confused at what the size difference is between 3.4 cu ft and 3.6 cu ft. So we went to Home Depot so I could see first hand. The washer I wanted was $450 for the 3.4, but I realized that it's enough smaller than the 3.6 and that's the one I want for $599. We're trying to buy cheap with less bells and whistles so there is less opportunity for things to go wrong. As we were leaving we walked by the clearance items. There was a Maytag Bravos dryer that had been a floor model. Originally $850, marked down to $550 with and extra 30% off making it $380 ~ you can't even buy a cheap dryer for that! So we bought it! It has every bell and whistle we could hope for! I feel so blessed we found it! Now we just need to find a washer...

Sunday, January 15, 2012

My Dream House

http://www.houseplans.com/luxury-home-plans?pv_page=1

Saturday, January 14, 2012

A funny thing happened the other night...

But we're not laughing quite yet.
Ryan and I had a board meeting for Hospitality House. We were only going for 45 minutes, so we left the kids home with Bryce in charge. Shortly after we left, Halea pulled a lamp down on her face. She nicked her cheek. Rather than calling his parents, Bryce took Halea to our next door neighbor's house to ask for a bandaid. They gave him one and he went back to finish caring for his siblings. No big deal, right? It became a big deal when the neighbors called the police and reported us for leaving our kids unattended. Really?!? The police came by and found that Bryce is old enough to care for his siblings and spent some time talking to the kids (now Parker wants to be a police officer). They left shortly before we got home. Still not a call to his parents. I found out the police were in my home when I noticed Halea had a jr police badge on her pj's. My take on this: Bryce should have called us ~ but he didn't. He went to the neighbors (the same neighbors who take their dog potty in my yard ~ but do you see me calling animal control) and they reported us to the police. Good feelings gone.

Yesterday Parker fell off of our kitchen fireplace (he shouldn't have been laying on it in the first place). He landed on the cement below the stove and had blood flowing out of his right ear. We took him to the ER where we discovered that his eardrum was still in tact. They did a CT scan and did not find any brain damage, so the blood was coming from behind his ear drum. Hmmm. He seems to be fine now. Because of his autism he does not feel pain or doesn't complain about it ~ so it's kind of hard to gage how he's doing.

I know we're going to laugh about all these funny things happening ~ just not quite yet.