Preschool Class

On Sunday nights I have the priviledge of working in the preschool class as a helper. Angie is the teacher, and she does a great job! I love working with the kids, they say the funniest things. A couple weeks ago Amber Delong was eating pretzels for snack time and one of the pretzels looked like a "D". She said "my dad's name starts with a D, D A D!! Then a couple of the other kids said, wow, my dad's name is D A D too! I just laughed. :)

Adam V. is funny because he asks a lot of questions. He askes very good questions about the lesson...things that I wouldn't think to ask.

Well below are some pictures for Kara (because she likes pictures) of Angie teaching our class. I hope you enjoy them as much as I enjoy the class.

For the Tag Game...a personal recipe!

A Man's Meal

1 Frozen Pizza

Place in the oven to 350 degrees for 10 minutes.

Remove and eat with Coke!

LIFE!!

Well life has been busy! Tonight I got out of work and realized that I didn't have any plans and I didn't know what I was going to do with all my free time. It was nice, but also I felt like I needed to be doing something. I ended up playing games at my parents, which of course was fun!

My typical week consists of working, playing basketball on Tuesday nights, and volleyball on Thursday nights. My weekends always seem to be full (except for this weekend).

My job is going good. I love my new job. I wish that I would have been able to make the switch years ago, but God had a plan for me and He put me in this job when I was ready. I have a lot of responsibility, but I love working with the guys (much better than girls), also I love working with the staff that I have - even though sometimes they don't do what I ask of them. It's fun working with both the staff and the kids, trying to motivate them and move them in a direction that is positive for both of them. Paperwork continues to grow, but I'm getting good at doing what is needed. My hours are much better now also, M-F 9-5 or so. No driving - except for the occasional court hearing. I like my boss and the other program coordinators that I work with. Did I mention that I love my job??

Anyway, that is what is going on in my life. I'm looking forward to visiting Ben and Kelly in a few weeks (and getting some time to cuddle with little Owen). Ben, I'm looking forward to playing some golf in December, can you believe it - golf in December!
Well that's all for now.

Coming Soon!!

I've been requested to update the blog. This will happen soon, it's too late tonight.

Family!

This week my Aunt Robin and Uncle Jim were in town for a visit. They live in Colorado and we only see them about once a year or two. As you can see from the pictures we went to a Tigers baseball game. I was a little misty there...okay it rained hard! I think I even saw some cats and dogs. :) The game was rained out, but the Tigers ended up winning and we had a lot of fun.

We ate dinner at Pam and James house, but they could not go to the game with us. Pam was able to spend the day with Jim and Robin though.

We played games every night this week with them. If you know our family, that's what we enjoy. Anyway, that was my week.

Job Update

Well...the new job is good. It's also very stressful right now. I've been hired into a mess. The staff is only half there, and they are frustrated and tired. The kids are struggling, frustrated and haven't had any treatment for about 2 months.

There is hope though! I've worked with difficult staff and difficult kids. Somehow I just need to convince them that they need to help each other, have care and concern for each other, work to improve themselves while helping each other. A little time, encouragement, investment is all it will take.

Please pray for me. There is a lot of stress, but I'm convinced that this group and staff can turn it around.

Promotion!!

This last week has been very exciting for me. As many of you know, I have been hoping to change positions at work. I have been on the same girls unit for almost 8 years, starting out as a treatment specialist and the for the last 6 years have been a family worker.

Well about 3 weeks ago I had an interview for new program that was opening in our organization. It was a program coordinator for a boys Segue program. I really wanted this position, but it wasn't meant to be. I didn't get it. I was kind of frustrated, but also knew that the guy who got the job was much more qualified than me.

So this last week I applied for another program coordinator job for a boys residential program. I had an interview on Tuesday at 10am. I had got my application in late due to the fact that I was on vacation. The interviewer didn't have to give me an interview, but said that since it was me he would. (I've worked with this person for the past 8 years.) Anyway, the interview went really well and by noon I found out that I got the job!!! There were several other qualified people that were interviewed, so I feel priviledged to have received this opportunity.

So I am officially the Program Coordinator for Luke Hall, a boys residential, low security program. I had to move to a new building in Saginaw, on Washington. It's in the city, but not far from home. We just bought the building, so everything is new.

Part of being the Program Coordinator is that I'm the boss and I have a staff that works for me. I am responsible for how everything on my unit runs. I met some of the staff and all of the kids on Friday. Both of these groups of people are struggling right now. They have been without a Program Coordinator for a couple of months.


Please pray for wisdom and leadership on my part to build a good, positive core of staff to help the youth that we work with. Also pray that my relationship with God will have a positive influence in the lives of the staff and kids that I work with.