New Clothes, New Car, New JOB!

On October 9, Ross began his new career as an accountant working at a local accounting firm here in Springfield! I am so excited and proud of him! He actually interviewed with the company, KPM, last fall, but never heard back from them for a second interview. Out of the blue, KPM contacted him at the end of this past spring semester saying they would like to meet with him again sometime in the summer. Mid-July he had lunch with about five people from the company one Friday afternoon, and then the following week he received a phone call from the HR director offering him a job! He was so excited and after thinking things through for about a week he accepted their offer and turned in his notice to Travelers.

That began a whirlwind of shopping and changes for us! Ross wore a uniform to his job at Travelers and had a company car, so needed all new work clothes and a new car to drive to work...we are NOT a one-car family! He did a great job looking online and at some car lots around the area and found a 2007 Toyota Camry that was in excellent condition and found some great new work clothes. And since Ross worked from home at Traveler's, we had a home office for him. That home office is no longer needed and has now been turned into a playroom for Lucy and Molly!

He's beginning his fourth week today and is liking it so far. He's working as an auditor on several government and school accounts and will do some traveling with this new position. He's actually already been out to a few locations to do some work. Congratulations, Ross! I'm very proud of you and excited for this new chapter in our life!

Leaving for his first day at KPM in his "new" car!

Hard at work on his first day!

Arriving home after his first day of work.

"I'm a real accountant!"

So Proud Of My Dinner

We had this for dinner a few weeks back and it was quite tasty. It's flank steak and vegetables made on a sheet pan in the oven. I was very proud of and excited about it, mainly because it was something I had never made before and turned out good. I don't think I've ever cooked meat, other than chicken, in the oven because I just don't know anything about it so was thrilled that this flank steak turned out so well! It was all so easy to make and didn't take long at all. And the dessert...pretty simple, pretty ungourmet, but so tasty to me!

Candy Blast From The Past

Last week my Mom brought me some special candy and it was quite the blast from the past. It's sour grapefruit wedges and they are so good! We used to eat them when I was in high school and she would give them to me as special treats. I don't remember how we discovered these candies. We got them at Mr. Bulky's at the mall (which is now called Lolly Pops) and she stopped in there to get me this special treat again last week. Thanks, Mom! What a fun, yummy surprise!

Swim Meet!

A few weeks ago we went to my nephew, Trevor's, swim meet. This was a first for me as I'd never been to a swim meet before, so it was pretty neat to see how it all worked. Trevor is a sophomore in high school at Webb City and this is his first year swimming. He has done very well so far and swim two-three different events. At this particular meet he had to fill in for someone and swam the 500 meter race. The pool was 25 meters, so this meant he had to swim down and back 20 times. We all felt so sorry for him having to swim that distance! He did a good job and was the last to finish, but he finished! I look forward to going to more of his swim meets in the future!

K-Prep

Lucy will be in kindergarten next year and we've already started preparing for it! A few weeks ago we went to a K-Prep time at the elementary school Lucy will go to and met with our Parents As Teacher educator. Lucy got to do a "science experiment" where she colored a coffee filter with markers and then dropped water on the coffee filter to see how the marker spread once wet. She also got to play a fun color game where she used a straw to push a pom-pom to its matching color. She had a great time!

I had a great time just watching her and also seeing the elementary school! I explained to Lucy how she would go to school there next year, but I don't think she really cared all that much. I soaked it all up and looked around as much as I could! There should be a K-Prep meeting each month until the end of the school year and we will certainly be going. It is a great way to get Lucy familiar with the school, hopefully making the transition from preschool to elementary school an easy one!

My Decorations

I have these letters spelling our Jesus on my piano. Lately I've noticed that little hands have tried their hands at redecorating for me. :)

Baking Bread

This summer Lucy and Molly got to experience something my sister and I experienced quite often when we were growing up. They got to have Gumma bake bread on them! I have fond memories of my mom doing this to me and am happy the girls got to experience it, too! We would lay on the bed and my mom would pretend to bake bread on us by cracking an egg, pouring in salt, flour, yeast, etc., and then mixing and kneeding it all together. She would then pick us up and toss us into the oven. It was just such a fun little thing to do! You can watch Gumma make bread on Molly here!