Happy Halloween!!

Maverick LOVES his hotdog costume, can't you tell?

Not an ounce of boredom

I was told I've been too big of a slacker lately with the blogging, so I'll give a brief update of what is going on in the Silvester household.

We are soooo busy!! I am amazed every day when I write the date. I can't believe it is the middle of October! We are spending lots of time with good friends and less time at home than either of us prefer, but we are extremely grateful for the wonderful friendships in our life.

James' work is still going strong and he is continuing to enjoy his job and his clients. He is one happy man now that football is on t.v. He also found out today that he is going to be playing flag football with some friends. He is reallly excited about that. I'm just praying his foot doesn't object to it. If you remember, the last time he played football he ended up on crutches and in a huge boot for months afterwards.

As you all know, I started a new job in August working as a social worker for a nursing home. I really, really enjoy it. I LOVE the residents and could go on and on about them. It has been a big adjustment for me getting back into the workforce. I have also never worked in healthcare, so my brain is generally fried by the end of the week. I do however, know that this is the area of social work that I can stick with.

Having said all of that, I have had one roller coaster of a week. I don't have the time or energy to go into all of it now, but with zero warning I was transferred to another facility where I am now THE social worker. So far I think it is a wonderful opportunity for me to work with some great people and even better residents. It is a promotion and a pay raise, so that is a blessing and something I was not prepared for. I am exhausted and my brain is on overdrive. I was the Assistant Social Worker at my previous facility for all of 2 months and now I am doing it solo. It will take some time to adjust and I still have so much to learn, but I think I am up for the challenge.

Tomorrow I am headed to Tyler after work for the Edom Arts Festival. I can't wait to relax after a crazy week! I know James is looking forward to a fun weekend too, but neither of us is looking forward to the time apart. I will attempt to update again soon! I love all of you!

Maverick

I have so many pictures of Maverick and just wanted to post a few of my favorites.

Here he is after a bath, looking super pathetic. I had to document the first night he decided it was okay to cuddle on the couch with us. Thankfully he has done it every night since then.

What? I'm not doing anything!

This is from the lake house that we stayed in on Labor Day weekend. He LOVED running up the stairs, but just sat there and cried when it was time to come down.

This is also from that weekend. Believe it or not, he actually liked swinging with me in the hammock.

Hope everyone has a good week!

I love James' Job!

James has an unbelievably, super generous client who has offered his families lake house to us this weekend. This is where we are heading on Friday as soon as I get off work and I can't wait! I will be spending a lot of time reading good books, looking at the water from this very spot.

I promise to take a lot of pictures and tell you all about our weekend.

Ridin'

This is what the back of my car looked like this morning as we headed out with lots of water, goldfish crackers and spandex. As many of you know, James is a huge mountain biker. He goes every chance he gets. I have a road bike and am always happy to go for a spin in our neighborhood, but have never gotten off the concrete.
James and his buddy found a trail last weekend that really disappointed them because it was so easy and since it was sooo easy, James thought I could handle it. I actually thought it sounded like fun and agreed to join him this morning.

Here is James in the little stunt area. I wasn't good with the timing and this was the best one I got.
And here I am doing a "stunt"! I actually screamed. Silly I know, but I was still a bit uneasy being off the solid concrete.

This picture was taken a while later. I got more comfortable and actually loved all of the big dips. I kept saying, "how is this an easy trail?" Now that I've seen easy, I don't think I actually want to know what kind of crazy things James does on the hard trails.

Here is James doing a jump.

And here is a video of it (jump turn your head sideways).

The whole trail was shady and it was wonderful to spend so much time in the woods. I saw an armadillo and a few lizards and a lot of bugs. We rode 7 miles, which I'm quite proud of (I know that won't impress you, Tyler). I can't wait to go again!

Update

Sorry, I have been away for a while. We are still here. I don't have much time, but I will give a brief update.

-The most important thing lately, is James got "Employee of the Month" yesterday. Isn't that great news! Of course, he did. He is great!

-I finished my nannying job on Friday. Here is a picture of the previously anonymous girls. Margaret is 5 and Chandler, 8. It was a very bittersweet day. I love them like crazy, but was really looking forward to a change.

-I began my new job yesterday. It has only been two days, but overall I would give it a great review. I know that there will never be a lack of excitement. I can't wait for all the interactions I will have with residents. I'm sure I'll post funny stories on here from time to time.

-Finally, this birdie wanted me to deliver a message on my blog. It is so happy to be home and wants to thank whoever it was that helped him get here!

-I'll leave you with this guy who insisted on having his picture taken after the birdie.

Good night to all. Thanks for checking in.

Southlake

James and I decided to get away for the weekend, well not REALLY get away. We took the short car ride to Southlake. We stayed at the Hilton and explored the Town Square all weekend. Besides being so dang hot, we had a great time. The first two pictures are the views from our room.

Other than hanging out by the pool, reading and playing Bananagrams, we ate wonderful food (my favorite was shrimp and scallop risotto from Brio), caught a movie, listened to some live music, scouted out Barnes and Noble and did a little shopping.

I realize what a blessing it is to be able to get away from "real life" for the weekend and enjoy my husband's company. I am so thankful for times like this weekend.

Our boy spent the weekend with James' parents (thank you, James and Sandy). I'm sure he had a blast at their house, but boy was he happy to see us. He has spent most of today like this:

And on a different note, check out my project on Thursday! It was a lot of work, but I love it!

Good night everyone!

Sweetness

August 11th

**I'm going to warn you that this may be long and it is more for my own documentation, rather than you reading enjoyment.

On August 11, 2008 I began my current job as a nanny. On August 11, 2009 I will begin my next job.

Since January I have been planning to begin teaching this August. I began taking classes and passed my exam in order to be alternatively certified as a 4th-8th grade teacher. I read lots of books, worked on lesson plans and class rules, daydreamed about what my classroom and students would be like and looked excitedly towards the day when I would be offered a teaching job. Of course I was a bit nervous about how I would handle difficult students and situations, but I was certain that teaching was the right thing for me to do at this time. I have applied to every school district in the Dallas area, both public and private. I have sent resumes directly to about 25 different principles. I have spent every spare moment searching the Internet for job openings. Although I had moments of uncertainty, I never freaked out. I just knew the right position would open up for me.

About 2 months ago, something began to stir in my heart. I tried to quiet it, I didn't tell anyone, I prayed it would go away. Only it didn't, it stirred harder. It stirred questions and fears and excitement and happiness and bitterness all at the same time. After two weeks of fighting it and not telling anyone, I knew I had to tell James. I had to tell James that I was questioning my decision to give up on being a social worker. He didn't freak out, but he certainly wasn't excited to hear this "out of the blue" news. I have known for more than a year now that I was done with social work. I had no desire to go back there, ever. I knew it, no doubt about it. Only here I was wondering what to do next. I wanted to be a teacher, right? Yes, of course I did. Was I being the woman that God created me to be? Was I using the skills he had so graciously given me? Was I allowing myself to trust him? But I'm so comfortable Lord, I love my life. It's easy most days. It was hard when I worked with those sweet, wonderful, difficult foster kids. I don't think I want to be uncomfortable again. I feel no need to be stretched, nope I'm good right here.

I realize that being a teacher would be difficult, there would be really tough days and I could do a lot of good as a teacher. But there are so many people out there who want to be teachers and who are naturals at it. There aren't many people who want to be social workers, but that has been my plan since I was a little girl.

After lots of prayer and sharing my thoughts with James, I decided to put things to rest. I would continue doing what I was doing, sending out resumes for teaching jobs, but also casually look for any social work openings. I wasn't going to push hard either way and just see what doors opened.

I saw an opening for a part-time social work position at a nursing home in Frisco and applied thinking nothing of it. The Director of Social Services called me that day to schedule an interview. I was shocked, because 1) I had applied to so many teaching jobs and hadn't even gotten a call and here the first resume I had sent out for a social work position, resulted in an interview and 2) nothing on my resume should have given her reason to call me for this position. We scheduled the interview for the following Monday. I went into it feeling totally confident because I didn't think I was even interested in the job and I was certain she wouldn't be interested in hiring me. I just looked at it as a good experience. I asked tough questions like, "why did you even interview me, I have zero qualifications for this position?" and " my dad tells me nursing homes can be quite the drag, he wasn't a fan of working in them. What do you say to that?" To my surprise, she and I hit if off. She answered my questions with all the right answers. "I wanted to interview you because I worked for CPS for ten years, and it just took one person here to give me a chance at something different. I liked your resume, wanted to see what you were about and possibly give you a chance." "Yeah, we have some seriously negative people here, but we don't stand for it. You let me know the moment someone disrespects you and it will be handled appropriately." Well, okay then. When I left she told me they would be interviewing through July, but I felt like I would probably be offered the position. I looked at having to wait until the end of July to hear anything as a blessing. That meant I would continue with my teaching search with no pressure to make a decision either way.

The next day I got a call from a Catholic school that I had applied to the previous week. I applied to all the Catholic schools in Dallas that had openings without doing research on any of them. We scheduled the interview for later that week. This would be my first interview for a teaching job. I went home that evening to check out their website. I was thrilled! Yes, it was a private school, but all the children there were attending on scholarships. The school is in a rough, South Dallas neighborhood. I thought, "this is it! This is how I can get the best of both worlds, be a teacher, but also do a lot of social worky-type stuff. I read every single word on their website, including the student handbook in order to prepare myself for this interview. I prayed and prayed and prayed for this interview and I was so excited about it. I met with the principal and two teachers. I wouldn't say it went poorly, but I certainly wasn't feeling very confident. I just figured I better keep on, keeping on.

Last week, I learned that I did not get the teaching job. I was a bit disappointed, but not too surprised. I have continued the search, until Monday. And then I got a surprise phone call. It was the nursing home lady. She wanted to go ahead and offer me the job! To say I was caught off guard would be an understatement. I thought they weren't going to be offering anyone the job until late July/early August. I thought I had weeks to figure out exactly what I was supposed to do. I told her I needed to discuss it with my husband and get back to her.

Talking it through, it just makes sense. And what I keep reminding myself, is that I'm not saying no to teaching forever, just for this year. Of course I'm a bit nervous about starting something new, but I am very, very excited about it. It will be something totally different from what I've done in the past and I think it will stretch me a lot.

I will be working 32 hours/week, Tuesday-Friday. No on-call, no weekends, no bringing work home. She was great to work with me regarding my nannying job. I will be able to stay with them through the first week of August, which is what I promised the mother months ago.

We shall see what this brings. I'm looking forward to these next few weeks with my girls and then getting started in my new position. Isn't it weird that two years in a row, I'm starting a new job on the exact same day?

Good Wife, Bad Mommy

I definitely won some good wife points last week while James and I were in Arlington. He wanted to walk around the new Texas Stadium in 100 degree heat and I agreed. I didn't have a great attitude, but I mostly kept it to myself. It is pretty amazing and I can't wait until we go to a game there.

Our sweet boy has had a very hard day. For those of you who don't know, he is wild. He plays and plays and plays until he crashes. Since out first week of having him, he has not once fallen asleep anywhere but in his kennel. He is just like a child and will find things to keep himself from falling asleep. Here he is with his beloved elephant.

And here he is today. He went to the vet this morning for more of his puppy shots. Last time, they didn't affect him at all. Today he has just whined and layed here. I love that he is so cuddly, but I hate that he feels bad. He was so upset with me at the vet that he wouldn't even take a treat from me! Thankfully, he isn't mad at me anymore!

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday weekend. Ours was wonderful!

The World's Smartest Dog

A Very Bad Day at Work

As you all know, I am still working as a nanny for two girls, ages 5 and 8. They are attending VBS this week at their church and when I picked them up yesterday, the older girl asked if her friend could come and play for a while. After speaking with the friend's mother, she reluctantly agreed to a 2 hour play date. On the way home, we discussed what they would like for lunch and C said that she would like to show her friend the website Wikapedia when we got home. As are most kids, the girls are very interested in the computer. They play games and do "homework" on there whenever they can. As I was preparing lunch, all 3 girls headed to the computer room. When I checked on them about 5 minutes later they were looking up their birthdays on Wikapedia. "Okay girls, lunch is almost ready. I'll call you in a few minutes to come eat." "Okaaaay Rachel!" Not a minute later, I hear the 5 year old squeal. I went straight to them and they all looked as guilty as if they had committed murder and what do you know, they had closed the Internet.

When I asked what they were looking at, I heard silence. I told them to turn the computer off and come eat lunch. I pulled them all aside individually to figure out what was going on. After lots of grueling questions, I discovered the 8 year old was showing them "boobies." And that she had looked at the pictures before. I was sooo upset I was shaking and trying not to cry. I was furious that they did this and tried to lie about it, I was scared because I was responsible for someone else's child and I was sad because I just hate that children are exposed to sexual stuff so early. Once I got over being furious, I was just so, so sad about it. I saw and heard things about kids when I was working in foster care that most people can't even imagine and most of it was about sexual abuse. That being said, I am just overly protective about children's innocence. I wish they could keep it forever.

I called their mom immediately, but of course she was on her lunch break and didn't answer. About 45 minutes later I called again and got all upset again as I explained what happened. She too was very upset, but also very matter of fact and calm about it. When I told her I needed the other mom's phone number to call and explain what happened, she said "nope, I'll handle it." I was relieved, but also felt like it was my job to explain my horrible lack in supervision.

Long story short, I took the friend home to a visibly upset mother, talked to the girls about how disappointed I was, but we all make mistakes, we deal with the consequences and we make better choices next time, yadda, yadda, yadda. I never looked on the computer to see what they were looking at because I didn't think it was necessary and I really didn't want to know. Their mom said she would look at the history later, and along with their dad deal with it when they got home from work.

Their mom called me this morning to report how it went. All the fury, sadness and fear that I felt were a result of them looking at this:


Pretty funny, huh? Did I overreact or what? But that isn't anything new!

No computer, no post

It's a little late, but here are some pictures from our trip to The Hideaway Ranch during Memorial Day weekend. My excuse for not getting them up sooner is that we, yes we, spilled water on our laptop last week. I was handing James a cup of water over the computer and one of us let go and splat! But, we are up and running again with a brand new computer!!

We had an absolutely wonderful time while we were gone. It could not have been a more perfect trip! Our cabin was perfect. Check out the view from our balcony. Imagine a hot tub to the left, perfection!

On Saturday we went into Granbury and spent a couple of hours just sitting on a dock watching boats drive by and a storm roll in. This picture does the sky no justice.

Looking good!

We pulled in late on Friday night, so they left the cabin unlocked and told us to come check in the next morning. On our walk to the office, we stopped and had a chat with these guys. There were also longhorns, horses and several dogs roaming around.

Another shot of the view, I couldn't get enough of it. I didn't mean to post both of these, but I'm too tired to delete on.

On Sunday we went back to Granbury and went on a boat tour around the lake. When we get rich, I really want a lake house and a boat.

Our trip also included eating at Babe's (YUMMO)! Other than that, we didn't do much of anything. We both came back feeling rested, reconnected and desperate to see our baby! Another post on him soon.

I started full-time work last Thursday and am still adjusting to working 11 hours a day. Forgive me if you call at 8 pm and I'll already in bed. Speaking of, it is 8:45, I gotta get to bed! I'm sure it will get easier in the next week or two. Gnite!

Summer Bliss

Summer isn't technically here, but it is close enough! Yesterday I only had my eight year old and we had such a wonderful day. I picked her up from school, we grabbed her swimsuit and then headed to my house to play in the sprinkler. If that wasn't fun enough, we saw the ice truck truck on our way to my house. Ice cream, the sprinkler and sitting on the patio to play with this cute little thing! It was a great afternoon! For those of you interested, we have decided on Maverick. We say it with two syllables, Mavrick. He has already brought us so much joy. We can't believe we waited so long to bring a puppy home. He did not sleep well the first few nights, but is now sleeping all night. We are so thankful, because we were starting to feel like zombies!

The weather has been so nice and since our patio has been finished, I spend more time outside than inside. It is fabulous!

Today is a day that we have been anxiously awaiting for a long time. We are headed to www.thehideawayranch.com. We will be staying at the Hacienda. We stayed there almost two years ago and are thrilled to be going back. We were afraid we were going to have to cancel the trip since they don't allow pets and Mr. Protective Dad was not about to board his little baby. Thanks to Sandy, James' mom we don't have to cancel. She volunteered to keep our little boy safe and happy while we are gone.

I hope everyone has a wonderful, long weekend. I know we will!

Around Here

Hello friends! I got a lot of exciting stuff to share! Remember back in mid-April when I gave a teaser of a few changes going on around our house. Well, I am finally ready to show you what we have been up to. First, here is our new front room. We spent a few months with it completely empty, but absolutely love it now! It has been done for a few weeks now and I love it every time I walk in.

Remember this sad backyard?

Well, after about 25 different lies, weeks of rain, 3 different colors, 100 cigarette butts in our yard, one big 'ole pile of human waste in our yard (yes, I did say that) and 1 yelling match between Fred and I on the phone, it now looks like this!!

It is not what we had anticipated and is still not what we thought we were paying so much money for, but we are both just so sick of Freddy boy that we will take it. The color is off, etc. but as I am sitting out here right now I just can't help but smile. I allowed myself to waste waaay too many hours of frustration over this project. It's not perfect, but I love it anyway!!

Now take a look at our new baby!! Yes, we are now the proud parents of this little guy.

And just in case you need proof that he is indeed a guy, here you go!

We have really, REALLY struggled with the name. At first we decided on Foster, but when I heard myself say "Hey Foster Boy!!", I realized that wouldn't work! So then he went nameless for a day, until we thought we decided on Toby. Now we are trying to decided if we like Toby or Maverick better. I'll let you know the verdict.

Pretty cute, don't ya think?

We went for a long overdue trip to Mom and Dad's this weekend. Of course I couldn't take pictures of "puppy" without getting a couple of the Man!! Wally was actually a little scared of the puppy, but are you surprised?

So that is what we are up to these days. For anyone who cares, I didn't set a resolution for May. I was feeling totally unmotivated and decided that it would be pointless. At first I felt a little bad about it, but now realize that is nothing to feel guilty about. I'm still on the job hunt and promise to let you all know as things happen. Thanks for checking in!