10 days in FL

I realized I should probably take the time to get this post up today since the rest of our fall is going to be pretty busy. Today happens to be Gavin's gotcha day. 5 yrs ago today:

 

The rest of our pictures of our recent FL trip:

 

Visit to Turkey Creek nature walk in Niceville:

(Gavin is wearing Jake's old desert gear BDU hat - he has a rather large head)

 

Whataburger by the bay:

 Evening at Uptown Station splash pad:

 Made an awesome castle by himself:

 Liza Jackson Park/ feeding birds at the sound:

 

 

 

 

 Swimming with Meemaw:

FL evening 1

A few days after the government shutdown started Jake got called back to work (Should have never been off work since his job is vital to national defense but it took a few days for the powers that be to figure that out). That same day that Jake went back to work, Monday Oct 7, Gavin and I headed off to spend some time with my folks in Florida. We had a wonderful, relaxing 10 days there. Lots of Whataburger, resting, and evenings on the beach. Gavin managed to find friends to play with wherever we went. I have a ton of pictures that I need to go through and will add whenever I get around to it. Here is our first evening on the beach:

 

 

Shutdown!

We survived the furlough of federal employees this summer. I worked a little extra, Jake worked a little extra on the military side of his job, we economized, reduced our contributions to retirement savings, and it turned out ok. Our savings is still lower than we would like, but that is due in part to paying for all that lightning nonsense and buying Jake's new car with cash. We've had 2 normal paychecks since the furlough ended, and we have saved from each of them. Now the government shutdown has started. So as of today Jake is not working and not getting paid. Fun, fun. I am thankful for the savings we do have, enough to get us through several months without pay. I am also thankful for our food storage. We have a well stocked pantry and freezer, as well as lots of beans and rice if it comes to that. I'm thawing out a ham right now that we'll eat over the weekend. Fortunately I bought ahead and Halloween and Christmas are taken care of, as well as Gavin's fall/winter clothes. In fact, I went to a consignment sale a couple weeks ago and bought all these clothes for Gavin (some are for next year) for $24:

 

 I was also able to get 28 books for Gavin, including a lot of school stuff, for $9.50 at our library's used book store:

I am thankful that I was raised by a mom that taught me how to be thrifty and save money, and am thankful I have further developed these skills in recent years. Though we are without a paycheck, I am calm and optimistic. One of my favorite scriptures, one that has greatly influenced my life, is Doctrine and Covenants 38:30, which says in part "if ye are prepared ye shall not fear." We are prepared.

Reading fun

Hang glider made all by himself:

 Fire truck made with just a little help from Jake:

 Reward for completing reading lesson 25 out of 100:

 

I am teaching Gavin to read using the book "Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons," which is a phonics based program. He is doing an awesome job. I tried using this book with him last fall and again last spring but he was not quite ready. He is ready now and on a roll. He is reading sentences like "The sock is near a man. A cat is in that sock.," and "An ant is fat. It can sit and eat." He doesn't always enjoy his lessons, but does get excited when he is able to read a new word. He also likes being able to read some of the words in our library books. I often see him trying to sound out words written in various locations, for instance last night he was trying to read "monkey joe's" on the plastic cup from which he was drinking. Supposedly when he finishes all 100 lessons in the book he will be on a 2nd grade reading level. Exciting! And since Gavin enjoys non-fiction books so much he will really enjoy being able to read himself. Right now he is asking me to read him a book about castles. We'll read it together.

Friday night at our house looks like this

Gavin is always on the lookout for cardboard he can use to construct stuff with. He has big ideas. Jake helped him bring this idea to fruition.

 

Captain Feathersword

 

Now you're dancing like a pirate...

Parent Profiles

As another avenue to increase our visibility to women wanting to place babies for adoption we have signed up for parent profiles, which is basically an advertising site for couples wanting to adopt. Right now there is only one other couple listed in Georgia, and none in Alabama or Florida so we are hopeful the additional monthly expense will pay out.

http://www.parentprofiles.com/profiles/db29075.html