Big news!

Another week has passed quickly, and it's been a busy one.  We have some big news to share, but I'll get to that in a minute.

To catch everyone up on the past week or so, everyone has stayed healthy (thankfully), and been busy with day-to-day activities.  The weather has warmed up some, so we've spent a lot of time outdoors.  It seems like spring, even though it's only February, but that makes sense if you're in Texas.  Z just passed a milestone - as of January 29, he completed 100 days of kindergarten.  The teachers celebrated with the kids all week, incorporating lessons into the festivities, and one of the projects was each kid had to bring 100 of something to class.  Z chose colored paper clips, and made a chain out of them, and was very excited to take it to school. 

What's a party without a hat and some silly glasses, right?  He wore this everywhere we went on Friday.  Even to the public library, when we stopped by to turn in our books and grab some new ones.  What a ham.

We went to one of Z's friends' birthday parties last weekend, which was actually a lot of fun.  It was a bowling party, which the kids loved, of course, but the parents could bowl, too.  Aaron, me, and one other Mom were the only ones to take advantage of the lanes reserved for parents, and it was great.  Z's made some really good friends this year, I'm so proud of him.

Don't be fooled - he didn't really eat the pizza he's holding.

He just wanted to make it seem like he was.

Z & the birthday boy.

I've been keeping busy since I took up the project of cleaning out our closets and selling off everything I think might be worth something.  One example, my Barbie collection.  No, I never played with Barbies as a kid, but yes, I began collecting them when I first got married.  It's an expensive hobby, so it was one of the first things to get axed once we had a kid.  Therefore, I have oodles of dolls taking up space & collecting dust, and it's time to let 'em go.  I forgot how many I had accumulated, so this has taken up way more time than I first thought it would.

But, on to the BIG NEWS.  Ready?  Aaron is leaving Borders and taking on a new position at Family Christian Stores!  I know!  What the hell, right?!  Well, we've endured months and months of declining news about Borders, and it seems to be a sinking ship at this point.  The original plan was to hang on until the end, but Aaron realized the end might be here sooner than later.  He and I started scouring newspapers and Monster.com, where we stumbled upon a GM position at FCS, very close to our house.  He applied, got a call less than 24 hours later, got an interview 4 days after that, had a second interview 4 days after the first, and was offered the job mere minutes after the second interview.  Woah!  What a blessing!  Turns out Aaron knew the woman who called him for the job; she too, had worked for Borders and jumped ship a while back.  She called around inside the company to see what people thought of Aaron, and of course, he got glowing reviews from every direction.  I'm so proud of him!  He's worked so hard for Borders, and doesn't want to leave, but he really wants Z to stay in the school he's in now, since he's flourishing there.  It would break his (and my) heart to have to pull Z out because we can't afford it anymore, so he decided to be pro-active and move on to a new position.  How exciting!  We are so lucky to find him a job so quickly in this economic climate, and for that we are so thankful.  His last day at Borders is Valentine's Day, and he starts right away at FCS on Monday, February 16.  It's bittersweet to him, but he really does seem excited about starting fresh.  And think of all the money we'll save on gas, since he doesn't have to drive 30 minutes to work anymore!  Hooray!!!  I know he'll do great, and I can't wait to see how much he accomplishes at the new place.  

So, that's the big news.  Other than that huge decision, things have been good, as usual.  As I said, we've been spending more & more time outside because of the mild weather.  I got some action shots of a new game Daddy & Z made up the other day.  It's the warm-weather equivalent to sledding down a snowy hill:

Don't worry, he was ok.

He's a VERY good actor.

As you can see, I'm still figuring out new features of my pretty camera.  I can take several action shots consecutively, to an endless degree.  Have I mentioned how much I love my camera?  Ok, probably.

Three things I'm grateful for today:

1.  Monster.com

2.  Answered prayers.

3.  Sunsets.

Off now to change and wash my car.  Z's going to help me, so hopefully we'll get done quickly, before the sun goes down.  It only feels warm out these days with the sun, and as soon as it goes down, it's chiiiiilly.  (Not that I'm complaining!)

Peace & pastries.