This is the beginning

This it the beginning of having a blog -- to keep my thoughts organized, share websites and tips that I have learned to make life easier, and interesting and amusing things from my life. Who knows what twists and turns this blog will take as my life and priorities change.


Scott and I are starting a new chapter in our lives with leaving houseparenting at Milton Hershey School. As we both explore job options, it is a scary but exciting time in our lives. It is quite a change from cooking for 15 to cooking for 3. Jaelyn seems loud most of the time, when she used to "blend" in with the girls' noise. It is nice to be able to go out as a family in the evening. Funny thing is, one of the most exciting things for me is to be able to shop in a grocery store again. There are many new and different things in the stores since I last shopped for family groceries. It takes me much longer to shop now and I keep stopping and looking at new things.


Jaelyn is currently enrolled in a Kindergarten Preview program through our local elementary school. It is a 6 week program that ends with a parent/teacher conference to give us stuff that we can work on with Jaelyn in order to have her ready for Kindergarten in the fall. She is enjoying that, especially since we had to pull her from her pre-school program after we moved. Jaelyn is still involved in a tumbling class run by a houseparent from Milton Hershey School. She will stay involved in that through the beginning of June, when they do their production -- they are doing Annie and Jaelyn has the role of Annie. After that we will probably look for a local gymnastics program that isn't as far away.


It is exciting to be able to spend more time with our family and friends as we are not working when everyone else is off work. We are able to attend church every weekend and feel like after a little bit of adjustment time, that we will be able to get involved at church and feel connected to a church family again. It has been good to be able to return to the church we attended before becoming houseparents and to be able to begin reconnecting with friends and connecting Jaelyn with kids her age.


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