We have a family paper route! Well, that was the ideal I had in my head;)
Reading through the paper one day, I noticed our neighborhood route was available. I thought, hmm, that might be a nice way to earn a little extra cash and force me to exercise a little bit more. After talking to Andy, he agreed with the idea and inquired into picking up the route. We learned the Winona Post is a free paper delivered twice a week and has pretty flexible delivery times. Since it didn't pay much, we decided to pick up a second route in a neighboring-neighborhood and thought as much as possible, we could go out as a family to deliver the papers. Nice family bonding time;)
Our first day on the job it didn't take us long to realize the job was a little more than we bargained for when over 200 papers were delivered to our house, needing to be folded, bagged and delivered. It was late February and fresh snow covered the ground. We packed the 200 plus papers onto a sled (along with Nathan and Ella) and Andy, Gianna, and I took to the streets to walk the routes. We made it about half way through our first route before I soon realized this was never going to work as I idealized in my head. I took two cold kids back to the house while Andy and Gianna continued on to try and finish up the routes (Gianna was a trooper!!). About 3 hours later, both routes were complete.... not exactly very economical when you are only paid $8 and $9 each time to complete the two routes, and that didn't include the time it took us to bag all the papers;).
Our new strategy turned to "divide and conquer." We decided I would be responsible for our neighborhood route and Andy would be responsible for the route in the neighboring-neighborhood. This worked okay for a while (and we definitely improved our efficiency with both routes), but with working full time and also going to school (and a baby on the way), I knew this was not extra work Andy could add to the very little time he already had. He agreed, and so now we are only doing our neighborhood route. I take it on for the little extra pay it provides, but more so for the fact that it forces me to get out and exercise twice a week (I am not a self motivator in this area at all;)
Gianna has come out with me a few times, and I've been able to pack the papers, and Nathan, into the stroller while the girls are at school and get it done that way too. The papers are delivered every Wednesday and Saturday.
One weekend in early April, Andy and I were suppose to head to Madison early Saturday morning to attend a marriage seminar, so Friday night, with the kids away at G&G Thompson's for the night, Andy and I picked up our papers from the newspaper office a little early and went out that night to complete both routes. Although I had a little scare when I tripped and fell forward onto my stomach (luckily I braced almost all the fall with my knee and wrist, bearing little injury), it proved to be a very enjoyable night as we walked along together completing the routes and talking, just the two of us:)
Through it's up's and down's, this little job has proven to be a moment to remember;)
Our new strategy turned to "divide and conquer." We decided I would be responsible for our neighborhood route and Andy would be responsible for the route in the neighboring-neighborhood. This worked okay for a while (and we definitely improved our efficiency with both routes), but with working full time and also going to school (and a baby on the way), I knew this was not extra work Andy could add to the very little time he already had. He agreed, and so now we are only doing our neighborhood route. I take it on for the little extra pay it provides, but more so for the fact that it forces me to get out and exercise twice a week (I am not a self motivator in this area at all;)
Gianna has come out with me a few times, and I've been able to pack the papers, and Nathan, into the stroller while the girls are at school and get it done that way too. The papers are delivered every Wednesday and Saturday.
One weekend in early April, Andy and I were suppose to head to Madison early Saturday morning to attend a marriage seminar, so Friday night, with the kids away at G&G Thompson's for the night, Andy and I picked up our papers from the newspaper office a little early and went out that night to complete both routes. Although I had a little scare when I tripped and fell forward onto my stomach (luckily I braced almost all the fall with my knee and wrist, bearing little injury), it proved to be a very enjoyable night as we walked along together completing the routes and talking, just the two of us:)
Through it's up's and down's, this little job has proven to be a moment to remember;)
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Our three kiddos:) Perhaps, one of the last few pictures before they become our four kiddos;)
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One day, Gianna ran outside to play and left her wallet sitting on the living room floor. I was vacuuming in the bedrooms and came out a little later to find some coins and an empty wallet lying on the floor. I asked Nathan who's wallet was on the floor, and he told me it was Gianna's. He then proceeded to tell me, "I threw her monies away." When I looked in the garbage can, this is what I found in there. Needless to say, Gianna has learned to put her money away in a safe place from now on!;)
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The paramedic attending to his patient on the stretcher
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In March, Andy and Gianna got to attend St. Stan's First Annual Father-Daughter Dance. Gianna was REALLY looking forward to some special father-daughter time with her dad, so we decided this year Andy would just take her and next year would be Ella's special time. They got all dressed up and had a very nice time together. A special memory for sure!
(they had a lot of fun doing the hula-hoop contest too;)
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Nathan is officially pacifier free!! (He has not had a pacifier since mid-February:) We decided to cut the top of his pacifier one day and that was that! He accepted the fact that his "boppy" was broken and was never upset about it. We did see a little setback in the ease of nap time (it was a lot harder to settle him in), but he is doing better with that now... our next "to do" is potty training;) We're hoping this new potty will help make the process more exciting for him; it makes a flushing sound and everything.... have I ever mentioned that potty training is not my specialty?;)
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Ella had her kindergarten "Star Student Week" recently. To cap off her week, Andy brought the ambulance to her school (just like he did for Gianna). He was able to show her class the ambulance and some of the equipment it carries and give them some safety tips. It's a fun tradition we hope to carry on.
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