Catch up!! May-September...

Wow, so much happened over the last few months!

SUMMER 
The kids were so excited to be out of school!  However, by August, they were missing all of their friends.  In the meantime, they spent a lot of time doing a whole lot of nothing!!  Mostly watching movies, competing on the Wii, and playing with friends.  They also helped their mommy open a dance studio.  And of course, as often as I could, I put them to work :-). 

DANCE STUDIO
What a crazy adventure owning your own business can be!  Far more time consuming than a 9-5 job--FOR SURE!  Thanks to my step-father, Keith Flake (who owns the strip-mall next door to McDonalds), we were able to open the dance studio at a central location in Snowflake--right on Main St..  We were planning to open the studio in our own basement, but the reconstruction was not complete.  Keith allowed us to use an unrented space in his strip-mall.  Fortunately, we had a wonderful turnout at registration, and the numbers increased each week.  We ran a 6 week summer camp, and everything ran smoothly.  WHEW!  

SCHOOL
YEAH!!!  I know there are many mommies out there who greatly miss their children when they go back to school, but I was READY!  Without a landscaped front or back yard for the kids to play in, my kids were cooped up inside the house far too long!  They were at each others throats by lunchtime every day! 

I was very grateful to Angie and Tom Caldwell for having the coolest "hangout" ever!  Cody and Amber called Angie almost every day during the summer to see if she would allow them to come play at her home.  Generously, she accepted them every time!!  Amber and Cody swam at the Caldwell's pond enough times to tan their bodies at least 4-5 shades darker than when they began!  They loved the zip-line, trampoline, and playrooms at the Caldwell's too.  Cody also took up hunting with Angie's son, Gavin.  With all the desert land between our two homes, Gavin and Cody were in HUNTING HEAVEN!!  Cody and Gavin, with bb-guns in hand, disappeared into the wild for hours at least a few times a week.  Thanks to Angie's blow-horn, we were able to retrieve the boys at dinnertime :-). 

We were all very excited for school to begin.  The one change-up was that Mariah decided to attend an online school rather than the public school.  I was apprehensive--mostly because I had never had a child attend an online school before.  The "unknown" can be SCARY!  Plus, I was running a dance studio, and I was sick and pregnant!  I wasn't sure how much aid I would be to her at home, while wrangling a two year old (Sterling) and keeping him entertained.  Just to make matters a lot more difficult, we were having MAJOR problems with our internet connection.  You CAN'T run online school without an online connection!  The first week was a tad bit stressful, to say the least, as I discarded one internet provider for another.  EXPENSIVE, too!  Cancellation fees and start-up fees are hard on the checkbook!  Finally, we were online and ROLLING!  Mariah worked hard to catch up with all of her classes.  We were very pleased with AZ Connections Academy and the entertaining curriculum.  I was also very proud of Mariah for all of her hard work!  Sitting at a computer for hours on end can be a difficult thing to do!

So--the "brick and mortar" public school kids, Cody and Amber, were very happy with their teachers and their new friend relationships.  Sterling was faring pretty well with Mommy as Mariah's Learning Coach and as a full-time business owner.

FALL DANCE SEMESTER BEGINS!!
220 slots were filled within the first week of classes!  UNBELIEVABLE!  We also added many new facets to the basic dance studio.  Katrina Palmer agreed to be my costume director, and she advised me to begin accepting Bulk Orders from our customers so that they could gain access to all their dance-wear needs right from our studio.  Also, I began selling boutique items in our studio, so that my teachers could raise $$ for their children's costumes.  We set to perfecting a studio website and Facebook page--along with a monthly newsletter and regular email updates and texts for important information.  LOTS to do all the time!  In fact, sleep became a thing of the past!  I quickly came to understand that my time was no longer my own.  Just to keep up with all the emails, phone calls, and texts that came in each hour, I had to give up life as I knew it!!  Of course, it all comes with the territory, but I had a new appreciation for all the dance studio owners I had known over the years.  I really had not understood the life commitment that went into their work!  Trying to juggle mommy-ing, housework, church callings, wife-time, and dance studio work was an adventure!  I was also teaching classes, so there were many hours of choreographing and preparation.  Fun, fun!!!

As we entered September, we were finding our groove.  Cody began football.  Mariah and Amber were loving their song/dance classes.  Sterling was very accepting of babysitters and new playmates.  Hunter was lending a hand whenever his work would permit.  I was just trying to keep afloat!! 

Looking forward...we will be adding a baby girl to our family in just a few weeks!  We don't know when she'll arrive, as I have tended to have my babies a few weeks early, but we are THRILLED to add Sabree Anne Moore to the group!  We'll keep you posted as to when she finally makes her debut entrance into the world!

Even though we've been stretched to the max, we've been extremely blessed.  We are constantly aware of God's hand moving us in his paths and molding us along the way.  We are trying to do our best, though we do make mistakes here and there.  Paying bills, raising a family, working until we feel we can't work any more, and trying to keep relationships alive...have stretched us physically, emotionally, spiritually, and mentally!!  We do love life, though...despite the occasional ROUGH days! We know to expect them.  We are really taking to Snowflake, AZ.  We are enjoying all the new people we are meeting, and we feel very grateful for our current situation.  Life is good :-).