New Beginnings

A couple new things happened this fall.  Of course school started back up again, but I went from two kids in school to four kids in school. Shanna and Haley are now in kindergarten!  They LOVE it.  The boys seems to enjoy school too, but I bet Kindergarten is much more fun!


Elden seems to really enjoy being the only kid at home during the day.  I have been volunteering at the school again, and he often tags along.  The ladies in the office spoil him with treats every time he goes.  It's pretty easy getting around town with him and the bike trailer.  We have been going to story time and play group too.  It was so quiet at home (and still is) during that day that a few days into the school year I thought I would go crazy with the after-school mayhem!  It's fine now, but it was overwhelming for a couple of days.

The next big thing that happened around here is with Lee's work. Lee had an opportunity to take over a lease at a Walmart.  This place is a whole lot closer than Waynesboro (which was 50 minutes away) and of course he could be "the boss".  So, he went for it and he's been working at Elkton Eyecare and his commercial practice.  He had to do all those things associated with opening an optometry business, like hire a secretary, buy office supplies, make sure the place looked decent, etc. Technically he didn't need a secretary but it sure helps! And on those days when he see 12+ patients, it's totally worth it.  And we found out he can't have two locations with separate names.  So it's no longer called "Valley Vision". That has since been scraped off the door.


See the microwave below in the picture?  Lee found a small stainless steel fridge/freezer in Lois' garbage area.  It is in amazing condition!  Anyway, the microwave sits on top of the fridge/freezer.


So far having both places is working out.  Lee works a little more and is still gone the bulk of the day on Saturday, but it's an exciting opportunity to have this lease.  Eventually we'd really like to hire another doctor to run the commercial practice and then Lee just manage it.  When we first moved here we lived off of savings. Then Lee got a 12-20 hour/week job at Walmart that provided money for our monthly expenses.  When we decided to stop the part-time work it was another step of faith for me in that we would be completely self-employed.  No savings to live off of, which we had when we initially moved here, and no "regular" check coming in from another employer.  But we both felt peaceful (well, I did and I know Lee felt good about it one way or the other!) about this decision and know that Heavenly Father will take care of us!  In August, the first month Lee started being completely self-employed (2nd time around technically), we actually had enough in the bank account to take care of our expenses that month!  I was pleasantly surprised.  And after not ever bringing home money from Lee's practice (we've been here over a year now--since last August), he "brought home" a partial paycheck in September. And this month, October, is the very first month that we are completely living off of the money Lee earned.  The practices are still growing, so it will be exciting to see what will happen in the coming years.