Life As We Know It

So here's the latest from the Crouse house:

Starting with Draven: he has now been sickness free for almost 4 months! I think that is definitely a milestone worth celebrating! He's gotten his first tooth, starting to crawl, and can down some jar food like nobody's business! He's come so far. I'm so proud of him! Dominic had to get his nose glued this week after tripping over his own two feet. He gashed his nose pretty good. Not even a week later, his brother pushed him and he fell with the pringles can he was holding going right into his mouth. Thankfully, he didn't end up seriously hurt and I was thankful we didn't have to take him to the ER for the second time in a week. That little boy is something else!! =) Bradren has been Bradren..wild and crazy and full of life! He's starting to talk a little more now in complete sentences which makes mommy really happy! His favorite lines are "Let me do it" and "What are you doing?". Bradren and Dominic constantly keep me on my toes!! If it's quiet, I better be go checking it out because they are into something! Jovie had her 5 year check up this past week...She's all ready to start Kindergarten =(. She checked out perfectly and the doctor said that if she stays on the same growth curve she will be 5' 4"...taller than her mama! She got shots and the same night she got a stomach bug...Fun fun. Aeris has been probably the most uneventful one. She did get pushed in the floor by her brother the other day and the blood started pouring from her nose. At first I was scared to death she broke it...but the worst she got was rug burn on the tip of her nose. She's a tough little girl though!!! Kylee has been having a horrible time with her feet. She has to see a podiatrist this next week on Wednesday to hopefully find out what's going on. It bothers her to walk or anything. I feel bad for her! She also has some pretty bad allergies and has to take medicine to control it everyday. Otherwise she's good though--the same really sweet Kylee girl! The only major thing that has been going on with Keyser is that we found out that he's still pretty highly allergic to peanuts. Dominic had covered himself in peanut butter and Keyser went to pick him up Keyser then started having respiratory issues. They were resolved with breathing treatments but they wanted to see him at the ER anyways. They did x-rays at the ER which showed that his lungs were larger than normal. That let them know it was indeed an allergic reaction. We now have an epee-pen with him at all times. We were told that the next reaction could be milder or it could be worse. We are taking him in for allergy testing on Monday to see if he is allergic to any other types of nuts as well. As for Chris and me...we're doing pretty good. I'm enjoying my new job and the biggest news that either of us have is that Chris is going back to school!!! He starts New River in a couple of weeks working towards his Associates degree in IT: Game design. I think this is pretty cool. I'm excited!

I'm dreading the kids going back to school now. It starts in less than 2 weeks and I'm not ready. Chris and I were contemplating homeschooling this year...but we started considering it too late to feel like we could even be prepared by this year. We're hoping that this is their last year in public schools and we can home school starting next year. We want to make sure that they the kids are all on-board for that decision though if we do it. We've asked their opinions on it and they all seem interested. It's going to take a lot of work for us..but we are really wanting to try it out. We shall see!!

Promotion!!!!

I have very exciting news to share today! I was promoted to Customer Service Manager today and will start my new position this coming Saturday!!! I could not be more excited! I have worked so hard for this and it's just one step closer to being where I want to be....I worried because I interview so horribly...but it worked out for me! I'm feeling so blessed tonight. Maybe my luck is going in a whole different direction! That would be awesome!

Crouse House Summertime Fun

We're having a great summer in the Crouse house. For a weekend in June we got away to go camping and had a FABULOUS time. It's always a ton of work, but it's always fun times. The inlaws made a pirate ship for them, did pirate games, and had a treasure chest for them to pick out of when they finished their game. 

 We spent time at the pool, went on a wagon ride, played at the park, had s'mores of course, and just enjoyed each others company with no distractions. It's not very often we get away, so it was definitely great fun. I can't wait for next years camping trip!! The kids are also enjoying going over to Kim's house this summer. It's awesome friend time for Kim and me, it's pretty cool that Chris can have her husband James to hang out with, and our kids get along great with hers! We've been trying out Pinterest ideas with them and of course the kids love them! These are what we made the last time:

They were a big hit with the kids! I think we have just as much fun with them as they do, it's awesome!

There hasn't been too much else going on around here, which I'm thankful for. We had a stomach bug last weekend, but thankfully it passed pretty quick and only hit 4/9 of us. Draven has stayed completely healthy for a couple of months now and we're stoked!! Life is overall going pretty well. I'm currently hoping to get a promotion for the job that I backup for right now. It's a full time Customer Service Manager job. It was posted this past week, so hopefully I find something out in the next week or so! I really really want this!!

Honesty is the Best Policy

Most everyone that knows me knows that I will tell you that I absolutely love my job. I really do. I love my job and I love my co-workers. I do however, hate some of the reality that I have faced with working retail. I used to be a very trusting person---honestly, probably a little too trusting. In my eyes, everyone meant well, no one lied, and no one was out to deceive you. Unfortunately, I have been proven wrong. It really disturbs me how many dishonest people are out there. I've seen so much theft and dishonesty and it breaks my heart. I've known people to have their children help them steal and watch them steal. It breaks my heart!!! Why in the world would you ever steal to begin with and why would you ever bring your child up to steal? I never realized how many dishonest people are in the world. It makes me sad and it also makes me just angry. I work hard for every dollar I make and the next person is doing everything they can to lie, cheat, and steal. It doesn't seem fair, but I do believe that what goes around, comes around. They will in one way or another have to deal with the consequences.

I'm the kind of person that if a cashier overcharges me and I know it...I give the money back. I accidentally had a .97 sponge under my purse one time at Dollar General and took it back to pay for it. I could NEVER live with my conscience knowing that I took something that I didn't earn or pay for, no matter how big or small it was. I thank my mom for that too. She taught me better. I remember her doing the same thing with a package of hair ties once. She went back and paid for them because she didn't notice and the cashier didn't notice that they were sitting on the inside of her buggy when she walked out. I hate the reality of knowing that people aren't as trusting as I once thought. Instead of trusting every person that I come in contact with, I've turned into the person that is skeptical of every person I come in contact with. All I can tell you is my children are going to know the good values and morals that I was taught growing up. They will know you work for what you want and you are always honest. I don't care what anyone else thinks, I still truly believe that honesty is the best policy.

Giving Back

We had a rough start to this week this week. Kylee was admitted into the hospital because she was having an entirely difficult time breathing. She was discharged today after lots and lots of breathing treatments, some fluids, and some antibiotics. They decided she had a virus that triggered some Asthma. She's been a trooper and I'm so proud of her.

So I got to thinking...She came home today with a "Project Linus" blanket. It was a handmade blanket that the pediatrics units give to the patients. It's funny how something so small has made that child's day...she loves that blanket! It made me realize again how awesome it is to give. Someone took the time to knit those blankets and put a smile on little kid's faces. I've decided that now that I am out of school, I would love to put my spare time to use by giving to others. I'm not sure yet what I want to do but I just want to make other people's day and I want to teach my children to do the same...There's so many organizations that I'm ready to give back to too and just people in general! This is going to be a main focus for us this Summer.

This mommy is an OFFICIAL college graduate!!

So this week past week I officially became a college graduate!! My college career has taken me through so many paths. I've switched majors a couple times and found out that God had other plans in mind for me at this time. I'm content. I wanted my nursing degree, but it was made obvious that now was not the time to pursue it and I don't think it could have been made any clearer. I did, however, graduate with my Associates in Business Management....and you know what? For once in my life, I'm proud of myself! I have worked HARD for this! I started college the same week that I lost my daddy, which was a huge struggle....I've had to take books to the hospital so I could work on schoolwork after the delivery of my children so I could keep up.....I've stayed up many nights working on assignments and having to go into work the very next day because there just aren't enough hours to work, do class work, and sleep when you're taking full time credits....and I've had the obvious traumatic experiences during the last 6 months to deal with. Plus, I'm just a mommy. There's been so many obstacles and it's been a long journey for me....but it's been so worth it!!!! I'm so happy!

What??? Mother of SEVEN? How old are you??

A younger associate at work (19) was exchanging diapers for her baby today. She has a 3 month old. We got in the conversation of babies and kids and the older man behind us kind of pushed his way into our conversation. He asked how old she was and she told him. He said that she needed to wait to have any more babies and definitely didn't need to get married yet. He said she didn't need any more babies until she was at least 26. For some reason, these kinds of conversations get me kind of heated so I was trying not to be part of the conversation. She then pointed out to him that I had 7 children. Of course I get the reaction I always get when people learn this fact. The "OMG, do you really? How do you do it?" kind of reaction. Then of course comes the nosy questions.....ya know the "how old are you" and other personal questions. When people ask me these questions I feel like asking them if they'd like my phone number, address, credit card information, and social security number as well.   It always angers me so I just try to smile through the annoyed emotions that I get. So, according to this man I was too young to have my child at 19 and marry at 18? I didn't know there was an age on love! Yes, for most people...18 may be too young to marry and 19 may be too young to have babies, but for some people 30 is too young to marry and 30 is too young to have babies!!! What's right for someone may be completely wrong for the next!!! I will tell you that I have been happily married for almost 10 years now and I have 7 children that I love more than life itself. I have no regrets of starting my family so young! "You sir, have a right to your opinion, but you sir, are WRONG!"----if I hadn't been at work, I would have loved to have given my opinion as well.