Alfred

We made it. Successfully traveling and surviving our 6 day trek from MT to NY, and getting our home set up. The kids did so well on the trip!! They were excited to have some new activities to do and periodically got to open a prize bag containing some new items and some toys of their own. The travel trays I made before we left provided a great way for Reese to draw and do magnets, Knox enjoyed the sound of banging of his mostly. Mom and I spent most of the time in the Xterra with the kids and Dad and Aaron manned the 20 foot Uhaul truck. There were some trying moments but overall it was a very well planned and executed trip. We made all our destination points and kept potty stops to one between meals. When we did stop, everybody got out and we usually ran around and kicked a ball to get the kids wiggles out. Knox really took off walking after we arrived in NY. I really think the week in the car, sitting, did it! We are pretty well settled into our 3 bedroom, two story duplex. Our cul-de-sac is very private and our neighbors are fellow grad/doctorate students or faculty and several have children around Reese's age! Its wonderful because we have flat yards around all the duplexs in the cul-de-sac. The kids have great space to run and play together and their are communal toys like a sandbox and water table, tire swing, and multiple bikes. The parents are friendly and are from all over. I have already been invited to Alfred's mom's group that meets weekly throughout the year at homes. Overall the town has been so open and friendly, there are lots of new people, not just us, and everyone is very accepting. Aaron has had the same experience in the art dept. We thought because it was such an elite program that the students and faculty might be very hard to fit in with and perhaps unwelcoming, but it has been the opposite. There have been several potlucks and events already and the students and faculty are all so kind and interested in our family and Aaron as an artist. There is respect all around for first year grads and they are welcome to jump right in and fit right in. Of course Aaron never has trouble making friends and already has several buddies and knows most of the people in the program. He has started off strong, working in the studio everyday and enjoying not having to juggle a work schedule with studio (as he did at the Bray). There is alot of reading, but we are blowing through it together and Aaron is eating it up, and really getting into the class discussions. I am proud of him because the material he is reading is very academic and the language is very obtuse and hard to understand so you have to re-read things alot. I hope to read and learn alongside Aaron as he goes through the program, why not right?! Tyler, my brother, has been with us since our arrival and has been a huge help to me! Its been nice having a buddy and extra set of hands as I get things set up, paperwork turned in, appointments met, and to keep track of a newly mobile Knox! Tyler will be with us til mid- Sept. I hope to have a job by then. I have applied for two art dept. jobs (one is secretarial and the other is a museum assistant) at Alfred University and hope to hear back soon. If I secure a job the kids will attend the Montessori School in Alfred (with financial aid through the Childcare Subsidy program, Social Services). Sometimes there are benefits to being poor. The kids would never be able to attend this kind of school if we had to pay for all of it! Until I do get a job we are home most days, enjoying the time together. I have started preschool homeschooling with Reese and its working out very well. It gives us a little more "meat" to our morning routine and has given us a tighter structure to our day. We are using the abcjesuslovesme.com weekly lessons along with Five in a Row curriculum. Its wonderful, its flexible, and simple. I don't feel under pressure to be regimented but to have weekly goals and ideas for the week. I love having Bible story time together and teaching Reese from literature and art (my personal favorites). We gained my childhood art table ("Papaw table") that has chairs and is the perfect height for kids to use. That has given us a great workspace for art and learning. She can also color and draw in her free time if she chooses. I love being home with the kids and am cherishing everyday I get to stay home, but I will be thankful for income coming in if I do secure a job. Jobs here are tight and especially ones at the university, so if they come available you have to jump on them. Be praying the right ones open up, and that our transition would be smooth. Its been raining the last few days and as grateful as I am to see it after being in dry Montana so long, I feel it as an end to summer and that saddens me, because I know the cold and snow is coming and will be here for a long time. I so love seeing the kids play outside, and it will be sad to not have the grass and sunshine for another 6-7 months. But there is joy in every season and I will look forward to that!