Got a text from Gavin tonight with a selfie that made me smile.
Think Krassimir had any idea when he first landed here in MN twelve years ago that there would be this much joy in his future?? :)Sunday, October 19, 2025
Bobbi's job
Just over five years ago I posted about how Bobbi had gotten her first "real" job (as in, not just a temporary summer job.) As we had hoped, it was a great fit for her. Last month marked her five-year anniversary with Kwik Trip as a Food Product Demonstrator (FPD)! She has gotten to know many of the "regulars" and they will come in looking for her. She's seen co-workers come and go, some because they were just looking for temporary work, and some because they've been moved to other positions or other stores within the company. She takes pride in being someone who sticks it out even on the tough days (and she's had days she's told us she's ready to call it quits, and the *only* thing keeping her from following through is that she doesn't want to be the one who just leaves!) Besides, it's nice getting a regular paycheck. 😉
For over a year she's been working with another agency that works with people with disabilities in job placement, not because she wants to leave Kwik Trip, but because she's been hoping to work closer to 30 hours a week instead of just the 15-20 that she was currently getting. That's been slow going. She is very uncomfortable with anything having to do with numbers, so anything that involves cashiering is out. Yikes! That *greatly* reduces her options. She can't carry things, so stocking shelves isn't an option. Her cognitive limitations make something like answering phones and directing calls beyond her. So, although she's a very personable young woman, with a definitely range of skills, they just don't overlap in areas that are easily marketable. Greeting guests and passing out samples is a great fit for her.
So it was pretty hard hitting when she learned a few weeks ago that Kwik Trip is dropping, company-wide, their food product sampling program. They intend to keep all of the current product demonstrators on in other positions, but mainly in jobs that Bobbi can't do! We're so grateful that her store manager is motivated to keep someone with Bobbi's company loyalty in the company. So, while she's not going to keep 15-20 hours, she DOES still get to work three 3-hour shifts a week putting price stickers onto muffins and crisp rice bars and doing some light cleaning of the surfaces that she is able to reach.
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Here's Bobbi wiping the counters by the coffee machines. |
Monday, September 29, 2025
Freshly painted
Matt got some good uninterrupted time with beautiful weather over the weekend, and made huge progress on the garage work! He started with puttying all of the nail holes (that really looked funny!) and then got a fresh coat of paint over everything he'd been working on. Lovely!
Friday, September 26, 2025
Krassi's Rings, part 5
Being caught up on the garage blogging, here's a little bragging post on Krassimir. He continues to delight me with the creative ways he combines his favorite toys - he reminds me of an architect who has a distinctive style, but boundless creativity. With the limited pallette of "rings" (loosely defined - something with a roughly wrist-sized hole in it - often circular, but not necessarily - sometimes rigid, sometimes not) and triangles and soft animals (whether stuffed animals or squishy plastic), he pulls together endless combinations, changing them up every few days, but always with that same "vocabulary" that makes his style so distinctive.
For your viewing enjoyment, a sampling of the most recent ones. (If you care, they uploaded in reverse order of time, so the ones at the top here are the most recent, and then go back in time to last summer)
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Look how pleased he is with me wanting to take a photo! He's so proud of his work. |
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Upgrading to a BIG stuffed animal! Lucky Snoopy... |
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Friends at church will save the insides of duct tape or packaging tape, and their kids will decorate the cardboard, and then bring it for Krassi! |
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Notice there's a ring in the bottom of the ring! |
Tuesday, September 23, 2025
When Mom's away...
...Dad will play, which at our house involves a tool belt and some noise!
Leah and I and a few friends took 22 kids (including Reuben) on an all day field trip to Lake Superior, leaving Matt home again with no (major) interruptions, and look what he got done!
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The east side of the front porch stairs now has the white skirt boards! |
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And the original house now has its siding reinstalled! He'd gotten the first seven rows or so on first thing in the spring, and then there it sat until yesterday! |
And with that, I think I'm finally up to date! After six months of trying to post current progress and fill in the gaps since construction started in earnest last summer, I *think* I'm finally caught up, and perhaps can now spend the time I get to invest on things like this blog on current updates, which means maybe I can stay on top of things better! (? Maybe. We'll see.)
Monday, September 15, 2025
All my babies...and a couple more
Yesterday I got a most precious gift. ALL TEN of my children were at church with us! It's a rare occurrence to have *everybody* together anywhere. Even at Christmas we're not always guaranteed that no one will be in the hospital! 😁 But somehow, this happened! Our good friend Scotty brought his camera along and we took the opportunity to get some nice pictures of everyone.
And *everyone* everyone. Owen is back from Montana! Earlier than he'd expected. We're super happy to have him back. And he brought back with him Sophie, whom he met while working at the ranch. We're looking forward to getting to know her better, too.
Saturday, September 13, 2025
Garage doors
The installation ended up getting pushed back a week after one of the installers called in sick, but nevertheless, here we are now with garage doors!
In progress:
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only a few panels in... |
Good thing we don't put our trust in locks to keep us safe. :) Every single thing that does or does not come our way is in the hands of our God who controls the minutest details.
But it does look prettier with the doors closed. :)