A Much Needed Rest

So this week I have only 2 days where I am working. I was getting so exhausted that it was getting hard to think straight. I knew it was going to be tough working for these few months, but I kept the light at the end of the tunnel in mind... Debts paid faster and it was only until the end of April. There was days even still that it seemed like it would never end. 9hour days working plus still having to come home and make dinner and get kids into, not to mention cleaning. There were a few days I passed out the second I sat down while waiting for the oven timer to go off. It turns out that I wasn't the only one.

Ben has been struggling through these past months but didn't want to let me know. He took on a lot of responsibility being the oldest and wanting to help out. I found out yesterday that he was struggling most with getting his homework done these past few months. Now this young man amazes me everyday with all he does. He gets up at 5:30am every morning to deliver 2 paper routes that he has had since he was 9, he is President of the Deacon's Quorum, he helps out around the house, he babysits when needed, plus he goes gets himself into things like exchange programs to Toronto, and writes poetry and stories that people want to publish. He is normally an A student as well. Now he has had a few struggles this year with getting use to having homework as his last school didn't challenge his brilliant mind enough. We had a great system going on and I thought things were going well until yesterday. It turns out the added babysitting from me working has cause him to get exhausted as well and his homework is what he thought he could go without doing. I got his pre-report card yesterday and it says that he has a lot of missing assignments. When I asked him about it he broke down telling me how tired he is and he didn't want me to worry since I am not working that much longer. It broke my heart. So this week has been a nice needed rest. I only work the 2 days Mike has off work so Ben can focus on his studies so he can get caught back up before the Toronto kids come here and he needs to take another week off of school so they can show them around our little city and area. The next couple of weeks after this one will be a tough run as we do the mad rush of all those people who wait until the last minute to file their taxes.

All this is just another test and rough patch while we get back on our feet. In the meantime here is a little pic of fun as Claudia tries to be a little like her Daddy. Hope your first of the year has been well for you.