Cain Chronicles: February 2013

Sadly this is a true statement. One of our laundry baskets contains several birthday and Christmas presents that were supposed to make it to NY for Christmas but never did as weather prevented us from making the trip. Lauren we still have the boys birthday presents, Mike and Scooby, we still have your Christmas presents, same with Alex, Adam, and Even's Christmas presents.

So here is our family news update. Like Lauren and Sean we had a lot happen last year. Carl accepted a new position as a project manager for Verizon Wireless. This was a great career move but actually a step down in pay and now an hour commute both ways into Roanoke. This all happened at around the same time we discovered we had a major problem with the foundation of our home. Through lots of prayer, fasting and creative thinking we came through. We traded cars with Nat. She got our blue van. We got her civic which has helped immensely with gas. I'm now working from home 10 hours a week with my former employer, Brain Injury Services of Southwest VA. Mom and Dad were generous in their financial support for fixing the foundation. It's immensly expensive to fix a foundation. We nearly emptied our savings and we wouldn't have been able to pay for it if it hadn't been for Mom and Dad.

It was a very stressful time and I can say it tested my faith in new ways. We had to move forward not knowing how we were going to do this. Heavenly Father provided where we were short. We did everything that we could do and then he sent me a little job, kind parents, and an excellent work crew to help with the rest. We've been living frugally and it has been a great blessing to our family. I've changed so much in how I manage our money and how we spend our time and resources.

It took two weeks last spring to fix the house. 48 hours after the work crew left our washer flooded the basement. Our basement is finished and we have two bedrooms, a full bath, laundry room, and family room down there. All the flooring had to be ripped up and out, dry wall had to be removed in some places. Our family room had to be completely emptied and packed up in storage for 3 months while we completed the work.

This year we hope to begin patch up and repair work for some of the damage left from the foundation. Our front porch is in need of repair, the brick in our house needs repointed, and we have cracks in walls the need patched, sanded and repainted.

Carl will finally graduate with his bachelors degree from RIT this spring! It's been 10 years of working full time and going to school. Eight of those years of full time work, school, plus being a husband and Dad. I have a lot of respect for Carl that he kept at it and sacraficed so much for our family. We won't be able to make it up for him to walk in May but we are planning a vacation this summer to NY. I want to have a family party for him them. We hope you can all make it.

Grace and Marshall are growing by leaps and bounds. Grace seems to have the Cain/Kopshina gene for writing. Her goal is to have a book published just like Nana's. She has written several pieces that have amazed her teacher and principal. In fact the piece in the family calendar so amazed her principal the she had Grace's teacher read it a staff meeting. Dr. Parson's says she doesn't even have fifth graders with Grace's creativity and thought processes. Grace was also baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints this past November. We were so proud of her and so lucky to have Mom, Dad, Sheryl and Aunt Nat come. Grace also took a big step into growing up this past Friday. She braved her intense fear of needles and shots and got her ears pierced! It was a family affair. We all went and cheered her on. Carl filmed , and I took some pics. Yes, she cried. But afterwards she said it wasn't that bad and even wanted to watch the video several times. I'm so proud that she didn't chicken out.

We call Marshall the "hot sauce" in our family. Strong willed and determined Marshall keeps us on our toes at all times! But he has made us be better parents, better thinkers and better problems solvers. He is in Pre-k this year. He is doing so well! I believe Marshall's gifts a strongly in motor skills and movement. When he tells a story he uses his whole body. He can already do a full no-handed flip on the trampoline. He's supper fast on his bike. My favorite Marshall saying of late are Me: Marshall , who taught you how to dance like that? Marshall: Jesus did.
Me: Marshall, I love you so much, buddy! Marshall: Mom, I love your dance moves. He loves his sister but like his cousins tends to bicker with her a lot. It's just sibling stuff but it's amazing how they watch out for each other. I have no doubt in my mind that if someone tired to mess with Grace that Marshall would have no problem kicking some butt.

We have no idea how long we will be here in VA. At this time if Carl wanted to move up we would probably need to move. I have mixed feelings. We've been here almost six years and have many friends. The kids love their school and we love our church family. Plus, I have very little interest in all the stuff that goes with moving. However, I do miss home and especially seeing everyone. So, who knows what the future holds.

Foundation repair: dirty, messy, expensive.

Beauty and Muscles before the dance recital.

First day of school

I hope you are all doing well, and like Lauren said we'd love to hear your family updates. Amber

This will be a rather lengthy post since we haven't written in FOREVER! As most of you know by now a lot has happened in our family these last few months. In mid-November Sean was formally offered a job with the New York State Assembly Ways and Means committee. After some intense budget projections and a lot of prayer we decided to accept the job and move to Albany. Our move was very hurried (we had about two weeks to pack, clean and paint our house) and rather stressful. The week we were supposed to leave a rather unpleasant, but short lived, stomach bug paid a visit to our home. Evan was first, followed by Sean and then finally Adam (in our hotel room while traveling from Bloomington to NY). I will spare you the graphic details but as most of you can imagine it only added to our stressful moving experience. God took pity on me and spared me the infection. This truly was a miracle. After watching each family member fall to this savage beast, I waited anxiously for my turn. Thankfully my turn never materialized.

Now during all of this chaos, both Adam and Evan celebrated their birthdays. We were very fortunate to celebrate both the boys' birthdays with family in NY. We had a early party for Adam, who turned 3, while in NY during early November for Sean's second interview with the state. Aunt Emily made Kipper (Adam's most beloved TV show) themed cupcakes. Adam did have a second birthday party in Indiana, on his actual birthday. We invited our very good friends and their little girl (who is Evan's age), and had cake and opened presents while surrounded by towers of moving boxes. Little Evan's first birthday was initially going to be absorbed into our move. We were supposed to move into our new apartment in Albany on his birthday! However, the moving truck containing all of our things could not make it to Albany on that day, which was a Friday. So we decided to spend the weekend in Fairport and move into the apartment the following Monday. We planned an impromptu party for Evan and he was able to celebrate his first birthday with his grandparents, aunts and uncles. Happy Birthday Boys. Oh yeah, and somewhere in there was Thanksgiving, which was spent with a very nice couple from our ward who invited us over.

Much of December was spent unpacking boxes and familiarizing ourselves with our new surroundings. Despite the business of settling into a new home, we did manage to put up our Christmas decorations. This helped immensely to make the apartment feel more homey. Christmas was spent in Fairport, where we had a lovely time. We even had the perfect snow Christmas Eve, which was a warm welcome back to NY. Many of you will think I am crazy, but I really missed the snow while away from NY. Unfortunately we didn't have the chance to see all of you over the holiday, but we expect to have the opportunity for many more visits now that we are so much closer.

Sean has been working working working. As a budget analyst for the State (specifically for education K-12) he has now entered into his "busy season". On average he works 10 hour days, but has already had several workdays that extend into the wee hours of the morning. I wish I could say it will get better, but apparently it only gets worse until the budget is passed. He will pretty much live at work in March. On the upside, his summer will be very flexible and he can take a bunch of time off. Fall will be much like an average 9-5 workday. So far, her seems to be rather good at what he does. He is hoping this will be a position that can open some doors for him in the future.

Adam, Evan and I have been trying to keep busy during the typical upstate NY winter. The sun does occasionally make an appearance her in East Greenbush, but it has been much too cold to do many outdoor activities. However, we have visited several museums in the area and are dedicated patrons to our local library. Adam and Evan each have a storytime class at the library, which we faithfully attend each week. We've even made a few trips up to the capitol to have lunch with Dad. We have been a bit slow to make friends here so far, but are hoping that will pick up as we get to know people better. Our ward seems very friendly and there are lots of kids around Adam and Evan's age.

Ok, to finish things up I feel I should update you all (and even myself) on all the new fun things Adam and Evan are doing. Adam is a chatter box. We visited Mom and Dad a few weeks ago, and Adam managed to trap Dad in the dinning room. He proceeded to tell Dad a very lengthy story, on par with one of Sheryl's "jokes", after about 10 minutes, Dad went into the kitchen to put his dinner plate away. I said, "Sorry Dad, I should have told you to bring an extra pair of ears because Adam will talk yours right off!" Adam can recognize all of his letters by sight (at least capital letters) and loves music. For the most part he is a very thoughtful older brother, despite Evan's tendency to egg him on by hitting and stealing toys. Adam is a bit shy around other kids his age, so I am hoping to find a few good friends for him to help bring him out of his shell. He regularly prays at dinner and bedtime and has been LOVING all the snow here.

Onto Evan. Evan is a very strong-willed child. He is definitely at an age of boundary testing. Although his physical abilities are impressive, they are also a constant source of frustration for Mom and Dad. He really loves to climb right now, especially onto chairs. If he can, he will continue onto tables and counter tops. If he makes it all the way up, he usually does a little victory dance which is even more terrifying. His language comprehension really exploded after Christmas. Although he is not saying much right now, you can tell he understands a lot. If you tell him to go get his blanket, or a ball he will wander around until he has found the item. We have started teaching him a bit of sign language too. He seems to be picking it up fairly well. He can sign milk, more and please. Of course it is absolutely adorable. We are also working on body parts. His favorite is hair, which he rubs wildly when you ask "Evan, where is your hair". This is no surprise, but Evan will try and do anything that Adam is doing. He gets frustrated very quickly if he feels like he is being left out. He frequently will accompany Adam to the bathroom, which Adam is not a huge fan of. These little boys are rather inseparable. I don't want to give you the impression that their relationship is nothing but harmony. In fact, a large portion of their interaction involves screaming, crying and hitting. However, they really are attached to each other, which is just so charming.

We are so glad to be back in NY. I can't wait to see you all so much more (ahem, take this as a hint Amber and Carl) and hope we can all get together soon. I'd like to hear from the rest of you. We haven't been the only family with lots of goings on lately!