Crazy!!

That is the best word to describe the last 10 days!!
Last Thursday was the kids parent teacher conference. It went really well. Hannah is doing awesome! Nathaniel is reading at a 3rd grade level and making all A's. Friday they were off from school, so we played here all day. That afternoon we went into Norman to spend the rest of Nathaniel's birthday money. He found his beloved HO scale BNSF engine at a new hobby shop there. It is run by 2 vietnam vets. They are really nice. He got a free ball hat and all from that. Saturday Chris was off. His parents had decided not to come, so we went to the State fair for the day. It was fun!! We saw Clydesdale horses, a llama show, spaghetti cake, dogs catching frisbees, and rode the space needle and the octopus. After doing all of that, we went to our Tim Hawkins show. He was hilarious. We got his new cd and then headed home. Sunday we went to church and then our friend Jenn had her first book written and was having a party for it. We went and spent the rest of the day there. It was so good to see them.
Monday the kids had their annual checkup. All went well until word came that they needed their Hep A shot, thanks to Oklahoma law and Nathaniel was up for his first tetnus. Since that was unexpected and it took so much longer than we thought, we took them out to eat at Cici's. They spent the rest of the day out of school, since we didnt get out of norman until pushing 2pm and they get out of school at 2:30ish. I had planned to do way more than nothing all day. So I wanted to start Tuesday off right. I spent the morning in the parking lot of Woodland hills reading my bible and just spending time with God. I didn't want to get distracted by all the work. then I got back and began to get started when some Jehovah witnesses came by. They were nice and considering I had read all morning, I let them in and just visited with them. They had a little book they left, which I went through, but by doing that, Satan took over me mentally. I struggled with what do I believe and why. Some of their stuff had valid points that I had never asked myself. I just believe it because that is what I have always heard was right. Along with that, Chris was having a hard day with people and so by the end of the day I was beat up. I went to bed feeling defeated. I was scheduled to sub Wednesday for 4th and 5th grade special ed kids. I was so worried about it, due to the day before. They were great!! And Chris got a visit from the district manager and said he was the best in the district at what he did. the rest of the day, other zone managers from zone 1 were there taking pictures and all, telling Chris that Collard had said that if they didn't have their zones looking like his by the end of the week, it was their jobs. He then proceeded to tell Chris that he thought he should be promoted and grilled Joe, Chris' boss, as to why he hadn't promoted Chris sooner. Chris has to choose between Sales manager and Administration manager. The decision has to be made by tomorrow. He is nervous, because he has to do something or Collard will be disappointed at his lack of attempt to acknowledge his wanting to be promoted. Sales takes him to district-wide control of pricing and sales. Administration leads him down the path to getting his own store, or working in human resources, which is what he really wants to do. He wants to make the right decision, so...
With that all falling Wednesday, along with church that evening, it voided the horrible day before. I was also able to book my flight to Oregon for the 17th of October and I am so thrilled about that!!!! Thursday I was able to get some things done around the house and visit with Heidi about my upcoming trip. I also baked a lot of apple goodies for the kids Johnny appleseed day. Homemade apple butter and apple bread and carmel apple crisp.
Friday I visited with my grandma, who fell a few weeks ago, and volunteered to work the kids book fair. We went to town that afternoon to get some bulbs for my front porch area.
Yesterday we worked in the yard with the flower garden and the kids just got to be kids and played all day. We got ice cream to finish the day off!! It was great. Today we went to church and then went to a Wildlife expo in Oklahoma city and got to ride in a kayak. Nathaniel went in one on his own and LOVED it. Hannah rode with her daddy. We also got to fish in their pond, and Nathaniel was the grand champion in the Buffalo chip throwing contest. Yes, he threw buffalo poop into a basket and was the best at it!! He won a little board game about identifying the states. It was a fun day. We came home to play in the yard and get ready for bed. I am on here because it has been way too long and I have another busy week ahead.
Tomorrow I really need to get caught up with laundry and do some dusting. The kids have their annual dentist appointment tomorrow afternoon and then we are headed into town to help our friends Clay and Jenn move into their new house. Tuesday I need to finish the flowers in the yard and Wednesay is church and I am volunteering again in the book fair. Thursday is free and Friday Chris has off, so we are going to paint his shed and go to the Bridge Creek home football game.
Anyways, just thought I would catch everyone up with what was going down here. hope it finds all well and enjoying the fall weather.
I need to think about heading to bed. Love to you all and praying that you all see God in all things!! Thanks for your prayers and for keeping up with us. Feel free to comment whenever you want. It is encouraging when there are notes in my email that you are in touch with us all.:-)
Till next time!!

A few new pictures and a story. The first one is the one I wanted to post last time.

Then, the rest are from our "Mole hunt". We were out watering our trees and plants and Ben went nuts on a mound in our yard. He dug for over an hour. Chris said he was pretty sure it was a mole. Quite entertained by himself, we had a hard time distracting him. Even water didn't work, so that was a shock! (If you know Ben at all, you know his biggest motivation is the thought of getting shot with a hose!)

Rest of our week so far has been starting a new bible study with the ladies I have been a part of. A study by Beth Moore called "Stepping up". Hannah spiked a fever that night and so she was home yesterday with me. Am hoping she is better. Not sure what it was. She went up to 101.9, which is underarm, so add a degree. YIKES!! It was normal by yesterday morning, but I kept her home to rest.

Parent teacher conferences are tonight at 7 and then we are going to just do nothing all Friday!! Saturday is our Tim Hawkins concert that we bought tickets to a few months ago. We are excited about that. And then we are planning on going to the state fair together on Sunday afternoon. Noel and Lorna might be here this weekend, but I haven't heard for sure. They got a lot of rain and damage last weekend with hurricane Ike.

Thats about it. Hope this finds you all well and praising God for all his many blessings!!

birthday weekend!

This past weekend, what do I say?...

Well, considering we had no idea what we were doing, which is super abnormal for me, we were assured of one thing. That was Mom and Dad coming down. We went to the homecoming football game friday night, which was a lot of fun. Bridge Creek won 13-6. Mom and Dad arrived about 30 mins after we got home, so the kids were still up!! Everyone crashed for the night and then the following morning we got up and did a scavenger hunt for his gifts. He got new bike tires, a remote control Charger, 2 lego ships, and a huge blow up millenium falcon. (Thanks Tim and Heidi! He loves it!! see attached picts)

Hannah wanted to make him some cinnamon rolls for his birthday and thanks to my sister Karen, I had just the right recipe. She worked really hard at decorating too! After opening all his gifts and building his lego things, we decided to take a trip into town to purchase some HO scale stuff with the money that Grandma and Papa were giving him. He came home with a tank car, a hopper, a BNSF caboose, a goat boxcar and a red flat car. We then called Sarah Crosswhite, because David really wanted to see Nathaniel on his birthday, since we had invited them. They didn't end up having a crosscountry meet, so we met them in Edmond to do something. Ended up raining so we went to Quail springs mall and wandered around. It had cosmic golf, so we all played that. Nathaniel said it was a great birthday because lots of people he really loved were there.

Sunday after church we stayed here and Nathaniel and Papa built the cars he had bought and then played with all his goodies. We played some games too and just hung out. It was a good weekend!

Today I subbed for Mrs. Kelly, which was a LONG day!! I was grateful to be able to go home and enjoy my kiddos. They have a short week this week as parent teacher conferences are thursday night and friday they are off. Chris and I are off tomorrow so we are going to get some major grocery shopping done as well as set in stone a budget. Wahoo!! Hope everyone is doing well and managing to adjust to the fall like temps!!! I am loving it!!

Enjoy the picts!

A good one I wanted to post won't load up, so be looking for it next time. It is Nathaniel choosing to sleep in the falcon the last 2 nights. He looks so sweet!

Strange coincidence

I was surprized today with a strange coincidence. I was subbing this afternoon for a 3rd grade teacher and saw a woman at the homecoming pep assembly that seemed familiar. In thinking about it, I knew she was a mother of a little girl I had taught when I co-taught 3yr olds at Antioch. Mrs. Sparks. Her daughter, Emily, was the most notorious 3 year old. On open house, she ran away from Ms. Linda and I and was consistently testing our patience. I remember one time her parents offered her a kitten if she was good for an entire week. She was and got the kitten.
Anyways, I went up to her and asked if her name was Ms. Sparks. She recognized me immediately and said, "Emily still carries a picture of you and her in her wallet. She is in 7th grade now." I was shocked. She turned 13 today. That means it was 10 years ago that I made an impression on a little girl who is now becoming a woman. After the assembly, she approached me(Emily) and with an awkward and shy smile, she gave me a hug. I was so touched. We visited for a while and then I had to go back with the 3rd graders. After school, I introduced her to my kids and them to her. It was such a neat experience. Just another reminder that God always sees the future and that somehow 10 years ago, I made enough of an impression in loving Emily the way she was that she has carried a picture of me in her wallet all these years. Wow!! Wow!!
Overwhelmed is an understatement for how I feel. But knowing that I was able to help her grow up in some way and that I will be able to reconnect with her is cool. And, she still has the kitten. Her name is crackers and she has a thing for cats. imagine that!
Mom and Dad are headed this way for Nathaniel's birthday tomorrow. Chris and I are repairing his bike and Hannah is replacing his remote control car. I made him a root beer cake today and I have no idea what tomorrow holds. His friend joey's mom was in a car accident Tuesday night and they are struggling with all of that plus their other commitments. He probably wont' be able to come over. I guess we will figure it all out tomorrow!!
We are headed to Bridge Creek's homecoming football game tonight. We went to their parade last night, as Hannah was in the parade. It was fun. Looking forward to staying for the whole game this time! We play the wildcats, so I will have to be careful not to accidently say, "go wildcats," even though it is in the blood. :-)
Will write again soon!!

Change of plans

Just a note. We won't be having the baptism this sunday. Nathaniel went to church with us and said it wasn't the right time, so we will wait. And we got phone calls from all his party invites and none of them can come either, so we are trying to quickly come up with another alternative for the weekend. Probably still go to homecoming. Bless his heart, at least my mom and dad are planning on coming.
I am trying to get a bunch of stuff done here today so that I won't have to worry about it tomorrow or wednesday. thursday and friday I will need to think about getting groceries and presents, since we are waiting on payday to do all of that.
Just wanted to post a short addendum about the baptism being on hold. Anyone is welcome to come to the birthday activities, whatever those will be, and we will keep you posted on the upcoming baptism.
Till later, all our love!!

another week is over.

It is Saturday morning and another week of the kids school is over. We are becoming more acclimated to the school. I didn't end up subbing at all this week. The one day I was scheduled, Nathaniel's asthma flared. Most of the week was spent in doing laundry, dishes, shopping for groceries and mowing the yard. Chris was off yesterday and we set up the cheap patio table we got and cleared up the sidewalk. Our minister from church was coming over to visit with Nathaniel about the questions he was having about getting baptized. He has been asking for about a year now. It was so neat to hear him talk about when he asked Jesus in his heart. I think I posted about that the night it happened. He remembered it in clear detail and described it as "being face to face, nose to nose with Jesus". Bruce asked him if he still felt that way, and Nathaniel replied, "no, but it is because those guys forgot about it". Then Bruce pulled out a dollar bill. He told Nathaniel to put it in his pocket. He asked Nathaniel if he could feel the dollar in his pocket, and Nathaniel said no. Bruce asked him how he knew it was there, and Nathaniel said, "because I put it in there". Bruce said, that is exactly the way it is with Jesus. When we put him in our heart, even when we don't feel him, He is there because He promised to never leave.
It was a great time. Bruce said the first thing he wanted Nathaniel to do was to come to big church and experience that and when it comes to invitation time, if he feels God asking him to come down to get baptized, to do that, because confessing in front of others is something God asks us to do and it inspires others to think about their relationship with God. When he feels God asking him to do that, then we can plan when to have him baptized. He said that because it is a representation of what we are doing with our lives with Christ, it is very important. We are tenatively planning on the baptism being sunday the 14th, so if you can make it, that would be awesome!!
It was nice to have Bruce and Mike in our home. They are so great and it gives me a sure peace about our church home and our involvment there and this being our home. I miss St. Joe and Rodney, but I also realize it is different up there now, so it was good timing that God set us here.
Lets see, also this week, we all went to the Bridge Creek home football game. Since Nathaniel had been home, he only went for the first half. Chris stayed for the rest of the game. The superintendent said there were over 500 people at the game. Can you imagine a crowd like that at Northern Heights?? That is about the same size of school. They beat Blanchard 9-7. Chris was so excited. Next Friday is their homecoming. It is also the tenative slumber party for mr. Nathaniel's 8th birthday!! I hope it all turns out for him.
Well, today we are planning on making a bunch of birthday and anniversary cards, since Sept. is full of them and just playing in the yard. Chris opens so tonight I think we are just going to hang out here and play some board games and read. Tomorrow he works an overnighter and the kids and I have an AWANA meeting at 5. Then I sub next tuesday and wednesday. So I am sure I will post before then. Until then, sending all my thoughts and love!!

A great weekend!!

With a busy week last week of substitute teaching, I was ready for somthing different. We left Blanchard around 4pm and headed north to go to Mary's first. About an hour into it, we ran into some heavy rain in Kingfisher. That town floods somethin terrible. Within just a few minutes, people were freaking out about the water on the road. Only one point of it concerned me. That held us up just a little while. We made it Mary's around 10-10:30. and the kids were excited to see both Mary and Jon. So excited we didnt get them back to bed until pushing midnight. Next morning we got up and played pretty much all day at Mary's. Cars, Barbies, store, and a whole bunch of board games. It was fun!! Sunday morning, before heading to Dodge, she took us by the hospital she is interning at. It was really nice just to veg at her house, especially after the crazy week we had been through. I feel bad, though that she didn't get to show us all the places she hangs out at, and stuff. Or the thought occured to me that with Jon working alot, she is probably at home a bunch and might have wanted to get out. But I know we all had a good time just enjoying her home.
We headed to Dodge and made it to her church in time for morning service. We actually arrived about 20 minutes early and found Karen's name in the bulletin like 3 times, so we made it a game. After church, they had a potluck dinner, which was good. Then we decided to head to Garden city to see their FREE zoo. It was, as far as I am concerned, better that the Oklahoma City zoo, which you pay $8 a piece to get into. We hung out there and enjoyed the animals. Then headed back to Dodge where we made tacos for supper. We then watched muppets in space and everyone got to bed around 10.
Monday we hung out at her house too, playing board games and making a homemade pizza. We also got to help her water her garden, full of yummy looking veggies. We headed back, feeling more rested than when we left, which, for a weekend trip is good!! We got home in time to go straight to bed. It was an awesome time!!
On a side note, while we were gone, the conservation agency came out and radared our hill, and found 138 active lizards and 12 live nests. They said for that species of lizard, we had a Massive colony and that if it was ok with us, they would carefully extract the nests out and put them on protected property. We could keep some since this was their natural environment, and would set us up with a permit to have them. So, effective when they call, they will be digging into our shale hill to save the lizards. Crazy, huh?
Well, i need to get off here. With the wild week last week, i never made it to the grocery store, and with hurricane gustav's leftovers hitting us tonight and tomorrow, I want to make sure we have things to eat in case we get stranded by the flash flood waters. They are still predicting that we might get 5-7 inches a day. No one is for sure of the projected path yet, I saw this morning that it is parked over where Noel and Lorna live, so that should be interesting to hear about how they brave it. Will post again when I get a chance!! Love to all!

Well, it will be a while!

I find it so amazing that I get surprized when God works things out in my situtations. I was a little worried about the whole interview last week and how I wasn't sure how that would all play out. I had a lot scheduled for today, and was supposed to hear about that middle school job. Chris and I had been praying like crazy about it.
This morning, I got a phone call to sub for a teacher who had to go to the hospital for emergency surgery. I was glad to fill in. It was a great day. I got to see and spend some time with Hannah at recess and meet her friend Tory. :-) I also got to eat lunch in the cafeteria with Nathaniel!! And the kids in my class were great!! I will be in there all week, as this teacher is not for sure when she will be able to return. The other 2nd grader teachers have been great at helping me out. I thought to myself as I sat in her classroom during planning period, "what were the chances of me getting a long-term sub job on the day I was supposed to hear about the other job? Especially for my first one." Only God knows and sees that. I felt so much more at home teaching 2nd grade math and language than I would ever in coordinating special ed kids tests. A huge peace fills me tonight as I am so thankful God hears us and is compassionate to our lives.

On that note, I am pretty sure with being a full time fill in this week along with trying to do all my other chores on the side in the evenings and preparing for my trip, I won't be on again until next week. We are headed to Jon and Mary's Friday after school. Planning on staying with them Friday night, and all saturday and saturday night, as Karen will be with her youth group at a concert. Then Sunday morning, we will head to Dodge to go to church and her church dinner and spend all Sunday and Monday with Karen until we have to head home. I am excited about it, since it has been over a year since we have been that way!! and we will get to celebrate Karen's birthday while we are out there!!!
Until I write again, hope everyone is going well and staying healthy!!

Since last time:-)

It is Sunday night and I write after a long week. As you know, it rained monday and tuesday, prohibitting us to get Ben's pen done. Well, after being cooped up all week, I tackled the last of the laundry on Wednesday so I could clean up the yard. That was what I did all day Thursday. I put up the corner post in Ben's new pen, which amazingly went in really well with the soft ground. I also stumbled on a new find for our hill full of shale. Apparently, it stinks for yard decor, but makes a great home for an indangered lizard, some kind of horned lizard. All the holes we thought were snake holes and the "snake" eggs we found when we planted the oak up there, were actually this horned lizard. Ben and I found one while putting in the corner post. I thought it was just a regular lizard, but when I noticed it looked more like a mini dinosaur, I got really excited. When Nathaniel got home, I showed him and we were really thrilled. you cant even catch one without the state of Oklahoma's permission. So, tomorrow, we are going to call the wildlife reserve, since we have now seen at least a dozen in working on the pen. I think with the amount of holes we have seen, our ugly hill is actually a nesting ground for them, so that is cool.

Friday I put in some more posts and then wrapped the fencing around it lightly so that Ben could get a feel for it. I actually think now it is a form of security for him. He is really liking being on the hill and the fence around him. I need Chris to help me get the rest of it put together, but he came home early Thursday sick and slept all day and through the night. He went to work friday morning and worked from 4am till 8pm. I guess the dept. manager was slacking on his job and there was this showdown and Chris had to stay to make sure the guy did his job. Saturday he was off, so he slept in. I went out and mowed the north part of the yard. with all the rain, it needed it. So, I had quite a work out. 1/2 acre of push mowing is quite the workout as well as cardio. Whew!! The kids did great, playing with Ben and helping him catch frogs while I mowed. We went that afternoon to bowl with our sunday school class. That was a lot of fun!! I am really glad that God has blessed us with those people in our lives. It was such a time of encouragement and everyone's kids were pretty much the same age. We came home and played horses and hot wheels and went to bed.
Today was church and we had another great time there. We talked to Bruce a little about Nathaniel's asking about baptism since like a year ago and with all the chaos, we have still yet to do it. Chris is supposed to call Bruce tomorrow and maybe we can go in to see him to talk this week. However, we have planned to head to Mary's and Karen's this weekend to see them and celebrate Karen's birthday!! Which speaking of birthdays, since Nathaniel hasn't hit the jackpot with a bunch of friends yet this year, we are talking about seeing if his cousins, Robert and David, want to come down and spend the night with him. They only live about an hour away and have never gotten to come to his birthday party. We thought maybe we could take the 3 of them lazer tagging or something, since most birthday parties here in norman are SUPER EXPENSIVE!!! Last year in st. joe, we had the bowling alleys "party pack". 10 guest, pizza, drinks and 2 hours of bowling for $20. Here, you get a Party coordinator along with all that stuff and the cheapest event, be it lazer tag, mini golfing, or bowling, is $150. I about choked. So we are talking maybe a trip to Cici's and one game of tag or something. I don't know. I feel so bad, but this state/city is crazy!!!! I miss Missouri!!!
Anyways. Today i spent the day after church checking in on Ben. somehow he has a puncture wound on his abdomen. I think he either laid on a hard stick or one of the yard tools Chris left laying in the yard. not sure, but it was oozing and he was acting like he wanted to snuggle. it was kind of sweet and with it being on his side, I was just hoping it wasnt in far enough to get an organ. I looked up online what to do and followed that proceedure. He seems to be feeling better tonight. Up to wrestling with an old shoe, which shows he is feeling better. :-)
Tomorrow I am hoping to finish up mowing the yard and the kitchen. Have some phone calls to make too as well as get things ready for this coming weekend. With Chris batching it for a few days, sometimes that can be an event all by itself, :-)
Love to all of you and hoping everyone is well!!

It has been a few days and I thought I would write. I just got home from a job interview with the middle school at Bridge Creek. They are looking for a para to follow special ed students to and from class, as well as answer phones for an hour to relieve the secretaries and have my own homeroom. I think it went well. I am a little nervous about the possiblity but also realize that if this is what God wants for me, He has already equipped me for the job. It just seems a little overwhelming at the moment. I should know something before Monday.
Chris and i didn't get the pen done. It rained like 7 inches in one day, so needless to say, we spotted out where we want it and hope to get it in while the ground is still soft, but...
I got some hand sewing done and Chris and I watched a couple of movies. Felt really lazy, but you know when you set your mind on something big and then you dont' get to do it. It is really h hard to get motivated about anything else.
Thats about it. Kids are really enjoying school. Yesterday was their first day of homework. Super easy. I know they do a lot of review in the beginning, but I know the 2 of mine are looking to get past counting by 2's and what does the letter d say. For 1st and 2nd grade I am a little surprized, but with experiencing so many different school systems, I have to understand that every place does stuff differently. I guess with Nathaniel doing algebra at the end of his 1st grade year in Norman, going back to counting by 2's to 20 seems a little immature. Anyways, just be praying for all of us, as I await whether or not it is God's will that I get that job at the middle school, and for the kids to be patient as they wait to be challenged by their teachers.
And for Chris as he deals with the stress of completely redoing the seasonal department. Yes, heating and Christmas. Of course, at this point here, with all the rain and unseasonably cool temps, the heaters actually sound good. Last year, they set heaters when it was like 100 degrees outside.
Till next time!!!

A good weekend!

Well, we had a great weekend. Friday after school, we met Chris at Rib Crib and visited about the kids day. Nathaniel had a much better one. I have a feeling after today, when they share their 5 things about themselves that make them special, that he will be feeling more confident.
Hannah said that she and her new friend, Tory and her friend from church, Courtney, started a new club at recess. It is the horse lovers club and to be a part of it, you have to chase pretend mustangs and put them in your ranch by galloping around the playground. Chris joked that with their initials, it could be their "C.Ha.T" group. I told him we didn't want to encourage discriminating friends, but that the idea was cute.
Then the boys headed to see the star wars movie. Nathaniel really enjoyed it and of course Chris did. Hannah had our minds set on roller skating, until we pulled up and found out that it was High school nite and the only option was to skate from 7-2am. We opted out. While trying to figure out what we were going to do next, we went to Ross. I had yet to take her there. She tried on 3 dresses, one being a big pink one that spun really good when she twirled. We didn't buy it because she really wanted to go mini golfing, but as we wandered the store, she saw a yello one and said, "you know, since it is Ruthy's birthday tomorrow, we could come back and buy me the pink one and ruthy the yellow one and we could match." I told her that since the dresses were $15 a piece, I didn't think we could do that, but she could draw a picture of them in the dresses and send it to Ruthy and that would be nice.
We did end up buying some sparkly headbands, though, for a dollar.
Then we headed to Perfect swing and played 2 rounds of mini golf. It was a lot of fun. She said at one point as we were walking down the paths, "Mom, isn't this place wonderful!" I am so glad she is such a dreamer!!
Church was great yesterday. WE really love our sunday school class. We actually are going to go bowling this saturday. Chris has the weekend and we have debated many times what we are going to do, but as of yesterday, he knows there is a lot to finish here and he really wants that time with good Christian friends. So I think we are just going to stay home. His last weekend off we went to Dallas, so I think he just wants to do something around here.
After church the kids and I went to the newcastle city park. it had 2 sand volleyball courts, so we played in the sand a while and swang and went down the slides. It was a lot of fun. Then we came home and did some scavenger hunts. That was a blast. Then we finished up Nathaniels homework of filling a bag of 5 things that show special things about him.
They made it to school well today. Actually, they have tv's in their classrooms and when we walked in, they were all watching the super why's, which is one of the kids favorite PBS shows. I thought to myself, what motivation to go into the room.
Chris is off today and we had intended to build Ben a good pen, but with it raining right now, we are going to wait until it clears off a little. He is really needing a place to run at all times. He gets so bored and then when we let him off his chain, he goes crazy and doesn't listen when we call. WE are hoping with the wet ground it will make it easier to do the fence.
Thats about it. Aiming to get a lot done around here while the kids are gone and praying all is well in everyone elses world. Till next time!

1st day!

Well, the kids headed off for their first day at Bridge Creek yesterday and overall it went well. When we picked up Nathaniel, and asked him how it was, his comment was, "Well, not so good." Most of the kids in his classroom weren't so hip on being his friend. They were more interested in catching up with each other. He said he felt like he didn't make a single friend. Chris and I encouraged him that it would get better. A lot of those kids were just excited to see old friends and that I was sure that someone would see what a great kid he was and he would have lots of freinds before he knew it. I felt bad, though.

Hannah, on the other hand, had a great day. She made 4 new friends and said her teacher was great. "Ms. Lauirence read all kinds of stories and my new best friends are Tory and Mattie." She was really excited about going to school today. I am so thankful.

Today the boys are going to see the new Star wars movie and Hannah and I are going to go skating. Something to celebrate them doing a good job and being brave at starting a new school.

Here are some picts of their 1st day!! Enjoy!!

Tomorow is the big day!

Tomorrow is the kids first day! I am anxious and excited. Open house was a success! The kids have great new teachers and they are really ready for school. We spent today together just enjoying each other. Chris suggested taking the kids to Chuck E. Cheese, since we had never been there and he got a coupon from the paper!! We had a blast. Then we went fishing. It has been a wonderful last few days and we are all excited about tomorrow. Just wanted to post some of my favorite picts from the last few days. Will post more tomorrow!!

My new niece, Kairis Elysa!!

My little Oregonian niece arrived safely on August 8th, 2008 at 6:16pm. Her name is Kairis Elysa Thomas and she weighed in at 8lbs, 10oz. 21 inches long.

Isn't she just adorable?! From what I last heard, baby and mommy get to go home today!! Yeah!! I am so glad that she arrived safely and quickly, just as we have been praying for since we heard she had missed her due date!! What an awesome birthday to chose for yourself!!

Just wanted to post this since it has been a highlight for the end of our week!!

Our car and thoughts it triggered!

Since I last wrote, I took our car into an auto repair shop to see if they could figure out why our car won't hold air conditioning. With the average high this week being 105 and the kids going to school next week, it seemed like a good thing to do.
And while I sat in the waiting room as I saw them lift our lovely green beast up, I thought about what a sweet car it has been for us. When we got it back before Nathaniel was born, it was shiny, it smelled new, it felt cool because everything seemed so fresh and un-old. We had 2 kids we brought home from the hospital in it. It has endured 3 major moves with us, which included many trips to many places to see family and such. Overall, in the almost 10 years we have had it, it has done us really well. It even endured us using it as a single car and Chris scratching the front end of it on every parking spot, as well as the kids using it as a jungle gym. I thought of all the fun memories we have had in it as I sat there.
From its exterior now, it looks like a real winner. Covered in red Oklahoma dirt, with little dents and dings all over its body and an awesome green strap holding the trunk shut along with the squealing hubcap and lack of a/c, it is no question now that the new "fresh" has worn off and has been replaced by an old, mostly reliable car.
As I sat and waited some more, I was struck by the verses in 2 Corinthians 4:1-18, especially vs 16-18, which say, "Therefore, we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. ". I am like our car. When God gave me to my parents, I was fresh and new. As time and circumstances have passed, the new has worn off and what is left is a decaying old jar.
As it says there, our light and momentary stuggles achieve for us eternal glory that renews us everyday, so that we may focus on what's important, and that is Christ. That was an awesome thought for me, considering all the little bumps in the road we have gone through in just about every step we have taken in my adult life.
I am not sure what the future holds for our car. With a few repairs, maybe a couple 100 miles and more memories, but for now, she is going to remind me everyday that I drive her that underneath my flabby, overweight, 30 year old body is a heart that God loves and wishes to renew by His awesome glory everyday, if only I seek Him and allow Him to do so.
Just something I wanted to share.
On a side note, kids got enrolled in school well and we won't know teachers until next week when they have open house. Today we just stayed inside and did pretty much nothing, it was so hot. Tomorrow we are hoping to play in the swimming pool and outside for some fresh air before the heat hits. Friday Chris is off, so we are thinking of going to OKC and heading to the memorial gardens and eat at Krispy Kreme for b-fast!!
Hope all of you are well and doing fine. I just wanted to post that thought before I lost it. :-)
Living one day at a time and learning to continue to trust the great God that holds my heart!

Some picts and an update!

Well, in the midst of my sadness last time, I forgot to mention one excitement for the week. Hannah lost her first tooth. She was sure it was ready to come out, but was a little worried it would hurt. I assured her that it would be fine, so we "lasso"ed it and I let her hold the string. She asked if we could pray that it wouldn't hurt. So, we did. Then she refused to pull the string. I said, "you just give it a little tug like this." and didn't mean to pull the string, but I bumped it and the tooth just fell on the floor. She laughed and then called her daddy.

He got her an Ariel barbie doll, since she LOVES Ariel and you "just can't find her". She was glad. She is nervous about the next one because it is really close too. The permanent teeth are not coming in under these. They are coming in behind, so I am concerned. I would like to take her to the dentist, but I learned after posting my last blog that the kids had lost their insurance coverage over the summer and were mad at me for not knowing about it. I am still working on all that.

The kids get enrolled for school bright and early tomorrow. We need to be there at 8am to get their paperwork filed. I figure the sooner I get them in, the better chances they have for good classes and I am pretty sure they will need plenty of time to get Norman to cooperate when it comes to transfer papers.

On a high note, we got our insurance settlement check on Friday, same day as Dacia came over to play. She and the kids had a great time and it was nice to have her over. I am really enjoying my friendship with her and Misty and Josh!! They are such a God-send.

Anyways, we went shopping for mattresses yesterday and found a great deal on a box and pillowtop mattress for us, as well as great deals for the kids. So, as of tonight, everyone will sleep on REAL beds!!! Yeah!!

We even have a little leftover, so we are planning on replacing the vacuum, which sounds like an aircraft carrier firing up as well as stick some in savings. The beds were the biggy to replace. We thought it would be nice to let everyone sleep on real beds the week before school starts!!

We are also looking into fixing the ac in our car. it was out of freon at the beginning of the summer but we didn't have the $ to do anything with it. Mom and Dad recharged it as an anniversary gift, but it lost it's cool within about a week and a half. we just stuck with being warm, but this week the highs are in the 100+ with heat indexes reaching 115-120. We figured with the increase of running around in the car due to the kids and school, it was worth seeing what was actually wrong. There is a guy who will look at it tomorrow in Newcastle, so hopefully it will be something simple.

I think that is about it. My week has gotten better. The kids are adjusting better, as they realize that home is different. I did a visual to help them understand that we (Chris and I) aren't made of cash. i took our change jar, which is pretty much toll money for us if we ever need to go to town, and gave them a dollars worth of change. Then I charged them for living at the house and utilties and gas and food and in the end of their "paychecks", they only had like a dime or a nickel left. I told them that they could save it for something fun for next check or go ahead and spend it on something small. That worked. Nathaniel was like, "You can't buy anything for a nickel.". My response was, "Thats right. You have to save several nickels until you get enough to do something really good." And then I said, "And sometimes emergencies come up like the car doesn't work, or someone gets sick and then the "fun" money gets used up." The rest of the week they have started to get that. That Chris and I want to spend time with them, not all of the resources that we don't have. i hope that sticks in their minds for a few more years. :-)

Thats about it. I am tired and hot and trying to enjoy this last week that we have together. I thank you all for your input and prayers from last time. I just thought that most of the time I do activity updates, but hardly let the thoughts of my heart shine through. I thought what i was feeling was good to share. I am glad that it struck some of you too!! Good to know I am not alone in my humanity sometimes.:-)

Well, will wait for the rest of these picts to load!! Enjoy! (Ok, and apparently I can't remember how to make the pictures rotate on here, so I apologize!!)

A taste of my own medicine

As I struggled today not to be in a complete state of depression, I thought about my current situation. We picked up the kids Sunday at the concert and enjoyed bringing them home. When we got here, they said it was like Home makeover, since they had yet to see their new rooms. That was kind of fun. They were really thrilled that the house was nice and both said that it made them feel like "They belonged here". We spent monday going over some new rules, unloading the car and just hanging out together. Yesterday we had to do some regular chores and back to normal things and by today, the attitude from them was one of either, "we wish we were in school already", or "we wish we were still at Grandmas". All the special planning to do fun stuff these next 2 weeks together look "boring" to them. And it crushed my heart and my spirit. As I shuffled through tears all day long, realizing that they didn't want to have anything to do with me and my "neat ideas", my heart ached in pain. My own children didn't want to have anything to do with me. And that is when it hit me. I am getting a taste of my own medicine.
I am a child of God. How many days to I think His ideas are "neat"? How many days do I want to just "hang" with Him? Or would I rather do something else with someone else?
That made me even more sad. How much my heart was breaking was only a small amount to the pain I make God suffer everyday with my selfish motives and thoughts and plans.
As I try to muster my disappointment again, I am going to try to chew on that thought and I just wanted to share it with you all.

A week without my identity

Since I last wrote, I have lost my identity.
Now, if you have been a mother for very long, you can totally identify with what I mean.
When I last wrote, the kids and i were headed to Bridge Creek. We did that, and met someone there. Lorna. She had needed to come back to Oklahoma to take Grandma home due to medical issues and wondered if she could take the kids with her. They had talked all year about the possibility of going alone to Texas, but it came sooner than I had expected. However, with so much left to do to make the house livable and with the kids growing more and more bored with my having to do all the yuck stuff, we decided it would be good for everyone. The kids would get to spend some time with their grandparents doing fun things and I could focus on finishing up the house so that when they get back, there will be no more cardboard and I can actually enjoy their company.
However, it has been almost a week, and I don't know if I can make it much longer. The house is way too quiet and not getting to tuck them in every night and kiss their little faces hurts. I feel like only part of a person. I know people laugh about when they become parents they lose their first names. They become "so-& so's mom", but I take great pride and honor in bearing my kids names, so when they are gone and I don't hear "mom", but instead I hear, "meow, and bark", I feel a little missing.
I have called them every night since they got to Texas and they are having a lot of fun, but I am counting the days until they get back and I can hold them in my arms again. I realize how fast they grow up and it has crossed my mind several times about when they are 18, what in the world will I do when they are old enough to leave?
Being blessed to be a mother is more of an honor than I ever knew and I can only hope that I do them justice when they return and we have 2 weeks until school starts.
Speaking of, I am going to have to resign my position at Norman Public schools this fall. I thought that maybe I could still do it, but with the rising price of fuel, we will save a lot more money if I just stay home and maybe sub at the kids school a few days a week. I am looking forward to that and yet a little bit sad because I loved the ladies I worked with. I am sure they will understand.
Anyways, just feeling a little lost this week, but allowing my motivation to be that there will be nothing left to do when the kids are back so that we can enjoy each other's company. We will pick them up in Dallas on Saturday when we all meet at the Ernie Haase concert. I hope Noel and Lorna are enjoying them because I sure am missing them!!
Will write again when I get a chance. Until then, I hope you all are keeping cool!!

Thankful!!

That is the best word I am feeling at this point in July. I know that seems to completely contradict what my last post was about, however, when I fill you in, you will understand. I wrote that post and as I am aware, God knows our thoughts and the deepest pain in our heart.
So, I woke up the following morning, hoping that God would speak to me in church with words from someone else who had actually listened to Him that week, and what I got was a double.
In sunday school class, which by the way, I love!!!, we started a new section and it was about acknowledging Jesus for who He is. We, of all things, took a look at one chapter in Revelation and didn't talk about end times. We talked about the fact that it says who He is and what He is worthy of. And that He is the answer for all of our situations. That was a softener for what Bruce had to say. His focus was on the fact that Satan is a thief and Jesus is our shepherd. That Satan wants to distract us from hearing what God wants to speak in our lives. If we are going through a difficult time, God is closer than ever to guide us, but we have to chose to listen to his voice. Satan knows that if he can distract us with all the little things that we will lose our joy and not be able to hear what God is saying because we are tuning Him out by seeing all the things Satan is pointing out to keep us away from the message of love that God speaks in all circumstances. It was an awesome morning. I walked away feeling like a new person, like everyone had made Jesus a little more real to me and that my situation isn't more than God can see and that actually, He has a message to teach me, if I would just look to see it and not all the inconveniences.
We then got a call from Chris' parents that they were in the area and wanted to do lunch and help us however we needed. In the process of that day, Lorna had written a very heartfelt note about her past and how she had struggled with keeping focused on Jesus when things dont go the way you wish. It was a good visit with them. Chris and his dad worked until really late on the storage shed. Then, Monday, Misty offered to take the kids for the afternoon so that I could do some more work and the kids could get a break. I was truly grateful for that. She also invited Chris and I over for hot dogs for supper. It was a wonderful day and Chris and I got 2 more loads from storage. Our fellowship with them that evening was a God-send.
On Wednesday, I woke up to hear about my cousin who had her second baby at home. I couldn't imagine the fear and uncomfortablity of going through that, but to hear that she and her new daughter were fine was a true blessing. My goal that day was to send something to her and to get my shower gift to Tim and Heidi out in the mail, as well as the insurance claim. However, on the way, our tire blew. Here was my big chance to see how I was going to handle inconvenience this week. :-) At first, my thought was of frustration. I couldn't remember the last time I had changed a tire, but it had been a while. Also, I was seeing Nathaniel turning green before my eyes due to the extreme heat. I muttered that if anyone came by and offered us $100 for our car, I would gladly take it. Then it occured to me that I needed to ask God for his help. Genius, I know. So, to keep the kids distracted, I asked them to tell me some memory verses they knew to help me get the lugnuts off. As they quoted some Psalms, I managed to get 4 of the 5 off. By the second set of verses, a man wearing an apron and military pants walked up and offered some help. In about 15 seconds, he had pulled the tire and put on the donut. He also suggested a good way to get to a place where I could buy a new tire. I thanked him and the kids crawled into the car. I told them we should thank God for sending help and as we did, I was glad I hadn't blown up. When we were done praying, the man had mysteriously disappeared, just as he had just walked up, he walked away. I am not for sure where he came from, but the kids are sure he was an angel sent by God.
Anyways, we got the tire replaced and spent the afternoon with Clyde, Violet, Noel and Lorna before they headed back to Texas. Another good day. And I did get my mail sent!! (Tim and Heidi, I hope you were showered with mail last week. That was the goal us sisters had anyways!!)
Thursday I visited with Karen and that was a great time. We, the kids and I, did some more storage work. When we woke up Friday morning, Mom and Dad arrived to help finish up our move. Dad and Chris looked at how to repair the uneven, unshingled storage shed and made a list of supplies. Mom and I set it in our minds we would hit storage as best as we could. So, a trip to Norman and 3 vehicles full of stuff later, we all were very busy. The roof and building were secured thanks to my Dad's wonderful knowledge and patience, and many items and my kids were taken care of thanks to my Mom, including a really nice pork dinner!!
Friday night, unknown to us until Saturday, my mom had an episode where she thought a blood clot was moving up her leg toward her heart. My dad said he hadn't seen her in that much pain ever. She took 4 asprin and made a turnique(sp?) out of Dad's belt and waited it out. Now, a little history, she has had clots before and her father passed away with something to do with that kind of history, so it wasn't just an oh well thing. She made some phone calls Saturday morning to decide what she wanted to do, since she felt better, but didn't want to get up and do a lot and have something bad happen, so dad and I worked on the storage shed for a while and the kids watched tv. Then we all headed to Norman to take her to the ER to get her leg checked. We loaded up more storage and it was found that the clot had dissolved and that she needed to continue asprin until she could see her regular physician and to "be a good girl".
We blew up fire works and watched tv that night.
Sunday, we went to church and then got back to work. The shed was completely finished by 6:30pm and it was set in Dad's mind that there would be no big items in storage by the time they went home, so one more trip left, we took care of that and they headed back, leaving us with a much more at-home feeling, and very thankful that Mom was alright and that Dad had given so much of himself.
Today we took the last of the boxes out of storage and met Misty in Newcastle for storytime. After a great visit, we met Chris at Cici's for supper and came home to finish up cleaning up the yard from the debris of storage dump:-)
We are headed to Bridge Creek tomorrow morning to let the kids play on the playground and to see when they need to get registered for school. I am just so thankful that in all things, God is in control and on the throne, just like I know He is all the time!! He truly is so good!!!
Living in His wonderful care until next time...!

Missing old friends!

Well, since I last wrote, it has been nothing but sort, sort and sort in storage. In addition to that, it is hot here. I really have been struggling. The kids are bored out of their mind and have been really good at doing all the boring things with me. I am tired of pulling boxes out of the 100+ storage to sort it in the hot sun and throw the moldy stuff away and wipe the salvagable stuff down with bleach wipes and squeeze as much as I can in the car.
I am exhausted because at night, when I really need to be asleep, I am overwhelmed with all the stuff still to do. This week I really struggled with just wishing we could have gone back in time and still lived at "home" in St. Joe. I miss Brett, Amy, Abram and Sophie more than ever. Living with them was "home". We could be ourselves and have a good time and there was someone to confide in and lean on and share cleaning advice and fireworks with and we all could sit outside and enjoy the racoons. :-).
I miss them more this week than ever. As much as I am thankful God has given us a nice place, I am so exhausted from the trials that He has allowed to come our way. I thought it would bring our family closer together, but in actuality, once again, it is me doing all the hard work and feeling frustrated that I am the only one interested in making this a place where people can come and hang out. I think at this point, I would buy the lot next to us and buy a house to put there if I could have Brett, Amy and their family here with us. I guess they were so much like family to us than anything we have ever experienced with friends. And with all that has happened so far this summer, I don't know when we will see them again. We had hoped to see them this summer and spend more time together than we did over spring break.
Anyways, please be praying for us, especially me. I am afraid of what my exhaustion and overwhelmed feelings will do to my family. We are still eating on the floor and sitting in lawn chairs. I need help checking the huge furniture over to either toss it or wipe it down but I can't do it alone. I tried to tip the couch over the last time the kids and I were in storage and I about flipped it on myself.
I wanted to do something fun with the kids yesterday to reward them for being so patient in all this. We were going to spend the entire day at the Tuttle ice cream festival. We went to the parade and saw it with Josh and Misty and Dacia. Then we headed to the festival. Nathaniel entered the ice cream eating contest for the boys 6-8 category and won 4th place. He was really proud. Then they played in a huge pile of sand they had there and we rode on a little train for free and they both dunked a police officer in the dunk tank. Then we watched the turtle races, which was really cool. Off and on during this we kept getting phone calls from Chris that his truck tires were popping. First one, then another. We had the debit card, so we rushed to Norman to "save him". After that, there was nothing to do before the huge fireworks, so we came home and did more stuff around here, which was a bummer, considering we were hoping to goof off all day and do nothing that had to do with the house. By the evening, I was horribly depressed.
My parents have volunteered their time this coming weekend to help out, which I will really appreciate. I am looking forward to their being here, even though they have done so much. They always seem to be there when I really need them. Maybe we can do something fun with them too!!
Well, I need to get some laundry done. Please keep us in prayer and Brett and Amy, if you guys check this, WE MISS YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Till next time!!